Author's note: Hi! Okay, just so you know, in this fic Kagome and Inuyasha
have already gotten together, but Inuyasha's still trying to avenge Kikyou
and destroy Naraku. Yeah, those little issues aren't quite resolved yet.
I'll probably write a prequel to this, but I have to write this first. Why?
Because I'm crazy. Yep, the nurses at the asylum will notice I'm missing
any day now.
"___" Speech
'___' Thoughts
If it's bold it should be italicized.)
*~*~* Change of times, situations, POVs, etc.
Disclaimer: Unless they're made up, don't own 'em. * Sticks tongue out at lawyers with black suits and big wallets*
Lawyers: *glares*
Me: I'm broke anyway, so don't bother. Hee hee.
On with the story!
"Sometimes Life Takes a New Turn."
Chapter1: Secrets
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
'No', she thought, ' This can't happen. Oh, God, no. I won't believe this. I..can't.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Inuyasha stretched on his perch in the Goshinboku tree. He'd been there all night, waiting for her to come back. The hanyou looked up at the early morning sky. He was always hoping she would come early, although he knew she wouldn't. If anything, she'd probably be late. Because of this last thought he settled back against the thick trunk and prepared to wait, and was surprised when a sweet scent filled reached his nose, filling his senses with the familiar smell. 'Kagome?' He thought 'It's barely morning! Why isn't she still asleep?' With one last sniff of the air to assure himself that it really was Kagome, not just his own wishful imagination, he jumped from the tree and took off for the Bone Eater's Well.
When he reached the clearing he saw her standing next to the well, pulling her overstuffed pack over the rim. She wasn't wearing her usual fuku. She was wearing a white, sleeveless blouse, a blue skirt and the same brown shoes, with shorter socks, of course. "Kagome," he called, trying to get the girl's attention. She dropped her bag to the ground to turn around and stare at him. She didn't smile, or say anything. She just stared. He made his way over to her and lifted her pack over his shoulder. Her eyes never left his face. Finally she spoke.
"Thanks," she said softly.
She seemed different to him. Tired. No, more than tired. Like she hadn't slept in days. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed slightly paler than before. " Your early," He said simply.
"What? Is that a bad thing?" She questioned.
" No. You just usually sleep later than this, especially in your time," He bent down a bit so he could look more closely at her face, " You okay? You didn't fail those 'exam' things did you?"
"No," she replied, smiling, "I actually did pretty well on those, and my grades weren't quite as bad as I thought they would be, which means no summer school, so I can spend my summer break here with you. No more school for over two months!"
'Even her smile looks tired,' he thought. Well, now she was staying with him, and he could make sure she slept all right. With that thought in mind he gave her a small smile and knelt down in front of her. As soon as she had positioned herself on his back he ran off towards the village.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon they had come to the edge of the forest. Huts were becoming visible beyond the trees, and with one bounding leap they were nearing Kaede's hut. He set her down when they arrived, and she could hear people moving inside. She walked up to the door and slid away the screen. As soon as she stepped into the room a small blurred figure came flying at her. "KAGOME!" Shippo cried, hurling himself into her arms and causing her to fall back against Inuyasha in the process. "I missed you so much! You were gone for so long!"
Inuyasha growled at the kitsune for knocking the girl back, but Kagome was laughing as Shippo's tail tickled her face. "I was only gone for a week, Shippo, and I'm going to be staying here for a long time now, okay?" The fox child just nodded vigorously as he latched onto Kagome's neck.
"You sure are up early, Kagome-chan," Sango said cheerily.
"Hai. I woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and decided to be early for a change," Kagome replied.
"What a good day to be early, for a traveler with a rumor of a jewel shard passed through here yesterday evening. He said one was spotted near a village about a half days walk from here, so we should be leaving around noon," Miroku informed her in his usual calm tone.
"Okay. A half days walk is no problem," she said, walking to the middle of the room where Kaede had made stew for them that morning.
