Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

A/N: Another chapter done. Enjoy!

Watching Over You
By: Moonlit Seductress
Chapter One: Rude Awakening

Beep.

Beep.

Beep!

BEEP!

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

A clawed hand reached out and swept the alarm clock off the table and onto the floor. It gave one last, valiant "BEEP!" before falling silent. Fuzzy white ears moved gratefully from their position – flattened against a white haired head. Fanged jaws split in a huge yawn, and a red tongue curled with the movement.

"ACK!"

The yawn was cut off as a large weight landed on Inuyasha's chest. "Haha," the disturbance laughed. "Told you that if you didn't wake up, I was gonna…uh oh." The deep growl rolling from the chest he was sitting on served as a warning and a promise – of pain to come. "Hehe…"

The weight pressing down on Inuyasha's lungs was suddenly removed, but this did not stop the awakened hanyou from sitting bolt upright. "That's right, you'd better run, you little brat! Cause when I catch you, you're gonna wish you were still back in the Feudal Era!"

Like a white and red bullet, the dog demon sprang from his bed and shot down the hall. He blurred past a dark head sticking out of the bathroom door. "Please, Inuyasha, it's 6 am!"

"I know!" Inuyasha shouted back. "Tell that to this stupid – ", grunt, scuffle, " – little – " cry of terror, thud, growl, " – OW! He BIT me!"

"Serves you right, you overgrown – augh! That hurt! I'll bite off your ears, you stupid mutt!"

"Bring it, you flea-bitten fox! I'll eat you for breakfast! GET BACK HERE!"

"HA! Try and catch me! You can't, old man!"

Someone sighed in a corner of the kitchen, and there was a lighting jingling sound.Then…

Whack!

Whack!

"Inuyasha, stop killing Shippou. Shippou, you know better than to wake Inuyasha on a Saturday."

The kitsune shook the stars from his vision. "I didn't!" he protested. "His alarm went off!" He dodged a swipe from the hanyou, who went back to rubbing the lump on his head. "Yeah, cause you set it, you little weasel."

"Who're you calling a weasel, you mongrel?"

"Why you…"

There was a menacing jingle, and Inuyasha flattened his ears. "Bug off, Miroku. Haven't you got someone to grope?"

The monk placed a hand over his heart. "Inuyasha, you wound me." Inuyasha snorted, rolling his amber eyes.

"If he doesn't, I will, you pervert," a new voice threatened. Miroku's eyes gleamed. "Sango, my dear, you look particularly lovely this – "

"Back off, houshi."

Shippou and Inuyasha snickered, causing Miroku to reach out and bonk them with his staff again.

"Ow!

"You stupid lecher, I'll kill ya!"

Sango sighed, placing her head in her hands and breathing deeply a few times. Before they could start the massacre, she hopped up onto the kitchen table and whistled loudly.

Frozen in mid – grapple, the three looked up at her. "Now, I know you three don't have the brain capacity of a worm youkai when you're put together, but do you happen to know what day it is?"

"Saturday!" Shippou crowed. Sango closed her eyes, counted to ten, and opened them again. "Yes, Shippou," she replied through gritted teeth, "It's Saturday. But does anyone know why this Saturday is important?"

"Cause it's the day I finally get to kill this brat!" Inuyasha snarled at Shippou, who avoided fangs and claws to reach out and violently twist one of the soft puppy ears that twitched so invitingly. "OW!" The scuffle broke out again, and Sango had to count to 147 before she was able to speak. "NO!" she shouted above the noise of the carnage. "It's May 14th!"

Miroku struggled to check his watch, but found it impossible, due to the fact that his arm was buried beneath Shippou, Inuyasha, and himself. "I'm sure it is," he agreed, giving up on the watch and glancing at the calendar, stifling a snort as he did so. A little white puppy, showing off great golden eyes was the picture for May. He had found the calendar in a bookstore, laughed his head off at the pictures of the fluffy dogs, and brought it home, pinning it up on the wall despite Inuyasha's swear words and death threats. "It certainly feels like May 14th."

"Good – that's the date they'll put on your tombstone," Inuyasha threatened, "if you don't get off me."

