InuYasha had fallen asleep up in a tree, completely exhausted from the day's battle. They'd been able to gain another shard of the Shikon Jewlel, but everyone had had their fair share of scrapes and bruises afterward. It was not long after had the group decided to settle down and rest and recouperate. They found a little abandoned hut to stay in, and had since went about their own duties. InuYasha had went out to scout for any potential dangers nearby, and happened to stop up in a tree. He found himself so tired and drained from the battle that though he had only meant to close his eyes for a moment, he had fallen asleep. Only a short while into his slumber was he jolted awake by a shrill, piercing scream. He nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. 'That sounded like Kagome!'
"Kagome! I'm coming!" He yelled and jumped out of the tree, running furiously towards the direction of her scream. He soon saw her backed against a rock, and looking at something, terrified. She let out another scream, edging away from whatever it was she was she was scared of.
"InuYasha!"
InuYasha jumped and landed next to the rock in fighting stance, hand around the hilt of the Tetsaiga, ready for battle.
"What's wrong Kagome? What's attacking, where is it?" He asked, surveying the area. She pointed with a shaky hand at her shoe on the ground in front of her.
"There! It's there! Get it, InuYasha! Get it!"
InuYasha looked confused. "Huh?" He squatted down and peered at Kagome's shoe. A fat beetle was sitting on her shoe. "A beetle?" He looked back at Kagome, an annoyed expression on his face. "Kagome, did you seriously wake me up to take care of a bug for you?"
Kagome nodded sheepishly, "I-it has pinchers, InuYasha!" The half-demon growled.
"I can't believe you," he picked up the beetle by one of its legs and stood up, "being scared by a little bug."
"It's not little! It's h-uuuge!" Kagome shrank back against the rock as InuYasha crouched in front of her, waggling the beetle at her threateningly.
"You fight demons daily, but yet you're scared of this?" He asked, stretching the hand with the beetle out towards her.
"Ah! InuYASHA! Get it away from me!" Kagome closed her eyes and shrank away again.
"Don't be such a baby, Kagome, it's just a bug, get over it!" He was getting irritated now, and thrust the bug at her. Kagome screamed again, and flailed her fists and kicked at him, trying to get the bug away.
"O-ow!" a red bump began to appear on InuYasha's head where a kick landed, and Kagome had knocked the offending beetle out of his hand. Kagome shot up, picked up her shoe, and ran towards the hut they were staying in, turning around momentarily to glare at the silver-haired half-demon
"I can't believe you, InuYasha! You're such a JERK!" She fumed.
"Oh, come on, Kagome, it was just-" InuYasha didn't have time to finish because he was suddenly face-first on the ground as Kagome yelled,
"SIT, BOY!"
"UGH!" InuYasha twitched weakly on the ground as Kagome turned up her nose and stomped off to the hut.
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As expected, tensions were high between the two over dinner, as the group sat around the fire eating some food that Kagome had brought from her era. Kagome and InuYasha had decided to sit on opposite sides of the room from each other, and while they were as far away from the other as possible, they still kept throwing each other glares through out the meal. At first, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had tried to stave off the tension by trying to make conversation, but Kagome and InuYasha had only found ways to insult the other and it only made things worse, so they all just sat in uncomfortable silence.
Finishing her food, Kagome stood up, casting a final glare towards the half-dog-demon. "I'm going out for a walk." She said briskly, and walked out the hut.
"Isn't it dangerous for her to walk around at night alone?" Shippo asked, popping a potato chip in his mouth.
"She'll be fine! Besides, I scanned the area for danger before we ate, anyways." InuYasha crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his eyebrows, frowning.
"What did you do to make her so mad, InuYasha?" Miroku asked. InuYasha snarled.
"I didn't do anything! She was just being a baby." He glared. "She always gets upset at the stupidest things."
"Well, what happened?" Sango asked, petting Kirara.
InuYasha scoffed, "I don't know, she got scared by a bug."
"What do you mean?" the demon-slayer looked at him, confused.
"I heard her scream, so I run towards her, she calls my name like she's in danger, and I get to her, right, I ask what's wrong, and she points to a dumb beetle on her shoe! Like, are you kidding me? She called me over to get rid of a stupid bug! What am I, an exterminator?"
"What did you do then?" Sango asked.
"Hmph. I picked it up and shoved it at her. She needs to get over it, it can't even hurt her."
"Are you kidding, InuYasha?!" Shippo chastised, jumping over to hit him on the head.
"Why you-!" InuYasha growled, swiping at the fox-demon. Shippo dodged, and jumped back to his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring.
