A/N: Wow. This chapter really wanted to be written. Lucky you! If it hadn't, it would have taken even longer to get out.

Seriously, I am sorry it took so long. Things got really, really rough… and then they got better, and I was so busy enjoying it I was too lazy to write. Sorry again!

And "mou" is a noise that somebody makes when they're pouting.

Disclaimer: I have a Sango key chain AND a Shippo key chain! How pro is that? Oh, but I don't own Inuyasha. Yet. :cackles:

/-+-

/-+-

Previously, on The Piper's Well:

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed, mostly at his own softness. "Look, don't cry! When we get to the first city we come to you can…" Inuyasha considered his options. What would get the wench to stop crying but wouldn't jeopardize his quest? "you can send word back to your grandmother and tell her you're alive. But no telling her where we are, what we're doing, or where we're going. Deal?"

Kagome surreptitiously wiped at her eyes, sniffling pitifully. If I'm still with you by then. "All right. How long will that be?"

"Only a week or so," Inuyasha said, relieved she didn't seem to be ready to start bawling anymore. "Now—let's go back to camp."

Kagome nodded tentatively. "…Thank you."

"For…?" However much he'd like it to be so, it didn't seem probable she'd be thanking him for allowing her to send a message back to her family.

"For using my name." She didn't realize he noticed her small smile. Truth be told, he hadn't even noticed.

"Keh. Stupid wench."

"Jerk."

/-+-

/-+-

"I'm fine!" Inuyasha snarled, stomping away from that nosy, noisy, idiot human girl. Out of every single freakin' person on the entire freakin' planet, it had to be her, didn't it?

"I can't believe you!" The disbelief in Kagome's voice as she jogged after him made that more than obvious. "You were run through with a sword and now you expect me to believe you're just peachy?"

"I'm a half demon," he growled for the five thousandth, two hundred and thirty-sixth time. "I heal a hell of a lot faster than you wimpy humans. I can take a lot more, too."

"I don't care how much demon blood you've got, you were run through! Don't try to tell me it didn't hurt!"

"Of course it hurt, you idiot! But it's not going to kill me, and I don't need to be fawned over like some kind of pet!"

Kagome stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at his back. "I'm not fawning over you!" she yelled at him when he didn't stop.

"Bitch!"

"JERK! Stop calling me that!"

Inuyasha chose to ignore her words. "Stop worrying about me and get your ass moving! You want to make it back to camp before nightfall, don't you?"

She made an exasperated noise, but his only response was the flick of an ear. "We've got at least five hours before sundown!"

"We'd have more if you didn't need to stop and rest so much!"

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not the only one who needs rest, Inuyasha," she said sweetly. "Especially when you're the one leaving a blood trail, you twit!"

He turned to face her with an almost disgusted expression. "Did you just call me a twit?"

Kagome snickered. "Did I stutter?"

"You called me a twit? A twit? Do you even know what a twit is?"

"Of course I do, stupid!"

He continued as if she hadn't spoken. "It's a scramble-brained idiot who can't think for himself and runs around like a chicken with its head cut off at the first sign of trouble." He smirked. "Not unlike yourself."

"Jerk! I'm not a twit, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Wench!"

"Jerk!"

"You've already used that one!"

"Moron!"

"Wretch!"

"Idiot!"

"Bitch!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Don't call you that?" Inuyasha repeated incredulously. "Don't call you that! You're the one who started the name calling!"

Kagome marched up to him and cuffed his ear, earning herself another curse. "I never called you a b-- an illegitimate kid, did I?"

Instead of retorting with yet another curse, he rubbed his sore ear while regarding her with an amused look. "You won't say it?"

"Say what?"

"You know what. Bastard."

Kagome glared at him and tried to shrug it off. "What does it matter?"

Inuyasha smirked. "You don't curse, do you?"

She sent him another glare and started walking again, refusing to answer.

He laughed at her retreating form. "Have you ever?"

She whirled on him, scowling unhappily. "So what if I haven't? Maybe I don't want people to think I'm uncouth, unlike somebody."

He was still chuckling. "Who cares what people think?"

"I'm the granddaughter of a priestess," she replied, rolling her eyes. "What I do is reflected on Kaede, and I don't intend to disappoint her any more than I have to."

His eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "Any more than you have to? What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Kagome retorted, turning away. "Now come on. You want to be back at camp before sundown, don't you?"

/-+-

/-+-

Kagome staggered into camp and collapsed on her makeshift bed, sighing in relief. It was so nice to finally be able to lie down. She rolled on to her back and relaxed, letting her eyes slide shut. "Gods above, I'm beat."

