Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha… Oh wait I own most of the series and all of the movies, so I guess you could say I do, in a sense. Anyways I hope you enjoy the story. It may not be a one shot but I do intend for it to be short.

Chapter 1

Shippou went to the market place where he usually bought flowers for his friend. He couldn't wait to see her as he knew that she would be in the area today. She usually had a whole bunch of kids around her for some kind of story that she would tell. His favorites were the ones that had to do with Sengouku Jidai. His adopted father's name was even mentioned in them as well as his very cold uncle but he knew that after the human/ youkai fight for dominance of the lands the youkai just sort of vanished. There wasn't one mentioned after that.

Shippou sniffed the air trying to see if she was where she normally was but there was something wrong. "Kagome!" Little Shippou jumped as fast and high as his little feet could carry him. He dropped the white rose that he was bringing to her when he saw her on the ground passed out. When he sniffed her neck he knew something was wrong. She smelt funny. She shouldn't smell like this.

Shippou ran off in the direction of the street for some help. "Onegai, please don't let anything happen to her." He begged quietly. Shippou frantically waved his hands trying to get some attention but no one was paying any attention to him. As he fell to the ground crying his only thought was that he wasn't strong enough to help her.

"Hey what's wrong little guy?"

"My… sniff… friend… sniff… is… hurt… sniff, sniff." He looked at the person before him.

"Where is your friend?"

"Sniff… she's… sniff… there… sniff." Shippou was trying his hardest to stop crying.

The black haired man followed Shippou to where the still motionless Kagome lay. The man surveyed the woman that lay in front of her. Her ragged clothes screamed street urchin, her hair was a mess but her face was covered by her hair. However her heartbeat was too slow and she was barely breathing. When he picked her up she was lighter than a feather. "When was the last time your friend ate?" The man stopped when he nearly stepped on a white rose. The kid must have been bringing this to her.

The black haired man stood tall and observed the boy for moment while Shippou picked up the flower. He was well dressed and obviously went to the private school pretty close by. "I don't know. Usually if she has a sandwich she ends up giving it to some kid that hasn't eaten in a while." Shippou shifted his feet carefully. "She's going to be alright?"

"Let's get her to the hospital. They'll be able to help her there." The man led the way to the street.

"What's your name?"

"Kouga." The man answered as he opened the door and placed the woman in the back seat. As he expected Shippou climbed in as well in order to try to keep her safe. Kagome though hadn't moved and her breathing hadn't improved any.

-Inuyasha-

Inuyasha came home sniffing for Shippou. He couldn't find him. Shippou!" He called out only to get a shake from the servant that showed up when he heard his voice.

"I'm sorry Master Inuyasha I have seen him yet." Inuyasha gave a very dog like growl that the child wasn't home yet.

The phone rang and Inuyasha answered. He heard some sniffing over the phone. "Otousan, can you come to the hospital please?"

"What's wrong? What happened?" Inuyasha questioned as he walked out the door.

"Onegai, hurry…" the phone cut off as he climbed into the car.

Inuyasha went into the closest ER that was logically where Shippou would be. He couldn't allow anything to happen to the annoying little brat. He didn't know why but he had always been compelled to protect the little ball of fur. Something was always missing though. Inuyasha smelled his little charge covered on another scent that he didn't like in the least even though he couldn't quite place why. "Shippou?" Inuyasha spoke quietly to the boy.

"Otousan… my friend; something is wrong with her. Kouga here helped get her here." Shippou burrowed into Inuyasha's silver hair. Inuyasha growled soothing the little kit that was still sniffling a little and warning Kouga to stay away.

"Thank you for watching him. I'll take it from here." Inuyasha dismissed him expecting to be obeyed. Kouga eyed him warily before he handed him a business card.

"Here's my business card let me know how she is." Inuyasha pocketed the card and decided that it was time to get some answers from the little kit in his arms.

Shippou," Inuyasha set him on his lap, "who is this friend of yours?" Inuyasha noted the crushed white rose. "Is she a crush of yours?"

Shippou shook his head quietly. "No, she's pretty but I can't have a crush on her."

Inuyasha chuckled. "Why not?"

"She's more like an Okaasan to me." Shippou answered.

Inuyasha's ears perked up at this. "Shippou what's her name?"

"Her name's Kagome." Shippou told his Otousan giving him the cutest looking pouty face with tears pooling into his green eyes once again. "You have to help her, onegai." Shippou begged.

Inuyasha sighed. "Let me talk to the doctor." Inuyasha placed Shippou on the chair.

"Excuse me; I need to ask about my wife Kagome." Inuyasha said to the nurse. The nurse eyed him suspiciously.

There was a throat clearing behind him. "I'm her physician, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering about her condition sense I wasn't able to get to her before this happened." Inuyasha was lying through his teeth but he would do just about anything to bring that annoying mischievous look that Shippou usually held. He couldn't take that heartbroken-I'm-going-to-cry-any-second look.

"Can I talk to you in my office?" The man said.

"One minute, I'm not leaving my son out here." Inuyasha took the sleeping ball of fur. Once in the office all he could do was listen shocked.

