Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Eight: Curious Puppies and Shiny Objects

September 30th

Kagome's eyes widened as the silver haired half-demon pounced. She barely had time to scream before she was grabbed and thrown back into the water.

"What are you DOING?" Kagome screamed after her head came back out of the cold water. She treaded water, not wanting to get too close to the bank where the demon was waiting impatiently.

"Go back," he demanded, "And bring back Kikyo."

Kagome closed her mouth, understanding finally dawning on her. Fear and anger disappearing. He's her friend, he's worried… She treaded water silently, biting her lip in concentration. Can I go back?

There was a blur of red, then suddenly she felt a hand on her head. She looked up into the golden eyes above her. He's hanging from a tree branch. What is he, half monkey? She opened her mouth to ask if he was indeed half monkey, when her head was unceremoniously dunked under the water. She came back up sputtering angrily.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Silently he dunked her head under the water again. This time she grabbed the sleeve of his robe and tugged hard. Not expecting her to try and pull him in, Inuyasha was thrown off balance and landed with a splash beside her.

"Stop trying to drown me!" She splashed water at him after his head appeared out of the water.

"I'm trying to send you home, you stupid girl." He glared at her, then swam sulkily to the bank. Kagome watched as he shook himself dry and tried very hard not to giggle. Nope, not a monkey. He must be a dog demon.

Kagome looked at the murky water. Maybe it will work. Maybe this IS the way to go home. Suddenly she wanted to go home just as desperately as the young man seemed to want her to go. She took a deep breath and dove towards the bottom of the water. When she realized she was running out of breath she swam back towards the top.

"Let me try again!"

It wasn't clear if she was telling the dog demon who was watching her intensely, or if she was talking to herself. After a couple of deep breaths she dove back into the water. As she swam under the water she opened her eyes, but it was too dark and murky to see much. Branches from trees long since buried in the deep water scratched her arms and pulled at the sleeves on her shirt.

Once again Kagome broke the surface of the water. She bit her lip as she treaded water. It was difficult fighting against the tears. This can't be happening! She shook her head to rid herself of the negative thoughts starting to overwhelm her. With a heated glare at the water beneath her, she took another deep breath, ignoring her tiring muscles, and tried once more.

The picture of Inuyasha as she dove back into the water made her smile. He had been sitting on the branch above her again. His eyes were wide and observant, and his head was cocked to one side. He reminded her of a curious puppy.

Her thoughts distracted her from watching her movements, and one of her socks got caught in the branches of one of the underwater growths. Struggling only made the problem worse. It feels like fingers grabbing me… sharp fingers. Kagome blinked twice. Things are different here… Slowly she looked down. The branches had indeed grabbed her leg. She instinctively opened her mouth to scream when she saw two glowing green eyes open in the shadows.

Quickly Kagome used her hand to pinch her nose closed as she kicked her legs, hoping to dislodge herself from the odd looking demon. She knew that she had swallowed too much water. Her vision began to go dark. A searing pain in near her hip let her know that the demon had cut her open.

Then everything was silent and still.

"Stupid girl." The sound was muffled, but Kagome could just make out the words.

Why am I so tired? She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't respond to her commands. And why do my ribs hurt so badly?

The second question was answered as she felt her stomach and ribs being pushed so hard she thought that they might get crushed. She felt the water rush up through her throat and coughed it out. As she coughed she was quickly turned so that she was facing the ground. Awkwardly Inuyasha patted Kagome's back. She would have smiled at his attempt at being consoling if she hadn't been coughing up, what she roughly guesstimated, a gallon of pond water. Unfortunately, this also caused a violent reaction with her stomach and she literally lost her last meal as well.

Once the coughing and spitting subsided she was propped up against a tree. Embarrassed she ducked her head and shut her eyes. She could feel his presence.

"Don't do that again," he warned.

"Do what?" She paused to cough. It felt like she was coughing up her lungs. Her throat felt raw. "Try swimming back to where I came from? Get attacked by some weirdo tree demon? Drown? Or…"

He put his hand over her mouth and narrowed his eyes.

