A/N: Just to let you know now, since school is starting in, well, technically a week, I have to crack down on my summer homework before it starts, so some chapters might be a little late. And since I am going to be enwrapped in a ton of homework this year, I'm afraid that all stories during the school year will only be updated once a week. Before you start whining, I am going to be making longer chapters and less of them, no more than thirty at the most, but its going to have to be that way if I'm ever going to make it through the year.
So, sorry if this new update schedule will leave you all in want of fanfiction, but I am sure I can manage once a week without missing an update at all, so I can gurantee that every week will have a pretty long chapter. I'm not going to start this until this story is over, because its been updated every other day since the beginning, but all stories after that will have to be that way.
Chapter 33: Illness
After that night, things went on as usual. Inuyasha and I didn't get our time alone for a while, now that I suspected that someone might know what we were doing on our little excursions. We continued on, after the puppet, we suspected their might be some clues as to Naraku's whereabouts, but we kept going on, getting farther and farther away from the village, and my home.
But little did I know that things would soon begin to change. Quite a few weeks after that night in the hut, I began to feel sick. It was some "mysterious illness" that none could quite figure out what it was. It began with me getting sick whenever food was nearby, and continued into dizzy spells and sometimes me getting hungry for the strangest things. It was deduced that I had a strange stomach bug, making me sick and then I would get hungry when I had nothing in my stomach at all.
But I wasn't so sure. I had had the stomach flu before, an experience that I didn't want to relive, and it didn't seem to be anything like it. I hadn't eaten anything unusual, and no one else got sick, just me. There was something strange going on, and I couldn't help but wonder what.
Inuyasha, of course, got worried the instant I was pronounced sick, and decided to head back to the village, to let me rest. I don't think I had ever seen him so determined to get back to the village before in his life. He was always there as I went through my sickness, by my side, holding my hand or holding back my hair, and comforting me once it was over.
I hated it, this sickness, because running to the bushes every five minutes to purge my stomach was not a pleasant feeling. I kept thinking it would go away with time, but unlucky for me, it didn't. But little did I know that it was just a signal, for something that would ultimately be much, much worse.
Once again, like had been happing for the past two weeks, Kagome woke up to the smell of food being cooked…and the urgent need to run to a pile of bushes. "Kagome!" Inuyasha instantly ran to her side as she emptied her stomach once more.
The hanyou cringed as the smell wafted towards him, but he held back Kagome's long, billowing hair nonetheless until she was finished and certain there was nothing left for her to get rid of, though she still felt nauseated. Rubbing her back in soothing circles, Inuyasha asked, "You still sick?"
"Yeah…" she replied, placing a hand on her forehead, feeling it drenched with sweat. "Whatever it is, it's taking a while to get out of my system."
Inuyasha hated seeing her like this. Unlike the usual cheery, bright, smiling Kagome, this Kagome was constantly sick, with frequent dizzy spells and sometimes a light fever, and then there was her face, which had paled greatly over the past few days. He couldn't help but be anxious and worried about her, not when it turned her into this.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "We're going back to Kaede's, and we should be there in a few days. Do you think you can wait that long?"
"Maybe…" she answered, beginning to feel dizzy again. "Inuyasha…the food…"
Ready to do anything in a moment to make her better, he yelled at his friends who were cooking fish nearby. "You idiots! Do that somewhere else! Can't you see it makes her sick?"
"Inuyasha, it's alright," Kagome replied, trying to smile back up at him. "Just take me to the river…I need some water anyway."
Giving a sharp glare promising pain later at his friends, he obliged by picking Kagome up and bounding off towards the river, as if he couldn't get there fast enough. Once gone, the monk who was eating his spoils sighed, "Every morning, the same routine."
"You can't blame him, Houshi-sama," Sango answered. "Kagome's been sick for two weeks now, that's not normal."
"Her scent's different, too," Shippou replied, chomping on his fish. "Do you think what she has is serious?"
Miroku shrugged. "We won't know until we're back in the village with Kaede-sama. But it can't be anything more than a stomach sickness, since more dangerous diseases have different symptoms. But I've never actually heard of something with these symptoms…"
"Then what is wrong with her?" the kitsune asked, glancing to where Kagome and Inuyasha had been minutes before. He silently hoped that it was nothing too serious, because he didn't want Kagome to be terribly sick…or to deal with Inuyasha if that were to happen, for that matter.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome said as she lay in his arms, by the river, breathing deeply as the dizziness began to subside.
He demanded at once, "What are you saying sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong."
"For being such a burden like this…and making us abandon trying to find Naraku to go back the village…"
"You're not a burden!" he cut in. "You're sick, and you need help, everyone knows this. Don't worry about it so much." He pulled her closer so that she was sitting in his lap, while nuzzling his nose into her hair. "I want to take care of you when you're not feeling well."
