Ugh...it's 3:45 am, and I'm not the least bit tired! Yay for soda! Okay, anyway, thanks for taking the time to read chapter 2 of my fanfic! Inuyasha is on the TV right now - Miroku is about to suck Inu into his wind tunnel before Kagome intervenes. Go Kagome! Anyways, here is chapter two of Cold Autumn Days - enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha...if I did, Kikyo would STILL be burning in hell along with Envy from FMA and Akito from Furuba! Diiiiiee!

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Inuyasha sat beside the sleeping bag, staring intently at Kagome.

"Hey, maybe you should take a break - I'll keep on eye on her." Miroku said, smirking.

"Are you kidding! Get out of here, you lecher! I'm staying here until she wakes up!" Inuyasha yelled, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

Miroku shrugged, slipping out of the make-shift tent, and Inuyasha resumed staring at Kagome. He hated to see her so helpless like this. His thoughts flickered back to a few hours ago.

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"Help!"

"Huh!" Inuyasha woke up. He sniffed the air. "Kagome!"

She was in trouble.

Inuyasha bolted from the tree. Landing by the river, he sniffed the air. Her scent was there, but just barely. It was being smothered by something...

He looked at the water. "Oh no..."

Fearing the worse, Inuyasha dived into the freezing water. Squinting, he could barely make out Kagome. She was lying, completely still, on the river floor. Frantically, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the waist and swam to the surface. Back on land, he carried her back to the others.

"You guys! Wake up! It's Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled.

Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all woke up instantly.

"What happened!" Sango demanded, staring at the soaking wet and motionless Kagome.

"She almost drowned, that's what!" Inuyasha yelled - a bit louder then intended.

After a few frantic minutes, the four had layed Kagome down on her sleeping bag, and made a small tent to block out the cold out of the rest of the blankets. Inuyasha took a seat by Kagome's side, and had not left since.

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"Dammit, Kagome...wake up. Say something. Yell at me, tell me to sit - I don't care. Just wake up." Inuyasha said, quietly.

Outside the tent, the other three smiled mischieviously.

"Ooooooo, Inuyasha has the hots for her!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Well, you can't blame him for caring," Sango replied.

The three continued to stare in silence for a few minutes. However, Inuyasha just continued to sit there, so the three quickly became bored and ran off. Of course, Inuyasha had both heard and smelled them, so he purposely stopped.

The minutes slowly crept by, but Inuyasha never flinched. He was lost, deep in his own thoughts.

She should have woken up by now. What do I do if she doesn't? No - that won't happen. She'll wake up soon. Hm...should I nudge her a little and try to wake her up? Or should I let her sleep? Damn, I need to calm down. But what about Kagome...

"Dammit!" He yelled.

Kagome stirred. She whimpered and shivered a little.

"Thank god!" Inuyasha exclaimed. He swiftly draped his haori over her other blankets, and a small smile caressed Kagome's face. Her eyes opened slightly.

"Inu...yasha?" She asked, softly.

In response, he merely nodded, and sat there with a look of concern.

"Are you okay? You're not going to die on me, are you?"

Kagome smiled, and shook her head. She started to drift out of consciousness.

No...I can't go back to sleep...not yet...I have to make sure this isn't just some dream...that Inuyasha really is here, looking at me like this...me, and not Kikyo...

With great effort, Kagome lifted her hand and grabbed Inuyasha's. She squeezed his hand tightly, feeling it to make sure that she wasn't asleep. Inuyasha blushed furiously. Reassured, Kagome fell back asleep, with a smile on her face.

What the hell...? Inuyasha thought, Did she just hold my hand? Well, don't worry, she probably was just half-asleep anyway. Nothing important. But then...why did she smile? Aw, dammit, I'm confused again...

"Inuyasha?" Shippo asked, peering inside the tent.

"What do you want?"

"Do you want something to eat? It's already breakfast time!"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Go away!"

The poor little fox, very miffed, left the tent. Inuyasha had not meant to be that gruff, even with Shippo, but - there were more important things right now then food. He continued to stare at Kagome. She was going to wake up again soon, dammit. She had to.

The odd thing is, not once when Inuyasha was there did the Shikon Jewel cross his mind.

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Kk, the second chapter is done! Thanks to a particularly nice reviewer (InuyashaIsTheBestShow), I have decided to continue writing! Once again, sorry that it's so short - but it just turns out that way! Just for the record, Shippo most likely knew the term "breakfast" because Kagome taught it to him - so don't flame! Gah! Oh, and for those of you who don't get the full impact of the last sentence, I'm incinuating that Inuyasha is there because he's worried for Kagome, not for her shard-seeking talents. Just wanted to clear that up.

P.S. Hiiiii, Jill! Thanx for the review!