The stench of the youkai blood was starting to make Inu-Yasha feel queasy. It was obvious that it was having the same effect on Kagome, even with her less sensitive sense of smell.
"Maybe we’d better move on." Inu-Yasha gently took Kagome’s arm and helped her up. He kept hold of her arm to steady her as they picked their way around the remains of the youkai, which now steamed in the heat of the sun.
Kagome slipped on a patch of bloody ground. Inu-Yasha caught her, pulling her close to him. He felt Kagome stiffen slightly. She had never reacted like that before.
"Are you sure you’re all right?" He watched her face closely, looking for an indication of what was really wrong, but her expression remained passive.
"Yes, Inu-Yasha. I’m okay. I just can’t take much more of this smell."She stepped back from him and held her hands over her mouth and nose. Inu-Yasha shrugged and once again took her arm. Could he have frightened her that badly when he transformed? He knew the others feared coming near him in his transformed state. Only Kagome had been willing to risk herself to stay by his side at those times.
They were nearly clear of the blood-soaked field. As he helped Kagome around a particularly gruesome piece of youkai, something caught his attention.
It was a claw. A large, gnarled claw. Its fingers were as large around as Kagome’s forearms, and the talons were proportionately large. He glanced at the scratches on Kagome’s shoulder. There was no possible way those scratches had been made by this youkai. Inu-Yasha glanced down at his own hand. He lifted it to hold it near Kagome’s shoulder. The side and proportion of his own claws were a perfect match. There was only one possibility. Inu-Yasha himself had been the one to injure Kagome. "I’m the one that scratched you, aren’t I?" He turned Kagome to face him.
"It was an accident, Inu-Yasha. You would never hurt me on purpose."Kagome quickly turned and started walking ahead.
Accident or not, it had been Inu-Yasha himself who had injured Kagome. He would never be able to forgive himself for this.
He caught up with Kagome, but walked next to her, his hands folded across his chest. He glanced her way frequently, but the two walked in silence.
Inu-Yasha was uncomfortable with the unaccustomed quiet. Kagome was usually talkative, and of course with Miroku, Sango, and Shippo away, there was none of the usual joking around.
Just when he thought he could take the silence no more, the old bone-eater’s well came within sight. Kagome let out a sigh of relief. "At least now I can get out of these clothes and take a bath." The youkai blood on Kagome’s school uniform had dried while they walked, and now the dried blood cracked in places when she moved. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, seeming more like her usual self.
Inu-Yasha held onto Kagome’s elbow as they jumped into the bone-eater’s well together.