Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 34

Whipping out her fan, Kagura blew the advancing hanyou back against the tree he had been resting against, smiling at the sound of the impact and at least one crunching sound.  “Be a good puppy and stay right there.  I believe everyone would like to have a talk with you before the dance starts.”  She purred out silkenly.

“Oh, indeed we do!”  Kouga growled, cracking his knuckles, a scowl marring his handsome face.

Standing by Kouga’s shoulder, staff firmly panted on the ground, a bare, angry look on his face, was Miroku.  “I’m sure, at this point, you know the topic we want to talk to you about:  Kagome and what you did to her.”

Moving over, Sango stood by Kagura but didn’t say a word.  She was far too angry to say anything.  As upset as she was she was well aware that she wouldn’t be able to effectively articulate anything she had to say.  Then there was the fact that she knew the hard-headed hanyou wouldn’t listen to a word any of them had to say.  As she well knew this, and what they had to say, was being done for their sakes, not because it had any chance of changing Inuyasha or making him see the light.  Secretly, she wondered if beating the tar out of him might not make things worse for Kagome and make him fixate on her more.  There was also a suspicion that he would blame her for their actions and fixate on her to get revenge for it.  She was well aware of the hanyou’s need for getting vengeance.  This might actually make the situation worse.  But she was also aware that the speculation of that wasn’t going to get the rest of the pack to back away either.  They wanted revenge for the little priestess and revenge they would have.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Sucking in great gulps of air, Inuyasha kept a watchful eye on those that were standing in front of him as he willed his wounded and battered body to heal as fast as it possibly could.  He was going to need every once of the strength he could muster and quickly from the looks of things.  There was no way in hell he was going to go down without a fight!  He also silently vowed to himself that everyone that struck a blow was going to end up just as hurt as he was.

Struggling to his feet, one fist clenched, snorting like an enraged bull, he glared at all of them.  Already he could feel his strength returning.  No he just wanted to delay things as long as he could to get as much back as possible.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Sitting by the fire back at camp, Sesshomaru ignored his other half and focused fully on the little onna in his arms.  Understanding that now wasn’t the time to worry about the whelp and retribution his other half retreated even further back but partially remained so that their chosen knew it was there and would protect her.

Since rescuing her the taiyoukai had yet to see the totality of what the boy had done to her.  She had been pressed up against him for the most part and he was more worried about getting her away than anything else.  Now was the time to take a look.

As gently and easily as he could, he moved her around to where she was sitting, facing him, on his crossed legs with one of his strong arms wrapped around her so she could sit up.  That first full look at her made him give an internal wince, his hand clenched a bit and his temper skyrocketed all at the same time.  No, the injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been but they were bad enough.  The only places that were really oozing blood were the puncture wounds on her jaw line though there was a small crack high on her cheekbone where the skin had split from the swelling.  Mostly the whole side of her face was swollen and black and blue.  Her eye was almost completely swollen shut.  There did seem to be a large knot on her jaw near the very back of it as well.

Looking up, he gazed into her eyes and his heart clenched painfully once more.  The pain and tears he saw there made him hurt all over.  “Kagome, I’m sorry.  It’s my fault the half-breed was able to get his claws on you once more.”  He told her quietly, voice filled with emotion.

“No, it wasn’t.”  She told him, voice a bit thick and muffled sounding with just a touch of tears in it still.  “Unless you want me to go with you when you water a tree there are going to be times I can’t be with you.”  Hitching a sob, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him and rested her forehead on his chest.  “I was so scared! I’ve never seen him that angry!  I thought I was going to die.”  She finished quietly, voice almost a whisper.

Wrapping both arms around her, he kissed her on top of the head then stroked her back a bit.  “You’re safe now.  I’m here and won’t go anywhere.”  He soothed the best he could.

Suddenly, she jerked back, eyes wide, then tried to yank away from him desperately.

Not understand what was going on, he held onto her a bit tighter, trying to sooth her.  “Calm down Kagome!  You’re safe now.”

“No!  You need to let go!”  She garbled out, slapping a hand over her mouth, yanking away harder.

