CHAPTER ONE

x.

"Kagome!"

Kagome stopped wringing out the rag and glanced over her shoulder. Shippo and Kirara were trotting in the door of Kaede's hut. The little fox-demon was carrying a giant bucket of water, tottering along with Kirara. The little cat was carrying some rags in her mouth. "How's Inuyasha doing?" Shippo asked.

"AGGGH! DAMMIT, YOU OLD HAG, THAT HURTS!" a familiar voice roared from the next room.

"Lie still and it will not hurt ye as much," Kaede's stonily calm voice said.

"OW! OWW!"

"He's not doing so well," Kagome said, walking into the next room. "That battle with Naraku really tore him up, and he's still in bed."

As she came in, she found Inuyasha doing his best to sit up, coughing rather messily into his fist. Most of the cuts and gashes on his pale skin were closing up, but he was still weak. And whenever he got up, something always opened up. "Oh no you don't!" she said, quickly pushing him back down on the futon. "Just lie still while I clean off those cuts on your chest."

"Perhaps ye will have better luck than I," Kaede said dryly, drawing a shade over the window. "He will not stay still, no matter what I say."

Inuyasha glared balefully at the old woman as Kagome started dabbing the wet rag on his bare chest. The last battle with Naraku had been a particularly deadly one, leaving Inuyasha with diseased cuts all over his body, a very nasty (bloody) cough, and dizzy spells when he tried to move fast. He had been in even worse condition when they dragged him back, but he was still pretty bad.

"I am not sick," Inuyasha coughed.

"You ARE sick, and lie down while I put this ointment on you."

"Am not."

"Lie down, already!"

"I shouldn't even be in this hovel. I should be out there-" He coughed. "Kicking Naraku's ass. If he gets away-"

"He already GOT away, and you're not going anywhere," Kagome said firmly, shoving him back down. "Naraku can wait for now. So lie still now."

"Won't."

"Lie still or else." Kagome began cleaning off a blackened scrape on his shoulder. "You got really badly hurt, Inuyasha."

"Feh. I can get over these in a few days."

"Only if ye begin to relax, and do not overexert yourself," Kaede said firmly.

"How the hell am I supposed to relax?" Inuyasha yelled, lurching back up. Kagome pushed him back down, and pressed one of her knees to the middle of his bruised chest. "Naraku is getting away right now! How can I even think about relaxing when he -" He broke off, coughing.

"How is Inuyasha?" Miroku poked his head into the room.

"As loud and stubborn as ever," Kaede said gravely. She stepped out of the room, rubbing her chin. "I am concerned for Inuyasha. He will not relax or allow himself to heal, in his determination to hunt down Naraku. Moreover, he seems unwilling to allow himself to rest and recover in a safe location."

"Will his injuries get worse if he doesn't relax?"

"Relax?" Inuyasha shouted. "I ain't going to relax if I don't feel safe. And Naraku can-"

"Nay, not much worse. But they will heal far more slowly if he overexerts his body. He is unable to do much at this point; even walking is difficult. But if he will only rest for a few days, he will heal quickly as usual, and the poison will make its way out of his lungs and body."

"You have a point," Miroku said pensively. "Unfortunately, Inuyasha isn't the sort to simply lie down and rest when an enemy is nearby."

Kagome sighed heavily as she came back out of Inuyasha's room, listening to him yelling at Kaede and Miroku for talking about him behind his back. She had an idea of where he could relax -- but it wasn't going to be a fun experience for her, if he agreed to come.

"Um, Kaede?" she piped up. "I have an idea."

TO BE CONTINUED