Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, so there! You can't sue me because I've
said the magic words! Not that anyone would bother suing...
(A/N: I've just discovered something wonderful... chocolate spread on toast! It has got to be the tastiest thing on this earth!!!!!)
Two Faced:
Testing the Trust
"Are we nearly there yet?"
"No..."
"How 'bout now?"
"No."
"How 'bout-"
"How 'bout you just shut up and let me do the walking, huh?" Inuyasha griped.
"I was going to say - how 'bout we play eye spy on the way. I'm dead bored." Kagome said breezily from his back, hugging his jacket close for warmth.
"Don't be so childish." He told her.
"Fine..." Kagome said with a hint of sulkiness.
The silence stretched on.
"Are we nearly there yet?"
"We're about twenty paces closer to the border since the last time you asked - now will you please shut up?!" Inuyasha snapped. "We're not going to arrive in the Southern Territory today - maybe tomorrow morning."
"Then lets play a game to pass the time." Kagome prodded.
"No! Go count lampposts or something..."
"I don't know if you can tell but I am glaring at you with a 'get real' sort of expression." She hugged her arm around his neck a little tighter, unconsciously, and shifted her thighs about his waist without realising. "There has to be something more interesting to do than this..."
Inuyasha just wished that she would stop squirming like that. Carrying her and the survival pack wasn't made any easier by the fact she kept 'innocently' squeezing her arms and legs around him. And she said she had an aversion to being touched... but given half the chance she seemed to like touching everyone else.
"How about you count trees instead." Inuyasha suggested, trying to find something that would stop her from nagging him further.
"If I must..." Kagome sighed and shifted to get comfortable again. "One... two... three... four-five-six... seven... eight... no, wait... I've missed those two... oh great, now I lost count. One... two... three..."
"Silently!"
"Do you want me to stop breathing too?"
"If it's not too much trouble." He said sarcastically.
But then after that all he heard (or felt rather) was Kagome counting upwards in a whisper, her breath tickling the back of his neck and making him shiver involuntarily.
"Cold?" she asked, immediately guilty for taking his jacket.
"No... and when I said silently and I meant silently - as in count in your head."
Kagome mumbled something rude under her breath and proceeded to count in her head, sighing every time she lost count because she couldn't keep verbal track anymore. But even then Inuyasha thought he could hear her counting in her head... and that was just slightly disturbing.
"Inuyasha...?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I can get down? You've been carrying me since this morning and my legs are beginning to cramp." She complained.
"YOU'RE legs are beginning to cramp? You have no idea..." with a slightly reluctant sigh he let her slide off his back and come to a stand behind him. He quickly made sure she wasn't in danger of collapsing pathetically before stepping back to a safe distance. "Are you sure you can take the strain."
"Sure... as long as you carry the supplies now." She held out the pack with one arm.
"If it's not one thing it's another..." he sighed as he grudgingly accepted it.
"Hey, you're not the one who just dislocated an arm and sprained an ankle."
"No, I just got run through with a metal spike." Inuyasha patted his side.
"You're kidding?" Kagome's expression slipped to worry. "Are you ok? Why didn't you say anything?"
Inuyasha had to lean away from her attentions. "It's no problem - all better now."
"Are you sure?" Kagome leaned in a little closer.
Inuyasha nodded quickly and seemed to satisfy Kagome. She took a few experimental steps and smiled when she didn't topple over of scream in pain. That was a good start. "Shall we go?"
"You're going to slow me down." He folded his arms irritably.
"I slow you down enough already." She smiled nonetheless and limped along towards him. "Besides, it won't get better if I don't use it, at this rate it should be feeling better in a few days."
"Or you could ruin your ankle completely and wind up loosing a limb." He smiled sadistically. "Hopefully."
"You're awful." Kagome gave him a light push that sent him swaying slightly. "I think I know my ankles better than you. This kind of thing heals fast for me, unlike for my mother who was off her feet for weeks with a sprained ankle..."
"I think I know the frailty of the human body, Kagome. And no need for a family history lesson." He said walking very close behind her.
"I wish you'd stop doing that." Kagome said evenly.
"Doing what?"
"Making it out like all humans are weak and pathetic." She stopped and glanced back at him. "You're half human... don't you understand what it's like to be human?"
"All I know is that it's a disability that hinders me from becoming truly strong." He said truthfully.
"Really?" That sounded interesting.
