Chapter 4

Ranma's mood still hadn't improved much by morning. To make matters worse, it was raining, and Ranma, having given up trying to stay dry, was in female form now.

"Pervert!!"

*Crunch!*

Oh well, at least he was able to take his frustration out on somebody. Poor Miroku had already been punched twice, elbowed once, and kicked into a tree on three different occasions. Not that it seemed to phase him…much.

"And I used to think Sango was fierce."

Kagome had to laugh a bit at that. Despite his lecherous ways, Kagome knew that the monk had a soft spot for Sango, and that the exterminator returned his feelings, even though she would never show it. The miko only hoped the pair would get together before it was too late.

"Oi, wench! Hurry up!"

…and it would be really nice if a certain hanyou would open up to her too every once in a while. Sigh…

"Whadder ya thinkin about?"

Kagome almost jumped as Ranma appeared at her side in the rain outside of her umbrella.

"Oh not much, do you want to share?" She offered her umbrella.

Ranma was instantly reminded of when he and Akane had been both stuck at school without an umbrella. It just so happened that the only spare left was supposed to make the people sharing it fall in love with each other. Then word had gotten around that the "Love Umbrella" had been found and like usual, all hell had broken loose. Ranma barely recalled when he had somehow ended up under the thing with Kuno of all people and shuddered involuntarily. Nope no more umbrella sharing for him. Uh-uh, no way.

"That's okay."

…wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't broke before he and Akane landed underneath it...

Up a head, a certain dog boy let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. 'That's right punk, there's no way in hell I'm letting you stand that close to my Kagome.'

'My Kagome?' No, no, he meant, 'My shard detector!'

"Keh!"

The wind gust in from the side, blowing his soaked bangs into his face, and bringing with it a smell…

…and then it was gone. Inuyasha stopped, instantly alert, listening.

"…and my math class is just…" Inuyasha turned to the two talking 'girls' and let out a hiss, indicating that they should be quiet. Once they stopped moving, he closed his eyes, listening.

Nothing: or at least nothing he could detect. The wind didn't blow from that way again, and no unusual sounds could be heard above the din of the falling rain.

Miroku and Ranma were in the same boat too, all focusing their senses upon the surrounding area, and getting nothing. No fighting aura, no youki from an enraged demon, all was quite.

Too quiet, all thought, and so they continued sensing. It seemed just out of their reach, right below their noses…

"KYAAAAA!"

Miroku jumped, Ranma screamed like a girl before clapping his hands over his mouth, and Inuyasha turned and sprinted over to Kagome so fast he lost his footing in the slick mud and ended up doing a face plant right at Kagome's feet.

"KYAAAAA!! Earthworm! Ewwe! Take it away! Take it AWAY!!"

Shippo was kind enough to oblige, while everyone else regained their composure and Ranma and Inuyasha glared daggers at Kagome.

"Dammit wench! What the hell is your problem!!"

Kagome sniffed, her eyes watery, "I ran over it with my bicycle and all the guts came out and it was soooo eeewwyyyy!!"

Inuyasha smacked himself on the forehead, unintentionally sending a splat of mud onto Ranma an Miroku. Worm guts! He had been smelling worm guts. Of all the stupid, dumb ass - he turned around and started walking again. Only Kagome could make something so small into such a big fucking dea-

"KYAAAA!

"Look out!"

"Kagome-Sama!"

"Kagome!"

Like a shot Inuyasha whipped around, hand on Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. What he saw, however, was enough to make his blood run cold. Kagome was being held around the waist high in the air by the branch of a giant tree. Around her, several other branches, pointed and deadly, were aimed at the pale flesh of her throat.

"I-Inuyasha…"

Fuck, why did she have to go and say fucking his name like that. It made Inuyasha's stomach quiver and a surge of desperation flew through his veins. Kagome…

A sudden bellow of laughter filled the woods, forcing Inuyasha's ears flat against his head. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, as Miroku, Ranma, Shippou and Inuyasha followed its echo with their heads. Their senses continued to find nothing definite, as the laughter stopped and was replaced by words.

"Hahahaha…Pathetic hanyou," Ranma turned at the sound of Inuyasha's growling, noting how the voice had spit out the word hanyou as if it were an insult. The voice continued

"If you want this girl to live, you will hand over the shikon shards to me!"

