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Inuyasha awoke, ears twitching, an instant before the door slid roughly open and armed men stormed into the room. Miroku, not blessed with Inuyasha's superior hearing, and Shippo were taken completely by surprise at the sudden intrusion. It was not yet dawn, they should have had plenty of time left for sleep. Inuyasha was already on his feet, one hand on the hilt of the Tessaiga, by the time the first of the intruders had cleared the doorway.
He wasn't ready to draw the sword yet—they were still supposedly enjoying the hospitality of the lord of this castle, after all. But an uneasy anticipation gripped him. Something about the situation had clearly changed during the night. He didn't have the slightest idea what it might be, and he wasn't about to be kept waiting for an answer.
"You wanna tell me what this is all about?" he demanded. The men braced in front of the doorway wore the armor of the castle lord's army, they were not intruders. But they still held their weapons at the ready, and were pointing them directly at Inuyasha, as if Miroku and Shippo did not exist.
"Lord Kazumasa requires your presence," one of the men explained.
Miroku inserted himself between Inuyasha and the soldiers, all calm diplomacy. "Now, now," he chided, "there is no need to burst in here with weapons drawn. We'll meet with your master once more."
The men were clearly uneasy about the situation, but they did at least sheathe their swords.
"What's their deal?" Inuyasha asked, voice low, as he and Miroku followed their unexpected and unwanted escort out of the room. "We killed their stupid demon. What else could that guy want?"
"That's what worries me," Miroku murmured. "I sense no additional evil presence. I don't think we missed a demonic aura. It must be something else."
This was not reassuring at all. Nor was the sight that awaited them when they entered the large room where Kazumasa met with visitors. Inuyasha's hackles were up even before attendants slid the doors open and admitted them. He had picked up the scent of fresh blood, and it wasn't just any blood he smelled: it was Kagome's.
He shoved his way past the soldiers only to stop cold. Kagome knelt at the lord's feet. She was not bound, but a man in armor loomed over her, a knife held to her throat just below where a thin line of blood was still drying. Her face betrayed a potent mix of pain and terror. Before he had even finished taking in the rest of the scene, Inuyasha spat out, "Let her go."
He heard swords being drawn behind him, and knew those blades would be aimed at Miroku and Shippo. Maybe even himself. Up ahead, a short distance from the lord, Sango also knelt. Unlike Kagome, she was bound tightly and gagged. She met his gaze and he saw fury and regret in her dark eyes. It was immediately clear that, were it not for the thick ropes that held her arms tightly behind her back, she never would have allowed these men to injure Kagome.
It was her lucky day: he was in no mood to let some deranged lord of the castle take Kagome hostage and make demands.
Even as Inuyasha tried to come up with a plan of attack, Kazumasa smirked. "I don't take orders from half-demons. But if you fail to obey my orders, if you make even one move out of line, this girl will suffer."
Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and wondered if that constituted 'one move out of line'.
The lord watched, motionless. His men were less certain. Several of them started forward with their weapons at the ready, only to pause awkwardly when they realized there was no immediate threat.
From somewhere behind Inuyasha, Miroku reasoned, "We have already assisted you in the matter of the demon that haunted your castle. Surely, if we might aid further, you know you need only ask." After an uncomfortable pause, he added, "Unless what you want is something you think we would not provide willingly."
This drew an ugly laugh from Kazumasa. "The monk thinks he is clever," he observed. "But he is correct. Still, let us put his idea to the test: I wish to see the demon slayer fight the half-demon."
The room erupted into chaos. Sango lunged forward, suddenly on her feet, shouting her fury against the gag, and had to be dragged bodily to the ground. Inuyasha vaulted over two human guards that tried to impale him with halberds and was nearly to the place where Kazumasa and Kagome stood—only now the knife had penetrated Kagome's neck. Even amid the chaos he heard her give the smallest whimper of fear as fresh blood seeped from the shallow slice, and it stopped him in his tracks.
"You see?" the lord asked. His voice was obnoxiously calm and disinterested, as if Kagome's fate didn't matter to him at all, except as a means to an end. "My men won't hesitate to follow my orders. If you disobey, the girl will suffer. She may even die."
"Yeah, well, I'm not fighting Sango," Inuyasha retorted.
"Suit yourself." A gesture, and the knife edged deeper into the vulnerable flesh of Kagome's throat. The scent of her blood was thick in the air. Her fear was nearly overwhelming.
"How much pain will you let her endure before you agree to my request?" the lord went on.
Kagome's eyes were huge, her expression a potent mix of fear and pain, but she did not weep or cry out in pain as the knife cut slowly deeper. Inuyasha couldn't stand to see her like that. He was going to lose this fight. "If I agree, you won't hurt her again."
It was not a question.
"You are in no position to make demands, half-demon," the lord countered. "As I already stated: she will not suffer if you obey my orders."
"Don't agree to it, Inuyasha!" cried Sango, who had somehow worked her way free of the gag. The soldiers wrestled her viciously to the ground again, but could not stop her. She bit the words out around a wince as one of the men ground her face against the floor. "He wants—one of us dead!"
Kazumasa's gaze jerked toward Sango and her captors. "Don't harm her, you fools! I want her in top condition for the fight."
"Is she telling the truth?" Inuyasha asked, disgusted by the very idea.
"The fight is to the death, yes," the lord said, glibly indifferent. "I find lesser stakes boring. But look at it this way: if you refuse, at the very least the women die before you can hope to rescue them. Probably the monk and that fox demon, too." He paused obnoxiously for effect. "But if you obey, perhaps only you must die, or the slayer."
He knew it would only further inflame the asshole's bigotry, but that was not enough to keep the growl from his throat.
Kazumasa laughed heartily. "See? That one has some fight in him."
His men glanced at one another nervously. Inuyasha couldn't imagine being that afraid of one human man. These cowards, on the other hand, seemed ready and willing to do whatever he asked, no matter how disgusting.
Unfortunately, to protect Kagome, he was about to do the same damn thing. He couldn't fight Sango to the death, but fighting her would buy them time to figure out another way out of this. He could count on Sango and Miroku to think of a way out of almost any situation. He would just have to trust that they wouldn't let him down now.
"Fine," he snapped. "I'll fight Sango. But only if you get that knife the fuck away from Kagome right now."
He wasn't lucky enough for the man holding the knife to back off without waiting for orders. That one was too well trained; he waited until his master gave the word. Which was after a clump of soldiers detached from the others and came over to bind Inuyasha's wrists. They were idiots to think a little rope would stop him from tearing his way through them to get to Kagome—if it weren't for that damned knife.
