A/N: Sorry it took so long to write this. Thank you for all the reviews!
Chapter 15: Setting things straight
Ranma and Akane sat by the campfire…well, more accurately; Ranma lay by campfire in pain after eating Akane's cooking while Akane seethed at him for insulting the inedible sweet and sour pork that she had made.
"Ranma you dummy." she thought, glowering at him as he groaned and turned over, his back facing her.
Koga, Inuyasha, Aya, and Kagome sat next to a small creek eating their fish dinner that Inuyasha had caught.
"This is really good Inuyasha!" exclaimed Kagome as she finished off her last piece of fish.
"Yes, thank you very much." said Aya.
I think we should get back to camp now." said Koga, staring up at the sky. "It's getting dark."
"Keh! Fine, let's go. Kagome, get on." Inuyasha stated, bending over so that she could climb onto his back.
"What about me?!" asked Aya, tugging on the sleeve of his haori.
"I'm too tired from having to carry Ranma whenever he got worn out! You'll have to find another ride, I'm not a donkey!" yelled Inuyasha. Aya stepped back, wide eyed and a bit flustered.
"You're scary!" she shouted and turned her back to him, emitting little sobs as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Now look what you've done!" scolded Kagome and Koga simultaneously.
Koga walked over to Aya and tried to comfort her.
"Don't cry Aya, you can ride on my back." he said smiling sympathetically. Aya looked up at him with a huge grin on her face.
"OK!" she yelled excitedly and jumped onto his back before he even had time to blink.
"Well, let's get going!" said Inuyasha loudly. Koga nodded and they bounded through the trees back to the campsite. They were greeted with icy glares when they returned.
"Why did you run off like that when I worked so hard to make dinner for you all!" demanded Akane.
"How could you leave me here alone?! Akane almost killed me!" accused Ranma.
"Can we just forget this and go to bed?" asked Kagome, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
Akane fumed, but didn't protest. "Alright. We'll just go to bed."
"Thank you." said Kagome, relieved that there wasn't going to be a fight.
As the moon rose in the sky, Inuyasha and Akane sat curled up in a tree. Kagome, Ranma and Aya were sleeping in the tent, and Koga was walking about the forest.
"Almost time." he thought to himself.
One hour later, he silently crept into the tent, grabbed Kagome, and ran. As he was running, he shouted at the tree where Inuyasha and Akane were sleeping. "I got your wench dog turd!" laughing, he scaled the trees, heading for the mountains. Inuyasha woke up just in time to hear Koga shouting.
"Hang on…" he thought, staring at Akane, who was still asleep in his arms. "If he hasn't got Akane, then he must have kidnapped…Kagome!" Inuyasha leaped from his perch on the tree, leaving Akane to fall hard on the ground.
"Ow…" she moaned as she regained consciousness and saw Inuyasha chasing Koga atop the trees. Just then, Ranma emerged from the tent, his hair ruffled and his eyes wide with shock. "Kagome!" he tried to run after Koga as well, but tripped and fell flat on his face, his legs shaking.
"Ranma!" cried Akane, getting up from where she sat. "are you ok?!"
She ran over to him and rolled him onto his back, only to find that there was blood all over his clothing and the grass. The wound had reopened.
"Oh no…Ranma." said Akane worriedly, picking him up and taking him back to the tent.
"Dummy…you just had to go and hurt yourself again didn't you." she said sarcastically.
Inuyasha was catching up to Koga fast, rage building up inside him. "How dare he kidnap Kagome!"
Kagome woke up to the rushing of wind in her ears. She felt oddly light…and cold. She looked up.
"Oh, hi Koga… …KOGA???!!! Why are you doing!"
Inuyasha had gotten close enough to attack now, and he was seeing red. Literally, the sleeve of his haori was in front of his face! (LOL….um…yeah. Bad pun) Koga dodged repeatedly as Inuyasha lashed out with his claws, carefully aiming so that he wouldn't hurt Kagome. Then, after ten minutes of dodging and slashing, Inuyasha landed a hit. Koga plummeted to the ground and Kagome found herself being splattered with his blood. Inuyasha caught her before she hit the ground, the leaped across the trees, leaving Koga for dead.
Ranma opened his eyes slightly. Someone was staring down at him.
"A-akane?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Yes Ranma?" replied Akane worriedly, dabbing his forehead with a damp cloth.
"W-what happened?" he asked, looking around the tent. "Where did Kagome and Aya go?"
"Well…" said Akane meekly "Koga…kidnapped Kagome. Inuyasha went after him, and you tried to too, but you tripped…and…" she trailed off, avoiding Ranma's horrified gaze.
"And what about Aya?" questioned Ranma softly, looking at the place where she had been sleeping before.
"She…went off to find Koga."
Once Inuyasha had carried Kagome a fair distance from where Koga lay, her set her down on the cool forest floor, concern evident in his face.
"Are you ok Kagome?" he asked frantically, checking her for any signs of injury.
"Y-yes…" replied Kagome, still very shaken from the earlier events. She looked up into Inuyasha's eyes, so filled with worry, worry over her, and collapsed into his arms crying and shivering as the cold night breeze rustled through the trees. Inuyasha blushed cherry red, but gently placed his arms around her in an effort to comfort the girl.
"It's ok Kagome" he whispered into her ear "it's ok."
Aya ran through the forest a fast as she could, calling out Koga's name and searching everywhere.
"I was sure they had gone this way!" she thought in frustration, fighting her way through some thick underbrush. Then she spotted him, lying among some tall grass which was painted red with his blood. He was pale and his breathing shallow.