Inuyasha's growl deepened in pitch, frustrated and angry. The tree had Kagome, yet all he could smell was an ordinary tree. Also the voice seemed to be coming from all around, not just one location. What was going on?

"Keh! Why should I hand over the shikon shards to some stupid voice? Try showing yourself to me, though I can't say I won't kill you when you do."

"Mwahahahaha! Very well then, the girl dies."

"Inuyasha!"

It all happened instantly. At the last spoken threat, Ranma leapt, releasing a ball of ki at the branch that held Kagome captive. In the same breath, Shippo began attacking the tree, using his supernatural fire to light the thing up like a torch, and Inuyasha sliced through the bottom of the tree with Tetsusaiga, effectively "killing" it. Kagome dropped out of the sky and into Inuyasha's waiting arms. Inuyasha growled at the light scent of blood mixed in with the rainwater on her neck. This thing was going to die.

"Hahahahaha…just as I suspected of a hanyou, needing to rely on his fathers strength because his own is inefficient to get the job done."

"What, you fucking bastard! How do you know my father!"

"I know many things, hanyou. You would be surprised what knowledge trees can accumulate over their long lives, and how eager they are to talk when they find someone who is willing to listen…mwahahahaha!"

The voice disintegrated into laughter again as an eerie whispering and creaking began drowning out the sound of the falling rain all around them. It was Shippo who made the connection first.

"Th-th-the trees! They're moving! W-we're surrounded!! AAAAHH!!"

"Shut up brat!" Inuyasha flicked his ears up from where they had been pressed against his skull. He was missing something in this, something important. And what was all this shit about talking trees?

"Haha…that's right little fox. Soon you will be joining your parents in the after life, forever! Hahahaha."

Shippo's eyes grew large before flinging himself into Kagome's arms with a loud wail. Kagome backed up into the center of the ever shrinking clearing, as Ranma, Miroku and Inuyasha formed a protective ring around her and Shippo. Ranma was the next one to speak, just as the trees began to attack, lashing out with their long spindly branches, using them like whips.

"What the hell is going on here!" The cursed boy yelled, sending out another ball of ki in the direction of the trees. It shattered branches, but otherwise didn't do much damage. Ranma landed again, cursing his weaker form.

"I believe if we knew that, Ranma-dono, we would already be working towards a solution, instead of just fending for ourselves." Was Miroku's rather observant reply as he used his staff to swat away the ever-encroaching branches.

"Keh! You want a solution? Here's your fucking solution: SANKON TETSUO!"

…Guess who said that.

The yellow arcs ripped through the trees, slicing off limbs and even "decapitating" a trunk. Inuyasha smirked at his success. However, the relief was short lived, as soon an even larger tree filled in the gap behind the first one.

"Goddam fucking sonnofa…"

"Inuyasha, as much as I share your sentiments, swearing isn't going to help us get anywhere," Miroku interrupted. "That voice seems to be the driving force controlling these threes. We need to find out where it's coming from."

Ranma grimaced, taking a step back as one of the branches came within spearing distance. While he agreed with the monk's statement. It was easier said than done. If any of them moved, it would leave them open on one side, and then Kagome and the kid would be left vulnerable.

"You see! It is futile to resist hanyou. Just give up and hand over the shards, and I will end your miserable existence swiftly, without pain."

A growl rose up from the above mentioned half demon, before turning into a rather loud streak of curses, and ending with a, "Screw this!" In a flash, Inuyasha abandoned his position, stepping back into the center of the clearing. He didn't stop there however. One mighty leap later and Inuyasha was high in the air and above the reach of the attacking trees. Digging both claws through into his shoulders, his fingertips came out slick with blood. Drawing his arms back, Inuyasha readied himself for the attack.

HIJIN TETSUO!!

Coming down, he swung his arms in wide arcs, releasing the blades of blood around him into the circling trees. The first volley took out a large portion of the attacking branches. The second and third dismembered limbs and stripped the trees of their attacking arms. With the fourth attack, trunks finally started to fall, forming a makeshift barrier around the clearing, and buying the group some more time.

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou landed for the fifth time, hunched over with blood dripping off his claws and down his clothes. Kagome ran to him, while Ranma couldn't help but wonder why the half demon had made such a stupid move. It had done little more than buy them time, and now their best fighter was down for the count. There was no way Inuyasha would be able to stand up straight after sustaining so much blood loss.

