Disclaimer: Hi everyone
Disclaimer: Hi everyone! I'm finally updating. Thanks for all of the great reviews! I got a lot of them this time around! I'll just move on with the story now!
Kagome's Pain
Chapter 11: Oh no!
"Kagome!"
"Shippo!"
"Kagome! I was beginning think you'd never return to us!" Shippo jumped into her arms. "Inuyasha! Did you apologize to Kagome? Or did you drag her back, like you usually do?!"
"It's none of your business." Inuyasha said. He and Kagome had gone through the well, and were immediately greeted by Shippo.
"Don't worry, Shippo. He apologized."
"Kagome!"
"Hi Sango!" Kagome turned to her good friend. "Where's Miroku?"
"I'm right here." Miroku came from behind some bushes. He had a rather blank expression on his face, and there was a huge lump on his head. That could only mean one thing.
"Still can't learn to control yourself, can you Miroku?" Inuyasha said teasingly. Everyone laughed at Miroku's embarrassed, falsely innocent look.
Suddenly, Kagome dropped Shippo and he hit the ground with a THUD. "OW! What's wrong Kagome?" He looked at her as she took a shaky step back. Everyone looked at her, wondering what was wrong, although, Inuyasha already had a pretty good idea what it was. Her legs began to wobble and a pained look appeared in her eyes. "Kagome?" Shippo became very worried, as did everyone else.
"Uh oh" Inuyasha said as he rushed up to Kagome, just in time to catch her, as she collapsed. Her teeth were gritted with pain, and her eyes were squeezed shut. "Not again." He said angrily, when he heard a slight whimper of discomfort.
"Inuyasha. What do you mean, by 'Not again?' Did this happen before? What's wrong with her?" Sango watched as Kagome had one hand clutched to Inuyasha and the other clutching her side, a tear running down her cheek every so often. Inuyasha began to gently massage her sides, as he did when this first happened.
Shippo and Miroku just watched as Sango kept asking questions. "I'll explain it later," Inuyasha said soberly. "Right now, we should get her to Kaede." When Kagome stopped crying, save the couple of sniffles and whines she gave every now and then, he picked her up and held her close. "You alright?" He asked. He was happy to see her nod a 'yes' to him. "Just relax, okay." She relaxed immediately into his embrace, but she still didn't let go of him. Her hand was still clutching to his shirt, as if her life depended on it. The group began walking to the village in silence.
"Inuyasha? What just happened?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha kept silent, clearly too focused on Kagome to pay attention to his question.
Once at Kaede's hut, Inuyasha walked straight towards one of the futons. Kagome had fallen asleep, still clinging to Inuyasha. No matter what he did, there was no way for him to get her to let go. He eventually gave up, and sat down, with her clutching him from his right. She began to stir, but was clearly still pretty much asleep. "Inu... Inya... Inu... yas." She began to murmur in her sleep. Inuyasha tightened his arm around her and she simply snuggled into his embrace.
"Now, do you mind explaining what's going on, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked as he watched Kagome snuggle into his embrace a slight smile tugging at her lips.
"Where's Kaede? I was hoping she'd be here."
"I'm right here, Inuyasha. Ye can tell your story." The old priestess walked into the hut, carrying a basket full of herbs.
Inuyasha told his friends everything that happened while in Kagome's time. He left out all of the mushy and nice stuff they did together. The others didn't need to know all that.
When he was done, everyone sat in silence and, somewhat shock. Kagome was still fast asleep, apparently having a very nice dream, judging by the look on her face. Every now and then, she'd murmur Inuyasha's name in such a low voice, that Inuyasha was the only one to hear it. Something about that gave him a very good feeling. He was about to smile at this but stopped himself because of the four pairs of eyes looking at him.
Sango was the first to find her voice. "But...but... How did Naraku... a spell?" She found her voice, but she still can't talk yet. --; She sat thinking over everything she had just heard. As a small realization dawned upon her, her eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief. "If Naraku was able to get to her that easily, that means that he could... and he might... Oh no. What are we gonna do?!"
"Keep your voice down." Inuyasha said, gesturing to the young girl, sleeping beside him.
"Sorry." She lowered her voice and continued. "Kagome's in real danger, especially with that spell Naraku has on her."
"I'm sure we could cancel the spell if we knew what spell it was. Right, Kaede?" Miroku added to, hopefully cheer everyone up.
"Yes. We just have to find out what the inscriptions say." Kaede looked at Kagome, as if in thought. "Until then, we must all keep a close watch on her, lest Naraku try some new tricks. There is still one thing that troubles me, though."
"What is it Kaede?" Inuyasha said in a hushed voice, full of worry for his close friend.
"If Naraku was able to do this, then why didn't he do this sooner? Why did he waste countless demons on chasing after her, instead of doing this right away? Could it be that he was unable to do this until now? If that is so, then-"
"-then he must have somehow become stronger!" Everyone said this at once. The room was filled with silence. This definitely was not good.
The silence was broken by sniffles and small cries. Shippo! The poor little fox was forgotten until then. He sat there, next to Inuyasha, trying to hold back his tears, and obviously failing. Kagome was like a mother to him, and, being that his original one had died long ago, he now feared he'd lose her, too. He fought to hold his tears; he wanted to look strong for his friends. Also, if he cried too loud, he'd disturb Kagome. He knew that she'd need all of the rest that she could get.
