After the bath, it was back to the cave to drop off their bathing supplies and pick up an empty basket along with Kagome's bow and arrows. The walk back was filled with a companionable silence while Inuyasha kept an ear and a nose out for possible dangers and Kagome walked a little way ahead to poke around. He watched with bemusement as the girl stopped and smiled at every bird's nest and squirrel she saw along the way, exuding her happiness like a second skin.

Each time she moved her head he heard the gratifying sound of the pearls on her hairpin swinging on their chains and clinking quietly into each other. It was a small pretty sound that made him think of the bell on a cat's collar somehow.

Inuyasha seemed to catch the miko's eyes next and he watched as she turned around smiling at him. He couldn't help but smile back. She made it easy to smile when she was like this.

The girl seemed to take this as an invitation and slowed her pace. When he caught up to her, she fell into step beside him and wrapped her left arm in his right.

He allowed the familiar action with a soft "Keh" of permission, but didn't stop walking or let himself get distracted enough to drop his guard.

"So I've been wondering about something," Kagome said suddenly.

"And what's that?" He asked without looking down at her.

"How old are you?"

At that, he did look down if only to raise an eyebrow at the expression of innocent curiosity he found there.

"Wench, If you're gonna go and ask questions like THAT, be prepared for me to start askin you awkward questions too," he told her with an open tone of mischief.

Her look of curiosity turned to confusion. "Do you not like telling people your age?" she asked in a surprised tone.

He looked back to the path and shrugged, tugging her arm up somewhat with the action. "Humans usually freak out about it."

"So what? Are you secretly an old man then?" she teased with a playful smile.

He snorted at her conclusion. "Maybe to you humans," he told her wryly. "But I'm still pretty young for a demon."

She nodded her understanding, still smiling. "I've heard before that time goes by differently for demons. That they just live such a long time that a few years ends up feeling about the same as a few weeks. "

He shrugged again. "I guess that seems about right."

Inuyasha made no further comment, seemingly focused on listening for enemies.

"So then, how old are you?" Kagome repeated after a short pause. "Because you look like you'd only be around nineteen or twenty years old if you were a human."

"Does this mean I get to ask you awkward questions too then?" he shot back evenly.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally said,"So long as you don't ask me more about why I ran away, I guess I don't mind. "

"...I turned two hundred years old last winter," he told her almost begrudgingly.

For a second she was quiet and he turned his head a little to get a look at her from his peripheral.

She caught his eye and smiled encouragingly, looking completely unfazed. "Well I can see why humans would freak out over that," she admitted. "But it sounds like what I was expecting. You've said before that you've been living here for around fifty years."

The half demon turned his eyes back to the forest ahead of him and frowned in confusion."Did I?"

"Mhm. You should pay more attention or you really will be like an old man," she teased with a sly smile.

"When did I tell you how long I've been living here?" he asked feeling caught off guard.

"I think when you were first showing me the hot spring here."

He thought about it, tilting his ears a little like a confused dog. He only recalled the conversation vaguely. She had asked about the hot springs and he'd told her he'd found eight in this forest over the last fifty years he'd been here. Somehow that seemed ages ago.

"I did say that didn't I?" he asked with a little surprise.

"Yep. So if you were trying to keep your age a secret I didn't notice."

Inuyasha frowned and grumbled something softly to himself, then purposefully bumped into the girl, nearly knocking her over. She squeaked in surprise, grabbing onto his arm with her other hand for balance. But once she had a better footing she just laughed.

Inuyasha's irritation melted. She didn't seem to mind the age gap between them or the further proof of his inhumanity. So maybe it didn't matter as much as he'd worried it would.

(-)

After they had dropped off their bath things and gathered Kagome's empty basket at the cave, Inuyasha met her outside and crouched down to his knees to let the girl climb on his back. Kagome had to hike up her kimono to make the arrangement work, but once she was situated he seemingly had no problem leaping into the tree they had sat in that morning and gracefully taking off toward the east.

At first, his pace was pretty relaxed. Or at least he wasn't repeating his speed from the first time he had carried her this way.

Kagome kept her arms wrapped around his neck, watching the world grow small beneath them as he ran and leaped through the trees, landing gracefully with each descent. Kagome laughed aloud at a particularly interesting takeoff where he seemed to be testing her limits, breaking through the ceiling of leaves and clearing two or three trees easily.

Though she couldn't see it, the half demon smiled at the sound as he took another leap still higher. Another peal of laughter was his reward.