"Take him to the arena," Kazumasa commanded, imperious as ever.
Not liking the situation one bit, Inuyasha allowed himself to be led away. If that was what it took to keep Kagome safe, then he had no choice but to obey. For now.
He could still hear what was going on behind him for some distance, as his escort had not bothered to close the doors behind them. "Take the slayer, too," the lord was saying, "and provide her with any weapons she requires. I want to see how one of those filthy half-demons fares against a demon slayer, and I want it to be a good fight."
The last thing he heard before they passed out of earshot was Sango's fierce refusal: "I am not going to kill Inuyasha."
And the lord's smirking rebuttal: "We shall see."
After that he was too far for even his half-demon ears to pick up anything distinct. Those same ears flattened against his head as he scowled. It wasn't the first time he had wished he could be wholly one or the other, rather than judged for his mixed heritage. It didn't seem to matter whether he was dealing with humans or demons, they always found him lacking.
Except for Kagome and his other friends. Which was a thought that did nothing at all to lift his spirits. Whether he liked it or not, he had agreed to fight Sango. To the death. Now he was going to have to follow through.
Sango was strong, for a human, and a good fighter. He had no doubt she could hold her own against him, at least for a while. They would just have to make it look good until they could figure out a way to get Kagome free—and with any luck, the monk would take care of the thinking part for them.
Too bad Inuyasha wasn't feeling particularly lucky this morning.
His escort led him out of the castle and into the woods that bordered it, where they walked for the better part of an hour before reaching their destination. The sun was just coming up, and its gentle light was an uncomfortable contrast for what lay ahead. It was no wonder he hadn't smelled the stench of anything resembling an arena, when it wasn't in the castle in the first place. But he knew it was coming long before he saw it. The smell gave it away. The scent of wood, leather, and steel wafted through the trees. And blood and suffering and death.
It didn't look like much from the outside. Just a tall wooden palisade, with small buildings attached at each end and a large viewing platform looming over one side. This could only be reached by means of a ladder—or, he noted, the powerful jump of a half-demon like himself—and protruded out over the arena proper. No doubt the lord of this hellhole liked to have a prime view of whatever atrocity was occurring below.
All this he noticed while being herded unceremoniously into one of the small outbuildings. It was tiny and the ceiling was so low his ears brushed against it even when he stooped. The walls were made of rough-hewn logs stacked together, with a door on each end, and one small window that looked out into the arena. A quick test of the door revealed that it was held closed somehow, and it resisted every attempt to open it from the inside. He could have torn his way out using only his claws, or cut a path with the Tessaiga, but the first would take forever and the second would ultimately only put him back where he started—with Kagome still in Kazumasa's clutches and nothing he could do about it. So, fuming at his helplessness, he did what he could do, which was to free himself from the rope around his wrists and take stock of his new surroundings.
Having a target helped, even if he couldn't do anything about it yet. There was no way that platform was intended for anyone but Kazumasa. Which meant that was where Kagome would be. Somehow, he would find a way to reach her.
After an eternity in that squalid, stinking hut that felt like a cage more than anything else, he picked up the sounds of a group of humans approaching. He couldn't smell a damned thing over the scent of the arena, but he did not need his half-demon nose to tell him who it would be: Kazumasa and his soldiers, along with Kagome and the others. And Sango.
He did not want to fight her like this, but he did feel a certain degree of anticipation, as he always did before a fight. And some deeply buried part of him did want to fight Sango, just not in a forced battle like this. She was a strong fighter and would be a formidable opponent—she had already proved as much the one time they fought each other in earnest, and she had been bleeding to death at the time. The thought of sparring with her at full strength was exhilarating. But the coming battle promised to be anything but exhilarating. It would be a travesty.
He could do little but listen, ears twitching against that damned low ceiling, as the humans prepared for the spectacle. And they took their sweet time about it.
The longer they took, the more he felt like a dog in a cage and the less he liked it. This was what humans had always wanted for him: to strip away his humanity and make him into nothing more than a beast, confirming their worst fears. It would have been so easy to give in, to give them what they wanted. To give them what everyone had always wanted.
But that would not save Kagome.
And he had never been much for giving people what they wanted, anyway.
At long last, and without any warning beyond a wooden grinding sound, the door in front of him shuddered and dropped open. Glad to be out of that cage, Inuyasha stepped out into the morning sunlight.
On the other end of the pit, another door opened and Sango emerged. She was dressed in her armor, with her hair in its customary high ponytail, and had covered the lower half of her face with her mask. That, at least, drew a half-smile from Inuyasha. Lord Asshole and his minions seemed to be eating up that bit of theatricality, apparently not realizing it meant they wouldn't know if she tried to communicate with Inuyasha. She had also somehow been forced to leave the hiraikotsu behind, so she came armed only with her short sword and chain. At least, those were the visible weapons.
Inuyasha thought of the smoke bombs and scent beads and poisons she also carried, and sincerely hoped she did not plan to use those. Against him, anyway. She could do whatever she wanted to that bastard standing up on the viewing platform.
Unfortunately for Inuyasha, first she had to fight him. Because even from this vantage point it was obvious that Kagome was still in danger. Up on the platform, looming over everything, Kazumasa had placed Kagome and her captor in plain view, lest the combatants get any ideas. Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara were all there, too, though they were merely bound. Only Kagome had a knife at her throat.
Kazumasa stepped forward as if he were about to lead a ceremony, and pronounced what must have been a poem. Inuyasha was really getting tired of that guy.
"Enough already!" he shouted, mid-poem.
A pause. And then the asshole continued as if Inuyasha hadn't said anything at all.
"You want us to fight, or you want to stand up there all day reciting bad poetry?"
"Enough of your insolence!" Kazumasa snapped, finally beginning to lose his cool. "I had you brought here to fight, and you will fight. I intend for you to learn the worthlessness of half-demons before you die." To Sango, he added, "Slayer! Fight well and you will be rewarded."
"You can reward me now by letting me and my friends go," Sango told him, her voice flattened as much by professionalism as by the mask covering her face.
Up above, the lord seethed, his face growing red and then nearly purple. Clearly this was a man who was used to his orders being obeyed without question. Sango remained outwardly placid while the lord fumed; Inuyasha could not resist a grin. It was a grim smile, but he still enjoyed seeing his enemy so angry. It seemed only fair. If he had to be pissed off about this, then so did the man that had put him up to it.