"But..." Inuyasha sighed as he slipped into the speech he'd memorised by now. "Human spirits is what makes them good, and I am proud to say that I have a human spirit and am not a soulless demon."
That should satisfy her.
"Demons aren't soulless."
Inuyasha blinked in surprise at her comment and noticed she was carefully picking her way across the uneven forest floor again. "What?"
"Demons aren't soulless. If they were soulless they wouldn't be people... but they are... just because they have evil tendencies doesn't make them any more soulless. They're still people." She glanced back with a smile. "My mother taught me that."
Inuyasha's respect was beginning to increase for both Kagome and her mother. "Well... I still have a human spirit..."
"Which is valiant and good and honest, I know, I know." She nodded.
Which was often or not his downfall... like right now, if he'd been a true demon he wouldn't be hesitating to kill her. But stupid conscience was getting in the way. But then again, if he'd been a true demon he wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with. He wouldn't have needed to prove himself like this.
But seeing as he couldn't bring himself to prove himself... did that make him unworthy to be with his brother's kind?
"Turned into a vegetable yet?" Kagome called back.
"Huh?"
"Now who's being slow?" she smiled and started off again.
"Stupid girl..." he muttered.
"I'm not deaf!" she smiled anyway as she passed through a thick part of the bushes. "Just because I haven't got ears like you doesn't mean... oh..."
She stopped dead and Inuyasha frowned as he caught up. "What, 'oh'?"
Then he saw what she meant and frowned. "Ohhh..."
They were stood on what appeared to be one side of a fairly large crack in the land. It seemed to be at least seven metres deep to the pit below them and the other side was about five metres away and a metre lower than the ledge they stood on.
"Well... I guess we could always go round..." Kagome shrugged.
"No way... that'll take hours and nights approaching." Inuyasha assessed the situation. "And I'd rather be on the other side tonight."
"I can't jump that!" Kagome protested. "Not with this ankle!"
"I know..." Inuyasha sighed. "I can't carry you either, you'll unbalance me... but I suppose I could-"
"No - you are not throwing me across!" Kagome responded shortly. Inuyasha fell silent.
After a few moments of thought Inuyasha snapped his fingers. "I know! I'll throw the supplies over and then jump across myself. And you can jump after me."
"But... I can't jump like you can..." Kagome protested.
"I'll catch you." Inuyasha said confidently.
Kagome just looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Oh come on... even if you fall short, I could catch you before you hit the bottom. It's easy."
"Which part? Catching me or hitting the bottom?" Kagome looked a little worried.
"Ok, let me go first."
Before Kagome could stop him he'd tossed the pack over and given a run -up to follow it. He landed safely on the other side, without any doubt that he'd make it fine. Kagome on the other hand felt suddenly alone and vulnerable.
"Inuyasha..." she clenched her fist and looked down at him. "It's too far!"
"Just jump and I'll catch you, don't worry!"
"I can't!"
"Trust me, Kagome, when have I ever let you done?" he smiled in a slightly boyish way that made it suddenly difficult to swallow. But he was right, she didn't know of any times he'd ever let her down. He'd saved her more than twice now. Many people had saved her life before... but this was the first guy to actually survive it. Maybe she really could trust him...?
"Ok... but you better not let me down!" she called and nervously edged back to take a run-up.
Inuyasha braced himself on the other side to prepare to catch her. Soon he heard rapid footsteps approaching the edge and he tilted forward slightly to catch her in case she fell short. Unfortunately Kagome had other ideas.
"No - ow - No!" Kagome skidded to a halt centimetres from the edge and Inuyasha had to quickly windmill his arms to keep from falling forward.
"You did that on purpose!" he snapped.
"Did not!" she reached down to massage her ankle. "My arm was throwing me off, that's all!"
"I'll throw YOU off if you don't hurry it up!"
"Grouse..." Kagome muttered before retreating back away from the edge. "Promise you won't drop me?!"
"Trust me!" it was surprisingly difficult to get those two words out...
"Ok... but don't let me down, remember?"
"I remember... just jump already!" Inuyasha yelled.
Kagome took a deep breath and braced herself. She took a moment to do some mental preparation before running again towards the edge. When she reached it she pushed herself off with her good foot and started to sail through the air. But she was falling short very badly... very, very badly...
Inuyasha saw it at once and quickly stepped off after her. He grabbed her around the middle and twisted them both so he was below her... and so he took the brunt force of the fall when they hit the ground.