Not wanting to fight her and make whatever it was worse, he let her go.  He was about to try to talk her down when she half crawled, half scrambled to the edge of the camp then began to retch before starting to vomit.  Wincing at the sound, he wrinkled his nose and felt his stomach roil in an unpleasant way as the smell hit him.  This was a situation he really didn’t know how to handle.  Looking around the campsite, trying to find something, anything, that would give him a clue as to what he could do for her.  Finally, his golden eyes lit on the discarded water containers.  Scrabbling to his feet, he went over and grabbed the only one with water in it then poured her some in one of the cups sitting by the fire.  Grabbing a washcloth that was lying on a rock with bathing supplies, he wet it then made his way over to her.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Taking a step forward so that she was a bit ahead of the others, Sango hoisted her weapon up a bit higher to try and deter a certain blockhead hanyou from thinking about doing anything stupid, she fixed him with a glare that could have easily passed as one that Sesshomaru gave him before he left. Then she began to speak, voice quiet yet hard as the most unforgiving stone.  “Inuyasha…” she trailed off trying to keep her temper under control and order her thoughts as to what she wanted to say.  “The night I told you I was leaving I made it clear how I felt about behavior like this.  At that point I didn’t know how bad it was.  After what we just saw and having dealt with weeks of you stalking Kagome my opinion of you has sunk even lower.  I didn’t think that was possible but it happened. 

“Standing here right now I can honestly say I’m more furious with you than I have been at most other beings.  My anger with you is on par with what I feel for Naraku.  With him you know he’s evil and will stop at nothing to get what he wants and derives pleasure in seeing people hurt in all kinds of way.  But, on one level, you’re even worse.  You made sure we all trusted you and made us feel like we were all a family.  But you made sure that you hid things from us.  Then there is what you did to Kagome…

“What you did to her is beyond cruel.  From the time I joined up with you it was blatantly obvious that she loved you and would, and has, done everything in the world for you.  She gave up almost everything she had in the world to follow you around while you followed the path you’ve chosen.  She put up with what could only be termed you cheating on her with Kikyo.  She put up with your temper and disrespect of her for years.  And her love never wavered.  Over and over she’s been attacked, been injured and suffered in so many other ways to follow you.  Most beings would have given up and gone home to resume their lives but she stuck by your side.  Hell, she’s even rescued Kikyo a few times because she didn’t want you to be hurt.  I think I can honestly say most of the rest of us wouldn’t have bothered.

“I don’t think I ever saw her happier than when you finally pulled your head out of wherever it was and told her you wanted her as a mate.  We were all happy, deliriously happy. Then you ruined it.  No, completely destroyed is a better term for it.  And tried to do it to her as well.”

Stepping even closer to the hanyou, she fixed him with a look that would have even made Naraku cringe and slither away.  “I’m not going to participate in whatever the rest are going to do to you.  Not because I believe you don’t deserve it because you do.  You deserve whatever they’re going to give you and more.  But because right now Kagome needs me more than I need to try to pound some sense into that thick skull of yours.  But, before I go, remember this Inuyasha…  I’ve declared war on you the same way I have Naraku.  If we have another encounter like this I will stop at nothing to put an end to what you’re doing.  What relationship we’ve had in the past won’t matter to me.”  Shooting him another dark look, she then spit on him and turned away.  Calling Kirara, she then walked out of the clearing and headed back to where they were camped.

As the slayer walked away, Miroku started to clap.  Soon all of them joined in.

“Quite well put I think.”  Miroku said with an approving nod.  “Of course I agree with all of it!”

“Hear!  Hear!”  Kouga bellowed loudly.  Looking over at Ginta and Hakkaku then jerked his head the direction Sango had left.  “Go with Sango and give her all the help she needs.  We’ll be there shortly.”  Looking at Inuyasha, he gave a wicked grin.  “This won’t take long.”  Then he cracked his knuckles again.

After shooting the hanyou a dark look, both wolf demons nodded and headed off after the slayer.

Once she was out of sight the ookami turned back to Inuyasha, a wicked grin on his face.  “I’m not as nice as her, I’m going to have no problem making you pay for what you did to Kagome.”

