It was around noon and the sun was high in the sky. Kaede was in her hut, preparing tea. Inuyasha was lying still on Kagome's sleeping bag, covered with his haori and with a wet cloth on his forehead. The girl was nowhere to be found.
Strangely, the floor in front of the door was wet and there was placed a rag to take up the water. Kagome was just entering the hut, holding a bucket full with water, when suddenly Inuyasha's eyes shot open. The girl shrieked and only Kaede's not very quick but effective reaction stopped the bucked from falling on the floor and spilling the water.
"That's the third time!" the girl almost screamed at the hanyou. She obviously didn't care that he couldn't even hear her let alone respond to her. Then she turned toward the old Miko. "Why is he doing that?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation Kaede was barely holding back a smile but managed to give Kagome a serious answer. "It seems that he is reacting to your presence." she explained while placing the bucked by the fire and sitting down.
"It's creepy." the girl whimpered as she went to sit next to the hanyou.
"Don't look at him." the old woman suggested, shrugging.
"How can I not look at him when he is in front of me?" Kagome asked and sighed in relief when she saw Inuyasha slowly close his eyes.
"Here, have some tea." Kaede said and gave her a small cup.
"Thank you, Kaede-baachan." the girl smiled. "And I'm sorry for the floor. I'll be more careful the next time."
"Don't worry about that, child." the old Miko said with a smile. "You better have some rest. I will watch Inuyasha."
Being really tired Kagome didn't protest and went to the futon Sango usually slept on and lied down. She watched Kaede prepare some herbs, more tea and some soup, for a while. Then she looked at Inuyasha and hypnotized by the steady rise and fall of his chest she quickly fell asleep.
"So you can stop for Kirara to rest but for us..." Miroku was grumbling but was cut short.
"I told you that this doesn't work on me, Houshi-sama." Sango glared at him while stroking the small cat demon's head, which was curled in her lap.
"Alright..." the monk sighed and sat next to the demon exterminator, on the grass by the road.
It was early evening and the group of four had decided to stop to rest for a while. Kirara had been flying almost the whole day and it was understandable that she was tired. Only Shippo wasn't – he had been sleeping the whole time on Miroku's shoulder. His friends wandered how he could hold on while he slept but quickly gave up.
"Are we there?" the small kitsune yawned, finally waking up.
"No." Miroku answered and looked at the sky. "Maybe around midnight..." he said and looked at Sango for a second opinion.
"Yeah." she said, also looking at the sky. "If we don't stop anymore..."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shippo jumped in front of his friends and Kirara gave him a soft but somewhat warning growl.
"We will go once Kirara is rested enough to continue." Sango said firmly and the cat demon leaned to her touch, mewing quietly.
Shippo sighed sadly and went to sit next to Miroku. They stayed like that for a while and when Kirara was ready to go they were off in the sky. The sun was just setting when suddenly Sango spotted Kouga drinking water from a small spring. She showed him to her friends and they decided to land and ask him what had happened in the village.
"Oh, hi guys!" he waved at them when he saw them.
"Don't give me this." the demon exterminator stomped toward him with Hiraikotsu behind her back.
"What's wrong?" the wolf demon was confused. "The cat came to take you... What's the problem?"
"You haven't told Kagome-chan that Inuyasha is possessed by a dream demon!" Sango almost growled at him and it was even scarier than a demon's growl.
"Ah, I knew I forgot something..." Kouga gave her a nervous laugh and brought one hand behind his head, making a step backward as the demon exterminator approached. "But it wasn't my fault!" he tried to defend himself.
"And how is that so?" Miroku joined Sango's side and narrowed his eyes at the wolf demon.
"Inuyasha had totally gone insane." he started. "If it wasn't Kagome's 'sit' command he would've killed me this time for sure."
"So, you got scared." Shippo said with a smirk.
"N-N..." Kouga stammered and his words died in his throat.
"What about Kaede-sama?" Miroku asked, this question bringing Kouga back to his senses.
"What about her?" the wolf demon only looked more confused.
"Didn't she tell you anything?" the monk asked again, starting to get impatient.
"Kagome was alone there...with the cat." Kouga said and frowned at the worried looks the people in front of him suddenly got. "What the hell is that all about? Is it really so serious?"
"Yes, it is." Sango said and turned to walk toward Kirara with Shippo jumping on her shoulder. "And the cat's name is Kirara." she yelled over her shoulder.