If he had anything to say about it, by the time this day was over, that same man would suffer at least as much as he and Sango would. He'd make sure of it.
Sango was no stranger to sparring in a ring. Whether that ring was a fence around a yard dedicated to practice fighting, or a circle drawn in the dirt to help fledgling fighters imagine doing battle in close quarters, this was a common way to test a slayer's skill in her village. She had never fought in a purpose-built arena like this before, but she knew it was bad news. And she would have known that even without everything else that had happened this morning to lead her here.
There was just something in the air, so thick that even her human senses could pick up on it. She could only imagine how this place must feel to someone like Inuyasha, with his more-than-human abilities.
The scent of blood was thick in the air, an ever-present reminder that this was a place meant for suffering and death. She tried not to look up at her friends too often, but it was difficult to resist checking on them. Their lives were in her hands. She intended to find a way to free them—without obeying Lord Kazumasa's order to slay Inuyasha in the process—but she was experienced enough to know the chances of this were very slim. With Kagome as his hostage, Kazumasa held all the power here.
If he decided she was going too easy on Inuyasha, he would order his minions to cut Kagome's throat. He might even start in on Miroku and the others. The thought of that man causing more harm to her friends had her blood boiling. Remaining calm was a constant struggle, but it was their only hope. She told herself this was just like stalking a particularly obnoxious and dangerous demon. She might not like it, but she must wait for the opportune moment to strike or she would not succeed.
She could already tell: getting everyone out of here alive was going to take every bit of strength and cunning she had.
Inuyasha stood opposite her, the Tessaiga still in its sheath, and did not look at her. His anger was directed at the man who had put them up to this; it was obvious that he did not want to fight any more than she did. Not that it would do them any good.
Resigned, Sango waited for the inevitable.
"Fight!" their captor demanded.
Sango tensed, expecting Inuyasha to make the first move. But he didn't. He watched her warily, like a feral dog, but he stayed where he was.
She hesitated, wondering how far he would go, how much he would risk Kagome getting hurt, before he would do what Lord Kazumasa wanted. "Inuyasha," she began, speaking quietly so only Inuyasha would hear. With her mask on, the humans would have no idea she was speaking at all.
"Fight, damn you!" Kazumasa seemed dangerously close to losing his temper already. If he was this bad when he was relatively calm, Sango did not want to see him pushed beyond reason.
"He's going to cut Kagome again," she pointed out. "We have to fight."
Inuyasha's face contorted in rage, but he still did not move.
"We'll figure out a way out of this," she promised, growing more desperate to avoid making the situation even worse. "But if we don't fight, he will hurt Kagome again." Her heart gave a pang at the thought of this otherwise ordinary-seeming man causing such pain and suffering, merely for the sake of his own entertainment, and to satisfy some bizarre grudge against half-demons.
Finally, Inuyasha moved. He was fast, fast as only one with demon blood could be. But Sango had trained her whole life to fight against the supernatural. She might not have inhuman abilities herself, but she knew well how to counter them. Inuyasha might have speed and strength and claws at his disposal, but she had an entire arsenal of weapons, and some of them had been honed over generations to stop creatures just like him.
Sango slipped away from slashing claws and threw her chain, aiming to tangle his hands in the metal links. Inuyasha snarled and batted it away and kept right on coming, pushing her back and back and back. The arena was large enough that she couldn't be easily cornered, so she gave ground willingly. It was a familiar strategy, one commonly used by the fighters from her village: the demon will be stronger and faster than you, so let it tire itself out first.
Her chain did a reasonably good job of keeping him at bay even as she let him chase her around the arena. He couldn't get too close without getting tangled or lashed by the flailing chain. It didn't matter how strong or fast he was if he couldn't get close enough to land a single blow.
But Inuyasha was nothing if not tenacious. He wasn't going to be deterred by a length of chain forever. Or, at least, he wouldn't under ordinary circumstances. But these were far from ordinary circumstances. And he was trying, just like her, to buy time until the right opportunity appeared. So he didn't push nearly as hard as he might have.
They went back and forth across the arena, again and again, but for a long time nothing changed. It was as if everything was frozen except for her and Inuyasha.
After what seemed like forever, Lord Kazumasa moved to the front edge of the platform. If she'd had the hiraikotsu, she could have taken him out and ended it then and there. But she didn't have the hiraikotsu. Worse, his expression was one of vast displeasure. They were not fighting the way he wanted. They were not, she realized with an awful sense of impending doom, shedding blood.
"If we don't start landing hits, he's going to realize we aren't really trying to kill each other," she told Inuyasha, trying to mask just how hard she was breathing. Fights were not supposed to last this long, even when the fighters were only sparring or demonstrating technique. She had been watching all this time, when the opportunity allowed, hoping to see an opening, any opening, through which she might be able to rescue Kagome. But the man holding the knife to Kagome's throat had yet to falter.
"You do it, then," Inuyasha insisted. "I heal faster, and he wants you to win, anyway."
For a moment she wasn't sure how to react. It was a sensible suggestion. It just was utterly unlike Inuyasha to tell someone to defeat him in a fight. He must be very worried about Kagome to make such a request.
Sango took another few moments to catch her breath before racing back into the fray. This time she attacked with her sword, rather than using it as a backup for the chain. Inuyasha did not pull away, or even flinch, as the sword came slicing toward him and so she scored a hit across his upper arm. It was not a deep cut, barely enough to get through the robe of the fire-rat, but it drew blood.
Now it was Inuyasha who gave ground and Sango who pursued, and hated every moment of it. She despised fighting like this, chipping away at him with a thousand tiny nicks and cuts.
"Use the Tessaiga," she hissed after what felt like the thousandth hit. Individually, none of the wounds she had inflicted were bad, but together... He healed quickly, but he must still be in pain.
"Not likely!"
At least all the little cuts, many of which were still slowly oozing blood in spite of his superhuman healing abilities, had not diminished his attitude in the slightest.
"You'll have to," she pointed out, changing tactics. She hurled the chain left-handed, expecting a miss, and was surprised when Inuyasha let her trip him and drag him to the ground. "Eventually."
Inuyasha was back on his feet almost as soon as he hit the ground. He dropped into a crouch, looking for all the world like a bloodied, feral dog. All she had was an instant before he hurled his blades of blood at her. Most of them missed her, despite the meager protection her sword afforded her, and the handful that made contact did so well away from her vitals, slicing shallowly into arms and thighs instead.
