Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any nursery rhymes.

The Mother Goose Escapades

No. 30

Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.

Kagome was getting ready for school for what felt like the first time in ages. Midterms had arrived, and Kagome knew these grades could make or break her. That was why, despite Inuyasha's whining and shouting, she had traveled back to her time for a total of four days. It was a long time, she had to admit, and a lot could happen while she was gone.

"But my life here is important too." Kagome spoke out loud, realizing she was trying to convince herself. It was becoming easier to forget which era she was born into, and which era she was adopting as home. Truth be told, the relatively simple life of the past was always more relaxing than modern life. Despite fighting Naraku, and the threat of demons, Kagome found modern life almost more dangerous. People drove like idiots, guns were readily available, and humans, unlike demons, killed with no apparent reason in mind.

"Kagome! Breakfast!" The faint voice of her mother wafted up the stairs, and Kagome felt a smile curve her lips. This is what she looked forward to, every single time. No matter how much at home she was feeling in th past, absolutely nothing beat home cooking, especially that of her mother. Running a final comb through her hair, Kagome smiled encouragingly at her reflection, and then bounded down the stairs.

"I hope you're ready for midterms, Kagome," Eri said, but there wasn't much compassion in her voice. "It's been an awful long time since you've been around, and things are pretty tough."

"Eri!" Yuka admonished. Turning to Kagome, she smiled. "It'll be ok. You're smart, Kagome, and I'm sure you've been studying. I wouldn't let yourself worry too much." Ayumi nodded along with this. Kagome only smiled weakly. She hadn't really studied that much, what with Naraku and Inuyasha and...well the list went on. Speaking on Inuyasha, Kagome noted a flash of red, just off to the right. It couldn't be...she had given him explicit instructions not to follow her this time. More for her own benefit – she couldn't study when Inuyasha was around in her time. Without the threat of Kikyou, she had him all to herself, the gold eyes and silky hair, white as snow. Very distracting.

"Well, I just hope I'll be able to sit that long." Suspicions were confirmed by the muffled thud off to the right.

"Did you hear that?" Yuka exclaimed. The three girls craned their heads, trying to see what had happened.

"Hey, we're gonna be late," Kagome admonished, hoping to hurry them away. She didn't want to bring any more attention to Inuyasha, she just wanted him to learn a lesson. The girls turned and ran towards the school, practically dragging Kagome along with them.

Inuyasha growled to himself. It seemed that, no matter how careful he was, Kagome always spotted him. Even now, a couple of hours later, he was still a bit sore. What Kagome called concrete always hurt ten times worse than dirt!

"Feh..." But it was worth it, it always was. This modern time of Kagome's, appearing so much more dangerous than his own home, allowed a sanctity that he wasn't always allowed. With no Kikyou around, Inuyasha felt free to watch and protect Kagome, whether or not she wanted it. Most of his life he had felt worthless; here with Kagome, he had a purpose. It was nice.

The warm sun beat down, and Inuyasha was bored. He leaned over the roof of the school, and listened in through the open window. It wasn't a class Kagome was in, but it was interesting. The man up front was talking about people, and being equal. No one person had the right to order another around, or something like that. People were not animals. It made Inuyasha sit back and think.

Kagome flew out of the school after her last test of the day. She didn't want to see her friends, she wanted to find Inuyasha and reprimand him. She rushed through the streets, knowing he would be following her, probably very confused. She reached the park that stood between the shrine and the school, and hurried through to the tree grove.

"Inuyasha!" she hissed, ignoring the sakura blossoms floating prettily through the air.

"Um, hi..." Inuyasha appeared, looking a bit sheepish.

"SIT!" Kagome spat out, her own fury surprising her. She didn't normally get this upset. Inuyasha crashed to the ground, but wasted no time in getting up.

"Stop that." His voice was flat, his face completely emotionless. For the briefest of moments, Kagome felt her breath catch in fear – she would have sworn it was Sesshoumaru who stood before her.

"What?" she managed to get out.

"I want you to stop sitting me like that. There is no reason to do that." Those warm gold eyes that Kagome loved were unusually cold.

"Well, I told you to stay behind, and you didn't listen to me." Kagome felt something like a pet owner reprimanding a wayward dog. The thought shamed her a little bit.