"Hahahah, you think that will stop me, pathetic hanyou!"

Inuyasha, however, proved Ranma wrong. As Kagome knelt down beside the hanyou, placing a comforting hand on his back, he seemed steel himself again, and rose to his feet without so much as a waver, ready to fight again.

"Keh, fucking asshole. What a pain, we should put him out of his fucking misery."

"Yes," agreed the monk, "But the question is how do we get him to show himself?"

It was at this point that Kagome, who'd had the most time out of anyone to think things over, came up with an idea. Coming over to stand beside Inuyasha, she whispered it in his ear.

"If we can't see him, do you think he can see us?"

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. Come to think of it, how was this asshole watching them. It couldn't have been in a tree, Inuyasha had already killed most of them, and they were all

around. So how were they being watched, the sky?

Instantly Inuyasha jerked his head up, sniffing the air. Nothing, there was nothing in the sky, and once again, there was no scent carried on the wind that even gave a clue as to what they were fighting. But then, how were they being watched.

"So hanyou, scared into silence are you?" By this time the dead logs had somehow been dragged back by the incoming tree's branches, and the clearing had, once again, started to shrink as the attacking trees advanced.

Kagome looked over her shoulder and whispered something to Shippo. The fox kit nodded, and began rummaging through his pockets in search of something. The others gave Kagome a quizzical look, but Kagome shushed them by putting her fingers to her lips. Not a moment later, Shippo pulled something out of his shirt with a look of triumph on his face. Ranma gave her a skeptical look. How was a child's top supposed to help with anything?

He didn't get a chance to ask though, as Shippo suddenly jumped up into the air, releasing the top with a string, letting it fall to the ground a good distance away from the group, and close to the approaching trees.

To Ranma's surprise, once it hit the ground, the child's top seemed to balloon until it was at least a foot taller than his own head. Surprised, they all watched with baited breath.

WHAM!!

A tree branch came down, hitting the top and causing it to wobble, while another attempted to spear its side.

As if on cue, Shippo let out an earsplitting shriek, as if in pain, while Kagome began screaming his name, "Shippo! No! No Shippo!"

The others would have thought the pair had lost it. Especially when Kagome began making hand gestures, telling them to join in. Eventually, they got the hint, though still unsure why, and started screaming Shippo's name as if he were the one being beaten, instead of the top. After continuing this for several seconds, the top was finally conquered by a rather hard smack from a tree limb, and shrunk back to his original size. Shippo stopped screaming, and the others too, became silent. Only Kagome continued to cry, doing it so effectively, Inuyasha wondered if he hadn't been duped all the times her tears had guilted him into doing something.

"Oh, Shippo, oh no, Shippo-chan…Why?"

And suddenly the voice was back.

"Mwahahaha!! I told that little brat he would meet his maker. Hahahaha!! But don't worry little girl, you'll be joining him soon, you and everyone else. Not one of you will ever leave this forest alive. Hahahahaha!!"

Kagome stopped crying, her eyes flashing with triumph. Turning to Inuyasha, she whispered in his ear.

"He's in the ground Inuyasha, that's why we can't sense him. He can feel our movements through the earth, and hear our voices, but he can't see us and we can't find him."

Inuyasha blinked at her, unsure how she'd managed to come up with that idea. However, it was the only possibility they hadn't tried yet, so he just nodded and readied his sword.

"All right, when I jump, everyone split. Stay close to the ground, and try to avoid the trees."

Ramna looked like he was about to protest, but a glare from Inuyasha, followed by a nod from Kagome, and he decided he'd wait and see what those two had been planning.

Without further ado, Inuyasha leapt into the air. Miroku and Kagome ran in direction, while Ranma darted off in the opposite one. They were almost at the trunks of the surrounding trees when Inuyasha began to lose altitude. Turning in mid air, he began to plummet face first towards the ground, sword in hand, ready to strike.

"TETSUSAIGA!"

The force of his swing split the earth, before Inuyasha brought the weapon back in line with his body to complete the fall, using the downward momentum to thrust the sword down into the earth, right at the deepest point of his previously made slash. When he was finished, the hilt of Tetsusaiga was only a few inches above the soil. The trees shuttered, halting their movement, and the air became eerily quiet.