Some instinct, or just long familiarity, warned her as she took stock of these minor, annoying injuries. She had allowed her gaze to drift up toward where Kagome and the others were waiting, but flicked it back to fall on Inuyasha now. At that moment, he launched himself forward, claws slashing.
It was the kind of thing that got you killed if you were fighting a real angry demon. The chain was useless at this range, so she let it go. Her short sword was almost laughably inadequate for countering an opponent as strong as Inuyasha. All he needed to do to ensure his victory was draw the Tessaiga, but he stubbornly left the sword in its sheath.
Instead he caught her sword's blade between his hands, heedless of the way it bit into his flesh, and yanked it out of her grip. Her reaction was instantaneous and practically instinctual: she leaped back and away, trying desperately to put some distance between them, and hurled a handful of gritty, blood-soaked dirt into his face.
Inuyasha threw the sword away and snarled. He looked legitimately angry now, so she followed up the dirt with one of her smoke bombs. As soon as he caught wind of its powerful scent, Inuyasha's snarl turned into furious gagging and coughing.
By the time the smoke cleared, his eyes were watering profusely and he had to cover his nose and mouth with a sleeve, and Sango had recovered her sword.
They stood staring at each other for a long time, neither willing to make the first move. They were right back where they had started, and she wanted to scream in frustration. The last thing she wanted was to fight Inuyasha in earnest, much less try to kill him but it was looking more and more like she would have no choice.
"Inuyasha—"
"I know, I know," he grumbled. "If we're gonna do this, let's do this." He didn't sound any happier about it than she was.
Leaving her almost no time to prepare, he threw himself at her again. It was easy to forget how fast he could be; he was on her almost before she had time to react.
His claws bit deep into the flesh of her arms and he caught hold and tumbled them over and over until they hit the ground. Sango cried out in surprise and pain, but managed to hang onto her sword and avoid skewering herself or Inuyasha with it in the fall. He let her go as they landed and she rolled free, blood dripping from her wounded arms.
She scrambled to her feet, taking a defensive stance. He came at her again almost immediately, though he used only his claws and none of his demonic powers. She fended him off, giving ground yet again, and began to worry about her sword. The blade had been quenched in demon's blood, and so it was stronger than ordinary steel, but against an onslaught like this, it would not last forever.
At last, with the wall at her back, she planted her feet and stood her ground. As Inuyasha leaped, she thrust forward—and found herself face to face with him as he came to a sudden stop. Her sword easily pierced the robe of the fire-rat and slid deep into his gut almost without any effort on her part.
Horrified, she froze. She hadn't intended to stab him for real, but he had all but thrown himself onto the blade. "Inuyasha..."
"Stop!" Lord Kazumasa roared.
Inuyasha leaped back, blood oozing slowly around the sword still embedded in his gut. Sango let it go. Inuyasha might be half demon and possessed of supernatural healing abilities, but she wasn't going to just pull the weapon out of a stab wound and let him bleed out on the arena floor.
"Where is the slayer's weapon?" Kazumasa demanded into the hushed silence. "The one she wielded in battle against the demon yesterday."
"I left it behind," Sango told him, at the absolute end of her patience. "Your soldiers didn't appreciate the way I used it on them."
Furious, Kazumasa turned to his men. "Fetch it."
The men looked reluctant, clearly put off by the size of the weapon, but they eventually obeyed. A small contingent made a hasty departure in search of the hiraikotsu.
At least the timing of this outburst had been fortuitous. It would take the men some time to get to the castle and return with the hiraikotsu, even if they ran the whole way, all of which was time for Inuyasha to heal from his injuries. He was as brash and overconfident as ever, but it seemed to Sango that he was growing more careless by the minute. Then she remembered with a chill an offhand comment that Miroku had made yesterday: tonight would be the night of the new moon. Maybe what she was seeing in Inuyasha wasn't carelessness at all, but the gradual fading of his demon powers as sunset drew ever closer.
They had wasted most of the morning. Between the hostage negotiations and Sango's later, second "negotiation" with the soldiers—which had resulted in her being beaten into submission a second time and the hiraikotsu being confiscated—and then the fight here in the arena, it had to be nearly midday by now. Distressingly few hours remained before the sun would begin to set and Inuyasha would lose his demon powers altogether. They needed to be finished with this travesty of a fight and well away from this place before that happened. These people could not be allowed to discover Inuyasha's secret.
She watched, feeling numb and cold despite the heat of the day, as Inuyasha pulled her sword out of his belly and tossed it to land at her feet. She took the blade back and sheathed it, determined not to use it again after what had just happened. What she needed now was a way to end this quickly. If only she had the slightest idea of how to do that, short of actually trying to kill Inuyasha. A quick glance at the viewing platform overhead revealed that nothing there had changed. Lord Kazumasa still stood impatiently at the edge of the platform. Kagome still knelt with a knife at her throat. Miroku and the others were still bound with what seemed like ludicrous amounts of rope, while a few soldiers milled nearby.
She looked away before she could risk making eye contact with Miroku. She couldn't bear to look at him or any of her friends, not after what she had just done. So she looked to Inuyasha instead, and found that she could not look at him, either.
After what seemed like ages, the men returned with the hiraikotsu. It took three of them to carry it. They brought her the weapon, then all but fled from the arena. They did not run, but nonetheless moved like men in fear of their lives. Darkly, Sango hoped that at least a little of that fear stemmed from her.
Properly armed now, she knew that Lord Kazumasa intended for her to make quick work of Inuyasha. The problem was, the arena that had seemed big before now seemed too small for the hiraikotsu. She stood in the center of the arena and felt as if she had been backed into a corner.
With the hiraikotsu she could tear this place up... if only it wouldn't cost Kagome's life to do it. Muttering a curse under her breath, she hefted the hiraikotsu and ran toward Inuyasha. If a throw was too risky, then she would have to use brute force, no matter how much her aching muscles protested.
She could feel every bruise, every wound in her arm where his claws had punctured her armor and into her flesh, as she brought the hiraikotsu down where Inuyasha had been standing. Even after being stabbed through the gut, he was fast enough to get out of the way of this initial attack, but she twisted, swinging the hiraikotsu around and into a throw that knocked him off his feet.
Above, she could hear Lord Kazumasa getting riled up. This was what he had wanted to see. This was what he wanted to happen. And, she hoped, it was going to make him and his men careless.