"And you are coming with us." Miroku added and grabbed Kouga by the pony-tail.
Not long after Kagome had fallen asleep she woke up again. She looked at her wristwatch and frowned – only two hours. Kaede wasn't in the hut and the girl wondered where she could have gone. Well, at least there wasn't any change in Inuyasha's condition. That in some way was good because it meant that the demon couldn't break through the hanyou's barrier but it also was, like Kagome had said earlier, creepy.
"Miroku-sama, come here faster." she whimpered quietly and hugged her knees close to her chest. Soon she fell asleep again, in this position.
"Kagome..." Kaede's voice startled the girl and...
Thud!
"Ow..." Kagome was on the floor with another bump on the head. "Not again..." she groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"Are you alright?" the old woman went close to her and looked at where she had hit her head.
"No..." the girl said and winced in pain as Kaede touched the bump. "Where is Miroku-sama? I can't stand it anymore..."
"Calm down, Inuyasha is alright." the old Miko said and gave Kagome a wet cloth to put it on her head. "The demon can't do anything to him while he is in this condition..."
As if to prove her that everything had its exceptions the hanyou suddenly convulsed and his eyes shot open. The two women stared at him startled. His sharp intake of breath and another convulse made them immediately go to him. His whole body was shaking, he was sweating, his eyes were rolled up and he couldn't seem to take a proper breath.
"What's wrong with him?" Kagome cried, loosing her composure, and trying desperately to stop him from moving.
"The demon is breaking free..." Kaede said and hurriedly went to a pile of herbs by the door. "It wants to get out of his body."
"Well, isn't that a good thing?" the girl asked, searching for hope in the old woman's eyes.
"No." the old woman answered and having found the herb she needed returned to the convulsing hanyou, who looked like he was suffocating. "If the demon gets out, Inuyasha will surely die."
"Then do something!" Kagome yelled and if there weren't tears in her eyes Kaede would have been really insulted by the way the girl was acting toward her.
"Hold him still." the old Miko ordered and started to squeeze the herbs in a small bowl. "And stay away from his mouth." as she said that, from the herbs started to leak some kind of green liquid.
Kagome did as she was told and stayed as far away from his mouth as she could. Considering the fact that she was holding him from practically hitting them it wasn't an easy thing. But after a short time his struggles started to calm down and his breathing became shallower. By Kaede's worried look she knew that this wasn't good.
After all the liquid was squeezed out of the herbs into the bowl, Kaede took it and moved closer to Inuyasha. She managed to open his mouth and poured every drop of the liquid in. Soon after that the hanyou calmed down and his breathing turned back to normal. His eyes slowly closed and his body relaxed.
"That was close, wasn't it?" Kagome sighed and sat back.
"Yes, it was." the old Miko answered. "Hopefully there won't be another fit like this."
"Why?" the girl frowned at the strange tone of Kaede's voice.
"Those were my last herbs of this type." she explained. "They don't grow in this time of the year."
Kagome didn't say anything. She just sat next to Inuyasha and kept watching him. 'Don't you dare scare me like that again.' she threatened him in her mind. 'You have to hold on. There is no other option for you.'
The hours were passing slowly, one after another, Inuyasha's condition was still the same, Kaede hadn't left the hut even once since the last incident and Kagome again had fallen asleep sitting. The old Miko shook her head and smiled at the sleeping girl. She thought of waking her up but she didn't want to deal with an irritated and tired Kagome right now.
The sun had already set and it was close to midnight. Kagome had just fallen again and had a third bump on her head. Then the two women heard noise coming from outside the hut. They heard voices and immediately recognized first Kouga, who was apologizing; then Sango, who was speaking rather violently at the wolf demon; then Miroku, who was trying to calm the demon exterminator down but wasn't succeeding; and then Shippo, who was urging his friends to hurry and enter the hut.
Kagome rushed outside and ran to the others. After some quick 'Hello's and an even quicker explanation of what was happening everybody were in the hut. Understanding that Kouga had known what the problem was Kagome turned her angry eyes to him and the poor wolf demon lost all hope that he could have at least one chance with her.
"I will deal with you later." she said coldly and pointed the place by the door.
"Sorry..." he said quietly and went to sit to the pointed place.
"Houshi-dono, you know what to do." Kaede said and Miroku nodded, taking an ofuda from inside his robes. "Now I will wake him up." after that the old Miko lifted Inuyasha's head a little and poured some strange smelling tea in his mouth.
TBC