Kagome stretched lazily, taking time to feel every muscle flex before throwing her covers to the side. The cool, moist air of spring morning filled her lungs as she inhaled, and she swallowed a few times, smacking as she did. Her mouth was dry. She'd probably snored all night.
Her tired eyes searched for Kouga to apologize if she'd kept him up, and found him still snoozing-mouth open, head lulled back over the large root of a tree. Snoring.
She grinned and shook her head. What a fine pair they were.
When she stood to grab her water, the sound woke him and he yawned loudly, stretching all four limbs out simultaneously, per usual. It was one of the new things she learned about him in the week since they'd left the den. He stretched the same, every time, and completely opposite of herself.
She held out her water, once satisfied, and he thanked her as he took the rest for himself.
"Gotta stop to refill those." He stated, throwing the empty skin back to her. "We're gonna come up on the Manko river, later. Should only be a few hours if I speed up."
"Which direction is it?" She asked as she moved behind a tree to change.
"The river is to the south west of our current location. It's the nearest river after the Jahiro, right outside the territory."
The Jahiro, they passed on day one, outside the south end of his woods. They had left five days ago. She frowned.
"We've gone so far away. I haven't sensed any shards. How much more south is there to go?"
She heard him snicker from the other side of the tree.
"This place is bigger than you think, woman. It will take a few more days to get past the caves and then the old forest. The problem is we can't just go in a line. We are gonna need to comb the region a few times. This could take a few weeks. We may not finish until the end of summer."
She could hear the distaste in his voice at the idea.
"Don't spoil the mood first thing in the morning." She chided.
He glanced over at her as she rounded the tree and she motioned for him to help her tie her obi.
"I'm sure we'll find one soon." She explained. "When that ugly asshole threw the big one into the sea, it was only missing a few pieces. I saw it up close when he tried to eat me."
Kouga tightened the knot at her back and moved back a step. She turned, on cue, for him to inspect her as she continued her explanation.
"I have one. You have two. There should only be a few left. And I searched the north with Inuyasha for weeks. Musashi didn't turn up any either. South is the only place left to look."
He nodded his approval at her state of dress and handed her the pins she used to keep her hair up.
"What if it's acquired a moving host?" He asked, while she fought with her long hair.
"No way. If someone had one, demon or human, I'd have felt it. Hell. You would have heard about it from one of the scouts. It brings chaos and death and-"
"But I have two and no such fate has-"
"I choose to believe you're the exception." She huffed, annoyed by his logic. She'd been wondering herself if maybe a person did have it. It could take her forever to find it.
"The Kagome I know doesn't give up." He argued. "You know I'm right. And if it's on the move, we're in for a long summer."
And a long summer it was.
For one of the remaining jewel shards was indeed with someone. A demon to be exact. One with a wondrous ability to shift about quicker than the blink of an eye.
So it was an incredible chance, one Kagome would later reflect on, that they met only just a week later.
Kagome gasped loudly, her body jerking her awake with force, as the sound of Kouga calling her name in panic, invaded her nightmare.
She looked, frantically, for him in the darkness of the forest and his hands suddenly cupping her cheeks helped her sleepy, startled eyes focus. Still, she could barely make out his face in the moonless night.
He was breathing heavily as if he'd been over exerted, and he held her face in his hands. It was clear he was worried for her.
"You-did you feel that?" He breathed.
It took her moment to register his question. She'd missed something, clearly, and she herself grew instantly worried.
"What did you feel? What is going on?" She pressed moving to stand.
"Stay still." He commanded, holding her down with his hands on her shoulders..
"Who's out there?" She whispered.
His breath hitched, and the silence that drew on until he finally spoke seemed to last forever to her.
"You don't remember?"
Her instant confusion must have shown on her face because he answered without her asking.
"You. I felt you. You were having a nightmare again. Must have been pretty bad this time."
She slumped, relieved there was no danger but more so sour about her having disturbed her friends sleep.
She sighed loudly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what causes them."
She lay back and covered her eyes with her arm.
"You wanna talk about who or what-"
"Just the spider again." She lamented, and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm just over stressed about not finding a jewel yet. I keep trying to plan retrieval of the one he threw into the damn ocean. It's reaching my dreams. In my dream, I'm diving for it and Naraku-he pulls me down to drown."
She shivered but not from the cold. His beady red eyes disturbed her memory.
"He was down there waiting for me. For revenge."
"It was different this time." Kouga stated, when she fell silent. "What I felt this time-it was intense. More so than before."
"He was winning this time."
Kouga took a deep breath at her brief explanation, and stood to shake off what nerves were left from her dream. He wouldn't let it disturb him as it had the first time. She was a human and she'd managed to go back to sleep both times it happened before.
The first time, he'd been so disturbed by the sensation, he couldn't sleep for five days afterward. The second time, only kept him up for one.
She'd had to explain it to him, the concept of nightmares, and dreams.
He'd never experienced anything like it in his life. She'd guessed that demons didn't, and rationalized his adverse reaction to it when he began self-berating, calling himself a coward.
She wouldn't let him feel ashamed. She concluded in addition to the fact he'd never had a nightmare himself, feeling her fear through the uncontrolled power of meditative, spiritual energy-especially as a demon-would be overwhelming to say the least. Then she began an onslaught of apologies. She even tried staying awake the next night. She felt beyond guilty when it happened again, a month later.
This time really was different though. The fear had a hold of him. It was so heavy, he said it felt like he was suffocating. He'd awakened, already gasping for breath, knowing the instant his eyes opened that his companion was the cause.
When his eyes fell on her she was jerking every few seconds, her body beginning a subtle writhe, atop the bearskin she made her bed. Panting, he'd crawled over to wake her, and luckily she'd risen as soon as he'd called her name.
Kouga chanced a glance at her, and could see despite her exhaustion, guilt was going to keep her up again. And worry.
Worry for him? Worry over the dead spider? The jewel shards they'd failed to find all summer? Too many things were worrying her. She shouldn't be too worried to sleep.
He did the only thing his instincts told him to.
He lay down beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her closer. He left his eyes closed, uninterested in seeing discomfort on her face or hearing whatever protests she'd have for him. The wolf yawned loudly to signal his intent to return immediately to sleep. With as badly it had affected him before she'd no doubt lie awake for the rest of the night worried about him.
This was the best way to get her back to sleep. Best way to show her he was okay.
He needed her to be in good condition going forward. Fall was only weeks away and they had not found one shard. And more importantly, she didn't need to torture herself over something she couldn't help.
They'd never shared a bed before, so he expected her to be tense and she was. But only for a few moments. He felt her relax and all the tension left her body. Her small hand even came up to rest on his elbow in a silent show of trust.
He relaxed even more, and before he knew he fell asleep.