A horse from the Lord of the Western Lands????
"He knew by the way things looked around the castle that the lord was demon so he turned to leave quickly but before he ran off he heard the sound of a woman crying in the forest, he ran in the direction of the sound and saw woman lying on the ground in pain, a demon standing over her, on instinct he pulled out his Katana and quietly approached the demon from behind, by the time the demon realized he was there it was too late, he severed his head from his body. He then went to the woman and she told him that she was from the castle and that she had been out for a walk when the demon had attacked her, he then picked her up and carried her back to the castle and when the door was answered he was rushed in when the man who had answered the door saw that he had this woman and she was injured, a woman and another man came and took the woman and the man told my father to stay there until they were finished. Though he thought the worse, he stayed to be sure the woman would be alright.
After a long wait the door opened to reveal the small man who had answered the door, saying something that sounded like the introduction for someone, before he could question the man, another man appeared a very well built man long white hair, and for a moment the man didn't speak he just looked at my father, until father asked the man if the woman would be ok. The man then introduced himself and told my father that he was very grateful of his kindness and courage to save the woman, for the woman was his mate, and that she was with child, in this he told my father to gather his family and stay in the village that was at the bottom of the hill, when they got their accommodations would already be taken care of, he then thanked my father again and left. Well anyways father went and got my mother and the other farmers that were traveling with them and went to the village and just as the lord of the castle had said a villager met them outside and led them to a place to stay with food and the whole nine yards.
Well the next day my father had been very grateful to the lord for allowing them to stay at this village and told the villagers the same, as they were about to set off again, that little man that had answered the door to the castle the night before came down the hill and told my father that the lord wanted to speak to him once more. Father followed the man back to the castle, when the lord again came to my father he thanked him again and said that he wanted to give him something, my father told him that his generosity of letting them stay in the village was quiet enough, and that anyone would have done it. The lord only shook his head and said no, not anyone, most would turn their backs because they would know that the human woman was mated to a demon. My father again tried to protest against any other gifts bestowed for the action that he would have done for anyone, no matter who, or what they were. The lord then insisted once more and refused to take no for an answer, when my father gave up and agreed, the lord gave him this horse and said that he could use this horse for many things especially to carry his wife and newborn child, he then told my father of the land that my village was on and he then said goodbye and left my father with horse. He returned to the village and told the others what had happened and of the land the lord had told him of they set out in search of this place. You can pretty much figure the rest out right?" Asami asked as she looked at Kagome and Inuyasha. Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and said "Really? And they never saw this 'Lord' again? He never came to retrieve the horse or anything else?" "I'm not sure but I don't think so, the Lord of that castle was killed shortly after the woman that my father had rescued gave birth to a child, it was rumored that she and the child were sent away from the castle after this, and my father and a few men from the village set out on a quest to find her, but no one would say if they knew of the woman, and the castle servants acted as though they didn't know who he was talking about, needless to say my father was gone for several months trying to find this mystery woman, but never did, when he returned home my mother had already given birth to me, and just hoped that the woman would remember the lord telling him of the land there and she would come, he felt really bad that she was outcast and now had no where to go that he knew of, but she never came, and rumors were ever heard of this woman or her child." She finished with a shrug, feeling confident that she had put that stupid half demon in his place. When she looked at him again he had a strange look on his face. "What?" she asked looking at him warily.
"Just what was this lord's name?" Inuyasha asked with a smug smile on his face, though he couldn't hide the concern in his eyes. "I don't know what his name was, only know that he was the lord of the western lands, and from what I've heard he was great demon." She replied to him, wavering a little in her cocky demeanor, not sure why he was looking at her like he was. "You're a liar!!!" He spat at her in a rough voice that seemed drowned in emotions. She narrowed her eyes and quietly said "No I am not, I can prove it." She then walked to the horse's head and lifted it's fetlock (That's the hair that comes between the horses ears and down the forhead, for all of you un-Equine peoples out there....:O) When she lifted the horses' fetlock, there was marking, a marking that Inuyasha knew all too well, one that had not received but knew that it was his fathers mark, It was a crescent shaped moon. (Hmm...that's sounds familiar.....where have I seen that before...think*think*Think.....hmm......oh well.....hehe) Inuyasha just couldn't take anymore, with a "Feh" he turned on his heel and took off towards the forest.
