InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bind a Soul ❯ Tears and Blood ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1; Tears and Blood

"Inuyasha! The jewel shard is in the right wing!" screamed Kagome as she watched Inuyasha fight off the eagle youkai that had attacked them.

Why are we the ones that always get attacked? I'm the only one that's supposed to be able to sense jewel shards. Kagome had no more time to ponder this as the eagle youkai stopped fighting Inuyasha and started towards her.

"Kagome!" she heard Inuyasha yell, but before she could react, Kagome found herself thrown up in the air as large talons grated her back.

"INUYASHA!" was all Kagome could think of screaming before she felt gravity begin to take its effect.

Before she could plummet to her death, however, strong arms wrapped themselves around her. Kagome's fear began to decrease when she realized it was Inuyasha who held her. With thoughts of safety and security, Kagome let herself drift into unconsciousness. She didn't need to worry about waking up. Inuyasha would protect her from death.

Sango was still having trouble believing what she had just seen. Faster than she believed was possible, Inuyasha had beheaded the eagle youkai and rescued Kagome from certain death. He had even forgotten to pick up the jewel shard from the youkai's carcass until Miroku had said something.

Now Kagome was in a phase of questionable death. Sango had seen the gashes that ran along Kagome's back, gashes that could easily cause any human's death. The thought of Kagome dying made Sango's stomach churn and created a burning behind her eyes. Oh kami, please don't let her die.

Miroku was having similar thoughts as he studied the inuhanyou that held the young miko in his arms as they traveled. After the battle, they had bandaged Kagome the best they could and started back towards Kaede. It wasn't safe to stay near newly slaughtered demons. It attracted too many scavengers and who knew how many other demons would attack if they stayed.

Inuyasha had refused to let Kagome go after tending to her wounds. Inuyoukai were so possessive. They were still two days travel from Kaede, and Miroku worried what two days of traveling would do to Kagome's already fragile condition.

Miroku also worried for the inuhanyou's sanity if the young miko were to die. The aftereffects of Kagome's death would be something to fear. Miroku doubted that Inuyasha would live long afterward.

Now that was a curious thought!

Was Inuyasha's life dependent upon Kagome's? Miroku would have to dedicate some pondering to that topic should Kagome recover. If she didn't, then Miroku guessed he would see first hand the aftermath of the young miko's death. Kami, he hoped she recovered.

Shippou walked alongside Inuyasha. Every few seconds he would stop to glance up at Kagome to make sure her heart had not stopped beating. Shippou was in a state of shock, horror and overwhelming sadness.

Kagome had been hurt!

Kagome was not supposed to get hurt. What would happen if she died? Just the thought of Kagome dying made Shippou start crying. So many tears welded up in his eyes that Shippou accidentally bumped into Inuyasha's leg and landed flat on his butt.

Inuyasha looked down to see the baby kitsune trying to wipe the tears out of his eyes enough to see where he was going. "Sorry Inuyasha," whispered Shippou before he stood up.

"Oi, runt!"

"Hai Inuyasha?"

"Get on my shoulder so you don't do it again. I don't want to trip over you while carrying Kagome."

Shippou blinked in surprise before racing up Inuyasha and sitting on his shoulder. This gave him a perfect view of Kagome, though he couldn't see much through the tears.

When the quiet sniffling didn't die down Inuyasha began to stress. Despite how much he tried to hide it, he did care for the baby kitsune and he hated to see him cry. "Runt, she ain't dyin'. Does she smell of death?"

Shippou sniffed the air a few times before whispering a very small "no."

"See? She ain't dyin'."

Inuyasha could hear his other companions let out a breath of relief. What he didn't tell them was that the injured would only start to smell of death only hours before death actually occurred. Just because Kagome didn't smell of death yet didn't mean she wasn't dying.

"Perhaps we should make camp now?" Miroku spoke up. "The sun will be setting soon and I don't wish to be stumbling around in the dark when it does."

