Summary: Kagome has never told Inuyasha about what Mukotsu tried to do to her. One day though, after Inuyasha has beaten up two guys who were talking about her, it seems to just... slip out.

Warning: Mentioned sexual assault/attempted rape. Nothing happens during the one-shot, but it is discussed through most of it.

Word count: 2,180

Inuyasha had promised himself a long time ago, as his mother was buried, minutes before he was hunted out of the castle where he used to live with her, that he would never let himself feel powerless again. It wouldn't matter how much pain he had to endure, it wouldn't matter what he would have to break to get there. He would never feel like that again.

Of course, there was no way for him to keep that promise. He had felt powerless time and time again. Every new moon. When he had watched Kikyo die. When Kagome had been taken away from him and he had thought he might not ever see her again. But since her return, well, things had been pretty calm, and he had thought — he had hoped — that perhaps he was finally done with it.

He knew it was naive. Him, of all people, knew better than to expect fucking anything from life.

And watching Kagome's expressionless face right now was making him feel the most powerless he had in years.

It hadn't been much, technically. He had overheard a couple of merchants talking crudely, to say the least, about things that they'd like to do to Kagome, and about how anyway, considering what she was fucking she had no room to refuse them.

So naturally, he had done the only sensible thing, in that he had pulled out Tessaiga and, after scaring the shit out of them, had given them a reasonable beating — reasonable given what they were saying, that is. Then, of course, Kagome had come out of thin air and had interrupted him.

"Inuyasha," she'd scolded, her tone tired rather than angry, "you can't keep doing that."

"Had a good reason," he replied through gritted teeth. He didn't want to give too many details on what exactly had just happened. The things she was exposing herself to by simply being with him… That terrified him. Disgusted him, too, and he couldn't do anything about it. Except leaving her, which wasn't a better solution.

"And what was that good reason?" she asked, rolling her eyes as the merchants escaped.

He glared at the two figures. Somehow, watching people running away from him just brought his instincts out. He wanted them dead.

"Inuyasha?"

Yeah. That'd have to wait.

"Were saying some nasty shit about you," he said with an uncomfortable shrug.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

"I told you before, I don't care about that, and I don't want you to be fighting for me. I can do it myself if I need to."

He should have left it there. He usually did. He admitted he was wrong, said sorry, and went pouting in the forest until she met him at the bottom of the Goshinboku, generally with some food. His resolve never lasted long, and the cycle repeated fairly regularly. But today, the things they'd been saying… Today, he had felt scared. And he probably should have kept that fear to himself, but some part of him thought that maybe it would be better if she was prepared. That way, she could make the choice to leave him.

"You don't know what they were saying, Kagome," he said instead. "'s probably better, too," he admitted immediately, ears drooping, expecting questions and refusing to let her know, already changing his mind. He was scared. He didn't want her to be.

This time though, she looked exasperated. Usually, he kinda liked it when she did. The way she frowned, the way she pouted, the way it often ended with a kiss… But there was no room in this interaction for him to enjoy what was happening.

"Do you really think I don't know what they're saying?"

Air left his lungs, like she had punched him in the stomach. His mouth opened and closed, and usually, Kagome would have noticed, would have slowed down, would have stopped herself, but this time she was looking away from him.

"It's not exactly new either, Inuyasha. It happened when I went to school, when I was in town, when I was in the subway… I can't say I'm surprised it's happening here too."

He felt utterly disgusted at himself when relief flooded through his veins and he could breathe again. She wasn't talking about him.

"That can't be right," he mumbled. She had never talked about it before. He could have taken care of it.

A joyless laugh escaped her lips, and he gritted his teeth as his ears flattened against his head. He loved her laugh. It was his favorite sound in the world, the sound he tried to store in his mind every time he heard it, the sound he had missed for three long years. This wasn't it. This was unpleasant, full of bitterness, and the thought that she had that in her… was horrible.

"You know it is, Inuyasha," and again, it was like she had hit him. "We've run into bandits, you know how they talked about me and Sango. And other people…" She shrugged. "They're not that different."

"Yeah, but…" But he'd always been here when that had happened. He'd always been by her side, he'd always protected her — or, well, he'd thought so. He didn't have the slightest idea about the things that had happened in her time, and that was a horrifying thought. What other things didn't he know about? "…but you're okay, right?"

Her expression changed. It was barely noticeable, and yet he couldn't possibly miss it. Her lips formed a straight line. She certainly wasn't smiling, but she wasn't pouting either. She stopped frowning, and there was nothing on her face that showed any emotions. Even her eyes were empty. It was like a door closing between her and the world.

"It's fine. I just have to be prepared for it."

Prepared. Always. Every single second of her life, bracing herself for what she learned the hard way can happen.

"That ain't an answer."

She closed her eyes.

"Leave it, Inuyasha."

He winced at that.

"I just wanna know if you're okay."

It was the softest, the quietest his voice had ever been, and Kagome… simply couldn't ignore it.

"You remember Mukotsu?"

How could he forget? He'd thought— He'd thought it was all over. Thought he'd lost her, lost his friends, lost everything. Never had Kikyo's proposition been more tempting than it was at that moment. Finishing what he'd started and leaving everything else behind.

