Standard disclaimer applies.
CHAPTER ONE
An Unhealthy Start
The sun had not yet crested upon the horizon, leaving the forest campsite in mostly darkness. There was only that eerie pre-morning light and silence that filling the air.
"AHHHH!" Inu Yasha yelled at the top of his lungs. It was early, but that obviously didn't matter to Inu Yasha who was now fully yelling at Shippo. The other occupants of the site tried to ignore the outburst, clinging to the little sleep they were afforded.
That was becoming a very difficult task for a weary Kagome with Inu Yasha ranting at Shippo for a reason that her young, tired and overworked mind couldn't currently understand at the moment. She turned over onto her stomach, pulling her sleeping bag over her head, trying in vain to stifle out Inu Yasha's booming voice.
"What are you STUPID!" Inu Yasha bellowed even louder.
This was getting ridiculous. I can't take too much more of this! I need SLEEP!
"My hair is not your toy!"
"I didn't mean to! I was dreaming! It..."
Nothing more was said as Kagome shot straight up out her sleeping bag surprising and utterly terrifying the two feuding demons with the look on her face.
"Inu Yasha SIT! Shippo be QUIET!" She screamed before plopping herself back down and once again attempting to slumber.
Shippo sat stunned at the outburst, not daring to move or say anything. His eyes looked like they were ready to fall out of his head. Taking a gulp he slowly shifted his fearful gaze to where Inu Yasha who was now sprawled out in a neck bending position face down in the dirt. Serves him right! Yelling at me like that...I better stay near Kagome today... Shippo thought still staring at the half demon, who was now bringing himself to an upright position. Finally meeting Inu Yasha's eyes, Shippo wanted to run. Inu Yasha looked like he was ready to kill the next thing that crossed his path. And unfortunately, here he sat, why did he have to dream about a puppy? If he hadn't had that dream he never would have ended up petting Inu Yasha's head and accidentally pulling his hair.
"You're dead." Inu Yasha seethed as he came to his feet and darted his hand out at Shippo. Forgetting about Kagome's warning, Shippo went into defense mode.
"I didn't mean to! It's not my fault!" He squeaked as Inu Yasha grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
Just as Inu Yasha was about to pound some sense into a wailing Shippo's head when Kagome once again shot up out her sleeping bag. If it was possible, she looked even angrier than she had earlier.
"Inu Yasha" she began, obviously loosing her temper. "SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT! NOW BE QUIET!" She then slipped back to her makeshift bed. "If I hear another peep I swear, I'll... think of something horrific to do to BOTH of you!"
So much for a good night's sleep, Kagome thought as she wearily ate the ramen she had prepared for her and the others when she finally did get up. They were all seated in a circle around a little fire that had been used for making breakfast. That is, everyone except a certain half-demon sat around the fire. Inu Yasha had disappeared probably some time after she threatened him, which she could barely remember at this point. Didn't he realize that others needed sleep?
He had been gone for just over two hours now. 'It shouldn't be too much longer before he shows up...' Kagome thought. As if he could sense her thoughts, Inu Yasha popped up. He quickly and angrily grabbed his portion of the meal and took off to a tree mumbling to himself. Putting a reign on her temper and choosing to ignore him, Kagome glanced over at Miroku and Sango.
Each of them had dark circles under their eyes and both were eating their breakfasts painfully slow. It was obvious that everyone was tired, even Inu Yasha was being more cranky than usual. That final battle against Naraku a few short days ago, three days exactly, had exhausted all of them. And that little 'incident' this morning hadn't helped things at all. Miroku looked slightly happier though, there was a different glow to him. 'I guess I should have expected that. Now he doesn't have to worry about a black hole sucking him and everyone around him in... He finally defeated that curse.' She thought. Without realizing it, Kagome began to smirk. It didn't seem to reach her eyes, but none the less, it was there, and everyone needed something to brighten their day.
Sango saw the meek smile Kagome gave. It was the first time since right after the battle with Naraku that she had seen Kagome smile. This warmed her heart, Kagome's smiles almost had a power to them, you just wanted to feel happy when she was happy. "Kagome," Sango said, not really giving any indication that she was going to continue.
Lowering her soup and meeting Sango's eyes, Kagome just stared. Her smile had faded. 'Her too...She's been through so much. Losing her entire family, even Kohaku in the end. And here I am moping around...I have so much more than both of them. They are so strong.'