Kagome was winded anyway, but at least she hadn't broken anything else. The most painful part had been when he'd grabbed her. "Ow... Inuyasha...? You still alive?"
She sat up and looked down at him. The slightly pissed off looking expression he had told her that, yes, he was still alive. "Are you ok?"
"Stupid question," he hissed. "I'd move and strangle you... if I think there's a rock embedded in my spine..."
Kagome quickly got off his stomach and helped him rise to his feet and started to brush him down in a very motherly like fashion. "I have to say you've let me down..." she sighed. "A whole ten metres down..."
He suddenly caught her hand. "You can't keep your hands off me for one minute, that's all."
Kagome froze, and with a frown, suddenly tugged her hand free and stumbled a few feet away from him. "So how do we get out of here?" she cleared her throat and asked, looking at their surroundings... or just looking at anything that wasn't Inuyasha.
Inuyasha watched her with mild surprise, since he hadn't expected her to react to a playful comment like that. It had been a joke... but she'd really not liked it.
With a sigh he pointed to the side. "Well, now we climb up."
"I can't climb that." Kagome looked at him, seemingly at once forgetting what had just happened.
"You don't have to - I'll climb up and then reach down and pull you up after." He immediately set about digging his claws into the rock and earth to tug himself up. He made it to the top in one journey and heaved himself up with little effort. Kagome was quite impressed...
He reappeared holding his sword in its scabbard as an extension since he couldn't really reach that far down without falling. "Grab hold of the scabbard..."
"I'll fall..." Kagome warned, even as she reached up to grip it tightly with her good hand. "And then you'll miss me - ah!"
he suddenly lifted her out of the crack with one arm and set her down on the ground beside him. Kagome was still trying to catch up. "That was quick... do you work out?"
"No." he pried her fingers off the scabbard since she seemed to be forgetting to let go. "But at least we're on the other side."
"So can we make camp now?" Kagome asked.
"What?! It's not even dark yet!"
"So?" Kagome gave him her best vulnerable little girl eyes. "But it's cold... and my arm hurts."
"So? You're not walking on your arm, are you?" He pointed out as he got up and retrieved the pack he'd thrown earlier.
"No - my arm hurts - but my ankle is killing me with pain... it's horrible... and stabbing and I'm hungry too..."
"And you say that humans aren't all weak and fragile." He grouched, but conceded as he dropped the pack and started to kick the surrounding bushes away to clear room for them.
"Great! How many tents did you bring?" Kagome asked.
"One."
"One?!" Kagome gaped at him. "But there's two of us!"
"So?" Inuyasha shrugged. "It's not like we haven't shared a tent before."
"Yeah - but the survival packs are only designed for one person! The tents inside them are tiddle sized!"
Inuyasha bent down and opened the pack to pull out the tent in its packed down form. He threw it on the ground a short distance away and watched as it assembled itself (I used to have one of those when I was a kid - it was so cool!). He had to kick it a few times to make it completely pull itself together, but when it was done he cocked his head critically. "Well... it'll be a tight fit..."
"There's only just room enough for you and your ego!" Kagome muttered, grabbing herself a sleeping bag and tossing it inside.
"You're exaggerating." He shook his head. "If I've told you once I've told you a million times...
"No - THAT'S exaggerating!" she huffed as she followed her sleeping bag into the tent. She set about arranging herself comfortably inside the compact little tent... but that was disturbed when Inuyasha found his way into the tent.
"Guess what?" he said.
"What?"
"There's only one sleeping bag." He smirked.
"Too bad I got this one first. Looks like you'll be sleeping on the floor." Kagome pointed to what little free space remained inside the tent.
Inuyasha scowled. "Well... I guess I'll get dibs at food then."
"We have food?" Kagome looked up, interested at once.
They waited for nightfall by eating rations in the tent that time. They didn't have a gas stove like back at the camp, so they had to eat the stuff in the horrible foil wrappers.
"It tastes like chicken..." Kagome sighed as she chewed her ration bar thoughtfully. "It always tastes like chicken..."
"Mine tastes like salsa..." Inuyasha pulled a face.
"So what's your problem?"
"It's supposed to be chicken."
Kagome laughed at this before deciding that Inuyasha wasn't such bad company... as long as he wasn't being a jerk.
