AN-This is just a one shot that I thought up a while ago and have now improved on it. I hope you like it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha. :(
"Hey guys, I'm back!" shouted a girl from outside the hut.
"Kagome!" shout the young fox demon named Shippo.
"Kagome you came back earlier than expected," said Miroku.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't stay away too long because I'm sure Inuyasha would worry about me," came Kagome's reply. "May I ask how Sango is doing?"
"She's doing fine. She should be up in about a few days."
"If it was me I would have already gotten over it. A little pain can't stop me from fighting," came a voice from the roof of the hut. Kagome looked up and saw a red kimono lying on the roof peak.
"And how many times do I have to keep saying this? You have a body that heals faster than us humans," said Miroku in a tired voice.
'I guess this is an ongoing argument,' thought Kagome moving to the doorway of the hut. Looking in she saw that Sango was lying on a mat near the corner of the room away from the doorway. "If you guys don't mind would you keep it down? Sango's asleep," said Kagome entering the house quietly.
"Thank you Kagome. They have been at it non-stop since you left. I think Inuyasha is picking on him because you aren't here," came a muffled thank you from inside the hut. Guess Sango had been awake the whole time.
"I resent that," Miroku said moving into the hut followed close behind by Shippo who was asking Kagome what she had brought. Up on the roof Inuyasha took a deep breath and then froze. Sniffing the air again made him positive of what he had smelled. It was Kagome and even though she looked happy, she smelled depressed.
'Wonder what's up with her?' Inuyasha thought hopping down from the roof to look at the door. He didn't get to think too long because Miroku popped his head out the door and said, "Kagome brought back treats from her era." This put all other thoughts out of Inuyasha's head as he moved into the house.
That night when everyone was asleep, Inuyasha stayed up to watch over his companions. This time of night is when he liked to be by himself. He finally remembered what he had been thinking of after he had gotten down off the roof. 'Wonder why Kagome smelled depressed?' he thought searching his brain for a reason. 'Did she have a fight with her mom or her grandfather. I know she's had fights with her brother before. But she shouldn't be worried this much over something like that should she?'
Involuntarily Inuyasha's dog-ears twitched at a sound close by. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. Looking around he spotted the cause of the sound. It was Kagome. 'Is she crying in her sleep?' Inuyasha thought when he caught the scent of salt water on the air. He was debating whether to go wake her up when she suddenly shot up in her sleeping bag.
She started looking around while rubbing the tears from her eyes. 'I hope I didn't wake anyone up,' she thought. When her eyes were clear and she seeing that everyone, including Inuyasha, was asleep and gave a soft sigh. Lying back down she closed her eyes trying to get some more sleep.
When he was sure that she had lain back down, Inuyasha opened his eyes. He stared at her a little while longer and once again asked himself, 'Wonder what's up with her?'
The next morning everyone woke up when they heard a loud SMACK! Looking over at Sango they saw that Miroku was laying on the floor with a giant red hand mark on his face. Sango looked quite put out. "The nerve of him! Even while I'm lying in bed he still acts like a dirty old man!"
"I guess ye are feeling better though," said Kaede entering her house from going to fetch water.
"I do feel better thanks to your care Lady Kaede," said Sango sitting up in bed. "My ribs feel as good as new. I never thought that demon would be strong enough to throw my Hiraikotsu back at me." You see the last time Kagome was in Feudal Japan they had fought a giant demon that had possessed two jewel shards. They ended up winning but Sango had come out of with a few broken ribs. Since they couldn't move her very far they had decided to stay in Kaede's hut until she was better.
"Then would you mind taking this medicine to a couple in town close by? Their child has a fever," Kaede asked Sango.
"I don't mind. After being cooped up in here for the last three days, a little sunshine won't hurt me."
"And I shall accompany you Sango. You just got well and I'm sure the family wouldn't mind if I warded their house for them," said Miroku finally able to get up off the floor.
Sango looked at Miroku, seeing if he was kidding. When he picked up his staff and headed out the door, she shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm also here to protect you since I'm sure your Hiraikotsu will still put a strain on your ribs."
