And With Blood Bind Them.

An Inuyasha fan fiction by Stingra

Chapter 1: Under the Uncaring Sky

Japan, during the feudal era.

Kagome sighed happily as she stared up at the clouds floating in the deep blue sky above her. She enjoyed being in the feudal era more than her own time during these times, with no bustling crowds, sounds of the city, and of course school.

"Come on Kagome, now your just being lazy, you know you enjoy school". She chided herself. It was true, but ever since she fell down the well she had started to find school less and less interesting. History class especially, considering how she was in history so much, including right now.

She closed her eyes and listened to the birds chirping cheerfully in the trees, the soft sounds of the village just a little ways below the hill, and the felt herself beginning to drift off to sleep, when she heard the all too familiar voice of a certain half-demon beside her.

"Getting some beauty sleep Kagome? I guess you need a lot of that." Inuyasha said sarcastically.

"Inuyasha…sit." Kagome sighed, seemingly unbothered by the insult.

He barely had time to yell before his face vaulted into the ground. "Damnit! What did you do that for?" Inuyasha yelled as he pulled himself back on his feet. "I was just trying to wake you up!"

Kagome opened her eyes and looked at him, "Then perhaps you should be nicer next time, dog boy." She quipped, "I mean come on, besides, did you actually think you'd be able to do that and get away from it? Your about as dumb as you look". With that she picked herself up off the ground and stormed back towards the village.

"Geez…I wonder what her problem was?" Inuyasha said as he watched her walk away. He folded his arms behind his head. "Ah well, no skin off my back…just my face". He started jogging to catch up with the now infuriated girl, when the ground attacked his face again.

"Kagome!"

"Looks like he found Kagome" Miroku said as he watched Inuyasha try vainly to catch up with Kagome. He grinned, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth, which he made sure to clean regularly since most of the lady factor couldn't resist the smile. He was so caught up in the spectacle that he didn't hear Sango until she brought her elbow down on his head.

"Lemme guess, did you have something to do with all this, monk?'

Well, it wasn't his fault Inuyasha probably screwed up the line Miroku told him. "Why Sango, how could you accuse me of such villainy? I merely pointed him in the right direction, it's his fault he keeps getting slammed into the ground". Which was the truth, just not all of it.

"At this rate we'll never get out of the village before nightfall, and she'll probably jump down the well again, just like yesterday, when you told Inuyasha…" Sango said thoughtfully, but the monk cut her off in mid-sentence.

"He wanted to say something nice to her, so I told him to say it, I just didn't think he'd butcher it as bad as he did." He watched Kagome enter the small house that the villagers built for them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go cheer her up". He managed to take three steps before the demon hunter's elbow knocked him to the ground, senseless.

"I don't think so lover boy".

"Stupid Inuyasha, I finally get some peace and quiet and there he comes with his insults!" Kagome almost shouted once inside the house. She glanced at her backpack and considered just leaving like yesterday, but decided against it. She did however slide it onto her back, and she made for the door. "If I'm going to stay here, I might as well make the most of it". She knew she had robbed the group of getting started yesterday because of her argument with Inuyasha, and felt guilty for it all over again. She opened the door and ignored the startled half-demon that had been about to barge in, instead she went over to Sango and the now conscious Miroku.

"Well, we won't find that last jewel shard if we sit around here all day, are you guys ready to leave?" she said as cheerfully as she could, trying to hide the still angry look beneath a false smile.

"Yeah, of course we are!" shouted Inuyasha, "Ever since you threw your little tantrum yesterday and ran down the well we've wasted a entire day's start! If your gonna be this way for the rest of the trip, then I think you should just stay here!" He braced himself for another meeting with the grass, but nothing happened. He shrugged and leaned back against the hut, "maybe some sense was finally getting through her thick head", he thought.

Sango watched as Kogome fought back the tears from Inuyasha's little declaration. She glared at the half-demon, causing him to flinch and move around to the blind side of the hut. She started to comfort the girl standing in front of her, but Kagome just turned and started walking towards the village exit.

The monk and demon-hunter glanced at each other in concern, but nothing was said, the situation was already a powder keg. An unspoken agreement was made between the two, let the two work it out by themselves. Sango nodded and went to catch up to Kagome, while Miroku went to tell Inuyasha the group was on the move. She prayed however, that this trip would make them forget this whole ordeal…

"I miss Shippo." Kagome said sadly as they walked through the cool, quiet, and dark forest, Inuyasha and Miroku had agreed walking until they reached the next junction in the road was the best way to make up lost time. It was the truth, the little fox demon always made her feel better in times like this. He always managed to keep her mind off her darker thoughts, like the ones that were filling her head right now.

"He's better off back in the village with lady Kaede", Miroku said, "considering how Naraku's down to one unclaimed jewel shard his attacks on us will be even more deadly. He's by far the least useful of our group, so keeping him safe should be high on our list of priorities. Don't you think Inuyasha?"

"Least I don't have to listen to his annoying little voice anymore". Inuyasha said sharply, and the matter was dropped, and only the trudging of their feet filled the night air.

"So much for conversation", Kagome thought sadly, so far this hopefully final quest to complete the Shikon jewel had been nothing but misery. Inuyasha was still upset at her for this morning, and she could sense that Miroku and Sango also felt slightly annoyed, because of her they were being forced to make up time by sacrificing sleep.

"Alright, there's the road junction, we can stop here" Sango said as enthusiastically as one can with little sleep.

"Good, cause I'm tired of walking miles and miles in the dark" Kagome said as she let her backpack slide from her shoulders and to the ground.

"Agreed, now which one of you lovely ladies wants to keep me company tonight?" Miroku flashed a tired grin at both Kagome and Sango, and soon found himself snubbed by both of the girls, who were too tired to even bother with a suitable snide remark.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "I don't see why we have to stop, we've stayed up longer than this other times." He said, recalling the duel between the group and the possessed sword-smith Kaijinbo, and then soon after, the battle between himself and his brother Sesshomoru. He himself wasn't physically tired, but mentally was another thing. He had been trying to figure out why Kagome was so mad at him, he had just been trying to get her up, he never meant to insult her.

"Tomorrow", he thought, "I'll talk to her tomorrow"

He would never have that chance.

Kagome wandered off soon after she felt that the others were asleep. She was exhausted beyond measure, and yet sleep would not come to her. She kept thinking about the way she had acted to Inuyasha, although she had found it amusing at the time, he really hadn't deserved the multiple sits. She looked up, trying to find the skies somewhere above the heavy foliage. Something was wrong inside of her, she hadn't noticed it before, but now, in the tranquility of the night, she could. It felt like she wanted to hurt someone, especially Inuyasha.

She frowned, something wasn't right here. The fighting between her and Inuyasha was a factor in why everyone was so tired, but even previous, worse fighting had never drained the group of energy this badly.