"Lord Inuyasha, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." The man bowed to him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a descendant of a certain lecherous monk that you used to travel with."

"How can you see through my disguise?"

"You are using a special spell as Kouga was when he came in. Little Shippou is also using a spell in order to remain concealed."

"A descendant of a lecherous monk." Those two words didn't belong in the same sentence and yet they seemed almost right. Wait he had been having some strange dreams for about a month. How would this guy know about a lecherous monk? That didn't matter right now though.

"I know that you are not telling the truth as to her being your wife but you need to know the condition that she's in." The doctor started.

"What is Kagome's condition?" Inuyasha questioned, more afraid to hear the answer than anything else.

She has a bad case of malnutrition. According to our tests the last time she ate anything was three days ago."

"What?" Inuyasha asked shocked. How did anyone go for three days without food?

"Kagome Higurashi was a regular visitor here about a year ago when her brother was dying from a car accident. We haven't heard from her since his death but he was the last surviving member of her family. When we looked into what happened to where she used to live we found that it was no longer standing. Basically she's homeless. The insurance company said that it was a fraud that they would pay nothing for it." Inuyasha looked shocked at the man named; he glanced at the name tag, Dr. Houshi.

"You mean my son has been visiting a homeless person?"

"Yes, but she has taken odd jobs here and there."

"Has she…"

"No, we checked she remains intact." The doctor answered.

"Otousan, can we take her home please?"

"There is only one way to get her out of here under your supervision. What is that?" Inuyasha asked.

"She has to get out of here as you claiming her as your wife."

"Well I've already done that."

"Come this way." The doctor led the way out of the office.

Inuyasha followed closely behind. "Miroku that was the monk's name." Inuyasha whispered.

"What was that?" The doctor turned around. "Nothing, I feel like I'm in a dream sometimes." Inuyasha answered as the little head on top of him curled close to his ears.

Inuyasha stared in shock at the very pale thin girl that was on the bed. It was the same girl that he had been seeing in his dreams. "How long has she been like this?"

"We don't know." Dr. Houshi looked away from the painful sight of what should be a vibrant laughing woman.

Inuyasha took Shippou off of his head and set him down next to the woman. "You're her. What's going on?" Inuyasha took her hand in his. "I hope that you can't sit me, like what happens in those strange dreams. That seems like it is very painful. I'll be taking you to my home as my wife that way you can get better." Inuyasha smiled at her.

"Inuyasha sit." She muttered. Inuyasha gulped waiting for something to happen only to find that nothing did. "Well that answered that question."

Kagome began muttering and moaning when she started to come to a couple of hours later. "You look familiar," she reached for the ears on top of his head. Before he could stop himself he started to purr contentedly. She giggled. "In order to get you out of here, you're going to have to be my wife." Inuyasha's gruffness returned.

"What!" She tried to sit up before he pushed her shoulders back down.

"I have a son that won't leave your side no matter how much pocky I carry around in my pocket." He glared at her. He didn't know how the woman had received such devotion from Shippou but he wasn't going to have his son stay in the hospital.

"I can't stay here. I have things to do, and other people to take care of. If I leave as your wife you have to pay a hospital bill and I can't pay you back."

"We'll discuss payment later." Shippou seemed to wake up enough to burrow more deeply in Kagome's hair.

"I can't do that." She whispered.

"You can't take care of anything if you don't get yourself better." Inuyasha growled challenging her to try him at the moment.

Kagome glared and growled back with equal ferocity back at him. Only in her dreams had any man acted that way toward her and she wasn't going to allow this one to get away with it. The door opened to reveal Dr. Houshi with a nurse. "Mrs. Takahashi, I see that you have awakened."

"Dr. Houshi, you been keeping your hands to yourself." Kagome said in almost her normal voice.

The doctor grinned from ear to ear. "I found the girl of my dreams not too long ago."

"I hope she slaps you every time you rub her butt." Kagome smiled quietly.

The nurse chuckled at the conversation but glared at Kagome's 'husband', "We need to do a few vital checks on you and then you can go home."

"But…" She was about to protest that Inuyasha wasn't her husband. "Doctor's orders. I don't know what made you run away like you did but I will personally be counseling you and your husband every week."

Kagome glared at the two smirking men. She had a lot of children that were counting on her and she couldn't' do that if she was confined to a bed. "Kagome you need the time to take care of yourself because you can't help them if you become ill. You almost died for lack of food."

"Yes, Miroku." She answered begrudgingly.

Dr. Houshi looked at her a little surprised. "Did you just call me Miroku?"

Kagome turned bright red. "Sorry, you remind me of someone I may have known once."

Inuyasha looked at the man, back at Kagome, the kit burrowed in her hair and at the nurse. She was right Miroku gave a sense of déjà vu. Well this was going to be interesting.

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Well I had fun writing this chapter. I hope this comes out better than my last story I wrote. I do intend for this to be short and a Christmas story. I look forward to writing the next one. Now I need to work on my story What to Say. I'll probably do that tomorrow after school.