Inuyasha stopped and looked around at their surroundings. He didn't sense any demon presence other than Shippou, Kirara, Myouga and himself. "Fine then. You and Sango set up camp. I'll take care of Kagome. Off Shippou."

Sango had already removed the first aid kit thingy Kagome always insisted on bringing when they left the village. Inuyasha now understood why. Swooping down, he collected the bandages out of it, knocked Shippou off his shoulder and then continued towards the river.

Sango was hesitant to let Inuyasha take care of the girl. It just wasn't decent, or it wouldn't be in a minute. But actually voicing her opinions meant she would have to convince one very possessive and stubborn inuhanyou. Sango stayed silent.

Kagome being hurt was the one of the only thoughts that had entered Inuyasha's head since the fight with the eagle youkai. As a matter of fact, there had only been three thoughts; Kagome being hurt, that he should have been protecting her and colorful cursing for all eagle youkai.

One thing Inuyasha was sure of was that it was his fault Kagome had been injured. If only he had protected her properly! Kagome was his responsibility, and if she died, her life would be on the young hanyou's head.

At the moment, however, taking care of Kagome was more important than beating himself up. Inuyasha could do that later when Kagome was taken care of.

As carefully as he could, Inuyasha sat down cradling Kagome in his lap. Her uniform top was completely soaked through in blood that had already dried and the old bandages had to be changed. From what he could tell, Kagome had stopped bleeding but she was running a slight temperature.

"Dammit bitch, you must enjoy watching my heart stop," Inuyasha whispered affectionately into Kagome's ear.

Letting out a slight breath he began to remove the ruined shirt. Doing so without letting go of Kagome was proving to be quite the challenge. With a grunt of frustration Inuyasha simply shredded the shirt and old bandages with his claws.

Kagome was still wearing that bra thingy. Inuyasha studied it for a moment before looking away guiltily. She was hurt; it wasn't fair to peek on her. He would still have to remove it to see to the wounds properly.

Inuyasha prayed to Kami that she didn't wake up while he was taking care of her. He didn't want her to discover that she was half-naked with him before she realized he was just trying to bandage her wounds. She would sit him until his back broke in two or she got tired of yelling, whichever came first.

Dipping a rag that had come with the bandages into the river, Inuyasha began to wipe away the blood the best he could. The task was seeming difficult without letting go of Kagome and so he took of his haori, laying it down beside him and then laying Kagome on top of it so that she was on her stomach.

From there he was able to figure out how to undo the bra strap without feeling guilty about peeking on her. Kagome had three gashes that ran along her back. Thinking about it, Inuyasha was surprised the bra thingy didn't get shredded along with her shirt.

Two of the wounds were under each shoulder, running vertical. They ended at the middle of her back. The third gash started at Kagome's waist, dangerously close to her spine. If she had moved even the smallest bit Kagome would have died instantly. Still, the wound was only half the size of the other two.

Somehow Inuyasha managed to bind Kagome's wounds without moving her around too much. To anyone who knew the hanyou would have thought it strange to see him so openly careful with the young girl. Everyone knew that Inuyasha was in love with the strange human girl, everyone but Koga, Kagome and Inuyasha himself, that is. Still, the hanyou would never openly take care of the miko so carefully and gently.

It was after Inuyasha had finished taking care of Kagome's bandages that he realized he hadn't brought her another shirt.

Ah, fuck. There is no way I'm going to walk back to camp and let the lech see her like this. I guess she'll just have to wear my haori.

Luckily for Inuyasha, it was after he had securely tied his kimono on Kagome that the girl decided to rouse from her unconscious slumber.

Kagome awoke in layers. The first sense to awaken was her hearing. She could hear the water running in the river and she could hear the breathing of someone beside her. The next sense she was aware of was her smell. Kagome could smell Inuyasha, which meant he was very close, because her human nose would not be able to pick up his scent otherwise.

Kagome tasted the metallic flavor of blood resting in her mouth. It was when she became aware of the blood in her mouth that the feeling of her entire body returned to her. It hurt so much.

