A.N.: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I was touched that so many cared enough to offer their help and advice to me! =D This chapter is dedicated to you guys! Minna-san, Doomo Arigatou Gozaimasu! (Everyone, Thank you so much! ::I needed an excuse to practice my japanese...)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha.
Additional A.N.: My birthday was on November 7, yay! I am officially 14 years old! Bwuahahahahahahahaha! Now I am as old as nearly all my friends =D (But this will only last about a month or so... ;-; ) And I got another cat... Sebatian! =D I have two cats now!!! Tiger and Sebatian! ^-^ YaY (I also looked at my last chapter... so many mistakes O_O I can't believe I missed them all >.
Loss Of Authority
Kindness Has A New Name
Kagome awoke the next morning, only to find it was actually high noon. She sat up, moving from her bed to find herself alone in the hut. She sighed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Of course everyone was gone, probably eating or discussing more clues about finding some Shikon shards.
The thought of food made Kagome became slightly green in the face and caused the world to spin again. (Wait, the world is always spinning!) She lay back down and tried to keep herself from repeating the incident with Inu Yasha the other day, that wouldn't have been good.
Once the wave of nausea passed, Kagome sat up more slowly and carefully removed herself from her bed on the floor and used the sides of the hut to keep herself from toppling back to the ground. She was a little surprised no one had come to wake her. Okay, she was surprised Inu Yasha hadn't come to wake her up. The others were probably using the subduing spell as a way to make sure Inu Yasha wouldn't bother and let her get the sleep that she so desperately needed.
Kagome wondered maybe if it was better to rest while she could so, at least, she would have some strength to hold onto while they traveled. Her hand moved closer to the doorway as she inched along, still debating whether to go back to bed or start their journey. Her silent debating was cut short however, as Inu Yasha appeared holding something in his hands and looking a little surprised to see Kagome up.
"What are you doing up Kagome? You idiot, get your ass back to bed." Kagome clearly heard the tone of anger in his voice and smiled at him. She patted his arm in a gesture of saying she was just fine and started to continue her way out. Inu Yasha stood in front of Kagome and effectively blocking her way. She frowned but instead of looking up at his face, she looked down at his hands. He was holding a bundle. It was wrapped in a white cloth, so she didn't know what is was but she had a wild guess. She felt her stomach churn.
"I told you to get back to bed. I brought you something to eat-" Yup, that was all she needed to hear before he unwrapped the bundle to reveal a bowl of soup with a piece of bread on the side. Kagome covered her mouth at once and bolted passed Inu Yasha. Startled, he nearly spilt the soup, but caught himself quickly and peeked outside to find Kagome heaving just around the corner. Guess she wasn't hungry.
Kagome took a deep breath and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her fever spiking up as the color drained from her face. She clutched to the hut's wall to stop from collapsing. She was really weak now, her knees starting to buckle. She struggled to stay up and falling into her mess when she was swept up by a pair of strong arms. Inu Yasha had caught her by the back of her shaking knees and around her shoulders, holding her close as he made his way back to her bed.
Kagome was a little startled by his actions and took a deep breath, taking in his scent which brought her comfort, but sent her heart racing. No sooner did she get comfortable that she was ripped from his warmth and back in bed.
"I told you to get back to bed." Inu Yasha's voice was laced with annoyance as he set Kagome down. He shifted her covers and tucked her in, sitting at her side. With his legs crossed and his arms shoved into his sleeves, looking down on her. Kagome let out a sigh, and shifted to get comfortable.
Inu Yasha's brow twitched in annoyance as Kagome continued to toss and turn for the pass twenty minutes. She continued to move and jerk, thrash and roll, pulling the blanket up to her shoulders, then throwing it off with a kick. What was so difficult about staying in one spot?! Inu Yasha growled as he removed his hands from his sleeves and placed them on Kagome's shoulders, keeping her still.
Kagome looked up at Inu Yasha, smiling sheepishly. Well, she couldn't help it. Her illness made it difficult. First it was cold, then hot. Every position seemed to have something wrong. It was frustrating.
"Dammit Kagome, will you stop moving around and get some sleep?" Kagome made a face. Hey pal, it's not as easy as you think. Kagome momentarily wondered if Inu Yasha had ever gotten a cold before. He probably doesn't know how uncomfortable it is. Kagome struggled against his grip. No matter how tired she was, she couldn't find a position to sleep in. Inu Yasha sighed as Kagome broke free of his grip and leaned down to gather her up in his arms. This stopped her struggling, his ears twitched, catching the erratic beating of her heart. He smirked at this. This was his chance.
