Hi Minna! Back with the next chapter already! Just our way of saying thanks you! Anyways, here goes!
Written by: Breezbox and Usagipegusus
Disclaimer: We don't own Inuyasha :(
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"K-Kikyou-oneesama!" Kaede sputtered in shock as she looked upon the cold face of her deceased older sister.
Kikyou's face holding her usual cold exterior, she fluidly walked toward the seemingly frozen figure of her younger sister. "Where is Inuyasha?" She asked without emotion.
Recovering from her shock, Kaede straightened, contemplating whether or not she should tell Kaede. What was Kaede planning to do? Did she know about Inuyasha's mysterious sickness? Should she tell her the truth?
Kaede must have pondered over her decision several minutes because Kikyou took another step towards her and repeated her question somewhat impatiently. "Where is Inuyasha?"
"What is it that you want with him?" Kaede asked cautiously, still unsure what answer to give out.
Turning away from Kaede's searching gaze, she seemed to be deeply considering some issue. She suddenly swiveled around to face her younger sister once again. "That is not your concern." She stated with cool conviction.
Kaede quickly made her decision. "Then I cannot tell you."
Kikyou shot Kaede a disdainful look. "Is there something wrong with Inuyasha?"
Kaede emitted a sharp gasp. Could Kikyou possibly know what was wrong with Inuyasha? Even so, could she do anything about it?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Kaede. Couldn't Kikyou help Inuyasha? Of course she could. The question was would she? If she decided to tell Kikyou where Inuyasha and Kagome resided, would she lend a hand in Inuyasha's recovery? Kaede pondered silently. And if they didn't get Kikyou to help Inuyasha, whom else were they going to turn to? She gave a weary inward sigh. Kikyou might be Inuyasha's only hope.
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Kirara slowed down as they neared a small hut to which Kirara had followed the all to noticeable smell of the old Miko's blood.
As soon as Kirara descended a small ways away from the unkempt looking hut, the trio lepta off of Kirara's back.
"If Kirara's tracked Kaede's scent right, then she should be in that hut." He stated with calm assurance that he did not feel, as he nodded his head slightly in the direction of the small hut atop the diminutive hill.
Miroku glanced at the Kitsune who had worried etched in his small face. He then looked in Sango's direction. She caught his gaze giving him a slight nod as acceptance.
"Let's go." Miroku said quietly, already starting to slowly approach the hut. As they drew nearer to the hut, they noticed that the door was slightly ajar.
Moving ahead of Miroku, with her Hiraikotsu at the ready, Sango fluidly shoved the door opened and stiffened visibly. She slumped slightly with relief.
"Kaede-bachan!!!!!!" Shippo yelled enthusiastically, running and throwing himself into her startled arms.
Kaede sat the small kitsune down emitting a small chuckle and giving him an affectionate pat on the head before turning to the other two.
Kaede passed a weary hand over her face. "The healer was a fake. We still must find someone to help Inuyasha."
"Yes, when we went for hours searching for the medicine and ran into nothing but barren field, we suspected as much." Miroku agreed.
"More importantly we must get to Inuyasha."
"But shouldn't we find someone to help Inuyasha first before we go back?" Shippo intervened thoughtfully.
Kaede chewed over the possibility for a short moment before raising her head again. "Kikyou-oneesama might be on her way over there as we speak."
The three of them all gave gasps of shock and surprise. "Kikyou? Why would Kikyou be going over there?" Sango inquired.
"There's no time to explain. We have to get over there and quick." She replied already making her way towards the open door. She silently prayed that Kikyou wouldn't end up doing Inuyasha worse.
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Kagome looked down at the fitfully slumbering hanyou in her lap. Who would guess that someone who looked so innocent in slumber could wreak such havoc on her life? Kagome had basically been promoted from Inuyasha's partner to his mate in one day!
She couldn't deny the attraction she had to the half youkai. The prospect of being Inuyasha's mate sent wicked shivers down her spine and caused goose bumps to appear on her arms. When she had anticipated his kiss, her heart had done mad flip flops in her chest, and was more than a little disappointed when he did not go through with it.
She emitted a weary sigh. While she liked the idea of being his mate, the reality of it seemed doubtful. He was sick! He probably didn't have any inkling to what he was proposing.
Kagome tried to stifle the rising yawn that came due to her great fatigue. With all of the excitement going on, she never realized how tired she really was. After all, she had been up two days with Inuyasha.
Deciding that she too would go to sleep, she took one more lingering look at Inuyasha before closing her eyes and trying to sleep.
*~*~*~*~*
Inuyasha jerked awake with a start and he thought he sensed something. Because of his weakened state, his senses had been significantly reduced.
Grunting with the effort it took to rise, Inuyasha slowly raised his head from its comfortable spot in his mate's lap.
His mate's soft snore brought his gaze to her angelic sleeping face. Although beatific, she looked tiered and worn out. Had she not already been asleep, he would have commanded her to do so, he mused.
A small moan escaped Kagome and her brow furrowed ever so slightly in her sleep, immediately causing Inuyasha's gaze to fluttered to her sleep parted lips. And what beautiful lips they were.
Unable to resist the temptation, he moved closer to her, slowly bringing his lips to hers, fully intending to steal a kiss from his sleeping mate. He was her mate so why not?
When his lips were mere centimeters from hers, she suddenly reared up, knocking their foreheads together with a loud thump.
"What the hell!?!?" Inuyasha said in a near bellow, as he glared at the girl who was currently holding her forehead.
Kagome rubbed her aching head absentmindedly. "I sense two shikon shards coming here."
Inuyasha did the same to his own aching forehead. He didn't know what the hell the girl was talking about, but he suddenly smelled a youkai headed their way.
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Whew! Another chapter down. You should already be aware of who the youkai is, and if you don't know, then shame on you! LOL, anyways, please review and tell us what you think. If you would like to be notified when we update, leave it in a review.
Thanks to the following people for reviewing. I didn't have time for individual reviews but I promise next time I'll do it, kay?:
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