"What the hell's wrong with him? If he calls me a liar again, I'll kick his ass, demon or no demon!" Asami replied. Sumie was the one who finally spoke after this, "You know something Kagome?" she asked the girl who still sat on the ground. Kagome nodded and told the girls what she knew of Inuyasha's past. "Well the lord you speak of was his father, though he never knew him because he was killed when he was only a few hours old, he and his mother were exiled from their home after the death and were looked down on because she was considered a traitor to humans because of the hanyou child she had, she died when he was still young and he's been alone ever since, and the mark your horse bears must be that of his fathers, because his older brother Sesshomaru has the same mark on his forehead." "Are you serious?" asked the eldest girl in shock. Kagome only nodded. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I never would have been so cruel if I'd have known, that must be why Uuri allowed him to touch him." She said realization dawning on her at that moment feeling like she had just stabbed her best friend through the heart with her own dagger, she walked to where Kagome sat and followed her position. "I am sorry, should I go talk to him?" She asked in a very sad voice. "No, not now, that's not a good idea, there's one thing you need to know about Inuyasha and that's to stay away from him when he's upset, give him some time and I'll go talk to him." Kagome said looking off in the direction her beloved had just departed in, her heart going out to him. Soon after the others returned to the hut to see the three girls in a very sad looking mood, Sango was the first to ask what was wrong "What happened?" Kagome filled her friends in on what had transpired between the three girls and the missing Inuyasha. "Oh my," Miroku replied "that must have been hard for him to hear, even though it is a good story, after all of this time to hear of the family you've tried to put behind you, and now something so close....." he trailed off as he looked at the horse and then the girls. Kagome, Sango and the two girls help make dinner and Kagome decided it was time to venture out and check on Inuyasha.
When she reached the god tree she noticed that he wasn't there, and went in search of him, she wasn't sure where he'd be, so she just kind of meandered around calling out to him every now and then. She screamed when she heard a sound behind her, she whirled around to find Inuyasha sprawled out on the ground at the bottom of a tree. "What were you doing?" She yelled at him still trying to get her heart to slow its beating. "Well I was minding my own business till you came along and scared me half to death!!!" he yelled back, realizing that he must have been asleep and had made a sound as she walked by, probably because he'd caught her scent, and when she screamed it scared him and causing him to fall out of the tree. "I'm sorry Inuyasha, you made a noise and it scared the hell out of me, I thought it was some demon, I really don't like venturing out by myself, but I wanted to find you." He looked at her and shook his head "What were you doing out here by yourself anyways?" He asked sternly. "Like I said I came to find you, but you weren't in the sacred tree and I really didn't know where else to look, so I just kinda looked around." Seeing that he was still upset about the earlier conversation between him and the girl they had rescued, she asked "You wanna go for a walk with me? It's a nice night." Looking at him with the cutest eyes in the world he rolled his eyes replying "Why not." They walked along in silence for awhile, they came to a spring and she smiled and slid her shoes and socks off, perched on a rock and dangled her feet in the water. Inuyasha sat next to her, but she could feel that he was a million miles away. "That must have been hard to hear after all of this time of trying to forget." She said softly, half expecting him to start yelling at her about how he didn't care about any of that, but it never came, he was silent for few minutes and then he replied, "Ya know I have run away from my past for so long, that I was sure, aside from brother, I'd never see or hear of it again, now it just seems like I've ran a big circle and I'm right back where I started." His voice was low and had enough emotions it to choke a horse, Kagome felt bad and wished she could do something, so she did the only thing she knew what to do, and the one thing that her heart was telling her to do, she stood up and kneeled down next to him and hugged him, at first he was taken by surprise but then he just welcomed the comfort she offered him, and for long moments they just sat there and embraced.