By the time she retrieved the hiraikotsu, Inuyasha was back on his feet, but she could see that the fight was starting to take a toll on him. He was breathing hard now, just like her. And his clothes were cut and stained with blood. The front of his fire-rat robe, which her sword had sliced into ribbons, was soaked with it. Probably that blow from the hiraikotsu had reopened the wound in his belly.
She knew he was half demon. She knew he had survived worse than this before, and probably would again before their quest was over. But she hated that she had done this to someone who had been nothing but a loyal friend to her. Every injury he suffered right now was her doing.
This was a dangerous path her thoughts had taken, and she knew it. Yet focusing on anything else was a struggle. She was getting sloppy from the pain and exhaustion. She knew it even if she could not do anything about it other than swinging the hiraikotsu wildly. Inuyasha was fighting just as wildly, claws glancing off the forged bone of the hiraikotsu as he turned her attacks aside.
At this rate, they were going to wear themselves out before either one of them achieved victory. She did not want to know what would happen then.
Then she saw it: a metallic glint that flicked light her way. It lasted only a second, but she knew what it meant: the knife at Kagome's throat had finally shifted. The entire fight had been for this moment.
It was now or never.
Kagome's whole body hurt from being forced into such a tense position all day. On her knees, her head bowed forward, terrified that the slightest shift in her posture would send the knife biting into her throat again.
She had hoped at first that the knife would just be an empty threat, but painful experience had taught her otherwise. So she knelt and behaved herself, just like Lord Kazumasa wanted. And she waited for an opportunity to do something, anything, that would help Inuyasha and Sango. If she could just get away from that knife, they would make short work of the lord and his cronies.
But she was stuck here, just like she had been all day, at the mercy of her captors and increasingly unhappy about it. Who did this guy think he was, making her friends fight each other to the death just for his own amusement? She almost said it out loud, but she had seen what talking back accomplished. She had seen Sango get beaten up twice already while trying to defend her, and didn't want to think about what Inuyasha might have endured.
What she really couldn't figure out was why this man hated half-demons so much. Inuyasha had helped slay the demon last night! What had changed? She was beginning to think last night had been just another game to Lord Kazumasa, a fight to the death between demon and half-demon. The idea that he'd then used her to force Inuyasha into another death match had her ready to explode with anger, if only she could move.
If she could have at least talked with Miroku and Shippo, she thought maybe they could have come up with something. But kept apart from the others and forced to remain motionless like this, she felt more helpless than she had in ages.
She couldn't even really watch the fight, not with the way she was huddled. She could only guess by the reactions of the men around her. Though Lord Kazumasa was thoroughly focused on the arena below, his soldiers seemed almost bored, as if they had witnessed something like this a hundred times already. They probably had, she realized with disgust.
But as time wore on, some of the boredom seemed to lift. A few of the men drifted closer to the edge of the viewing platform. She couldn't be sure what interested them, but surely they had not seen a fighter like Sango before. It would not surprise her if they had initially discounted Sango, even after seeing her fight firsthand, but they were curious to see what she would do with the hiraikotsu now that she wasn't directing it at them.
One by one, the other guards also began to relax. Kagome and the others had given them no reason not to, at least not so far, and their master was not paying any attention to them. It was way too soon to breathe a sigh of relief, but for the first time Kagome really started to hope that she might be able to escape.
It took roughly forever, but it eventually did happen. When the guards were all thoroughly distracted by what was happening below, she felt it: the knife had shifted away from her neck. Terrified that she would give herself away by moving, she strained to see what the man with the knife was doing. He seemed to be completely focused on the battle.
Carefully, moving slowly to avoid detection, she shifted. Her arms were stiff from being clutched against her chest all this time, but they still worked. The fingers of one hand slipped between the knife's blade and her neck, at a spot she hoped was hidden by her hair, and she felt like she could breathe for the first time since this morning.
Now all she needed to do was find some way of communicating with Inuyasha. Or, she realized with a flash of hope as she tilted her head ever-so-slightly to take in her friends' positions on the battlefield, with Sango.
Inuyasha was no longer sure how they were going to get out of this. In fact, he was beginning to think he had overestimated his ability to absorb damage from Sango's weapons without weakening himself in the process. He was almost starting to think he'd been too cocky, thinking that a human like Sango couldn't really harm someone with demon blood, and conveniently forgetting the whole "demon slayer" thing.
All of which only stoked the flames of his temper. It wasn't Sango he wanted to fight, even after she had used some of her nastier tricks on him. It was that asshole that had forced them into this situation in the first place.
Sango, facing the platform where Lord Asshole and his minions were perched, saw something Inuyasha could not. But he could see the subtle shift in her posture, the slight flick of her gaze up and to the side—toward where Kagome was. He felt a momentary panic, but there was no sound and no scent of fresh blood.
That was all the warning he got before Sango exploded into action. Even at close range he dodged her throw with ease, then realized that she had missed on purpose. Or she hadn't been aiming for him at all, but for the two large wooden pillars that supported the platform behind him. The logs crumpled under the blow and the platform teetered precariously, supported now only on the end where it was attached to the wall, and by then Inuyasha was already moving.
He gave a powerful leap, vaguely aware that in the chaos Miroku had crashed into the knife-wielding man who had held Kagome captive all this time and taken them both to the floor, the knife skidding away and over the edge of the platform, and found himself face to face with Kazumasa. Inuyasha's claws wiped the smug grin off Lord Asshole's face as they closed around his throat.
It had taken only an instant, but it was over. Slowly, the chaos around him settled. Kagome helped Miroku get to his feet; a sound from below could only be Sango climbing up to join them. The castle soldiers stood at the ready, their weapons drawn, but were unwilling to attack now that the tables had turned and their lord was the captive. Heedless of his own exhaustion or the blood still dripping from his injuries, Inuyasha gave Kazumasa a toothy grin.
Sango hauled herself onto the platform, which creaked warningly at the added weight. She paid no attention to the standoff for a long, tense moment while she freed Shippo and Kirara, and saw to Miroku and Kagome. Only when she had assured herself of her friends' safety and freedom did she acknowledge Kazumasa's presence.
"We will be leaving now," she told him, sounding impressively indifferent. "And to ensure our safe passage, you will be coming with us."
As much as he wanted to check on Kagome, to assure himself that she was all right after everything she had endured today, Inuyasha kept his hand firmly on the lord's neck. Already he could feel the battle rush fading and reality settling back over him. After a fight that long, he was exhausted. And his injuries hurt. Not that he would have admitted either of those things to anyone, even his friends. But he was glad it was all over now.
