CHAPTER SIX
x.
"Any luck?" Kagome asked.
"Not so far," Sango said, discouraged.
Kagome sighed heavily. Inuyasha was slumped in her lap like a half-empty sack of sugar, too tired to wail anymore. And Miroku had already fallen asleep on top of Kirara's back, after an afternoon of depressed whining. Sango knelt down beside the infant monk and carefully draped a small blanket over him.
"I talked to the priestess in that village," Sango finally said. "She says she didn't put up the charmed barrier, and has promised to take it down so no one else will hit it. But she did tell me who might have...."
"Who?" Kagome said. Inuyasha perked up, looking deeply interested.
"She says that there was a hermit living there until a few years ago. Apparently he lived in absolute terror of all demons, and did everything he could to stay far away from them." Sango narrowed her eyes. "That cave was one place where he stayed."
Kagome frowned. "Where is he now?"
"She said that he fled to the north about two years ago. Something about a mountain shaped like an anvil -- she can't quite remember. Apparently she didn't think it would ever be important."
"So we're going to go find him?" Shippo asked.
Inuyasha gave Shippo a filthy look. If he could have spoken, Kagome suspected that he would have snapped, "Of course we're going to find him, you little idiot!"
"Isn't there some other way to turn them back to normal?" Kagome asked.
"Apparently not." Sango picked up the drowsing Miroku and dandled him in her lap. She looked a little embarrassed, holding the notably lecherous monk that close to her. "We have to find that hermit before we can ever hope to turn Inuyasha and Miroku back to normal."
Inuyasha made a pitiful noise and buried his face in Kagome's sleeve.
x.
"Well, think about it this way," Kagome said, wrapping a thin blanket around Inuyasha's wobbly little body. "You don't have to do any fighting and get hurt for awhile. And you won't have to hunt jewel shards. It's like a vacation."
Inuyasha glared at her.
I just hope we don't run into anyone along the way, he thought darkly as Kagome put him down. The image of that mangy, fleabitten Koga came into his mind. If that rabid wolf heard that Inuyasha had been transformed into a baby, he'd be on Kagome like a... well, a wolf on a helpless young girl. And the thought of having... ANYONE see him was more than alarming.
If Koga sees me like this, I'm gonna just end it all... once I get my hands to hold a sword, he thought darkly.
Sango was curling up under a blanket, with the sleepy Miroku beside her, and Shippo behind her. The baby monk had a pensive look on his face, as if he were thinking deeply about something. And Sango just looked flustered. Inuyasha couldn't blame her -- after all, Miroku was probably still a lecher even in that form.
Suddenly he was lifted from behind. "Come on, time for bed," Kagome said.
As he was placed on Kagome's sleeping bag, Inuyasha realized what was happening. His small face turned red, and he began energetically waving his arms and making frantic "uh!" noises.
"Are you getting bashful?" Kagome said.
Inuyasha glared at her again. Even if he was a baby, he still had his adult mind. And it didn't feel... well, right.
"Come on, Inuyasha. You're going to freeze if you sleep by yourself," Kagome chided. "Besides, you're so small that an animal could just walk off with you in its mouth. And I don't want you carried of and eaten by a wolf. All right?"
Inuyasha was still flushed when Kagome curled up beside him and rested her head beside his. Dammit, I'm not gonna like this, he thought determinedly. I refuse to like it.
As if reading his mind, Kagome cuddled him from behind. And despite his best efforts, he just let himself snuggle back She felt... safe... and warm... she smelled nice... Inuyasha yawned, trying to hide it behind his fist.
TO BE CONTINUED