Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Notes to my reviewers:

Kaoru Mitsumi-sama : Someone did tell me that my story sucked, but your review made me feel better : )

Spike of Doom : Thanks for being honest

Captured Moon : I don't really know what it was about your review that inspired me, but it did. Thanks. Have fun on your trip.

KiLaLa, Kagome's Daughter : My hair used to be a brown / blond. It was really boreing, I needed something new and wild.

Commitmentette : ... maybe...

Chapter Twenty-three: One Hell of a Stomach Flue

Inuyasha had gone another night without sleeping. The sun was just starting to rise when he noticed Shippo walking back into camp. "Back from your friends so soon." He mumbled. Shippo gave him a small wave and walked into Kaede's house.

"Where were you?" Miroku and Sango asked the second Shippo entered.

"Didn't Inuyasha tell you?"

"Yeah, but usually you don't stay out all night." Sango said.

"Sorry." Shippo mumbled before curling up in his little bed and going to sleep. He slept through most of the morning and woke up alone just before noon. He stretched his arms before walking outside and seeing that Inuyasha still hadn't moved from his spot.

"Inuyasha." He called out.

"Hmm."

"Why do you just sit around all day?"

"Because, I don't see any reason to get up. What's the point?"

Shippo jumped onto a branch not very far away from Inuyasha's spot. "Do you want to know what happened when I talked to Kagome."

"You talked to her?" Inuyasha was a little bit jealous.

"Yeah. I got to the den and found her in some kind of bedroom."

"Bedroom? Was Kouga there?"

"Well, he came in later, but mainly it was just me and Kagome."

"D-Did she say anything about me?"

"Kind of. I told her that you missed her."

Inuyasha's ears twitched up a little bit. "Really. What did she say?"

"She seemed confused a little bit."

"Confused? Why?"

"She said something about you always being mean to her."

Inuyasha thought back to the day Kagome left with Kouga. "Yeah, I remember her saying something like that to me."

"That's why," Shippo continued, "I think this is all Kikyou's doing."

"What?"

"I think Kikyou gave her some kind of potion or did some kind of magic to make her forget about you."

"How do you know?"

"When I told her about all the times you were nice to her, she didn't know what I was talking about. Then she started crying and Kouga told me to leave."

"Shippo!" Sango called out Shippo's name. She walked under the tree and was a little surprised to see him and Inuyasha having a conversation. "I hate to break this up, but I need Shippo for a second."

Shippo jumped down from the tree and landed in the spot Sango was standing. "What do you need me for?"

"I want to cook lunch, but I need a demon's nose to find a certain herb for me. Will you do it?"

"Sure."

Inuyasha stopped listening to what the two of them were saying and sorted trough the information Shippo had given him. He had decided that Shippo was right, Kagome's memory had somehow been tampered with. After mentally beating himself up for not realizing this sooner, he tried to think of something he could do about.

He didn't even notice that Sango had been calling him till she tossed a small rock at his head.

"Ouch. What!"

"Lunch time."

"I'm not hungry."

"Inuyasha! You will eat!" she yelled.

"No I won't!" he yelled back.

Sango tossed her arms in the air after giving up on their little argument and started to walk back into Kaede's, "Inuyasha, you'll have to eat something soon."

"Feh."

"Will Inuyasha be joining us for lunch?" Kaede asked when Sango stepped inside the house.

"No." She sat down next to Miroku and started eating her share. Outside Inuyasha drifted off into his own world, not really paying any attention to what was going on around him, until something snapped him back into reality.

Am I going crazy he thought to himself as he sniffed the air or is that Kagome I smell. He jumped down from the tree and took a deep breath in. "Yes, she is here," he said to himself "I can smell her."

He started running in the direction that he scent was coming from. He had more energy then he thought, considering the amount of sleep he had gotten over the last month. He kept running until he finally found Kagome sitting by the river, she seemed to be looking down at her reflection.

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Kagome woke up just as the sun started to come down through the trees. She stretched a little before sitting up. Sometime in the middle of the night she had set up a little camp and slept. Unlike Shippo, she decided not to spend the entire night traveling.