Each of them ate their breakfast, talking as they did so. When they were finished Kagome got up and left the room. Inuyasha, wondering what she was doing, got up and followed her into the next room. He peaked inside and found her sprawled out on a futon, fast asleep. 'So much for an early start,' he thought, but he couldn't stop a smile from tugging at his lips. ' Oh, well. I think she needs the rest, anyway.'
*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~
At noon Kagome awoke and they set off towards the nearby village. The whole way Kagome couldn't stop thinking about how she had lied to Sango about why she was up so early. The truth was that she hadn't been sleeping to well for the last few days. She was constantly waking up in the middle of the night because of dreams she had, or sometimes she just couldn't sleep, so she would just lie there and think, tossing and turning, stomach in knots. There was no way she was going to tell that to the others though. They'd ask all the questions she just couldn't answer. Not yet. And she didn't want them to be worried.
Inuyasha noticed how quiet Kagome had been the entire trip. He studied her face. She still looked tired, and her eyes were glazed over. He made a mental note to talk to her about it later.
Soon they could see the small village where the rumor had originated. It was a small, busy place with children running, merchants standing near their booths, trying to sell something before they had to pack up, call it a day, and move one, and men a women were walking about, either returning home or calling in their children. It was almost time for dinner, after all. The village itself was at the base of a mountain, nestled between the surrounding hills.
The group walked into the village. Not without some strange looks, of course, at the teenage girl wearing strange clothes or the demons she traveled with, but no one said anything. Some even smiled at them.
"Oi, Kagome, can you sense a shard yet?" Inuyasha asked.
The girl shut her eyes. She'd become very good at recognizing the tingling feeling she got from a jewel shard, even from far off. She opened her eyes and looked at Inuyasha. "It's over that way," she said, pointing towards the western side of the village and into some trees.
"Do you think it is wise to fight a demon this time of day?" Miroku asked.
"Feh. You can stay if you want. I'm going to find this demon and its jewel shard. There's still plenty of light left," Inuyasha replied stubbornly.
Kagome sighed, "C'mon guys. We better get this over with. It doesn't feel like a very big shard anyway."
The others just nodded and followed the girl in the direction she had pointed out to them. They didn't have far to walk. A few minutes later they were well out of the village and nearing a clearing. A small stream ran straight through it. Then Kagome stopped. "The shard is coming straight towards us, but I don't know where it is," she said, looking around for some sign of a demon. Her eyes widened as she cried, "It's under the ground!"
As if on cue, the ground split only a few feet to their right, revealing a large worm demon. It was obviously male. Its upper body like that of a strong human boy, and its lower half like that of a huge, hairy brown worm. There was mud covering the creature from head to tail, with the exception of the enormous yellow fangs protruding from its mouth.
"Inuyasha, the jewel shard is right above its belly button!" Kagome called as she back away from the demon.
Inuyasha gave her his usual confident smirk. "This'll be over in a second," he said to them.
Inuyasha pulled out the now transformed Tetsusaiga and charged at the demon. It dodged the attack, but not without a deep gash in its side. The worm demon quickly wound itself around Inuyasha, pinning his arms to his sides. Unfortunately for the demon, it had forgotten the hanyou's claws, and had left its underbelly exposed to them. With a flick of the wrist Inuyasha ripped open its stomach, causing it to loosen its hold on him, and pulled away from it. Before the demon had a chance to recover Inuyasha pushed the tetsusaiga into its back and pulled the sword down, cleanly cutting the demon in two. Soon all that was left of it was a large, bloody heap. Inuyasha sheathed the tetsusaiga and turned to face them. "Kagome," he called, "Where's the jewel shard? It looks like it's going to rain and I want to get the hell out of here before it does."
Kagome looked up at the sky. There were dark clouds she had failed to notice before now. Carefully she made her way through the debris toward where the jewel shard lay. She bent over the demon carcass and pulled out the shard. As she held it up for the others to see the rain started to fall.