"Having fun now?" he asked taking another smooth leap.

"Yes!" she answered fighting off another fit of laughter.

"Wanna go higher?" the half demon asked, pleasantly surprised by how well his burden was handling the trip.

"Yes!"

His smile broadened. "Then hold on!" Inuyasha warned before putting an extra oomph in his next leap. This time he easily cleared a good fifty feet over the treetops. Kagome's response was an immediate sound of amazement and joy that rang pleasantly in Inuyasha's ears.

He suddenly remembered that moment during the fight with the snake when he'd thought he would never have the chance to run with her like this again. Now he found himself hoping they would get to do things like this together all the time.

But thinking of that moment also reminded him of his vow to show her the way out of the forest. That thought stole a little of the wind from his sails. But by now the path was far behind them. It would have to wait until the trip back.

(-)

It didn't take terribly long to reach where they were going with Inuyasha running there at nearly top speed. There were a couple of detours to avoid the drop offs, but Kagome seemed to be enjoying herself and the demons were staying away from them, so he wasn't bothered.

The place he had in mind for her foraging turned out to be an old abandoned temple.

Inuyasha landed in a clearing at the base of its crumbling stone staircase and let her off watching as her eyes went wide with surprise at the sight of the big torii gate that somehow miraculously still stood. The red paint had almost completely peeled away in the years this place had been abandoned and the wood looked mostly rotten, but it was still a big impressive structure.

Inuyasha led her up the steps and under the gate, showing her where it was safest to walk. The girl followed just behind him step by step, carefully soaking in their surroundings. "I had no idea there was a temple here," she murmured clutching the basket handle to her chest as she looked around.

"Not much of a temple anymore," he answered. "Story is a hundred years ago someone put a curse on the monks who lived here and they all died. But it's more likely a disease or somethin came through here and wiped em all out."

"So, what's it doing out here in the middle of the forest?" she queried.

The half demon shrugged. "My guess is that the trees just grew up around it. Wouldn't be hard after a hundred years. Anyway, this isn't really that far from the forest edge, maybe five miles."

"Then do people still come here?"

"No. At least none I've ever seen or smelled. I'm pretty sure humans think this place is haunted."

"...Is it?" she asked timidly.

Inuyasha turned back with a mischievous look on his face. "Maybe," he answered.

The poor girl paled a little. "Y-You better be joking!" she sputtered.

"I guess we'll see for ourselves soon won't we?" he chuckled lightly.

As soon as Inuyasha turned his back on her, Kagome frowned and stuck out her tongue at his teasing. Or... What she hoped was teasing.

They reached the dilapidated doorway in a stone wall surrounding the temple grounds and Kagome watched as Inuyasha courteously tore the rotten doors from their rusty hinges to clear the way for her.

While she watched him go through the trouble, she was struck by his willingness to let her walk up the hill at all. He could have just taken them straight into the compound. But he'd seemed to realize she liked being allowed to take her time and look around. Why else would he take the time to show her which steps were safe?

'He can be so...'

Kagome smiled at her companion's back as he tore the second door off its frame for good measure and tossed it inside with a crash to join the other. Then he made a huff of satisfaction and stood aside to let her pass.

She stepped forward and flashed him a heartfelt smile.

"Thank you Inuyasha."

He looked a bit baffled by the expression but just nodded and said, "Anytime."

Together they entered the grounds and found themselves in an overgrown zen garden. The trees and flowers had long overtaken their boundaries and were growing anywhere along the path that they could manage. Just off to the right quite close to the entrance, Kagome spotted the six roku jizo statues through her peripheral. She momentarily paused and turned to get a better look at them.

Each one was chipped and had varying coats of moss growing on them, but surprisingly none of them had broken in all the time they had been here. Seeing them made her feel a little nostalgic somehow. They were supposed to represent Jizo's willingness to save anyone on any plain of existence. In a temple, they were meant to send a message of welcome to all who entered. Kagome hoped the message was heartfelt. She hated the idea of rooting through a temple without consent even if it was abandoned.

Inuyasha stopped to look too, although he didn't comment. His ears twitched this way and that, keeping track of their surroundings. Then after a moment, she let him lead her on deeper into the grounds toward what remained of the temple.

The building itself was clearly falling apart. The walls were nearly engulfed by vines and moss and the roof had some holes, as well as some bare patches in the tiles where the rotten wood was left exposed to the elements. And one side of the structure had slumped forward as if one (or several) of the support beams had given in. But it was still standing, if only barely.