She stood up and looked around her. Oh, I'm only half an hour away from Kaede's house she thought happily. She didn't realize she had traveled so far last night. The thought of seeing Inuyasha again had kept her motivated.

After getting dressed, she packed up her blanket and started walking again. She followed the river most of the time and didn't stop walking till her stomach started acting up again. This time is was worse then before, she actually knew that she would throw up.

She dropped her backpack on the ground and ran into the bushes. After the whole disgusting ordeal was over she walked back to the river and sat down.

The first thing she did was reach into her backpack and pull out her toothbrush and toothpaste. The taste in her mouth was absolutely horrible. She used the water from the river to wash out the toothpaste then placed her stuff back into her bag.

She looked down at her reflection to see if she looked pail or anything when she heard a voice behind her. "K-Kagome." It was Inuyasha.

She stood up and smiled at him. "Inu-" she started to talk, but he moved next to her in what seemed like the blink of an eye and brought her closer for a kiss. Good thing I brushed my teeth Kagome thought to herself as Inuyasha's tongue slipped past her lips.

He had his arms wrapped tightly around her, almost like he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go. They broke apart only for air, Inuyasha was about to lean in for another kiss, but Kagome stopped him.

"I'm gonna be sick." She mumbled and ran off again into the bushes.

"Are you alright?" he asked when she came back.

"Yeah," she sat down and brushed her teeth again, "I have the flue." When she was finished she put everything back into her bag and stood up. She walked closely to Inuyasha and buried her face in his chest.

He nuzzled her neck a little bit, "Kagome, I missed you so much."

"I know, I'm sorry." She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to listen to his heartbeat, she hadn't realized how much she missed it.

"You just left. I thought you hated me."

"I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry."

"I love you." Inuyasha said. He practically ignored her apology.

"I love you too." She hugged him tightly.

Inuyasha kissed the top of her forehead, "Come on. Sango just got done cooking lunch." He held her hand the whole time that they walked back.

Kagome glanced up at Inuyasha every few minutes. He looked different from the last time she saw him. He was a little thinner and he looked really tired. "Inuyasha, are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"You look different."

"I haven't been eating and sleeping as much as I should."

"Why."

He shrugged his shoulders a little bit; "I didn't feel like it. Not without you around."

Kagome placed a hand over her heart, "Oh Inuyasha. If you starve to death one day, I'm gonna feel really guilty."

Inuyasha smiled as he and Kagome made the rest of the way to Kaede's house. When they got in they were both surprised to see that Kaede, was in fact, the only person there, "Where is everyone?" Inuyasha asked.

"They went for a walk," she glanced up expecting to only see Inuyasha, but was pleasantly surprised to see Kagome standing next to him. "Kagome! It so good to see you." She gave her hug.

While in that hug Kaede whispered in her ear, "Try to get Inuyasha to eat and take a nap." Kagome nodded and served herself two plates of food. She sat down and leaned against the wall.

Inuyasha took the spot next to her and Kaede started to walk out the door. "Where are you going?" Kagome asked.

"I think that Miroku, Shippo, and Sango would like to know you're back." The she left.

Kagome laughed a little bit, "Did everyone miss me that much?"

"Yeah."

Kagome handed Inuyasha one of the plates and watched him take the first bite before eating her own. The food was really good, much better then anything given to her in the wolf's den.

Inuyasha ate his food quickly, then spent most of the time starring at Kagome. She looked up, noticed his eyes, and blushed. "What?" she giggled a little bit.

"N-Nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

"Nothing. It just, for a second, you seemed different."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, you just had a certain sparkle in you eyes."

Kagome smiled and tugged on his shoulder, "Ok, now lay down."

"Why?"

"Kaede wants me to get you to take a nap."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but finally decided to give in. He laid down, using Kagome's lap as a pillow. Kagome reached down and rubbed his ears while he slept. Silence filled the little house for about 20 minutes.

Kagome heard the faint sound of Sango's voice, she was yelling out to Shippo, telling him to slow down. She wondered what that meant until Shippo burst into to the room. "Kagome!" he screamed.

The loud voice or the small demon caused Inuyasha's eyes to snap open. "Shut up runt." He mumbled, he was a little grumpy that Shippo had woken him up in such a rude way.

"Sorry." Shippo said a little softer.

