Hm... haven't updated this for a while... sorry. I've just had a really busy week with finals and all that great stuff. Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate it!

Poisoned

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"We're here!" Shippo cried happily, jumping into a large mound of sand.

'Here' was a wide shoreline, carpeted with a vast expanse of golden sand, twinkling like crystals. The ocean's waves crashed gently onto land, spraying all bystanders with a shower of frosty saltwater.

"It's beautiful," Kagome whispered, watching the fiery red sun's reflection in the aqua water. "But," she took a quick glance around. "There doesn't seem to be much people around here."

She heard a snort, and whipped around to glare Inuyasha square in the face. 'You'd think becoming a king would compel him to be more polite,' Kagome sighed with frustration.

"It's a reserved island," Inuyasha said meaningfully, as if that explained all. Seeing Kagome's comprehending look, he said exasperatedly, "I own this island. Nobody lives here. This is my holiday home."

Kagome's eyes widened impressively, earning a smirk from the king.

Suddenly, Miroku came up from behind them and bopped Inuyasha on the head. "Hurry up!" he commanded. "I want to come back to the beach some time today," he added, when he thought Inuyasha was paying attention. Inuyasha hardly spared the monk a glance whilst punching him.

"Well, he's right," Sango offered, causing Miroku's eyes to twinkle. "If we don't hurry up and get our things to the inn we won't be able to come back to the beach before dark."

"The beach..." Kagome murmured. Yes, now was when she could finally relax. And forget everything that had happened to her.

"Took you long enough," Inuyasha grumbled in Kagome and Sango's direction. He spared a glance towards them. Kagome was wearing a bikini top and beach shorts, both a sapphire blue, with a pale yellow flower print.

"Stop staring," Kagome commanded, although she felt her own eyes lingering on Inuyasha's bare chest.

Inuyasha snorted, "Feh. There's nothing on you worth looking at."

Kagome turned a deep shade of red, matching that of a tomato.

"You JERK!"

Sango whirled around quickly. Upon seeing Kagome slap Inuyasha square in the face, she winced slightly. "That looks like it hurt," she decided, not bothering to restrain the grin that was spreading on her face. "He probably deserved it, though."

"Deserved what?" Miroku piped up beside her.

Sango gave him a sugary smile, "Something you will be getting if you don't take your hand off my butt NOW!"

Miroku shrunk back a little, but otherwise didn't change his position.

::SMACK::

"And you'd think he'd learn," Sango muttered to herself, leaving behind a writhing Miroku. She flicked dust off her black one-piece swimsuit.

Sango walked over to Inuyasha and Kagome, only to find both of them with child-like angry expressions on their faces, Inuyasha stiffly sitting back in a chair, and Kagome seated on the ground, silently brushing sand this way and that with her fingers.

"Oh please," Sango rolled her eyes. "You two are so immature. What happened this time?"

"Inuyasha's being a jerk," Kagome spoke first.

"Well, that's new," Sango said sarcastically.

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Inuyasha growled. "If you don't learn to respect me then I could have you burned to death for all I care."

Sango flipped her hair back carelessly, "And then everyone would see how cruel you were and there would be a revolution, ending with your beheading."

"Feh."

"Don't use that word!" Kagome said in annoyance, shaking her head. "It sounds so uncivilized." After a moment, she added, "And it's really annoying."

Inuyasha turned on her, his face expressionless. "Who are you to be saying things like uncivilized?" he snapped. "Last time I checked, it was you who arrived on my doorstep with your clothes nearly torn off you. Doesn't sound exactly civilized to me, madam," he challenged, a smirk approaching.

Sango shook her head. Inuyasha got over things fast. That was one thing he was good at. That and pissing people off.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the hanyou. "Why?" she asked in a bare whisper, and Inuyasha was surprised to find that her expression had softened, looking slightly hurt. "Why do you only do this to me? Do you hate me?"

Inuyasha had never been one to be great at comprehending emotions, and so he said the first thing that came to mind. "It's fun to make fun of you, wench." It made sense to him.

Sango slapped a hand to her forehead. 'Well, that was the wrong thing to say.' "I'll be tanning over there if you need me," she said, gesturing a place a few meters off. 'It's too tense over here,' she added to herself.

Sango walked off towards the direction she had implied.

For a while, an uncomfortable silence hovered over the area where Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting.

Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing noise.

Kagome winced, and averted her eyes sharply to her arm, where a passing insect had bit her. But the pain it inflicted on her made it feel much worse than a simple bug bite.

Inuyasha noticed Kagome's eyelids droop drowsily suddenly, and saw her slowly lose her liveliness. 'What's wrong with her?' he wondered.

"Let me see that," asked Inuyasha, who, to Kagome's surprise, was crouching on the sand next to her.

"It's just a bug bite, it's nothing," she insisted.

Inuyasha took Kagome's arm anyway, and his grip was soft. She could feel his strangely long nails brush against her skin.

"Shit," he muttered, causing Kagome to look at him.

Inuyasha looked troubled, and he was examining her arm carefully.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked hoarsely.

"There's a strange smell mixed in with your blood," Inuyasha said, looking at Kagome gravely. "This isn't a regular bug bite. You were bitten by a Saimyoushou."

Kagome wrinkled her brow in confusion. "And what may that be?" she asked, trying to keep things light. But it frightened her how serious Inuyasha suddenly sounded. 'Not like his usual self...'

"It's a kind of insect created by someone by the name of Naraku," Inuyasha said, oblivious to the way Kagome sat up sharply at the sound of the familiar name. "You have something Naraku wants," Inuyasha said, slamming his fist into the sand. "Shit..."

"I have something he wants?" Kagome said uncertainly.

"And when the saimyoushou bit you," Inuyasha explained, avoiding contact with Kagome's eyes. "It left some of its poison running in your blood."

"Poison?"

Inuyasha suddenly looked very tired. "Yeah, you only have until sunset to live, at the longest."

Kagome's face turned pale. Inuyasha studied her out of the corner of his eyes as the color drained from her face.

'Well, I feel like shit now for telling her,' Inuyasha slammed a fist into the sand.

"Is something wrong?" Miroku asked cheerfully, walking over, clearly surprised by the odd silence.

"She just got bitten by a saimyoushou," Inuyasha said, his voice weary.

Miroku's eyes widened. "But that means she'll...?"

Kagome felt tears prick at her eyes. The air suddenly seemed so stifling.

AN: This was a short chapter. Sorry, I promise I'll update soon. REVIEW PLEASE!