Since it was starting to get pretty dark already Kagome started to unzip her sleeping bag and crawled inside. "Don't forget to turn off the lantern."
Inuyasha was haphazardly stuffing the rations back inside the pack without much care. "Just remember the rules, ok?"
"You stay on your side, I'll stay on mine." Kagome nodded.
He turned the lamp off and settled down on the bare floor... he was at least thankful that the tent kept away the cold breeze.
A few minutes and lots of shifting later... they were both getting ticked off.
"Inuyasha...?" Kagome hissed quietly. "Get your knee out of my back."
"Hey - you're on my side - my knee can go in whatever is on my side."
"No way - your knee is on MY side!"
"No it isn't!" Inuyasha sat up and turned the lamp on again. "Look - my side is two feet - your side is two feet - YOU'RE bag is on my side, see?!"
"I can't help it! The bag is three feet wide!" Kagome growled.
"Then give me some!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"I said no!" Kagome hugged it tighter around her. "I got it first!"
"So you want me to die of hypothermia?!" Inuyasha snapped. "How'd you feel about that?"
"All warm and tingly."
"This isn't fair!"
"You sound like a spoilt child, Inuyasha." She said smoothly.
"Says you who's hogging all the blanket!" he snorted. "Which one of us is really spoilt - you just abuse your authority over me."
Now Kagome felt a little bad. "Fine..." she unzipped the bag completely and spread one side over Inuyasha. "Stop squawking already..."
They settled down for a little longer this time, occasionally turning and tossing and sighing and tutting. Until Kagome finally discovered she was running a little short of blanket. "Inuyasha..."
"What?"
"Gimme some blanket."
"How 'bout you give ME some blanket, I'm freezing."
"I've got a huge draft on my side-"
"Me too."
Kagome sat up and checked. "Oh yeah..."
"So that means you give me some." Inuyasha yanked the blanket out of Kagome's grasp and she gasped.
"Meanie! Give that back!"
"No! I'm cold!"
"I'm cold and my arm and ankle hurts!" Kagome rose to his challenge.
He sighed and rolled over to face her. "This would be solved and you and me moved a little closer towards the middle, you know."
Kagome glared at him. "Dream on." she settled back down, even further away from him.
"Fine... if you want to stay cold and get stiff joints in the morning that's fine by me." He sighed and rolled over again. "Sharing body heat isn't being suggestive, it's just being logical."
Kagome frowned as she thought about this. "Fine... but no touching, ok?"
They both shifted closer to the middle, both making sure that they were back to back and no closer than that. Kagome was quite pleased to find that it was indeed warmer to be closer to him, plus there was more blanket and no more draft.
After quite a long time of nothing happening Kagome was on the verge of falling asleep. Suddenly Inuyasha rolled over in his sleep and his knee began to dig into Kagome's back again. She sighed as she was roused from her light doze. "Inuyasha... move your damn knee..."
"My knee's no where near you." He replied, equally as sleepy.
"Then what is poking my spine?"
"I dunno... my crotch?"
Kagome shot awake at once and gave him a shove. "PIG!"
"Kidding! It was my elbow!" he quickly tried to defend himself from her wrath.
"You are sleeping outside!"
"What?!"
"Go on! Get out! I don't care if it was your elbow! You're not sleeping in here with an attitude like that!" she all but kicked him out.
"See if I care, bitch!" he snapped and found himself a relatively comfortably seat in front of tent.
Kagome sighed in relief and spread her body out, though she was a little disappointed because it wasn't so warm anymore, but at least she had space now.
Once more, she was just about to get back to sleep when in the distance she thought she could hear wolves baying to the moon. "Um... Inuyasha...?"
"Yeah?" Came his reply from just outside again.
"Nothing."
The wolf calls continued for a little while before they soon stopped... and then she was certain she could hear something moving in the foliage around the tent... definitely more than one thing...
"Inuyasha?"
"What?"
"Do you wanna come back inside?" She asked quickly. Partially because she wouldn't be able to live withherself if she let him be eaten by ravenous wolves... and partially because she didn't want to be alone if there really were wolves out there.
"Glad you see sense." He remarked as he crawled back inside and settled under the covers, quite proud of his wolf impression and ability to throw stones at the bushes nearby.
Kagome inched closer to him, despite her earlier feelings... great... how on earth was he supposed to get some sleep now?