“That makes two of us.”  Kagura said, once more flicking her fan open.

Blue eyes twinkling, Kouga gestured for the kazi to step in front of him. “Ladies first!”

Stepping up, Kagura gave him a nod.  “Thanks Kouga.”  Then she glared at the hanyou who had once more managed to struggle to his feel.  “Let’s play, shall we Inuyasha.”

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Dizzy, Kagome put her hand on the tree that was by her to steady herself as she gulped in a great lungful of air to try to dispel what remained of the nausea while she swiped at her streaming eyes with the back of her hand.

When she was finished, he crouched down behind her and put a hand on her back then handed her the glass of water.

Taking it gratefully, she swished out her mouth a couple times then drank the rest of it.  With a sigh, she shut her eyes and leaned back against him.  At that point her legs felt too rubbery to allow her to stand and the rest of her was too weak to even attempt it.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her back against his chest but didn’t say anything.  Then he began to cover the evidence of what she had done so it didn’t attract scavengers.  While doing that he couldn’t help but notice that most of what was there was fresh blood plus the tooth.  Saying nothing about it he finished then picked her up and carried her back over to the fire.  Once there he handed her the wash cloth so she could clean her sweaty face.

Gently as she could, she cleaned up then sat the rag aside and leaned back against him, eyes closed.

Having seen the blood he was now concerned about internal injuries.  Trying to be as inconspicuous as he could, he began to feel around on her abdomen to see if he could discern if there was anything wrong.  “Did he hit you anywhere but the face?”  He asked quietly.

Eyes shut, she shook her head.  “No, he just hit me the one time.”

“The blood…”  He asked, trailing off.

“It came from the cut in my mouth and where I lost the tooth.  I swallowed a lot of it.  Lots of blood upsets the human’s stomach.”  She explained.  The pain in her mouth and face was so bad that she wasn’t able to sit still and thought it may well drive her mad if it continued on much longer.  Desperately, she tried to focus on what was in her pack that might help.  She knew that this was well beyond what a couple ibuprofens could take care of.

Sesshomaru as well was trying to think of what he could do for her.  Though he knew many plants and herbs that were used for healing things but things to ease pain were beyond him.  That kind of thing he left to true healers or Kagome.  But with the shape the little priestess was in he doubted that she could concentrate long enough to tell him how to mix anything up.  Then, as if it was an answer to a prayer, something emerged from the trees that would be able to help: Sango.  Quite frankly, he hadn’t been this pleased to see anyone in a very long time.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Propping her weapon against one of the trees, Sango hurried over to where the couple was sitting then crouched down in front of them.  No, she was not healer but she knew enough about injuries to treat the mold to moderate ones and how to deal with the pain that came with them.  “How are you feeling Kagome?  Does it really hurt?”  She asked gently though she was fairly certain she knew the answer to the question from the look of her face.

“It really hurts.”  The miko said softly, still shaking a bit and clinging to Sesshomaru.

Nodding in understanding, the slayer began to formulate what she had to do.  Just then her attention was drawn to Ginta and Hakkaku returning to camp.  Looking at the two, she said, “Grab the containers and fill them.  Be quick about it please.”

Nodding, the two wolf demons gathered them up then headed to the river.

Turning her attention back to the miko, she told her, “I’m going to touch your face to see if anything’s broken, OK?  It’s probably going to hurt a bit but I’ll be as gentle as I can, OK?” She said in what she hoped was a calm, soothing voice.

Tensing up a bit, Kagome nodded though.

As gently as she could, the slayer felt around on the heavily bruised area.  Though the miko winced and whimpered a bit there were no overt cries of pain telling her there were probably no broken bones.  When she got to the knot of her jaw the priestess cried out.  Even from the light touch the slayer felt the teeth wiggle slightly and a gap between them.  “I’m sorry Kagome.”  She told her quietly then moved on to the claw marks on her jaw line.  They were already closed and partially healed.

Putting her hands back in her lap, she looked at her friend.  “I don’t think anything’s broken.  But the loose teeth are probably the source of pain.  I can fix you something up for the pain and make a poultice to take the sting out of the bruises. Sesshomaru is the best one to handle the cuts.  He can ensure that they heal and won’t scar.”  She told her friend.  Looking at the demon lord, she saw him nod. 

