Kagome's breath sat in her chest long enough to burn when she held it. Even though all she could stare at was the floor underneath her, the tension in the air was thick. Her heartbeat jumped up and she instantly ran over her ideas to intervene. 'Sit' sat at the end of her tongue but she knew that would be a short drop and a crippling impact when she got crushed under him.

Inuyasha suddenly shifted his weight, his free hand going to rest on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga. Kagome opened her mouth. "Inuyasha, you know you can't fight while your holding me up here so put me down." She raised her voice a bit but didn't yell. The small pleading in her voice made his ears twitch and Kagome could feel a silent rumbling in his chest.

"We don't have time for this wolf. We're going to find Naraku."

A bell of realization rung at the name and Kouga stiffened. His eyes never left the dog demon before him but his thoughts strayed. The human behind him spoke up, closing the distance between himself and Inuyasha. He reached out a hand and gently touched the dog demon's sleeves.

"Have you found something, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked cautiously.

Kagome tried to move her weight but found it futile. Her stomach muscles started to ache and the blood kept rushing to her head but her companion's attention was going elsewhere.

"More than something." Inuyasha tightened his arm around Kagome and looked over. "I know where he is and if we have any chance of catching him we have to leave now."

Sango gasped behind them all and everyone in the cave shifted uncomfortably.

"You think we're ready to attack him now?" Sango asked, her fingers tightening around the strap of her boomerang.

"I'm ready to attack him now." Inuyasha twisted back around to look in the front of the cave.

Some of the blood left Kouga's head. The rage that had been building dissipated a bit, but the back of his mind stayed very aware of the way Inuyasha was holding his Kagome. But if they really found Naraku, Kouga would be damned if he wasn't going to go take that demon's head.

Sango and Miroku had shot each other a long look. The group had rested but was it enough to attack Naraku? Inuyasha and the demon had faced off before and it wasn't quite as easy as Inuyasha would like to think. They could just be walking into a death trap. But how important would this opportunity be? It may not come again for a long time.

"Did you find out why Naraku had gone under cover?" Miroku asked, his thoughts spinning together.

Inuyasha shrugged his free shoulder. "I'll explain what I found out on the way. But we don't have much time to be squandering here."

Kouga folded his arms when the dog demon turned his attention back to him. "I'm coming with you then and I'm going to be the one to kill Naraku."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to snap back but Sango sprung forward to stop him.

"Listen Inuyasha, if this is true we'll need all the help we can get." Sango tried to reason.

Kouga nodded at the human's reasoning, mildly thinking of the girl's rationality.

"Plus mutt, I'll be there to make sure you don't get my Kagome killed."

Kagome jumped at the reference but bit her lip and stilled herself. No one over examined the comment and Inuyasha just gave a usual growl.

"I don't care what the wolf does but he will not get in my way." The hanyou suddenly kicked into motion and ran toward the front of the cave.

Kouga swept out of the way, his mind shifting focus to inform Ginta and Hakkaku of his absence. The human companions rushed by him in effort to keep up with the hanyou that'd jumped out of the cave.

Kagome squeaked when they hit the ground again, the breath being rushed for her.

"Please put me down Inuyasha, you're making me dizzy." She pleaded this time, the blood in her head making the edges of her vision black. Inuyasha obliged this time, tugging her forward and putting her on her feet. Kagome barely caught her balance in time and came to an awkward stand. She pressed an absent hand to her stomach where the muscles protested angrily.

Inuyasha looked away from her, eyes focusing on the ground.

"What's up with you lately? I understand we're in a rush." She grumbled, vaguely aware of the others slowly crawling out of the wolf den. Inuyasha's rushing had put them a good half a mile apart.

"Feh." Inuyasha spoke quietly. "I can smell that wolf all over you."

Kagome's spine snapped straight with a bolt of electricity that caught every nerve. She barely caught the gasp before it left her mouth and her nails dug into her palms.

"Uh what?" The words escaped her as the blood left her face.

Inuyasha didn't answer immediately so Kagome found herself spitting out, "He gave his bed to me for the night."

The unspoken implication that Kouga wasn't in the bed with her was already there and Inuyasha wrapped his arms around his chest.

"It's an ugly scent. You should take a bath."

Kagome couldn't help but let her face twist with scandal but the dog demon didn't seem to care. He turned to look behind her to yell at the others to rush.

Kagome didn't follow. Her mouth thinned and she couldn't help but frown. Ugly scent?

"Kirara." Sango's voice reached them and then the growl as the small animal transformed.

"We can follow you faster like this. You need to lead the way." Sango announced when they got there.

Kagome finally turned when she felt the pulse of the jewel shards. Kouga appeared next to them in his usual tornado and he slid to a stop. His eyes scanned the surroundings and landed on the girl whose sorrow spoke loudly upon her stature. His lips peeled back around his fangs but he didn't say anything when the girl didn't look at him.

"Take Kagome and we'll follow." Sango told the dog demon.

Inuyasha turned about to the girl. For the briefest second, Kagome caught his amber eyes before he moved to brush past her.

"Kouga can take her, I'm sure he wants to." The hanyou's words barely reached the others before he took off in a run. Kagome's mouth fell open and she couldn't help but let out a squeak of shock. Sango and Miroku shifted awkwardly and stayed silent.

"Wow, what's gotten into him?" Shippou asked for the group and sprung up on to Kirara's back.

Even Kouga found himself without words as he stared at the dog-demons back. He knew the hanyou couldn't possibly know about him and Kagome. Yes, he might be able to smell Kouga on her but that didn't mean anything. Scents didn't work that way—there would be no reason to believe there had been anything that happened short of Kagome telling him. And the shock on the girl's face clearly told him she didn't. Kouga had been careful to guard his own emotions. No, there was no way the dog demon could know. Not this soon especially.

Kagome's heart churned and she couldn't help but let the hurt show all over her features. Her shoulders drew together and her face dropped. She watched the space where the hanyou had once stood and after a minute answered Shippou's question.

"I really don't know." She whispered.

~*~

A/N: Hey guys. I really don't have much to ramble about at the end of this chapter so I'll make it short and simple. Review or favorite!