They all surrounded the campfire. Everyone was resting except for him. He could never sleep. He couldn't deal with the thought of one of his companions suffering because he had decided to indulge in some rest.
Plus, he wasn't like those weak humans. He didn't need to sleep! He was a half demon! Screw sleep! Screw comfort!
Still, sitting by the campfire by himself, sometimes he got lonely. Lonely and paranoid.
It would start out with little things. The fire would crackle and his ears would swivel in that direction. Then a tree limb would break in the distance and his ears would shoot off in another direction. He never moved his body, and to those who were unsuspecting, it seemed like he was asleep, but he wasn't. He was just waiting.
Waiting for a fight.
This night was particularly bad. He was tired. He, a half demon, was actually worn out. Worn out wasn't actually the correct phrase. He was exhausted. The battle he had been through earlier had actually made him crave unconsciousness (he had been literally run through with a demon fist...always a crowd pleaser), but he was staying up to watch over Kagome. She had had a rough time as well.
He was completely anxious. The demon they had fought earlier was tough to subdue, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was going to come back for another round. He saw the demon's body rot away after Kagome had retrieved the shard, but he just couldn't shake this nervousness that was plaguing his thoughts. He thought he heard something to the left. NO! It was to the right!
He looked up and around him. There was nothing he could see, nothing he could smell. That didn't ease his mind though. He swivelled his ears in all directions to see if he could catch any hint of danger.
He thought he felt a presence behind him and almost got up and took a swing, but a small caress on his knee stopped him. He looked down and saw Kagome's hand going back into her sleeping bag.
"Inu...yasha...what's that noise?" Her sleepy words struck fear into his heart.
"What? Where?" He jumped onto his haunches and moved around, wincing in pain at the sudden movement, his nervous hand on the hilt of his sword, his hyperactive ears straining to hear any trace of sound.
"There it is again..."
What was she talking about? She couldn't hear half as well as he could. She must be playing tricks on him. He flicked his ears around a few more times to make sure. Suddenly, she sat up and looked straight at him.
"I know what it is." And before he could react in any way, she had pulled him close to her and laid back down. She must have been half asleep, because she would never have been this direct in the daytime with everyone watching. "It's your ears. They keep going 'POINK POINK POINK' every time you move them." She closed her eyes and started to go back to sleep.
"HUH?" His ears made noise?
She started to idly rub the base of one of his ears. "Inuyasha, try to relax. We're safe right now." He didn't feel safe, and she could sense the tension in his body. "Come on. Miroku put up a barrier around us. Even if something wanted to get us, they wouldn't be able to." She kept scratching his ears, and it was hard to ignore the weariness in his body. "Just rest a little bit. I know you're strong, but you need to take it easy sometimes, too."
He was getting really drowsy, and he was close to her, and she was warm, and he was getting his ears scratched. "Okay," he rumbled, and that was the last thing he spoke that night.