I don't own these characters n desu (its that I don't own these characters). The following is a public service announcement: If someone near you collapses of boredom, chances are they have been over-exposed to formulaic and over-done fanfics. Check this fic for updates and read supplemental parody fics until an update arrives. If you don't have any parodies on hand, take the time to find and bookmark some now. To find a parody fic, try this author's bio page or any of the listed favorites. This public service announcement was brought to you by TrimblingNibbles.

Chapter 4: A tender moment montage

Sometime in the night, Inuyasha returned to wakefulness. A few seconds later, he realized that he had been sleeping. Several seconds after that, he became aware of the too-warm Kagome he was still cradling against his chest. Heat radiated off her in waves, making him sweat uncomfortably. Inuyasha made to lay Kagome back on her sleeping bag so as to fetch the basin of water and the washcloth, but as he began to pull away from her she whimpered and hugged him feebly.

"I'm just going to get some cool water, Kagome," Inuyasha reassured her gently. She quieted and immediately rolled over on her sleeping bag. "What the hell…she's still asleep?" Inuyasha muttered to himself as he retrieved the water and washcloth from the counter. Back at her side, he carefully patted Kagome's face and neck and pushed her hair back to further cool her off. She responded with some quiet happy sounds and held her arms out to him.

"Oh no," thought Inuyasha to himself, "I fall for this in every fucking fic that has ever been written about me and Kagome. No fucking way. I'm perfectly happy takin' care of Kagome in a semi-caring manner and completely ignoring any feelings I might have for her. I'm not gonna let her pull me into her arms and make me sleep by her for the rest of the fuckin' night." He turned resolutely away from her to put the basin away and move to a corner to sleep when her hands closed on his shoulders and pulled him inexorably backwards.

"Shit," Inuyasha muttered. "She has fingers of steel!" He frowned at her over his shoulder until he saw her face.

"Please, Inuyasha…?" Kagome's face was feverish and pleading. He begrudgingly lay down next to her.

"Keh, fine…but there's no way this is going to get any cuter than it already is." As Inuyasha said that, Kagome rolled on her side, placing her head on his shoulder, and snuggled against his arm. "You've got to be kidding me. The readers will be overwhelmed with sweetness. Seriously, what the hell?" Inuyasha violently squashed the extremely content feeling seeping from every place Kagome's small body made contact with his own and began to count Shippos tripping over a fence to distract himself.

Kagome went in an out of consciousness for the next day, which meant some very one-sided cute things happened involving Inuyasha mothering her, so let's just skip to the day after that using this transitional sentence, which summarizes the day in a manner that suggests it is not important.

When Kagome awoke the next day she seemed much healthier, belying the feverish chills that had wracked her now-frail body for the past few days. Inuyasha decided that the readers were getting tired of him sponging off Kagome's face and snuggling with her while she slept and convinced Kaede that Kagome needed fresh air and the peaceful atmosphere of the Goshinboku. (The "convincing" consisted of Inuyasha picking up Kagome and walking out the door of Kaede's hut, calling over his shoulder, "Kagome can't be cooped up in here all the time, hag, it's not good for her. We're going out.")

At first Kagome insisted she be allowed to walk, but Inuyasha stubbornly carried her, and, knowing that she couldn't win this particular fight, Kagome was content to enjoy the calm breeze and her comfortable seat nestled in Inuyasha's arms. At length they reached the Goshinboku, which Inuyasha leaped into without hesitation, still not breaking the comfortable silence.

Once in the tree, Kagome remained on Inuyasha's lap, hoping he wouldn't shift her elsewhere. She didn't want to speak and destroy the so-far friendly mood, but her current lucidity made her worry about the poison and its effects. "So…Inuyasha…Sango and Miroku went to get something to help cure me?" She said tremulously.

"Yeah. Kaede said they should get back just in time for her to heal you before…" he trailed off and looked into her chocolate brown eyes, his own eyes swirling pools of amber. Kagome swallowed and nodded, not breaking his gaze.

After a moment, she asked softly, "Why didn't you go to get the antidote and leave the others to care for me?" Inuyasha 'keh'-ed softly and glanced away for a second before returning his stare to Kagome's sepia-colored eyes.

"No one can protect you as well as I can," he scoffed, trying to conceal the incomprehensible feelings rising in his throat. The look in her chestnut colored eyes prompted him to add, "I didn't want to leave you." Her eyelashes fluttered, briefly concealing her mocha-hazelnut-crunch-colored eyes, and she relaxed onto his chest, gingerly snuggling her head underneath his chin, and contemplated her rapid and bizarre eye-color change along with these accumulating tender moments.