Winter's Chill (Chapter 4)
by IronRaven

Discalimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama.

And yes, in the last chapter, I inserted the idea that IY's mom was pregnant. To me, part of why Inuyasha is the way he is is that his childhood was stolen, and he's trying to build something like it. And besides, having a little brother is good if you are single guy- chicks dig the kid. *ducking all manner of heavy and/or sharp objects thrown in my direction* Just kidding! :)

To recap, Inuasha's brain must be frozen along with his feet, because he's confessing to an unconsious Shippou in a snow cave. Miroku is trying to die, but Sango won't let him, even if she looses her mind in the process...

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Step. Step. Stumble. Step. Step. Step. Stumble.

"Ten steps, houshi-sama. Lift your head, and you can see the shed." Stumbling, shaking so bad from the cold that she could barely stand, Sango turned her face to her friend's. "I've been carrying you for the past fifty steps, the least you could do would be look up."

Weakly pinching his hand in her's, both equally pale, cold and stiff, she looked at the monk's face in the darkness. She could feel his breath on her cheek, but he hadn't spoken or been able to walk for some time. "Wake up, bozou! You aren't dieing on me, not this close!"

Faltering, falling into the snow, like a puppet with it's string cut, all Sango could do was sob, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She was drained. Even the little voice had was tired of yelling at her. "Damn you, Miroku, don't leave me. Wake up! WAKE UP!!"

"Just another minute, love, please," he murmured. The last of the warmth in her body flooded her cheeks.

"NO! NOW!! You and I are going to crawl to that hut, or I will spend the entire afterlife smacking you, you bastard!"

"Hmmm… Yes, dear… You really aren't a morning person… Even on a warm morning…" Weakly, tiredly, Miroku moved with her, pushing with their legs, plowing and crawling through the snow. He wasn't shivering any more. Sango knew that to be a sign that she was almost out of time.

The door was open, all they had to do was push. More like collapse. The still house was an open secret, but a hidden one. Outside of the village, officially because of it's flammable nature, Sango also knew that some of the women of the village would have taken a torch to it if they knew where it was. Sango pulled the unconscious monk after her, feeling in the dark.

"This is going to hurt when we wake up, Houshi-sama, but it is warmer than the floor. I'm sorry," she apologized as she pulled the old tatami that the still keepers kept on the mash pot to keep it warm, spreading it onto the wood pile against the wall. Finding a pile of discarded rice bags at the end of the stack, she started to strip them both, as quickly as she could, a tiny, embarrassed smile sneaking to her lips. You probably did this on purpose, hentai, as she dragged him on top of the wood billets.

Using one sack to dry their hair, she tossed their clothes, accumulated ice, weapons, all into one pile. "If you get any ideas, I'll know you are better. So get a bad idea, soon, please. These are a lousy blanket, but they will work. I hope."

Pulling the pile of rice sacks over them, she pressed herself to her perverted friend, snuggling against him, sharing their merger remaining warmth.

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'Little brother'?
'Kagome'
My nose hurts.
'Magic'?
'Tamed fire'
'Villages in the sky'
'Metal birds'
Why do I hurt so?
'Can't tell her.'
'Want to love.'
'Can't tell.'
My head hurts.
"Oowwmmnnnn"

"SHIPPOU!! You're awake! FEH! Finally, about time you got up, runt."

Inuyasha's voice. And his scent. Why is he holding me? What happened? He's afraid!?

"Inu-Inuyasha?" Turning stiffly, the kitsuni tried to figure out what was wrong. He could barely breath through his nose, which was blocked up with dried blood, but he couldn't feel any on his face. It hurt to try to open his eyes, and his finger, toe and eartips ached from the cold. "Wha' happen'd?"

"You gave me too much crap, and I threw you off. Like I told you," He's awake, he'll be alright! I'm not going to loose my little brother again!

"You ran into a tree, baka!" Was Inuyasha talking to me while I was out. I thought I was dreaming.

"Because you distracted me! Didn't anyone ever teach you not to bother people when they are doing something important? Like keeping you alive?" Giving the cub's tail a halfhearted yank, Inuyasha did his best to scowl in the dark.

"Where are we?" Beast den, in the snow, that's what you said in my dream, Inuyasha.

"In a hole under a tree. I thought about going back to Keade-babaa's without you, but Kagome would never help me find the shards if I left you in that blizzard. This is all your fault." Don't remember what I told you, please, Shippou-kun.

"Hmph! If you had any brains at all, we wouldn't have hit the tree." Pulling a tiny twig from under them, the cub found it's ends in his fingertips. "Kitsuni-bi!"

Holding the twig like a candle, Shippou looked them both over. The white's of Inuyasha's eyes were bloodshot, and some of his hair had a pink tint to it. And all at the end. That's odd… it's blood! My blood! Inuyasha cleaned me! The youkai's robes were still open, despite the chill, and Shppou could see some more reddish stains on his friend's chest. He carried me, inside his clothes, where it was warm. How bad was I hurt?"Inuyasha?"

"Shippou, shut up. I'm going to sleep some before dawn. And don't bring the snow down on top of us, you moron," blowing out the tiny flame. But not before the cub could see that the half demon's cheeks were stained with tear tracks.

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Author's notes:
So now Shippou knows how Inuyahsa feels about Kagome and himself. AAhhhhhhh...

-babaa: "old lady", maybe a little closer to "old bat".

With cold injuries, once you start feeling warm, you know you have a problem. A BIG, skinny, black cloak and sickle bearing one if it's your core tempature that is going down.

Now the only stills I know anything about is for making whiskey, and it was a diagram in a book on bootleggers, and Hawkeye's on M*A*S*H. I don't know if the stills they used for saki had a mash pot or not, but you keep the mash warm so that it will ferment more and faster.

And if Miroku wakes up, he'll be naked and alone with Sango. Oh, the possibilies *juggling citrus fruit*