Kagome held her breath as Inu Yasha held her in his arms again. Her cheek pressed up to his shoulder, his chin resting atop her head. She let out her breath and tried to calm down before he noticed how much his hold was affecting her. She smiled a little at how warm and comfortable it was in his arms. How safe she really felt. She snuggled closer, her hands gripping into the material of his coat with her body slowly relaxing.
"Kagome..." Inu Yasha began, but Kagome sighed against him and realized how heavy her eyelids were becoming. Inu Yasha continued quickly, he wanted this damn rosary off, and now he had good reason to keep it off. If anyone could subdue him, that could mean big trouble.
"Since you've lost your voice and somehow the spells been broken, I think you should remove the rosary." Inu Yasha quickly went on to avoid any doubtful looks Kagome would have given him, "Only until the rosary is 'fixed' then you could put it back on. I rather be sat by one person... actually, I don't want to be sat at all..."
A thought occurred to him as he held Kagome closer. He didn't hear any protests from Kagome, not that she could voice any, but she held still in his arms. Maybe... she was considering...? After all we've been through, don't you trust me enough to remove it... permanently? Inu Yasha felt his breath catch... He might have a good chance after all.
"Kagome... we've been through a lot, even though this rosary does seem to come in handy sometimes..." Inu Yasha thought about this as well. The rosary did save them, (and himself) from getting seriously injured. He took one of his arms from Kagome and fingered the rosary with an unreadable expression. He might actually miss this stupid thing...
"It's up to you Kagome..." Inu Yasha finished shortly and looked down at her. "Kagome?"
He heard the steady rhythm of her breathing and took a closer look to see her eyes were closed and mouth was slightly open. His eye twitched. She had been asleep. She had been asleep the whole time?!
"Ka-go-me-" Inu Yasha grounded out every syllable in her name as he tightened his grip. His anger suddenly disappeared with a heavy sigh and rush of wind. The more he looked at her face, the less angry he became with her. He really should lay off, Kagome was sick and in a lot of discomfort. He held her close, guessing it'd be all right if he put her back down on the bed now. But he made no move to remove Kagome from his arms, quite content enough to stay the way he was. And no one was watching.
He held her that way the rest of the day.
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On the road again, Kagome walked alongside Sango with Shippou on her shoulder. Feeling a lot better and well rested, she insisted (With a lot of body language, hand motions, and patience) that they should start their search again. The others were reluctant, but agreed once they believed that Kagome seemed well enough to travel. Of course they took more breaks then usual, and Inu Yasha never complained once. They didn't want to push Kagome too hard and have her relapse with it being twice as bad as before.
It was a enjoyable day. Her fever was under control, her throat no longer itched like crazy (Not that kind you scratch, the one where you cough to try and get rid of) and everyone seemed to be in a mellow mood. It seemed today would go smoothly.
"Hn?!" Inu Yasha grunted suddenly as he turned his head to the left of them, ears flattening back against the side of his head. The others looked at him confused, that is until a familiar whirl of wind started to appear in the distance and Kagome noticed the shikon shards aura. She blinked at how long it had taken her to notice the shard's aura, but decided to blame it on her fever. She was sure she'd be back to normal once she got her voice back.
"Kagome!" The wolf youkai spoke as he stopped before her with a large grin on his face. Kagome sighed inwardly, forcing a smile. (youkai - demon)
"Oi! Get away from her!" Inu Yasha growled as he stepped over to them, attempting to stand between Kouga and Kagome.
Kouga's grin faltered a little at the state he viewed Kagome in and having the dog turd stand between him and his woman. Her hair was mussed, her eyes dull, and she was not in the usual weird clothes he had seen her in, but something longer at the legs and arms. And was it just him, or did she seem to be swaying? He stared at Kagome over the hanyou's shoulder, before turning furious eyes on Inu Yasha.
"What the fuck did you do to her inukkoro?" (inukkoro - dog turd/face I find dog turd to be more funny XD)
Inu Yasha blinked, then growled at Kouga, meeting his furious stare with his own glare. "What the fuck are you talking about? She's sick you bastard!"
Kouga stopped snarling with Inu Yasha at once and was at Kagome's side in a heartbeat. "Eh? You're sick Kagome?"
She hesistated before nodding weakly. Kouga took her hands in his, and rubbed them a little when he felt how cold they were.
"Don't worry Kagome, I'll take care of you. Come with me-"
"The fuck you will!" Inu Yasha hissed as he yanked Kagome away and nearly crushed the startled girl to his chest, "Touch her again and lose a limb you wimpy wolf!"
