Changing Wyrds
Chapter 3: Hello, Neighbor
Kaede was not entirely surprised to see what the cat dragged in, so to speak. Kagome and company hadn't been to the village with injuries for a while, and she thought it was about time for them to show up looking mauled. She hadn't expected the mauled ones to be Shippou and a strange inu- youkai, perhaps, but it all made sense in the long run.
Kagome had told her what happened while she had redressed Kureru's wounds. The story hadn't been particularly shocking either. In fact, the only thing that bothered her in any way was that Kureru wasn't healing like a proper youkai. Indeed, if Kaede thought about it enough, she might be brought to believe that this wasn't a proper youkai. But sneaking suspicions were never the best evidence, so Kaede decided to wait and see whether hers was right.
It only took three days for her to find out whether it was.
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On the third day, Inuyasha was cranky, Kagome wanted to go home, and Miroku was trying to feel up the village women. Shippou was edgey around Kureru, despite the fact that the latter had been unconcious the whole time. Kaede was simply waiting. Luckily for her, she wouldn't have to wait much longer.
Dusk found Kaede with Kureru, who had been worse that day than the two previous. She wiped the sweat off his face with a damp cloth, hoping that her reason was the right one. She turned to wring out the cloth, looking out the window as she did. The last of the sun was slipping beneath the trees. She checked the moon; it was halfway through its waxing cycle.
A weak groan brought her attention back to Kureru. She smiled through her concern, for she could see now that she had been thinking correctly. His clenched hands bore no claws, and his ears were not tortoise-shelled, but human. Of course, he was in greater danger now, but at least she knew what was making him so weak.
"Shh," she soothed the boy. Miroku had been right about his age. In human terms, he looked barely into his teens.
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His fever, which had been high but steady through the day, rose dangerously. The chilly night air only made it worse. At last Kaede decided to fetch Kagome. She had worked through the night before, but she didn't want to risk doing it alone. Standing quietly, she made her way to Kagome's room, where she carefully slid open the door.
She found two people there. Kagome was sleeping peacefully on the floor, which was as it should have been. Inuyasha was there as well, however, leaning at a respectful distance against the opposite wall, sleeping as tranquilly as Kagome. She couldn't help smiling. These young things were sweet, weren't they? After a moment's thought, she slid the door shut and walked away.
"Miroku-houji," she whispered a minute later. The monk sighed and turned over, oblivious. She poked him. "Miroku!" That got his attention. He sniffed, and opened his eyes.
"Kaede-sama?" he asked blurrily.
"Would you mind watching Kureru with me? He's getting worse." Miroku frowned.
"Why would he...?" Kaede nudged him.
"Come along and find out."
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"Oya maa," he whispered when he saw what Kaede had. "That's not good." She nodded. The boy was thrashing under the kimono, face screwed up in pain and fear. Without demonic powers, he was completely defensless against his injuries.
"I do wish Inuyasha hadn't been so enthusiastic," said Kaede in exasperation.
"Yes, well, he did have Shippou at heart. There's no way he could have known." Miroku looked down on Kureru with worry. "I wonder if Kagome- sama has anything for fever in that bag of hers."
"I didn't want to disturb her..." Miroku shrugged.
"Well, she'd probably rather be disturbed than have Kureru die," he suggested.
"Fine. I'll get her. You watch him." Kaede rose, and walked to Kagome's room once more.
It would have been an understatement to say that Inuyasha was surprised when Kaede woke him up. For one thing, surprised people do not, save in very rare cases, turn stop sign red.
"K-kaede-baba!" he stuttered at her. Kaede smiled.
"If you don't want her to know you were spending the night as her watchdog, you might want to go." He sent her a questioning look. "I didn't want to wake you, but Kureru's fever is worse. I need to ask Kagome if she has anything for it."
"Those things won't work for youkai," he argued.
"Good thing he's human tonight, then, isn't it?" Inuyasha looked stunned.
"He's hanyou?" Kaede nodded.
"Miroku's with him now, and I need to get back, so scoot. I won't tell." He nodded gratefully, slipping out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome did have something for fever. She went with Kaede to give it to Kureru, and was surprised to see that Miroku and Inuyasha were already there.
"Yo," she said with distracted amusement. "I hear there's another hanyou among us." She stooped, holding a pill and water in one hand. Kureru had settled down for the time being, for which Kagome was thankful. She slipped her hand behind the boy's head and shoulder, easing him up. Then she carefully tucked the medicine into his mouth, and put the bottle against his pale lips. He swallowed automatically, and when she was certain the pill was down, Kagome laid him back against the floor.