"Oh goodness!" thought Aya. "He's lost so much blood!" She quickly ran over him and set down the first aid kit she had taken with her. Opening it up, she quietly began tending to his wounds.
Akane just sat there next to Ranma in silence as the minutes crawled by at an excruciatingly slow pace. Ranma was staring blankly at the ceiling of the tent, his eyes glazed and his eyelids drooping.
"Akane." said Ranma out of nowhere, startling her. "Thank you."
"For what?" asked Akane, blinking at the sudden show of gratitude.
"For…taking care of me." said Ranma, looking her in the eyes with a slight smile on his face.
"No problem." replied Akane, returning the smile.
"I'm just glad…" Ranma continued "…to have a person as…reliable as you are."
Akane blushed. "It's nothing, really. Then Ranma, with some difficulty, sat up, and gave Akane a small hug. Akane felt her eyes grow wet as she hugged him back, happiness swelling inside her.
Inuyasha gazed aimlessly at the starry sky, Kagome still leaning on his chest, her crying had ceased for the most part as she cuddled closer to him, making him feel a little shy, but happy nonetheless.
"Hey Kagome, I think we should head back. Akane and Ranma will be worried if we don't get back soon."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." said Kagome, getting up somewhat reluctantly. She smiled at Inuyasha as he kneeled so that she could climb onto his back and they glided across the tops of the trees back to the campsite. Akane and Ranma were very relieved when they got back.
"What on earth happened?!" asked Akane, hugging Kagome when she entered the tent.
"Inuyasha saved me…" she said simply, and dropped the subject completely.
"I see." said Ranma, looking quite ashamed of himself. "I'm really sorry that I couldn't save you Kagome." said Ranma quietly. "I should have been there to help."
"That's quite alright Ranma" said Kagome happily. "I always have Inuyasha for that." she added, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Um…yeah, I-I guess…" Inuyasha stated shakily, color rising in his cheeks again.
Aya gasped in relief when Koga finally opened his eyes.
"You're awake!" she cried out, smiling brightly and throwing her arms around his neck.
"OW!" he shouted, grimacing.
"Oh! Sorry!" said Aya sheepishly, pulling away and looking at the ground in embarrassment.
"That's ok." Koga replied gruffly "but don't do it again!"
"I won't." Aya said quickly, fidgeting and bustling around with her medical supplies.
"You came all this way to help me?" asked a surprised Koga, as he spotted the clean bandages that dressed the wound Inuyasha had inflicted on him.
"Of course I did! I'd do anything to help you!" she said loudly, her eyes misting up. "I was worried about you, you know." said Aya, the volume of her voice lowering considerably. Koga was silent. He didn't know what to say.
"Um…well…thanks…" he said slowly, his eyes drifting away from her.
Ranma, Inuyasha, Akane, and Kagome all sat in the tent, neither looking at each other, nor speaking to each other. It felt like hours had passed before Kagome said "Why don't we all go to sleep now, we'll need to get up early tomorrow morning to leave for home."
"Yeah." agreed Akane.
"Well, I'm going to sleep outside." said Inuyasha, getting up from his seat on the floor.
"I'm going to stay here and see to Ranma, in case he needs anything." Akane said.
Kagome started to get up too. "I'll come with you Inuyasha." she said smiling, and the two left the tent to go sleep in the tree Inuyasha had been occupying a while earlier. Akane stared at Ranma for a while. She fumbled about her pack for a while, then found what she was looking for. Akane opened her water bottle and emptied the contents onto a very surprised Ranma.
"Goodnight Ranma." she said sweetly.
"Uncute tomboy." Ranma muttered under her breath.
Akane pretended not to hear.
It didn't take Aya very long to build a makeshift sled out of tree branches and rope to transport Koga on. She carefully lifted him onto the sled and began heading back the way she had come. It was already early morning by the time she reached the campsite again and everyone was still asleep. Exhausted, Aya simply flopped onto her sleeping bag and drifted into dreamland. By the time she woke up, everything was packed and the others where getting ready to leave.
"Hey Aya, I see you're awake!" called Kagome, running up to her. "You must've gotten back really late last night.
"More along the lines of early this morning.' replied Aya sleepily.
"Poor Inuyasha." said Kagome chuckling. "Now he has to carry Koga AND Ranma."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." said Aya.
It took 41/2 hours to get back to the Tendo dojo and they were met with quite the unexpected when they arrived. Mrs. Higurashi was busy packing her car, and Kagome's grandfather had arrived in the other car.
"What's going on mom?" asked Kagome curiously. "Why are we packing the car already, and why is Grandpa here?"
"Sota got sick, Kagome sweetie, we have to leave early. I'm sorry honey."
"That's ok." said Kagome, but she was clearly upset. Ranma, Akane, and Inuyasha were also sad to hear the news, but as Ranma held Akane, and Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, three very happy girls exchanged cheers of success inside.
"Well, take care everyone!" said Kagome as she climbed into the car along with Inuyasha, Sango, and Koga. They were about to reverse out of the driveway when Aya came running to the car. Sota, Shippo, and Miroku were in the other car.
"Take me with you!" she pleaded "I want to be with Koga!"
Mrs. Higurashi looked skeptical for a minute, but then softened and said "Sure, why not." Aya grinned gleefully and jumped into the car next to Koga.
"Bye everyone!" said Akane as the cars grew smaller in the distance. "I wonder if we'll ever see them again." she said. "I'm almost positive we will." replied Ranma, and they headed inside.
A/N: THE END! Yay! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, bye for now. This fanfic was finished at exactly 2:55am on Saturday the 6th of September. ^_^