Kouga looked on in surprised, before snorting.
"Heh. Like you could even touch me inukkoro!" In a flash of red and white Inu Yasha had sent Kouga skidding a few feet a way to a punch directly aimed at his face. Kouga had jerked and caused Inu Yasha's aim to miss it's target, getting the wolf's cheek instead of his nose. Kouga growled as he touched the side of his face lightly.
"That was just a love tap, you bastard." Inu Yasha snarled as he went for Tetsusaiga at his side, letting go of Kagome in the process. Kagome panicked at this and moved her lips only to find the word was still stuck in her throat. Right, she forgot about her voice. Kagome quickly turned to the others for help. They clearly got the message, but hesitated. What if Kouga found out how to use the subduing spell? Shippou snorted with laughter, (causing Kagome to stare since she didn't think the situation funny) As if Kouga would notice such small details.
"Sit!" Shippou said through his laughter. On command Inu Yasha slammed to the ground, Tetsusaiga in his hand in it's fanged form, but couldn't do much with it as he was imprinted into the ground. Kouga glared at the hanyou and stood up, clenching his hands.
Kouga spat to the side and stood his ground. Kagome worried since Kouga didn't take off like he usually did once Inu Yasha was subdued.
"Kouga! Kouga-kun!" Kouga's two surviving pack members called out as the ran to the clearing, out of breath.(-kun - used at the end of guy names, same as -chan only with guys and I think it is used with lower ranking students too...)
"Ah! Kagome-nee-san!" One of them spoke up, both smiling at her. She smiled back, but turned her attention back to Kouga once Inu Yasha was on his feet. Kouga-kun, why won't you get moving? Inu Yasha might hurt you...(nee-san - less formal way of saying big sister... like sis. but they use to mark her as Kagome being Kouga's woman, I guess)
"Keh. Have a death wish, wimpy wolf? I'll make it quick!" Inu Yasha snarled as he was up on his feet with Tetsusaiga ready. Kagome turned sharply to the others, Shippou responded to her call once again.
"Sit!" Inu Yasha slammed into the ground. Kouga stared, blinking, then snickered.
"Clumsy, inukkoro?" Nearly everyone there fell at this comment. (except for Inu Yasha since he was already on the ground) As if it wasn't obvious enough... At least I was right about him noticing the small details, Shippou thought.
"Bah!" Inu Yasha snapped as he staggered back to his feet, "I'll get you in one swing and finally take those shards from you and never have you bother Kagome again!"
"Heh, Kagome's mine! It's you who'll be removed from my woman. So why don't you just 'sit' down and save yourself the trouble of having yourself humilated." Kouga empathized the word 'sit' since the kitsune seem to keep saying it and the dog turd kept falling down when he heard it. And just like before, he feel flat on the ground. Kouga didn't even notice the tense silence that followed.
Horror struck everyone as Kouga had purposely said the word. He knew... !
"Heh! At least I'm not falling because of some word. You really are clumsy inukkoro!" Everyone sighed. Okay, he didn't knew... but he was close. Kouga's companions, however, seemed to have caught on, but Kagome caught their wide-eyed glances and pressed her finger to her lips. They both nodded slowly and said nothing. Inu Yasha was back on his feet, his back was really starting to ache now. He'd have to kill the brat later. One idiot at a time...
"I'll be kind for once and let you off easy, inukkoro. I don't want to beat you up while you can't even stand on your own two feet." Kind?! Kouga beat him up!? Inu Yasha felt his control snap.
"Inukkoro, I'll leave Kagome in your care. She better be healthy the next time we meet, I can't fight you when you're as clumsy as you are now." Kouga glanced at Kagome and grinned at her, at her side in a blink of an eye once more, holding her hands in his. "I'll be back for you Kagome,"
"See ya!"
"Hold it you fucking bastard-" Inu Yasha began, heading after Kouga.
"Sit."
"Sit."
"Sit!" Sango, Miroku, and Shippou spoke the word and watched as Inu Yasha slammed into the ground times three. They even felt a little sorry, well, Sango and Kagome did. Miroku and Shippou seemed quite pleased.
In a whirl wind of dust Kouga was gone. His companions groaned and gave a short wave of farewell as they left after their leader.
Kagome kneeled down next to Inu Yasha and tilted her head to the side, viewing him critically. Inu Yasha stayed face down in the earth and listened as the wolf got away. Fuming long after their encounter.
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A.N.: Must learn to make chapters longer O_O... man... I am so tired... I need food... and sleep... G'night all....