(A/N: Hmm... well, next chapter is 'Cooties'... I wonder what you're all thinking about that title... ^_^)
(A/N: I've just discovered something wonderful... chocolate spread on toast! It has got to be the tastiest thing on this earth!!!!!)
Two Faced:
Testing the Trust
"Are we nearly there yet?"
"No..."
"How 'bout now?"
"No."
"How 'bout-"
"How 'bout you just shut up and let me do the walking, huh?" Inuyasha griped.
"I was going to say - how 'bout we play eye spy on the way. I'm dead bored." Kagome said breezily from his back, hugging his jacket close for warmth.
"Don't be so childish." He told her.
"Fine..." Kagome said with a hint of sulkiness.
The silence stretched on.
"Are we nearly there yet?"
"We're about twenty paces closer to the border since the last time you asked - now will you please shut up?!" Inuyasha snapped. "We're not going to arrive in the Southern Territory today - maybe tomorrow morning."
"Then lets play a game to pass the time." Kagome prodded.
"No! Go count lampposts or something..."
"I don't know if you can tell but I am glaring at you with a 'get real' sort of expression." She hugged her arm around his neck a little tighter, unconsciously, and shifted her thighs about his waist without realising. "There has to be something more interesting to do than this..."
Inuyasha just wished that she would stop squirming like that. Carrying her and the survival pack wasn't made any easier by the fact she kept 'innocently' squeezing her arms and legs around him. And she said she had an aversion to being touched... but given half the chance she seemed to like touching everyone else.
"How about you count trees instead." Inuyasha suggested, trying to find something that would stop her from nagging him further.
"If I must..." Kagome sighed and shifted to get comfortable again. "One... two... three... four-five-six... seven... eight... no, wait... I've missed those two... oh great, now I lost count. One... two... three..."
"Silently!"
"Do you want me to stop breathing too?"
"If it's not too much trouble." He said sarcastically.
But then after that all he heard (or felt rather) was Kagome counting upwards in a whisper, her breath tickling the back of his neck and making him shiver involuntarily.
"Cold?" she asked, immediately guilty for taking his jacket.
"No... and when I said silently and I meant silently - as in count in your head."
Kagome mumbled something rude under her breath and proceeded to count in her head, sighing every time she lost count because she couldn't keep verbal track anymore. But even then Inuyasha thought he could hear her counting in her head... and that was just slightly disturbing.
"Inuyasha...?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I can get down? You've been carrying me since this morning and my legs are beginning to cramp." She complained.
"YOU'RE legs are beginning to cramp? You have no idea..." with a slightly reluctant sigh he let her slide off his back and come to a stand behind him. He quickly made sure she wasn't in danger of collapsing pathetically before stepping back to a safe distance. "Are you sure you can take the strain."
"Sure... as long as you carry the supplies now." She held out the pack with one arm.
"If it's not one thing it's another..." he sighed as he grudgingly accepted it.
"Hey, you're not the one who just dislocated an arm and sprained an ankle."
"No, I just got run through with a metal spike." Inuyasha patted his side.
"You're kidding?" Kagome's expression slipped to worry. "Are you ok? Why didn't you say anything?"
Inuyasha had to lean away from her attentions. "It's no problem - all better now."
"Are you sure?" Kagome leaned in a little closer.
Inuyasha nodded quickly and seemed to satisfy Kagome. She took a few experimental steps and smiled when she didn't topple over of scream in pain. That was a good start. "Shall we go?"
"You're going to slow me down." He folded his arms irritably.
"I slow you down enough already." She smiled nonetheless and limped along towards him. "Besides, it won't get better if I don't use it, at this rate it should be feeling better in a few days."
"Or you could ruin your ankle completely and wind up loosing a limb." He smiled sadistically. "Hopefully."
"You're awful." Kagome gave him a light push that sent him swaying slightly. "I think I know my ankles better than you. This kind of thing heals fast for me, unlike for my mother who was off her feet for weeks with a sprained ankle..."
"I think I know the frailty of the human body, Kagome. And no need for a family history lesson." He said walking very close behind her.
"I wish you'd stop doing that." Kagome said evenly.
"Doing what?"
"Making it out like all humans are weak and pathetic." She stopped and glanced back at him. "You're half human... don't you understand what it's like to be human?"
"All I know is that it's a disability that hinders me from becoming truly strong." He said truthfully.
"Really?" That sounded interesting.