Muttering about senseless violence, Miroku wrenched his arm out from beneath the two idiots and stood, brushing off his black jeans and purple t-shirt. He finger – combed his short black hair back into it's usually ponytail and checked to make sure none of his earrings had been ripped out in the fight. "Now then, Sango," he said calmly, gazing up at the demon exterminator, still on the table, and cursing his luck that she wasn't wearing a skirt. "What's so important about May 14th?"

"It's Kagome's birthday, you retards!"

Silence spread over the kitchen like a blanket of snow. "Shit," Inuyasha finally spat. "Shit. This means that – "

"Yes," Sango confirmed. "That the Jewel will emerge, and every youkai in Japan will be trying to get it from her. We. Cannot. Allow. This. To. Happen. She has to hold onto the Jewel until she turns 15, and falls down the well. Otherwise, we'll have wasted the wish and five hundred years!"

She climbed down from the table, ignoring Miroku's offered hand. "Keep that where I can see it," she warned.

"What time is it?" Inuyasha asked. Sango checked her watch. "Just afer six," she answered. "We've got half an hour, approximately. We need to get to the hospital, cause I'll bet that at least one patient or doctor in there is youkai, and will attempt to get the Jewel."

"Right," Inuyasha said, flipping to his feet. "Lemme get dressed, and we'll get moving."

Zipping back to his bedroom, he pulled on a red t-shirt and his favourite jeans, ran a brush through his silver hair, and stuffed his feet into sandals with a grimace. Five hundred years, and he still hated shoes with a passion. Thankfully, he could wear sandals. He hated winter, when the ice and snow forced his feet into proper shoes or even boots.

The others were already waiting in the car, Miroku behind the wheel of the black station wagon. "I'll follow you," Inuyasha shouted out to them, grabbing the keys to his own car. He locked the door of the houseand headed for his car, spitting out a stream of violent swearwords as the Ford rolled forwards instead of backwards. "Reverse, you idiot!" he shouted at the monk, who threw him a sheepish grin. "He's been driving since the 1920s and he still doesn't know the difference."

Leaping into his red Corvette in one fluid motion, he stuffed the key in the ignition. The car roared to life, and he patted the dashboard. "I know, baby, it's early. Believe me, it's not my idea."

The drive to the hospital was tense, and Inuyasha found himself chafing at every red light. They still had time, but they needed to get in place, and he didn't want to take any chances. Not only was the Jewel at stake, but so was Kagome.

Twentyminutes later, Inuyasha found himself perched high in a tree next to the hospital, staring through a window into a cheerful yellow room. Mrs. Higurashi, looking younger than he remembered, was lying on the bed, breathing steadily. A man that Inuyasha had never seen when he had known Kagome in the past – or the future, if you wanted to get technical (Inuyasha didn't, it made his head hurt) – was holding Mrs. H's hand, looking far more sick and worried than his wife.

The door opened, and an older man breezed in. "I hear you're having a baby, Kiri?" he teased the young woman.

"Really?" she replied, her voice dry. "I hadn't noticed."

The doctor smiled. "Well, if that's what's going on, then let's get to it."

Realizing what came next, Inuyasha turned his head away, turning back only when he heard the cry of a baby and he felt the swoon of power that could only be the Jewel. His amber eyes flicked to the baby as it was quickly cleaned and wrapped in a pink cloth. "Congratulations, it's a girl," the doctor beamed.

Inuyasha continued to stare at the red faced, screaming babe, now in her mother's arms. His eyes filled with tears. 'Screaming, as usual,' he thought with a smile. 'Hello, Kagome.' It was hard to think that this tiny, wailing creature would grow up to be the beautiful girl he knew – or had known…

He shook his head. 'Pull yourself together; you've got a job to do. She won't grow up to be that beautiful girl if you let a youkai slip past and…' He trailed off, not wanting to think about what could happen.

After an hour, Inuyasha heard Miroku's whistle, signaling all clear for now. He jumped down from the tree – and promptly fell over. "Oh jeez, my ass is completely numb." He pondered rubbing the feeling back into the body part, but decided against it. All he needed was for Miroku to appear and witness that.

As he had anticipated, Miroku and Sango turned the corner, and he leapt to his feet. "Anything?"