His voice crashed through her thoughts as he spoke again, "I knew there was something about that horse, it could have easily hurt me or even killed me when it caught me off guard like that, but it didn't it just seemed confused, like it knew it had to protect those girls, and I was a demon, but then it just seemed to be trying to figure something out, and then after we came back, last night I was sitting in the god tree and it walked up beside it and just stood there looking at me, like it was trying to figure me out, it kinda gave me the creeps at first, but then it just laid down and stayed there, like it was protecting me, then when she told me that stuff, I didn't want to believe it, but there it was again, it came out there and stood under the tree as if on guard duty or something, then I thought it was just keeping an eye on me, that it didn't trust me, but actually this whole time it was protecting me, it was trying to figure out all that time why I smelled like my father, and then it just figured it out, and even though it has a responsibility to protect those girls because Asami's father died, it's first priority was to me, because of my father, because it knew all those years ago that my father was killed, and it tried to find me, that's why her father was gone for six months because that horse wouldn't let up on the search. Now that it's found me it won't leave me alone." Kagome stared at Inuyasha while he spoke, she was shocked that he told her all of this, let his pride down and showed her his weak side, and as he was sitting there now, he looked like a small child who was lost and confused, and she the feeling to make him feel better overwhelmed her until she thought she'd explode from the pressure of it.
The next thing she knew she was kissing him, a tiny part of her was still aware of what she was doing and screamed at her, but the voice was silenced by the rest of her, and all she could was sit inside her head and watch herself, and she realized then that he was kissing her back, very passionately. (WOOHOO!!!!!! Finally hehe) When they finally broke for air all those feeling had subsided and the only thing that was left was her, and all she could was look away and blush ten shades darker than an apple. It seemed like forever dragged by as they sat there silent, she couldn't bring herself to look at him, everything inside of her was telling her to get and run like the wind back to camp and get in bed and put the covers over her head and never come out, but her body wouldn't budge, and she was still so close to him, of course right now she could be in her time right then and it still would be too close to him. Finally after another few long minutes went by she made herself glance at him, but she was caught, when she looked up all she saw was yellow staring back at her, and the only thing she could do was stare right back. She couldn't have even thought about naming a quarter of the emotions that were flashing in his eyes right then, all she could do was watch, then as watched in absolute mind shattering absence as he cupped her chin with his hand and brushed his lips to hers. 'Oh God' she thought, 'What was he doing?' but her thoughts were cut short when she felt his lips on hers again. All she could was melt against him, he then pulled back and looked in her eyes again before grabbing her pulling her to him in a tight embrace, his head buried in her hair, her body responded and she put her arms around him, her hands entangled in his long hair, she marveled at the feel of it, she'd never really actually touched it before, it was soft and almost silky feeling and beautiful. They stayed like that for god knows how long before he finally pulled back, taking her by surprise and looking at her "Thanks Kagome, for being here." Even though her body yearned to fall back into his she smiled and responded "I'll always be here, Inuyasha, always." She then stood up and asked if he wanted to come back with her to eat. "Not right now, I really just wanna stay out here for awhile." He answered her quietly but never taking his eyes off hers. "Ok." She whispered as she patted him on the shoulder for reassurance, and started back to the Kaede's hut, but before she did she turned slightly and said "Asami was really upset when I told her what I knew, so please don't be too hard on her ok?" Inuyasha nodded and she turned and went back to the hut.