"That should help," she murmured. "It'll keep his fever down for tonight, anyway, and his sleep should be peaceful." She looked up to see Inuyasha watching her with fascination.
"Thank you, Kagome. I suppose you could all go back to sleep now." Miroku shook his head.
"I'll stay around in case something goes wrong." Kagome grinned.
"I think you've more or less got it covered between you," she said. "I'm going to bed." She moved out the door, followed by Inuyasha.
"Oi, Kagome?" he started. She turned to him. "How do you...I mean, I know you take care of us sometimes, but- well, I mean...you do it like a mother." She smiled. That was almost a compliment.
"Sometimes I take care of Sota when he's sick. You pick up some things." She couldn't be sure, it was still so dark, but Kagome thought she saw a hint of red creep across his cheeks.
"Oh," he answered robotically. "Of course." He started to leave. Kagome considered for a moment.
"Inuyasha," she called. He turned. "You don't have to go. I kind of like having someone to watch over me."
"Kaede-baba?" he asked cautiously. Kagome nodded. He was definitely red now. He gave a tiny smile, walking towards her hesitantly. She looked up at him, grinning at his endearing nervousness, and took his hand.
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The sun rose at a good time. Miroku and Kaede had needed to dose Kureru again near the middle of the early morning, and both were exhausted. When they saw his ears grow soft and his fever go down, they couldn't have been more relieved. It hadn't been as bad with the medicine, but the hanyou was still dangerously ill, and they hadn't been certain he would make it through the night.
Kagome came to relieve them of their duties soon after sunrise. Miroku couldn't help thinking she looked oddly cheerful. Kaede didn't look surprised at all.
"How is he?" Kagome asked.
"Much better than last night," Miroku answered.
"Well, that's good." Squatting, she gauged Kureru's temperature from the feel of his forehead. "He really is better," she said with pleasure. "I think I can handle it, then. You two go to bed." They didn't argue.
As Kaede passed, she whispered, "So where's Inuyasha, Kagome?" Kagome blushed, but only slightly.
"He's still sleeping on the other wall, where he was all night. Nice and innocent."
"All night, eh?" the old woman chuckled.
"Kaede-san!" She wanted to sound angry. The problem was, she was too happy to try.
Chapter 3: Hello, Neighbor
Kaede was not entirely surprised to see what the cat dragged in, so to speak. Kagome and company hadn't been to the village with injuries for a while, and she thought it was about time for them to show up looking mauled. She hadn't expected the mauled ones to be Shippou and a strange inu- youkai, perhaps, but it all made sense in the long run.
Kagome had told her what happened while she had redressed Kureru's wounds. The story hadn't been particularly shocking either. In fact, the only thing that bothered her in any way was that Kureru wasn't healing like a proper youkai. Indeed, if Kaede thought about it enough, she might be brought to believe that this wasn't a proper youkai. But sneaking suspicions were never the best evidence, so Kaede decided to wait and see whether hers was right.
It only took three days for her to find out whether it was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the third day, Inuyasha was cranky, Kagome wanted to go home, and Miroku was trying to feel up the village women. Shippou was edgey around Kureru, despite the fact that the latter had been unconcious the whole time. Kaede was simply waiting. Luckily for her, she wouldn't have to wait much longer.
Dusk found Kaede with Kureru, who had been worse that day than the two previous. She wiped the sweat off his face with a damp cloth, hoping that her reason was the right one. She turned to wring out the cloth, looking out the window as she did. The last of the sun was slipping beneath the trees. She checked the moon; it was halfway through its waxing cycle.
A weak groan brought her attention back to Kureru. She smiled through her concern, for she could see now that she had been thinking correctly. His clenched hands bore no claws, and his ears were not tortoise-shelled, but human. Of course, he was in greater danger now, but at least she knew what was making him so weak.
"Shh," she soothed the boy. Miroku had been right about his age. In human terms, he looked barely into his teens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His fever, which had been high but steady through the day, rose dangerously. The chilly night air only made it worse. At last Kaede decided to fetch Kagome. She had worked through the night before, but she didn't want to risk doing it alone. Standing quietly, she made her way to Kagome's room, where she carefully slid open the door.
She found two people there. Kagome was sleeping peacefully on the floor, which was as it should have been. Inuyasha was there as well, however, leaning at a respectful distance against the opposite wall, sleeping as tranquilly as Kagome. She couldn't help smiling. These young things were sweet, weren't they? After a moment's thought, she slid the door shut and walked away.