Despite their lord's furious shouts ordering them to attack, the soldiers parted to let Inuyasha and the others pass.
It took an eternity to make their way back to the castle, collect their belongings, and get back on the road. By the time they were out of sight of the castle, Inuyasha was really starting to feel his injuries. Maybe he shouldn't have been so quick to let Sango beat him up just so the fight would look good. She must have caused more damage than he realized, for it to be taking this long to heal.
Still, he knew better than to let on just how bad he felt. Nothing good could come of revealing a weakness to their enemy. It sucked, but it was the story of his life.
As they headed down the road and away from the castle, his awareness gradually narrowed to his own forward momentum and his grip on Kazumasa's neck. He was vaguely aware of the scent of his friends all around him and the stench of his own blood, and Sango's. His friends' presence was all that kept him moving in the right direction.
Some dim part of him knew that the sun was dipping toward the horizon; they had been walking a long time. Soon the sun would start to fall out of sight. Once it vanished, something important would happen, but he was too exhausted to care just what it was. His friends could worry about that. His job was just to keep Kazumasa at arm's length.
At some point, Kagome's voice cut through the fatigue. "It's okay, Inuyasha, I think we've gone far enough," she said. "We can stop now."
He managed not to stumble as he stopped walking, as the whole world swam around him.
"Let him go," Kagome murmured, coming up beside him. "It's over."
His hand cramped as he released his hold on Kazumasa's neck. He was only a little surprised to see that his hand still bore the cuts from Sango's sword. Something was very wrong with him, if he had not yet fully healed from all those little scratches.
"This is where we part ways," Miroku was saying, apparently addressing Kazumasa. "You should be able to make it back to your castle before midnight." And, more importantly, he would not be able to report to his soldiers exactly where they had gone. Nor would he know how close Inuyasha had come to passing out just now. With luck, all he would remember was the way Inuyasha had kept right on going after sustaining injuries that would have killed an ordinary human. Maybe that would teach him that his grudge against half-demons was pointless.
For once, the lord had nothing to say. He waited until Inuyasha and the others had set off down the path before finally slinking away back toward his castle. Good riddance, as far as Inuyasha was concerned.
Once they were far enough away that there was no chance of being seen or overheard by their former captor, Sango approached him. He could tell just from the look on her face that she was very concerned.
"I think you should ride with me on Kirara," she said.
He shrugged off the suggestion at first. He was just a little tired after the prolonged fight. So what? "I'm not that badly injured."
"You aren't healing like normal, either."
"Tonight is the night of the new moon," Miroku pointed out. Nobody needed to add that the sun was already going down. "It may already be affecting his healing abilities."
"I'm standing right here, you know," Inuyasha grumbled, but all thought of complaining went out of his head as another wave of dizziness washed over him. By the time he got a hold of himself again, Kagome had very gently taken one of his hands in hers, and her anchoring touch was all he could focus on.
"Sango's right," she told him. "I think you should ride with her, at least until your wounds have healed a bit more. Miroku and I can walk."
He didn't like the feeling that they were coddling him because of the new moon, but the idea of riding instead of walking sounded more appealing by the minute. The stab wound in his gut was a constant source of pain, and he could still feel the slow ooze of blood where his flesh had not yet knit back together. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe Sango and Kagome were on to something.
"Please?" Kagome asked, in the tone of voice he could never resist. "For me?"
His ears went flat against his head. Showing weakness of any kind went against his nature and the hard experience of his life. But this was Kagome, and these were his friends. They only wanted to help. He sighed and looked away. "Fine."
He wasn't used to riding on Kirara, and didn't much like it, but he had to admit that getting off his feet helped. He really was feeling out of sorts, the world around him overlaid with a haze of pain and disorientation as his half-demon senses began to fade. The injuries had not bothered him that much back at the arena, at least not enough that he was willing to admit to it, but now he was starting to feel each and every one of them. Especially the stab wound in his gut, which felt like it was being stabbed all over again with every step.
At least by riding Kirara, he avoided having to walk any further. And with her and Sango to keep an eye on where they were going, he could let his mind go blank, ignoring the worst of his body's pain and exhaustion while his injuries slowly healed. After a lifetime of mistreatment, he was not used to traveling with someone he could trust implicitly. But as he tried to imagine how in the world he would have managed to survive injuries like this without his friends, he was glad all over again to have them.
Sango did not dare stop to tend to her injuries or Inuyasha's as they left the furious lord behind. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between her friends and their former captor before nightfall, which meant she had to trust they would all make it that long. The thought of falling back into that man's clutches terrified her in a way that no human had frightened her before. And fear made her very determined to keep her friends safe.
She pushed Kirara as fast as she dared, knowing that Miroku and Kagome needed to keep up. Yet she could not shake the certainty that Inuyasha was in bad shape. It wasn't like him to accept help without a fuss like this, nor to be so quiet and uncomplaining about having to ride on Kirara instead of running.
He didn't slump against her or anything like that, nor was he particularly talkative, but she was acutely aware of his presence behind her all the same. Normally it was Kagome or Miroku that rode with her, never Inuyasha.
There were so many things she could have said right now, things she wanted to say. You can lean on me if you need to. I'm sorry I hurt you. I wish we could have found another way. Please don't die. She could not find the words to say any of them out loud; she hoped Inuyasha already knew. He was a fighter, too. He had been right there beside her through the entire fight. He knew, right?
She couldn't take it anymore. She had to say something. "Inuyasha."
"Don't get all sappy on me now, Sango," he retorted, sounding much more like his usual self than he had seemed a few minutes ago. Maybe the rest was doing him some good.
When he fell quiet again after that, she hoped at first that he was just dozing. She would have liked to collapse into a nap, herself.
But it wasn't long before she felt his weight shift precariously to one side. She had half turned, his name dying on her lips, as he toppled to the side. He would have fallen all the way to the ground if not for Miroku's timely intervention.
Inuyasha, either asleep or unconscious, seemed not to notice any of this was happening. He still had his dog ears and claws, but his silver hair was shot through with strands of black. It wouldn't be long now before he transformed completely.
Miroku helped Sango get Inuyasha back in place. No sooner was that done than he told Kagome, "Up you go."
Sango looked to him while he helped Kagome climb into place behind Inuyasha, questioning. His face was an unreadable mask of calm, incongruous after the day's turmoil.
"Fly," he told her, not needing to hear the question at this point. Shippo, perched on his shoulder, nodded too. "Kagome can help make sure he doesn't fall again. I'll run. I'll catch up if I have to. Let's get as far as we can before the sun sets completely."
