Kagome winced slightly as a particularly strong beam of light lanced through her eyelid, lighting her dark world with red. She rolled over in her sleeping bag, and moaned, but it was too late. She was now painfully aware of all the birds chirping, the wind rustling the trees, the laughing of a stream, and all the other indecent noises that annoyed her in her world of slumber.

            She rolled over once more, and opened her eyes… only to be hit full in the face with a brilliant sunrise.

            A very naughty word escaped from her mouth as she instantly covered her eyes, shielding them from the offensive sun. "Wha time izzit?" She demanded, the fuzziness of sleep still clouding her pronunciation. She sat up wearily and yawned.  Slowly, she rose to her feet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "It is way too early for this." She muttered.

            Slowly, she walked over to the center of the camp, and looked around. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw both Sango and Miroku still asleep, and the two fox youkai curled up around each other. "What time is it?" she asked. Miroku almost never slept in.

            She shrugged, and glanced up into the trees for InuYasha. She had to squint slightly to see him, but there he was, in the topmost boughs of a mighty pine. She smiled lightly at the sleeping hanyou, but the smile increased even more when the sound of running water once again pervaded on her ears. She turned towards the sound, and walked off into the woods, following the warm inviting call of a cool morning bath.

            Soon, she arrived at a little creek that ran into a small spring. Her smile increased tenfold as she stripped out of the sweaty school uniform and slipped into the cool refreshing water. She sighed contentedly as the crystal clear water washed away the dirt of the hard trail, and caressed her in a cleansing embrace. "I should tell Sango about this place." She whispered.   

She covered her nose and mouth, and dived under the water, letting the water carry all of the dirt out of her hair. She surfaced again, and took a deep breath. The breath came out in a cry of surprise as a little rummaging sound came from behind her. She turned around and called out her only line of defense against the offender. "SIT!" she yelled. She heard nothing in the immediate area, but a long line of profanity streamed from almost a quarter mile away, telling her that InuYasha was being a good boy. 

She sighed, much relieved, then reclined back against a rock. She looked up into the trees. 'That's where InuYasha would be watching from if he was peaking on me.' She thought. She smiled lightly, then her eyes opened wide. "HELLO!" she demanded of herself. "Where did that come from?"

She blushed despite herself, and  dipped deeper into the water. 'Did I really just think that?' she thought, embarrassed even though no one was there. She looked up at the rising sun, and the receding full moon. The moon. It almost automatically conjured pictures of InuYasha in his human form. She caught her breath as she recalled the night they had spent the first time she had seen him like that, how she had cradled his head in her lap until he drifted of to sleep.

**

Kagome blushed slightly as he leaned down into her lap, struggling even to support himself. She absentmindedly ran a hand through his now jet-black hair. He reached a hand up to his face and wiped some blood of his lips, then turned to her. "You scent…" She said, through harshly drawn breaths. "It's sweet."

Kagome's eyes widened, and she blushed madly herself. "What do you mean?" She demanded. "You always said that you hated my scent!"

InuYasha closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. The air staggered out of him weakly, and he hissed in pain with its passing. "I know I said that… but I lied." Kagome's eyes widened even more, and the blush spread from her cheeks to all over her face. "I like it." He whispered, and then said no more for the rest of the night.

**

Kagome blushed slightly at the memory of it. She glanced back up at the quickly fading moon. 'Why can't I get my mind off him?' she asked herself. She had stayed up almost half the night worrying about the argument that had taken place between Miroku and InuYasha last night, and it wasn't the first time. The thought of a youkai InuYasha scared her… a lot. Just as it was, she feared InuYasha, and respected him, as well. He was strong, cocky, and proud… yet he had a good heart. HE acted tough all the time, yet Kagome knew he would never hurt her. But what about as a youkai? Would he still be InuYasha? Kagome shuddered to think.

            She could just imagine waking up to a hand over her mouth and long claws pressed against her throat. She shuddered once again.

            "So this is where you've been!" A voice rang out from behind her.

            Kagome gasped, and whipped around. Sango stood on the edge of the pond, smiling at her. "You're lucky y'know." She said good naturedly as she stripped off her clothes and slipped into the spring. "I had to physically stop InuYasha from tearing off after you as soon as he found out you were gone."

            Kagome half giggled at that image. "Sorry." She said. "Didn't mean to worry you." She said smiling back at her friend.

            "That's alright." Sango said. "I can understand you don't want Miroku watching you."

            "And InuYasha…" Kagome started, once again dipping her hair under the water.

            "I don't know…" Sango said slyly. "Are you sure you don't want him peaking?"

            Kagome coughed slightly, blushed, and glared at Sango. "I DO NOT!"

            Sango smiled. "You're blushing." She observed.

            "I AM NOT!" Kagome yelled, turning even redder, images of the human InuYasha dancing through her mind.

            "Sounds like someone's in denial." Sango said, teasingly.

            "Well at least I don't have a crush on Miroku!" Kagome retaliated, making Miroku sound as dirty as she could make him (which wasn't very hard).

            Sango said nothing in retaliation, but merely sent a splash of water spraying over Kagome's unprotected face.

            Kagome smiled an evil little smile at her friend. "I hope you know this means war." She said threateningly. She brought her had down in an expert splash… but stopped it right before it hit the water. There was a slight tug at the edge of her mind, and it was growing increasingly stronger.

            Sango, immediately seeing the change on her friends face, stopped splashing immediately. "What is it?" she asked.

            Kagome concentrated on the tug, and recognized the sensation. She looked up in panic. "There's a huge jewel shard heading towards the camp, fast." She was already at the edge of the pool, stumbling into her clothes. "We have to get back…now!"