"Miroku-houji," she whispered a minute later. The monk sighed and turned over, oblivious. She poked him. "Miroku!" That got his attention. He sniffed, and opened his eyes.
"Kaede-sama?" he asked blurrily.
"Would you mind watching Kureru with me? He's getting worse." Miroku frowned.
"Why would he...?" Kaede nudged him.
"Come along and find out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oya maa," he whispered when he saw what Kaede had. "That's not good." She nodded. The boy was thrashing under the kimono, face screwed up in pain and fear. Without demonic powers, he was completely defensless against his injuries.
"I do wish Inuyasha hadn't been so enthusiastic," said Kaede in exasperation.
"Yes, well, he did have Shippou at heart. There's no way he could have known." Miroku looked down on Kureru with worry. "I wonder if Kagome- sama has anything for fever in that bag of hers."
"I didn't want to disturb her..." Miroku shrugged.
"Well, she'd probably rather be disturbed than have Kureru die," he suggested.
"Fine. I'll get her. You watch him." Kaede rose, and walked to Kagome's room once more.
It would have been an understatement to say that Inuyasha was surprised when Kaede woke him up. For one thing, surprised people do not, save in very rare cases, turn stop sign red.
"K-kaede-baba!" he stuttered at her. Kaede smiled.
"If you don't want her to know you were spending the night as her watchdog, you might want to go." He sent her a questioning look. "I didn't want to wake you, but Kureru's fever is worse. I need to ask Kagome if she has anything for it."
"Those things won't work for youkai," he argued.
"Good thing he's human tonight, then, isn't it?" Inuyasha looked stunned.
"He's hanyou?" Kaede nodded.
"Miroku's with him now, and I need to get back, so scoot. I won't tell." He nodded gratefully, slipping out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome did have something for fever. She went with Kaede to give it to Kureru, and was surprised to see that Miroku and Inuyasha were already there.
"Yo," she said with distracted amusement. "I hear there's another hanyou among us." She stooped, holding a pill and water in one hand. Kureru had settled down for the time being, for which Kagome was thankful. She slipped her hand behind the boy's head and shoulder, easing him up. Then she carefully tucked the medicine into his mouth, and put the bottle against his pale lips. He swallowed automatically, and when she was certain the pill was down, Kagome laid him back against the floor.
"That should help," she murmured. "It'll keep his fever down for tonight, anyway, and his sleep should be peaceful." She looked up to see Inuyasha watching her with fascination.
"Thank you, Kagome. I suppose you could all go back to sleep now." Miroku shook his head.
"I'll stay around in case something goes wrong." Kagome grinned.
"I think you've more or less got it covered between you," she said. "I'm going to bed." She moved out the door, followed by Inuyasha.
"Oi, Kagome?" he started. She turned to him. "How do you...I mean, I know you take care of us sometimes, but- well, I mean...you do it like a mother." She smiled. That was almost a compliment.
"Sometimes I take care of Sota when he's sick. You pick up some things." She couldn't be sure, it was still so dark, but Kagome thought she saw a hint of red creep across his cheeks.
"Oh," he answered robotically. "Of course." He started to leave. Kagome considered for a moment.
"Inuyasha," she called. He turned. "You don't have to go. I kind of like having someone to watch over me."
"Kaede-baba?" he asked cautiously. Kagome nodded. He was definitely red now. He gave a tiny smile, walking towards her hesitantly. She looked up at him, grinning at his endearing nervousness, and took his hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun rose at a good time. Miroku and Kaede had needed to dose Kureru again near the middle of the early morning, and both were exhausted. When they saw his ears grow soft and his fever go down, they couldn't have been more relieved. It hadn't been as bad with the medicine, but the hanyou was still dangerously ill, and they hadn't been certain he would make it through the night.
Kagome came to relieve them of their duties soon after sunrise. Miroku couldn't help thinking she looked oddly cheerful. Kaede didn't look surprised at all.
"How is he?" Kagome asked.
"Much better than last night," Miroku answered.
"Well, that's good." Squatting, she gauged Kureru's temperature from the feel of his forehead. "He really is better," she said with pleasure. "I think I can handle it, then. You two go to bed." They didn't argue.
As Kaede passed, she whispered, "So where's Inuyasha, Kagome?" Kagome blushed, but only slightly.
"He's still sleeping on the other wall, where he was all night. Nice and innocent."
"All night, eh?" the old woman chuckled.
"Kaede-san!" She wanted to sound angry. The problem was, she was too happy to try.