"Minna, let's get back to the village," Sango said as she motioned for Kirara to transform. The fire cat did so quickly and Sango climbed on with Shippo in tow. Then she turned to Miroku and said venomously, "Touch me, Houshi, and your walking." Miroku nodded. The rain was coming down harder now, and none of them were in the mood to remain outdoors any longer than they had to. With one last look at Kagome, who was climbing onto Inuyasha's back, Sango nodded and flew off.
Kagome pressed herself as closely to Inuyasha as she could, trying to shield herself from the rain, and failing miserably. She was soaked to the bone. The rain didn't seem to be bothering Inuyasha at all. She doubted it had even soaked through his haori completely.
When they reached the village inn they were staying in that night the familiar shriek of "HENTAI!" could be heard from Sango, along with the sounds of her Haraikotsu meeting Miroku's skull quite violently.
"Ite! But, Sango, I was only trying to help you dry off!" Miroku said, trying to play innocent.
"Hai! Trying to dry my ass!" Sango replied angrily. With one last whack of her giant boomerang she stalked off into a corner to make arrangements with the innkeeper about their rooms.
Kagome couldn't help but giggle as the scene played itself out. She'd seen Miroku and Sango have little fights like this one many times before, but it never failed to amuse her. Just as she was bending over to help up a very bruised Miroku, Sango came back over to them, looking slightly defeated. " One room," she said, "That's all we can afford. One room for all of us."
"Don't worry, Sango," Kagome said, trying to be cheerful for her friend's sake, " I'm sure Inuyasha will make sure Miroku doesn't try anything. Right, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha smirked and nudged Miroku (Who happened to have a goofy smile on his face at the thought of sharing a room with two soaked girls) with one of his bare feet. "Okay then! Now let's get to our room and dry off," Kagome said, "I'm soaked."
Sango nodded and led them to their room. It was fairly simple. There was a row of futons lined up in the center of the room, a basin of water pressed up against the wall, and a screen to change behind with some towels and robes draped over its sides. A sliding door on one side of the room led to a narrow wooden porch that circled the entire building.
Kagome felt something tugging at her leg. She looked down and saw Shippo staring at her with wide eyes. ""I'm hungry, Kagome," he whined.
She smiled down at the small kitsune. He was just so cute when he looked at her like that. " All right, Shippo. Why don't we go down to the kitchens and see if they have something for us to eat, Okay?"
Shippo nodded and followed his mother figure from the room. "I'll be right back," she said to the others as she turned the corner.
When she had left Miroku turned to his companions, " Do either of you notice anything wrong with Kagome-sama?"
Sango nodded, "She does not seem to have her usual amount of energy, and whenever she smiles or speaks, I cannot help but feel that her cheerfulness is somewhat forced."
"Perhaps she is ill?" Miroku suggested.
Inuyasha shrugged. " She probably stayed up late studying for her 'tests' or something. It's probably nothing," he said, but he couldn't keep the hint of concern out of his voice.
Sango gave him a knowing look and nodded again, " Perhaps."
Just then Kagome walked into the room carrying metal tray, " Perhaps what?"
" Oh, nothing, Kagome-sama. Just discussing where to continue our search," Miroku said calmly, " Were you able to find something to eat?"
" Hai. It's not much, but it's something," Kagome sighed as she placed the tray on the floor. On it was a clay bowl of rice, cooked vegetables, and a small plate of fish. " All they had were leftovers," she said.
The group settled around the tray and helped their plates. Even if it was small, the meal was quite good. After they were done Kagome changed into her pajamas and Sango slipped into one of the spare robes behind the changing screen. As everyone lay down for the night, Kagome could feel her stomach churn. 'Another sleepless night,' she thought. One by one each of her companions fell asleep, except for her and Inuyasha, who never slept much. While the hanyou leaned against a wall and watched over the group, Kagome was twisting around in her blankets, thinking and worrying.
* You have choices, you know* a voice whispered in the back of her mind, * Just like that, and your out. *
'No I don't,' she thought, 'There's only one thing to do. Anything else would be.. cruel.' Kagome wrapped her arms around herself.
