" About Time"
Kagome and Miroku trudged unwillingly behind the bad-mooded Inu-Yasha. A demon with a Shikon jewel shard had escaped the day before due to a blizzard, which was still going and in which they were in the middle of.
"S-o-o-o cold." Stammered Kagome as she pushed through the waist deep snow. Her body was numb and her pack was getting heavier by the minute.
Miroku heard her faintly and noticed that she needed warmth, and so did he; they had, after all, been walking for at least three hours. "Inu-Yasha we need to find some shelter; Kagome needs it!" he shouted through the cold wind, a small figure could be made out a few feet away and then he barely heard the words 'weak humans'. Kagome made a grumble of disagreement but didn't say anything, just kept walking.
*Dammit! It is getting colder out here. In another our they'll be frozen. Damn humans! * Thought Inu-Yasha as he looked desperately for a cave or a shed or house anything with warmth. "Miroku watch after Kagome, her scent is getting weak. I', going ahead to take a look around." He said after a while. "Do anything and I'll kill you." And at that Inu-Yasha bounded into ahead, his white/silver hair blending with the snow.
"I'm not going to do anything!" he shouted after the dog demon.
"Inu-Yasha…" Kagome's legs gave way to the cold and she crumbled to the ground. *Why did I say that jerk's name? He always says how useless I am and calls me names. This morning he yelled at me about how damn useless I am! He makes me so mad! But… sometimes… Oh my entire body hurts! *
The wind lashed at Miroku. It took him a bit until he realized that Kagome was no longer next to him. He turned around to see her sitting up in the snow; the pack she always carried every where was tossed to her side. "Dear Kagome, why didn't you say something?" he threw the pack across his shoulder and kneeled down to pick Kagome up. Now, Miroku may not have all the strength that Inu-Yasha possessed but he was able to carry the unconscious girl like a baby in his arms for a while. In fact he could have carried her longer if he had not also became weak from the cold and passed out with her under him. (Not intentional.)
While all this was happening Inu-Yasha had gone half a mile out until, there, he found a run-down shack that was once probably used for storage. With a proud smile he race back to the others. *She must have been real cold for her scent to weaken… why do I feel like this when she is threatened by something? If Miroku did anything! *
And what do you think he saw when he found them? "You LETCH!" he roared picking him off of her, but something was wrong- Miroku's skin was a shade of blue and his skin was colder than the snow, but if anything Kagome was much worse. Her eyelashes had tiny ice sickles on hanging off them while her black hair had frosted over to the point that it was looked white; her skin, if possible was colder than Miroku's and her lips were purple. "Hold on Kagome I found a shed just a little ways from here." Kagome of course didn't hear him she just lay there motionless. *That weird feeling came back again. What could it be? Protectiveness…fear…lo… * He quickly lost the thought, but would regain it later.
The pack was heavier than Kagome her self, who was wrapped around Inu-Yasha's waist in his kimono, while Miroku was thrown across his shoulder. They weren't that heavy all-together, but that pack! What all did she carry in it, the world's largest rock collection?
Inu-Yasha ran/flew as fast as he could until at last the shack was in sight. He ran up to the sad excuse for a door and kicked it open, but someone was already in it. "Sango!? I thought you left for the other village, what are you doing here?"
She got to her feet in surprise and said, "Well if you haven't noticed there is a big damn blizzard outside! I got caught in it and wound up here." She paused, never really seeing the two bodies around his own. "What happened, are they de…"
"No, but if we don't get them warm soon they will be." Sango grabbed Kagome by the waist and pulled her gently from the half-demon's waist, she then placed her sitting up against the wall.
"Inu-Yasha she's freezing…" whispered Sango her eyes almost teary. Inu-Yasha said nothing and placed Miroku next to Kagome. "What are we going to do now? They look like they are almost dead, we need to help them!"
*She's right! And to think I lugged that stupid pack of hers'… * "That's it!" he shouted running over to the brown pack. "She might have something in here…" He dumped it out causing miscellaneous objects to scatter all over the floor, but everything was wet- soaked from the outside snow. *This isn't fair! We need something warm- a pair of dry clothes, a blanket- anything! * And anything was what he got. All her clothes were wet but at the bottom of her bag was a blanket. He threw it out causing something to going flying out nearly missing Sango's head.
"Kagome's spell books… Inu-Yasha! That looks like Kagome and Miroku!" she said holding open one of the books. At the top it said 'Hypothermia' and showed a picture of a man who looked like he was in the process of freezing to death.
Inu-Yasha grabbed the book from her and read, thank goodness in words he could understand,:
Step-1: Get person(s) into a warm place.
Step-2: Remove all wet clothes and garments.
*What the… Kagome would 'sit' me until I couldn't stand, but Kagome did look like she was knocking on Heaven's door…. * "She is going to kill me for this…"
"Then undress Miroku."
"Not in Seven Hells am I going to undress him!"
Sango bit her lip and sighed, "Fine! I'll undress him and you undress Kagome." She slightly smiled wondering if that was what Inu-Yasha was aiming for, but disagreed with the though after seeing him flinch. "But first read what to do next so they won't be sitting there naked."