It was sad and strange seeing a building that must have once been very impressive look so run down and empty.

"So you think that this is a good place for me to forage?" she asked a little uncertainly as he led her down a path veering toward the back of the compound.

"Well yeah, the monks who used to live here had a garden once. It's a mess now, but you never know what might'a kept on growing. I think there should be beans here at least, so that's something."

She nodded and they walked around the right-hand side of the temple toward the back. Where she would have expected a vegetable garden, He stopped in front of a tangle of overgrown plants. They looked like any other bramble you might find in the woods. She gave it a critical look and walked up closer.

"Well, see anything useful?" he asked curiously.

"I see the flowers for the beans you were telling me about, But they aren't ready yet. I could tidy this up though and that might help later on..."

"Do whatever you want," the half-demon told her easily. "I'm gonna go take a look around and make sure there's nothin hiding out here I just haven't smelled yet."

"Okay, I'll be here," she agreed, settling herself on her knees beside the tangle to start weeding.

Inuyasha nodded and headed back toward the temple looking around carefully as he went. Before long he was out of sight and Kagome was hard at work.

She worked like that by herself for a while, humming cheerfully as she got into it. About half the plants she pulled were useless, but mixed in she found a few different kinds of herbs that seemed promising. Early mustard and rosemary were among them, and what looked like the beginnings of vegetables. She grinned and piled what she could in her basket using her little kitchen knife to cut away only what she needed from the useful plants.

If she could get a proper garden out of this mess that would help both of them tremendously with food. Even better if she could find a way to pickle some of the vegetables for winter.

But as she was busy thinking about the future, she felt something that made her pause. The tiny flicker of an unfamiliar demon's energy coming from off to her right somewhere near the wall.

Kagome slowly looked over, reaching for her bow and arrows, half expecting to see another snake demon there to avenge the one they had killed the other day.

She saw nothing but a round Durama statue half hidden in weeds at the edge of the garden. She looked at the statue in surprise. It seemed out of place somehow. But It shouldn't be out of place, right? This was a temple after all. Most temples had statues like that littered around the grounds.

But then she compared it to the roku jizo statues and realized with a chill that this statue looked new. There wasn't a single mark on it to suggest it had been out in the elements a single day let alone a hundred years. She instantly recalled Inuyasha's playful claim that the place was haunted and a chill swept down her spine.

The frightened girl grasped her bow more firmly and started to slowly back away afraid that if she called for Inuyasha that whatever was hiding would drop the act and attack her.

However, she didn't make it two steps away before her worst fears were realized. At the third step, the statue disappeared in a puff of smoke and something indeed leapt at her with a loud shout.

Kagome screamed, instinctively thrusting up her bow between herself and the attacker even as she closed her eyes and flinched away.

But whatever it was never touched her. Instead, she heard the sound of a heavy body landing in front of her, rapidly followed by a thump and a loud yelp.

"Oowww..." moaned a little voice pitifully.

"What the fuck did you think you were doin you little punk?!" demanded Inuyasha's voice loudly and from right in front of her.

Relief flooded Kagome's senses, and lowering the bow to the grass beside her, she looked up to see a wall of red and white in between her and her assailant.

Inuyasha turned to look at her, holding up what appeared to be a little boy with a tail and animal feet.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

The boy seemed preoccupied with rubbing a rather large knot on the top of his head, most likely the product of her half-demon protector.

"Owww. Inuyasha? You're alive?" he asked through a wince.

The half demon snorted and dropped the boy like a sack of rocks. He let out a second yelp as he hit the ground and then none the less stared up at Inuyasha in disbelief.

"Of course I'm alive stupid. Can't you smell?" the half demon chided.

"But we thought a miko killed you!" the boy replied in wide-eyed confusion.

"Hardly," Inuyasha sneered. "You really think I'd let a miko off me like that? You must be losin it kid."

"But-! But everyone said there was a priestess in your territory!" the young demon protested. "Uncle said he felt your Youkai vanish!"

"My youkai weakened cuz I got banged up in a fight." Inuyasha corrected folding his arms. "She didn't try and kill me, you idiot, she healed me."

"...Oh." the young demon answered in a tiny embarrassed voice.

"Don't tell me you were gonna try and avenge me?" Inuyasha asked raising an eyebrow. "You're damn lucky she didn't purify you to dust!"

"Uh well, I thought if I could just catch her off guard..." The boy mumbled looking deeply embarrassed.

"Is this a friend of yours Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously.

