Kagome's mother took the thermometer from her daughter's mouth, shaking her head lightly, "Over a 100 degrees, the fever is still not letting up dear."

Kagome coughed once, "Guess I won't be heading to school tomorrow, huh?"

Her mother nodded, "This time we'll be able to give them a legitimate excuse for you not being there."

More homework…just what I didn't need, Kagome thought with a shiver. The fifteen year old had been in bed since the night before, when she had returned home from the Feudal Era. She'd only been out of bed a few times since then to use the restroom, and that was it.

And Kagome was not liking it. She'd rather be out and about with her friends, or back in the Feudal Era with her friends there. Being in bed all day did not make her happy, but her body wasn't feeling well enough to protest. Her throat was sore, her body was burning up and yet she felt cold, and whatever her bare skin touched it felt like she was getting stabbed by a bunch of needles.

"I'll let you rest now. Good night sweetheart," her mother said, turning off the lamp on the bedside table before leaving.

"Night mom," Kagome said weakly. For a moment afterwards, resting in the darkness and trying to rest, Kagome tried to dream of her friends. She wondered how they were holding up without her. Shipp, the fox demon, was more than likely causing trouble. Miroku was probably being a pain to Sango, a demon slayer, and then there was InuYasha.

He's probably mad I never showed up, Kagome thought before entering a small coughing fit. He had a short fuse when it came to me, and that came more of an annoyance than one would think. Still, she hoped he was doing alright.

At that same time, Miroku and the others, as well as InuYasha were enjoying an evening meal before hitting the sack. Shippo had eaten two of the fish Kilala had caught already, and Sango ate as many too.

InuYasha, however, wasn't too hungry. He just sat watching the fire with thoughtful eyes, like in a trance.

After a few minutes of watching him and being annoyed, Shippo poked the dog demon's foot with a sharp stick.

InuYasha screamed in sudden pain, "OW! What was that for?"

Shippo sighed, "We know what's going on, so you can stop acting all depressed, InuYasha."

InuYasha's fist connected with Shippo's skull. A blow that would surely leave a mark, and the fox demon cried out and grabbed his head in pain. "Who says I'm depressed?" InuYasha growled.

Miroku sighed, "Shippo's right InuYasha, you've been acting this way ever since yesterday."

Sango nodded, "Ever since Kagome said she wasn't feeling good."

"Huh?" InuYasha replied, like he had been caught with a trick question. Everyone knew Kagome was always on InuYasha's mind, and even more since she had not come through the well at all that day.

Shippo, still rubbing his head from that last blow, said, "Just go and see her already why don't you?"

InuYasha reared back his fist and Shippo scrambled over to Miroku and hid behind him in fear. InuYasha calmed down a bit, "Why would I at this hour? She's no doubt asleep right now. And even if I wanted to see her I wouldn't want to catch whatever she has. I'll pass."

The monk reacted, "That's rather heartless and selfish if you ask me."

"But no one asked you, Miroku," InuYasha retorted.

Sango fixed her night sack and blanket, "Well, once you do go see her, tell her we said get well soon, okay?" And with that, the demon slayer laid down and tried to rest, but not before saying a warning, "And Miroku? You come even close to me and you'll be sitting on the fire, got that?" Kilala, the nine-tailed fox demon pup, laid near her master, keeping herself ready for anything, be it a demon or a lecherous monk.

Miroku sighed, "Alright then, I'll watch first, Shippo, you get some rest."

Shippo nodded, "Alright! Night!" The demon got into a small night sack Kagome usually prepared for him when she was with them, but since she wasn't there Shippo had to get it himself.

That left Miroku and InuYasha. "So, you are going to go see her, right?"

InuYasha snorted, and didn't reply.

"Very well then, I won't say anything more," Miroku said, smiling up at the moon. He knew as well as the others that InuYasha was worried about Kagome, but he would never admit it. It didn't take him long to figure that out since he started traveling with Kagome and InuYasha. He guessed it was a rocky relationship to begin with, but it just might work out in the end, if InuYasha could get over that stubborn streak he had and their constant fighting.

"Hey Miroku…"

The monk looked at InuYasha, "I have to go see Kaede, I'll be back soon." With that, the dog demon stood up, taking his sword the Tetsuaiga with him and running off at a high rate of speed.

Miroku watched him as he left, and then around, checking on the surroundings. They had seen Kaede earlier in the day for herbal medicines. The fact that they were not too far from the village wasn't too big of a worry, the thing that got Miroku was the direction InuYasha had gone in.