"Whatever." He responded. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Shippo took this opportunity to leap into Kagome's arms. "I knew you'd come back."

Kagome laughed.

"Kagome!" Miroku and Sango yelled when they entered the house.

"Stop yelling!" Inuyasha growled, covering his ears.

Miroku and Sango ignored him while they hugged Kagome. Inuyasha would have complained about being ignored, but he was too happy to have Kagome back. Everyone seemed a lot happier now.

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The entire group spent the whole day enjoying the outdoors. They went for walks, played games, even swam a little bit. Inuyasha was almost like Kagome's shadow. He always walked next to her or behind her. He always sat down next to her. He hardly ever left her side.

She only complained about it once. When she did he told her that he was just making up for lost time. Kagome thought that was one of the sweetest things he had said to her all day (other then I love you').

Dinner was later then normal. Kaede and Sango wanted to go to special lengths to cook some of Kagome's favorite foods. Everyone ate while chatting about random things, while avoiding the subject of where Kagome had been the past month. It almost seemed like it never happened.

Shippo fell asleep halfway through dinner, so Kaede took him to a different room to sleep in. Sango and Miroku decided it was getting late and they went to sleep too. "Aren't you going to bed?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, "You must be really tired."

Inuyasha shrugged, "Not really."

"Alright." Kagome grabbed something from her backpack then started to walk out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked.

"You can follow me if you want." She replied.

He eventually did follow her, wondering the whole time where they were going. After a few minutes of walking Inuyasha found that he was at the hot springs. Kagome had her back to him when she started to pull off her shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a bath. I must smell like wolfs."

"D-Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"You don't have to." She said.

Inuyasha watched Kagome. She finished undressing then walked into the spring. He sat down in the grass and tilted his head to the side. The moon light reflected in the water, making it look like Kagome was bathing in a white glowing light.

She reached for the item she had brought along. It turned out to be a bar of soap with a small hand towel wrapped around it "Do you want to join me?" Kagome asked as she lathered the cloth up with soap.

It took a little while for Kagome's words to register in his mind. He smiled at her boldness and quickly decided to join her. When he was waist deep he reached out and pulled Kagome closer to him for a kiss.

Kagome wrapped one arm around his neck; it felt so good to be back in his arms. When they broke apart for air Kagome held the soapy cloth higher. "Would you like to do the honors."

"Honors of what?"

"The honors of washing the scent of wolfs away."

Inuyasha smirked a little bit, "Gladly." He lifted Kagome up and held her just above the water with one hand, then took the cloth into his other hand. He squeezed it a little bit causing suds to come out then started by bringing it to her face.

He gently rubbed it over her forehead, nose, and cheeks. He ran his finger gently along her lips before moving on to her neck. He was a little impressed at how good he was doing, considering that he only had one free hand.

Kagome was enjoying this massage. Inuyasha's hands were a lot softer then they looked and they felt really good against her skin.

Inuyasha loved the look of relaxation on Kagome's face as he rubbed along her collarbone and shoulders. His hand moved to one of her breast, rubbing it lightly and playing a little with her nipple, causing it to slightly harden.

Kagome moaned a little bit, he smiled, knowing it was him that caused it. He moved to her other breast and repeated the same process. He could pick up a little bit of lust in her scent and tried not to laugh. He moved on, rubbing the area just below her breast and over her stomach. He liked the small gurgling noise that Kagome stomach made when he put pressure on it.

When he got his fill of that cute sound his hands roamed down to her hips. He rubbed them a little bit while slowly moving inward. Kagome took in a sharp breath when Inuyasha's hand roomed over that special spot on a female.

Pleasure shot through her entire body, "Inuyasha." Her voice shook as she spoke.

Inuyasha smiled. He slid his hand gently along her legs. "You have really soft skin." He mumbled. When he was done massaging her entire body he dipped her under water, washing all the soap away.

While under water Kagome moved out of Inuyasha's arms. He looked around for her for a few seconds till she reemerged. When her head was once again above the water, she instantly brought Inuyasha closer to her for a kiss.

Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up and moved her to the grass. When she felt the grass beneath her she opened her eyes and looked up at Inuyasha. "Hold on." She whispered.

