Yet

christielea54

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Kagome rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She'd been telling Miroku riddles as a way to pass the time while they were journeying for more shards, and so far she hadn't been able to come up with one he couldn't figure out.

"Okay," she said. "What gets wetter the more it dries?"

"Hmmm…"

She could practically see the wheels in his mind turning. Then a slow smile spread across his face and she knew he'd beaten her again.

"Why, a towel of course," he grinned.

"Right," she grudgingly admitted, but brightened as she thought of another. "What-"

But she was cut off as a roaring was heard through the trees ahead of them. It was a demon positively rampaging through the forest. Shippo hopped up on her shoulder and tried to hide behind her head. "Uh-oh!" he whimpered.

"Kagome! Get back!" Inuyasha called as he jumped into the demon's path. Sango took his right side as Miroku took his left.

The demon barely even noticed them. His blows were incredibly strong as he lashed out at them, but they were reckless. He was all over the place at once. Inuyasha's sword was even knocked away in the chaos. But that was fine by him.

"I can take you down with just my claws!" he taunted, jumping for the demon.

But the demon apparently thought he had bigger fish to fry. Like a two year old that had been distracted, he turned away from Inuyasha without a second glance. Instead his attention was on the girl with the stone hanging from her neck that was just calling to him, begging for him to take it. She was running with a beat up sword in her hands, shouting. "Inuyasha! Your sword! Inuyasha!"

The demon grabbed her in his massive paw and threw her into a nearby tree. He never even saw Inuyasha coming. It was over in a heartbeat, the demon's carcass falling to the ground lifelessly.

Everyone was running towards Kagome at once, but Inuyasha got there first, adrenaline still pumping through his system. She sat up, and he felt relief wash over him like none he had ever known. "Dammit Kagome! I told you to fucking stay back! What the hell were you thinking?!" So what if he got angry when he was worried?

She didn't answer, and they watched as her eyes became unfocused, and as a trickle of blood made its way down the side of her head.

Without even thinking about it Inuyasha rushed to pick her up and run her to Kaede's, and even her time if need be. He didn't know how to handle a situation like this himself, and it scared him senseless. In fact, Inuyasha was starting to feel overwhelmed by all the emotions suddenly and unpredictably brought to the surface by the fear of her dying. But he pushed it all away; self-defense mechanism number one. Besides, all that mattered right now was keeping her safe.

-

After Kaede had bandaged her up and proclaimed that she would be good as new with some rest, Inuyasha felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Currently he was leaning against the wall next to the futon Kagome was laying on, in the darkness of Kaede's hut, a tense expression on his face. To say that his relationship with Kagome was complex would be an understatement. And today's accident had left him with some puzzling… feelings that he would normally rather not think about. Quite honestly though, he wouldn't know what to do without her.

Kagome cracked an eye open. "Inuyasha?" she whispered.

His ears lifted up as he heard her speak. "Right here," he responded in an equally low tone. Why did dark rooms always make you feel the need to whisper?

She reached out and brushed her hand across the chest of his fire rat robes as if to reassure herself that he was really there. She'd been so scared… She dropped her head. "I'm sorry," she told him quietly.

"For what?" he asked incredulously.

"I… I should have listened to you," she admitted. "I didn't and I got hurt. I made you guys worry. God Inuyasha! I was so scared!"

He sighed. "That's the thing about you Kagome. How am I supposed to protect you if you're willing to die to save everyone around you? You're caring and generous to a fault," he accused.

Silently she took his hand in her warm one, and he wasn't sure how he'd done it, but after that she somehow ended up in his lap, his arms loosely circling her as she fell back asleep.

-

Sesshomaru had been passing through the area commonly referred to as Inuyasha's by the lower demons, when he smelt an interesting thing: his little brother's fear. It was so intense it was almost overwhelming. This was considerably odd, as Inuyasha was usually too much of an overconfident pompous ass to be afraid of anything.

He decided to go and see what all the fuss was about. Silently and regally he walked towards the disgustingly poor, small village his half-brother occasionally resided in. Stopping some distance away, his superior vision allowed him to see even so far as into the crude window of the village priestess's hut.

His brother and that bizarre girl he was traveling with were leaning against a futon, snuggled in each other's arms.

Inuyasha said that they weren't mates.

This Sesshomaru said that they weren't mates yet.

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