A/N: My, been a while? Well, the season is over now, successfully I might add. And, I am glad to say that I may return my focus to more pleasurable subjects – such as my writing.

I'm also very happy to announce that I will be soon hosting a website. It's been a work in progress for a very long time now, and I'm glad to say that it is nearly ready to be viewed and used by the public. (Now if only other things would come so easily.)

I'm ready to be finished with Joined, but I must say that it isn't ready to be finished with me. The battle scenes are giving me some trouble. I just can't decide exactly what is happening. Also, I've been going back and editing all the previous chapters which is giving me one major migraine…What can I say…I'm a perfectionist…or at least I try to be when it comes to grammatical errors, etc. Rolls her eyes Well, I do try…I promise, lol. I can just see some of my closer friends shaking their heads at that.

Now, on we go!

Yabou

Rating: PG-13 (Language) Part 4

My Favorite Color

(A song-fic to Chevelle's "The Red")

By: Yabou

Part 4 – What Only a Whisper Can Say

This change, he won't contain.

Dinner had finally passed after what seemed like hours of confused looks and shrugged shoulders between his companions. He waited anxiously in the widespread branches of a tree and watched as Miroku patted Kagome on the back in his own perverted form of comfort. Their words were too low for even his keen hearing to understand and that annoyed him to no end.

Inuyasha watched as she pulled her feet through the thick grass, lost in deep contemplation. How much fucking longer can she take? His claws pressed into the bark's hardwood, leaving small indentions, as he held himself in the branch's confines. What happened?

Kagome came to a slow stop at the bottom of his perch. She hadn't even needed to look up to find him. She could always tell. "Inuyasha." Her voice wavered with a small note of fear.

Now was not the time to argue. He didn't know why he couldn't gather one nasty comment, but as soon as he heard his name roll off of her tongue a lump formed at the base of his throat and left him unable to speak.

Jumping down, he set in slow stride beside her as she walked further away from any possible prying ears. He took careful notice at the way she flipped the hem of her light gray sweatshirt between her blunt nails. She moved from the adjustments on her shirt to brushing imaginary dust off of the dark blue jeans she wore. What do I say? How do I tell him what happened? How can he not remember? …It's getting so much worse now. He can't even see it.

A quick glance over at her companion revealed that he was staring blankly at her fidgeting hands. She smiled nervously and tucked her thumbs into her pockets before returning her view to the ground in front of them. Should I even tell him? What good will it do? He'll torment himself over it when there's nothing he could have done. He's made himself stronger than the blood locked away in his sword…and Toutousai says that there's nothing else that can be done. How can I tell him that he failed?

She sniffled weakly and allowed her shoulders to slump into a hopeless position. So much time had come and gone, they weren't the same people that they used to be.

A small and rueful smile crossed her face when she felt the soft fabric of his haori draping across her. He worries so much. Why should I add this to the burdens he already carries? I don't even know if I can.

She heard a sigh pass over his lips and smiled again. Memories of childish arguments crossed her mind like flashes of light. She remembered a time when they couldn't even stand to be anywhere near each other with out battling it out, and now…now they could just be content with the peaceful silence passing between them. It was odd to think back on their fumbled beginning.

And yet, she giggled to herself, even though seven years had passed since the time she had first stumbled into the bottom of the well and into this hectic way of living, they still managed to fight over anything they dared. Now, arguments were tempting and playful. Now, nearly every heated word ended in the young miko bursting into a fit of giggles with him rolling his eyes and making some smart-ass comment.

Yes, times were good. She sighed relentlessly and plopped down into the soft grass. Walking was getting her nowhere. She needed to settle this here and now before the hanyou beside her actually did get irritated.

Inuyasha stood for only a moment before he too succumbed to the all too inviting bedding beneath them. "You'd better be glad I have a good nose, bitch. With all you'd have known, we could've walked right into a youkai, and you never would've known a thing."

She stuck her tongue out at him before throwing some grass at him. "I was thinking. I'm allowed, aren't I?" He quirked and eyebrow and opened his mouth to respond. She lurched at him and covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't answer that."

Grunting loudly, he lightly pushed her back on to the ground beside him. "I thought you would say that."

She laughed for a moment and playfully slapped him on the arm. "You're terrible."

He was about to respond when her countenance regressed to her earlier mood. His mouth shut with an audible click as he leaned back into the grass. I'm obviously not going to get anything out of her if she keeps on doing this all night long. Choosing the much more direct approach, he poked her sharply in the side.

"Ow!" Kagome yelped. "What'd you do that for?"

"Is there something you wanted to tell me or are we going to just sit here all night?" He waved his arms through the air to emphasize his point.

She could see the slight tick of his eyebrow as he spoke and decided that she had kept him waiting long enough. It won't go away by not saying anything. I just have to spit it out. "I-." Her mouth clamped shut again.

"You-," he drawled.

"Right." She scratched the back of her head and wondered where exactly she should start the conversation. "Inuyasha, we've been through a lot, haven't we?"

He frowned at her obvious dodge of the topic she wanted to talk about, but answered anyway. "Yeah. I guess so."

"I mean… We're a lot different now, aren't we?" She craned her head back so that she could read his expression more clearly.

He frowned at her. "What do you mean… different?"

She shrugged and put her head down. "I dunno. Just… different." She looked back up at him with tears glistening in her eyes.

He growled at the first tear that dared to trail down her cheek. "Yeah. I guess we're different."

She smiled weakly. He hated it so much when she cried, but she couldn't help it. "Is it better now, Inuyasha? Is it better now, or was it better then?"

His frown deepened. "What do you mean, now or then? What now? What then? What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. Was it better before I came, Inuyasha? Was it better then or now?" Another tear rolled away.

"Of course it's better now." He responded without hesitation.

She bit her lip. She really wanted to believe him, but he didn't know what he was saying. "How can you be sure? It might've been a mistake, you know. A very big mistake."

His claws dug into the dirt. What was she saying? She was confusing him, and he didn't like that at all. How am I supposed to fix something if she won't tell me what the hell is wrong? "What's wrong, Kagome?" There was a pleading note to his voice, and it only made her start to cry harder.

She gasped viciously for a calming breath of strength. What am I supposed to do?! This wasn't right. He didn't deserve this. None of them did. "I-I'm af…"

"What?" He nearly jumped when she finally spoke. She was really scaring him now. He had definitely missed something.

She sniffled and whispered, "I'm afraid."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid, Inuyasha. I'm so scared." She hiccupped.

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her body toward his. "Afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid for you, Inuyasha. I'm afraid for you." Her crying had subsided, but her body still shook with the aftershock of her sobs.

He tried to act casual about the comment. "Why have you got to be afraid for me? You should worry about yourself, being so weak and all."

She nearly laughed. Nearly. "Inuyasha, it's not working. It's not holding, but it's really not your fault. It can't be. There's got to be something else that we can do. I won't believe that we've just got to let it stay this way."

"What? Wait. What are you talking about now? What do you mean?" He was now passing confusion and entering some new level of misunderstanding.

"The sword, Inuyasha. It's the sword. Tetsusaiga." Her words died away more and more with every syllable.

"Tetsusaiga?" Something was wrong with his sword? Why hadn't he noticed? There couldn't be anything wrong with it. He would have had to see something if it had been different, and the only time he had ever recalled any fluctuations in the barriers around Tetsusaiga had been right before…

Before it all went red.

PS:  Expect the ending of Joined to come within the next week.  Editing it now.

Yabou