It seemed like forever passed before she was shaken awake again. She struggled against consciousness, but pressure and tiny pinpricks on her shoulder wouldn't let her be. Her eyes fluttered open and blinked to regain awareness.

"Wake up." Inuyasha hissed through gritted teeth. He shook her again, probably harder than necessary, to get her to awaken. "Tell me how you feel."

She experimentally flexed fingers and toes. Her feet were still pretty painful, but not as bad and her hands also improved. Instead of feeling nothing, her joints ached a little and tingled when pressed together. Bringing a hand to her face showed no problems in that area. It brought a smile to her face to know she would be okay. "Definitely some improvement." She reported.

He gave a nod and removed his arm from her back. His eyes refused to meet hers as he withdrew his arm from the kimono. Some heat was lost and she tried to keep from shivering. "We're getting out of this." A hand slowly pulled kimono away as eyes continued to remain above on the haori.

Knowing she would be exposed, her face flamed and a hand reached up to snatch white cloth back over her skin. "Iyarashi!" She hissed. "Don't take THAT."

"We can't stay like this; Miroku and Shippou are still out there across the way! I only did this to warm you up. Now that you're okay, we're going to finish that damn youkai off and go back to the village!" His eyes left her frame a split second before his claw gripped the kimono and pulled it from her grasp. "I know what I'm doing." His free hand went through the sleeve and pushed the haori open. Cold air came in and she gasped. Before she knew what he was doing, she was pushed away with the robe draped over her body. She watched as he sat up and put his kimono top back to normal, then pulled the haori tightly around her. As he wordlessly stood and pushed Miroku over to wake him up, her eyes took in the area. They were surrounded by snow, created in a wide den-looking room. With a harsh swallow, she absently put arms through the warm sleeves and pulled it around herself, tying it as Miroku and Shippou sat up and locked eyes.

It took Shippou the time to blink to jump up with happy tears on his face. "Kagome!" He sprang into the air, only to be harshly grabbed by the tail. "Itai! Inuyasha, nani -"

He harshly shook the kitsune. "Uresai!" He hissed. "We're covered in snow - you want to bury us again!? Keep it down!" With one final shake, Shippou was launched at Kagome.

She hugged the child as tightly as she could. Unfortunately, she was still very weak. When Shippou looked up with worried eyes, she gave a smile and small, reassuring squeeze. Her gaze jerked up when a hand landed on her shoulder. Miroku's eyes silently searched hers only momentarily before he pulled her into a tight hug, squishing Shippou between them. Shippou gave a strangled cry as he struggled and jumped out. She ignored that and gave a confused blink at the snow. "Miroku...-sama?"

Miroku's hold tightened at hearing her voice. Tears of gratitude blurred behind his lids and he blinked at them. "Arigatou Buddha-sama. You've answered my prayers and returned Kagome-same to us."

Her face softened. A hand patted Miroku's back as she returned his hug. "Miroku-sama -"

"We don't have time for that!" He stopped behind the monk and gripped purple cloth, yanking him backward. Kagome gave the hanyou an odd look as he drug Miroku back a few steps and dropped him.

Miroku looked up with a reprimanding look. "Inuyasha -"

He ignored the look and grabbed the kitsune, tossing him at Miroku. "Go up and take a peek around." Gold pinned the two when they only gave a blank look. "Do it." The two gave a look at the ordering tone, but did as told. As they disappeared, he grabbed her pack and leveled her with a glare. "I don't want to hear any arguments from you; put on the outfit from the village! It's the warmest set of clothes you've got."

She barely had time to grip the pack pushed into her arms as he walked past. She gave the back of his head a curious, bewildered look. He was almost insisting she put on the red and white outfit - the one he saw in the beginning that he DIDN'T want her to wear before because she looked like Kikyou. She absently unzipped the pack and pulled out a chunk of the top. "Inuyasha..."

His head turned and momentarily locked eyes. "Feh!" He muttered, heading out of view.

She hurried to dress, knowing the others wouldn't stay above forever. The freezing temperature of her clothes quickly made her entire body shiver and she draped the haori over herself for the remaining warmth. With nothing left to do but wait for the others, she sat on the snow and huddled up to keep warm. Not too later, just as the idea of sleep started sounding good again, muffled footsteps headed her way. Her head pulled from the darkness of her knees and spotted Inuyasha roaming through her bag with an almost determined expression on his face. She scowled at her things being invaded without permission. "In-n-nuy-y-yash-sh-sha!" She scolded, teeth chattering.

He knew Kagome needed to get her strength back before they left this place. She was still in bad shape, which he saw by how badly she was shivering. His ears could pick up her shaky breathing and mentally hoped the clothing would be thicker. It went against good judgment and past experience to have her wear it though. He proved himself right by locking eyes with her angered ones. It was his biggest mistake. His eyes softened as his heart fluttered. 'Kikyou...'