The village was south. InuYasha had gone west.

The monk smiled before turning to the fire, closing his eyes, "That didn't take too long."

Because of his lightning quick speed, InuYasha made it to the well. Shippo and the others could handle themselves while he left for Kagome's time. Sure, a human would have normally been his concern, he had lived to hate humans, but Kagome was different. He didn't just like having her around, he grew restless when she wasn't around. He often felt like a parent who had to keep the child in close proximity otherwise he'd panic.

Reaching the well, InuYasha sat on the edge, concluding, "I'll just see how she's doing and be gone. That's all."

He then jumped into the well, becoming engulfed by a bright blue light.

Kagome couldn't sleep. Her incessant coughing kept her up well past midnight, and she was still cold despite two thick blankets covering her. She was sweating badly too, and that made her feel even more uncomfortable. The only real positive thing since she went to sleep was her headache and sore throat were either gone or had died down, allowing her to breath better.

Her alarm clock read 2 AM and Kagome was wide awake, and she knew trying to force herself to sleep was not going to go well, so she got up from her bed, struggling a little to sit up before her feet touched the carpet. The feeling sent a tingle along her feet, and she walked over to her window.

She opened it just as a light breeze came along, blowing her raven black hair back and making her shiver since her skin was wet with sweat. Trying to warm herself, Kagome shivered, So much for warm summer nights…

Looking up at the stars, which were shining but not as bright as in the Feudal Era due to the big city in the horizon. She thought about when she would be able to return there.

I wonder how impatient InuYasha is right now? She thought about how the dog demon called her names and they got into fights, but as much of an annoyance he was, he did do a bang up job of protecting her. And every once in a while, Kagome did enjoy his company. In fact, she liked having him around more so than anyone else knew.

Though she, like InuYasha, was stubborn to the bone and would never admit that.

As she looked outside, she swore she saw a red blur run across the Higarashi shrine, and before she knew it, InuYasha was down below, looking up at her from near the tree.

"InuYasha?"

The dog demon saw Kagome, and he jumped from the ground up to her window. Kagome took a few steps back to allow him entry. Normally she wouldn't have allowed him to enter her room, but she was more surprised to see him than she was to wanna chastise him. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah…well, everyone noticed you didn't come at all today, so I came to check on you, Kagome," he replied.

"Yeah, I got a fever, been in bed all day," she said before coughing. Her face was a bit puffy too, he noticed.

InuYasha took a step toward her. "You should get back into bed."

She shook her head, but he insisted. As she climbed into bed, the dog demon took a breath and pulled out some sort of plant from his red kimono, "I got you these."

Kagome, sitting up in her bed, could smell the plants, which had a sweet smell, like candy corn on Halloween, "What's that?"

"Kaede's herbs for coughing. Said you put it on your chest it would help with the healing," he explained. Kagome took them slowly, sticking a leaf up under her pajama top, placing it in the center of her chest. Almost immediately it felt as if some weight had been taken off her chest and she could breath easier. "Thanks, InuYasha."

The dog demon was looking away, "Everyone wanted to say get well soon." Feeling he had done what he wanted to do, he started to walk toward the window and Kagome sat up again.

"You leaving already?"

He stopped, "Yeah, why?"

Kagome asked, "Mind staying with me until I fall asleep? I can't get to sleep on my own and I'd like you to talk to me."

Thinking that there wasn't a problem, InuYasha nodded.

He sat down on the edge of her bed as Kagome got herself tucked in. The girl laid on her back, as InuYasha spoke about what he and the others did that day, what demons they fought, and that they had visited Kaede. InuYasha was hesitant about talking about how he was worried about Kagome. He couldn't explain that, she was his friend, and he felt like she was something more at times. Many times, she annoyed the hell out of him, but at other times he couldn't get his mind off her. When he believed that she had been sick, he became lost without her.

As he talked on, the dog demon saw Kagome's eyes close slowly, and her responses to his words became few and far between. Sensing that it was time to go, the half-demon slowly sat up and walked over to the window.

"InuYasha…"

His dog-ears twitched at the sound of his name, and InuYasha turned back to Kagome. She was surely nearly asleep, and she appeared to talk in her sleep.

"Don't leave me…"

Her words, which he had never heard her say in a conscious manner, touched him like few words had ever done, and the dog demon could not bring himself to leave because of that. InuYasha walked back over to the bed and resumed sitting on her bed, holding her hand for long hours into the night.

He didn't leave her, not until the stars disappeared and the sun started to rise.