"What's the matter Kagome?" Sango asked after a few moments of enduring a staring contest with her companion. Finally Kagome seemed to realize she was staring like a mad man at Sango. "Oh, nothing, sorry. I was just thinking." She said brightly. She closed her eyes and gave Sango an over-bearing smile.
"You have been acting strange lately," Miroku added nonchalantly while finishing off his meal. Shippo popped up from his seat behind Miroku. Kagome realized the direction this conversation was taking, and she wasn't going to allow it to go there. Kagome trained her eyes on Miroku, looking at him directly.
"I have?" she asked innocently in response to his query, acting like she had no clue what he could be talking about. In all honesty she had figured that she probably seemed a little melancholy, but nothing serious. Apparently the others noticed, at least a certain three of the others.
"You haven't said much to any of us since that battle. Are you sure you're okay?" Sango asked, knowing that Kagome was hiding something from them.
"Really? I guess I just can't believe it's all over," Kagome said in a cheerful voice. All over, she thought again, but then stopped herself, she didn't want to worry her friends anymore than she had already.
"Kagome, are you sure your not mad at me?" The little kitsune asked. 'Wow, I must have really yelled at him for him to think that,' Kagome thought as she gave a reassuring smile to Shippo. She set her nearly untouched ramen to the side and scooted over to Shippo, crouching down to eye level with him.
"And why would you think that?" Kagome asked.
"Well, this morning, you were all trying to sleep, and I well..." Shippo said, his words coated with regret.
"Of course, I'm not mad at you! I was just really tired this morning."
He seemed to loosen up at hearing that, but he still kept his attentive eyes on Kagome, the closest thing he had to a mother. 'I bet this has something to do with Inu Yasha,' Shippo thought. After giving Kagome a brief hug he resumed munching on the remnants of his breakfast. Kagome returned to her food as well. With one bite she realized it was cold and immediately decided just to discard it, she wasn't all that hungry any way.
Meanwhile, the silver haired half-demon watched the scene below him, his keen ears picking up every word of the conversation.
"What's the matter Kagome?" Sango's voice came. Kagome's reply came shortly after. "Oh, nothing, sorry. I was just thinking."
Liar, he thought, still carefully listening to the conversation. Kagome kept reinforcing her previous statements, saying that nothing was wrong. He could tell that was a blatant lie. If nothing was wrong then she wouldn't have those sad looks on her face or be exploding at him and Shippo in the morning. Sure she'd get angry at him even on her best days, but Shippo, never. She even had an excuse of being tired for that whole thing earlier this morning.
"Feh, Stupid girl, moping around all because of nothing." No, he knew it wasn't because of nothing, he just wasn't quite sure what it was. He leaned back against the tree, shutting his eyes to think and putting his ears and nose on the look out. 'Why is she always so confusing! And on top of that, any time she gets into a bad mood, I get brought down right along with her for some un-named reason. She is smiling though, that could mean it really was just nothing...' he thought, trying to shed some light on the situation. His eyes opened to reveal a quite frustrated look. His claws began to dig into the branch he was sitting on. There was no denying the truth, and that was that Kagome was not happy.
Inu Yasha looked at the clear sky as he continued to think, his claws still embedded in the poor tree. 'Maybe she's mad at me. It wouldn't be the first time,' he thought glumly. 'What could I have done this time?' He asked himself. He thought back but couldn't pinpoint anything he'd done in particular. Granted, the only thing on his mind lately had been Naraku. Even after his demise the demon still controlled his life. But shouldn't Kagome be relieved if not excited about their victory? It didn't make sense and he didn't like feeling as if was his fault she was upset. 'Besides this morning, I don't remember doing anything to cause this... and she was moody before that... I must have done something really stupid. Or maybe she misses those stupid friends of hers in her time. I don't see why she even bothers with them. Especially that stupid Hobo guy. Huh...Idiots.' Pulling himself out of that train of thought for now he noted the position of the sun. There was nothing he could, or would, do about Kagome. There dawdling had caused more time than planned to pass. Now, if they didn't get going soon, they wouldn't make it to Kaede's by nightfall. It was time for them to get off their rear ends and get moving. And Inu Yasha was just the person to go down there and say so.
Jumping down from the tree to grumpily get everyone going, he could feel that this just wasn't going to be a good day.
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