A/N: Almost finished with this story!

Kouga's mate: Wow… long review. ^^

Morlana: …oops…thanks for pointing that out.

Nova the last of the elves: I know. I'm evil. But I just love cliffhangers!

Chapter 14: Set up Camp

The fact that Ranma was injured that weekend did not hinder Kasumi's scheme.

"We'll just have to carry him." she said, smiling cheerfully at Inuyasha, who winced.

"Why do I have to carry him!" he pouted.

"Because you're the reason we're in this mess in the first place!" shouted Kagome accusingly, making Inuyasha cringe. But he wouldn't let his ego take a fall for very long.

"He was the one who was shooting these weird energy blasts from his hands! What the hell was I supposed to do?!"

"You did attack a bit harshly though." said Akane, looking at her hands. She had not been her usual self ever since she saw Ranma lying on the floor of the dojo, his blood splattered all over the neatly polished wood.

"In any case, we'd better go and get him, Dr. Tofu said that he could come home this afternoon." said Sango, getting up and heading for the door.

"Yeah, I'll come too." said Akane.

Kagome also got up and went to stand by Sango "so will I" she said.

Everyone silenced to look at Inuyasha.

"Alright! I'm coming I'm coming!" he yelled in annoyance and pushed past Kagome and Sango out the door.

Inuyasha mumbled the whole way as they walked over to Dr. Tofu's office. However, when they walked in, they were not greeted by Dr. Tofu, but instead by a young girl who smiled brightly and invited them in. She looked to be about 13 years old, had long, flowing black hair, and bright blue eyes.

"Are you Dr. Tofu's new apprentice?" asked Akane.

"Yeah, I am! My name's Alyssa, but you can just call me Aya." said the girl, still smiling sweetly.

"Hey, girl!" said Inuyasha loudly, making Aya jump. "Where's Ranma!"

Kagome and Akane both bonked him on the head.

Aya's smile quickly faltered and she gave Inuyasha a mean look. "He's still resting, you'll have to wait." she said sternly and walked serenely out of the room.

"What on earth provoked you to do that Inuyasha!" accused Kagome once Aya was out of hearing distance.

"That sickly sweet smile of hers was getting on my nerves!" he growled back, and quickly followed the statement up with an annoyed "feh!"

One half hour later, Dr. Tofu walked into the waiting room followed by a very weary looking Ranma who was still a little pale and seemed to be putting in a large amount of energy just to keep standing. Akane felt her eyes start to tear up a bit, bit buried her feelings, remembering that she was supposed to be mad at Ranma for bringing this upon himself. "You don't really feel that way" said a little voice in her head. "You know you love him, you're just too scared to admit it." "Shut up." Akane told the little voice. Kagome rushed over to Ranma, asking if he was feeling any better and if there was anything she could do.

"Hey Dr. Tofu?" asked Sango "We were wanting to go camping this weekend. Do you think Ranma will be up to it?"

"I'm sure he'd be able to go with as long as there was someone to carry him in case he gets worn out." replied Dr. Tofu. All eyes turned to Inuyasha once more.

"Whatever." he said dully.

The walk home was slow and fairly quiet. Ranma insisted on walking on the fence, which kept Kagome on edge because he looked like he was going to fall off.

"Ranma!" she pleaded "please get down from there, you'll fall!"

"I won't fall." said Ranma for about the 20th time. Kagome just gave him another worried look but didn't say anything for the rest of the walk home. Kasumi was happy to see Ranma when they got back, and Ranma seemed to recover very quickly at the sight of a large amount of food Kasumi had prepared for lunch.

"Oh my god it's oden!" yelled Kagome excitedly, bounding over to the table.

Koga and Miroku were already eating. Miroku looked pleased at the return of Sango, who chose to sit on the other side of the table but Koga didn't even glance at Kagome. He seemed to be inspecting his pork for an unusually long time.

"Hi Koga." said Kagome, sitting down next to him and dishing food into her plate at lightning speed. Koga popped out of his daze and replied quickly, "Oh, hi!"

"I take it you'll be leaving soon." said Kasumi.

