Chapter Warnings : A little language and a little touching…

School Days
Created by: Real-Goodchild
Rewritten by: Melody Unwinding

No sooner had they set up their tent than had the rain started to come. It wasn't that large of a tent, and Ayame bit her lip as they organized their sleeping arrangements. He hadn't said a thing to her as they began the assembly of the tent, because, well, she hadn't helped at all. He had taken the tent and assembled it quickly, mumbling something about helpless women.

In the end, both had been disappointed at the size of it. From word of mouth, they had expected the shelter to at least fit a good 6 people, so the two could sleep on either end; but of course nothing is what it seems. Both of them could account for that.

"This is not a fucking tent." She heard Kouga mumbled from beside her. She peered over at him, giving a short chuckle.

"What'd you expect? A split level home?" She said as she stretched her legs out, already feeling cramped.

"Very funny." He mumbled, slapping a bug on his arm that had decided to have a rest. "Damn bugs."

"You know, you sound more like a woman." She observed. "I've never heard a man complain so much in his life."

"What do you know." He said, trying to mend his ego. "You wouldn't know what a woman acted like if you tried."

"Are you implying that I act like a man?" She asked, her anger slowly igniting.

"Did I stutter?"

"Well at least one of us is!" She barked at him.

"What right do you have, telling me what I act like?" He seethed, turning to face her.

"Every right! I've known you longer than anyone else!"

"Know me? You don't know me!"

"Yes I do!" She growled. "Your favorite sport is soccer, and you've been a die hard fan of Italy for years. You hate basketball and badminton. You suck at math, and always have. Your subject is history. Your favorite music is rock and roll, and you can't stand all of that metal and alternative. And most of all, you hate with you soul, country music. When you were young you wanted to be a firefighter, because you didn't want people to die. You hate vegetables like every typical male, and prefer greasy food to anything."

She took a breath, slowly inclining forward to get her point through.

"You argue and bite Inuyasha's head off, but he's one of your best friends. You have this tough exterior and pretend to have a disinterest in things, just because you don't want everyone to know that you're a big softie. When you watched The Notebook, you cried. And only your sister and I know. No matter how hard you try to hide your emotions, your eyes always show them."

"Kouga, I know more about you than you think." She said, barely a whisper.

He stared at her, shocked at what he found out. Half of those things, he though that only he knew. He hadn't told a soul a majority of the things she had spewed, and he was practically dumbstruck.

"H-how do you know all of that?" He asked, his eyes wide.

"I told you," She said, leaning back on her arms. "I've known you the longest."

"It's fucking broken!"

"Inuyasha, it's not broken! You're holding it upside down!"

"Oh…"

"Don't put it in that way! You'll bre—"

"Shit."

Kagome sat down on the nearest rock, her clothes sopping wet. She barely felt them anymore, for they were now apart of her body. She felt cold, and what was worse, the rain didn't seem to be letting up. If anything, it was getting worse.

"Inuyasha, I'm wet and I'm cold. I'm bound to catch a Pneumonia!" She whined, wrapping her soaked arms around her body.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if they hadn't given us a faulty tent!" He complained. She gave him a deadpanned look, not exactly finding the truth in his excuse.

"Inuyasha, you broke the main pole. Now we can't connect them, and we don't have duct tape." She said flatly, before adding a little more enthusiastically. "And if you haven't noticed, we are standing out in the pouring rain with no other clothes except the ones on our backs! This isn't exactly what I call fun!"

"It's not called survival camp for no reason, idiot." He pointed out.

"I don't care what it's supposed to be! I just want to go back to school and have a shower and snuggle into my bed with my dry pajamas on!" She whined, standing up to make her point. "I hate the woods. I hate the rain. I hate being cold. I hate being wet. I hate this!"

"Oi', can it woman!" Inuyasha growled. "You're giving me a headache!"

"It's better than dying out here!"

"Are you always this dramatic?" He asked, throwing down the broken poles.

"Yes." She mumbled, trying to stop her jaw from chattering.