When Kagome returned to the village, she found herself the center of attention, even though she had tried to hide it everything that had just happened was plastered all over her face. The group of friends looked at her questioningly; Kagome only busied herself with cleaning up dinner, and trying not to make eye contact with anyone for any length of time. She was lost in her own thoughts when she finally noticed that someone was missing from the bunch that sound around the fire outside the hut, "Where's Asami?" She questioned no one in particular, wondering why her sidekick was not attached to her at that moment. "I'm not sure, she disappeared a little bit after you went to speak to Inuyasha, we haven't seen her since, and we just figured she needed some time alone." Sango answered her friend seeing the concern mirrored in Kagome's eyes. "I'm here." A female voice answered from somewhere behind the two girls, turning to see that thee voice belonged to Asami, but noticed that she would not look her in the eye. "What's wrong?" Kagome asked her hoping that the girl hadn't found trouble while she was missing. "Nothing," She answered simply, still not meeting Kagome's gaze, Kagome noticing this pressed on, "Where did you go?" The girl shifted uncomfortably in response to the girls prying questions. "I just needed some time to think about stuff." She answered not really convincing even herself, Kagome was taking this in and decided it best to leave the girl to herself for the time being, "Ok." She said pretending that she believed the girls story. The group sat there talking amongst themselves for a little while longer when Sango said that she was retreating to the hut for the night and Miroku had gestured the same, a few minutes more around the fire with crackling silence Kagome stood and said that she too was retiring for the night, when the girls moved to the same she put the fire out and retreated to the hut to the comfort of her sleeping bag where she could hide herself from the world and stop the raging thoughts in her head about our favorite half demon with sleep.
Later that night..........
Inuyasha quietly entered the hut, seeing that everyone was sleeping soundly he walked over to where Kagome was asleep and stared down at her. 'God she's so beautiful.' He thought but quickly squashed the thought as soon as it arose, 'What is wrong with me?' He then noticed that Shippou was curled up beside her underneath the blankets and was adorned by slender arm that wrapped around him lightly in a comforting embrace. 'Damn that kit.' Thinking how he felt jealous at the moment at seeing the kit where his body would love to be at that moment. Shocked at his own thoughts Inuyasha shook his head left the hut. Lying on his back on the roof of the hut and looking at the stars his thoughts were waging a war in his mind. 'Why am I feeling like this towards Kagome? What are these feelings that I feel when she's so close to me? I can't actually have feelings for her can I? 'No,' it had to be that he just held Kagome as a very good friend, and since he'd never had any before he wasn't sure how a friend was supposed to feel about a friend, 'Yes that must be it, these feelings are only 'friendly' ones, because I'm in love with Kikyo.' A few more moments of unquiet thoughts, he felt himself getting sleepy and his last thought before he fell into a dream world was 'Right?'
"He knew by the way things looked around the castle that the lord was demon so he turned to leave quickly but before he ran off he heard the sound of a woman crying in the forest, he ran in the direction of the sound and saw woman lying on the ground in pain, a demon standing over her, on instinct he pulled out his Katana and quietly approached the demon from behind, by the time the demon realized he was there it was too late, he severed his head from his body. He then went to the woman and she told him that she was from the castle and that she had been out for a walk when the demon had attacked her, he then picked her up and carried her back to the castle and when the door was answered he was rushed in when the man who had answered the door saw that he had this woman and she was injured, a woman and another man came and took the woman and the man told my father to stay there until they were finished. Though he thought the worse, he stayed to be sure the woman would be alright.
After a long wait the door opened to reveal the small man who had answered the door, saying something that sounded like the introduction for someone, before he could question the man, another man appeared a very well built man long white hair, and for a moment the man didn't speak he just looked at my father, until father asked the man if the woman would be ok. The man then introduced himself and told my father that he was very grateful of his kindness and courage to save the woman, for the woman was his mate, and that she was with child, in this he told my father to gather his family and stay in the village that was at the bottom of the hill, when they got their accommodations would already be taken care of, he then thanked my father again and left. Well anyways father went and got my mother and the other farmers that were traveling with them and went to the village and just as the lord of the castle had said a villager met them outside and led them to a place to stay with food and the whole nine yards.