He snorted lightly and crossed one arm over the other. "Just a brat I know, he's pretty harmless."

"Is he a kitsune?" she asked staring intently at the fluffy golden tail.

"How did you know?" the boy asked with a look of surprise.

Kagome smiled. "Just a lucky guess."

Inuyasha turned his attention back to the young demon. "Well go on kid, introduce yourself and apologize," he ordered sternly, pushing the kit toward her with his foot.

The boy winced and looked up at Kagome with a mix of embarrassment and guilt.

"Er, I'm Shippo,"he told her a little reluctantly."Sorry I jumped at you like that. I didn't know you were a nice miko."

Her smile widened.

"Hello Shippo-chan, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kagome,"the girl introduced in return. "And of course I forgive you, I'd be angry with anyone who hurt Inuyasha too."

The little kitsune's tail lifted slightly and he looked over at the half-demon with an expression of surprise.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow at the look but said nothing.

Kagome also looked up at him. "Why didn't you tell me you had a little friend?" she asked with a pleased expression.

Inuyasha raised a brow at the little demon speculatively. "Are we friends?" he asked in a dry tone.

"Of course not!" Shippo fumed indignantly, "I was just going to avenge you to make up for you saving me those times! That's it!"

He looked back over at Kagome with a shrug. "See? Nothin to tell."

She gave a mild look of disbelief but shrugged it off easily enough.

"Well then, how long have you two known each other?" she asked instead, motioning for Shippo to come sit beside her in the grass. He slowly did as bade, looking her up and down with curious green eyes.

Inuyasha gave the child a judging look and shrugged again. "About three years I guess. Somethin like that anyway. "

"And how did you meet?"

"Eh, the kid's always gettin in trouble. Pokin around villages and spider caves. Saved him from his own stupidity twice now."

Shippo shot the older demon a dirty look but didn't deny it.

Kagome giggled and reached forward, ruffling the kit's hair playfully.

"Sounds like how my little brother is."

Inuyasha's ears perked a little, just able to catch the faint hint of longing in her voice. It was time to change the subject.

"Anyway, I thought all you brats were too busy with your tests to come all the way out here to stir up trouble."

The little fox scoffed. "Shows what you know dummy, We only have tests once a month!"

"Kitsunes have tests?" Kagome asked with a look of amusement.

"Of course, that's how you go up ranks!" he informed the girl excitedly.

"Your uncle know you came out here?" Inuyasha asked sternly.

The kitsune shrugged. "He's not gonna yell at me over it."

"He oughta, you're a small fry out here in the middle of nowhere causin trouble for mikos. I'm surprised you haven't already gotten fried with habits like that."

"If something attacks me I can get away no problem," the boy boasted. "The demons here are pretty brainless." Then he shot a pointedly teasing look Inuyasha's way and climbed into Kagome's lap, much to her surprise and delight.

"Hey!" Inuyasha snapped irritably, raising a fist to thump the kit for his insult.

But Kagome giggled shooting Inuyasha a happy look that stopped him in his tracks. The half demon hesitated and begrudgingly backed off. Shippo however, seemed more than a little surprised by Inuyasha's apparent desire to remain in a miko's good graces.

Shippo turned to look at Inuyasha properly and the half demon returned the look warily.

"So why DO you have a miko with you Inuyasha?" he asked with an expression of suspicion. "I thought you hated humans.

"Kagome's the exception," the half-demon replied sternly.

Kagome blinked in surprise at hearing this. "But... If you hate humans, then why did you bother saving me?" she asked looking a little affronted.

"It's not that I hate humans," Inuyasha retorted, giving her a scolding look for the mistake. "I just don't like em."

"But you still saved me," she pressed.

"Feh, Like I'd ever just let bandits do what they want with some poor girl while I could do something to stop it," Inuyasha snorted.

The sudden glowing look Kagome gave the half demon made his eyes widen and his heart beat pick up.

"That doesn't explain why you'd let her stay with you," Shippo cut in.

Her warm expression saddened a little as she turned back to the kit. "Because I had nowhere else to go. Besides, I still owe Inuyasha a debt. It would be wrong for me to leave before rewarding him properly, right?"

The words made Inuyasha flinch very slightly. 'Does that mean she plans to leave once she feels like I've been repaid?'

"I guess," the fox allowed speculatively.

Without another word, Inuyasha turned from the conversation and leapt into a nearby tree up where he could just barely be seen.

"I'm takin a nap," he informed the two of them shortly.

