OK… I was hoping to get 50 reviews… for the whole story… I'm only half way through… Waaah!

Thank you! Priestessmykala, Punk Rock Miko2, Cold Kikyo, lena, Insane Slytherin (that is an awesome pen name, by the way!) Avelyn Lauren, Inuyasha05 and Jamie (heh… is that a good thing?).

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Inuyasha. Nice and bold!

"…" Speech

Italics: Thoughts, quotes and flashbacks

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Chapter 13

One dark night

"Christmas present?"

Sango looked up from sewing her jacket.

The marketplace was strangely quiet, and the cold, empty air of early morning only added to it. The rain that had once again poured down had left the old newspapers soggy and pulpy - unmoved as well as unmoveable by Miroku's brush. Frost had coated the junk heaps, making it seem like they were coated in stardust, the irony of which was not lost on any of the inhabitants.

It was December 19th, six days before Christmas. It was also a Thursday. Meaning Kagome was at school – and also that she had her Christmas concert that night. Shippou had gone to school (unknown to Kagome) to watch the rehearsals, and Inuyasha, presumably, had followed since neither Miroku nor Sango knew exactly where he had gone.

"Yes," Miroku stretched and stood up from where he had been sitting, brushing off his long coat. "Kagome's given us so much, hasn't she? I for one would like to repay her."

Sango nodded. "Yes, I would too, but where are we going to get something for Kagome that she hasn't already got?"

Miroku produced a piece of paper. "For me, that's easy."

Sango sighed. "For you. But I don't have any special talents that enable me to make Kagome something. I can't draw!"

Miroku frowned and rummaged in his pocket. "Well, you have this then." He produced the money that Kagome had given him that he had saved. "I'll draw her something and then you can get a frame."

Sango blinked at the simplicity of the statement. "You can draw well enough?" she asked.

The monk shrugged. "It's what's kept me alive these last five years, and it helped when I was living with Mushin."

"OK then!"

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Inuyasha glared moodily in through the window.

"You know, Inuyasha, you don't have to stay!" Shippou glared at the inu.

Both were sitting on a tree outside Kagome's school, peering inside. The whole of the girls' choir was currently inside, waiting for their turn to practise, Kagome included. Inuyasha could see her, sitting down, back to the window.

"It's a good thing that you don't need to be able to sing to be in the choir." Muttered the hanyou.

"Kagome can sing!" Shippou retorted. "She's really good!"

"Pah! She's hopeless!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is…"

"Eeep!"

The two ducked out of sight as Kagome turned.

Funny, I could swear I heard voices… she looked around. Nah…

"Eri!" she turned around. "Stop pacing and come and sit down!"

"Gaah!" Kagome turned around again.

I'm sure that I hear Inuyasha…

Said hanyou was currently flat on his face under the tree.

"What are you doing?" Shippou hissed. "She'll see you."

"Stupid… wench!" Inuyasha pulled his head out of the ground.

"I'm going!" He jumped away, lopsidedly. Shippou watched him go. "His injuries haven't healed properly yet. Not that he'll admit it…"

He shrugged. "More space for me!" He jumped onto Inuyasha's branch

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"Hmmm…" Miroku glared at the piece of blank paper. "Hmmm…"

He looked up at the overcast sky, which offered little inspiration to him for a picture. Nor did the setting: the Thames on a cold winter's day, grey waters choppy.

Maybe this was a little harder than I thought…

Sango, on the other hand, was having lots more luck. She was currently bending down looking at a row of frames.

"What would Kagome like, I wonder?" she looked at the velvet frames and shook her head.

Too showy.

The next one…

Too plain.

Then…

Too old-fashioned.

Up a shelf.

Ewww!

Across…

There're too many damn frames to chose from!

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"Christmas present?" Inuyasha bent down and looked closely at Kirara. "They're getting a Christmas present for Kagome?"

"Meow!"

Inuyasha stood up. The market was deserted.

Kirara blinked at him.

"What? You think I should get her one too?"

Inuyasha flopped down, cross-legged. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

He lay backwards and looked at the sky. "I used to get Kikyo Christmas presents…"

"Inuyasha, look!" the hanyou turned towards the miko's hand. He didn't think he'd ever seen Kikyo so happy. She was smiling, her cheeks a rosy red above her scarf and her eyes glittering.

"They're beautiful!" She breathed, looking at the lights bedecking Trafalgar Square. A giant Christmas tree totally dominated the scene, covered with twinkling stars.

Inuyasha couldn't help smiling.

"Here…" he rummaged in his coat, and produced a small paper bag. "This is for you."

Kikyo looked into his eyes, her intent brown gaze matching his own golden one. Then, she took the package and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Inuyasha." She gently ripped open the paper, and gasped as the contents fell out; two earrings, for which Inuyasha had scrimped for three months.

