She sighed, taking a long sip
of the warm fluid. *I wonder if it's snowing in Inuyasha's time too...*
"Feh. Weakling humans."
Inuyasha muttered, trying to ignore just how cold it was. He was
failing considering how badly his teeth were chattering. There was
an unusually limited amount of space in the hag's hut, so he, being the
only demon in the village, was forced outside with a single blanket.
He shivered, looking across
the white landscape. "Gueah, it's c-c-c-c-c-c-cold..." He whispered,
his feet looking fairly blue, his hands about the same shade. He
wrapped the thin blanket around him, tight. It wasn't enough.
Every good blast of wind went right through it.
*I wonder if Kagome's alright...*
He looked up into the snowing skies and frowning. *Bah...who cares...*
Kagome shivered, wondering if
Inuyasha was alright. She'd seen the huge snow cloud heading for
the village and for that reason had been hesitant to leave. *I hope
he's indoors...or that the storm didn't hit them...*
The tea was gone and it was
still snowing. The power was long since out and her hands were numb.
*Where are they?* She
looked at her watch, which to her surprise was still ticking away despite
the frost that was over the glass. A sigh escaped her. Her
family had left just before the snow had started, several hours ago.
Her hands rubbed together and
she held the warm cup under the blanket with her. A single candle
was lit before her.
She smiled thinking about why
her family had run off. They were going to the storm relief center,
were there was a shortage of blankets. They took them all except
for Kagome's sleeping bag and the blankets on the beds.
A soft sigh escaped her.
It was getting colder.
Inuyasha shivered, jumping from
the branch and walking around, his feet crunching through the snow.
He didn't even notice the cold anymore. He was numb. *I wonder
if it's any warmer in Kagome's time...* He thought absently.
Catching his thoughts before
they ran away with him, he shoved them down another track. *Not that
I care...* But he did. Soon he would be human and on a day
as cold as this, the night promised to be worse. MUCH WORSE.
Unconsiously he began trudging towards the well. The blanket was
wet. He was freezing.
Kagome sighed as the the room
darkened. "I'm cold..." She whispered, shivering. *But
at least I'm dry...* She smiled, lighting a few more candles.
*Tonights the new moon...I really hope Inuyasha is inside...*
She heard something slam agaisnt
the door and hurried towards it. "Mom? Grandpa? Sota?"
She didn't get an answer. Her hands slowly opened it and she didn't
see any one. "That's odd..." She felt something brush her ankle
and looked down, seeing a pink kimono with black hair over it. "INUYASHA!"
Quickly she knelt in the snow,
hooking her hands under his shoulders and pulling him inside. The
kimono would have been soaked if it wasn't icy. Her face became incredibly
worried.
She quickly stood, closing the
door against the wind and running up to her grandfather's room. She
snagged a robe and ran back downstairs. Inuyasha still lay in the
exact same position. She rolled him over, untying his kimono and
pulling it off him. She wasn't paying enough attention to realize
she was stripping a barely consious man until she wrapped him in the robe
and caught him staring at her. "Inuyasha..." She whispered,
relieved.
"K-k-k-k-ka...g-g-g-go...m-m-m-m-me..."
His teeth were chattering. She blushed fainly. "Don't try to
talk...I gotta get you warm..." She helped him stand and walk towards
the couch. When he was there, she noticed the faint blue tint to
his skin in the candle light. "What are you doing here?" She
wondered aloud, wrapping him in a blanket.
"S-s-s-so...c-c-c-cold...thought...thought
it'd...be w-w-warmer...here..." He muttuered between chattering teeth.
She frowned. "The heat
went out when the power did..."
He noticed her shiver and grabbed
her hand. "G-g-g-get in h-h-here..." He whispered, trying to
keep his face hard.
She looked at him, blushing
faintly. "A-alright..." She climbed onto the couch and wrapped
the blanket around herself too, trying not to invade his personal space.
Her plans were disrupted when he scooted closer to her. "Are you
okay?" She asked softly.
He nodded. "J-j-j-just...cold..."
"Why weren't you in the village?"
She asked softly.
"Kaede-babaa's hut was....t-t-t-too
crouded..."
She sighed, shaking her head.
"Then why didn't you come here?" She looked up at him.
"C-c-c-couldn't..."
"You made it here just fine
as far as I could tell, aside from the fact that you were a proverbial
icicle! You can always come here, Inuyasha. You're just too
proud."
He didn't meet her gaze, but
knew she was right. His stubborn pride wwould probably be the death
of him. That thought sobered him. *This time...it almost was..."
Kagome took his hands, rubbing
them between her's. "Gah, why don't you ever think about your welfare?"
