Better By You

InuYasha x Kagome

My first InuYasha fanfic! I love this fandom. It's so cute, and sweet, and action-packed, and fluffy, and dramatic, and everything else! Plus, the main male and main female are perfect together. This is a little fluff fic revolved around them. It's not super-long, but it's not supposed to be. A short, happy little oneshot!

"Where does it hurt, InuYasha?" Kagome asked, slight concern in her voice.

"Right here," the half-demon replied, pointing at his collarbone with a scowl.

Tentatively, Kagome raised her hands to her companion's right collarbone. She knew that she didn't need to worry so much, but she couldn't help but feel pity for her friend. Although a little graze from a demon was normally not enough to harm him, the night of the new moon had arrived at, with their luck, the same time a jewel-hungry demon had decided to strike. Thus, InuYasha's weakened state made it all the more challenging to put up a hefty fight against the demon. The demon had used his weapon to graze InuYasha, and it wasn't a small injury. The blade of the demon's weapon dug into the skin of the vulnerable InuYasha with force equal to a stabbing. Miroku had sucked the demon up with his Wind Tunnel, but that didn't change the fact that InuYasha now had a gaping, bleeding gash at his collarbone. The fact that his human state was intact didn't exactly help the matter.

Gently, Kagome used her left index finger to wipe away some of the lingering blood from the wound, then released her finger from his skin after she'd traced a line across his cut. As she stared with genuine worry at her finger, dripping with InuYasha's blood, InuYasha himself felt himself staring at his collarbone. He wondered why Kagome's gentle touch on his collarbone had felt so good.

Kagome smiled as she glanced down from the tree that they were sitting on. "You need some rest. Go to sleep. I'm sure Miroku, Sango, and Kirara will take care of any demon that shows up."

"What about me!" Shippou glared at Kagome, who chuckled.

"Of course, Shippou."

"Get out of here!" InuYasha hollered at Shippou, who scurried away.

Kagome stared at InuYasha disapprovingly for yelling at the innocent fox demon and said, "Calm down. Just because you're mad about your human side letting you down doesn't mean that you should unleash your anger on Shippou."

InuYasha stared into the sky for a moment. How did she know how he was feeling? It was as if he was an open book, and Kagome was the only one reading.

"Hn," InuYasha muttered, quietly but at a volume that Kagome could hear. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"InuYasha, look at you. You're dripping in blood. Your entire fire-rat robe is soaked. You're bleeding more than I thought you would be."

"It's all because of my stupid human self," InuYasha cursed. "If I was a whole demon, none of this would be happening."

Kagome's eyes flashed with a look of hurt. "Hey. Don't say that. You know how you act when you're a full demon."

"I can't protect you, Kagome, if I'm a stupid human. Thankfully, Miroku was there that time to suck up the demon. But what if he's not there when I'm a human a month from now? Besides, he's not supposed to be protecting you. He's not the one with this necklace. I am."

Kagome frowned. What was he saying? He didn't only protect her because of his necklace, which bound him to her. He enjoyed protecting her. He went the extra mile to ensure her safety. She knew this, which was what frustrated her. He was lying to himself.

"Listen to yourself, InuYasha. We've had this discussion before. Stop worrying about demons and humans. Just close your eyes. You're injured."

Reluctantly, InuYasha obliged and closed his eyes. To comfort him, Kagome gently rubbed circles on his back and breathed even, calm breaths. As a result, InuYasha felt even more relaxed and at ease than he did before the wound was even inflicted.

"Thank you."

The words were simple on his lips. His tone didn't pour out emotion, but his words were enough for Kagome.

"You're welcome. How's the wound?"

"It still hurts."

"Well, it's going to take some time to heal. Do you want me to go get some fresh water to put on it?"

InuYasha breathed out and opened his eyes. "That won't do anything. It'll help for a minute, but then the blood will come out strong."

"How about a cloth? To put over it."

"Kagome, that won't work either. Even though it's slowing down, the bleeding will still soak up the cloth. It'll be unusable and drenched in blood."

"Hmm. Well, that's all I can think of, InuYasha. You're strong, right?" Kagome half-joked, transitioning her hand from his back to his shoulder, her arm around him consolingly. "You'll be fine. I know it. You're the strongest person I know."

Then, with that, Kagome's lips gently touched his collarbone. It was a simple little kiss, right at the end of his collarbone where the bone indented towards his neck.

And, with that kiss, InuYasha couldn't suppress a blush creeping across his human cheeks.

Instantaneously after the kiss, InuYasha glanced down at the ground below him. Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippou were all sleeping. Kagome and he were all alone, together, in their tree. Suddenly, the pain dissipated. As she looked down at his collarbone, Kagome pointed out that his wound had suddenly healed. His hair began to retain his original whiteness, and his fangs began to develop from his mouth again.

Exhaling a relief-filled breath, InuYasha smirked. Why had his wound healed so shortly after the kiss? Evidently, the hour had come for InuYasha to retain his half-demon form once again. His strong demon skin caused the wound to disappear entirely. The blood that had been leaking from his skin seemed to have disappeared, almost like magic. But was it really all because it was morning? InuYasha couldn't help but feel like Kagome had healed him. Her praise for his strength, her acceptance of his true form, her sweet touch on his shoulder, her tender kiss on his collarbone. It all seemed to come together in a united effort to heal him.

Beaming at her acquaintance's half-demon form, Kagome chirped softly, "InuYasha, the moon. It's not even morning yet, is it? It's too dark. You became a half-demon early, didn't you?"

InuYasha smiled, a genuine and heartfelt smile that made Kagome's cheeks feel hot. "I guess morning decided to come a bit early today. All because of you."

"Me?" Kagome quizzically chuckled. "I didn't do anything. I was just trying to help you feel a little bit better."

"Yeah, and by that, you healed me completely. Everything you did made me feel better. Everything you did made the moon go down a little bit earlier today."

"Like fate, huh?"

"With a red string."

Kagome smiled exuberantly and flushed mildly. "I guess so."

"It's thanks to you, Kagome. I'm better by you."

A smile played on Kagome's lips as she replied, "Yeah. You're a half-demon again. Which is better by me."

InuYasha wrapped his arm around Kagome and pulled her closer next to him, letting her rest his head on his shoulder as they stared at the dancing stars.

"The idea's growing on me. As long as you accept it, maybe I'll accept myself as a half-demon. After all, according to you, it's better. Just like my wound."

And their eyes closed dreamily as the sun came up.

I hope you liked it! Anyway, the red string remark is based on a legend in Japanese folklore. Legend says that you are tied to your destined lover by an invisible red string around the left pinky. It connects two people who are destined to meet; the string may tangle, but it will never, ever break. I also hope you liked the double meaning behind the title - he was physically healed thanks to her, and his half-demon side was a more appealing thought now.

Anyway, what did you think? I'm thinking that I prolonged the ending a bit, but hey. That's okay. More InuYasha fics to come, certainly!