Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter 5 – Adoration

"Kagome!" The young kitsune cried, running up to his surrogate mother. "Kagome, are you okay?" Miroku was now shaking her gently, trying to get her to come to. Sango, who had been trying to sleep the farthest away from Miroku that night as humanly possible, made her way to where the three were sitting. "Is she okay, Miroku?"

"I think so." The monk nudged the girl gently. "Kagome, can you hear me?" The girl let out a small whimper as her eyes opened slightly. "Miroku? What happened? Where did Inuyasha go?" The group eyed each other. "That's a good question," replied Miroku. The truth was he was nowhere to be found, and it wasn't like him to leave his friends unprotected. "One of us should go look for him, he could be in danger."

"What's wrong? Who's in danger?" a voice asked from behind them. It was Inuyasha, and he looked thoroughly confused when he saw that Miroku had Kagome in his lap. "What's going on?" he demanded, noticing that Kagome appeared to be injured. He looked more than a little disturbed. He knelt down beside the two. "Kagome?"

"She was attacked," replied Miroku, frowning. "A demon tried to get the shards around her neck while you where out on your little walk." Inuyasha eyed the dead demon next to the campsite. That was funny, he hadn't sensed any demons around. A guilty look came over Inuyasha's face. "I-I just left for a little while…"

"Inuyasha?" asked a weak voice. Kagome looked sadly at him.

He knelt down next to Miroku who was still cradling her on his lap. "Kagome, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you. Are you okay?"

Kagome nodded sadly. "It's okay Inuyasha, Miroku was here to save me." She smiled happily at the monk. "Thank you Miroku." Miroku grinned back at her.

Inuyasha frowned. "Why didn't I sense this demon?" he asked eying the creature's lifeless body. "I'm right next to him, yet I can't smell anything." Inuyasha looked over the dead demon's corpse, checking his body for some sort of an explanation. Embedded in the rough texture of the demon's skin, he found some sort of charm. Upon removing the charm, the stench of the demon's dead flesh came to him intensely. He held it up for Miroku and Sango to see. "That explains it," replied Sango. "It's the charm, it must have some kind of spell put on it to block the demon's scent. That's why Kirara didn't sense it either." Sango and Inuyasha studied it curiously. They looked back over to Miroku; he was still holding Kagome on his lap. Sango and Inuyasha exchanged questionable glances towards one another.

*-*-*

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did I leave her? Inuyasha sat in the tree above Kagome's sleeping bag. He had noticed a large bruise had begun to form around her neck. Miroku and Sango had decided to take refuge along with Kagome under the same tree that night after the incident had occurred. The truth was that he couldn't sleep and had decided to go…on a walk? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He had been restless the past couple of nights, even more so now that Kagome had returned. Her recent resentment towards him was making him uncomfortable, although he could understood why she felt that way…

Miroku was still awake and leaning against the tree. Inuyasha jumped down from the branch to sit next to him. Miroku noticed that he was a little bit more annoyed than usual. "Dammit." Inuyasha glanced at Miroku. The monk sighed. "Get over it. Kagome's fine, and that's all that matters."

"I can't believe I let my guard down like that," he replied.

Miroku looked away. "You didn't know."

"Well…I should have been here…but I'm glad you were."

That comment left Miroku a little stunned. The monk rest his head against the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes. He could have sworn he heard Inuyasha mutter the words "Thanks" under his breath, but when he opened his eyes, Inuyasha was no longer there. "No problem," the monk replied as the dog demon made himself comfortable again on the branch of the tree.

*-*-*

Kagome awoke that morning a little shook up over the entire incident. Though she was not injured seriously, a large bruise had formed around her neck. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango had agreed it would be best if Kagome return to her own time for a few days to get some rest.

"I'll see you guys in a few days!" she exclaimed, making her way towards the well. "Bye Sango, later Inuyasha…good-bye Miroku. I'll be back soon." She flung her legs over the well and made her descent into the 21st century.

"She's in good spirits," Miroku commented as Kagome descended into the well. "Despite the fact that she was almost choked to death by a demon last night." He shrugged. Sango, who was standing beside him, eyed him briefly and walked away without saying a word. "What's with her?" he asked Inuyasha, "She seems upset." Inuyasha looked at the monk then shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's all of that ass-grabbing you've been doing lately."