"Keh." He said. "Just don't."

Kagome wasn't sure what 'Keh' meant, but got the general idea. I won't be going back home that way. She sniffled. If I get to go home at all… Tears threatened to fall. What if I can never get back home! What if I never get another chance to tell Mama I love her? Does Souta know how much I love him? And Grandpa? I'll never get the chance now! She was beginning to work herself up into a fine state of panic.

Inuyasha stared at the girl in horror. "Stop crying!" he demanded. The demand did not exactly have the desired effect. The dog-demon had to put his hands over his ears when her soft cries turned into full blown wails of despair. He looked on the verge of bolting. "Stop it!"

Just as he was about to bonk the girl over the head to knock some sense into her, he noticed that she was bleeding.

"You've been wounded."

Kagome's cries turned into sniffles as she put her hand on her hip where the demon had cut into her flesh. "I guess so."

She put her hand over the cut in her hip and she felt a lump. Thoughts of a tumor paralyzed her. Then an irrational fear (probably brought on by devouring too many science fiction novels) of the demon implanting something in her started her screaming and clawing at her skin. "Get it out get it out get it out!"

Afraid that the girl was going to hurt herself, Inuyasha grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.

"Stupid girl," he admonished, "What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?"

"Pleeeeeeease get it out." Her voice was soft and trembling as she begged him.

Inuyasha looked down to where the girl was bleeding. He noticed the lump. Worriedly he looked at it. Though he did not know anything about tumors, he did know about demons implanting their eggs into humans. Often the human was used as an incubator, and when the eggs hatched, the body of the human host was used as food for the hungry young demons.

"I'll try not to kill you," he said as he let go of the girl's hands and flexed his claws.

Kagome wasn't sure if he was kidding or not, but the determined look in his eyes made her decide to trust him. "Thanks," she said, "I would appreciate that. Dying isn't on my To Do List for the day."

The girl grinned and tried not to laugh as Inuyasha cocked his head to one side and looked at her curiously, obviously not understanding her phrase. The smile died on her lips when she saw his razor sharp claws hover above her hip.

"This is going to hurt," he warned.

Kagome nodded in understanding. She clenched her fists and her jaw and tried to prepare herself for what was to come. Wincing, she felt one claw lightly scratching slightly below where the lump was.

"Try to do it quickly," she whispered.

There was a pause. "You can scream," he said, as if giving her permission. Then one of his claws ripped through her skin, slicing it deep enough to extract the lump. He was surprised that the girl had not screamed. He had heard her inhale sharply when he cut her, but no other sound. At first he thought that she may have fainted. When he looked back into her face he saw that she was biting her lip.

"Now your lip is bleeding too," he admonished, "Stupid girl."

"My name is Kagome," she growled between gritted teeth. If her eyes had been open she would have seen the demon give her a toothy grin. But by the time her eyes could pry themselves open his scowl was back in place.

"Keh."

Kagome rolled her eyes. Then she looked down at the lump on the ground where it had fallen. It was glowing pink.

"The Shikon jewel," Inuyasha whispered. "And it's glowing!"

"Is it safe to touch?"

Inuyasha shrugged.

Kagome picked up the jewel and held it in her hands. "It's so warm. It feels like its pulsing." She turned her eyes upon her new companion. "Is it alive?"

Inuyasha ignored her question as he slowly stood up. He reached down and pulled Kagome to her feet. She blushed at the close contact, which, in turn, had him blushing. Since feeling flustered isn't one of the dog-demon's favorite feelings, so he turned to one of his favorites instead, annoyance.

"Just great, wench. Now we have to go see that old hag, Kaede." He huffed and turned towards the road. "Let's get going."

His ears swiveled as he heard the girl growl again. He wondered if perhaps she might be part dog demon too.

"The name is KAGOME. KA…GO…ME!"

Inuyasha didn't even bother to turn to look at the furious girl. He shrugged. "Keh."