Author's Note: Written for a request from kmoaton for some Inuyasha/Kagome love.
Inuyasha grumbled, tugging on the sleeves of his haori, trying to keep the cold out.
"Stupid winter," he grouched.
A nearby door slid open and Kagome poked her head out.
"Inuyasha!" she yelled. "Come in before you freeze yourself to death!"
"Keh! I'm not going back in if that senile old bag is still there!" he snarled back.
Kagome heaved a sigh. "Toshiko-sama thought you were a rogue demon, that's why she tried to purify you! We've already explained everything to her."
He shifted on his tree branch so that his back was resolutely turned towards her.
The girl pouted. That stubborn, childish, immature idiot!
The hanyou distinctly heard the door slide back into place with a sharp snap and his poker-stiff back crumpled. He curled up, his back pressed against the tree trunk, conserving as much warmth as he could. Even his ears were pressed firmly against his head to protect the sensitive appendages from the chill.
Inuyasha did not hear the muted cursing coming from underneath until a loud thump which shook the tree caught his attention.
Kagome sat sprawled in the snow at the base, her cheeks rosy from the cold. It was evident from the scuffed snow around her that she had been trying to climb the tree.
He simply sat up and stared. "What are you doing out here, wench?" he asked incredulously.
"What does it look like?" she snapped back. "I'm trying to drag you in, you stubborn jerk!"
Inuyasha landed on all fours beside her and hauled her upright. "Stupid wench," he muttered under his breath as she brushed the snow off her clothes vigorously. Kagome had wisely abandoned her short fuku for a more practical pants and jacket combination, a thick woolly scarf wrapped around her neck.
He scowled as she sneezed once, twice, thrice in quick succession. "Humans are so weak."
Before she could retort, he had removed his haori and draped it over her shoulders. "Here," he said gruffly.
Kagome stared open-mouthed at him. "Inuyasha, don't you need it?"
"No, I'm hanyou," Inuyasha replied matter-of-factly. "I'm tougher than you weak humans."
"I'm going back into the house, I won't need it." The girl held out the garment to him.
"Keh. I don't trust those modern clothes of yours. They don't look very warm to me. Look, they're soaked." He flicked one claw at the damp seat of her pants. "Besides, that old bag will hog all the heat, you see if she doesn't. Put it back on, you stupid wench."
With that, he bounded back into his tree. She stared at the dark outline of him, a half-smile on her face before she went in.
The next morning, Kagome busied herself taking care of a sneezing, coughing hanyou. "Don't need it, huh?" she asked teasingly, pulling the blanket up to his chin.
"Baka," murmured Kagome, bending to place a soft kiss on Inuyasha's feverish forehead.