Chapter 13

Everyone jumped in fright as the two hanyous entered from the buses. Three sets of eyes were wide with wonder. Inuyasha just ignored their inquiring gazes and walked over and placed Kagome on her sleeping bag. Still ignoring his other companions he went about hunting through her backpack. "Ah ha..... Here it is!" Inuyasha pulled out a pair of blue pajamas and returned to Kagome, putting his back to the other three.

"Inuyasha what's wrong with her and what are you doing?" questioned Sango.

"She's just exhausted, I'll tell you later.... and I'm putting her into her pajamas so she won't have to wear a wet towel."

"Shouldn't I do that for you?" offered Sango, knowing how her friend was about being peeped on.

"Naze?..... I'll get to see her naked soon anyway....why not now." Inuyasha smirked as he noticed the monk was nodding his head in agreement.

"That may be true, but until then, I think it would be best if I tended to Kagome. Besides....you would most likely wind up eating dirt."

"KEH!" was his only reply as he cringed and handed the pjs to Sango and went to sit by the fire, directly in front of Miroku and in his line of sight of Kagome. He then proceeded to tell them about Kouga's appearance and promise. When he got to the part about him glowing purple, he got several raised eyebrows.

"So you were putting off a purplish light. How strange?" Miroku stated as he thought about the unusual occurrence.

"Tell me about it. Just another of many questions we'll need to ask her retainer when she gets here." Inuyasha downcast his eyes into the fire as he thought about all that had happened this week. 'It's been so chaotic lately. With Kagome changing back into a hanyou, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse.'

Sango returned and took a seat between Inuyasha and Miroku. "So Inuyasha...do you remember anything about her retainer."

"Hmmmmm.....she's some kind of winged cat.....I think. It's been a while." A mall breeze drifted through the camp, stirring up some sparks from the fire and bringing a comforting scent to Inuyasha's nose. He turned to look at the sleeping girl, what he saw could have even got a smile from Sesshomaru.

Kagome was lying on her side facing him. Her blanket had slipped down to her waist, where her tail draped over and rested in front of her. There was an orange ball of fur cuddled up next to her stomach. The fox child unconsciously tugged on her tail and used it as a blanket before falling into a relaxing slumber. Kagome's ears swiveled around constantly, listening for the first sign of danger. Just like a protective mother watching over her young.

Inuyasha picked up a soft, almost purring sound. His eyes widened for a moment, then he closed them when he turned back toward the fire, shaking his head.

"Cute picture, huh?!" Sango commented. She then noticed Inuyasha was shaking his head, but it wasn't to her comment. "What's the matter Inuyasha?"

"She's purring"

"Ok.....but you make it sound like a bad thing." Sango strained her ear to listen for the purr but she couldn't hear anything from the two sleeping bodies.

"Here it's not, but in her time, she's still young." Inuyasha sighed as he opened his eyes slightly.

"I don't get it, what is she too young for in her time, that she's not here." questioned Sango, completely confused.

"Her youkai tendencies are taking over. Female's only purr around their own pups. This means she thinks of Shippo as one of hers and he has set off her motherly inclinations. And with the way she is with Shippo, I would say it's been in affect for a while now. She's too young to have pups in her time."

"Oh....OH! That's right, normally here women at her age would already have a child or two and with her youkai blood now awake, her hormones must be going crazy." Sango looked over at her sleeping friend almost apologetically. "Good thing Shippo's around then, right. He can take the edge off her urges."

"Not necessarily. With him not being of her own blood, it could make things worse." Inuyasha kept his eyes directed at the fire, not wanting to look at the inquiring gaze he knew he was receiving from the exterminator.

"What do you mean....make it worse." asked Sango, genuinely worried what his answer would be.

Inuyasha glanced at the sleeping pair out of the corner of his eye, then sighed heavily as he turned back to look at the fire. "Its not a problem for you guys as much as it is for me. Her youkai side is going to make her seek out a mate and continue on with her bloodline but her human side is searching for love and can wait on the pup's factor. Now all I can do is wait to see which side is more dominate and prepare myself. To defend her or defend against her." Inuyasha cast his gold eyes to a snickering monk and glared.

Miroku tried to hold back his laughter, as an image of Kagome lunging at the dog boy and seducing him played a crossed his mind. "Do you honestly expect us to believe that if Kagome threw herself at you, that you would fight her off, not taking her at that moment." The monk laughed outright.

The blush on the half dog youkai matched his haori perfectly. He then retaliated by hitting the monk on the head a few times. "What we do of plan to do is none of your business."

Miroku tried to massage away his new bumps before answering the young hanyou. "Aw....... you say that now, but we'll see who you come to for a babysitter." He leaned on his staff and gave Inuyasha a sheepish grin.

"KEH......hell with this!" Before anyone could protest, Inuyasha leapt straight up into the branches above. He found a comfortable spot just above Kagome where he could smell her honey and wildflower scent and hear her soft breathing and light purring. With those things combined, it lured him into a content sleep.

The two humans watched silently as the dog boy settled down for the night. Both wanting to speak, neither know what to say.

Miroku took a deep breath and ended the silence. "Hey Sango.....earlier you said girls Kagome's age usually have children by now. Why haven't you married?"

Sango was a bit surprised by his question but more surprised by her lack of an answer. "I guess with me hunting and exterminating youkai, I never had the chance to find somebody."

Miroku thought about her words before coming up with a reply. "So do you have somebody in mind, now that you've had the chance to look?"

A light pink touched her cheeks as she pondered over her answer. "Well kind of. He's pretty self absorbed and there are times I just want to smack him with a tree. But there are times where he's thoughtful and kind and I feel like kissing him. With our quest still in progress it's kind of hard to get anywhere in our relationship. I wonder where Kagome and Inuyasha found the time."

"I see.....well.....maybe this quest will be complete soon and then you two can be together." Miroku shifted his gaze from the female exterminator next to him, to the ground in front of him.

Sango could read the sadness on his face and felt a little guilt about tricking him with her reply. She looked up at the stars briefly before giving a fake yawn. "Well I think I'll turn in too. Oyasumi nasai Hoshi-sama!" Sango leaned in and gave the monk a chaste kiss on the cheek then went and laid down on her bedroll, ignoring the huge smile that was on her face.

Miroku watched with wide eyes as Sango climbed into her sleeping bag. He couldn't help but wonder if she had been talking about him all along. On that note he too soon drifted off to sleep.

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