o0oo0oo0o
Once upon a time there was a small camp in a forest. Stars were glitttering above it, but the night was pretty dark without the silver light of the moon.. Only a small fire was the source of light under the canopy of trees. The night was peaceful and calm, filled with usual night forest life noises. People around the little fire were talking quietly, as if to make sure no one would hear them from some distance. Thick bushes were shielding the camp and bringing some sense of safety.
Kagome smiled as she looked at her friends. Kirara was curled comfortably beside Sango, Shippou resting his back against the soft side of the cat youkai and was trying to stay awake. It was already too late for him and he was falling asleep, waking up for a moment before sliding into his dreams again a few times before he finally let go of his desire to stay awake. Sango was sitting with her hands on her lap, the knife she was sharpening forgotten in her hands as she was looking Kagome's way. Miroku was focused on the same thing, resting his back against a tree behind him, his palms on his knees.
"A bit higher, Kagome-sama," he suggested and she smiled again, hearing merriment in his voice, even if his face was not showing any sign of amusement. The young miko nodded and moved her hand a little up. "Yes, here will be perfect."
Kagome put the pin in the chosen location, then smoothed a furry ear. A low growl of irritation could be heard in the little camp and it made everyone smile. The growling person scowled upon realizing no one was taking his threatening growl seriously.
Kagome rested her hands lightly on his shoulders, kneeling behind Inuyasha and smiling proudly.
"So? What do you think, guys?" she asked their friends. She could feel his tense muscles under palms of her hands, so she rubbed his shoulders gently, trying to soothe his fear. He trusted them to help him to protect himself during moonless nights, but his instincts were telling him to hide and stay away from everyone. The previous month he had showed himself to Koga and Kagura because he had had no choice and now he was probably worrying that one of them could come hunting for him. Kagome stroked the mane of white hair in a calming gesture.
"Remarkable!" Miroku praised. "No one will see the difference from a distance."
"Yes," Sango gave a nod. "Do you have a way to conceal his eye color as well?"
"This is stupid," Inuyasha voiced his irritation. "Almost every yokai can smell what I am tonight, they don't need to see me," Kagome patted his shoulder and went to her huge bag pack to fetch a vial and a small container along with other things.
"We'll remedy this, don't worry," she said and sat beside the hanyou. "First let me brush the wig and put a nice smelling conditioner on it, then I'll show you what I prepared for your eyes," she lifted up a hand armed with a brush. Inuyasha eyed the object warily, but didn't try to stop her. A threat of a dozen 'sits' was enough to make him obedient tonight. Or maybe it was the promise of ramen, it was hard to tell.
"I like the pins with dog ears," Sango confessed, watching Kagome applying the hair conditioner on Inuyasha's hair pretty generously. The scent of lavender filled the litttle meadow - it was intense enough to knock the dog demon out during any other night, but now he just made a face, his scowl never really disappearing as he was casting glancces around the bushes surrounding the camp.
"Yeah, they're cute, but the real ones are much cuter," Kagome admitted, focusing on brushing the long white wig and missing the fierce blush on Inuyasha's face. He put his hands in his sleeves and turned his head away in a vain attempt to hide it from the rest of their little group. "Stay still, Inuyasha."
"Keh! This is stupid," he muttered and glared at the monk and the demon slayer, both grinning his way as if they knew something. He growled a little more, but they didn't stop smiling - if anything Miroku's smile grew wider and sparks twinkled in his eyes. The hanyou decided to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths. Inuyasha had not his enhanced senses tonight, but the scent of lavender was strong enough for a human to pick around their little camp, pushing away all other smells - and this smell was associated with Kagome in his mind, so he relaxed and calmed down a bit after inhaling it. His blush disappeared before the young miko moved to his front to brush of his bangs. "Kagome..."
She smiled at his soft voice and gave a nod. "Done. Now to your eyes," she reached to the pile of supplies beside him and picked up a small container. "Those are contact lenses. We use them when people have problems with their sight, but you can also use them to change your eye color," she said and opened the container to show everyone what was inside.
"Fascinating," Miroku scratched his chin with his index finger. "Your time has so many wonders, Kagome-sama. How do you use these?"
"You need to pick one up and put it in your eye, like this," Kagome put the container aside to show them how to put a contact in her eye. "See? It's easy."
"You want to put this in my eye?" Inuyasha didn't look excited about this idea.
"Yes," she nodded and picked a contact while turning to him. "So stay still, Inuyasha..." as she inched her hand closer to his face he leaned back a little. "Trust me. And think about ramen."
"...Ramen, right," he tensed, staring at her, but didn't move away when she reached to his left eye. Sango moved to the side to observe the process.
"You can have any eye color when you use these, Kagome-chan?" she asked, visibly curious. Kagome didn't turn to face her, focused on her task.