“Can you make her something for nausea as well?  She’s been sick to her stomach.”  The taiyoukai asked, gently rubbing the miko’s back.

“Sure, not a problem.”  The slayer said with a nod.  “Are all the herbs and plants in your first aid kit still labeled Kagome?”

“Yeah.” The miko answered quietly.

“OK.”  Sango said and grabbed the big pack then began to rifle through it.  

“The others…”  Sesshomaru asked, trailing off, meaning the rest of the pack.

“They will be back when they’re finished.”  She told him, eyes a bit hard.  “I felt Kagome needed my help more than they did.”  She told him.

“Understood.”  The taiyoukai said.

When Ginta and Hakkaku returned Sango put water on to boil then began to put together what she needed.  Sesshomaru went back to licking her wounds to heal them after directing the two wolf demons to pack up anything in camp that Sango wouldn’t need.  Though he doubted Inuyasha would be in any shape to tail them he wanted to put as much distance from this place as he possibly could in hopes that by the time the half-breed could move again their trail would be long gone and it would take him tine to find them. 

When the water was a bit warm, Sango mixed a cup of it with some salt then dipped a cotton ball in it.  Walking over to Kagome, she handed her the cup.  “Rinse your mouth out with this.  It’ll help with the pain for a while.  It won’t last long but will help.”

Nodding, Kagome took the cup and did as she was told.  Almost immediately there was some relief from the pain.  No, it didn’t go completely away but it cut it down to a level she could easily deal with.

Taking the cup back, Sango handed her the wet cotton ball.  “Put that where the tooth was.  It should help a bit more.  At least until I can get the draught finished.”

“Thanks Sango.”  Kagome said, voice still a bit thick and muffled from the swelling.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Right after Kagome swallowed the draught the other members of the pack once more appeared at camp. All seemed to have a satisfied smile on all their faces.

Holding Kagome close, his mokomoko wrapped around her, Sesshomaru watched them with a keen eye.  “I take it you taught the whelp a lesson he won’t soon forget?”  He asked.

Grinning wickedly, Kouga had a proud look on his face.  “Oh yes.  Me and Kagura both made sure that we imparted our displeasure at his actions and a lesson that he should think long and hard before he attempts something so foolish again in the future.”

Smirking, Sesshomaru nodded.  “He’s alive, isn’t he?”

“Oh yes.”  Miroku said serenely with a nod.  “I posted some sutras around the clearing so he won’t be attacked while he ponders what he did and recovers.  I was also able to get the beads changed while he and Kagura were ‘dancing’.”

“Very good.”  Sesshomaru said with a satisfied nod.  Though his beast was till upset that they weren’t involved in the ‘lesson’ imparted to the hanyou it liked the fact that he had probably been given a beating that would rival ones they had graced the boy with several times in the past.

Forcing himself to not ask for details, he would wait until they were settled in for the night and Kagome was soundly asleep for that, he told everyone that they would be shifting camp once more and the reason why.  They were just going to wait until the pain draught had taken effect and Kagome was more comfortable to do so. 

Understanding why, everyone agreed and started to ensure that everything was broken down and ready to go when the time came.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

Leaning against the tree, Inuyasha panted heavily and tried to focus through the throbbing fog of pain that surrounded him.  He was sure what Kouga and Kagura had done to him qualified as the worst beating he had ever taken in his life, bar none.  No, other than a rap to the head with his staff hard enough that it made him see stars, the monk hadn’t participated but the other two more than made up for it.  Before they had even started his right arm had been broken in several places by Sesshomaru.  But now the other one was as well and one of his legs.  He was also fairly certain that all his ribs were either broken or cracked.  That alone made it hard to breath and every time he sucked in air he was in absolute agony.  Then there was his face….  It felt like one big, swollen, throbbing mass.  No, he couldn’t see it, nor did he really want to, but it felt like there wasn’t one tiny patch of it that wasn’t either bruised or sliced.  It was also obvious to him that his nose was broken.  Running his tongue over his split lower lip, he winced when it encountered his broken fang.