"Did you get him Inuyasha?" asked the curious fox demon.

Inuyasha, however, didn't have a chance to answer as the ground began to rumble beneath their feet. Bubbles of dark youki surfaced with a hiss, and filled the air with the overwhelming stench of rotting leaves and wood. Everyone, especially Inuyasha, had to cover their noses and mouths to keep from retching or passing out all together. In the midst of this that Ranma sensed it: fighting ki. For the first time in this battle, it was clear and easy to recognize, and it was coming from directly below…

"Inuyasha! LOOK OUT!!"

Before the cry had even left Ranma's mouth, something shot out of the ground and thrust its way directly through the half-demon's diaphragm. The man turned girl watched with wide eyes as Inuyasha arched his back and let out a strangled cry before slumping forward, blood pouring from his wound and mixing with the mud at the proud hanyou's knees.

Before Ranma could think, he was moving. Leaping into the split in the earth and karate chopping the thing that had pierced through Inuyasha. His mind absently registered that the hanyou had been attacked by a long, sharply pointed root. He threw the unmoving form of Inuyasha over his feminine shoulder in a fireman's hold, and leapt for the far side of the clearing where Kagome, Miroku and Shippo were watching anxiously.

Not a moment too soon either. The moment Ranma had cleared the split, another root had thrust out of the hole, followed by another, and then another. The ground began to shift as something with a massive body began dragging itself to the surface by its spindly root like arms.

Ranma gently set Inuyasha down at the edge of the clearing next to a fretting Kagome. Then he turned his head back towards the enemy. He thought he heard Miroku gasp, "Naraku." and wondered if that was some kind of name for this demon. When the thing had finally managed to shake itself free of dirt, Ranma's first impression was that the thing looked like a giant rotting potato, with roots for arms, blotched black and leathery brown skin, and beady black eyes. Behind him, Shippo voiced his agreement.

"It's not Naraku, it's an angry vegetable! I knew those things were evil!"

"Mwahahahaha! Clever little girl. The hanyou's attack broke my concentration, and thus, my control over the trees. Who would have guessed a mere incarnate could have been so perceptive. Mwahaha!! But then, if you were anywhere near as strong as Kikyou, I'd be dead already. Hahahahaha!!"

Kagome's jaw hung open for a moment, and it was Miroku who intervened on her behalf, placing himself between his friends and the demon, "…and just how do you happen to know that Lady Kagome is the re-incarnate of lady Kikyou?" The monk asked, releasing a loop of the rosary, preparing to use that Kazaza.

The demon just laughed again. "Oh but didn't I already mention? It's amazing what trees remember, and they're always so eager to share with anyone who wants to listen. The girl is the re-incarnation of Kikyou, a priestess who died fifty years ago, and who has been re-born in a body of clay, that feeds on the souls of angry women. The kitsune is an orphan who needed the hanyou's help to avenge the murder of his parents by the thunder brothers…" the potato demon paused to look at Miroku, his thin, lipless mouth twisting into a smirk. "And at this moment, you, monk, are thinking of sucking me into the endless void in your right hand. The same kind of void that killed your father, and his father, and you too, soon, unless you kill Naraku, am I correct?"

If he was shocked at the fact that the giant talking potato knew so much about the group, Miroku didn't show it. Instead, he just returned the demon's smirk with a glare of his own. "Then, knowing that, be prepared to meet oblivion. KAZANAA!"

Ranma, who'd had no clue what the Kazanaa was, almost ended up being ripped off of his feet by the violent winds that suddenly sprang up within the clearing. Taking up a more solid stance, low to the ground, he watched amazed as rocks, dirt and even whole tree trunks were sucked into the baseball-sized hole in the monk's hand.

Unlike Ranma, however, the demon had been prepared for this, and it dug its giant, root like arms deep into the ground, to stop himself from being blown away. Amidst the chaos, Ranma again felt the flare of fighting ki. Only this time, she knew what it meant.

"Monk! Watch out under ya!"

Miroku had barely registered the words when a root suddenly emerged from the ground directly below his feet. Reacting instantly, the monk sealed up his hand and threw his weight backwards. It was just in time. The root thrust up into the space his body had occupied not moments before, and instead jabbed into the flesh of Miroku's upper arm.