"But..." Inuyasha sighed as he slipped into the speech he'd memorised by now. "Human spirits is what makes them good, and I am proud to say that I have a human spirit and am not a soulless demon."
That should satisfy her.
"Demons aren't soulless."
Inuyasha blinked in surprise at her comment and noticed she was carefully picking her way across the uneven forest floor again. "What?"
"Demons aren't soulless. If they were soulless they wouldn't be people... but they are... just because they have evil tendencies doesn't make them any more soulless. They're still people." She glanced back with a smile. "My mother taught me that."
Inuyasha's respect was beginning to increase for both Kagome and her mother. "Well... I still have a human spirit..."
"Which is valiant and good and honest, I know, I know." She nodded.
Which was often or not his downfall... like right now, if he'd been a true demon he wouldn't be hesitating to kill her. But stupid conscience was getting in the way. But then again, if he'd been a true demon he wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with. He wouldn't have needed to prove himself like this.
But seeing as he couldn't bring himself to prove himself... did that make him unworthy to be with his brother's kind?
"Turned into a vegetable yet?" Kagome called back.
"Huh?"
"Now who's being slow?" she smiled and started off again.
"Stupid girl..." he muttered.
"I'm not deaf!" she smiled anyway as she passed through a thick part of the bushes. "Just because I haven't got ears like you doesn't mean... oh..."
She stopped dead and Inuyasha frowned as he caught up. "What, 'oh'?"
Then he saw what she meant and frowned. "Ohhh..."
They were stood on what appeared to be one side of a fairly large crack in the land. It seemed to be at least seven metres deep to the pit below them and the other side was about five metres away and a metre lower than the ledge they stood on.
"Well... I guess we could always go round..." Kagome shrugged.
"No way... that'll take hours and nights approaching." Inuyasha assessed the situation. "And I'd rather be on the other side tonight."
"I can't jump that!" Kagome protested. "Not with this ankle!"
"I know..." Inuyasha sighed. "I can't carry you either, you'll unbalance me... but I suppose I could-"
"No - you are not throwing me across!" Kagome responded shortly. Inuyasha fell silent.
After a few moments of thought Inuyasha snapped his fingers. "I know! I'll throw the supplies over and then jump across myself. And you can jump after me."
"But... I can't jump like you can..." Kagome protested.
"I'll catch you." Inuyasha said confidently.
Kagome just looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Oh come on... even if you fall short, I could catch you before you hit the bottom. It's easy."
"Which part? Catching me or hitting the bottom?" Kagome looked a little worried.
"Ok, let me go first."
Before Kagome could stop him he'd tossed the pack over and given a run -up to follow it. He landed safely on the other side, without any doubt that he'd make it fine. Kagome on the other hand felt suddenly alone and vulnerable.
"Inuyasha..." she clenched her fist and looked down at him. "It's too far!"
"Just jump and I'll catch you, don't worry!"
"I can't!"
"Trust me, Kagome, when have I ever let you done?" he smiled in a slightly boyish way that made it suddenly difficult to swallow. But he was right, she didn't know of any times he'd ever let her down. He'd saved her more than twice now. Many people had saved her life before... but this was the first guy to actually survive it. Maybe she really could trust him...?
"Ok... but you better not let me down!" she called and nervously edged back to take a run-up.
Inuyasha braced himself on the other side to prepare to catch her. Soon he heard rapid footsteps approaching the edge and he tilted forward slightly to catch her in case she fell short. Unfortunately Kagome had other ideas.
"No - ow - No!" Kagome skidded to a halt centimetres from the edge and Inuyasha had to quickly windmill his arms to keep from falling forward.
"You did that on purpose!" he snapped.
"Did not!" she reached down to massage her ankle. "My arm was throwing me off, that's all!"
"I'll throw YOU off if you don't hurry it up!"
"Grouse..." Kagome muttered before retreating back away from the edge. "Promise you won't drop me?!"
"Trust me!" it was surprisingly difficult to get those two words out...
"Ok... but don't let me down, remember?"
"I remember... just jump already!" Inuyasha yelled.
Kagome took a deep breath and braced herself. She took a moment to do some mental preparation before running again towards the edge. When she reached it she pushed herself off with her good foot and started to sail through the air. But she was falling short very badly... very, very badly...
Inuyasha saw it at once and quickly stepped off after her. He grabbed her around the middle and twisted them both so he was below her... and so he took the brunt force of the fall when they hit the ground.
