Disclaimer: Not my characters- Rumiko Takahashi's.
Dusk to Dawn Denial
Silver moonlight filtered through silver leaves to dapple silver hair. The young hanyou was reposing in his usual manner- arms and legs crossed, cradling his cherished sword, and silently monitoring his cherished girl. His eyes were closed, and yet he could still pinpoint her exact location and was ready to jump to her protection if need be. She was sleeping, as peacefully as could be expected after the day they'd had, and the only evidence that Inuyasha had not followed suit was an occasional swivel or twitching of his ears. And, of course, the slightly irritated expression on his face.
She's moaning again... wish she'd stop. Keh. It's just distracting's all. How'm I s'pposed to keep watch with her goin' on like that? If she doesn't stop soon, she'll wake the houshi, and he'll probably have some dumbass idea about why she's tossing like that. Lecher... was that... did she just say my name? He rose in a single, fluid motion and began stalking over to the strange miko, assuming she had drifted back into consciousness and wanted to ask him how late it was. But before he'd made it more than three steps, she simply sighed and rolled over, throwing her arm over Shippou in the process. Hmph. Stupid houshi would have a field-day if he'd heard that. Must be dreaming about today's battle. Lucky she didn't follow up with the 's' word. Like last night. And that time last month back in her time. Instead of returning to his original position, Inuyasha planted himself right where he was. No sense wasting my energy. I can see everyone just as well from here. Is it just me, or is Miroku a lot closer to Sango than last time I looked? Nah, he can't be. I couldn't've missed that.
In fact, the houshi was a good two feet closer to the taijiya, having rolled clear off of his cot, hand hopefully extended in her direction. In the morning, he would claim innocence, citing blissful slumber as his alibi. And Inuyasha could bear witness! In fact, it had been well over an hour since Inuyasha had spared that side of the fire a passing glance. Not that he would admit to it, making him the perfect corroborator. Especially now that he had heard the lovely Kagome practically whimpering her protector's name in her sleep. Ah, but Inuyasha believed him to be asleep. While Miroku could flatter himself that his superb acting skills deserved the credit, the simple fact was that Inuyasha just wasn't paying attention, and so he would have to play his hand very carefully so as not to arouse Inuyasha's suspicions and force him to return to a more equitable night-watch.
But for now, as far as Inuyasha was concerned, he paid equal attention to all members of his group when they were in their most vulnerable state. If ever a considerable period of time passed in which he forgot to look away from Kagome's pouted lips and tousled hair, well, it was only because he knew she was the most defenseless of them all. A weak human. And nothing but.