Well the next day my father had been very grateful to the lord for allowing them to stay at this village and told the villagers the same, as they were about to set off again, that little man that had answered the door to the castle the night before came down the hill and told my father that the lord wanted to speak to him once more. Father followed the man back to the castle, when the lord again came to my father he thanked him again and said that he wanted to give him something, my father told him that his generosity of letting them stay in the village was quiet enough, and that anyone would have done it. The lord only shook his head and said no, not anyone, most would turn their backs because they would know that the human woman was mated to a demon. My father again tried to protest against any other gifts bestowed for the action that he would have done for anyone, no matter who, or what they were. The lord then insisted once more and refused to take no for an answer, when my father gave up and agreed, the lord gave him this horse and said that he could use this horse for many things especially to carry his wife and newborn child, he then told my father of the land that my village was on and he then said goodbye and left my father with horse. He returned to the village and told the others what had happened and of the land the lord had told him of they set out in search of this place. You can pretty much figure the rest out right?" Asami asked as she looked at Kagome and Inuyasha. Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and said "Really? And they never saw this 'Lord' again? He never came to retrieve the horse or anything else?" "I'm not sure but I don't think so, the Lord of that castle was killed shortly after the woman that my father had rescued gave birth to a child, it was rumored that she and the child were sent away from the castle after this, and my father and a few men from the village set out on a quest to find her, but no one would say if they knew of the woman, and the castle servants acted as though they didn't know who he was talking about, needless to say my father was gone for several months trying to find this mystery woman, but never did, when he returned home my mother had already given birth to me, and just hoped that the woman would remember the lord telling him of the land there and she would come, he felt really bad that she was outcast and now had no where to go that he knew of, but she never came, and rumors were ever heard of this woman or her child." She finished with a shrug, feeling confident that she had put that stupid half demon in his place. When she looked at him again he had a strange look on his face. "What?" she asked looking at him warily.
"Just what was this lord's name?" Inuyasha asked with a smug smile on his face, though he couldn't hide the concern in his eyes. "I don't know what his name was, only know that he was the lord of the western lands, and from what I've heard he was great demon." She replied to him, wavering a little in her cocky demeanor, not sure why he was looking at her like he was. "You're a liar!!!" He spat at her in a rough voice that seemed drowned in emotions. She narrowed her eyes and quietly said "No I am not, I can prove it." She then walked to the horse's head and lifted it's fetlock (That's the hair that comes between the horses ears and down the forhead, for all of you un-Equine peoples out there....:O) When she lifted the horses' fetlock, there was marking, a marking that Inuyasha knew all too well, one that had not received but knew that it was his fathers mark, It was a crescent shaped moon. (Hmm...that's sounds familiar.....where have I seen that before...think*think*Think.....hmm......oh well.....hehe) Inuyasha just couldn't take anymore, with a "Feh" he turned on his heel and took off towards the forest.
"What the hell's wrong with him? If he calls me a liar again, I'll kick his ass, demon or no demon!" Asami replied. Sumie was the one who finally spoke after this, "You know something Kagome?" she asked the girl who still sat on the ground. Kagome nodded and told the girls what she knew of Inuyasha's past. "Well the lord you speak of was his father, though he never knew him because he was killed when he was only a few hours old, he and his mother were exiled from their home after the death and were looked down on because she was considered a traitor to humans because of the hanyou child she had, she died when he was still young and he's been alone ever since, and the mark your horse bears must be that of his fathers, because his older brother Sesshomaru has the same mark on his forehead." "Are you serious?" asked the eldest girl in shock. Kagome only nodded. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I never would have been so cruel if I'd have known, that must be why Uuri allowed him to touch him." She said realization dawning on her at that moment feeling like she had just stabbed her best friend through the heart with her own dagger, she walked to where Kagome sat and followed her position. "I am sorry, should I go talk to him?" She asked in a very sad voice. "No, not now, that's not a good idea, there's one thing you need to know about Inuyasha and that's to stay away from him when he's upset, give him some time and I'll go talk to him." Kagome said looking off in the direction her beloved had just departed in, her heart going out to him. Soon after the others returned to the hut to see the three girls in a very sad looking mood, Sango was the first to ask what was wrong "What happened?" Kagome filled her friends in on what had transpired between the three girls and the missing Inuyasha. "Oh my," Miroku replied "that must have been hard for him to hear, even though it is a good story, after all of this time to hear of the family you've tried to put behind you, and now something so close....." he trailed off as he looked at the horse and then the girls. Kagome, Sango and the two girls help make dinner and Kagome decided it was time to venture out and check on Inuyasha.