"Miroku!!" The fox blasted the root with his kitsune-bi, watching as it fell to the ground burning as if it had always just been a normal piece of wood. "Miroku, are you okay?"

The monk gripped his arm in pain, but still managed to force out a gasping affirmative.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha, look at me…"

At Kagome's voice, Ranma cast a glance over her shoulder at the wounded half-demon, and briefly wondered if Inuyasha's wounds looked anything like seppuku. He was pale and gasping for air through the pain, his body occasionally shuttering as he was overcome with coughing fits, his hand still clasped tightly around the hilt of his sword. Beside him, Kagome had removed the scarf of her uniform, and was using that to put pressure against the wound. Not that it mattered though. Even though it was diluted by the rain, The martial artist could still see the spreading pool of red lapping at his feet. The colour matched the stain on Ramna's shoulder, which darkened the scarlet of her shirt. The man turned girl looked at Inuyasha's face and saw tears streaming out of the half demon's golden, unfocused eyes.

And then it hit her:

Inuyasha was going to die.

There were no hospitals, no surgeons, no antibiotics…hell, they didn't even have any proper doctors in this era, and the only medicine came from herbs. There was no way Inuyasha could survive a wound like that without professional help. And they were still days away from Kagome's "well".

That icy feeling, the same one he'd experienced when he had first learned the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, seemed to slam into him with full force. Sure, Ranma had fought battles, but this was the first time he'd seen someone mortally wounded. In this battle, someone was going to die, and it would either be the potato guy, or them.

The cold feeling built into an icy fire that raged over Ranma's soul. There was no way he, Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, was going to let this creep live.

"Hey! Mr. Potato head! If you're so smart, let's see if you can think of a way to dodge this! TIGER BOMB!"

The blast knocked the unsuspecting tuber onto its back, where it proceeded to flail its arms like a turned over beetle. Ranma snatched up Miroku's staff and dove in for the kill!

"Saotome-anything-goes-school-of-martial-arts secret technique: The No-Fry-French-Fry-Slicer!"

Turning the staff elbow over wrist, Ranma began using the blades at the end to slice expertly in a crisscross pattern all across the demon's stomach. He put enough wind pressure behind the strokes to cut through sheet metal, and ended with yet another ki blast to break the monstrosity to pieces.

At least, that was what it was supposed to do.

However, as Ranma landed, he was somewhat shocked to discover that not only was the demon still alive, it had managed to roll onto it's stomach again, and was now extending its spear like leg towards Ranma's heart.

"Yow!" Ranma dropped the staff, rolled out of the way, and flipped to his feet. Barely dodging that attack, he landed only to find himself directly in the path of another attempt at his life, and then another, and then another. Soon, Ranma found himself on the retreat, sometimes cutting it too close, and being rewarded with a slice on the arm, a minor shoulder wound, and a small hole on his thigh. Ranma just couldn't figure it out. One look had confirmed that the thing was bleeding, or at least looked like it was bleeding. A watery white liquid was seeping from the cuts in its stomach. But the cuts only looked deep enough to be superficial. Ranma had thought he had put more than enough force to be lethal behind his blows, even in girl form. What was going on?

Not only that, this thing seemed to have an unlimited number of limbs with unlimited length. What was with that? Whenever Ranma had though he'd counted and countered them all, suddenly there was one more.

After taking another minor hit to her waist, Ranma realized that maybe she should get a weapon. Spying the forgotten staff, Ranma made a dive for it, only realizing his mistake too late. The demon had been waiting for the martial artist to go for the staff. This time the limb was too fast to dodge.

"TETSUSAIGA!"

A flash of red crossed his vision, and the next thing Ranma knew, it was raining roots. Confused, but not stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ranma leapt to his feet, only to find himself facing the back of…

"Inuyasha?!"

Th…this was crazy! There was no way the guy should be able to stand up, wounded as he was in his shoulders and torso! Let alone jump around weilding a gigantic sword! The guy had been impaled! As in all the way through!!

"I—Inuyasha!? What are you doing?"

"Keh! What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving your weakling human ass! Now get off the battlefield before you get hurt even more!"

If there was one thing Ranma had never taken well, it was being called the "W" word.

