Two Times The Trouble Chapter 3, an inuyasha fanfic

ch3tttt Day 3-Cooperation~Still Snowing
Inuyasha woke to the shrill sound of the tea kettle and groaned an objection. "Damn all noise..." He whispered, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. He thumped against a warm thing beside him and glanced over, waiting for the word sit.
Beside him was the enormous cat named Buyo.
He looked at it, his eyes narrow. "Neko-baka..." He muttered, scratching it's stomache lightly with his claws. His gaze becamed amused as it rolled onto it's back, laying splay-legged, purring contently.
"Dumb animal doesn't know the meaning of FEAR..." He muttered, shaking his head.
"Inuyasha?"
He looked up and saw Kagome staring at him curiously. "Hi Kagome..." He said softly, looking back to the cat.
"Afectionate thing, isn't he..." She said, sitting on the futon and rubbing the cat's ears. "Hiya, Buyo..." She murmered with a warm smile.
"What what that whistling...?"
She looked up at him, startled. "Oh, the tea kettle. I was making tea. It's in there if ya want some." She said, scratching the cats head abscently.
Inuyasha rolled off the futon, landing on all fours, eyeing Kagome while he walked towards the kitchen.
Kagome sighed, watching him go out of the corner of her eyes before moving to the place he'd just abandoned. The spot was still warm, and she sighed blissfully as she sank on the futon, clutching her cup in one hand and stroaking the cat with the other.
When Inuyasha returned to the doorway, a warm cup in his hands, he saw Kagome sitting in his space, gently petting the cat's ears. "Would ya jump in my grave that fast?" He asked softly, arching a scowling eyebrow.
Her face jerked up and she flushed. "Uh...sorry..." She moved from his spot ver to her side, not stopping the stroaks the cat was receiving. She sipped the tea slowly, watching from under her bangs as Inuyasha returned to his seat. "Your kimono is dry. I checked it this morning."
He grunted softly, dropping to the ground and looking at the dying fire.
"I'm getting some more wood." She started to stand, only to be shoved back down on the futon.
"I don't think so, woman..." Inuyasha growled. "You damn near died last time you tried."
Kagome blushed faintly, trying to pull out of his grasp. "Then who is going to get it? You don't know where it is, and besides, you almost got yourself killed last time YOU went outside! What happens if the fire dies?!"
He was silent. "You're right...but so am I...If you try to be strong and go out there, you're going to die. You're a goddamned human and humans die a helluvalot easier than demons!"
She gulped, closing her eyes and turning her head away. "Buy...if the fire goes out...what are we going to do? We have maybe two hours left of burning, and..."
"Then I'll go get it..." He stood and marched towards the door, ignoring her protests. He slid the door opened and was nocked backwards by a huge pile of snow. "AWE SHIT!"
Kagome hurriedly pulled him back inside, closing the door.
Inuyasha snarled softly, sitting up in the snow. "Dammit, stupid weather."
She sighed, standing and walking from the room. "I guess we can always use the stove after the fire dies..." She said, not really paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly, she was sitting in front of the fire staring into it.
She felt him sit beside him and turned towards him. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha...I shouldn't have left your time..."
"Then you just would have died the first night." He growled, looking away. *Not that I care...do I?*

Miroku looked out across the harmless looking carpet of snow that covered the village. "Damn...we're in trouble..."
"At least it's tapering off..." Sango said, holding her cup in her frozen hands. "I wonder if Kagome and Inuyasha are alright...I mean, we haven't seen them for three days..."
"Inuyasha is dead." Kikyou said softly, not touching her cup.
Miroku rolled his eyes. "No, he's not. He's just missing. He'll be back...probably dragging Kagome-sama kicking and screaming."
Sango smirked. "Naw, just sitting and smirking. She'd be walking on her own."
Miroku chuckled. "You're probably right."
"Kaede, where does this girl live?" Kikyou asked, fingering her bow.
"..." Kaede was silent a moment. "Truely, I know not. I know how she get's there, but she doesn't say where she lives."
"How does she get there?"
"She says she always found her way home by the Go Shimboku tree." Kaede sipped her tea, not mentioning the well.
"Hmmm..."