Sango nodded, face grim. "Weasel youkai. He was a patient on the first floor – funny how fast his leg healed once he sensed the Jewel."

"Did he give you any trouble?"

"No. I took him down."

"Alright then." He frowned. "Wait, who's keeping watch?"

The two humans exchanged glances. "Ah…Shippou, actually," Miroku answered, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

…three…

…two…

…one…

"WHAT! You mean that runty little twerp is watching over KAGOME!"

'Right on schedule.' Miroku rolled his eyes. "Inuyasha, that runty little twerp is five centuries old now. Give him a little credit."

"Keh," Inuyasha grunted. "If anything happens, I'll – "

"Yes, yes, we all know, death and disembowelment. Really, can we get a move on? I'm missing Saturday morning cartoons."

"Weirdo," Inuyasha muttered as they headed home.

"Bleah," Inuyasha uttered, unlocking the door and heading straight for his room. He paused to knock on the door to Sango's room. "Your watch," he called.

"I'm going," she replied, somewhat groggily.

He continued on, closing the door behind him and collapsing on his bed. He was exhausted. It took a lot to exhaust a hanyou – a 48 hour shift, for one thing – but he really was exhausted.

Still, there had been two attempts – a moth demon, and a wolf demon that reminded him forcibly of Kouga – and it felt good to sink his claws into something again. He hadn't even bothered with Tetsusaiga, craving the feel of flesh and bone tearing beneath his hands. Sure, it was primitive and maybe even cruel – but he was half demon, as well as half human.

He rubbed those same hands over his face, slipping into thought. His hands had done a lot. They killed. They destroyed. They broke. And yet Kagome had never seemed afraid of them. Well, at least not after the first time, when I kept shredding the ground. I still can't believe she thought I would actually kill her.

Kagome…

She'd been in his thoughts a lot lately – most likely due to the fact that he was near her a lot. The scent of her – even though it was different, tinged with a baby's aura instead of that of a young woman – was almost like an aphrodisiac, making him feel light and happy. Her tears caused him the same feeling of helplessness and lack of control as they had when she was fifteen, even though he knew it was different – that she was a baby and babies cried.

His thoughts drifted away from Kagome, and onto the wish. The wish, and the whole reason he was here, waiting for the girl he loved to grow up.

His wish had been simple (or so he thought ) and something he knew Kagome would have loved. He had wished that they could all be together forever. A well meant wish, indeed. And it had been granted – the whole lot of them were now immortal. Even himself and Shippou, who were demons, and would have lived longer anyways, no longer aged. They were forever the age they had been on the day he made the wish.

But the well had sealed that same day, and they had lost Kagome – not forever, but for five hundred years. And a long, painful wait it had been. Though she had also been made immortal, it had been when she was seventeen, and they still had to wait until she hit that age. Inuyasha wondered how hard it would be, watching her fall through the well, watching himself, from five hundred years ago, follow her around.

Not that they could get back through the well, of course. The time portal seemed to realize that there was already one of them in the past, and another was not allowed.

And so they waited. Living for five centuries was interesting, to say the least. In the 1800s, when humans really began to take over, the remaining youkai population had to disguise themselves. A spell had been found – once cast, it forever made the bearer look human – at least to someone without youkai blood. But for some reason, a tiny number of humans – Miroku and Sango were among that number – remained unaffected by the spell, and could see youkai for what they were.

Luckily, they had Kagome's history book, from in the backpack that Inuyasha kept even now, in his closet, and they were able to learn about events well in advance. This allowed them to escape Japan and live elsewhere during the wars that rocked the world.

And now, they lived in a small house next to the Higuashi shrine. They had, with great amusement, watched Kagome's grandparents and parents grow up in the little shrine, and they knew that the girl who had touched their lives so greatly was next.

But through it all, Inuyasha maintained the firm belief that it was all meant to be. There had been a number of attempted attacks on Kagome and the Jewel, and he couldn't understand how she could have escaped them all and managed to stay alive – that is, if they weren't there to protect her. He believed that they had been there all along, and that the wish was fated to happen.

'Only a few more years. Then I'll be able to tell Kagome everything I couldn't tell her in the past...'

'How much I love her, to start with.'

TBC

A/N: Please review!