"Those bastard's! God dammit, where'd that wench go?" Inuyasha tore through room after room, the smoke clogging his senses. "Kagome! Kagome you idiot, where are you?!" Narrowly avoiding being crushed, he made his way through the burning castle. He and the others had been passing through an abandoned town, when Kagome had sensed some Shikon Shards. A battle soon ensued, and Inuyasha had emerged victorious. But at a price, all the others had been trapped inside the burning castle of which he now stood, and he had only yet to find Kagome. Ducking through a burning doorway, he searched on. "If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself!" he mused angrily, heading further into the fiery furnace. Meanwhile, not to far off in the house, Kagome was trapped inside one of the burning rooms. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha, I'm in here! Hurry!" The crackling seemed to drown out her voice, and she hoped he could hear her. "Owww!" She smacked out a flame that tried to burn on her skirt. Running back to the door, she kicked at it to no avail. "Please, Inuyasha, hurry!" Kagome thought to herself, coughing because of the smoke that burned her throat. Suddenly, one of the pieces of ceiling fell in, and though she avoided it, she was now trapped on one side of the room, flames crackling around her. "Help!" She cried, trying to shield herself from the heat and coals, with no luck. As Inuyasha got closer, he heard a faint yell through the roaring inferno. "Kagome!? I'm coming! Just stay put!" Coming to a locked door, he heard a scream. "Hah! Out of my way!" Slashing through it quickly, he saw Kagome through a wall of heat and ash. "Oh no, I'm not losing another one!" Tossing aside the burning log, he gathered her up in his strong arms, and jumped up and out through a hole in the ceiling. Sparks and ashes clung to his haori, but he easily brushed them off. Landing a few paces away where his friends had been placed, he sighed with relief. "Thank goodness you found her, Inuyasha! I was really starting to worry!" Sango grabbed her friend from the hanyou, thanking him. "Yes, and don't you worry, she'll be fine soon." Miroku added, looking up at him. "Feh, I'm going to bed." He stated, but placed himself in a tree not far from them, in order to watch the procedures. "Humph, after all that, I don't want her dying." he grumped to himself, but inside he was actually glad. "I wouldn't have been able to stand it, she's my only reason to live. As…Kaori once was." Growling at himself for the reminder, he turned over, relaxing against the trunk. "No more of that, I promised myself I'd forget. Besides, why remember, anyway? It's too late, she's been dead to long for it to make any difference." But in his heart, he knew he was just trying to keep from hurting. Everyone he had cared for was gone, and he just didn't think he could stand to lose one more. So settling down, he fell into a light sleep.
"Hm?" Kagome woke silently, looking around her, then sighed happily. She was safe. Inuyasha had saved her just in time, like always, and she had trusted him completely. Only one thing questioned her. Just before she had lost consciousness, Kagome swore she heard Inuyasha say something about, 'Not again'. Had he been in a fire before? Had someone else? Looking up, she saw him asleep in a nearby tree. "Inuyasha?" He was awake in an instant, his amber-gold eyes snapping open to face the star-studded night sky. "What is it, wench?" Staring down, he noted that she seemed to be perfectly all right. "I'll ignore that, just come here. I want to tell you something." Faking an annoyed sigh, he jumped down, landing lightly next to her. "Well? I woke from a very much needed nap for this." Frowning at him, she said airily, "Right, well excuse me! I just wanted to make sure you were all right and to thank you for arriving when you did, but I guess you think I don't care!" Though she was yelling, it was a quiet yell as to not wake the others. A couple of tears formed in her eyes. "He doesn't care what I think! I just bother him." Feeling a hand cup her face, she turned toward him. "Listen, I didn't mean it that way. Thanks for the concern, it's appreciated." Kagome knew she had to be blushing, so she hurried on to her next question. "Umm, I also have a question. I heard when you said, 'not another one'. What did you mean?" She saw him stare at her blankly, then hurt crossed his eyes and he cast his heads aside angrily. "I didn't mean anything, dummy! I probably should have just left you there!" She knew this conversation was her fault, but he was getting on her short nerves. "Then why didn't you, huh? It would have made things easier for you and Kikyo!" "Erg, leave her out of this! And the only reason I saved you is I need my shard detector!" That did it. "SIT! SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT! I've told you a zillion times, I'm not your shard detector!" As Inuyasha kissed the dirt, Kagome rolled over angrily in her sleeping bag. "Stupid hanyou!" She thought. "Are you two at it again? It's not even morning!" Miroku sat up sleepily in time to hear Inuyasha curse. "Stupid Bitch! What was that for?! You started it! Yeow!" He tried to sit up, but decided against it because of the six 'sits' in a row. "You really should stop getting on her nerves, you know." "Shut up, you stupid priest! I didn't do anything!" "Sure." Miroku replied sarcastically. "That's why your back's out." "Ohhh, go back to sleep!" Inuyasha muttered, managing to finally stand up. Cursing, he brushed himself off and jumped back into his tree, while Kagome muttered to herself in her blankets. "Stupid jerk!" "Dumb girl!" And both parties ceased fire long enough to finally mumble themselves to sleep.
Having woken up early, Kagome rubbed her sore neck and stretched, being careful to avoid hitting Shippo who, in the middle of the night, had slunk over to sleep next to her. Slipping out of the sleeping bag, she gathered her bathing things and went to the village lake. Feeling the temperature of the water, she decided it would have to just be a wash. It was freezing! Wetting her towel, Kagome scrubbed her face, arms, hands and feet, feeling more awake by the minute. Looking up to wash her neck, she noticed another young girl, about her age, in the water. "How can she stand this freezing cold water? She must be so cold!" Thought Kagome, changing from her ripped school uniform to some new clothes. Looking into her pack, she muttered, "Great, I'm nearly out of supplies. That means I'm going to have to try to slip past Inuyasha! What joy." When she was finished, she noticed the girl getting out, still not noticing she had company. "Well, I gotta go home anyway. I'll offer her my last towel." Walking over to the girl, she noted her clothes. "They're certainly a mix-match bunch, I'll say!" Upon reaching the other side of the lake, she stopped a few paces away. "Hello there! Would you like to borrow my towel, so you don't get your clothes wet?" Looking up startled, the young woman turned slightly red, but nodded. "Um, hello. What's a, towel?" Laughing to herself, she forgot these people didn't know much about proper bathing. "It's a piece of cloth you dry off with before dressing." The girl stepped forward cautiously, grabbing the towel from Kagome's hand. She turned away to allow the poor girl any privacy she had left, and asked, "So, what's your name? I'm Kagome." She heard some shuffling, then "Well, Kagome, to tell you the truth, I really don't know. Thanks." Kagome turned around as the towel was offered back to her and stared oddly at her. "You don't know your name?" "Nope, sorry. Oh, not to be rude or anything, but why are you dressed like that? A foreigner?" she seated herself on a boulder, throwing her hair nervously behind her. She may not have known her name, but she knew she didn't like people either. "Yeah," answered Kagome, unsure to tell this stranger of her ventures through the well. Suddenly, they heard a voice yell through the trees. "Kagome! Are you over here? Hurry up! I want to get goin." Inuyasha made his way to the lake, where he expected to see Kagome, probably naked, then get buried 30 feet under. but the sight that greeted him was much more unexpected. Both girls looked at the stunned hanyou curiously, as he stared at the young stranger before him. Shivering, she turned her gaze aside embarrassed. "Inuyasha, quit staring! You're being rude! Inuyasha! Oh, sit!" As he had failed to comply, he hit the dirt below him.