She couldn't stand the thought of it being unaccepted, and she would never deny someone their right to life before they'd had a chance to live.
Her stomach flopped, and she could feel it building up in her throat. She got out of bed quickly and stood up, swaying slightly as a wave of nausea and dizziness come over her.
Inuyasha saw her rise from her futon from where he had settled against the wall. " What is it, Kagome?" he asked, noticing how hard it was for her to stand.
"I- I don't feel so good," she said weakly as she stumbled toward the door. Raising one hand to her mouth she pushed the door aside, rushed out onto the porch, and retched into the rain.
"Oh, shit," he muttered as he knelt beside the girl and held her hair away from her face. They stayed like that for a minute until she finally sat up, gasping for air.
"What's wrong?" Sango asked from behind them. Apparently all the commotion had woken up their companions, except for Shippo, of course, who would probably sleep through a tornado if they let him.
"Kagome's sick," Inuyasha replied, lifting the girl up.
"You probably caught something out in the rain," Miroku reasoned. Kagome just nodded as she allowed herself to be carried to a futon closer to the door in case she needed to get up again. She wished they would all stop staring at her. She felt awful.
"Would you like us to stay up with her?" Sango asked worriedly.
"I'll take care of her," Inuyasha said firmly, "Go back to bed."
Sango looked unsure, but just patted her friend's shoulder, "Feel better, Kagome."
"If you need us, simply call," Miroku said as he, Sango, and Kirara went back to bed.
As his friends began to fall asleep, Inuyasha hovered over the sick girl, who had yet to fall asleep. She just lied there, back facing him. " How long have you been sick, Kagome?"
She turned towards him, " Not to long."
'Wrong answer,' he thought. " Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's been kind of off and on. I wanted to see if it was gone before I said anything. I didn't want to worry you over nothing!" She stated weakly.
"Nothing? You call that-" he pointed his thumb towards the door she had previously exited, " nothing? I knew there was something wrong with you, but I thought you'd just been up late. You should've told me!" He said, giving her a firm look.
" I know. You're right. Please don't lecture me right now, Inuyasha. I feel terrible," She said.
The hanyou's eyes softened and he nodded. " Get some sleep," he ordered gently.
Kagome turned back over and tried to get comfortable while Inuyasha settled against the door next to her. They stayed like that for a moment before Kagome spoke, "Inuyasha?"
" Hmm?"
" I.. umm. when we get back, can I go home?"
"You just got back this morning!"
"Please?"
"No."
Kagome sat up to face him. She thought she could handle this, but she wasn't ready yet. She just wanted to go home. She could feel herself trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. "Inuyasha..please. I just want to go home," She said shakily.
Inuyasha was surprised to see her crying, and even more surprised to see her shaking. It was early summer, so she couldn't be cold.
"Do you really feel that bad?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Then okay. You can go home until you feel better, but come back as soon as you're well again, all right?"
She gave him a small smile and nodded again. "Thanks, Inuyasha," she said before hugging him and lying back down.
Inuyasha stayed by her, absentmindedly running his fingers through her hair as she fell asleep before drifting into unconsciousness. Kagome was happy to be going home. She'd go home, collect her thoughts, build up her courage, and come back and face Inuyasha. She could do this. Everything was going to be okay. She had to keep telling herself that, or else her life would just fall apart. With these thoughts she finally slept peacefully until morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's note: Okay! That's it for the first chapter! I probably won't have the next chapter out for a while since I'm grounded. I shouldn't even be typing this right now! ( hehehe I'm evil)
Just so you know there probably won't be a lot of sango and miroku in this story ( don't worry san/mir fans, I'll throw in some fluff along the way!) because I don't know much about their personalities, and this is a an Inu/Kag fic. If Inuyasha and Kaogome are OOC, try to understand. I mean, Kagome is upset over her big secret ( if you haven't figured out what that is, then stop reading now, because this fic is obviously to complex for you.) and Inuyasha is worried and clueless ( poor Inu-chan!!! :P). If you had the same problem you'd be OOC, too! Don't worry. I'll make them more like themselves in later chapters. Now...