"They're really pretty!" Kikyo put them in her ears. Inuyasha nodded. He knew Kikyo didn't care that they had cost next to nothing. She knew how much that was to Inuyasha. That was what made her special. That was what wade her different.

That was what made her his.

Inuyasha came back to earth when Kirara nudged him with her paw. He groaned, and got up.

"Alright, I'm going!"

He jumped up and over the rooftops of London.

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"No more school! Yes!" Kagome's voice rang throughout her house, much to her grandfather's displeasure.

"Kagome! Will you please be quiet!"

Kagome waltzed past him, taking no notice about what he said whatsoever.

Souta poked his head out of the kitchen. "Kagome! Mum wants to know if you want food tonight for your friends!"

Kagome looked at her watch. "Crap!" She shot upstairs. Souta shrugged.

"Never mind."

Kagome met her mother on the landing. Or rather, met her mother's washing basket.

Crash!

"Sorry!" Kagome stopped running and tried to pile the clothes into the basket in double quick time.

Kagome's mother smiled. "Take it easy, there's no rush!"

"But I promised the others that I'd be there by now! I'm late!" Kagome scrabbled around on the floor, grabbing handfuls of clothes and shoving them on top of each other.

The elder Higurashi rolled her eyes. "If you don't mind being late, I have an idea."

"What?" Kagome shoved the last of the clothes (one of her oldest socks, that she hated) back into the basket and stood up.

"I was cleaning up in the attic and I found your father's old tent! If you take it with you, it's big enough for all of you, you could stay the night in the market place."

Kagome frowned. "But dad's old tent was tiny!"

Her mother shook her head. "No, not that one, the one that can sleep six."

Kagome's face lit up. "Really! You'd let me?"

Her mother laughed. "Of course. Inuyasha will protect you if anything happens, yes?"

Kagome looked at the ground. "Yeah. He's over-protective, if you ask me."

"No. It just shows that he cares about you." Kagome's mother bent down and picked up the washing basket from the floor.

"Now, go and get your sleeping bag and a rucksack and I'll see what old blankets we have."

Kagome shot off.

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"Sango, Miroku!" The two turned around, Sango shoving the frame she had just bought into one of Miroku's coat pockets. Both teens gaped at the sight of Kagome on her bike, carrying a stuff bag strapped to the back of the bike and a huge rucksack on her back. The evening was getting dark fast, so neither teen stopped to ask questions, just dragged her inside the marketplace.

Shippou appeared from the archway where they slept. "Kagome!" He jumped on her.

"Hey Shippou!" Miroku and Sango blinked as a torch came on.

"Ta daa!" Kagome slung the rucksack off her back.

"What have you got in there, Kagome?" Sango asked.

Kagome grinned. "Mum said I could stay here tonight, so I brought my tent and blankets so we could all fit in."

Miroku's eyes widened in the torchlight. Sango glared at him.

"The tent's got three compartments." Kagome added. The monk's face fell.

"Ah." He said.

"So," Kagome opened the rucksack and pulled out a dark green tent case. "Let's get going!"

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About an hour later, three teens and two youkai stood admiring their handiwork. It was a fairly large tent, and Kagome had brought lots of blankets and a few blow-up pillows to pad the inside out. She had also brought some snacks with her.

"Well, what do you think?"

Shippou stared at the dark green monster in awe. "We can sleep in there?" He asked.

Kagome nodded. "Yep! Look!" She grabbed his hand, bent down, and crawled into one of the entrances.

Sango laughed to hear Shippou's yell of delight.

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"Do you like them?"

"Yeah!"

Kagome laughed at Shippou's enthusiasm. The five were sitting inside one of the "rooms" of the tent, blankets wrapped around each one, eating cakes and biscuits. A torch hung from the ceiling to give light. Outside it was almost totally dark.

"It's getting late," Sango yawned. "What time is it?" Shippou produced his watch, proudly holding it in the torchlight.

"Half eleven." Miroku read from the corner.

Kagome wrapped the blanket around herself a little more tightly.

"Are you guys tired?" she asked.

"No, if you want to stay up, we will too," Sango said.

"I'm not tired.. at…" Shippou stifled a huge yawn.

"Of course you're not." Kagome picked him up, and the curled up Kirara.

"I'm going to put them in the next compartment," she told Miroku and Sango. "Then I think I'll stay outside for a bit."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Miroku asked. "What if something happens?"

"Come on! I'll be right outside the tent! What could possibly happen to me?"

Kagome balanced Shippou and Kirara with one hand and crawled out of the cramped space.

"Night, Shippou." The girl gently covered the kitsune with a blanket. Kirara opened one eye, stretched, and closed it again. Kagome left the tent altogether.

Outside it was growing steadily darker. The sky was covered, but Kagome didn't think there would be much moon anyway, even if she could see the stars.

