October 2

I'm sitting here writing after a pretty typical day. I performed another ritual at the shrine today. People seem to really think I'm doing a good job as a priestess and I couldn't be more grateful that they've been so accepting (even the ones who weren't have warmed up for the most part). I also had tea with Kimi and Kiara and a couple of their friends this afternoon.

Inuyasha is sitting on the bed behind me reading Bleach again. He's really been fascinated by this, I wish I'd brought some more of the manga for him.

It's a relief that he's so relaxed now. My husband wasn't nearly this calm last night. It was a full moon night and his demon blood was extra strong.

The night of the new moon was when he was at his weakest and the full moon was usually when he was at his strongest. It was incredibly potent tonight though, so much so that even I could sense it with my spiritual powers.

It was like it was pulsing and threatening to overtake him if he stopped concentrating.

Last night he sat on the couch watching me as I went back and forth across the room first putting away laundry, then sweeping the floor, then putting wood in the firepit. I was very aware of his eyes following me and I could sense the tension in him. Finally I went over and sat next to him. "Are you okay?"

"My demon blood is really strong tonight," he replied.

"I know, I can sense it," I replied as I held his hand.

"I never felt it this strong on full moon nights until that first time I changed."

I remembered that day very well. When fighting a huge demon the tetsusaiga broke and we were shocked when he changed into a full demon. He had changed a few times after that, and when he had gone crazy and murdered a group of bandits, it was then he decided that he didn't want to use the shikon jewel to be a full demon after all. There was no point if he was going to turn into a monster yet that monster still lurked below the surface threatening to overtake him at any moment.

He put his head on my shoulder. "I don't want to change, Kagome. I don't want to hurt you."

I hugged him tightly knowing very well his fears about changing into a full demon. "I know, you're not going to. This will pass soon."

He buried his face in my neck taking in my scent. I started to rub his ear and he let out a happy sigh. I giggled a bit, that was always one way to get him to calm down.

"You really relax me, Kagome. I always feel better when you're next to me."

I kissed the top of his head. "Good, I want to make you happy, Yasha."

Certainly, he was more relaxed now. The overwhelming presence of his demon blood had subsided just a bit to where he was now just restless.

"Feel better?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied before he kissed me. "I still need to blow off some steam though. Come on."

I watched him curiously as he stood up. "Where are we going?"

"Just out for a little run," he replied as he put out the fire.

I followed him outside wondering where he was going with this. He bent down and I climbed onto his back.

"When you were gone I used to do this all the time on nights like this," he said. "It helps to get out some of the energy. Hold on tight."

I did what he said as he took off into the night. The wind whipped our hair back at the speed he was going. Sometimes I forgot how fast he really was, most of the time he didn't go at maximum speed when I was on his back but now everything around us was almost a blur.

After a while, I let out a yelp as he jumped into the air and landed on a high tree branch. He proceeded to jump off of that and landed on another one until he was running over the tops of the trees. I didn't dare look down, although I could see why he enjoyed this so much. It was exhilarating to be flying through the air like this in the middle of the night with nothing but the full moon and the stars watching us.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Of course!" I replied. I was absolutely thrilled. This was such an adrenaline rush. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," Inuyasha said. "We're going wherever the night takes us." Sure enough, he was having a blast. He let his demon instincts guide him just a little bit but now he felt more in control and that was just the way he liked it.

We continued on and I started to sense the presence of demons. "There are demons around here. I can feel their aura."

"I know," Inuyasha said excitedly. He had picked up the scent of demons and was running towards them intentionally for a little bit of fun.

We continued on for a little bit longer and the presence of a demon was starting to get stronger. It was then that it emerged from the darkness: a huge scaled monster with red eyes, gigantic fangs, and sharp claws…and Inuyasha was running right towards it!

"Inuyasha…." I said fearfully.

Inuyasha wasn't afraid, in fact, there was a wide smile on his face as if he were a child going to play with a new toy.