Deciding to accept this, Kagome sighed, and leaned back into him, closing her eyes. She felt tired lately, for some reason, and she would bet anything it had to do with her strange illness. It seemed like this illness had some mental effects too, as she now felt herself wanting things like peanut butter and pizza, but considering the condition of her stomach lately, she doubted she would even be able to get them down even if she somehow miraculously found them in this time period.
She felt Inuyasha's strong arm come around her waist, pulling her back into him as he began gently placing kisses on her neck, leading up to her chin. "Does this make you feel better?" he asked, gaining a smile from Kagome in response. He continued, turning her around to face him while giving her a gentle kiss, pulling her so closer to his chest—
"Ow!" Kagome gasped, pushing away from Inuyasha as she held an arm against her chest.
Inuyasha instantly panicked. "What's wrong, Kagome? Did I hurt you? Does it have to do with you being sick?"
"No," she said at once, her arms crisscrossing over her chest. "It's just…" She hadn't wanted to tell him that in addition to her other symptoms, her breasts had been tender recently, and if anything, they were getting bigger—though to that, she didn't mind. She really didn't think it had anything to do with being sick, just a normal growth spurt…sort of…but she did notice the odd coincidence of this happening while she was constantly vomiting and feeling dizzy all over the place.
When she suddenly became silent and blushed slightly, Inuyasha noticed the position of her arms and understood. "Oh…sorry, Kagome."
"It's all right," she replied with a smile, "This…this can sometimes happen…but it never hurt this much before."
"Keh, you're sick all over, woman." Inuyasha leaned his forehead against hers, sighing, "What am I going to do with you now?"
They sat there in peace, only for a moment, before their peace was shattered. Shippou, carrying food, ran in. "Kagome! Are you feeling better? We thought you might be hungry!"
The instant Kagome smelled the cooked fish, her stomach turned all over again. She had thought that she had emptied it of all that it had…and perhaps not. She jumped towards the stream while Inuyasha roared, "Shippou!" chasing after the kitsune as he ran in terror, wondering what he did now.
"Are you sure you're all right, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, for what seemed to be the billionth time.
"I'm fine, Inuyasha," she replied, but a bit more sternly than usual. He had been asking that every five minutes since they set out, and at first it was kind of cute, but now it had faded into being annoying.
Rolling his eyes at her response, he defended, "I'm just checking." I'm worried about you…his eyes said as he glanced back at her, her head held up high, in all appearances, perfectly healthy.
Of course, Inuyasha knew better. He could still smell the sweat on her forehead from that morning, and knew if she got anywhere near food that had a strong smell, regardless of what it was, it would send her running towards the nearest bush again. He didn't like seeing her like this, because it made him feel guilty…guilty about not being able to protect her against it.
He knew whatever it was couldn't be that serious besides that Kagome was barely eating, which was probably for the better, but he hated being helpless in not securing Kagome's comfort. He wasn't used to sitting by and waiting for things to get better rather than jumping into the fray and destroying whatever it was that caused her pain.
Besides, he added, with another glance at Kagome. She shouldn't be sick like this…When they had mated, Kagome had received some of his blood, which not only prolonged her lifespan, but also gave her a series of defenses against mere human illnesses. As long as he was alive and their bond remained intact, she wasn't supposed to get sick, and yet she was. If she was sick anyway, did that mean that it was actually something worse than what normal humans could catch?
It better not be…He thought, but he couldn't help but notice that whenever he thought about Kagome and her strange illness, he felt a cold chill, like there was something wrong. Nothing's wrong…he tried to assure himself, but…he was going to watch her closely for a while, just to make sure that it was, in fact, something that would pass in time.
Kagome continued walking with them, trying to ignore Inuyasha's constant worried looks to her. He wasn't the only one, she knew the others were worried about her as well. She didn't like to be the center of worry, it only made her feel pathetic. When she first got sick, she hoped it would pass in a few days and things would continue on like normal. But, unfortunately, it still hadn't fully passed out of her system. She had been sick before, but she had never had anything that lasted two full weeks, with no sign of getting better. A small voice in the back of her mind asked, Is there something seriously wrong with me?
As they continued on walking, Kagome tried to ignore the growing dizziness she felt. Sweat was beginning to form on her forehead as she began to feel hot…this only aiding in her discomfort. The world was beginning to spin, and she felt her stomach lurch in protest. There was no choice now but to either to pass out or get some help.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered, her voice soft, weak. The hanyou turned, to see Kagome stumbling, reaching a hand out to him. "I feel…" She didn't finish as she faltered, and collapsed on the ground in a faint.
When she came to, it was dark outside, and she was lying on a pallet in a hut, with Inuyasha beside her, holding her hand. She blinked , adjusting to the light, before turning to him. "Where am I?"