Sighing heavily, wincing at the pain that shot through his ribs, he relaxed back against the tree.  Oh no, he wasn’t even going to try to move from this spot for quite some time.  Even if he wanted to he doubted he could move.  It was probably going to take a good 24 hours before he would be able to do that with any kind of ease at all.

Fighting the urge to sigh again, he waffled between pure outrage over what Kouga and Kagura had done to him and guilt over what he had done to Kagome.  Yes, part of him felt that what they had done to him was both deserved and justified but, as one would expect, another part of him was lobbying for revenge at the outrage. 

Along with that he also gave thanks to his father for leaving him the fire rat.  Without it he was sure that Kagura would have sliced him to ribbons.  Yes, his exposed skin had been sliced up pretty good but his vital parts had been protected from her Dance of Blades.

Trying to relax the best he could he felt getting some sleep was probably the best thing he could do.  As he well knew his body could do a good job of healing when he was asleep and could direct most of its energy towards healing, making it an option he needed to consider.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

About an hour or so after he fell asleep he was jerked back to the waking world by something.  Opening his eyes, he looked around but saw nothing amiss.  Shutting them again, he scanned around the best he could then almost sobbed with relief at what he felt moving his direction.

Willing his wounded body to move, he sat up the best he could, ignoring the pain that rocked and pulsed through him.  Fighting down the bit of nausea that came with it he waited nervously.

When Kikyo stepped into the clearing he felt his eyes fill with tears a bit.  She would help him, that he knew.

When she saw him she hurried over then knelt down before him.  Eyes wide, taking in his injuries, she put a hand on his head.  “Inuyasha!  What happened to you?”

“Kouga and Kagura, at Sesshomaru’s prompting.”  He whispered.

Eyes growing wider, the dead miko didn’t understand what could have happened to have prompted what he said.  It made no sense to her.  Shunting that aside to be asked about later, she pushed on.  “Where are Kagome and your other friends?”

“Sesshomaru took her away from me and everyone else decided to join him.”  He told her quietly, biting his tongue to keep from elaborating any more.  Yes, what he told her was the truth but there was a whole lot he left out and now wasn’t the time for that.  He needed her help, desperately, and wasn’t sure if he would get it if she knew the whole story.

None of this made any form of sense at all to her.  No, she didn’t know the great and terrible taiyoukai well but what she was hearing most certainly didn’t sound like what she did know of him.  But she filed that away for later as well.  Now she needed to concentrate on his injuries.  Later on he could fill her in n just what was going on.  Rubbing his ears in a reassuring way, she told him, “I’m going to get some water and collect a few plants then I’ll come back and attend to your wounds.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Thanks Kikyo.”  He said with a grateful sigh.

When she vanished from sight he relaxed a great deal.  She was most certainly a sight for sore eyes!  Then, unable to help himself, his mind slipped to Kagome.  Kikyo most certainly could go a long ways towards aiding him in getting her back! 

For Kagome, Kikyo had always been a serious sore spot.  Even after they were mated it had been that way.  He most certainly could use that to his advantage.   Letting Kagome know that he was once more with her could make her jealous enough that she would forget everything and come back to him.  There was no way Kagome was going to let Kikyo get the better of her.  That may well be the key to the whole thing.  At this point he was kicking himself for not thinking of this earlier.

…ks…ks…ks…ks…

While Kikyo gathered the plants she would need she thought about what Inuyasha had told her.  The more she thought about it the more  it didn’t make sense and the feeling that something wasn’t right came to her.

From what she knew of Sesshomaru, unless he had changed drastically since the last time she encountered him, there was no way he would have taken Kagome just to tweak his half-brother.  The same with the pack.  They would never have left him without a very good reason.  There had to be more to this situation than she was told.  And she most assuredly wanted to find out what it was.

Then there was the mention of Kouga and Kagura teaming up in any sort of way.  The last she had heard the two were bitter enemies.  Something must have happened somewhere that she didn’t know about.  And she planned to find out what it was.

But first she needed to attend to Inuyasha.  When he was better they were going to have a long talk.