When she reached the god tree she noticed that he wasn't there, and went in search of him, she wasn't sure where he'd be, so she just kind of meandered around calling out to him every now and then. She screamed when she heard a sound behind her, she whirled around to find Inuyasha sprawled out on the ground at the bottom of a tree. "What were you doing?" She yelled at him still trying to get her heart to slow its beating. "Well I was minding my own business till you came along and scared me half to death!!!" he yelled back, realizing that he must have been asleep and had made a sound as she walked by, probably because he'd caught her scent, and when she screamed it scared him and causing him to fall out of the tree. "I'm sorry Inuyasha, you made a noise and it scared the hell out of me, I thought it was some demon, I really don't like venturing out by myself, but I wanted to find you." He looked at her and shook his head "What were you doing out here by yourself anyways?" He asked sternly. "Like I said I came to find you, but you weren't in the sacred tree and I really didn't know where else to look, so I just kinda looked around." Seeing that he was still upset about the earlier conversation between him and the girl they had rescued, she asked "You wanna go for a walk with me? It's a nice night." Looking at him with the cutest eyes in the world he rolled his eyes replying "Why not." They walked along in silence for awhile, they came to a spring and she smiled and slid her shoes and socks off, perched on a rock and dangled her feet in the water. Inuyasha sat next to her, but she could feel that he was a million miles away. "That must have been hard to hear after all of this time of trying to forget." She said softly, half expecting him to start yelling at her about how he didn't care about any of that, but it never came, he was silent for few minutes and then he replied, "Ya know I have run away from my past for so long, that I was sure, aside from brother, I'd never see or hear of it again, now it just seems like I've ran a big circle and I'm right back where I started." His voice was low and had enough emotions it to choke a horse, Kagome felt bad and wished she could do something, so she did the only thing she knew what to do, and the one thing that her heart was telling her to do, she stood up and kneeled down next to him and hugged him, at first he was taken by surprise but then he just welcomed the comfort she offered him, and for long moments they just sat there and embraced.
His voice crashed through her thoughts as he spoke again, "I knew there was something about that horse, it could have easily hurt me or even killed me when it caught me off guard like that, but it didn't it just seemed confused, like it knew it had to protect those girls, and I was a demon, but then it just seemed to be trying to figure something out, and then after we came back, last night I was sitting in the god tree and it walked up beside it and just stood there looking at me, like it was trying to figure me out, it kinda gave me the creeps at first, but then it just laid down and stayed there, like it was protecting me, then when she told me that stuff, I didn't want to believe it, but there it was again, it came out there and stood under the tree as if on guard duty or something, then I thought it was just keeping an eye on me, that it didn't trust me, but actually this whole time it was protecting me, it was trying to figure out all that time why I smelled like my father, and then it just figured it out, and even though it has a responsibility to protect those girls because Asami's father died, it's first priority was to me, because of my father, because it knew all those years ago that my father was killed, and it tried to find me, that's why her father was gone for six months because that horse wouldn't let up on the search. Now that it's found me it won't leave me alone." Kagome stared at Inuyasha while he spoke, she was shocked that he told her all of this, let his pride down and showed her his weak side, and as he was sitting there now, he looked like a small child who was lost and confused, and she the feeling to make him feel better overwhelmed her until she thought she'd explode from the pressure of it.
