Loose Words

An Inuyasha/Kagome Fanfiction

A/N: Hello All! While writing this story I had a really nasty cold and my mind was muddled as I fought between the urge to get this idea out of my head and the desire to sleep. That is my poor excuse for any discrepancies in the story.

Note: Shippo is at Kaede's village, so will not be present in this story's setting.

Enjoy.

"Wait!" Kagome cried out. Her hands fumbled around in a clumsy fashion as she grasped her sore ankle. Her breath hitched and she found herself gasping out in pain as her numb fingers skimmed over the area. Alarmed, she quickly pulled her shoe and knee-high sock off of her right foot to survey the damage. There, a light purple bruise had already formed from the sudden abuse. One glance at the swollen ankle told her that it needed serious attention immediately.

She frowned as she stared at it. The discoloration was a stark contrast against her pale skin and she continued to gently massage her leg in hopes of easing her discomfort. The heavy rain that fell onto her frail body did nothing to better the situation.

The group was ahead and the roar of thunder and pounding rain on the ground drowned out her feeble cry. She cried out again, opening her mouth to make a sound. But all that came out was a squeak. She swallowed. Her throat was dry and she took a deep breath as she tried to stand up, praying that her twisted ankle would go along with her attempts. Gritting her teeth, she dropped both her hands onto the thick and muddy ground that had surrounded her knees and tried to prop herself up with arm strength alone.

She raised her fingers, digging into the gooey texture, pushing herself up with her arms and undamaged left leg. Slowly and steadily, she rose inch by inch from the ground.

Silently, she cursed the rocks behind her. As she agonizingly raised herself up, she glanced back and glared at the jagged stones guilty for her sprained ankle.

Suddenly lightning flashed above her and her surroundings turned completely white. Surprised, her strength gave away and she felt herself plop back down into the smooth and liquidly texture below her, making it splash up and onto the front of her uniform. She closed her eyes to regain her composure and tried to resist the violent shiver that followed when a few seconds later, the loud clap of thunder was heard in the distance.

'Inuyasha...' The injured girl inwardly sighed. Her voice had been silenced by the weather and she knew that his keen sense of smell would be dulled as the scent of earth and other vapors covered the air.

The rest of the group was most likely already far ahead. They had reported how they could hear a faint growl and sensed an evil presence up the long forest path. Inuyasha had been leading the group as he normally did, but suddenly his impatience got the better of him as he ran and leapt farther ahead while he demanded everyone to move faster before the demon went astray from its path. Then the rain had began to pour onto the travelers but the arrogant hanyou had decided to rush on forward anyway to slay the demon, rain or sunshine, since it might carry a jewel.

Kagome lagged behind as the group rushed forward, eager to defeat the demon and retreat to the nearest village. The prospect of retiring early and staying dry from the onslaught of rain was enough of a motivation to get everyone moving. As the group trudged on, the young priestess also hurried, but had gotten left behind due to her untimely thoughtfulness. She had stopped for a moment to search her backpack for umbrellas, but had given up on the idea when she opened the flap and realized how much she had crammed into the bag. By the time she had returned the bag back onto her shoulders and looked back up the path, the group had already disappeared from her view. In haste, she sprinted further down the path and kept a lookout for flashes of bold colors.

Unknown to her, up ahead on the path, Miroku had warned the group of the few large rocks and stones unmistakably too unstable and uneven to run over. Kagome cursed her stupidity. How did she not see those..?

Here she was, unable to get up, much less continue on and catch up with her fellow teammates.

She felt pathetic.

'You're slowing us down, wench! The search for the jewel shards are taking too damn long. We're wasting time,' Inuyasha, rather frustrated, commented as Kagome slowed to a walking pace. Unnerved, she ignored him, but picked up her pace a bit faster. She hated it when the impatient half demon didn't realize that not everyone was as quick as him. Nor would they ever reach up to his high expectations.

Taking her silence as a sign of obedience, he fehed and simply ran and leapt on ahead, soon catching up to the three other teammates in the group. The left-alone girl continued walking, lost in her thoughts. She trailed behind and kicked a pebble. Her large and bulky backpack was slowing her more than usual. What did she pack in there again?

'That jerk...' The girl simply muttered as a plump droplet of water descended down from the sky and landed onto her cheek.

"Ugh," Kagome winced, snapping out of her trance. She glanced down at her injured limb once again and grimaced. Her right ankle was now showing off an impressive bruise. In annoyance, Kagome gave out a little frustrated groan.

'Help...Anyone?' Kagome swallowed loudly as she tried once again to stand up. She was scared and alone and she felt anxious as her body incontrollably shivered.

A huge gust of wind rushed past the poor girl and she couldn't help but give out a little cry in distress. Her hair blew around her wet face as she trembled and failed once again to push herself up. Feeling cold and helpless with her ankle broken, Kagome looked around her as the mud surrounding her bent legs slowly inched up.

'I need to find shelter,' she thought as her teeth chattered from the chill that was working its way into her system. Her regular school uniform was soaked and clung to her body like second skin as she had to rub her hands together to get feeling back into her fingers before she began to reach over to her shoulder-strapped backpack. In the process of removing the item from her shoulders, she abruptly paused in her discomfort to sneeze. Tugging at the bindings, she released the straps and looked inside. To her disappointment, all there was were ramen cups, crayons, her textbooks, and her overly large sleeping bag, all tucked in neatly.

After digging around a bit, Kagome mentally slapped herself. Where was her first aid kit? She looked around the side pockets of the bag and found no umbrellas available and groaned. Of all days for her to be negligent, she chose today.

The rain that drizzled upon her now gently tapped against her frame.

Her eyebrows knit together as she concentrated, trying to remember her packing process. She had left the first aid kit at Kaede's, knowing beforehand that the majority of the group's injuries were normally just treated there, with the old priestess's help of herbs. But then...where were her umbrellas? She thought carefully, trying to remember exactly why this necessity wasn't packed. She usually brought at least two pairs, as a matter of fact; one for her and Inuyasha and the other for Sango and Miroku.

'It usually is...' Her thoughts trailed as she struggled to make sense of it all.

A few seconds later, it hit her. Upon Inuyasha's insistence, she had packed too many Ramen cups in her backpack, leaving no room for umbrellas.

All her problems always began and ended with him, didn't they?

Kagome sighed. There was nothing to do but wait. It had been over half an hour now and Kagome was beginning to worry. Lightning flashed again and she felt too weak to care as the sounds of thunder rang louder and closer than before. Her whole body felt numb and her head was beginning to feel woozy. She sneezed again, while she gently inspected her bruised ankle. Her eyes lowered slowly, looking at the dirty mud that was drenched all over her school uniform. She bitterly noted that the thin material was useless in shielding and insulating her body in harsh weather. She decided on resting her head against a raised knee and closed her eyes as she gripped her leg.

"Kagome!" A voice yelled out. Immediately, Kagome's eyes blinked open.

Absolute relief flooded her mind and she felt her body and muscles relax. 'Finally!'

But as she tilted her head up to see her rescuer through the rainy atmosphere, she couldn't help but give out another little cry in dismay.

It wasn't Inuyasha.