"Hang on, Kagome," he said as he pulled the tetsusaiga out of its sheath.

I gripped him even tighter as he leaped into the air off of a tall tree. Then I screamed as we started falling to the ground. Midway there, Inuyasha did a flip in the air. Then vibration ripped through us both as he swiped his sword and a wind scar rolled towards the demon and completely obliterated it. Inuyasha then landed perfectly on his feet.

"Ha! That was great!" Inuyasha said proudly as he sheathed his sword. "What do you think, Kagome?" He looked over his shoulder when I didn't say anything. "Kagome?"

"I'm fine," I said as I slowly started to detach myself from him. The adrenaline rush had been fun but flying through the air at top speed was quite a lot of excitement and I felt kinda dizzy now. By now I was shaking and nearly collapsed when I was on her feet.

"Oh no!" Inuyasha exclaimed, catching me before I fell. "Are you okay, baby? Was it too much for you?"

"I was fine up until that last part," I said, holding onto him tightly for support. "I don't know how you do this all the time."

Inuyasha smirked and kissed my lips. "Years of practice I guess. That and less human vulnerability. Are you going to be okay?"

"Oh sure, yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." I tried to let go but nearly collapsed again.

"Idiot," Inuyasha said as he picked me up and held me bridal-style. "You're not fine."

"Yes, I am. Where are we going next?"

"You're in no condition to go anywhere right now, especially to go running and slaying more demons. We're camping out here tonight."

He took us to a more sheltered area then he laid out his red robe for me to lay on. I got comfortable and watched him as he started to make a fire. As I watched him I couldn't help the joy that filled my heart the way it always did when I saw him. Yasha was just so handsome; I always thought he looked especially good in just his white shirt because I could see his muscles better. With the way the light from the fire danced across him and the moon shone down on him, not to mention the way he just cared about me so much, I felt so lucky to call this incredible man my husband.

He noticed me watching him and saw the smile on my face. "What?"

"You're really hot," I said simply.

He laughed a bit. "Well, I can't argue with that," he said as he came over to lay next to me.

"Jerk," I said, pushing his arm. It just made him laugh more.

He sat up on his elbows and ran his fingers up and down my leg. "Do you feel better?"

I nodded. "The shock has worn off by now."

"Clearly doing flips with you on my back is a no."

"It was a nice idea in concept," I said. "How about you? Did all of that help?"

"I feel much better now. Tonight it was so strong, I really did feel like I was going to change. And if I did and I hurt you, I don't know what I would…"

I put my finger over his lips to stop him. "Shh, don't think like that. Everything is okay now."

A grateful smile touched his face. He kissed my forehead and then lay down with his face in my neck again. I started to rub his ear just like when we were at home. "Thank you, Kagome."

"You're welcome, love." I was so glad that Inuyasha was so relaxed and happy now. And even though our little camping trip was unplanned, it was still kind of romantic with the fire blazing in front of us, the nice weather, and the sounds of the crickets in the trees. I sighed happily. "It's nice out here. Kinda reminds me of the old days when we'd camp out."

Inuyasha laughed a bit. "Those were interesting days: Shippo being a little brat, Miroku and Sango going off to screw each other all the time after they got engaged, and lots of ninja food."

"It seems like a lifetime ago," I said, laughing as well. Then I placed another kiss on his lips. "We should have done more of this back then."

"Believe me, I wanted to," he said before kissing me again, a bit deeper this time. I let out a soft moan when he grabbed my butt. "Would have been nice to spend some of our nights like this. Although we'd never have heard the end of it from Miroku."

"True...but we're all alone now." Maybe it was the heat from the fire, or maybe it was just the heat rising between us, but I wanted to spend our little camping trip having some fun.

Sure enough, I could tell that he wanted me as well when I started to pull back my robe. He immediately went in and kissed me much more passionately before. I took it a step further and rolled on top of him, not breaking our kiss.

"You're so fucking sexy, baby," he moaned into my mouth.

The fire wasn't the hottest thing in the woods that night.