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"___" Speech
'___' Thoughts
If it's bold it should be italicized.)
*~*~* Change of times, situations, POVs, etc.
Disclaimer: Unless they're made up, don't own 'em. * Sticks tongue out at lawyers with black suits and big wallets*
Lawyers: *glares*
Me: I'm broke anyway, so don't bother. Hee hee.
On with the story!
"Sometimes Life Takes a New Turn."
Chapter1: Secrets
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
'No', she thought, ' This can't happen. Oh, God, no. I won't believe this. I..can't.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Inuyasha stretched on his perch in the Goshinboku tree. He'd been there all night, waiting for her to come back. The hanyou looked up at the early morning sky. He was always hoping she would come early, although he knew she wouldn't. If anything, she'd probably be late. Because of this last thought he settled back against the thick trunk and prepared to wait, and was surprised when a sweet scent filled reached his nose, filling his senses with the familiar smell. 'Kagome?' He thought 'It's barely morning! Why isn't she still asleep?' With one last sniff of the air to assure himself that it really was Kagome, not just his own wishful imagination, he jumped from the tree and took off for the Bone Eater's Well.
When he reached the clearing he saw her standing next to the well, pulling her overstuffed pack over the rim. She wasn't wearing her usual fuku. She was wearing a white, sleeveless blouse, a blue skirt and the same brown shoes, with shorter socks, of course. "Kagome," he called, trying to get the girl's attention. She dropped her bag to the ground to turn around and stare at him. She didn't smile, or say anything. She just stared. He made his way over to her and lifted her pack over his shoulder. Her eyes never left his face. Finally she spoke.
"Thanks," she said softly.
She seemed different to him. Tired. No, more than tired. Like she hadn't slept in days. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed slightly paler than before. " Your early," He said simply.
"What? Is that a bad thing?" She questioned.
" No. You just usually sleep later than this, especially in your time," He bent down a bit so he could look more closely at her face, " You okay? You didn't fail those 'exam' things did you?"
"No," she replied, smiling, "I actually did pretty well on those, and my grades weren't quite as bad as I thought they would be, which means no summer school, so I can spend my summer break here with you. No more school for over two months!"
'Even her smile looks tired,' he thought. Well, now she was staying with him, and he could make sure she slept all right. With that thought in mind he gave her a small smile and knelt down in front of her. As soon as she had positioned herself on his back he ran off towards the village.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soon they had come to the edge of the forest. Huts were becoming visible beyond the trees, and with one bounding leap they were nearing Kaede's hut. He set her down when they arrived, and she could hear people moving inside. She walked up to the door and slid away the screen. As soon as she stepped into the room a small blurred figure came flying at her. "KAGOME!" Shippo cried, hurling himself into her arms and causing her to fall back against Inuyasha in the process. "I missed you so much! You were gone for so long!"
Inuyasha growled at the kitsune for knocking the girl back, but Kagome was laughing as Shippo's tail tickled her face. "I was only gone for a week, Shippo, and I'm going to be staying here for a long time now, okay?" The fox child just nodded vigorously as he latched onto Kagome's neck.
"You sure are up early, Kagome-chan," Sango said cheerily.
"Hai. I woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and decided to be early for a change," Kagome replied.
"What a good day to be early, for a traveler with a rumor of a jewel shard passed through here yesterday evening. He said one was spotted near a village about a half days walk from here, so we should be leaving around noon," Miroku informed her in his usual calm tone.
"Okay. A half days walk is no problem," she said, walking to the middle of the room where Kaede had made stew for them that morning.
Each of them ate their breakfast, talking as they did so. When they were finished Kagome got up and left the room. Inuyasha, wondering what she was doing, got up and followed her into the next room. He peaked inside and found her sprawled out on a futon, fast asleep. 'So much for an early start,' he thought, but he couldn't stop a smile from tugging at his lips. ' Oh, well. I think she needs the rest, anyway.'