"That's all fine and dandy monk, but you better be good," everyone heard Sango say as they moved off down the road.
"Well now that that is on its way, I must ask ye to come with me Shippo, I'm sure I am going to need your help in the village. No Kagome, ye stay here. Ye look exhausted," said Kaede when Kagome started to get up.
"Um… ok I guess. Do you have anything that needs to be done around the house?" When Kaede shook her head Kagome looked a little confused.
"I told ye to rest. There's a storm coming so there's not much ye can do. We will be back before the rain starts to come down." Then Kaede and Shippo moved off toward the village, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome alone in the house.
"I guess I had better take Kaede's advice," whispered Kagome, "I do feel a little tired." Moving back to her sleeping bag, she tucked herself in. She heard Inuyasha go out the door. 'I guess he's going to his favorite tree,' thought Kagome as she slid into slumber.
"Don't cry Kagome, I'll be alright. Don't worry about me," whispered the voice of and old man. "Please smile, I miss you when you looked happy all the time."
The hand in Kagome's hand shook as the man in the bed let out a rasping cough that seemed to go on forever. When the coughing stopped, the old man was gasping for breath. After waiting a minute, and the old man still had not caught his breath, Kagome screamed for a nurse. When the nurse arrived and saw what was going on she turned to Kagome and said, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave miss."
When Kagome shook her head, the nurse pulled a cord and a few other nurses walked in to escort Kagome out of the room. As she struggled to stay in the room she heard the heart monitor connected to the man suddenly emit a single long note.
"No," Kagome shouted, "no, no. Help him. Don't let him die!"
"Miss you have to leave," said a nurse that was dragging her out of the room.
"No, I can't leave him, GRANDPA!"
Kagome lurched up in her sleeping bag and heard the crack of thunder outside. Looking around for the others, she only saw Inuyasha. Kaede and Shippo hadn't made it back to the hut after all. Kagome got up and walked over to the door. When Inuyasha moved out of her way, she looked out the door and saw that the rain was coming down in torrents. The ground was a mess of mud. "How long have I been asleep?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"About two hours. The rain started a few minutes ago."
Sighing Kagome leaned her head against the wood of the doorframe. Feeling her face, she saw that it was wet but thought that it was rain that the wind had blown on her face. Inuyasha knew other wise. "Kagome, what's wrong?" he asked. She had been having a bad dream he knew that, and she had started to cry again.
"Nothing's wrong. Why would you ask such a thing?" she tried to act like he was just asking a stupid question, but she couldn't hid the tremble in her voice.
"Last night and just now you woke up from a bad dream. Both times you were crying."
'So he was awake last night then. I should have known.'
When she remained silent, Inuyasha walked up behind her and asked again, "What's wrong?" She still wouldn't respond. When Inuyasha was about to grab her by the shoulder and make her look at him, he stopped. Her whole body was shaking and he was once again overwhelmed by the sadness that radiated from her body.
"I told you, nothing's wrong Inuyasha," she said trying to talk and hold back the sobs that were tearing at her throat.
"There is something wrong, I can smell it on you, you know," said Inuyasha getting a little fed up with the way she was acting.
"Inuyasha, sit," Kagome whispered, but nothing was really behind it. She just wanted to get away from him and everyone else. Inuyasha was pulled to the floor by the rosary around his neck, but unlike usual, when he hit the ground it didn't hurt and he could get up almost immediately. But Kagome still had time to run out the door into the rain.
When Inuyasha shoved the door aside, he saw that Kagome had just entered the woods. Using his demon speed he made it to the woods in no time, but he had lost sight of Kagome. Sniffing with his nose he couldn't smell anything either. 'Darn it, the rain is washing away her scent.' Choosing a direction, Inuyasha headed to the Bone-Eater's Well thinking she was trying to get back home. When he arrived, he saw that she hadn't been there. That left only one place he could think of.