He looked over at her and finally took in her appearance. Her face was a ghastly white and her lips held a blue coat to them. He could see her jaw twitching, and her body suffer through shivers. He was cold too, but he had to keep at the god damn tent to save themselves from the rain.

"Listen, let's just drape the tarp over some branches and chill out under there. At least we'll be dry…" He took in her expression. "…er."

"Fine."

She moved over and helped him stretch out the tarp and raise it up and over some of the lower branches. In all, it was a pretty smart idea, since barely any rain got in, unless it was from the side. They grabbed their drenched packs and put them in a crack in the tree, hoping to keep them dry.

"Let's keep to the middle, and we won't get wet." He said as he sat down. "Unless the wind starts up again."

"F-fine." She said, sitting down next to him.

They sat there for a moment, a tense and awkward silence passing over them. Neither knew what time it was, but they knew that by how heavy their lids were, it was time to sleep. But who could sleep soaking wet and cold? Kagome on one hand, felt like she had been submerged in an arctic lake. No longer could she control her jaw, and her shivers were getting out of control. Her fingertips were changing colour, from a bright red to a pasty white. Inuyasha couldn't help but notice it.

"Woman, you're going to die…" He whispered as reached into his pack and dug around until he pulled out a blanket. His dry blanket. He praised the gods for keeping it dry.

"I-I'm s-so c-c-cold-d." She chattered, barely being able to get words out from her mouth.

"You need to take off your shirts." He said as he began undressing his torso.

Kagome stared at him, his command coming off in a Miroku way.

"W-what-t?" She asked, going though another convulsion.

"I said, take off your shirts. Strip down to your bra." He said, peeling off his last shirt. "You don't want to freeze to death, do you?"

She shook her head.

"At the rate of this, keeping your cold and wet clothing on, you're going to die of hypothermia." He said opening the blanket. "Now strip."

Slowly and hesitantly, she began to peel off her designer labels, dropping them on the forest floor. When she got down to her final shirt, she began to feel very self-conscious. She could feel his eyes on her, and she blushed deeply. She wanted to open her mouth and tell him to close his eyes, but she was shaking so violently that she didn't know if her body would let her even sound out a word. She bit her lip and slid the wet shirt over her head, revealing her creamy skin and black brassiere.

"Now, come closer." He said as he wrapped the blanket around the two of them.

She felt a little awkward when she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her right against his bare chest. Lucky for her he couldn't see the flush make it's way across her cheeks.

"By doing this, we're sharing our body heat. Namely me with you." He said, lowering his voice as his cocky grin came across his face. "Now isn't a time to be shy Kagome. It won't work if you don't suck it up."

She turned a few shades darker, sliding over until there wasn't a part of her that wasn't touching him. Beneath the wooly blanket, his arms directed hers around his torso. When his hands returned, he slowly rubbed his hands against her skin, creating heat from the friction. She blushed deeply, but felt her skin heat up from his actions. From her position next to him, she could vaguely make out the muscles he had. From his chiseled chest to his arms. It was no wonder why he was beginning to do things to her—he was gorgeous!

She didn't know if he was aware of all the emotions that he was stirring up inside of her, just by trying to keep her warm. She bit her lip as his hands roamed over her torso, sharing the heat. She blushed as she realized that this was the farthest any guy had ever gotten with her. Even though the two of them weren't exactly involved. She didn't know what was going on inside his head, but she hoped that he was thinking about her. She laid her head on his chest, just resting beneath his chin and she closed her eyes.

Within his arms, she felt safe. For some reason.

And Inuyasha stopped for a moment, as her tense body relaxed. It amazed even himself how much self control he had. When he had began to heat her body up, her skin was so cold and he could feel the rain water. But it had surprised him at what little time it took him to heat her up. Hell, it wasn't even necessary for him to continue to roam, but he couldn't stop. Her skin was so smooth, once the heat was back. And every curve she had felt so right as he passed over it. He hadn't realized it, but beneath the exterior, she was something much more on the inside.