*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~
At noon Kagome awoke and they set off towards the nearby village. The whole way Kagome couldn't stop thinking about how she had lied to Sango about why she was up so early. The truth was that she hadn't been sleeping to well for the last few days. She was constantly waking up in the middle of the night because of dreams she had, or sometimes she just couldn't sleep, so she would just lie there and think, tossing and turning, stomach in knots. There was no way she was going to tell that to the others though. They'd ask all the questions she just couldn't answer. Not yet. And she didn't want them to be worried.
Inuyasha noticed how quiet Kagome had been the entire trip. He studied her face. She still looked tired, and her eyes were glazed over. He made a mental note to talk to her about it later.
Soon they could see the small village where the rumor had originated. It was a small, busy place with children running, merchants standing near their booths, trying to sell something before they had to pack up, call it a day, and move one, and men a women were walking about, either returning home or calling in their children. It was almost time for dinner, after all. The village itself was at the base of a mountain, nestled between the surrounding hills.
The group walked into the village. Not without some strange looks, of course, at the teenage girl wearing strange clothes or the demons she traveled with, but no one said anything. Some even smiled at them.
"Oi, Kagome, can you sense a shard yet?" Inuyasha asked.
The girl shut her eyes. She'd become very good at recognizing the tingling feeling she got from a jewel shard, even from far off. She opened her eyes and looked at Inuyasha. "It's over that way," she said, pointing towards the western side of the village and into some trees.
"Do you think it is wise to fight a demon this time of day?" Miroku asked.
"Feh. You can stay if you want. I'm going to find this demon and its jewel shard. There's still plenty of light left," Inuyasha replied stubbornly.
Kagome sighed, "C'mon guys. We better get this over with. It doesn't feel like a very big shard anyway."
The others just nodded and followed the girl in the direction she had pointed out to them. They didn't have far to walk. A few minutes later they were well out of the village and nearing a clearing. A small stream ran straight through it. Then Kagome stopped. "The shard is coming straight towards us, but I don't know where it is," she said, looking around for some sign of a demon. Her eyes widened as she cried, "It's under the ground!"
As if on cue, the ground split only a few feet to their right, revealing a large worm demon. It was obviously male. Its upper body like that of a strong human boy, and its lower half like that of a huge, hairy brown worm. There was mud covering the creature from head to tail, with the exception of the enormous yellow fangs protruding from its mouth.
"Inuyasha, the jewel shard is right above its belly button!" Kagome called as she back away from the demon.
Inuyasha gave her his usual confident smirk. "This'll be over in a second," he said to them.
Inuyasha pulled out the now transformed Tetsusaiga and charged at the demon. It dodged the attack, but not without a deep gash in its side. The worm demon quickly wound itself around Inuyasha, pinning his arms to his sides. Unfortunately for the demon, it had forgotten the hanyou's claws, and had left its underbelly exposed to them. With a flick of the wrist Inuyasha ripped open its stomach, causing it to loosen its hold on him, and pulled away from it. Before the demon had a chance to recover Inuyasha pushed the tetsusaiga into its back and pulled the sword down, cleanly cutting the demon in two. Soon all that was left of it was a large, bloody heap. Inuyasha sheathed the tetsusaiga and turned to face them. "Kagome," he called, "Where's the jewel shard? It looks like it's going to rain and I want to get the hell out of here before it does."
Kagome looked up at the sky. There were dark clouds she had failed to notice before now. Carefully she made her way through the debris toward where the jewel shard lay. She bent over the demon carcass and pulled out the shard. As she held it up for the others to see the rain started to fall.
"Minna, let's get back to the village," Sango said as she motioned for Kirara to transform. The fire cat did so quickly and Sango climbed on with Shippo in tow. Then she turned to Miroku and said venomously, "Touch me, Houshi, and your walking." Miroku nodded. The rain was coming down harder now, and none of them were in the mood to remain outdoors any longer than they had to. With one last look at Kagome, who was climbing onto Inuyasha's back, Sango nodded and flew off.
