Inuyasha: Mister Niceguy!

A/N: Nothing big to rant about today...But I do wanna thank those of you who have kindly reviewed and/or put me on your favorites and/or author alert lists!

Disclaimer: Disclaiming the disclaimable...And what would that be? I disclaim ownership of Inuyasha in any way, shape or form. And you should too, unless you're Rumiko Takahashi. And if you are...well, cool.

Chapter 4:

Inuyasha lay resting peacefully on his tatami mat, his labored breathing calmed and the strained expression wiped from his face. Since entering a peaceful slumber following his brief glimpse of consciousness after the "operation" that saved his life, calm and tranquility had engulfed Inuyasha. Which was almost certainly a first.

Kagome had never seen Inuyasha look so peaceful. After Inuyasha's affectionate outburst earlier, the young miko had found herself frantically thinking about the situation. Had Inuyasha really been so nice? Inuyasha never says "thank you." It was all so strange. So after pondering over Inuyasha's uncharacteristically good attitude during the scant few seconds he was awake, Kagome had shaken her head to try to clear her thoughts, then found herself glancing at Inuyasha. That was when she had first noticed how peaceful he looked. Her thoughts returned to the differences in Inuyasha...he was even looking different in his sleep! She sat there for a while just watching him sleep, but when her thoughts started shifting to how handsome he looked while sleeping so peacefully, a light blush conquered her face and Kagome decided it was a good time to get up and find something else to occupy her thoughts.

So she had walked over to the corner that held Inuyasha's discarded garments. She picked up the red fire-rat haori, and a thorough examination of it revealed no rips or tears where the spike had hit. As many times as Inuyasha had gotten stabbed or impaled, Kagome should have expected as much, but even so, every time the lack of evidence on the enchanted garment always amazed her.

'I wish MY clothes were able to heal themselves when they get ripped...'

Folding the haori and setting it back down, her gaze turned to the other shirt lying in the corner, the plain, white keiko-gi that Inuyasha always wore underneath the red robe that meant so much to him. Unfortunately, unlike the other garment, it wasn't super durable, and Kagome cringed a little at the large rip and the sickening bloodstains.

Scooping up the battered gi, Kagome walked over to her bag and pulled out a small sewing kit.

'I never had much use for this until I started traveling through the well...But after all the times it's come in handy since then I almost feel sorry that I chewed out Sota for giving me such a thoughtless birthday present that year...'

So Kagome sat back down at Inuyasha's side, working to mend the latest battle scar the poor gi had seen.

And so that was the scene that was interrupted some time later by the excited shouts of a small kitsune.

"Kagome! Kagome! Miroku and Sango are back!"

Kagome immediately shushed Shippo. "Shippo, be quiet! Inuyasha is still sleeping!"

Shippo gave a quick nod, but was smiling the whole time. His usual youthful exuberance had returned since Kaede had informed the boy of the "operation's" success on her way out of the hut to attend to other matters in the village. The then gloomy look on Shippo's face had immediately faded, and he had excitedly tried to dash into the hut until the old woman stopped him, telling him that he should stay outside and wait for the monk and the demon exterminator to return and to leave Kagome with Inuyasha for a while.

And after sitting for what seemed like hours on end, employing every ounce of strength he had to contain his excitement, Shippo was even more excited to be able to burst in and see Kagome.

Finishing the last stitch required to fix Inuyasha's gi, Kagome put the mended garment down and opened her arms, inviting the little kitsune to come get a hug. Shippo's smile widened as he happily accepted.

"Kagome, I'm so happy that Inuyasha is going to be okay! I was so worried about you earlier!"

"Me too." Kagome smiled softly and continued. "And thank you, Shippo."

"Huh? For what, Kagome?"

"For being a real trooper earlier, and making sure Kaede knew what was going on when I was...kinda out of it."

Shippo's smile enlarged tenfold as he felt a great sense of pride at Kagome's compliment. A few seconds later, however, a troubled look overtook his features, and he looked up at Kagome.

"What's wrong, Shippo?" Kagome asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Kagome...what's a..."trooper?"

Kagome blinked and began giggling at Shippo's question. She was just about to give him an answer when something blocked out the main light source for the room.

Kagome looked up to see Sango, carrying Hiraikotsu, and Miroku holding his staff in one hand and a Tetsusaiga in another.

Kagome's eyes widened a bit at that...she hadn't even realized that they'd left Inuyasha's sword on the battlefield.

Kagome noticed that the two new arrivals had gravely concerned looks on their faces, with a hint of curiosity present as well.

'They're probably wondering how Inuyasha is doing..."

Kagome also noticed that the monk's face was devoid of slap marks, and the youkai exterminator's lacked that angry and embarrassed look that came about when she had to leave those slap marks. Kagome smiled a little, realizing how much both of them were worrying about Inuyasha, and how they could ignore their own petty concerns when their mutual friend was in trouble.

Before Kagome could notice anything else about the two, Kirara walked in behind them and rubbed against Sango's leg, purring at her master's return. Sango set aside her weapon, and scooped up the little cat demon, and decided now was as good a time as any to break the silence.

"Inuyasha...is he...alright?" she asked. Neither she or Miroku had been able to read Kagome's expressions clearly enough to tell Inuyasha's condition, and Shippo's confused grimace over the definition of a "trooper" had masked his cheerful attitude that would have explained the situation as well.

Kagome smiled brightly, and immediately the two new arrivals let out a breath of relief. Finally able to relax a bit, they sat down next to Inuyasha opposite Kagome so the young miko could fill them in on all the details.

After Kagome had finished telling the story of the past few hours, Sango and Miroku joined in her good mood.

"I'm most relieved that Inuyasha will be okay." Miroku said.

"Yeah, we spent the whole time worrying over him, Kagome, and worrying about you. Houshi-sama here was so worried that he didn't even act perverted the whole way home." Sango cursed herself the second that last word left her lips, as she recognized a familiar hand making it's way across her backside. Closing her eyes in anger, she launched a tight fist across the back of Miroku's head, forcing his hand to leave it's heavenly resting spot and leaving a large bump on Miroku's head. The only sound that made it's was out of her mouth was an angry growl, and Sango set a demonic glare on the lecherous monk.

"Now, now, Lady Sango, I was only making up for lost time..."

Kagome was laughing at this point, which surprised everyone else. Kagome usually shared in the exasperation against Miroku's hopeless actions, and this reaction surprised them a bit. Noticing the looks she was receiving, Kagome quickly responded, "Sorry guys, I guess I'm just glad that everything's back to normal now."

But then she remembered...Everything wasn't back to normal. She had neglected to mention it to the others, but she was still confused about Inuyasha's actions earlier. Inuyasha being nice...it still seemed odd.

Just as she was mulling over one oddity, Inuyasha presented her with another. She heard a soft murmur coming from Inuyasha. Looking down, she saw that tears trailing down his face. The others picked up on it, and they too expressed their surprise...

Inuyasha was crying!

A/N: And another chapter finished. So much for getting on with the meat of the story...here's another chapter of me being long-winded and setting things up for Inuyasha's awakening. But he's gonna wake up next chapter, I swear! And then things will finally start moving along (I hope!). Thanks for reading!