"What you don't seem to understand is that I need to follow you. I need to make sure you're ok."

"I think you can trust me by now, Inuyasha. You know that I'm going to come back. Whatever happened to that watch I gave you a while ago anyways?"

"It broke in a fight." Kagome would've sworn Inuyasha looked sad about that.

"Well, you just have to get over it then. Inuyasha, I only do that when you've been bad!" Kagome felt her original anger arising.

"That is exactly what I mean." Inuyasha was clenching his fists, and for the first time in a long time, Kagome found herself afraid of the hanyou in front of her. "I do not appreciate you sitting me every time you have the whim to do so. I am a person, Kagome! Whenever someone else makes you angry, you don't have the option to do to them what you do to me, so there's no reason you have to sit me all the time. I understand in the beginning, when you didn't know me. I understand in battle; I can't count how many times you've saved me when I let my cockiness get the better of me. But you do not have the right to sit me when you're angry at me."

"What are you talking about? I only do so to teach you a lesson! You have to stop being mean to Shippou! You have to start listening to me, when I tell you something. You have to-"

"Why do I have to listen to you? I am a person, not your pet! I listened in at your school, some teacher guy said that no one has the right to order another around, because people are all equal. That includes me too. And as for Shippou, you don't think I'm trying to teach him something? Maybe I do let my temper get the better of me sometimes, but demons learn survival from fighting too. Just 'cause he's a kid doesn't mean I'll go easy on him, because in a fight, the enemy won't either. It's called growing up."

"You, just..." Kagome couldn't help her sputtering. This strange cold being in front of her was not the usual fiery Inuyasha she knew, and it didn't help that he was speaking logically. Frustrated, Kagome did the first thing that came to mind. "Sit!"

Inuyasha slammed into the ground for the second time, and slowly picked himself up. He gazed at Kagome, a strange look of sadness and pity, and something else...but then he turned and left. Kagome found herself alone, tears of an unnameable emotion streaming down her face.

When Kagome had come home, she couldn't find Inuyasha. She tried to pretend everything was normal, but his words kept running through her mind. She hadn't really thought about it, but perhaps she had been treating Inuyasha more like a pet, punishing him like a bad dog, and neglecting his human side. Or was it that she wanted to punish him, because her heart was falling apart due to his supposed commitment to Kikyou?

Time passed slowly, as the afternoon sun faded down. Twilight was now casting soft glows over the shrine, and Kagome couldn't study. She left her room, and aimlessly made her way out of her house. She walked over to Goshinboku, staring up into the branches. She felt the tears coming again, and slid to the ground, shaking.

"Hey, shhh..." a soft voice whispered into her ear, and two warm arms wrapped her up tightly. Kagome turned, and clung to the familiar rough softness of the firerat haori of Inuyasha.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to make you feel worthless," she whimpered.

"I know."

"I don't know why I do it, I just lose my temper sometimes. I just..." Kagome couldn't go on.

"What you don't get is that I am here, Kagome. I'm gonna keep you safe. Where ever you go, I'm gonna follow. I hate having you out of my sight, because then I don't know what's happening to you. You being safe is what I need to have."

"I don't understand why you don't trust me." Kagome twisted her head to look up at Inuyasha. He was looking down at her, those eyes warm again.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone else, and I can't control what's out of my sight. But if I see it, maybe I can stop something bad before it happens." With a pang, Kagome realized he was thinking about Kikyou. She was going to push away from him before an unbidden thought came to her. Maybe, every day he was with her, being able to protect her, he was able to let a little bit of Kikyou go. Every day he protected her, he also protected Kikyou and her memory.

"If I let you protect me, can you promise me something Inuyasha?" Kagome was still staring at him, and felt him stiffen slightly. But-

"Yeah."

"Promise me you'll always be with me." And then Inuyasha hugged her much tighter, as close to himself as possible. Kagome took it for a yes, closed her eyes and hugged him back. She resolved to control herself better, and not sit him all the time.

Inuyasha closed his eyes as well, a strange sense of joy overtaking him. He might not have talked to Kagome like the monk wanted him too, but it took small steps for him.

"I'll follow you everywhere," he breathed, the words lost on the air.

Author's Notes: It's an issue that has been bothering me, and I hoped I addressed it well. Maybe everyone is growing up a little?