"Yeah, after lunch I guess." answered Kagome through mouthfuls of oden. Inuyasha snorted and Kagome fought back the urge to sit him. Once they had finished lunch and where just about to leave, there was a knock at the door. Miroku ran to answer the door and was met by the girl Akane, Kagome, Sango, and Inuyasha had seen earlier at Dr. Tofu's office.

"Hi there," she said cheerfully. "Dr. Tofu sent me to accompany you on your camping trip, in case anything happens to Ranma."

"Oh sweet beautiful girl" said Miroku, taking her hand, "would you bear my chi-"

BONK!

"Please come in." said Sango politely, shoving Miroku's unconscious body to the side.

"Th-thank you…" said Aya a bit flustered. "Who is that?" she asked, gesturing to Miroku, who was starting to acquire a large lump on his head.

"A dirty lecher." said Sango, Kagome, and Akane at the same time.

By three in the afternoon, everyone was packed and ready to go. The group, which consisted of Akane, Inuyasha, Kagome, Ranma, Sango, Koga, and Aya, who seemed to be paying a noticeable amount of attention to Koga, headed for the woods.

Once everybody had set up their tents, Inuyasha went to collect fire wood. Ranma was looking very pale and decided to rest.

Meanwhile, Aya and Kagome where talking about healing herbs, which Kagome had learned a lot about in the feudal era, and Akane and Sango where having a debate on which weapon would be best to use against a spider demon.

"Well, obviously you would want a long distance weapon to avoid being bitten, their poison is deadly you know." said Sango.

"I suppose, but if you can avoid the venom, a sword would get the job done quicker." replied Akane.

Koga kept thinking over what Kasumi had told him.

"Remember Koga, you must make sure that Inuyasha comes after you, otherwise the plan won't work." That's what Kasumi had said. "Yeah…" he thought "it's the perfect plan to get Inuyasha and Kagome back together, so why am I helping?" frustrated at the confusion jumbling up his mind, he stood up to go for a walk. Aya noticed that he was leaving and quietly followed, curious as to what he was up to. Ever since she had seen him, she had felt a certain attraction to the wolf demon. Koga knew she was following him, but he didn't care. He walked over to a small creek and sat down heavily.

"Hey!" said Aya, emerging from the bushes. "What's bugging you?" she asked, taking off her shoes and socks and sitting down next to him with her feet in the cool water.

"Nothing." he said unconvincingly. "I'm just a bit confused about things at the moment."

What kind of things?" she asked curiously.

Koga looked at her, surprised at the question. Something about this girl made him trust her. And so, he told her all about the plan.

"You see, Kagome and Inuyasha are only going to be here for four more days, so there's no point in Ranma and Akane getting into a relationship that will only end in heartbreak. Kasumi has thought up a plan that's a sure fire way to get Inuyasha and Kagome back together with my help, but you see, I've had…feelings for Kagome for a long time, and it's always been a battle between me and that insolent puppy. So I don't know why I said I'd help, when getting Inuyasha and Kagome back together is the last thing I want." Koga explained, a light blush rising on his cheeks from sharing this information.

Aya thought for a minute. "Well…if you love Kagome, then you want her to be happy, right? So, if she and Ranma stay together she'll get hurt, but if she gets together with Inuyasha again, she'll be happy." reasoned Aya, smiling up at Koga. Koga smiled back.

"Yeah…" he said "I guess that makes sense."

"Hey Aya" he said, getting up to walk back to the camp.

"Yeah?" she asked, putting her shoes back on.

"Thanks."

"No problem" she replied, and they walked back together.

When they got back they saw that Inuyasha had returned with the firewood and Akane was busy making dinner. Just then, Ranma emerged from his tent and immediately turned slightly green at the sight of Akane cooking.

"Uh oh…" he thought, knowing better than to say it out loud. "He guys!" he said groggily, I'm going to take a look around, see if I can catch some fish. I'll come back when dinner's over- OUCH!"

"Don't even think about it." roared Akane, setting down her mallet. "I worked hard to make this food and you're going to eat it." But by the time she had finished scolding Ranma, everyone else had already fled from the campsite.

A/N: The writers block that has been plaguing me has finally gone to torture someone else. Yay!