"You wouldn't be if you hadn't run off this morning," Inuyasha muttered, and she frowned but didn't open her eyes.

"I wouldn't have run off if you hadn't kidnapped me," she retorted. He scowled at her, and she almost smirked. Almost.

She sat up and stretched. The sun wouldn't set for another few hours, but the air had already lost most of its heat. "Is there a stream around here? Or better yet, a lake?"

Inuyasha was crouched over the fire pit. He didn't even look up. "There's a pond about two hundred yards that way."

"Thanks." Kagome stood and began gathering a few necessities. It was amazing what Inuyasha had thought to bring—and what he hadn't thought of. Soap, for instance. Baths required soap. It was a hideous bag, too; a worn yellow that had turned mustard colored with age. It was huge, almost as big as—

Wait a minute.

"This is my bag!" Kagome exclaimed. She turned an accusing glare on her dog-eared kidnapper. "You stole my bag!"

When he snorted but didn't say anything, she stood and turned to face him completely, looking appalled. "Inuyasha, you stole my bag!"

"So?" he retorted, "It's just a bag."

"But you stole--"

"I stole you too, didn't I?" he interrupted, returning her scandalized glare. "So what if I stole your bag, too?"

"But that means you stole it out of my room!" she accused, "What were you doing in my room?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shrewdly sidestepped her demand. "Gods above, woman, it's a frikkin' bag! Get over it!"

"You didn't answer my question, Inuyasha!"

"What question?"

Kagome let out a strangled exclamation. "This is ridiculous. I need a bath. I'll be back to deal with you later." She picked up a spare blanket, deciding it could easily be used as a towel.

I should bring back some water, too, so Inuyasha's wound can be cleaned, she thought, At least he thought to bring bandages.

"Oh, no you don't!" In a flash, Inuyasha was up and in her way, scowling. "You're not going anywhere until you're trustworthy."

"Trustworthy?" Kagome echoed incredulously.

Inuyasha gave her a pointed look. "Yeah. Trustworthy. I don't want to spend all my time running after you when you get it in your head you might have a chance to escape."

"Trustworthy?" Kagome's eyebrow had begun twitching and it looked like she was silently counting to ten.

"Do I have to repeat myself again, wench?" He crossed his arms determinedly. "You're not going anywhere."

"Trustworthy! All I want is a bath, Inuyasha! A bath! Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes."

For a moment she just glared at him, fighting the desire to slap him silly. Then she lifted her chin and stepped around him. "You're an idiot."

She got a full ten brisk steps in before he stopped gaping and started yelling. "Oi! Wench, get back here!"

"Later," she called over her shoulder. "I told you, I need a bath."

"Oi!"

She sighed patiently and turned. "Inuyasha, think of it this way. I'm doing you a favor."

He snorted, arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah, right. You've been nothing but trouble."

She bit the inside of her check to combat her rising temper. "You've got a good sense of smell, right?" she said sweetly.

"Damn straight. And I'll be able to follow you better than a bloodhound if you try to escape."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. However, my point is that I probably smell worse to you than I do to me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my bath." And she turned on her heel and kept walking. "And no peeking!" she yelled behind her.

"As if you've got anything I'd want to see anyway!" he yelled back.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Jerk," she muttered.

"I heard that!"

Darn him and his adorable little ears.

/-+-

/-+-

Kagome strode into camp carrying a bucket of water. "See? I'm back." She frowned and looked around. The fire was burning merrily, and her blankets had not been touched—but no Inuyasha. "Eh… Inuyasha?"

"Took you long enough," a voice grumbled above her. She looked up to find him perched on a branch in a nearby tree. He flicked an ear at her as she began moving around. "What's the water for?"

"Your wounds," Kagome answered as she hung the towel from a low hanging branch. It probably wouldn't be fully dry by the time dew started to fall, but it would be a start. "Come down here so I can clean them for you."

"I don't think so, wench."

"I do," Kagome retorted, grabbing the bandages. "Now get down here."

"Feh." He crossed his arms and looked away.

She scowled up at the back of his head. "Inuyasha…" Anyone with half a brain would have noticed Kagome's warning tone.

Poor Inuyasha. He never had a chance.

/-+-

/-+-

Kagome tugged on the strip of bandage, brows furrowed in concentration.

Inuyasha was sulking.

She snuck a glance at him, a tiny smile tugging her lips upward. He could be so childish sometimes. His wounds had been healing quickly, and would probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon. But he was caked from head to toe in dried blood that needed to be washed off, and his stomach ought to be bandaged to help him heal faster.