"We're in the first village we could find after you collapsed," the hanyou told her, his eyes deep with worry. "It's been hours."
"I…I don't understand…" she said softly, covering her forehead once more. "I just felt so dizzy, and then…"
"It's all right," he assured her, gently brushing the hair from her face. "You couldn't help it…But we are going to have to hurry and get back to the village, because there is no way you're scaring me like that again, woman."
Squeezing his hand back, Kagome smiled, "I'm sorry I worried you, Inuyasha."
"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" he asked, ready to do anything she wished at that moment.
After thinking about it for a moment, she said, "Just promise me one thing, Inuyasha."
"What?"
Holding a mischievous grin, she spoke, "Just promise me, that once I'm feeling better, we'll go someplace, just the two of us for a little while…I want to spend some time with you, and only you."
He grinned back, she knew there was no way he'd refuse such an offer. "Deal." Inuyasha leaned forward and kissed her forehead, pulling back with a smile. "Get some sleep, Kagome, you need to get better."
She obliged, rolling over and closing her eyes as Inuyasha tucked her in, like a parent would with a small child, before finding herself in slumber. Inuyasha watched over her as she slept, determined that nothing, not even this strange illness, would harm her.
"Sango…"
"No, Houshi-sama," Sango replied sternly, turning away. "You just…you don't understand."
The monk stared at her. He tried again, "Sango, I don't understand because you aren't telling me what's wrong. Please answer me, Sango, what did I do to make you this angry? If I did anything, I regret it and an sorry, but I can't fully apologize until you tell me what I did that offended you."
"It's not something you did," she answered, her eyes on the starry night above them. "It's not that, Houshi-sama…it's…" But she couldn't tell him. Perhaps she couldn't tell him because she was not quite even sure what it was. "Please, don't ask me this…let things stay the same way for now."
At her words, Miroku lost it. "Stay the same way they are?" he snapped, his violet eyes wild as he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. "Sango, don't you understand? Thing's can't stay the same way they are! I miss you, Sango…and I can't be 'just friends' with you when that's not what I want!"
"And what do you want, Houshi-sama?" Her eyes were nearly on the verge of tears. "You never told me what you wanted, just that after Naraku was defeated you wanted me to live with you and bear your child! But that means nothing! It doesn't mean anything when you've said that before…so many times to other people…"
Miroku stared, his eyes getting wider in understanding. "Sango…is that what is bothering you? That I've said that to other women before you?"
She turned around sharply, realizing her mistake. "No…Houshi-sama, it's not…"
She felt him place a gentle hand on her shoulder as he spoke quietly, full of purpose. "Sango…it never mattered what I said to other women. Ever since I met you, it's always been you, Sango. Maybe at first it was because you resisted my flirtations, but soon after that I began to realize…At first, I was afraid, because of what would happen if we got close and then with my curse…but now, it's been almost a year since this began, and I can't take it anymore! Sango, please, understand, the only one I want in my life is you."
A tear fell down on to her cheek as the exterminator listened to him, but again, the fury caused by her conflicting emotions bubbled up to the surface. Smacking his hand away, she turned to face him, angry tears falling down her cheeks. "How can I believe that? You're not one to tell the truth often, Houshi-sama! You've said that before to so many as well! And why is that that even after you said you wanted to wait until Naraku was defeated, now you're saying this?"
He tried defending himself. "Sango, please believe me, I'm not lying to you, I am only telling you the truth in that—"
"No, no I don't want to hear it, Houshi-sama!" she shouted, turning around and beginning to run down the hill, towards the village.
"Sango!" he chased after her, grabbing her and turning her around, where she continued her protest.
"Didn't you hear me? I don't want to hear it!" She began beating him on the chest, trying to get him to let go as her tears continued to flow. "I don't want to—"
Her words were cut off as Miroku did the only thing he could think of to quiet her down. He grabbed her and pulled her towards him, kissing her.
Sango couldn't do anything as the monk continued to kiss her, her eyes wide open, but no longer crying…or doing anything. Her hands, which had been bawled into fists, fell limp, her eyes widened as he pulled away and it dawned on her…she had been kissed for the very first time.
Still holding on to her shoulders firmly, so she wouldn't run away, Miroku said quietly, "Sango…I've chased after you for three years…and I have never, done that for another woman. Sango, though there have been other women in my life, I have never really loved any of them…I love you."
A stifled gasp left her lips at his words. I love you…She wanted to believe it was a lie…she wanted to think like she had for many months, but…in his eyes, there was no lie. He was telling the truth…I love you…He said that…Houshi-sama…
But instead of replying, Sango did the only thing that she could think of doing at that moment, she turned and ran back to the village, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes.
But those words continued to float in her mind. I love you…
