The night was dark, and it was silent except for the soft sounds of breathing. Kagome yawned and pushed herself up from the grass on which she had been sleeping (her sleeping bag had been incinerated along with the rest of her belongings from her era in their last battle). Gazing over at her comrades, Kagome saw that Shippou had finally settled down to sleep; after he'd discovered a bottle of coke in Kagome's bag, they'd been preparing for another sleepless night. The little kitsune was now slumped against Kirara. Not far from them, Miroku and Sango were both asleep against the same tree and awfully close, although Sango looked as though she could easily smack Miroku in her sleep if the need arose.

Inuyasha, however, was nowhere to be seen-- on the ground, anyways. Kagome sat the rest of the way up and directed her vision to the tree branches above her. As predicted, the hanyou was leaning on the tree trunk several feet above the spot where Kagome had been sleeping moments before. He, too, was awake, watching the sliver of moon in the sky. The new moon had been the previous night and (true to form) a sleepless one. A very strange demon had arrived early in the morning- How did it move so fast? I never even got a good look at it! thought Kagome- but the group had somehow held it off until sunrise when Inuyasha was able to dispose of it. He was most likely still dwelling on those events, silently cursing the moon. Kagome stared up at him, his hair falling over his form and Tessaiga leaning on his shoulder. Kagome's breath caught in her throat as she saw him bathed in silver moonlight… it was so much harder to conceal hear feeling when she was tired…

The scent of Kagome reached Inuyasha's nose, and he dragged his gaze away from the damned orb in the sky. As expected, she was awake and staring up at him, her eyes big with wonder. So beautiful… he thought, even with the lingering burns from the demon. What was that thing, besides a fire-breathing something?…
A yawn from below brought Inuyasha's tired mind back to the present. He looked down at Kagome and saw her shiver in the cold night air; it strung him once again how weak humans were. Apparently, she had not seen him looking at her, so he continued and found that he could not have taken his golden eyes off the girl if he had wanted to…

"Oh, whom am I kidding?" said Inuyasha to himself sulkily, though not without a smirk. He hopped gracefully off the branches and landed soundlessly a few feet from Kagome.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, relaxing a bit, yet in awe of the hanyou standing at his full height. His ears twitched affectionately as she said his name, and he made his way over to her.

"What are you still doing awake?" Inuyasha asked as he settled himself by Kagome against the tree and set Tessaiga beside him. He made certain to avoid her eyes and forced his voice into a casual tone.

Kagome rubbed her eyes and replied, "I just couldn't sleep." She failed to stifle a huge yawn, causing Inuyasha to give her a strange look.

"You can't sleep," he reiterated, "and yet you're struggling to stay awake?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she said through another yawn. "Haven't you ever been so tired that you can't sleep?"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "I'll never understand you humans," he groaned as he shifted positions slightly.

"Pretty rich, coming from you," groaned Kagome in annoyance as she crossed her arms stiffly.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha snapped into her face, regarding her with a look of supremacy.

Kagome opened her mouth to rudely point out that he saved humans, traveled with them, and loved one (…or two…) but then thought better of it after hearing the last bit in her head. "Nothing," she sighed dejectedly, taking Inuyasha by surprise by backing down from an argument. Yawning once again, Kagome allowed herself to slump down against the tree. Sudden, sharp pains in her back made her yelp loudly, causing Inuyasha to pull her away from whatever had hurt her and onto his lap, facing him.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern in his voice, her hand still clasped in his and his hand still on her shoulder. Kagome would have blushed had she not been in so much pain.

"Burns on my back," she coughed as the stinging made her wince. "The tree bark scratched them up a bit," she added, her eyes watering. Inuyasha smelled that her wounds had reopened and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"I'm sorry you're always in so much danger, Kagome," he told her in an uncharacteristically tender voice. The last thing he wanted was for Kagome to be hurt; yet, currently she was so injured that merely being awake completely exhausted her. It was due to this fact that he tried not to take too much pleasure out of Kagome being in his embrace, though he was failing miserably in that noble effort.

"S'ok," said Kagome softly; "It's not your fault." She let herself fall into Inuyasha as his arms tightened protectively around her small form. A girl could really get used to this, she thought as a small smile crept across her lips and her consciousness faded.

Inuyasha felt the tension in Kagome's body slowly relax as she drifted into sleep. He cradled her head against his shoulder and ran his fingers through her hair, all the while inhaling her sweet, gentle scent. If only I could do this when she was awake, he thought groggily, his head drooping to rest near hers, sleep pulling him in as well.

"I knew it!" whispered Shippou, his own tired and spying eyes drooping.