"A picture'll last longer," he grumbled softly, and she blushed quickly averted her gaze. The next few moments passed in silence before he added, "Why are you doing this, anyway? I'll be healed by tomorrow. I'm not--"

"A weak human, I know," Kagome answered patiently, "but this will help you heal even faster." She pinned the bandage down, and he flinched.

"Hey! Watch where you're poking that thing."

"Sorry." She readjusted the pin. "Better?"

He grunted and got up, returning to his previous post in the branches above her.

"You're welcome," Kagome said off-handedly. She didn't really expect an answer and had already resigned herself to not receiving any thanks from him.

The villagers were always grateful, a traitorous little voice murmured in the back of her mind and she roughly shoved it away. Thoughts like that would do her no good, and brought only homesickness and bitterness with them.

Besides, Inuyasha was nothing like the villagers. He'd made that crystal clear.

After all, what kind of a kidnapper was nice to their prisoner? Granted, he hadn't been polite, but he wasn't out to scare the bajeezers out of her or use her for his… physical needs.

Kagome shuddered at the thought. Yes, there were far worse kidnappers than Inuyasha. He might not like her very much, but he had saved her several times—discounting the fact that she wouldn't need saving if it weren't for him—and all he wanted from her was for her to find that weird rock.

Was the Shikon no Tama really so important to him? Did he really want it badly enough to repeatedly save the life of a girl he didn't even like?

Come to think of it, what could he possibly want it for?

"Oi, wench. You hungry?" Without waiting for an answer he tossed her an apple and a piece of deer jerky. She caught the apple, but the jerky landed on a blanket.

Definitely not like the villagers back home, nor anyone else she'd ever met.

"Thanks." Her voice was subdued, as she was still half lost in her thoughts. What did the Shikon no Tama do, anyway? It was obviously powerful, but was its power real or symbolic, like a crown or throne?

His eyes narrowed at the passive tone her answer took. "You're not going back into shock, are you?"

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and focused on him. His eyes were intense. Gold was such an unusual color, but it suited him. "Twice in one day? Is that even possible?"

"How the hell should I know? You're the one who lives with a priestess."

"You'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge. We didn't have many people going into shock in the village," she answered dryly.

He was quiet for a moment, thinking. "So you were never attacked?"

Kagome shrugged and bit into the apple. "We had some bandits stop by a few years ago, but they didn't even make it to the village boundaries before they were stopped."

"What about demons?"

Where is he taking this? Kagome wondered. "Everyone always talks about how the forest is swarming with demons, but nobody really ever remembers the last time one attacked."

Inuyasha snorted. "Idiot humans."

Kagome scowled momentarily, but quickly dismissed his comment. He'd already made dozens of them. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged dismissively and looked away. "No reason. Just wondering."

She shrugged as well and lay down on her makeshift bed. "Alright. I'm going to bed."

"Good. You're less work when you're asleep."

She stuck her tongue out at him behind his back. He turned around and she smiled innocently. "Good night, Inuyasha. See you in the morning light."

He scowled fiercely and hopped down to crouch next to her. "No escape attempts this time, all right, wench? I want to get an early start. We lost a full day 'cause of your stupid antics."

Her guiltless smile remained firmly intact. "Of course, Inuyasha."

"I mean it," he growled. "No funny business."

She gently tweaked his ear and lay down, pulling up the blanket. "I hear you loud and clear. Don't worry."

"Promise me."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, crossing her fingers. "I promise."

That seemed to pacify him. He turned away and hopped back into the tree, closing his eyes. Kagome silently watched him for a moment, guilt gnawing at her insides. He took me at my word, she thought miserably. Darn it. All right. No funny business tonight, but he never said anything about any other nights.

/-+-

/-+-

Reviewer Replies:

Moonlit Showers aka Inukag Fan: Thanks for the review! Say, you wouldn't happen to be the same Moonlit Showers that reads CrimsonBirdhouse's stuff, would you?

CrimsonBirdhouse: Wheee! My longest review yet! P And fluff:innocently: I didn't see any fluff. (To tell you the truth, though, I didn't mean to put it there, and I almost didn't catch it myself. ; It didn't make your teeth hurt, did it?) And don't worry, I have every intention of slowing the plot down juuuuust a little bit. (This chapter was actually part of that.)

A/N: I can't tell you how pleased I was to get your reviews, you guys! I got all smiley and excited and started bouncing around. P

I'm thinking I'm going to make the chapters just a few pages shorter each, b/c then they're liable to come out faster. . ;; Sorry again for such a long wait, guys. I know, I'm a horrible person, but my goal is to get another one out before the new year!

Ja ne! And thanks again for reading!