Kagome slowly sank onto the floor, sighing. "I wish I hadn't gotten rid of my skis."
"What's a ski?"
"Oh." Kagome looked up. "They're built so they don't sink into the snow. You glide across it instead of sinking into it...I honestly never thought I'd need em..."
Inuyasha looked down, frowning.
Suddenly, Kagome stood, running upstairs to her room. "I wonder if it's stopped snowing yet...." She said, halfway to her room.
Inuyasha followed behind quickly. He was curious too, not that he'd ever admit it. When they reached her room, they looked out the window, seeing the snow piled up, just a foot below the second floor.
She smiled wryly, then sighed. "It's stopped, now we just have to wait till they cut a path in it...if they ever get past the ice..."
Inuyasha remained silent. *Yeah...* Suddenly a hand closed around his, squeezing slightly.
"I hate to admit this, but I'm frightened..." She looked out across the white, ocasionally dotted by a tre that was half buried under snow. "I hope the gas doesn't go out..." She looked up at him, her eyes telling him how afraid she was.
"HEY!" He grabbed her, shaking her. "Relax! We're gonna be just fine! We've destroyed demons and survived, so there's no way a little snow storm is gonna kill us!"
Kagome looked up at him. "Little? LITTLE?!" Her voice rose and she pointed out the window. "YOU CALL -THIS- LITTLE?!"
He was silent, staring at her, slightly hurt.
"AND WHAT'S WORSE?! EVERY DAY WHEN THE SNOW MELT JUST A LITTLE BIT, IT'S GOING TO BECOME -ICE-! THE MORE ICE, THE LESS CHANCE WE HAVE TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" She finally gave up and burst into tears. "And you tell me...this 'little' snow storm ISN'T going to kill us?"
Inuyasha grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her into a warm hug. "I..."
She clung to him, crying into his kimono. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't...shouldn't have...have yelled at you...right now...we only...only have each other to turn to...I'm sorry..."
He held her, his heart beating hard for unknown reasons when he realized she was right. This time, they didn't have someone else to pull their fat from the fire. All they had was each other. If one of them died, the other would too.
They stood like that for awhile, Kagome sobbing into Inuyasha's think yukata, while he tried to calm her. When her sobs subsided, she pulled back, looking up at him, the odd expression in her eyes again.
"Wh-what?" He asked guardedly.
"I-Inuyasha...I..." She blushed, pulling away from him completely to stare up into his face. Her ice grey eyes had a warmth in them somewhere deep down. "Thank you..." She said simply.
*She's looking at me like that again...why? Please, Kagome, you can't fall in love with me! DON'T! I...it would never work...I'm not free to love you back...am I?* He closed his eyes when he felt her hand touch his face. *If I'm not... then...why is my heart beating so hard? Shouldn't I be thinking about...Kikyou? But...I feel different when I'm with Kagome...I see someone hurt her and I want to rip their heart out! Why do I get like this with her?*
Kagome pulled her hand away quickly and walked quickly towards the door. "I'll go make some tea." She said before vanishing. *I almost told him again...oh, damn...* She silently wondered why she felt so warm.
Inuyasha's eyes opened, but she was already gone. "Oh, gods, please, don't let me love her..." He fell to his knees, staring blankly across the room. *I'm not free to love her...I can't let myself love her...But...but I...* He looked up at the ceiling, not letting himself finish the thought. He did however know one thing.
He deffinately should have left her time yesterday. In fact, he should have gotten an earlier start. *But then...but then she would be dead...* He let his body fold in on itself, fighting tears. *Dammit...I'm getting weak...* He cursed. *I can't let myself turn into a weakling. Kagome needs me to be strong...I need to be strong for her...* He closed his eyes, biting his lip hard and drawing blood.
He didn't notice.

Kagome hurriedly took the kettle off stove.
"Kagome no baka, Kagome no baka, Kagome no baka..." She murmered as she moved, just seconds before a sneeze snuck up on her. "ACHOO!" She covered her mouth, coughing a bit.
Hesitantely, she moved towards the bathroom, going into the medicine chest. She pulled out a thermometer, giving her reflection a breif glance. Her face was pale, her cheeks flushed, although she knew this time that had nothing to do with her close proximity to Inuyasha.
She stuck the little thing in her mouth and returned to the kitchen to find Inuyasha doing the activity he'd watched her do several times that day. Since she'd set the tea kettle and bags out, he'd just filled the cups and dropped the bags in.
When his gaze turned towards her, he froze. *She's sick...*
She smiled weakly around the thermometer. "Thanks." She said around the thermometer. "I was going to take care of it..."
He tried not to look concerned, and almost suceeded. "I guess what you said earlier was right. We're going to need to rely on each other..."
She smiled again, and the thermometer beeped. She pulled it away and a momentarily panicked look crossed her features. A feeling of dread filled her. *103.5? Oh, gods...*
"What is that thing?"
"Oh, thermometer. It's used to take temperature. Normal body heat is about 98.6 degrees, and this reads your body heat to see if you have a fever."
He frowned, and looked away. "Do you?"
"Huh?"
"Do you have a fever?"
"Yes, but it's not that bad..." She lied. *It's just if it were a degree and a half higher, I'd be unconsious...* She smiled weakly and lifted the bag from her tea.
As she was setting it on the plate at the center of the table, Inuyasha's hand shot out and he touched her forhead. "I don't think you should feel that hot." He said softly.
Her eyes met his. "It's probably just that your hands are cold."
"Don't lie to me, Kagome!" He shouted, standing. "You look like you've been to hell and back! Your face looks like it's wax and your cheeks are red as those damn flowers on your 'bathing suit'! You're sick and we -both- know it!"
She lowered her head. "I...I have to keep busy...we need each other, so I can't just be laying around like I'm sick." She looked away, stubbornly.
Two hands grabbed her and hoisted her off the chair. "I don't think you'll do me much good if you're dead before tomorrow either!" Inuyasha said, dragging her towards the futon.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She exclaimed. "YOU JERK! I'M NOT GONNA DIE!"
Inuyasha didn't respond as he gently lay her on it and put her under the blanket. "Just shut up, Kagome. I'm no damn doctor, but I can tell when someone's sick, dammit!" He put his hand to her face, feeling the heat radiating off her skin. His other hand claimed hers and he frowned. "You're hands are clammy, too..." He shook his head. "You managed to get yourself good and sick, wench." He growled, trying to cover his concern.
"I...Inuyasha..." She stared up at him surprised. A nice smile spread across her cheeks and she lifted a hand to his face, gently brushing it. "Sometimes...sometimes, you are really...sweet..." Kagome murmered before her illness caught up with her and she fell into a deep sleep.
Inuyasha quickly checked for her pulse and heartbeat and when he was satisfied she was alive, went and brought their tea in. If she didn't wake, he could always drink her's too.