So they raced off into the deepening shadows, choosing a path almost at random as they came to forks in the road and cross-paths that wandered deeper into the forest. Sango was glad to let Kirara do some of the choosing. She could hardly think of anything except the sun's progress toward the horizon, and Inuyasha growing weaker by the moment.
Eventually a crossroads appeared up ahead. A darkened building loomed up in the twilight gloom, an empty hut nearly lost in the vegetation. Just in time. Sango wasn't ready to heave a sigh of relief just yet, but it felt like something was finally going her way today.
Kirara landed just outside the empty doorway; Sango and Kagome dismounted, and worked together to keep Inuyasha from falling off while Kirara carried him into the hut. It was terribly dark inside, but cover was what they needed. Darkness would conceal Inuyasha's injuries—and his secret—from anyone else who might happen to pass by.
By now, Inuyasha was so out of sorts that he was mostly just dead weight. He would turn fully human any moment now, when the sun finally set. There was no time to lose, and Kagome seemed just as aware of that as Sango. Even with the two of them working together, it was a real challenge maneuvering him off Kirara's back and onto the blanket Kagome had spread in one corner, but somehow they managed it. And not a moment too soon.
His silvered hair faded, becoming black as night, and his claws and dog ears vanished. He was all too human now. Kagome dropped to her knees beside him. Sango could not see well enough in the dark to know for sure if the other girl was crying, but she could hear the tears in Kagome's voice. "Inuyasha?" He shifted uncomfortably, moaning. "Oh, Inuyasha…"
Sango was no coward, but this was too much for her. It was bad enough to see him in this condition; it was far worse to know she was at least in part the cause. She fled the hut.
Outside, Miroku and Shippo had already gathered wood for a fire. Both looked up expectantly as Sango emerged from the hut.
For a moment she had no idea what to say. Kirara, once more in her smaller form, slipped past, pausing to rub comfortingly against her ankle. "He's transformed," she said at last. "He's human now."
It was the truth, and it was utterly inadequate. She wished she had good news to share instead.
Numbed by her experience, she was only vaguely aware of going through her post-battle routine: tending to her injuries as best she could, replacing her armor with her traveling clothes, seeing to her weapons and armor. When she had done all that was necessary, she drifted over to the fire and sat down beside it. Even this close, it couldn't seem to warm her. Kirara followed and hopped into her lap to snuggle against her. The rumbling purr that ensued was the closest thing to comfort Sango had felt all day.
At some point Miroku brought her a bowl of noodles from Kagome's world. She ate, knowing better than to turn down food after a day like this, but didn't taste a bite of it. She barely even noticed when Shippo retrieved her empty bowl—seeing to the chores without being asked. Her thoughts kept returning to that blood-soaked arena and to what she had done there; she wasn't sure she could ever forgive herself for what she had done to Inuyasha.
Without warning, something settled softly over her shoulders, startling her out of her memories and back to the present moment. Belatedly, she realized it was the sleeping bag she sometimes borrowed from Kagome, when the weather was bad or the night was especially cold. Shippo hopped into her lap alongside Kirara while Miroku tucked the blanket around her to make sure it would stay in place.
She hadn't realized how cold she was until just now.
"He'll be alright," Miroku told her. No need to specify who he meant. Rather than crossing back to the other side of the fire, where he usually sat when it was just the two of them, he dropped to the ground beside her.
He was watching her closely, she knew without needing to glance his way; she wanted to crumple under that scrutiny. All of Inuyasha's injuries were her doing. Their friend was suffering, perhaps even dying, because—
"Sango." The monk's interjection pulled her back to the present moment. He had always been good at that, at noticing when she was losing herself to painful memories of the past, at pulling her back from the edge.
She couldn't stand his compassion right now. She didn't deserve it after what she had done. When Inuyasha was well again, then the monk could be compassionate. But only then.
She let her gaze drop and found Shippo looking up at her with wide eyes. "Are you going to be okay, Sango?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she lied. And why wouldn't she be? Her injuries were not that bad, and no one had died. Yet.
"You don't look fine," he pointed out, then looked abruptly chastened, as if Miroku were glaring at him over her shoulder. Which he probably was.
"I'm just worried about Inuyasha," she told them. At least that part was true. "You should get some rest. We all should." She knew it was best to take what rest you could get, whenever you could get it, in a situation like this. She also knew that if she tried to sleep, she would see nothing but the look on Inuyasha's face as he tried to swallow the pain of impaling himself on her sword. Sleep seemed like little more than a distant hope.
But if she couldn't sleep, at least she did not have to keep her vigil alone. Shippo fell asleep on her lap after a while and Kirara curled up, still purring softly, beside him. And Miroku was a quiet, steadfast presence at her side, as he had been in so many of her worst moments.
It was strange, she thought as exhaustion washed over her, that she had not wanted them to comfort her, but somehow they had managed it anyway, just by being there.
It was too dark to see much of anything in the pitch-dark interior of the hut, but Kagome knew Inuyasha's injuries were bad even without seeing them. She had seen enough from her position on the viewing platform above the arena where she had been forced to watch him fight Sango. She knew what he had willingly subjected himself to in order to save her, and it tore at her heart.
On any other night, these injuries would barely have troubled him. She had seen him survive far worse—when he had his demon powers, and when he regained them. Now she could only hope he would survive the long night ahead.
For a minute or two, she only held him. In the dark, in this rare moment of privacy away from the world, they could just be together. She only wished she could hold onto that feeling. But time was precious.
With Inuyasha in his human form, his injuries were very dangerous. She knew he would have shrugged this off in his half-demon form. Right now, she was the only one that could help him get through the night until his healing power returned.
As tempting as it was to simply hold onto him and let her roiling emotions overwhelm her, she refused to give in. Inuyasha had done his part protecting her. Now it was her turn to help him.
Even in the dark, she had done this so often now that it was easy to find what she needed by feel alone. Working one-handed so she could keep Inuyasha cradled against her with the other arm, she retrieved her first aid kit and flashlight from her backpack.
The flashlight didn't provide much light, but she was used to relying on it now. Its meager light would be enough.
She propped it up in one corner, hauled her first aid kit into her lap, and got to work.
Inuyasha roused as she removed his suikan, the pain from his injuries drawing him back from oblivion. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "but I have to..." She trailed off, afraid she might cry if she continued. She wouldn't be able to help him if she gave in to fear and worry now. "I have to see to that wound."