"Bastard who poisoned you."

"That's right. Well he also… wanted to make…" She struggled to talk, struggled to find the right words to describe it. "…a good memory before he killed me. Nothing— nothing happened, thankfully, but— It got close enough." His exact words, too. Maybe his way of downplaying his actions; she couldn't be sure. Comfortably silent on what he actually meant by it. Ignoring his hands lingering on her body, ignoring the things that would have happened if she hadn't defended herself and if Sango and Miroku hadn't arrived, ignoring the way he'd hit her when she had dared to defend herself.

"A good—"

Inuyasha didn't know what was taking him so long. This shouldn't have been hard to process. In fact, he should have known where this was going the second she had said that name. But he was being especially slow. That shit happened, sure, but not to Kagome. There was no way he'd have let that happen. There was no way she wouldn't have told him about it.

"That's— Fuck—"

She remained silent, watching him with empty eyes, and he died inside a little more.

"Fuck, Kagome, I'm so fucking— I shouldn't have let that happen."

She briefly bit the inside of her cheek, the dim pain a welcome distraction, then shook her head.

"No offense, Inuyasha, but this isn't about you."

Nah, that wasn't what he'd tried to— Ah, fuck. He just wanted someone to blame for what had happened to her, someone he could take down. Since Sesshomaru had killed Mukotsu and the Seven Mercenaries had been dead for a long time now, there was nothing he could do there. Sure, he could blame himself for it now, but what good would it do?

"Why didn't ya tell me?"

She pursed her lips.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because— Fuck, Kagome, if some bastard does something like this to you, I—"

"Mukotsu's dead. You just beat up those two men. What else do you want?"

Some deeply buried part of her knew it didn't make sense. She knew Inuyasha cared for her, loved her, and of course he'd want to know about it. But the idea of him wanting to kill people about it? This wasn't about her. It was about him. And maybe it was wrong of her, but for this in particular, she needed him to make it about her.

Inuyasha stared at her in silence. At the way her shoulders were shaking slightly, at her set expression. Hurt was slowly spreading through him at the thought that she wouldn't tell him, but he fought it with everything he had. Not now. He wasn't backing out of this just yet, when Kagome was so obviously hurt.

"I wanna know," he repeated stubbornly. "I wanna do— anything I can do to help." He was pretty clueless as to what that was exactly, but fuck that. He refused to abandon her.

Her tense body relaxed.

"There's nothing to do," she replied in a whisper. "I just have to know. It can happen." Even more importantly for the demeaning, insulting words he'd heard, because those were so terribly common. She just had to be prepared every step of the way.

"But that ain't right," he protested, and it was childish, and it was unlike him, because he knew that there wasn't much in the world that was right, but he couldn't let it go. "You shouldn't have to—"

"If I'm not, it's going to— to impact me every single time," she said, hammering the last words through her teeth. "Just look at what happened when we met Miroku for the first time, when we met Koga. I'm stronger now, but there will always be a risk that this will keep happening. I have to be prepared."

He took a step towards her. She lifted her chin almost defiantly, daring him to tell him otherwise with tears in her eyes, ready to spill. And the truth was, he couldn't. He didn't want her to have to go through that, but he had lived the majority of his life behaving exactly like that. It fucking sucked that she had to go through it, and he knew now that it wasn't the best way to deal with things. Yet he didn't know how to tell her any of that.

"I get it," he conceded with some difficulty. "Just— ya know nothing 'bout this is okay, right?"

Again, she shrugged.

"It's not like anything happened. The things I went through, they're— they're okay. It could have been worse, and it wasn't. It's not that bad."

She knew the stories of girls in the village, even of girls at her school. What had happened to her couldn't possibly compare. That was merely a bump in the road, and if it was 'not okay', why did it happen over and over again? Why didn't anyone do anything about it? What did it make the worse things that happen? It was— It was fine.

"That's bullshit," Inuyasha answered bluntly. "You're the one who taught me that, right? If it makes ya feel bad, it matters. 's important. And if— if something happens to ya, I want to know 'bout it. I want to help. If ya don't want me to beat the guy up, I guess I can live with that. Just— I need ya to talk to me, Kagome, 'kay?"

He reached out to caress her cheek gently, and Kagome broke down at the contact. Tears were flowing freely as she grabbed his hand to press it against her skin. Her tears made him just as uncomfortable as ever, but Inuyasha didn't say anything. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close, and kissed the top of her head as he engulfed her completely in his embrace. He wanted her to feel safe. If not every time she stepped outside of their house, at least now. He wanted to give her whatever relief she could have.

"If ya want me to beat Koga and Miroku up, I can, though," he said when he felt her tears calming down. "Y'know it'd make me happy."

She laughed through her sobs, protesting lightly, and it made him feel weirdly proud. He wasn't exactly good at making people laugh, nor at making people feel better, but for her, he'd try.

"Thanks," she mumbled in his chest.

"Anytime."

And he meant it. Anytime, any place, in whatever way she needed him. He would be there for her. Even if it made him feel the most powerless he ever had to hear her sob in his arms.

Anything for her.