Kaede took the young Kitsune out of the hut to comfort him, while the others discussed the situation. His wails and cries were soon heard from outside. The others discussed the situation, wandering how Naraku got to Kagome in the first place, and trying to form some kind of plan, but they couldn't think of anything that they could do at the moment. They agreed to protect her, in the best way they can. Sango suddenly felt a chill run up her spine, as did Miroku. They were so focused on the problem at hand, that they didn't notice how cold it had gotten, or even that it was getting to be late in the evening. They were out of firewood, too. "I'll go get some firewood." Sango said. She walked off, carrying Kirara on her shoulder.
"Wait!" Miroku said. "I'll go with you. You never know what could pop up out there, especially when it's late." The two walked off, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha alone.
Inuyasha tightened his arm around her, and pulled her into his lap. He hugged her close, with closed eyes, as he breathed in her scent. Her scent always seemed to calm him down. He sighed with relief, now sure that she was sleeping peacefully. He began to think about everything that has happened over the past week. Kikyo and her plans, Naraku's spell, and, most importantly, Kagome. 'So much has happened, and they all involve her. She's in grave danger. It's as if she's a magnet to every demon and killer! Everyone's after her!' Inuyasha was getting upset. 'There is no way that I'd ever let anyone harm her! But...I haven't been doing a very good job of it, have I?' He looked at her sleeping form, laying in his lap and clutching to his chest. 'I wish I could've stopped him from putting that spell on her. Then, she wouldn't have to suffer through all of this.' He cursed at himself, for being so weak and unable to properly protect those he cared for. He inhaled her scent, to, once again, calm himself down. 'What the...' He took another whiff of her scent. 'Her... Her powers... They're... rising... but why?' He thought about how Naraku said she was growing stronger. 'But why am I just now noticing? How is she getting stronger, when all she did was rest all of this time?' He sniffed her one more time to be sure. Her powers were growing, slowly, but the change was evident.
Kagome began to stir, and slowly opened her eyes. 'Ugh! My head!' She thought as she closed her eyes again and snuggled into something warm. She didn't bother to find out what she was snuggled into. It was warm, and it made her feel safe. 'Just what happened to me, anyway? What a headache!' She gave a small whine of discomfort, knocking Inuyasha away from his thoughts. He shifted slightly, but she didn't notice. She continued with her thoughts, trying to remember how and when she passed out, snuggling even deeper into Inuyasha's embrace.
Inuyasha looked down at her with a smile. "Hey. It's about time you woke up." He said quietly into her ear.
Kagome's eyes snapped open. "Inuyasha?" She said weakly, as she looked up to face him.
"How're you feeling?"
"Horrible. I've got a HUGE headache. And, is it me, or is it really hot in here? What happened to me anyway?" She paused for a moment. "We're at Kaede's hut? And the others aren't here asking questions? They usually ask a lot of questions. Just how long have I been asleep?"
"You've slept for the past hour and a half." He felt her forehead. "You're burning up! No wonder you have such a bad headache." He laid her on the futon and looked around for the small bucket that usually sat in the corner. "I'll be right back." He said as he ran off towards the nearest river, to get cold water.
Kagome laid there, looking at the door of the hut, thinking of nothing in particular. She had too much of a headache to think. Her hazed thoughts drifted to Inuyasha; how nice he had been lately, the fact that he'd been so gentle and understanding through this whole dilemma. It's not really like him. She was puzzled by his behavior, but she wasn't complaining. In fact, she wished for this change in his personality to last forever. Inuyasha came in, holding the bucket, filled with water. And sat down next to her with a damp cloth. Kagome, however, was too dazed from her fever and hazed thoughts to notice. When the wet, cold cloth touched her forehead, she whimpered in surprise, finding the incredibly cold object uncomfortable. She looked up at Inuyasha, as she began to feel sick to her stomach. She gave another whimper of discomfort before getting up and dashing out of the hut.
Inuyasha went out of the hut to find her on her knees, bent over an old log. He picked her up carefully, as she groaned and whimpered from all sorts of pains. A tear came to her eye, as she tried to speak. "Inu...yasha... What's ...wrong with me? Why am I... so sick?" She closed her eyes and snuggled into him, as his grip around her tightened.
"Miroku?"
"Yes Sango"
"I'm really worried about Kagome. I mean... She's going to suffer through so much with that spell on her. Do you think she'll be able to handle it?"
Miroku picked up a piece of wood and added it to his collection before answering. "Kagome has a very strong will. I'm sure she can handle this for some time, but even one as strong-willed as her has limits. After a while she'll most likely need to be pushed on."
Sango picked up a small twig, not really paying attention to whether it can be used for a fire or not. "I feel so useless. Isn't there any way that we can stop this?"
"No. Not until we find out what spell it is." Miroku picked up one last bit of wood. "This should be enough. It's getting late, too. The sun has set a while ago." He began walking back to the village, Sango close behind him.
As they reach the edge of the village, they heard an ear piercing, all too familiar scream. "Kagome!" They both said at once, racing to see what had happened, and dropping half of their load.
I'm going to stop there. Oh! I remembered why I added Miroku and Sango to the story! Pay close attention to what goes on between them. You might want to look back at them a few chapters earlier, too. The small details about them will add up eventually. I might even let you decide what happens to them! Anyway! Thanks again for all of the great reviews! . Please review this chapter, as well!
