The wind was blowing in her face; ruffling her hair and making her close her eyes more tightly. She felt like flying, jumping lightly in the sky and then landing softly on the ground again. It felt too good to be real and despite the cold wind Kagome didn't open her eyes or try to hide her flushed face. Then she felt the strong arms that were holding her tighten their grip on her and pull her closer to someone's warm bare chest. Without thinking Kagome snuggled closer to that person.
"Is Kagome still asleep, Inuyasha?" she heard Shippo's voice but didn't make a sign to be awake.
"No." the hanyou said, his voice coming just from above her. "She's faking it."
Realization struck Kagome and her eyes shot open. She was being carried by Inuyasha – he was holding her bridal style, running trough the forest. In front of her she could see his bare chest – his haori was still on her. Although he had said that he knew that she was awake, Kagome remained still and didn't say anything. She looked to his right side and saw Sango, Miroku and Shippo riding on Kirara, whose injured back was covered with the monk's purple outer robes.
"Kagome..." she heard Inuyasha say, and lifted her head to look at him in the face. "Will you stop that?" he asked without looking at her and she saw that his cheeks were slightly red.
"Stop what?" she asked a little confused. He only made a nervous sound in the back of his throat and as Kagome looked at what she could possibly be doing, she became aware that she was lightly stroking his chest with her left hand's fingers. "S-Sorry..." she almost squeaked, pulling her hand away and turning her head to the side so he couldn't see her red face.
Inuyasha visibly relaxed and glanced at the girl in his arms for a moment. A small smile formed on his lips when he saw her slightly flushed cheeks. Quiet chuckles were heard from his friends but he ignored them and just ran faster. His smile turned to a content smirk when they started calling him to slow down.
"How long is it to the village?" Kagome asked after some time.
"We'll be there tomorrow by noon." the hanyou answered. "Kagome..." he said hesitantly.
"What is it?" she asked absently.
"Don't you want to ride on my back?" he asked quietly and the girl frowned, not understanding the discomfort in his voice.
"Um..." she didn't really have anything to say at the moment. Actually she felt better riding the way she was now.
"Ok, forget it." the hanyou finally couldn't stand it anymore and was close to loosing his temper. "J-Just stop it."
Once again Kagome looked at her hands. This time she was holding a strand of his hair and was making small circles, again on his chest. "Oh my God, Inuyasha..." she said nervously, releasing his hair and pulling her hands away. "I don't know what's wrong with me tod..."
"Inuyasha, watch out!" three worried voices were heard and the hanyou snapped his head up.
Kagome screamed as she saw the really big tree they were surely going to hit. Surprisingly, Inuyasha had the time not only to curse but to avoid the tree too. He stopped behind it and put Kagome down. She looked at him guiltily and the others just didn't know what this was all about, so they decided to stay quiet. Without saying a word Inuyasha turned his back on her and crouched. Kagome climbed on his back and he stood up ready to go.
"I am so very sorry, Inuyasha." the girl said sweetly. "Next time..."
"If you don't keep your hands to yourself there won't be a next time." the hanyou snapped and was off, leaving the rest of his friends to stare at each other blankly.
By nightfall the group was at a small village. In the richest man's house was really noisy this evening. The whole family and the servants were gathered in the main room where a young monk was performing demon extermination. A large statue of Buddha was at the far side of the room. Suddenly the monk took out a scroll and threw it at the statue. He said a quick prayer and turned to the people behind him.
"Everything is alright." Miroku said, smiling widely. "The demon is no longer in this world."
"Thank you very much, Houshi-sama." an about 40-years old man bowed at him and the rest of the people followed his example.
Later that evening in the nicest room in the house were sitting the monk, two girls, a small kitsune and a young man with dog ears. In front of each of them was their dinner and behind them were their beds. The monk was obviously very proud of himself for saving the house from a demon and the dog-eared boy was angrily muttering something under his breath.
"Oh come on, Inuyasha." Miroku said and grinned. "I found a place for us to stay after all."
"I will never get used to your ways of finding shelter." the hanyou grumbled, while putting on a new shirt.
"There was really a demon this time, Inuyasha." Kagome said and took her cup of tea.
"The only good thing is that I have a shirt now." he said and glared at her.
Kagome bit her bottom lip and didn't say anything – just started drinking from her tea to hide her slightly red face. Miroku and Sango exchanged knowing looks and the monk mentally smirked – who would've known that Kagome had it in her. In Miroku's lecherous mind the girl's stroking of Inuyasha's chest wasn't even close to innocent or an accident, like Sango had said earlier.