*-*-*

Kagome was more than glad to be back home. She couldn't wait to take a long hot shower and a nap in her soft, warm bed. She greeted her family happily as she walked into the backdoor of her home.


"Well, someone's in a much better mood today," her mother commented with a smile. "Dinner will be done in an hour, honey."

Kagome nodded happily. She made her way to her room, where more than enough homework awaited her. She groaned, remembering she had not bothered to do any before leaving for the well two days ago. It'll take me forever just to catch up…

*-*-*

That evening Kagome decided to go to bed early, rather than dealing with her homework that night. She set her alarm clock for early the next morning. I'll just take a break tonight and get a head start on it in the morning. She lay down on her bed, happy to be sleeping on a nice soft cushion that night, and drifted into a slumber.

Kagome met Miroku in a familiar field. It was no longer foggy out, but was a bright, sunny day. She took a deep breathe of the fresh spring air. The scent was wonderful.

"Miroku, what are you doing here?" she asked him.

He smiled. "I'm here for you, Lady Kagome." She was surprised as he took her into his embrace. "I am here for you and I will protect you."

She suddenly felt very content. She stared into his adorable eyes. "Miroku…do you love me?" she asked him.

She could feel the strength of his arms around her. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and hugged her tightly…

Kagome woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm clock. Her hand immediately grabbed the clock to turn it off and she abruptly sat up in bed. Morning already? Kagome heard her bedroom door crack open a bit.

"Kagome?" It was Soata.

"Yeah?"

"You're up?"

"Uh huh." She had a huge grin on her face. Quite a change from a few days ago, her little brother thought to himself.

"What are you so happy about?" the small boy asked his older sister with wonder.

"I had the most wonderful dream."

*-*-*

"Kagome! We're so glad you're feeling better." Here three friends, ­­­­Eri, Arimi, and Yuka, approached her in the school hallway. "Your grandfather told us about your dysentery." Kagome frowned. Out of all illnesses he could have come up with…dysentery? I'll  have to have a word with him after school. "What's up?" She smiled cheerfully at her friends. She had been in a very good mood that day, despite that she was behind in most of her classes and had just barely passed her math test. She couldn't get her mind off what happened the other night. She couldn't get Miroku off her mind. Especially after that dream…

"Kagome, why don't you join us after school? We can all catch up!"

"Alright!" She smiled. It was nice to be with her old friends again. She liked to act like a normal teenager once in awhile, even though she no longer fit into that category.

*-*-*

The four girls had decided to meet at Wacdonald's after school. They had filled her in on what was happening at school. Who liked who, and rumors about who was doing what. All of this would have seemed interesting a year ago, Kagome thought, but now it's just so dull… She only smiled and nodded. She didn't want to offend her friends, or try to explain what she had been up to the past few months that was so much more interesting that their topic of conversation.

"So, Kagome," asked ­­­Arimi, "tell us…how is your boyfriend?" Kagome's heart sunk. Inuyasha. "Uh, well," a sad look came over her face, "he's not exactly my boyfriend anymore." The girls eyed her sadly. Poor Kagome, she's been dumped! Kagome instantly realized that they were taking pity on her. "But that's okay! I'm interested in somebody else now." This was enough to get their attention.

"Who is he?"

"Is he cute?"

"Is he nice?"

"He's a really great guy. He is cute and he's definitely nice! Probably the nicest guy I've ever met…" Kagome looked at her lap.

"So what's the problem?" ­­­­Yuka asked.

"Well, you see, one of my good friends may also be interested in him. But lately…she hasn't been getting along with him at all. I mean, he is constantly groping girls, and she can't stand that!"

A short silence fell over the table. "Groping!" all three girls exclaimed at the same time. "What kind of guy are you interested in now, Kagome?" Eri looked at her, wide-eyed. "First violent, insanely jealous nut bars, and now perverts!"

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I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and especially the people who recommended allowing anonymous reviews (I'm new to this, I didn't even know that existed). That lack of reviews was making me a little self-conscious. Thanx again for all of the positive feedback!! (BTW, someone asked if this would be an inu/kag or a mir/kag fic…well I can't tell you now, that would ruin the ending!)