Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inuyasha, but I don't. I own no claims to any of the Inuyasha characters. Sniff. Sniff. I wish…

Author's Note: Okay, sorry about Shippou. I know that he could have just turned into a pink balloon and floated up to hole instead of climbing up, but oh well, I forgot! Oh yeah, there's some fluff in this chapter! Yay! Me luvs fluff! Sorry if Inuyasha and Kagome are a bit OCC… Enjoy!

The Course of True Love Ne'er Did Run Smooth…

Chapter 9

Inuyasha sighed in relief as he saw the kitsune's small figure get smaller and smaller, then quickly but carefully lowered Kagome to the ground. She was watching Shippou's diminishing shape with a worried look, and said, "I hope Shippou will be okay." She turned toward Inuyasha, looking for a reply, only to see him rubbing his aching shoulders with a grimace. "Oh, Inuyasha! Did I hurt your shoulders?" She rushed over to him and frowned in concern. "I'm so sorry that you're in pain! Is there anything I can do to help?" She massaged his shoulders softly in sympathy and remorse.

The poor dog demon tried to stifle a low groan through his clenched teeth as Kagome touched a particularly sensitive muscle, "N-no, Kagome, it just hurts a bit. It's not your fault. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine by morning." He tried to shrug indifferently to show that he was fine, but his body betrayed his casual words as the action caused another sharp twinge to pull through his shoulders. He hissed in pain, then clamped down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He wondered at himself. Why am I hurting so much? Even when I got impaled through the stomach with Sesshoumaru's poison claws, I didn't feel like this! Gods, this hurts like hell! Whoever knew that a slight girl that looked as light as a feather could almost break his shoulder bones?

"Inuyasha? Are you okay? Do you want to lay down so that I can massage your shoulders for you?" Kagome asked softly. Normally, the stubborn dog demon would have refused her help, but tonight, with no one else but her around and both his of shoulders throbbing with agony, he nodded gratefully. Kagome took his rough callused hand in her small smooth one. It was almost too dark to see, and Inuyasha felt as if the pain had dulled his senses, for he couldn't hear or smell anything either. Kagome led him gently to where her backpack still lay on the ground, and rummaged through it for something.

"Ah-ha!" She cried out triumphantly, as she drew out one of the strange modern devices she had called a 'flashlight.' Kagome clicked it on, then gasped as her eyes fell upon a human with long black hair, violet eyes, and a large katana by his side. "I-inuyasha! You're human!" And it was so. The previous half-youkai looked down at himself in surprise. He hadn't noticed that today was the new moon, nor had he felt the usual tingling sensations of his change in the face of their previous problem. Now, as Kagome shined the flashlight at him, he groaned in dismay. How could he not have noticed that today was the new moon! But at least they were relatively safe, and most youkai would not bother him tonight.

Inuyasha was interrupted from his thoughts by the tug of Kagome's soft, delicate hand, pulling him towards her. With a surprising amount of strength for a young girl, she urged him to lay down in front of her on a blanket that she had spread out on the ground.

"Come on, Inuyasha, I'm going to see if I can ease the strain your shoulder and arm muscles must be feeling after lifting such a heavy load. You had to stand there with me on your shoulders for an awfully long time." Kagome smiled at him as she spoke, and lightly put her fingertips on his shoulders. "I must admit, I'm actually kind of glad that you're human tonight, that means you won't resist everything I do like your usual stubborn self." She smiled apologetically at him, to let Inuyasha know she was joking, then started to massage his sore shoulders smoothly.

At the first touch of her hands, however, Inuyasha winced and jerked away in discomfort. Every single touch aggravated his shoulders to a raw burning sensation that made him want to tear something apart. He tried not to make a sound, but the intense pain forced him to let out a low moan of pain from his throat, alerting Kagome to the fact that even her light touch hurt his abused shoulders.

"Oh my goodness! Inuyasha, did I hurt you?" She cried out in distress. Inuyasha tried to shake his head, no, but in the light of the flashlight, Kagome could tell his face was distorted with pain. "Oh, poor poor Inuyasha. I'm so sorry! Here, let me take a look, and maybe I can rub something on it to make it less painful." She rifled through her backpack again and brought out her first aid kit, which her mother had been thoughtful enough to buy for her. She gently pulled off the top of Inuyasha's fire-rat coat, and examined his shoulders carefully. There were visible red marks on where Kagome's sneakers had rested on his skin, and even an inexperienced girl could tell they had been strained.

Without a word, Kagome took out a jar of salve from the kit and started to smooth the healing ointment over his shoulders. Inuyasha lay on his stomach, relaxing as he felt her cool smooth hands rub the thick balm into his skin. A drop of something wet fell on his back, and he started, wondering at what it was. He turned around and looked at Kagome, only see she was sitting on her knees, head bowed low, with rivers of tears running silently down her cheeks.

"She's crying? Why?" He wondered. He put an uncertain hand on her arm, and asked softly, "Kagome, why are you crying?"

The girl from the future tried to stop her tears, but they flowed even harder at the sound of his mild, confused tone of voice. "Be-because, you're hurt. I'm the r-reason you're suffering right now. If I wasn't so heavy, and if I hadn't been wearing sneakers, you wouldn't have been hurt. I'm so sorry Inuyashaaaaaa!!!" She sobbed, and at her last word, she flung herself into his arms, careful of touching his bruised shoulders.

Inuyasha was pleasantly surprised at the girl's touching answer. Kagome was crying, for him? Never before had anyone expressed any emotion towards him, other than anger and disgust. Now, this young miko was actually crying because he was hurt! His heart swelled at the thought, and he hugged Kagome tightly, stroking her soft black hair.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered in her ear, "it's not your fault. Please don't cry." He slowly brought his free hand up to her chin, and tilted it slightly so that she was looking at him. "Kagome." She raised her tear-stained face and looked at him. Unable to decide how to put his feelings into words, he leaned ever closer to her face and gently brushed his lips over her left cheek, wiping away her tears and silencing her with a soft kiss. "Don't be sorry, Kagome. I would rather endure lifting a thousand pounds on my shoulders than see you cry once." These eloquent words brought a bashful smile to Kagome's face, and she nodded, looking away shyly.

Kagome silently dried her remaining tears, and without a sound, continued to wrap cloth bandages around his shoulders to keep them clean. Inuyasha smiled inwardly, seeing how effective his kiss had been, and decided to thank her with another one. This one was on her cherry lips, and she responded back softly yet intensely. Her cheeks stained a deep shade of red in the yellow glow of the flashlight, and her lips quirked upward momentarily.

The two lay down next to each other on separate sleeping bags, and fell asleep to dream sweet dreams and await the dawn of the coming morning.

A/N: Aww, isn't that sweet? Sorry that Inu-chan had to suffer, but Kagome made him feel all betta! Yay! Inu/Kag forever!