"Oh and like you're one to talk, or does your belly button naturally extend out through your spine? If anyone should be out of here, its you! Gah!"

At that moment, Ranma and Inuyasha had both found it necessary to jump, avoiding another incoming attack from the angry potato. Landing, Ranma stumbled as pain shot through his wounded leg, but Inuyasha doubled over, clutching his stomach. The like this, half-demon wasn't fast enough to dodge the backlash, and was soon smacked directly into a tree.

Kagome, "Inuyasha!"

"That's it hanyou," laughed the demon, "go run away and leave a woman to fight your battles. We all remember what happened back then don't we? Maybe this time, the girl will actually survive, unlike your poor mother, or your first love Kikyou. After all, what can a pathetic half breed like you hope to accomplish against a full-blooded demon. Hahahahaha!!"

"Grrrr…Tiger Bomb!" That was just low. Ranma didn't know much about Inuyasha's past, but even he could tell that one struck a nerve. The attack, however, was ineffective, as the demon just "grounded" himself again with his root arms, and held on. Ranma noted the bleeding had lessened as well. Was this thing healing itself up??

"Bastard! DIEE!!"

Inuyasha leapt up, ready to slice the youkai in half with Tetsusaiga. Grounded, the tuber demon was unable to dodge in time, and opted to attack instead, putting all its energy into spearing Inuyasha once again. The limb went straight and true, piercing clean through the lower right side of Inuyasha's chest. However, either Inuyasha was already in too much pain to notice, or was too angry to care he'd just been impaled again. He continued with his attack, bringing Tetsusaiga downwards with just enough force to slice the demon's face and head into two symmetrical parts.

*~*~*~*~*

Ranma, now in his original form, sat with his back against the wall of the small wooden hut, looking out at the velvet night sky through the smoke hatch in the roof. After the battle, they'd had to walk for almost an hour before they found this place to shelter them from the continuing rain. Ranma's wounds had been throbbing like hell, and Miroku didn't look much better, toting Kagome's huge, oversized pack despite the deep wound in his arm. Kagome's bike had been pinned by a falling tree, and despite Inuyasha's protests that he was fine and could move the damn tree, Kagome had refused, insisting that it could wait until a later date.

Ranma had to agree with Kagome there, for out of all of them, Inuyasha was wounded the worst. When they had finally reached the abandoned hut Shippo had found, the half demon was leaning heavily on Kagome's shoulder, unable to stand up and walk straight on his own. This in itself was a miracle to Ranma, as he had expected the Hanyou to be stone-cold dead. However, by now he had been filled in on the healing properties of demon bodies, as well as Inuyasha's extremely sensitive nose. Apparently, the only reason Inuyasha hadn't gotten up to fight right away after being impaled, was because an extremely foul blast of that nauseating gas had exploded directly in his face only moments before, stunning the hanyou for a good five minutes. This explained the coughing and the tears, at least, that's what Inuyasha argued. According to himself, Inuyasha had never actually cried in sorrow a day in his life.

So now here they was, sitting in a small hut, built and used by merchants who frequented this road to do their trading. Ranma watched as the tiny flames leapt from the red coals of the small fire, and listened to the falling of rain outside. Everyone else had fallen asleep, Inuyasha lying down on his back, covered from abdomen to shoulders with white gauze. Kagome was dosing, curled into the corner at the half demon's head, and Miroku had taken up guard at the entrance to the hut, sleeping, staff in hand, with Shippo curled up in the tails of his robes at his side.

Ranma had also propped himself up against a wall, unable to sleep just yet with all the thoughts running through his head. Absentmindedly he flexed his leg, testing the strength of the gauze wrapped around the wound there. Unlike Inuyasha, Ranma didn't have demonic healing powers, nor did he have his demonic strength or his speed. However, none of that seemed to matter at the moment, for despite all of his extra abilities, Inuyasha had almost died today.

Unlike most of Ranma's battles, Inuyasha had not been fighting over a girl, or trying to learn a new technique, or to prove his strength against another. Today, Inuyasha had been fighting for his life and the life of his friends, a regular occurrence in the half demon's existence, if the attitudes of his companions were any indication. It made Ranma question his legitimacy as a martial artist. Sure, he may have spent his life devoted to the arts, but what did he use it for? Fighting with Ryoga, Kuno, Mousse, Happosai…suddenly, it all seemed so petty in the big picture.