"No wonder Kagome was so mad!" he said, "That was really mean of you, InuYasha, scaring her like that."
"It's so stupid to be afraid of something so small and harmless!" the wolf-demon yelled.
"That's not the point, InuYasha." Miroku said, sighing. "It doesn't matter if you think it's stupid to be afraid of bugs or not, to Kagome, it's a real fear. She called to you to protect her from that fear. And you threw it in her face, literally, instead of helping her. You have to see why she would be upset."
InuYasha sat quiet, eyebrows furrowing in thought. It was quiet in the hut for a couple moments. Finally, InuYasha growled in annoyance.
"Damn it." He stood up, adjusting the sword on his hip. He headed towards the door, grumbling.
"Where are you going?" Shippo asked.
"I'm going to go check to see if there's any demons around." the half-demon replied.
"But you said you checked already before dinner." Shippo said, puzzled.
"I-I thought I might have smelled something just now, I'm going to go check it out! Don't bother yourselves with this, I can handle it. It's probably nothing anyways." InuYasha walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
He was quickly able to pick up Kagome's scent and which direction she had gone. He followed it into the nearby woods. He jumped through the trees, and eventually spotted her sitting next to a small pond in a clearing. InuYasha silently jumped down and landed in the soft grass, approaching her. She looked so peaceful there, the light of the moon dancing off the calm water of the pond. She was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, arms wrapped around them, resting her head on her knees. She looked thoughtful, staring at the moonlit water, that is, until she noticed InuYasha sit beside her.
"What do you want?" She asked, annoyance evident in her voice. InuYasha crossed his arms, avoiding her gaze.
"I came to apologize, okay?" he replied, snooty.
She looked at him quizzically. "You did?"
"Heh." He scoffed. "Yeah. Look, I'm sorry. I"m sorry I scared you with the stupid bug. There. Are you happy, now?" He asked, looking at her. She stared back at him, a small smile on her lips.
"Yes...Thank you, InuYasha." She said. He seemed taken aback a little.
"I mean, I know you look to me for protection and stuff, and I shouldn't judge the things you're scared of just because I'm not scared of them." He said. She looked genuinely happy.
"That means a lot, InuYasha. Really." She said, smiling bigger. InuYasha looked a bit sheepish.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome." He huffed. Kagome tried to stifle a giggle. He really was a big softie deep down. "What's so funny, huh?" He looked at her suspiciously. She held up her hands in a peace-making gesture.
"Oh, it's nothing." She smiled.
"Pfft. Whatever." The half-demon grumbled. Kagome stretched her legs out, scooting closer to the silver-haired male. She looked at him, curious. "What?" He asked her.
"I was just wondering, InuYasha..." she started.
"Hmm?"
"Well, I was wondering what you are scared of?" Kagome peered at him.
"What I'm scared of?" he asked.
"Yeah. Like, you said you're not scared of bugs, but I am, so...what are you scared of, InuYasha?" Kagome had expected him to laugh and say that he wasn't scared of anything, but he just sat there silently for a few moments. When he finally answered, it was not the answer she had expected.
"I-I'm scared of losing you, Kagome." He admitted, looking at her, serious. Her eyes widened, and she could feel herself blushing.
"You're scared...of losing me?" She asked. "Why?" She then sighed. "Oh, right, it's because I can sense the jewel shards..."
InuYasha startled her. "It's not just that!" he said, voice raised. "I mean..." he started, lowering his voice, "I don't know, you're important to me, Kagome. And not just because you can sense the shards. I care about you, you know..." he trailed off, feeling his cheeks heating up as well. Despite his embarassment, he locked his eyes with hers, and could feel himself lean in towards her a bit. Her eyes widened, and her blush deepened.
'Is he...going to kiss me?!' she wondered to herself. Her heartbeat quickened. InuYasha reached out to brush a strand of hair off of her face. He unconsciously let his gaze drop to her lips, which were quivering slightly. He looked back up at her eyes, and found them half-lidded.
"Inu...Yasha..." Kagome whispered as he leaned in. InuYasha reached out to brush a strand of hair off of her face. Just as their lips were about to touch, they heard a yell:
"InuYasha! Kagome!" It wasn't that far off. InuYasha and Kagome gasped in unison, jumping apart from each other, blushing furiously.
"Hey, you guys," Shippo came up to them. "What were you guys doing?" InuYasha stood up, trying to cover up his embarassment.
"Nothing, you twerp!"
"What were you guys doing so close to each other? Were you guys going to kiss?" The fox-demon asked innocently.
"NO!" The dog-demon yelled, "She-she just had a bug in her hair, that's all!"
-End-