Kagome was winded anyway, but at least she hadn't broken anything else. The most painful part had been when he'd grabbed her. "Ow... Inuyasha...? You still alive?"
She sat up and looked down at him. The slightly pissed off looking expression he had told her that, yes, he was still alive. "Are you ok?"
"Stupid question," he hissed. "I'd move and strangle you... if I think there's a rock embedded in my spine..."
Kagome quickly got off his stomach and helped him rise to his feet and started to brush him down in a very motherly like fashion. "I have to say you've let me down..." she sighed. "A whole ten metres down..."
He suddenly caught her hand. "You can't keep your hands off me for one minute, that's all."
Kagome froze, and with a frown, suddenly tugged her hand free and stumbled a few feet away from him. "So how do we get out of here?" she cleared her throat and asked, looking at their surroundings... or just looking at anything that wasn't Inuyasha.
Inuyasha watched her with mild surprise, since he hadn't expected her to react to a playful comment like that. It had been a joke... but she'd really not liked it.
With a sigh he pointed to the side. "Well, now we climb up."
"I can't climb that." Kagome looked at him, seemingly at once forgetting what had just happened.
"You don't have to - I'll climb up and then reach down and pull you up after." He immediately set about digging his claws into the rock and earth to tug himself up. He made it to the top in one journey and heaved himself up with little effort. Kagome was quite impressed...
He reappeared holding his sword in its scabbard as an extension since he couldn't really reach that far down without falling. "Grab hold of the scabbard..."
"I'll fall..." Kagome warned, even as she reached up to grip it tightly with her good hand. "And then you'll miss me - ah!"
he suddenly lifted her out of the crack with one arm and set her down on the ground beside him. Kagome was still trying to catch up. "That was quick... do you work out?"
"No." he pried her fingers off the scabbard since she seemed to be forgetting to let go. "But at least we're on the other side."
"So can we make camp now?" Kagome asked.
"What?! It's not even dark yet!"
"So?" Kagome gave him her best vulnerable little girl eyes. "But it's cold... and my arm hurts."
"So? You're not walking on your arm, are you?" He pointed out as he got up and retrieved the pack he'd thrown earlier.
"No - my arm hurts - but my ankle is killing me with pain... it's horrible... and stabbing and I'm hungry too..."
"And you say that humans aren't all weak and fragile." He grouched, but conceded as he dropped the pack and started to kick the surrounding bushes away to clear room for them.
"Great! How many tents did you bring?" Kagome asked.
"One."
"One?!" Kagome gaped at him. "But there's two of us!"
"So?" Inuyasha shrugged. "It's not like we haven't shared a tent before."
"Yeah - but the survival packs are only designed for one person! The tents inside them are tiddle sized!"
Inuyasha bent down and opened the pack to pull out the tent in its packed down form. He threw it on the ground a short distance away and watched as it assembled itself (I used to have one of those when I was a kid - it was so cool!). He had to kick it a few times to make it completely pull itself together, but when it was done he cocked his head critically. "Well... it'll be a tight fit..."
"There's only just room enough for you and your ego!" Kagome muttered, grabbing herself a sleeping bag and tossing it inside.
"You're exaggerating." He shook his head. "If I've told you once I've told you a million times...
"No - THAT'S exaggerating!" she huffed as she followed her sleeping bag into the tent. She set about arranging herself comfortably inside the compact little tent... but that was disturbed when Inuyasha found his way into the tent.
"Guess what?" he said.
"What?"
"There's only one sleeping bag." He smirked.
"Too bad I got this one first. Looks like you'll be sleeping on the floor." Kagome pointed to what little free space remained inside the tent.
Inuyasha scowled. "Well... I guess I'll get dibs at food then."
"We have food?" Kagome looked up, interested at once.
They waited for nightfall by eating rations in the tent that time. They didn't have a gas stove like back at the camp, so they had to eat the stuff in the horrible foil wrappers.
"It tastes like chicken..." Kagome sighed as she chewed her ration bar thoughtfully. "It always tastes like chicken..."
"Mine tastes like salsa..." Inuyasha pulled a face.
"So what's your problem?"
"It's supposed to be chicken."
Kagome laughed at this before deciding that Inuyasha wasn't such bad company... as long as he wasn't being a jerk.
Since it was starting to get pretty dark already Kagome started to unzip her sleeping bag and crawled inside. "Don't forget to turn off the lantern."