"'S not that bad," he told her, but she was all too aware of how his voice was slurred by pain and exhaustion. "It'd already started to heal before sunset."
Maybe so, but it was still bleeding. A lot.
"Can you sit up?"
She had no idea how he could function at all, having lost so much blood. He must be in terrible pain, yet he did what he could to help so she could clean the wound and wrap bandages tightly around him. He was right, it had already started to heal before the sun set. If it hadn't, he probably would have died soon after he transformed and lost his healing abilities.
She worked as quickly as she could, hating that she had become so adept at this. He had been injured so many times while protecting her. He always did whatever it took to keep her safe. And all she could do in return was bandage him up afterward. At least, she thought, grasping for any scrap of hope, she had access to basic things like anti-infection ointment and pain pills that seemed miraculous to her friends in this time.
By the time Miroku came to check on them, she had Inuyasha mostly cleaned up. The worst of the wounds were bandaged, and he seemed to be losing a lot less blood. But she was not a doctor. She was barely trained in first aid. She could never be sure she had done enough, or had done the right things. She could only try her best, and hope.
She set aside her fears long enough to take the food Miroku brought—two bowls of Inuyasha's favorite instant noodles, which he must have fetched from her bag while she was busy treating Inuyasha's wounds—with a forced smile and murmured thanks, and then the monk had the sense to leave them alone again. It did not take much coaxing to get Inuyasha to eat some of the noodles, which was a relief. He must be feeling at least a little better if he was willing to eat.
Later, she settled against the wall opposite the doorway. Inuyasha lay with his head in her lap, looking utterly unlike himself. The dark hair and eyes, the human ears almost hidden along the sides of his head, his fingers lacking their normal claws... yet when she looked into those eyes, she could still see all the things she loved so much about him.
With one finger, he traced the line on her neck where the knife had bitten into her flesh. It wasn't a deep wound, and had not even required bandaging. Though she was still tender there, his touch was gentle and did not hurt. His voice, however, was anything but gentle. "I should've killed that bastard."
"I'm just glad you're alive," she whispered, hoarse with emotion.
"I had to keep you safe," he told her. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."
She could feel her face growing warm at this admission, and ducked her head only to find that his hand now cupped her cheek. After everything he had endured, and was enduring right now, his only concern was her. "What am I supposed to do if something happens to you?" she countered.
He chuckled and let his arm drop; she felt him wince slightly. "It'll take more than this to kill me."
She believed him, but that didn't do much to ease her fears. They had come so close to disaster today that it almost didn't seem like they could really be safe now. The cut on her neck throbbed a faint reminder of just how close she had come to losing her own life. If Inuyasha had been a moment too slow to obey, or if Sango had made a single mistake in fighting him... Either one of them could have been dead right now. And she was glad beyond words that it hadn't happened that way, and that they were together now.
"Kagome?"
She wiped the tears away before they could fall. As a half-demon, he would have smelled them. But even now, he knew somehow.
"Don't cry."
"I'm relieved, that's all," she protested. "I was really scared today."
"All right," he decided. He sounded distant, tired. "Just don't go crying over me."
"Rest," she told him, brimming with fondness for this obstinate man. "You need to heal. I'll stay here beside you all night."
And she did. Usually he was the one that stood guard over Kagome and the others, but tonight she kept watch as he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep, and all through the long night until at last dawn arrived in a flash of silver.
Sango awoke feeling groggy and disoriented, to find that the sun was already up. She did not remember falling asleep, but obviously she had. She was all tangled up in Kagome's spare sleeping bag, and someone had tucked her travel pack under her head in a vain attempt at making her more comfortable.
Even given that she had apparently just toppled over and slept where she fell, she felt terrible. Everything hurt so much that she did not want to even move. And then, bleary-eyed, she realized what was happening.
Inuyasha was standing in front of her, complaining that it was time to get up already. "What's the hold up?" he demanded, irritation fading a little as he realized she was awake now.
Sango lurched upright, every muscle in her body protesting the sudden motion. She wasn't sure if she intended to berate Inuyasha for causing her so much worry, or hug him out of sheer gratitude for his survival, but she succeeded at neither. Instead, Inuyasha had to steady her at first as a sudden wave of exhaustion swept through her and nearly sent her right back to the ground. "You're okay!" she exclaimed at last, trying to avoid embarrassing herself with a fall.
"Told you I heal faster," he retorted.
"Sango was only worried because it was your human night," Miroku piped up from somewhere behind her.
Ignoring the monk, she asked, "Have all your wounds healed?"
He shrugged off the question as if the answer were obvious. She couldn't help but wonder if his brash lack of concern was genuine, after yesterday. Still, she was glad that everything seemed to be back to normal. Seeing him in good spirits after everything went a long way toward making her feel better, too. At least emotionally.
Physically, she would be feeling yesterday's fight for a while yet. Inuyasha really did heal faster, at least when he was at full strength.
"It'll take a lot more than that to kill me," he told her, as he headed over to where Kagome and Shippo hovered around the breakfast they were preparing. Even Sango could smell the potent seasonings from Kagome's world by now.
She held back from joining them at first, wanting to savor this moment of calm normalcy. This could have been any other morning: Shippo and Inuyasha squabbling as Inuyasha tried to see what Kagome was cooking, while Kagome giggled at their antics... right up until those antics nearly upended the bowls she had arranged so neatly beside the fire. Not far off, Kirara opened one eye to make sure nobody was going to disturb her morning nap in the sunlight. Seeing them like this, as if this were any other day, was a balm on Sango's soul.
Miroku came up beside her and paused there. He looked tired, but then again he probably had stayed up all night to keep watch. She wondered what yesterday had been like for him, unable to do much other than watch, but let that thought go before it could ruin this happy morning. As much as he sometimes irritated her, she was glad that he had been there to keep things together while the rest of them slowly fell apart as injuries and fatigue took their toll.
Inuyasha had warned her last night not to get sappy, but it was hard not to. She treasured each of her friends, even the monk. She had been so afraid and had come so close to losing them... she was relieved beyond words to be here together with them—all of them— this morning. They might be battered and bruised, but they weren’t broken, not by a long shot.
The monk seemed to sense the change in her mood, or perhaps there was something in her expression that gave her away. Maybe he just felt the same way she did, knowing they had come so close to disaster yesterday. Whatever it was, it had him smiling softly.
"Come on," he suggested, tipping his head toward the rest of the group, "let's get some food before it's all gone."
She could think of nothing better.