Kagome pressed herself as closely to Inuyasha as she could, trying to shield herself from the rain, and failing miserably. She was soaked to the bone. The rain didn't seem to be bothering Inuyasha at all. She doubted it had even soaked through his haori completely.
When they reached the village inn they were staying in that night the familiar shriek of "HENTAI!" could be heard from Sango, along with the sounds of her Haraikotsu meeting Miroku's skull quite violently.
"Ite! But, Sango, I was only trying to help you dry off!" Miroku said, trying to play innocent.
"Hai! Trying to dry my ass!" Sango replied angrily. With one last whack of her giant boomerang she stalked off into a corner to make arrangements with the innkeeper about their rooms.
Kagome couldn't help but giggle as the scene played itself out. She'd seen Miroku and Sango have little fights like this one many times before, but it never failed to amuse her. Just as she was bending over to help up a very bruised Miroku, Sango came back over to them, looking slightly defeated. " One room," she said, "That's all we can afford. One room for all of us."
"Don't worry, Sango," Kagome said, trying to be cheerful for her friend's sake, " I'm sure Inuyasha will make sure Miroku doesn't try anything. Right, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha smirked and nudged Miroku (Who happened to have a goofy smile on his face at the thought of sharing a room with two soaked girls) with one of his bare feet. "Okay then! Now let's get to our room and dry off," Kagome said, "I'm soaked."
Sango nodded and led them to their room. It was fairly simple. There was a row of futons lined up in the center of the room, a basin of water pressed up against the wall, and a screen to change behind with some towels and robes draped over its sides. A sliding door on one side of the room led to a narrow wooden porch that circled the entire building.
Kagome felt something tugging at her leg. She looked down and saw Shippo staring at her with wide eyes. ""I'm hungry, Kagome," he whined.
She smiled down at the small kitsune. He was just so cute when he looked at her like that. " All right, Shippo. Why don't we go down to the kitchens and see if they have something for us to eat, Okay?"
Shippo nodded and followed his mother figure from the room. "I'll be right back," she said to the others as she turned the corner.
When she had left Miroku turned to his companions, " Do either of you notice anything wrong with Kagome-sama?"
Sango nodded, "She does not seem to have her usual amount of energy, and whenever she smiles or speaks, I cannot help but feel that her cheerfulness is somewhat forced."
"Perhaps she is ill?" Miroku suggested.
Inuyasha shrugged. " She probably stayed up late studying for her 'tests' or something. It's probably nothing," he said, but he couldn't keep the hint of concern out of his voice.
Sango gave him a knowing look and nodded again, " Perhaps."
Just then Kagome walked into the room carrying metal tray, " Perhaps what?"
" Oh, nothing, Kagome-sama. Just discussing where to continue our search," Miroku said calmly, " Were you able to find something to eat?"
" Hai. It's not much, but it's something," Kagome sighed as she placed the tray on the floor. On it was a clay bowl of rice, cooked vegetables, and a small plate of fish. " All they had were leftovers," she said.
The group settled around the tray and helped their plates. Even if it was small, the meal was quite good. After they were done Kagome changed into her pajamas and Sango slipped into one of the spare robes behind the changing screen. As everyone lay down for the night, Kagome could feel her stomach churn. 'Another sleepless night,' she thought. One by one each of her companions fell asleep, except for her and Inuyasha, who never slept much. While the hanyou leaned against a wall and watched over the group, Kagome was twisting around in her blankets, thinking and worrying.
* You have choices, you know* a voice whispered in the back of her mind, * Just like that, and your out. *
'No I don't,' she thought, 'There's only one thing to do. Anything else would be.. cruel.' Kagome wrapped her arms around herself.
She couldn't stand the thought of it being unaccepted, and she would never deny someone their right to life before they'd had a chance to live.