And that was how Ranma felt at the moment, petty and small minded. Maybe that's why Akane was always calling him a jerk-

"Mn…nnng!…Sessho…bas-nk-tard…"

Ranma's head snapped up. Inuyasha was tossing in his sleep, mumbling death threats to various half-named people. For a moment, Ranma was unsure whether he should wake the injured boy, or just let him continue his restless sleep. Luckily, a third option presented itself shortly, as Kagome stirred, and awoke.

"Inuyasha…" her face grew soft as she looked over at the struggling half demon. She shifted quietly, gently lifting Inuyasha's head and placing it in her lap. Caressing his cheek, she brought her other hand down in front of his nose, and let him inhale her scent. Ranma watched as the half demon quietly mumbled the girl's name before calming, and drifting into a deeper rest. Kagome continued to caress Inuyasha's face, palming the bangs from his eyes while reaching down to clasp one of his clawed hands in her own. Ranma coughed lightly, making his presence known. Kagome jumped slightly and then turned to him, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, did he wake you? He just gets these nightmares sometimes…" she whispered softly.

Ranma shook his head, "I was awake all ready, just thinking…"

Kagome nodded with understanding. "I did a lot of that when I first got here too. It's because everything's so different…"

She paused with a sigh," It makes you realize just how lucky we really are, and don't even realize it. Before I met Inuyasha, my biggest worry was being able to get high marks in class so that I could get into a good high school. Now, I almost feel guilty every time I have to go home. It just seems selfish for me to be trying to continue on with my normal life, when everyone else's normal life has already been destroyed by the demon Naraku. But also, because of them, I want to continue with my normal life, and not take for granted something that I now realize is so prescious. I just hope that when this quest is over, we can all go back to some kind of happy, regular life. Especially Inuyasha, who never really had a normal life, because of what he is."

Ranma just nodded, unsure of how to answer, and Kagome turned her focus back at the slumbering half demon.

"It's amazing really, how strong he is. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too…"

Ranma looked up, realizing she was still talking about Inuyasha.

"I can't imagine how hard his life has been. Half human, half demon, but always hated by both sides. His own half brother has tried to kill him more than once. It's just amazing he didn't turn into some kind of horrible monster, or murderer, with everyone hating him. Any lesser person would have been overwhelmed by it, and let the hate consume their souls…"

"…but not Inuyasha. He's just too stubborn, the jerk."

Ranma watched the girl chuckle to herself before turning back to look at the sleeping Hanyou, "He's a little calmer now, since we started looking for the shards, and a little more open too. He used to be such an obscene bully, always hiding everything behind an angry mask. He even tried to kill me the first time we met, and now he protects me with his life."

A sigh, "Inuyasha's the strongest person, I know. I just hope that it will be enough to get him through this quest alive..."

There was a long silence as Ranma stared at the girl, somewhat shocked. Inuyasha had tried to kill Kagome? Guess he had changed a lot.

Ranma thought back to the night before, when Inuyasha had informed him that all the half demon's fighting moves were self-taught. If Inuyasha'd had Ranma's extensive training, then the guy would be unstoppable. Then Kagome's wish could come true…hmmm. Maybe that's what he would do. Ranma would train Inuyasha as his first student…zzzz

Kagome watched as Ranma's head finally slumped over in slumber, and heaved a sigh of relief. She hated it when she got this sentimental, but right now she couldn't help it. Inuyasha had been in so much pain today, with his wounds, and then the walking. It was at times like these that Kagome felt powerless to help him, and the guilt ate away at her heart. She tried to compensate for it by bandaging him up and comforting him whether he was asleep or awake, but it never seemed like enough. Absentmindedly she fingered the rosary around his neck. At times like this, she always swore to herself that she would never use it again to satisfy her own ire, and undoubtedly always ended up failing.

Sighing, Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat and banished her thoughts before she started crying. Somehow, Inuyasha always knew when she'd let her tears fall, and he truly did seem to hate is when she cried. Instead she brought both her hands up to cushion the back of his head, raising it up just a little, as she leaned forward and planted yet another secret kiss upon his brow. Her words falling upon deaf ears for what seemed like the millionth time to the young Miko.

"I love you, Inuyasha…"