Suddenly, he felt her shiver beneath his fingertips and he had to stop. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to sooth the sudden heat that had engulfed his abdomen. His hands rested on random spots, but he still felt her shiver again. Only it wasn't because of the cold—it was because of him. His touch.

"Don't stop…" She whispered softly.

"Kagome…" He began, but stopped when he heard a small noise escape her throat. He couldn't distinguish it, but he knew that she alone couldn't have elicited it.

So he went back to gently caressing her, enjoying the way he left goosebumps in the wake of where his hands traveled. He took note of where her hands hand left off, under her cheek and on his stomach. As sleep began to take over him too, he rested his hands in whatever crevice they could find, practically belonging there.

But that was forgotten as sweet dreams took over their minds.

The two of them had quickly set up their tents, and had everything safely inside before the first drop fell. Sango had some sort of sixth sense, and knew that rain was coming. She said that her father had taught her long ago how to predict it. And soon enough, they had begun the tradition that most campers partake in. Flashlight's in hand, and stories to share.

And that's just what they were doing.

"Okay, okay. I've got one." Miroku said, recovering from their laughing. "When I was 5, I went through a three year nudist phase."

"Oh my lord! Are you serious?" Sango asked as she began to giggle.

"My parents respected my decision and brought me wherever we went, disrobed." He said, recalling all the comical memories.

"I don't think I can top that!"

"Try, I just embarrassed myself more than anyone could've." He blushed a bit.

"Okay, I'll try. Let me think." She glanced at Miroku across from her, mimicking her cross-legged position. "Okay, I've got it. Do you remember when Inuyasha got sent to the hospital wing, and I was missing for a few days?"

"Yeah, we thought you ran away or something."

"Well the truth was, Inuyasha found out a secret that I had told Kagome, and I was mad and out for his blood. So I chased him around the school, up to the staff room. It was empty, and so I chased him in, not realizing where it was. When I thought I had him, I turned the corner only to see the janitor with the secretary, getting a little intimate."

She paused a moment to let out a chuckle.

"There was this awkward shouting, and hustling to get away, but I shoved Inuyasha out of my way to get out first, still angry with him. And he fell over her discarded high heel and straight into the closet. I don't know the exact details, but god. I was in so much trouble!" She laughed.

"Oh my god! I always knew there was something off about that Hinten!" He exclaimed.

"Still doesn't beat your nudist phase though!" She giggled.

"Wait…you said you were mad at Inuyasha for knowing a secret? What was it?" He asked, suddenly interested.

"Oh, it's nothing important. Something stupid actually."

"Well if it's so stupid, it'd like to hear it." He insisted.

"You don't want to hear it, it's silly."

"But I do."

She looked up at him and gave a slight smile. "All right. He found out that I…had a little thing for you…"

"What?" He nearly burst, a giant grin gracing his features.

"It was a long time ago, okay? I told you it was dumb…" She said, blushing a little.

"Not that long ago, my dear. I believe a year and some?" He laughed again, and she only darkened. "I have reduced the great man hater to blushing!"

"Oh shut up." She looked away. "I'm tired, let's just go to bed."

"Whatever you say my dear," he said, shifting so they both had enough room to slip into their sleeping bags.

When their flashlights were tucked away and they were all snuggled in, Miroku rolled over so he was facing Sango's back. Both grins long past fading, a more content look crossed his facial features.

"By the way Sango," he said quietly. "You weren't the only one with that little 'thing'."

A/U: I hope that that was a long chapter. I could say that I tried hard to get it out and fast, but that's a lie. I've been lying about my house in the scorching hot, doing nothing but listen to music and eat. Oh, and play Halo 2. So apologies there. I'm trying to enjoy my summer, so chill out if I don't get an update out during our vacations. People do have lives.

As far as the story goes, it's going fine. High hopes in this case. I can't tell you when to expect the next chapter, nor how long/short it will be. Depends what kind of mood I am in. I'm dead tired, yet I sacrificed 1 hour and 40 minutes just to write this. So tell me what you think, and if you have any ideas, I'm sure some of them might help me with the writers block.

Arriverdici,
Melody Unwinding