"Yeah, even crazy colors like white or pink," she said. "I mean the contacts I brought will make his eyes appear golden, you must buy others if you want different colors. And you should visit an eye doctor first to see if you can put those in your eyes..."
Inuyasha made a small noise, much like a whine, so she smiled at him to calm him down.
"Don't worry, Inuyasha," she hummed, making her voice as calming and reassuring as possible. For some reason a faint blush covered his face.
"Do people of your age use them often?" Miroku inquired. Kagome shrugged as she reached for the second contact.
"A lot of them, but many people prefer to wear glasses," she murmured as she leaned to the hanyou to work on his right eye. "I thought they can be useful. You know, so people wouldn't find Inuyasha's secret just by catching a glimpse of his human form."
"This is stupid," Inuyasha reminded them all, trying not to shut his eyes closed. "My claws and fangs are gone and my youki is gone too. Anyone can sense it as soon as soon as they see me."
"Stop whining," Kagome scolded him.
"I ain't whinin'!" he growled. She moved to sit straight and admire her work. Golden eyes she knew so well were looking at her. "How do you like it, guys?"
"Amazing, he looks almost normal," Miroku leaned in above her shoulder to look at Inuyasha from a close distance. His free hand wrapped around her back and rested on her other arm, but didn't stay there for long as the well-known growl arose from Inuyasha's throat. Miroku chuckled and lifted his hand from Kagome's shoulder, moving back. "Just teasing. You look as always, Inuyasha. We just need to keep people who could sense your lack of power at bay and can rest without any worry."
"As if I could rest without any worry during this night," the hanyou groaned. Sango approached them from Kagome's other side and smiled playfully.
"Great job, Kagome-chan. Your plan is worth a try, definetely. With a scowl like this no one would suspect Inuyasha to be any different tonight than any other night. Monk," she straightened her back and turned to Miroku. "Since we got up we should go to patrol the surrounding area."
"Oh? Yes, my dear Sango, good idea," Miroku fetched his staff and smiled at the miko and the hanyou before following the demon slayer. After a moment of observing them disappear behind the trees Kagome turned her attention to Inuyasha, still sitting motionless beside her.
"Ramen," he remineded. Kagome chuckled and poured some water into a pot to boil it. Then she fetched a mirror from her bag and handed it to him so he could see himself. As she turned from preparing his food she smiled. Inuyasha was holding the mirror with one hand,with the other he was stroking a lock of his hair falling over his shoulder. He even picked it up and brought to his nose, smelling it and frowning. Then he reached to touch an ear and frowned more. Kagome sat beside him and he looked at her, lowering the mirror.
"What do you think?" she asked, curiously. He shrugged. and uttered a quiet 'keh. "You realize it isn't a real answer, right?"
A small smirk appeared on his face, the first one this night. It faded fast as he scanned the meadow with his eyes and then started to look into the fire. He was quiet for a long while.
"You know, I am still as weak and useless as always during the New Moon," he laid the mirror in her lap. "Can't protect you or even myself with or without this stupid wig on."
Kagome rested her hand on his knee and gave him a warm smile when he stopped staring at the fire and looked at her instead.
"This is why we are here, Miroku, Sango and I. And Shippou and Kirara," she said. "Friends protect and help each other, support and cheer up their companions. You always save me... I feel that I can return the favor with this little disguise."
He snorted, but covered her hand with his own. "It's fine," he murmured after a moment. "Thanks. Still, it's enough that you all stay with me," he added after a long time, again looking in the flames as if the fire was the most interesting thing ever. His grip on her hand tightened a little. "Especially you, Kagome."
She was too surprised by this confession to giggle at the blush on his cheeks - during the New Moon it was much easier to embaress him or make him talk about his past or emotions. It was better not to tease him right now.
Suddenly a gust of cold wind blew through the meadow and they both looked up.
On a huge feather was sitting a woman wearing a patterned kimono. The fire seemed to drag her attention to the ground as she was passing by. Her eyes widened as she beheld the sight of the miko and her hanyou jumping to their feet. She stole a glance to the sky to find the moon, but it was nowhere to be seen. The feather flew in direction of the nearby river.
"Kagura!" Inuyasha practically roared and grabbed Tessaiga to run after Naraku's incarnation. There are instincts and there are instincts, Kagome thought, following him and readying her bow. It seemed in his eagerness to fight his enemy he forgot about the lack of the moon in the sky. As they were running through the forest Miroku and Sango joined them, some time later Shippou and Kirara appeared at their side, completing the group. To Inuyasha's dissatisfaction Kagura managed to flee. She was very, very puzzled about the thing she just saw and the thing she had seen a month ago, when Inuyasha stood between her and Koga.
Notes: