Jami – Ohmigosh! This is the third chapter already!?!? Wow, and I already have 30 reviews! Flippin' sweet! Well, here ya go… the hike, and also, I'll add some fluff! Tehe!

Here ya go…

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Chapter Three: Delusions Could Lead To Back Rubs

"So, how far have you gotten with a guy, Kagome?"

Kagome's face flushed and she unlocked her awkward gaze with Kouga. Stupid perverts! What right do they have to ask about her personal business? For one, Kagome was embarrassed at the fact that she hadn't gotten very far… at all. She hadn't even gotten her first kiss. And now these idiots surrounding her were asking her if she'd gone any further? Well now she… she felt like growling.

But instead, she plastered on a heavy, fake smile, and with glittering blue eyes, replied, "Oh, I can't tell a bunch of guys all about me? Let's talk about you, Kouga! How far have you gone?" Kagome was happy that she had changed the subject.

Kouga wrapped his arm around her shoulder and smirked. "Well," He began. "If we're on that subject…" He trailed off.

This was where Kagome basically droned him out. She let her eyes wander around her, in search of anything positively more exciting as they walked up the steep, dirt hill. The bright, evergreen trees were scattered everywhere in a stormy sea and the sky shone through the high branches.

Suddenly, her eyes found themselves staring at Inuyasha. For some reason, she thought it fascinating to dwell on the thought of him. He was annoying, rude, selfish, and not to mention had a very well toned body. But if one were to look hard enough, one could see inner depth and warmth there behind those cruel, blue gray eyes of his.

And Kagome longed to find that sense of charm shining within him. She longed to bring it out of him.

But…why? Why all of the sudden did she feel so charitable? Was it because she liked Inuyasha? Puhleeze… she had a boyfriend, duh.

And he had a girlfriend.

Kagome's shoulders slacked and she sighed, bringing back Kouga's voice to her.

"And that's how I met Ayame… good times, good times." Kagome smiled a fake smile again.

"Interesting." She lied. She had no idea what in the world he was talking about, but she didn't really want to know either.

Out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pang in her ankle. "Ouch!" She whispered, peering down at the blood trickling down her ankle. 'Must've scratched it on something…' She thought to herself.

"Hey, Kagome!" Kagome turned around to see Miroku standing behind her. Kagome waved.

"Hi, Miroku." She replied back.

"Kagome, I… ahh, really like that skirt you're wearing."

"Oh?" Kagome asked. "You want to try it on when we get back to the cabin?" Miroku grimaced and stuck his tongue out at her.

"OF course not. I was just wondering if, you know, Sango had a skirt like that…" Kagome nodded. "Maybe she brought it with her?" Kagome shook her head. "Do you think she could borrow yours to wear?" Kagome growled. Miroku backed off.

"Would you get offa me!?"

Kagome looked up ahead and saw Sango attempting to push a dreamy eyed Jin away from her. Kagome wanted to laugh, but then she also wanted to beat the crap outta that stupid, perverted Jin guy.

"Outta my way, Kouga!" Kagome pushed Kouga's arm off of her shoulder and marched up towards the quarreling two. Kouga watched Kagome's back side as it made it's way up the hill, and he began drooling. "Hey, you! Jin! What do you think you're doing to my best friend!?" She shouted at him. Inuyasha peered at the three from the corner of his eyes.

The two immediately stopped colliding.

"Kagome?" Sango questioned.

"I was only showing this beautiful creature how much I truly adore her!"

"Unbelievable! You're just plain ridiculous, Jin!" Kagome groaned. "You keep your wandering hands a great deal of a distance from her or-"

"Or what?" Jin growled.

"Or," She began. "You'll answer to me." She said through clenched teeth. She glared at Jin with her finest loathing and he stuck his nose up in the air and walked off. Kagome 'humpfd' proudly and continued to walk with Sango.

"Wow, Kagome!" Sango exclaimed excitedly. "I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Holy cow, neither did I!" Etsuo agreed from beside the two. Futoshi nodded, and Miroku waded up to the group.

"That was unbelievable, Kagome!" He added. Inuyasha stopped behind them.

"You guys are so lame. Jin's a real wimp anyway. Of course he would listen to some big eyed girl that he could easily be attracted to." He interjected.

"Are you saying you're attracted to Kagome?" Miroku nudged him in the ribs. Inuyasha blushed and held a fist into Miroku's face.

"Are you insane!? Why would I be attracted to that little bitch!?" Miroku shrugged.

"Well, she is pretty good looking I might say." Etsuo acquired, resting his hands on the back of his head as they proceeded to walk up the infinite steepness of the hill, which was strangely turning into some kind of mountain.

"Yep, nice piece of work you got there." Futoshi added.

"Aww, geeze." Inuyasha muttered. "Twisting my words… stupid perverts… beat them up…" He mumbled.

"Hey!" Kagome shouted. "I'm right here you know!" She turned around the face them all. "I can hear everything that you're-"

Out of nowhere, Kagome fell forward and landed into Inuyasha arms. She became unconscious. Inuyasha blushed furiously.

"Wha-" Miroku started. "What happened to her?" Sango whipped around to see her friend's face had fallen into Inuyasha's chest.

"Ka-Kagome!?" She ran over to her side. "Kagome!"

"She fainted over something. But what?" Etsuo asked worriedly.

"Maybe she was over heated, or she was bitten by something." Futoshi told them.

"Bitten by something!?" Etsuo, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha all shouted in unison.

"Yeah? Like a snake, or a spider."

Sango held her hand to her chest. "Oh my." She cried out weakly.

"We better get her back to her cabin." Etsuo told them.

"What has happened here?"

They all turned to see that Sesshomaru was behind them.

"Ka-Kagome fainted. We think she was either over heated or that she was bitten by something!" Etsuo began freaking out.

"Calm down, you fool!" He smacked him over the head painlessly, but Etsuo let out a whimper anyway. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. "We must get her back to the camp to rest. Someone take her back to the cabin." He ordered.

"I can't." Sango confessed. "I'm not strong enough to carry her." Her shoulders slumped.

"That's okay. I'm going to force my brother to do it anyway."

"WHAT!?" Inuyasha yelled. "Why me!?"

"Because."

"Because WHY!?"

"Number one: you're strong enough to carry her. Number two: you are both living in the same cabin. Number three: as much as I hate to admit this, I trust you. So, god damnit, you go and carry her back to the cabin and help her or I'll make it so you can't walk again!"

Inuyasha grumbled incoherently. He swiftly shifted the position Kagome had been in and lifted her legs up over his arms and began carrying her back bridal style.

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As he stomped down the long trail, Inuyasha sighed and peered down at the unconscious girl in his arms.

Kagome's features were pale and ghostly and she was sweating lightly across her forehead, reminding him to speed it up or it would be his head.

But other than her lack of color, her lips were lush and red and her mouth was lifted into a weak smile.

Studying the girl like this gave himself a small grin, and he thought, 'She looks so peaceful, even when she's like this… very… pretty…'

But he quickly shook his head of the strange thought and settled it off with a soft grunt.

He finally made it to their cabin and set her down on her bottom bunk. He took a light, white sheet and brought it over her body just before her shoulders.

Then, Inuyasha went to the water basin in the corner of the room, where they brushed their teeth. He grabbed a cloth and soaked it in cold water. He then rushed back over to Kagome and sat down on the floor beside her bed.

He squeezed the remaining drops of loose water out onto her pale, yet very feverish face and set the cloth across of her forehead.

Kagome let out a quiet moan as she stirred. She opened her eyes steadily, her long, black eye lashes meeting her brow with a flutter. Her head turned slightly to her side and met Inuyasha's blue gray eyes with her own bright blue gaze. "Inu-Inuyasha?"

"Ahh… yeah." He responded. For some lame reason he blushed at the sound of his name when she whispered it. "Sesshomaru made me take you back here to get some rest and to help you with whatever happened." He told her in an annoying immature voice as he looked away from her.

He glanced back not long after he looked away.

"Do you have an idea of what it was that made you faint?" He asked her more nicely.

Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment… or maybe she was just groggy. "Umm… I do remember bleeding from my ankle…"

Inuyasha gulped and lifted the end of the sheet by her feet. Sure enough, her ankle had a nice sized bite mark scarred there with some dried blood. He reached out and began massaging the area, feeling for anything abnormal. Her ankle was swollen… very swollen.

He heard her let out a rasped cry and he peered up at her. Her facial expression held confusion and bewilderment. "Hey, ah, Kagome? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Inuyasha!" She cried huskily. "You look so tense!"

"Wha-!? What are you-" Before he had a chance to interact, she had sat up, swung him around so he was sitting on the floor in between her legs. From on the bed, she began to give him a rather intense backrub. "Ka-Kagome!?"

"Such nice, broad shoulders!" She told him. He flushed. "You must work out!"

"Well, actually, I-"

Just then Sesshomaru, Miroku, Kouga, and Sango barged in through the cabin door and found the pair in a position they thought they'd never see.

Keeping his high cool, Sesshomaru said, "Brother! Giving orders to a poisoned girl? How cruel! Poor Kagome could die, and it would be our responsibility!"

"I could die!?" Kagome cried, letting go of Inuyasha's shoulders.

"She could die!?" The other three wailed in unison.

"Well, if we don't take immediate actions she could." Sesshomaru informed them all.

"You idiot!" Sango yelled and smacked Inuyasha over the head.

"Ow, bitch! I didn't do anything!" He shouted at her.

"Exactly my point! Kagome could die, and you're just sitting around letting her rub your back!"

"That's not my problem! She's the one who practically forced herself on me!"

"What?" Miroku interjected. "Hold the phone!" He walked over toward the three and gently pushed a palm up to her forehead. It was hot and clammy. Great. Just perfect. Absolutely b-e-a-utiful! "Kagome," He held her chin in his hand. "Are feeling okay?"

"I don't re-really feel much at all." She answered with blurry eyes. She smiled and embraced him. Miroku blushed and tensed. "Did you know that your eye becomes forty percent wider when something pleasing is seen?" Miroku grinned lecherously.

"Actually, I-" Sango didn't give Miroku enough of a chance to finish before she cracked her elbow down on top of his head.

"I think she's delirious. Otherwise, why would she even consider giving Inuyasha a backrub or glomping Miroku in such ways." She dusted off her hands. "Makes me sick."

"Hey!" Inuyasha held a fist out.

"At least she did call me sick or perverted." Kouga chuckled from behind the group.

"I ain't no pervert!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Oh yeah!?"

"YEAH!"

"Now, now, we must leave Sango to tend to her friend. Everybody out of the cabin except for the two girls."

"I thought Mister Holier-Than-Thou wanted his dearest brother to look after the bitch because he trusted him." Inuyasha whined.

"I did. But a brother that I trusted wouldn't allow some delirious wench to rub his back. Numbskull." Sesshomaru walked out of the door.

"HEY! What did you just call me!?"

"A numbskull." You could hear Sesshomaru's voice from outside.

Inuyasha growled and stomped after his brother.

Kouga sighed and picked up Miroku by the back collar of his shirt. He began to drag him out of the cabin. "C'mon, ya perverted idiot."

Once Sango and Kagome were fully left alone, Sango said, "Alright, Kagome. Just lay down and get some rest."

Kagome laid down, covering herself with the sheet. "Hey Sango?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to be a very long summer, isn't it?" Sango smiled.

"Yes, it sure is."

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Jami - Was it good enough? Sure hope so!

Just so you know, I'm sorry for not updated Slave Trade yet! What, between homework and friends and parents, it's hard to keep track of these fanfictions! Don't worry, those of you who are reading Slave Trade as well. It will get updated!

Also, if you hadn't read Slave Trade yet, I suggest you do! It's one of my better writings so far.

Buh bye!

Ja, love ya much,
Jami (piperjanepie)