"Inuyasha . . ." Kagome said weakly.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's head shot up when he heard the young girl say his name. "Kagome, how do you feel?"

Kagome tried to move her arm before she gave up and said the first thing that popped into her head. "Like absolute shit."

Inuyasha smiled softly at her use of language. She must really be out of it if she was cursing without realizing it.

"What happened?" Kagome's voice was barely above a whisper.

"The eagle youkai came after you when you told me where he was keeping the shard."

"Oh. Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?" was the next thing Kagome asked.

That's Kagome, Inuyasha though gloomily, always putting everyone else before herself.

"Everyone else is fine, if not a bit tired. They're more concerned with how you are doing."

"I'll be okay, won't I?" Kagome asked, a bit confused.

Inuyasha paused a moment before answering her. "Yeah, you'll be just fine."

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I wearing your haori?"

"Uh . . .yeah?" Inuyasha tensed for the sit he knew was coming.

"Oh, where's my shirt?"

"I don't think you want it anymore Kagome. There was too much blood on it for even your future thingys to get out. Plus I shredded it into pieces when I bandaged up your wounds."

"You bandaged me up?"

"Uh . . ."

"Why didn't Sango?"

Good question. Why didn't Sango take care of her? Too bad that was a question that would not be answered by Inuyasha, even to himself.

"Sango's busy," was all the inuhanyou would say on that subject.

Kagome smiled to herself, happy to find some evidence Inuyasha cared for her. Sometimes she doubted how much she really mattered to him. "I'm glad you care, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, more to herself.

It was loud enough for Inuyasha's sensitive ears to pick up. "Of course I care stupid! You're the first friend I had after my mother died!" Inuyasha yelled before he could realize what he was saying.

He felt Kagome tense in his arms before she relaxed and smiled again. "Thanks for taking care of me."

Inuyasha relaxed a bit before speaking again. "Feh. What are friends for if not to take care of you when you're bleeding your heart out? Besides, you do it enough for me."

"That's real comforting."

A playful glint entered Inuyasha's eyes. "Really? It wasn't meant to be."

"Baka," Kagome muttered half-heartily before she let herself start to drift off into sleep.

All she knew was that Inuyasha was holding her and that she was safe. Kagome felt that simply being held by Inuyasha could keep death at bay.

Inuyasha stood up and began to collect the shredded shirt and leftover bandages with a soft smile on his face. Kagome might not be out of danger yet, but that small conversation was enough to lift his spirits.

Back at camp Shippou had unrolled Kagome's sleeping bag and readied her sleeping area. Inuyasha silently cursed when he realized he would have to put Kagome down. But why should he care? She's just a human girl!

Inuyasha shook of the lies he knew he was telling himself and focused on taking care of Kagome. As gently as he could, he set Kagome down in her sleeping bag so that she was lying on her side and zipped the comforter up around her. "Shippou," Inuyasha called.

Shippou stood up from his place at the fire by Kirara as he walked over to Inuyasha's side. "Hai Inuyasha?"

"Don't sleep on Kagome like you usually do. I don't want you causing her any unnecessary pain."

"I'm not that stupid Inuyasha," Shippou replied, sticking his nose up in the air.

"That point can be argued," Inuyasha said calmly as he walked towards the fire and sat down across from Miroku and Sango.

"Did Kagome wake up at all down by the river?" asked Sango.

"Yeah, for a bit. But she fell asleep before she could say much."

"Perhaps that is a sign that she is recovering?" Miroku asked hopefully.

"Maybe," was all Inuyasha would say.

"We need to get our rest for tomorrow's journey. I believe we should all go to sleep now," said Sango as she readied her bedding for the night, making sure she was a good distance from the groping hands of Miroku.

Inuyasha nodded in agreement and moved to the base of the tree that sheltered Kagome. He would not be getting any sleep tonight.

Miroku watched as his companions settled in for the night. He had seen how much blood Kagome lost. It was too much for even the strongest to survive for long. Sighing in unacceptable grief, Miroku admitted what everyone else refused to believe.

Kagome was dying.