Kagome ran through the woods knowing that Inuyasha would be following close behind wanting an explanation. She didn't really know where she was running to, she was running on instinct alone. While running she wasn't looking where she was going and tripped on a root. She wasn't able to regain her balance and fell on her side into the mud. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed that she was near the Sacred Tree, and under that tree was standing the last person she wanted to see. Inuyasha.
Inuyasha saw her trip and go sliding in the mud. He ran over to her and helped her up. "You sure did pick a lousy time to go mental on me," he complained, but he really wasn't mad. The look Kagome had had on her face when she saw him was enough to confirm that something definitely wasn't right. He had seen something crumble when he had looked in Kagome's eyes. He held onto her hand as they moved beneath the partial shelter that the Sacred Tree was giving them.
They sat there a long time without saying a word. This was not what she had expected. Inuyasha was just sitting there looking out into the rain letting her think. And she had a lot to think about. Kagome pulled her knees up and rested her forehead against her kneecaps. She wondered how everyone was doing in the villages and at home. Once she started to think about home, she couldn't stop. She tried to think about other things, but her mind always went back home.
Home was where her mother and brother were. Home was where Grandpa was not. He was in the hospital fatally ill. He had stayed out in the rain a few weeks ago, when it was cold, and had caught pneumonia. He hadn't told anyone at first, thinking that it would go away, but when he had collapsed at the dinner table the other night, they had called an ambulance. The doctors told them that he had a sever case of pneumonia and that he wasn't expected to live. The following day was when all the people had started to show up. First, it had been her three friends and then Hojo. Then some of her mother's friends had shown up along with the mothers of her and Sota's friends. They all looked so sad, and tried their best to cheer them up, but Kagome hadn't been able to take it anymore. She had run out of the house and jumped down the Bone-Eater's Well that connected her era to Feudal Japan. She had just wanted to come here to get away from it all and now here Inuyasha was, asking her what was wrong. She didn't want to tell him but he kept insisting.
Right next to him sat Kagome. He was giving her time to think, checking up on her every once in a while by looking out the side of his eye. One time when he looked over, he saw that she was shivering. Taking off the top layer of his kimono, he draped it over Kagome's shoulders saying, "Don't want you to catch cold."
He felt Kagome stiffen and then he smelled it, even over the rain. The wall Kagome had built around her emotions collapsed and he got the full brunt of the scent of her depression. It made him feel dizzy. Looking over quickly he saw that Kagome had buried her eyes in her hands and her whole body was shaking in sobs.
Not knowing anything else to do, Inuyasha put his arm around Kagome and held her close. Kagome hadn't felt him put his arm around her, but she did notice him when he hugged her close. "It's ok Kagome. I'll stay right here," she heard him whisper to her and then she buried her face into his shoulder and cried herself out. They both sat there, under the Sacred Tree, for quite some time. Inuyasha was still holding her when the rain stopped and the stars came out. Looking over at Kagome he smiled, she was sleeping peacefully.
Throughout the entire time that Inuyasha and Kagome had been sitting under the tree in the rain, Inuyasha had gotten a picture of what was wrong. Her grandfather was in the hospital close to death and she had run away down the well to get away from all of the people that had been coming to her house. While she was there, she had been having dreams that her grandfather had died and the people in the hospital wouldn't let her stay by her grandfather's bedside.
'Guess I had better get us home before the others get there.' Looking at the girl next to him he sighed, he didn't feel like waking her up after she had just fallen asleep. Keeping one arm behind her neck, he slipped his other arm under her knees and pushed up off the ground, careful not to wake her. When he was finally standing up, Kagome sighed and snuggled down deeper into Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha moved gently through the woods and back to the hut. When he made it inside, he sat down on the floor and let Kagome lean against his shoulder, keeping his promise to stay by her side.
When the others made it back to the house, they came inside to something they thought they would never see. Inuyasha's head was lying on Kagome's head, both of them fast asleep.
AN-Awwww, how sweet of me. I love this so much. I love complementing myself. So I hope you liked it. Please R&R.