It was a beautiful night. A slight breeze swept through the forest causing a quiet rustling throughout the leaves and everywhere, crickets sang their praises to the fine evening.
In a grassy clearing, surrounded by tall trees, was a small group of people who were sitting aroud a fire, also enjoying the clear night.
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Sango, the demon slayer, sat close to the fire gently stroking Kirara, her faithful cat companion, who was nestled in her lap purring blissfully.
Miroku, a young monk who spent more time checking out girls then exterminating demons, stood farther off. For once, he was not trying to hit on Sango. Instead he quietly stood looking out through the trees while fingering the prayer beads wrapped about his right hand.
All the while, Kagome the beautiful priestess, sat with Shippo, a small fox demon, who was happily munching on a lollipop while listening to the miko tell of the wonders of the future.
All in all, the group was enjoying a very rare time off.
However…. someone appeared to be missing.
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Inuyasha jumped from tree to tree, speeding through the foliage. At any passing glance, he would appear to of just been a blur of red and silver.
He had needed this, a chance to just get away for a while. True, Inuyasha loved his friends. Heck, he would even sacrifice his own life for them, but sometimes, he just liked to go off and spend some time alone.
Of course, he knew he would pay for it later. Naturally, Kagome would suspect him of going off to see Kikyo, and as usual, things would go downhill from there, usually ending in him getting "sat" for losing his temper or saying something that upset the priestess.
Still, it was not often that he got to go off by himself for a while and just think. It was usually simple enough; after a long day of trekking about in the wilderness, the group of shard hunters would welcome the idea of rest without question. This usually resulted in the hanyou being able to slip away unnoticed for at least a little bit.
Satisfied that his plan had worked out flawlessly, inuyasha found a tree that stretched far above the others. Gathering up his strength, he made a great leap into one of the taller branches.
As he settled down, the inu-hanyou's thoughts began to wander while he looked out over the endless sea of trees. It was not long until he lost track of time and soon, fell asleep.
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"Relax Kagome; I'm sure we all know that Inuyasha knows how to take care of himself," comforted Miroku, who was now sitting next to Sango.
The priestess had been shifting nervously about and casting worried glances out toward the forest.
"Miroku's right, he probably just went off to scout out the area or something," the demon slayer added.
"I know, but he's been gone for such a long time now," Kagome replied, "ugh, I can't take this anymore," she said, shouldering her quiver and grabbing her bow. "I'm gonna go look for him real quick,"
As the demon slayer and monk watched the miko disappear into the darkness of the underbrush, Sango questioned, "do you think we should go after her Miroku?"
"Nah, I don't sense any demonic auras nearby, and with Inuyasha out there, she's perfectly fine,"
Sango smirked at the truth in Miroku's words; Inuyasha would do whatever it took to keep Kagome safe, even if it meant jeopardizing his own life.
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Inuyasha's ear twitched as a faint sound slowly woke him from his sleep, rubbing his eyes, he took a casual glance around. Suddenly, the half demon did a double take; the moon was already in the middle of the sky, which meant that it was midnight! Had he really been sleeping for that long?
Jumping down from the tree, Inuyasha turned to speed back to where his friends were.
Suddenly, he collided with something, knocking him back down. Shaking his head, the dog demon turned to see what had been stupid enough to get in his way.
However, before he said anything, he caught sight of a very stunned Kagome, who was currently sitting on the floor rubbing her sore head.
"Kagome, what are you doing here?"
"What do you mean? I came out here looking for you! I was worried!" a very upset priestess replied.
"Okay! Okay! Sheesh, you don't have to get so worked up ya know…."
"Well then you shouldn't leave for so long next time! Something could have happened to you and we wouldn't even know!"
"look, I'm sorry, I lost track of time, if it makes you feel any better," Inuyasha offered.
"what exactly were you doing? Where were you?" Kagome questioned.
"I just fell asleep in a tree that's all! Do you have to criticize me on everything I do? I mean, I risk life and limb for you and still, you act like you don't trust me at all!"
This silenced Kagome, "I-Inuyasha, I'm sorry, it's just, I thought that you might have left me, it scared me."
Inuyasha grasped Kagome's hand and looked her dead in the eye, "Kagome, trust me on this, I swore to protect you, and that's what I plan to do, no matter what. That means I will never leave you, I will always be here for you, okay?"
The priestess smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek.
"Thank you Inuyasha, thank you."