The next thing she knew she was kissing him, a tiny part of her was still aware of what she was doing and screamed at her, but the voice was silenced by the rest of her, and all she could was sit inside her head and watch herself, and she realized then that he was kissing her back, very passionately. (WOOHOO!!!!!! Finally hehe) When they finally broke for air all those feeling had subsided and the only thing that was left was her, and all she could was look away and blush ten shades darker than an apple. It seemed like forever dragged by as they sat there silent, she couldn't bring herself to look at him, everything inside of her was telling her to get and run like the wind back to camp and get in bed and put the covers over her head and never come out, but her body wouldn't budge, and she was still so close to him, of course right now she could be in her time right then and it still would be too close to him. Finally after another few long minutes went by she made herself glance at him, but she was caught, when she looked up all she saw was yellow staring back at her, and the only thing she could do was stare right back. She couldn't have even thought about naming a quarter of the emotions that were flashing in his eyes right then, all she could do was watch, then as watched in absolute mind shattering absence as he cupped her chin with his hand and brushed his lips to hers. 'Oh God' she thought, 'What was he doing?' but her thoughts were cut short when she felt his lips on hers again. All she could was melt against him, he then pulled back and looked in her eyes again before grabbing her pulling her to him in a tight embrace, his head buried in her hair, her body responded and she put her arms around him, her hands entangled in his long hair, she marveled at the feel of it, she'd never really actually touched it before, it was soft and almost silky feeling and beautiful. They stayed like that for god knows how long before he finally pulled back, taking her by surprise and looking at her "Thanks Kagome, for being here." Even though her body yearned to fall back into his she smiled and responded "I'll always be here, Inuyasha, always." She then stood up and asked if he wanted to come back with her to eat. "Not right now, I really just wanna stay out here for awhile." He answered her quietly but never taking his eyes off hers. "Ok." She whispered as she patted him on the shoulder for reassurance, and started back to the Kaede's hut, but before she did she turned slightly and said "Asami was really upset when I told her what I knew, so please don't be too hard on her ok?" Inuyasha nodded and she turned and went back to the hut.
When Kagome returned to the village, she found herself the center of attention, even though she had tried to hide it everything that had just happened was plastered all over her face. The group of friends looked at her questioningly; Kagome only busied herself with cleaning up dinner, and trying not to make eye contact with anyone for any length of time. She was lost in her own thoughts when she finally noticed that someone was missing from the bunch that sound around the fire outside the hut, "Where's Asami?" She questioned no one in particular, wondering why her sidekick was not attached to her at that moment. "I'm not sure, she disappeared a little bit after you went to speak to Inuyasha, we haven't seen her since, and we just figured she needed some time alone." Sango answered her friend seeing the concern mirrored in Kagome's eyes. "I'm here." A female voice answered from somewhere behind the two girls, turning to see that thee voice belonged to Asami, but noticed that she would not look her in the eye. "What's wrong?" Kagome asked her hoping that the girl hadn't found trouble while she was missing. "Nothing," She answered simply, still not meeting Kagome's gaze, Kagome noticing this pressed on, "Where did you go?" The girl shifted uncomfortably in response to the girls prying questions. "I just needed some time to think about stuff." She answered not really convincing even herself, Kagome was taking this in and decided it best to leave the girl to herself for the time being, "Ok." She said pretending that she believed the girls story. The group sat there talking amongst themselves for a little while longer when Sango said that she was retreating to the hut for the night and Miroku had gestured the same, a few minutes more around the fire with crackling silence Kagome stood and said that she too was retiring for the night, when the girls moved to the same she put the fire out and retreated to the hut to the comfort of her sleeping bag where she could hide herself from the world and stop the raging thoughts in her head about our favorite half demon with sleep.
Later that night..........
Inuyasha quietly entered the hut, seeing that everyone was sleeping soundly he walked over to where Kagome was asleep and stared down at her. 'God she's so beautiful.' He thought but quickly squashed the thought as soon as it arose, 'What is wrong with me?' He then noticed that Shippou was curled up beside her underneath the blankets and was adorned by slender arm that wrapped around him lightly in a comforting embrace. 'Damn that kit.' Thinking how he felt jealous at the moment at seeing the kit where his body would love to be at that moment. Shocked at his own thoughts Inuyasha shook his head left the hut. Lying on his back on the roof of the hut and looking at the stars his thoughts were waging a war in his mind. 'Why am I feeling like this towards Kagome? What are these feelings that I feel when she's so close to me? I can't actually have feelings for her can I? 'No,' it had to be that he just held Kagome as a very good friend, and since he'd never had any before he wasn't sure how a friend was supposed to feel about a friend, 'Yes that must be it, these feelings are only 'friendly' ones, because I'm in love with Kikyo.' A few more moments of unquiet thoughts, he felt himself getting sleepy and his last thought before he fell into a dream world was 'Right?'