She whispered, rubbing his hands fiercely. She watched him wince
and shook her head. She moved as close to him as possible, not caring
about his personal space. "You need heat. I happen to have
some." She said, putting her arms around him before he could shove
her away.
"I don't need yours..."
He whispered stubbornly.
"Inuyasha..." She shook
her head. "Yes, you do. I can tell. You're shivering.
You're human. What good would you be if you died before we finished
our mission anyways?" She asked, looking up at him.
He didn't look at her.
"Feh."
She sighed, resting her head
on his shoulder. "What on earth will it take for you to accept the
help of a human?" She whispered, so softly he almost couldn't hear
her over the roaring winds.
"I'll accept human help the
second they trust demons." He growled, trying to push her away.
"I do trust demons. I
trust you and Shippou...the only ones I don't trust are the ones that try
to kill me or my friends repeatedly." She said, tightening her grasp.
"I've trusted you from the start, Inuyasha."
He didn't look at her.
"Even when I tried to kill you?" He snarled.
"You only tried once."
"Twice. And I almost killed
you while I was a full demon."
"Twice?"
"The second day you were in
my time. You were on my back. I was planning to get rid of
you after we got the jewel."
"But you didn't."
"Only because you destroyed
the jewel."
She sighed. "Inuyasha..."
She pulled back, slightly, looking directly at him. "You're my friend,
don't keep pushing away my help..."
His heart quickened at the look
in her eyes. It was alot more than friendly according to him.
It was a look he'd seen in Kikyou's eyes once or twice. When she'd
said he was right and again when he agreed to become human. *She
can't...she can't possibly...love me...can she?* He stopped that
train of thought. "Feh." He looked away from her and into the
light of a candle.
She sighed, shaking her head.
"Inuyasha no baka..." She said softly. Her head returned to
it's resting place on his shoulder and she closed her eyes. His skin
touched her face slightly and she cringed away from it. "You're so
cold..." She whispered, looking back up at him.
"HEY!"
She shook her head, covering
his mouth with her hand. "I mean your skin is like ice. I didn't
mean your...heart..." She gulped.
He looked down at her and sighed.
"K-kagome...why-?"
"Because you're my friend...and
I care for you." She said softly. She didn't look at him as
she spoke, feeling the heat of a blush coloring her cheeks.
He flushed slightly himself.
"Y-you're...my friend and... I care for you..."
She pulled back and smiled at
him. "Thank you..." She said, caressing his face. Her
heart was thumping a happy beat in her chest, causing her face to flush
more. She rested her head back on his shoulder, being silent again.
Mrs. Higurashi stared up the
ice slicked steps. "Ohhh... my poor baby is all alone up there...she
must be terrified."
Sota sighed. "We gave
the last of our salt to the shelter to keep their steps from getting icy...maybe
we should call from there?"
She nodded hesitantely.
Kagome had dozed off when the
phone trilled to life. Her hand went to it lazily and she picked
it up. "Hullo?"
"Kagome! You're okay!"
"H-hojo-kun?"
"Hn. I heard from your
brother that you were all alone up at the shrine! I was..."
There was a short silence. "I was just making sure you're okay."
"I'm fine..." She said,
yawning. "I've been alone before. Where are mom and Sota anyways?"
"Down at the shelter.
They said the shrines steps were too icy to try to go up. Problems
with marble. You all should have just used cement."
"Hnn...I guess...tell them I'm
okay. I outta go...bye..."
"Goodb-"
The phone connection died.
"Awe damn...the phonelines are down now..." She said softly, dropping
the phone and returning her head to her natural pillow of Inuyasha's shoulder.
She noticed the rigidness of his body and looked up at him.
"Who's Hojo-kun?"
"Hmm?" She looked up at
him sleepily. "Oh, a friend of mine...'stryin to court me...jus don't
want im to..."
He frowned, but didn't tense
when she let her head rest on his shoulder. She was asleep in a few
moments.
He lifted his hand, running
it through her hair gently, taking comfort in her smell. He knew
he was out of immidiate danger, but he was hesitant to move her.
Her cheek rested on her shoulder, her face looking up at him peacefully.
If it weren't for the gentle flutter of her heartbeat against his chest,
he'd think she were dead.
A sigh escaped him. *Kagome...the
way she looked at me earlier...I've only ever seen that look twice before...In
Mom's eyes and in Kikyou's...I hope it doesn't mean you're in love with
me...I don't want to hurt you...*
She murmered softly in her sleep,
hugging him tighter. "I luv's ya..." She murmered almost imperceptively.
He froze, looking down at her.
*Who, Kagome? Who?*
She smiled, not replying to
the earnest thought, but tightened her grasp on him again. "I luv's
ya..."
Two Times The Trouble
By: DemonSaya