When everyone was ready with their dinner, they went to sleep. Kagome saw Inuyasha lay down on his bed and relaxed, closing her eyes and falling asleep. After he was sure that his friends were all sleeping Inuyasha carefully and quietly stood up and went outside. Their room had a door to the back garden and he didn't stop until he reached the small pond at the farthest side.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Inuyasha hissed through gritted teeth and fell on his knees, holding his left hand on his chest and supporting himself with his right hand. He breathed hard and stared at his reflection in the water.
He stayed still for a while. The moon light made his huddled form look strange and creepy. His hair was hanging at the sides of his head, most of it reaching the water and blurring his reflection. 'It hurts...' he thought and pressed his other hand to his chest, doubling over even more. 'Why does it hurt so much...'
The pain was unbearable and more than everything Inuyasha wanted to pass out, but he wasn't. Right now he was even ready to go to a really big rock and smack his head in it, but he couldn't move. He felt like something big and sharp was stabbing him in the chest, and the pain was spreading through his body in waves. Those waves were gradually getting stronger and lasted more and more time. He wanted to scream but no sound came out of his mouth.
Suddenly he felt a strong pulse run through his body. A familiar scent drifted to his nose and an image of Naraku flashed in front of his eyes. The pain subsided a little and Inuyasha took a deep breath. He felt the same pulse again and another image of Naraku appeared. The hanyou was left in shock and confusion. How the hell was he able to see him? Wait a minute...
"The shouki crystal..." Inuyasha rasped. Just now he remembered about it – he hadn't removed it and most likely he had absorbed it in his body. But that pain... "Kagome..." he said and desperately tried to stand up and go back to the house.
'She makes the pain go away...' he thought as he crawled toward her. The closer he was getting to her the least his chest hurt. Finally he laid next to her on her bed, moved under the covers and embraced her from behind. It wasn't long before the pain was completely gone and he slowly fell asleep.
Despite all the mental and physical exhaustion, Inuyasha didn't sleep deep. Sometime during the night he felt Kagome start to stir. His eyes immediately opened and he held his breath, waiting for her reaction. He just hoped not to startle her, because if that happened he surely wouldn't live to see the morning. Everything else, whatever it could be, he thought he could handle.
Kagome slowly started to wake up. She felt something warm and solid behind her back and strong arms were wrapped around her waist. She stiffened, her eyes shot open and she started at the darkness in front of her. He brain was still numb from sleep and the stress and she didn't know that to do, she even didn't have the courage to move her head and see who was behind her. Slowly her hands moved to those who were holding her and she felt long sharp claws on the fingers.
"I-Inuyasha..." she said quietly, her voice slightly shaky and filled with uncertainty.
"Let me stay like this, please." she heard the hanyou's voice close to her ear and felt her heartbeat quicken. "You can sit me tomorrow. I promise I won't yell at you." he said and buried his face in her hair, tightening his arms around her, as if afraid that she was going to push him away.
Kagome didn't say anything. She just laid there still and if she could stiffen more than she already was she would have. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it was going to explode. She had only dreamed of being so close to Inuyasha and now when her dream had actually come true and she was supposed to be happy, she was acting like a complete idiot. Suddenly she felt his warm breath on her neck as he sighed deeply. A wave of calmness went through her whole body and she relaxed.
"Why are you doing that, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked after a while but he didn't answer. "Inuyasha?"
He sighed again, not moving his face away from her neck. "'Cause it feels nice to be with you."
Kagome's eyes widened in shock and surprise. She had never expected such an answer from Inuyasha. She knew he cared a lot about her, after what he did when he thought that she was dead, and it was close to the mind to guess why he wanted to hold her like that. But she also knew that he would never admit something like that, well until now. So, after receiving an answer from him that was not something like 'Go to sleep.' or ''Cause I want so.' Kagome was caught completely unprepared. Actually she had asked him only for his own comfort, expecting to hear one of the mentioned answers, or something similar.
"Now go to sleep." Inuyasha said, startling her out of her thoughts. "I don't want to hear complains tomorrow."
'Oh, well...' Kagome sighed in relief. 'I thought he had gone mad...' she couldn't help but smile at the thought of Inuyasha talking to her openly about himself.
"It's good to know..." she said, not paying attention that she was speaking aloud.
"And don't you dare move your hands." he said, almost growling and took her hands in his, making her give out a surprised sound and wince involuntary.
TBC