Her stomach flopped, and she could feel it building up in her throat. She got out of bed quickly and stood up, swaying slightly as a wave of nausea and dizziness come over her.
Inuyasha saw her rise from her futon from where he had settled against the wall. " What is it, Kagome?" he asked, noticing how hard it was for her to stand.
"I- I don't feel so good," she said weakly as she stumbled toward the door. Raising one hand to her mouth she pushed the door aside, rushed out onto the porch, and retched into the rain.
"Oh, shit," he muttered as he knelt beside the girl and held her hair away from her face. They stayed like that for a minute until she finally sat up, gasping for air.
"What's wrong?" Sango asked from behind them. Apparently all the commotion had woken up their companions, except for Shippo, of course, who would probably sleep through a tornado if they let him.
"Kagome's sick," Inuyasha replied, lifting the girl up.
"You probably caught something out in the rain," Miroku reasoned. Kagome just nodded as she allowed herself to be carried to a futon closer to the door in case she needed to get up again. She wished they would all stop staring at her. She felt awful.
"Would you like us to stay up with her?" Sango asked worriedly.
"I'll take care of her," Inuyasha said firmly, "Go back to bed."
Sango looked unsure, but just patted her friend's shoulder, "Feel better, Kagome."
"If you need us, simply call," Miroku said as he, Sango, and Kirara went back to bed.
As his friends began to fall asleep, Inuyasha hovered over the sick girl, who had yet to fall asleep. She just lied there, back facing him. " How long have you been sick, Kagome?"
She turned towards him, " Not to long."
'Wrong answer,' he thought. " Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's been kind of off and on. I wanted to see if it was gone before I said anything. I didn't want to worry you over nothing!" She stated weakly.
"Nothing? You call that-" he pointed his thumb towards the door she had previously exited, " nothing? I knew there was something wrong with you, but I thought you'd just been up late. You should've told me!" He said, giving her a firm look.
" I know. You're right. Please don't lecture me right now, Inuyasha. I feel terrible," She said.
The hanyou's eyes softened and he nodded. " Get some sleep," he ordered gently.
Kagome turned back over and tried to get comfortable while Inuyasha settled against the door next to her. They stayed like that for a moment before Kagome spoke, "Inuyasha?"
" Hmm?"
" I.. umm. when we get back, can I go home?"
"You just got back this morning!"
"Please?"
"No."
Kagome sat up to face him. She thought she could handle this, but she wasn't ready yet. She just wanted to go home. She could feel herself trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. "Inuyasha..please. I just want to go home," She said shakily.
Inuyasha was surprised to see her crying, and even more surprised to see her shaking. It was early summer, so she couldn't be cold.
"Do you really feel that bad?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Then okay. You can go home until you feel better, but come back as soon as you're well again, all right?"
She gave him a small smile and nodded again. "Thanks, Inuyasha," she said before hugging him and lying back down.
Inuyasha stayed by her, absentmindedly running his fingers through her hair as she fell asleep before drifting into unconsciousness. Kagome was happy to be going home. She'd go home, collect her thoughts, build up her courage, and come back and face Inuyasha. She could do this. Everything was going to be okay. She had to keep telling herself that, or else her life would just fall apart. With these thoughts she finally slept peacefully until morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's note: Okay! That's it for the first chapter! I probably won't have the next chapter out for a while since I'm grounded. I shouldn't even be typing this right now! ( hehehe I'm evil)
Just so you know there probably won't be a lot of sango and miroku in this story ( don't worry san/mir fans, I'll throw in some fluff along the way!) because I don't know much about their personalities, and this is a an Inu/Kag fic. If Inuyasha and Kaogome are OOC, try to understand. I mean, Kagome is upset over her big secret ( if you haven't figured out what that is, then stop reading now, because this fic is obviously to complex for you.) and Inuyasha is worried and clueless ( poor Inu-chan!!! :P). If you had the same problem you'd be OOC, too! Don't worry. I'll make them more like themselves in later chapters. Now...
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
