Weeks passed and night fell as the group came to a halt for the day, eating only but a few fish, quite the meager meal compared to what they used to have with Kagome but that couldn't be helped. The meal had mostly been in silence till Inu's bark broke it.

"Come back here with that, dammit!"

The shout had been thrown towards the retreating form of Shiori as she disappeared into the cover of the darkness with the last of Inu's fish, the dog demon hot on her heels. She wasn't too hard to follow even for the weaker-eyes of Miroku and Sango, the many earrings and tail ornament she wore shone in the moonlight. When he found her though, she was tossing the bones to the ground and licking her lips, a sly smile on her face as she faced him.

"Dammit, bitch! Why did you do that!" He barked at her stepping closer to her on the wide branch they stood on.

She looked nonplussed by his anger, sitting back on her haunches and making a soft purr.

"No reason, just thought it would liven up the night…."

"Liven up the night!" He yelled back before turning away from her and going into a tirade of cursing, calling her all sorts of indecent things as he let out his anger. When he turned back to look at her, she was laid out on her stomach, yawning as she looked up at him.

"Why don't find another tree so I can get some sleep? You don't have to be in the same one, there's a whole forest to pick from." She asked, tail swishing back and forth as her ears went to the side and her eyes shut.

Inu's anger started to surge back up again before he quelled it, there was no use in arguing with her, she didn't allow herself to be baited unlike Kagome had.

"I won't be leaving my shard detector alone so I'll stay right here…."

He then sat down and leaned his back against the trunk of the tree before folding his arms into the sleeves of his robe and giving her a no nonsense glare.

Shiori yawned and stretched again before shutting her eyes, letting her thoughts wander while she tried not to notice the cold, soon out falling asleep like only a cat can.

"Keh…" Was Inu's only reply before going silent as he too began to fall asleep.

He found after while he couldn't though, her scent still teased the hell out of his nose. Since she was asleep, the always reckless Inuyasha crept over to her and leaned over to sniff her neck, smiling softly at how it reminded him of Kagome and wishing it was her. But he stiffened as claws came up to not the best of places and a growl came from the girl beneath him.

"Get the hell away from me now!" She murmered, eyes still closed but he knew she was awake, her scent reeked of anger.

He sighed and settled back into his place, wondering why she was making him act this way, this girl couldn't be his Kagome no matter how much he wanted her to be. He sighed again, falling into his thoughts as the girl soon slept on again before giving in to sleep himself soon after.

The days passed in nearly the same way every day for the next two months, starting with a fight in the morning over the shard and ending with a fight over stolen food each night, it soon was like clockwork.

After another fight ended, Shiori curled up on the branch as usual, yawning softly before falling asleep a few moments later, trying not to shiver in the cold. Inu was quiet as he watched the woman, he was past getting angry anymore, it didn't do him any good. He kehed at her shivering before letting himself drift off, dreams soon taking his thoughts elsewhere.

Several hours passed without a hitch until Shiori noticed she had moved and felt suddenly warm. She sniffed the air, Inu smelled closer than he should be, was the wind just messing with her? She opened her eyes only to gasp as his red robe met her eyes. How the hell did she end up in Inu's arms and how did she not notice it until it was too late? She started to struggle as she realized he had grabbed her but stopped when she saw he was very much not awake. She looked up at him wondering why the hell he had done this before his mumbling brought the answer, "Kagome," he murmered before burying his face into her neck. Tensing all over, Shiori started to swat him one across the face before his warmth seeped into her. She found her cat-like instincts taking over, making her want to sleep. Instantly feeling groggy, she decided what did it matter, it was better than being freezing and fell back asleep.

Inu awoke first, nose twitching as he started to creep out of his dreams, something was not right here. He opened his eyes to see Shiori in his arms, dead to the word in sleep. He tried to move away but her claws dug into his robes and a soft murmer came from her, he smiled softly as a memory of Kagome doing the same thing flashed in his mind. If only she knew just how much she reminded him of her, when he looked past Shiori's smartass remarks and taunts, he could almost see Kagome looking out through her eyes sometimes. He flashed a lop-sided grin when the realization dawned on him, was he falling for her now too? No, he couldn't be but she did make him feel as though all was well when she was near him. But what would Kagome think of him? He didn't know but he swallowed hard, what was he going to do with this?

"Morning…" Came her voice from his chest as she lifted her head, looking as though nothing was wrong with this picture for a few moments before she sprang back in confusion, what had happened last night? She didn't wait for answer as she jumped down and disappeared in the woods with Inu staring after her.