Kagome and Shippo shared a look of mild confusion but didn't argue. Instead, Kagome simply set the boy down in the grass beside her. He looked up at her questioningly.

"You can stay and talk if you like Shippo-chan," she told him kindly, "But I really do need to get more work done before I leave okay?"

"Sure," he agreed, casting a glance back at Inuyasha's sulky form in the tree. "I'm just gonna go sit with Inuyasha."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay."

(-)

Inuyasha growled quietly at the small pest as he scampered up the tree and sat himself nearby, but he stayed stretched out along his chosen tree branch.

"So," Shippo said giving Inuyasha a meaningful look. "Why is she really living with you?"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "She already damn well told you why!" he snarled back under his breath. "Cuz she was homeless! What the hell was I supposed to do? Go dump her in a field?"

Shippo frowned. "Well yeah. She's a human right? The you I know would have just left her alone."

Still, the little kitsune cast the girl a sympathetic look. "I mean... it was nice for you to help her out but I always thought dog demons were super territorial."

"We are," Inuyasha answered automatically.

"Then it doesn't make sense for you to share your territory with her."

Inuyasha didn't answer.

"Did you just get bored or something? Is that why you're keeping her around?" the little fox asked looking back curiously.

"Maybe," Inuyasha replied straight-faced.

"So she's like a pet?"

"Of course she's not a pet!" Inuyasha snapped quietly. Damn if this kid wasn't getting on his nerves today...

But at Inuyasha's denial, the kitsune only grinned knowingly.

"What?!" the dog demon snapped.

"So then when are you two gonna start having pups?" Shippo asked twitching his tail smugly.

Inuyasha's eyes widened and he choked on the air he was breathing in his surprise. But once he caught his breath again he shot the boy a look of incredulance.

"We AREN'T," he growled back quietly fighting down a blush.

Shippo raised an eyebrow at the dog demon. "That's not what it looks like to me," he replied with a sly look.

"Then your damn eyes are broken!" Inuyasha snapped looking away angrily now. Normally, he might have punted the kid out of the tree for saying something like that. But he wasn't sure he wanted to have to explain himself to Kagome if she did happen to see him kick the little brat. He didn't want to have a fight with her today, he wanted to keep things just the way they had been this morning...

"Well if you're not going to become mates, shouldn't she go back to the humans so she CAN find a mate and have pups?"

"Find a husband and have babies," Inuyasha corrected bitterly. He stared hard at the girl as she worked. His fists tightened at the thought.

Shippo shrugged. "You know what I mean."

"If she wants to leave she can come tell me herself and I'll drop her off wherever the hell she wants," the half-demon snapped under his breath. "She knows that, so drop it."

"But-"

The little fox suddenly found himself being grabbed and hoisted up by his tail, then he was lifted until he was face to face with a very hostile dog demon.

"So help me, if I hear ONE more word from you about this, you're goin over the damn wall!" Inuyasha hissed giving the kit a little shake.

The boy nodded rapidly and was dropped back to the branch safely. None the less, Shippo felt he had more than his fill of the half-demon's temper for the day and scurried to the safety of another branch.

Inuyasha resettled himself and turned to watch Kagome work again.

All this talk of her leaving made something very akin to anger well in Inuyasha's chest. Did she want to go find a husband? Maybe the only thing that kept her here was her debt to him. Surely if she went far enough away from her old home she would be safe to start over with humans again.

His eyes hardened. He knew she liked him, but well enough give up on being with another human? Enough to stay here forever?

After she was done here he'd planned to show her the pathway out. But if he did, would she use it to leave?

As if sensing his unblinking gaze, Kagome turned around to check on them with a curious expression. Inuyasha's eye caught the shine of sapphires in her braided hair and he relaxed a bit, enough to even let a small smile show. Kagome smiled back at him serenely and returned to her work.

His smile faded and he looked away from her tiredly. It didn't matter if she left him. He'd already promised himself that he would show her the way out. It was the best thing he could do for her. He had to, even if he hated it.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Authors note

11/4/16

Edited by: mustard yellow sunshine. Thank you so so much for helping me out!

And just so everyone knows I have a new Tumblr account under the username gypsin where I post ficlets and bonus content from my stories. So if you like my work and want to see more go check it out!

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. I love hearing from all of you so much! Whenever I read a good review i always end up writing again. X3

~Gypsyn

Edit:

11/15/16

The cover art is by Grapefruitwannabe! Thank you Grapefruit!