She watched hard gold soften as he sat and stared. She blinked and harshly swallowed. "Inuyasha? Nani..."

Her voice shook him back and he pulled out some of her stored food. "If you don't eat before this is over, you'll be too weak." He mumbled. "If that happens, I'll have to protect you more than fight and we can't afford anymore mistakes." As soon as the bag was opened, the enticing smell of dried food hit his nose. Stomach threatening to rumble, he realized he was hungrier than he thought, even if it looked strange.

Kagome bit on the pretreated fruits. It was a trial, considering her body was shivering so much. She finally managed to bite off a piece and chewed as best she could. "I think I've got something else stored in there too if you want some."

"Don't worry about me." His impatience grew as Kagome merely grabbed less than a handful of the entire bag. Finally, he couldn't take it. "You're taking too long!"

She quickly swallowed the last piece and glared. "Well excuse me!" She retorted. "I've been battered by snow, frozen, got frostbite, been unable to sleep, and I can't stop shivering! I'm still a little weak yet!"

The two glared, not admitting defeat. Inuyasha's glare and irritation heightened, partially at her for being so slow, and himself for knowing she wasn't strong enough and not trying to be more patient. Especially since his body heat was what helped bring her back to the land of the living. "You're so SLOW." He grumbled. Realizing there was no other choice, he pulled the food from her hands and dropped it in the snow. Ignoring the substances on her fingers, his palms clasped her hands - mindful of his claws - and tightly pressed them together.

She blinked and stared at their hands. "W - what are you doing?"

"If you can't eat because you're too cold, the only thing left for me to do is lend you some more of my body heat."

Knowing full well she was practically naked with him in a hidden environment made her face flame in embarrassment. He never dared touch her like this before and her brain shut down. Only when his hands trailed up one of her arms in a brisk rub did she snap to it. Brown eyes narrowed as she felt muscles slightly come alive through his prodding. He was touching her without permission, touching her closer and closer to her chest, and she tried to scoot back, but grip was total. "If you think I'm going to let you -" She rambled, halted by a small jerk to her arm.

"Quit whining and quit squirming. This is not an option for you if your blood won't circulate because of a low temperature."

She felt harassed and mildly violated as demonic eyes watched their job, mostly to be sure he didn't slash her, but she was feeling rather taken advantage of. It boiled her blood for a different reason and she tried to pull away and reach for the bag again. He stopped her with an irritated grunt. As he stopped at the shoulder and moved to her other arm, she couldn't take it anymore. Since when did he become this bold?? And with her? She leveled him with a fierce glare. She'd show him she was not a girl to be tossed around! "Inuyasha..." She mumbled, feeling his claws graze the rough fabric of her top.

"Just hold still and get it over with!" He barked, figuring she was going to argue again.

The glare hardened. "Osuwa -"

She didn't get to finish. Hands quickly pressed on either side of her mouth as he leaned inches from her face and pinned her with a glare. Teeth bared as he sputtered for words, finding none. Their eyes remained locked until he realized he was so close he could see more than normal the detail of her eyes. Her breathing fluttered over his palm in agitation and it tickled his skin to feel it. As he pulled away, he felt it lacked the conviction at what could've happened if she used the beads. "Are you really that much of an idiot?? We're surrounded by snow! You want to kill me and bury yourself again?"

She felt subdued after he released her, but though he touched her again as if he had the right, she didn't feel the same compulsions to make him pay for it. He WAS doing this for her sake while the others were up watching and waiting for an attack. She suddenly realized the food he tossed aside was buried in snow and she gently pulled away to grab it and continue on. The instance helped a little and the heat from Inuyasha's hands over her jaw warmed it enough for a while.

He leaned back a little, not able to continue his previous actions. The abruptness he possessed trailed away to uncertainty around this girl. Feeling self-conscious for some reason, he pulled away with self-angered eyes and a blush. "Finish eating. I can't keep sitting here with you and waiting for something to happen. I'm going topside."

Knowing she needed help, but wasn't strong enough to manage too much on her own was part of the reason he came back down. She mutely nodded and put another piece in her mouth to keep from talking. A little part of her felt somewhat shamed that she treated him so bad when his intentions were at least good. She still had a good reason for her eruption, but it didn't matter anymore. She watched as he almost hurried out of sight with his haori and exhaled a pent up breath.

The quiet inside was almost eerie and she tried to ignore it and concentrate on finishing the bag. There was no one else down here and though she didn't bother wondering how far they were or where in the snow, it was still in prime enemy territory. She exhaled a nervous breath and stood, finding her legs a little sturdier. She opened the bag and managed to eat a little more before putting it away. Her stomach was in knots and her nerves were pricked badly. She needed action, not food.