Inuyasha was haphazardly stuffing the rations back inside the pack without much care. "Just remember the rules, ok?"
"You stay on your side, I'll stay on mine." Kagome nodded.
He turned the lamp off and settled down on the bare floor... he was at least thankful that the tent kept away the cold breeze.
A few minutes and lots of shifting later... they were both getting ticked off.
"Inuyasha...?" Kagome hissed quietly. "Get your knee out of my back."
"Hey - you're on my side - my knee can go in whatever is on my side."
"No way - your knee is on MY side!"
"No it isn't!" Inuyasha sat up and turned the lamp on again. "Look - my side is two feet - your side is two feet - YOU'RE bag is on my side, see?!"
"I can't help it! The bag is three feet wide!" Kagome growled.
"Then give me some!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"I said no!" Kagome hugged it tighter around her. "I got it first!"
"So you want me to die of hypothermia?!" Inuyasha snapped. "How'd you feel about that?"
"All warm and tingly."
"This isn't fair!"
"You sound like a spoilt child, Inuyasha." She said smoothly.
"Says you who's hogging all the blanket!" he snorted. "Which one of us is really spoilt - you just abuse your authority over me."
Now Kagome felt a little bad. "Fine..." she unzipped the bag completely and spread one side over Inuyasha. "Stop squawking already..."
They settled down for a little longer this time, occasionally turning and tossing and sighing and tutting. Until Kagome finally discovered she was running a little short of blanket. "Inuyasha..."
"What?"
"Gimme some blanket."
"How 'bout you give ME some blanket, I'm freezing."
"I've got a huge draft on my side-"
"Me too."
Kagome sat up and checked. "Oh yeah..."
"So that means you give me some." Inuyasha yanked the blanket out of Kagome's grasp and she gasped.
"Meanie! Give that back!"
"No! I'm cold!"
"I'm cold and my arm and ankle hurts!" Kagome rose to his challenge.
He sighed and rolled over to face her. "This would be solved and you and me moved a little closer towards the middle, you know."
Kagome glared at him. "Dream on." she settled back down, even further away from him.
"Fine... if you want to stay cold and get stiff joints in the morning that's fine by me." He sighed and rolled over again. "Sharing body heat isn't being suggestive, it's just being logical."
Kagome frowned as she thought about this. "Fine... but no touching, ok?"
They both shifted closer to the middle, both making sure that they were back to back and no closer than that. Kagome was quite pleased to find that it was indeed warmer to be closer to him, plus there was more blanket and no more draft.
After quite a long time of nothing happening Kagome was on the verge of falling asleep. Suddenly Inuyasha rolled over in his sleep and his knee began to dig into Kagome's back again. She sighed as she was roused from her light doze. "Inuyasha... move your damn knee..."
"My knee's no where near you." He replied, equally as sleepy.
"Then what is poking my spine?"
"I dunno... my crotch?"
Kagome shot awake at once and gave him a shove. "PIG!"
"Kidding! It was my elbow!" he quickly tried to defend himself from her wrath.
"You are sleeping outside!"
"What?!"
"Go on! Get out! I don't care if it was your elbow! You're not sleeping in here with an attitude like that!" she all but kicked him out.
"See if I care, bitch!" he snapped and found himself a relatively comfortably seat in front of tent.
Kagome sighed in relief and spread her body out, though she was a little disappointed because it wasn't so warm anymore, but at least she had space now.
Once more, she was just about to get back to sleep when in the distance she thought she could hear wolves baying to the moon. "Um... Inuyasha...?"
"Yeah?" Came his reply from just outside again.
"Nothing."
The wolf calls continued for a little while before they soon stopped... and then she was certain she could hear something moving in the foliage around the tent... definitely more than one thing...
"Inuyasha?"
"What?"
"Do you wanna come back inside?" She asked quickly. Partially because she wouldn't be able to live withherself if she let him be eaten by ravenous wolves... and partially because she didn't want to be alone if there really were wolves out there.
"Glad you see sense." He remarked as he crawled back inside and settled under the covers, quite proud of his wolf impression and ability to throw stones at the bushes nearby.
Kagome inched closer to him, despite her earlier feelings... great... how on earth was he supposed to get some sleep now?
(A/N: Hmm... well, next chapter is 'Cooties'... I wonder what you're all thinking about that title... ^_^)