There was a loud bang, and Kagome spun around… to see…

"Inuyasha?" the girl stared incredulously.

She could see the figure of the hanyou clutching a drainpipe at the top of one of the buildings, hanging by only one hand. He was swaying slightly with the breeze, and Kagome hadn't thought that any of the old rusting drainpipes around here were all that strong.

There was an ominous creak! Kagome ran to the wall, above him.

"Inuyasha, jump up!" She whispered. The hanyou apparently didn't hear her, a fact that surprised her considerably.

She was just about to repeat herself when the drainpipe, apparently tired of Inuyasha's weight, snapped. The boy hit the floor with a dull thud a few feet away from Kagome, and sat up, coughing.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hurried over to him. "Are you alright?"

The teen turned away from her.

It's strange… his hair seems black in this light…

"Inuyasha?"

"Damn human body!" The boy turned around sharply and Kagome gasped.

Instead of bright amber eyes he now had burning amethyst ones, pale face framed by dark hair. His claws had gone, and so had…

"Your ears!" Kagome blinked.

"Yeah. Humans don't have dog ears."

"But… but…"

"Keh!"

When Kagome continued to stare in shock, Inuyasha felt that he should offer some explanation.

"Every half-youkai has a time when they become all human."

"Oh," Kagome finally caught the meaning of Inuyasha's muttering about 'human bodies.' "So, when is it for you?"

"Huh?"

"When you turn human."

Inuyasha looked at her as if seizing her up. "The new moon," he finally said.

Kagome looked at the sky. "Ah…" She stood up. "Come with me then, and stay with us in the tent."

"No thank you!" Inuyasha stood up. "I don't…. aaargh!" He doubled over.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gently touched him on the back. "What's wrong?"

The boy suddenly collapsed against her. Kagome caught him, surprised.

Looking at his chest, she could see the corner of a bandage.

Oh! I get it! His hanyou body could deal with the wounds left on him by Sesshomaru, but his human one can't.

She pulled the half-conscious boy's arm over her shoulder and hobbled into the tent, into the free room.

Laying Inuyasha flat on the floor, she covered him with a blanket and knelt by him, waiting for him to wake up.

There were no sounds from the rest of the tent, so Kagome could only assume that Sango and Miroku had fallen asleep.

Inuyasha's arm twitched and Kagome bent over him, gently shaking him. "Inuyasha, are you OK?"

The boy opened his eyes. "What happened?" he asked, sitting up suddenly.

Kagome shook her head violently. "Quiet, the others are asleep."

"Oh."

Inuyasha lay back down, feeling more than slightly sore.

"Is there anything I can get for you?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "A pillow would be good, please."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. Did he just say… 'please'?

She looked around. "All I've got is my lap," she told Inuyasha.

"Never mind then."

"No… there's no one watching, right?"

Kagome shifted around so that Inuyasha's head was on her legs.

The hanyou-turned-boy closed his eyes. "Thank you."

Kagome smiled. "You're welcome."

There was silence for a long moment.

Kagome was surprised at how natural this felt… it was as though she was comfortable with Inuyasha.

If this was Hojo, I'd be cringing, she thought ruefully. He's so not the guy for me.

She froze. Hold on… does that mean Inuyasha's the one for me?

She looked down. Dream on girl.

"Kagome…" Kagome only just stopped herself from jumping. He was supposed to be asleep!

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. You're not stuck up."

"OK… now you're freaking me out!" Kagome put a hand to his head. "Do you have a fever?"

There was no answer. Inuyasha had apparently fallen asleep.

Kagome blinked, then adjusted herself so that she could lie down next to him, putting his head on a rolled up blanket.

Why didn't I think of that sooner?

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Sango woke up slowly, after a better night's sleep that she'd had in ages. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the light of day in the comfortable position she was in, pressed up against something so warm.

Wait. Since when are tents warm?

Sango opened her eyes, to find herself lying by Miroku, her head on his chest.

She blinked, then blinked again.

Did I… fall asleep on him?

"Eeeep!"

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The scream woke up Kagome and Inuyasha, who found themselves very close together too. In fact, when they opened their eyes, the first thing each of them saw were the eyes of the other. For what seemed like the millionth time, amber met brown.

Both of them shot away from each other, rolling to opposite sides of the tent. Kagome noted with some relief that Inuyasha was hanyou again.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Lets not tell Miroku and Sango we slept in the same part of the tent."

The hanyou nodded. "Gladly." He shot out of the door. Kagome quickly followed.

Just as she had got out of the tent, Sango crashed into her.

"Kagome!" She grabbed the schoolgirl's hand, desperately. "I just slept next to that LETCHER!"

Kagome really didn't know what to say.

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Couldn't resist having part of eppy 13 in there somewhere…

Whatcha think?

CN.