by IronRaven
Discalimer: Shippou and his family aren't mine. Not even cranky Uncle Sesshomaru. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama.
This is part of the Blanket Challenge issued by Chelsea Deanne (). For those unfamiliar with the Blanket Challenge, two or more of the IY characters are suffering from exposure, and fire is not available. Medicore shelter and one dry blanket are. Failure to restore body warmth will result in death to one or more of our heros.
This is my first posted Inuyasha fic, so I'm not sure if it is good as it could be. *shrugs* For people put off by frost bite and/or warm fuzzies, this won't be a good one. For people who want some San/Mir romance, and quality time spent by IY and Ship, though...
The whole thing is rated PG-13 for Inuyasha and Sango's mouths, mild violence, non-sexual nudity, a messy head wound, and a great deal of saki.
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The winter's winds beat at Kaede's simple hut as the sun rose, it's light flashing off the snow that has fallen in the night, robbed of all warmth by the now cloudless sky. Not a single bird flew, and the normal sounds of the village were muted, as if sound itself had frozen in mid-air, only thin dancers of smoke from the hearths giving signs of life anywhere. They, and a strong cough that was fighting to escape a small chest…
"Guys, it's nothing, just a cold. Maybe the flu. But I'll be OK, really!" Kagome had been saying that for days. Two on the trail, and one in Keade's hut, where her coughing had left her hoarse.
"The 'flu'? Tell me, child, what kind of illness is this flu?"
"It isn't a big deal, Keade. I just need to rest a few days. Everyone gets it in my time. It just makes you ache, and cough, and run a fever. It's not dangerous to anyone except……" Looking around the room, Kagome's eyes found those of her friends.
Young Shippo, rubbing his hands nervously, trying not to show his fear. Sango, always the practical one, sharpening one of her many hidden blades. Miroku, preparing herbs for one of the villagers, one eye on Sango. Inuyasha, leaning against the door frame, his hands hidden in the sleeves of his haori. Keade, warming herself by the fire, old even in Kagome's time, most of all. The others had never been exposed to the diseases she had been. The flu could kill them, any of them. I'm a danger to them. Keade, Miroku, Sango, even Shippo and Inuyasha! I need to go home, before I sicken the village.
"Kagome, it sounds like the winter sickness. It came to my village, when I was little. It took many of hunters." Sango's voice was quiet, her eyes hidden as she bowed her head, but her shoulders were tight, remembering those who hadn't survived. Her voice was rough, trying to stay steady, when she spoken again. "Go home, Kagome-chan, please, until you are better. Your healers know more than we do, and can care for you better."
"Sango is right. Return when you are well. There is no hunting to be done in the dead of winter, anyway. Even Inuyasha's nose does not work as well, cold as it is. But when you return, bring what medicines from your time as you can- we may need them," Mirokou said, face calm, as he read Kagome's fearful eyes, knowing what strange illnesses could mean in the small, isolated villages, such as the one they had adopted as their home between wanderings. "You could not have known you were sick when you came. It is not your fault."
"Feh! Can you walk, or do I need to carry you again, wench? You had to be stubborn, you couldn't tell us you were sick when we left the village, could you? I'll make sure you get home, just like I made sure you got here," growled Inuyasha as he loosened the straps of her pack. Despite the weak anger in his voice, his companions knew that it was mostly for show. His eyes, close to the unfamiliar mechanism of the buckles flashed with concern, and a little fear. Winter sickness… The village would loose people if spreads…I could loose her…
Fighting to control his face, the hanyou finished loosening the straps on the massive satchel of stuff that Kagome couldn't live without. His normal mask of apathy and insolence was once again firmly in place, in all but his eyes as he stood, shouldering Kagome's pack, facing her. "Well?"
"Inuyasha! Kagome's sick! Even you should know better than to be a jerk to someone when they aren't well!" Standing at her side, Shippou was puffed in anger at the half demon, tail and fists high. Although only knee-high to the others in the group, he was every bit as brave as they were, especially when he thought Inuyasha was being mean. But bravery cannot protect you, and the young kitsune's foot went back a quarter step at Inuyasha's growl.
"Enough of this, both of you!!" Miroku's voice rang clear over Kagome's latest bout of coughing, cutting through the argument, silencing it before it started. "Inuyasha and Shippou, either of you could become sick. Many of the illnesses that plague man also affect man-like youkai. So stay here this time, Inuyasha, rather than following her. She is safe in her own time, not matter how long it takes."
"Besides, Kirara has been through one village with winter sickness. She could protect Kagome in her own time just as well." The huntress looked over at her friend, who was curled up as near to the fire as one could without being in it. The little fire cat raised her head, yawning, her tails covering her toes, stretching, before walking to Kagome, rubbing the miko's hip with her head.
"And she probably eats less than you do, Inuyasha," the time traveler whispered, lifting the two tailed cat in her arms, turning her head to keep from coughing in Kirara's ear. "And cats can't get the flu. Mine never has and he's always with me when I'm sick….."
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Author's notes:
I don't know if the flu was called "winter sickness" in old Japan or not. I have found references to it by that name in medival Europe, so... *shrug*
Part of why this challenge called to me was becuase I've been badly frost bitten several times and probably should have gone to the ER for hypothermia a time or two. So I will be calling on my experinces and the lessons learned from them for this.