Kagome pushed Inuyasha so that he was laying on the grass beside her then started to place kisses on his neck. He tried to run his fingers through her hair for a little bit, but he was finding hard to concentrate on anything.

She made a trail of kisses going down his chest and kept going farther and father down. Inuyasha let out a moan when her mouth finally reached that spot that his body had been yearning for

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Shippo walked out of Kaede's house early in the morning. He saw Kagome digging around in her backpack for something. "Kagome." He called out to her.

She looked up at him and brought her finger up to her lips. "Inuyasha is still sleeping." She said in a loud whisper. She motioned for him to follow her so that they would be out of Inuyasha's earshot.

After they had walked for a few minutes Shippo decided it was safe to talk. "When I woke up this morning, I thought yesterday had been a dream. I was worried that you hadn't really come back."

Kagome bent down and hugged him. "I'm sorry Shippo. I won't leave again. I promise."

Shippo noticed that Kagome smelled like Inuyasha again, but this time he didn't care. It meant that she didn't hate him anymore.

"Kagome,"

"What?"

"You look different."

"Different?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Your eyes are sparkling."

"They are?" Kagome smiled and remembered that Inuyasha had said the same thing to her last night. "I wonder why?"

"Maybe you're in a good mood or something."

"Maybe"

They walked to the river where Kagome sat down and did her morning activities, (brushing her teeth, washing her face, etc.). Shippo watched and waited for her to finish up. "Are you ready to go back?" he asked when she finished.

"Yeah." Kagome stood up, but had to sit back down when a lightheaded feeling came over her.

"Are you ok?" Shippo asked.

Kagome closed her eyes. She would have told Shippo Yeah I'm fine, just give me a minute.', but she didn't want to open her mouth.

"I'll get Inuyasha." He said and ran off before Kagome could stop him. Once he was gone she decided to lay down and wait for the feeling to pass, like it always did. The warm morning sun made her feel a little better. It took a few minutes, but Inuyasha did come to see if she was all right.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" He sat down next to her and ran his fingers through her bangs. Shippo was sitting on his shoulder.

"Nothing. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. My stomach hurts a little, that's all."

"Still..." Inuyasha reached down and started to rub it.

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked.

"When I was a kid, my mom would always do this when I felt sick."

Kagome smiled. Inuyasha usually didn't talk about his mom very much, he had so many painful childhood memories. She was kinnda glad he had at least one good one. "Thanks." She mumbled, "It dose feel better."

"Why did it hurt? Did you eat something strange?"

"No I have a stomach flue I think."

"What do you mean by, you think'?"

Kagome looked away from Inuyasha, what do I mean? she asked herself. "Inuyasha, I think I might go to my time for a little while."

"Why?" he didn't want her to go so soon after returning from the wolf's den.

"There's something I need to find out."

"Ok." He said sadly "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No." she said quickly. "I mean," she tried to recover, "I'll only be gone for a few hours."

"Fine," he sighed. "Hop on. I'll take you to the well."

Shippo and Inuyasha watched as Kagome disappeared down the well. "Why do you think she didn't want you to go with her?" Shippo asked.

Inuyasha smacked him on the back of the head then walked off. "Awww, Inuyasha I thought you have somehow become above and beyond the need for physical violence."

"What?"

"You hadn't hit me in a while. I thought maybe Kagome had finally thought you some manners."

Inuyasha made a fist, "Do you want me to make up for lost time?"

"No." Shippo said quickly. Inuyasha laughed and headed back for Kaede's house.

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Kagome sat in walked into her bedroom holding a small brown paper bag. When she arrived home she found that everyone was gone. Normally she would have been upset, but this time she was a little relived.

She took the first cab she could get a hold of and went to an out of town shop where she could do her shopping without any of her friends sneaking up on her.

Now that she was back in her room she was really nervous. She opened the paper bag and pulled out what she had bought, a pregnancy test. "Well," she whispered to herself, "Let's see if this is simply one hell of a stomach flue or something more."

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Well, that was chapter 23 for you, I hope you liked it.

I would really like to get a high number of reviews how about 20. I want 20 reviews, but I'll settle for 10.

Lots of Love Daydreamer62386