Step-3: Cover person(s) with something warm- a blanket preferably.
"I have this blanket of Kagome's… do you have anything?"
"No."
"Well this will have to do…" said Inu-Yasha looking at the blue fabric. *I hope this will be big enough. *
Sango and Inu-Yasha walked over to the wall where the two-tented blue skinned, and purple lipped people were. Kagome, of course just to get warm self-consciously, had snuggled her head on Miroku's chest. Inu-Yasha's eyes flared. Sango saw this and pulled Miroku closer to her making Kagome's head slip to his lap.
Inu-Yasha grabbed her and quickly began. Her shoes and socks came off without a sweat, then came her skirt, which came unattached from the side and something was under it that was dry- so he kept it on her. Then he went to her uniform shirt that he slipped up and off her head. He quickly closed his eyes. *She would definitely kill me if I looked. But I have seen her naked before, why should this be any thing new? * Slowly in slight embarrassment he opened his eyes; he gave a sigh of relief to see something white, and dry, wrapped around her chest- so he also kept it on her cold body. Then having done what they were supposed to he threw the blanket across Miroku and Kagome, tucking the edges under both of them.
"There, now that's over- what do we do next?"
Inu-Yasha grabbed the book and read the final steps:
Step-4: Keep blood circulation going by rubbing the person(s) skin. (Rub until color comes back into skin.)
Step-5: Use your body heat to keep the person(s) warm.
Sango turned to Miroku and picked up his arm, placed them between her palms, and rubbed until the color came back into it. Inu-Yasha did the same thing to Kagome. After 20 minutes of rubbing Kagome and Miroku's skin looked almost like their original color and Inu-Yasha smiled at that, but after 5 minutes they began to shiver violently.
"We need to keep them warm." Said Sango sternly. "Are your clothes dry?"
"Yeah, they dry fast."
"Good. Now get under the blanket and slip Kagome in your kimono, while I lay next to Miroku." She paused and pulled off her wet clothes in front of Inu-Yasha. He turned away, but then she told him it was okay; she had a white under shirt type thing and a black- type pant thing on that went to her knees. "The blanket looks like it was only made for two, but if I get close enough to Miroku and if you hold Kagome we might be able to fit in it alright." She looked at Miroku, then Kagome, and last at Inu-Yasha. "You have to keep her warm or she will die, and I know I don't want that and either do you. Miroku isn't that bad off, but she is; so please Inu-Yasha keep her warm." A tear rolled off her cheek as she went to the blanket and crawled under.
This emotion that came from Sango surprised and scared him at the same time. *If she was that worried about me not keeping Kagome warm… I wonder what Kagome thinks of me? * He picked Kagome up from under the blanket and slid her ice cold body into his Kimono and managed to lay down under the blanket without discomfort. He didn't go to sleep for a good hour he; wanted to make sure that she would be warm enough, and when he was sure she was he fell asleep.
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Kagome was mixed with almost every emotion there is when she awoke the next morning. All she remembered was being cold and now she had woken up in Inu-Yasha's kimono with nothing on but her under wear and bra. (But she sure was warm!) She looked around the room and spotted her pack; she then lifted herself off his chest and silently ran to it. All her clothes were on the ground around it. She pulled on a pair of jeans that were damp and a short-sleeved purple shirt.
"What do you think you are doing? Get back over there!" Kagome turned around to see Inu-Yasha face-to-face with her.
"Hey! Were you watching me? You pervert!" Inu-Yasha put his hand over her mouth, realizing she was about to say 'sit'.
"When I went back to you and Miroku both of you were unconscious. I then carried you to here where Sango was already at; we read one of your spell books that said 'Hypothermia' on it and did what it said. Sango kept Miroku warm and I put you in my kimono. Any more questions?" he asked in a rude voice. *So Miroku and I had hypothermia, and Inu-Yasha saved us both. Why? *
"Why did you save Miroku? I thought you hated him."
"The only reason I saved him was because I knew you would have yelled and 'sit'Ed me."
"Why did you save me then?"
"Because I love you." He blurted it out so fast that he couldn't even have stopped it, but he was even more shocked when (after a second or two) Kagome jumped into his arms and they embraced in a long hug.
Inu-Yasha smiled and said, "I hope this means you feel the same way about me?" *Of course I love you! I don't even have to think about that…I do love you! *
Miroku and Sango had been watching the two as they hugged, talked, and as they smiled endlessly at each other; Inu-Yasha even planted a big kiss on her- her first kiss.
"It's about time." Sango whispered, she had awoken in Miroku's arms and quickly scooted away. *I wonder if I will ever fall in love like that? * She wondered, it took her a bit to realize that Miroku's arm had inched behind her and pulled her closer.
Before she could do anything he smiled and said, "I need the warmth…" he paused and glanced at Inu-Yasha and Kagome looking lovingly at each other, "Maybe one day you can look at me like that and not as a letch. Because I would love to look right back at you with that kind of love- true love. " Miroku then closed his eyes, but didn't let her go.
Sango just looked at him amazed that she felt happy at his words, "It looks very possible." She whispered not knowing he heard. And at that she drifted into a blissful sleep, resting in his arms.