Thanks for the reviews!

Glossary:

Miko: priestess

Hanyou: half demon

Youkai: demon

Osuwari: sit

Ramen: Japanese noodles

Haori: the red coat Inuyasha's wearing

Katana: sword

Chapter 4

"Feel the evil aura around the cave? That's where we're going."

The journey was fairly short, it took only about one full day. All the time while she's on Inuyasha's back, Kagome could feel intense anxiousness from Inuyasha. She knew he was impatient to rescue his friends, but honestly, that does not give Inuyasha the license to force her travel none stop. Part of her wanted to grumble, but the logical part of her stopped it. "He piggy backed you, and that's considerate enough of him." Kagome kept reminding herself, again and again and again.

The strange duo finally arrived in front of a terrifying cave around mid afternoon. The opening of the cave was ajar menacingly like a monster ready to devour its trembling prey. Kagome was still on Inuyasha's back, and she shuddered. Amazingly, she too could fell the aura.

"How did Inuyasha's friends get themselves into such a big mess?

Carrying her bow and arrow, Kagome was ready to fight. But what about Inuyasha? Kagome looked at him, his expression was unreadable, as if he sensed something...

Inuyasha, on the other hand, did sense something. He heard a whimper, and that made him stood rooted on the spot, stunned.

"Hey, why aren't you moving?" Kagome prodded his back.

"I heard...a whimper of someone I knew. " Before Kagome could understand what he's talking about, Inuyasha bounded off, to the totally opposite direction of the cave.

"Wait up!" Stumbling and falling, Kagome went after him. However a mere human like her couldn't really catch up with the hanyou's amazing stamina and speed. Panting heavily, she came to somewhere near a clearing. And Inuyasha was there, staring at something.

Kagome crept up and looked at the 'something'. A lone figure lie there, part of its face obscured by the bright, white light. "An angel..."Kagome thought. But it does not seem so for Inuyasha. He stepped out of the shades of the trees, his lips moving soundlessly. Kagome could vaguely read the words formed on his lips: "Shippo."

Then just as sudden as their amazing discovery, Inuyasha retreated back into the shadows. "Enemies." He warned.

Kagome felt him shaking with anger. She hugged his waist tightly, and that made him relaxed slightly. After all, the angel was dead, fury would not solve anything. What they should do now, is to see who their enemies are.

Voices. Kagome heard voices. Opposite their hiding place, crept out three deformed youkai. One of them looked like a giant rat which lost all its fur. The other two looked like corpses with broken limbs.

"Food..." They whispered in their ghoulish voices, voices that send shivers down Kagome's spine. "Not dead yet..." The rat sniffed the lone figure. Both Kagome and Inuyasha were shocked at what the rat said. Kagome could feel Inuyasha shaking again.

"Shippo...is still alive..." He thought.

The corpses swarm over, reaching out greedily to grab their share. Their mouths were already drooling with sticky, disgusting saliva. Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. His friend was not a food to be devoured by these lowly youkai. He hopped out of the bushes and within a flash, he pulled out his infamous katana: Tetsusaiga.

"Don't touch Shippo with your filthy hands!" He yelled as he brings the katana down, slicing the three scavengers into pieces.

"Shippo!" Inuyasha knelt beside the kitsune, picking him up gently. The kid opened his eyes feebily: "Inuyasha..."before losing all conscious.

"How is he?" Inuyasha asked as soon as Kagome tucked Shippo into bed. Night had fallen. Stars were twinkling innocently down at the group. Inuyasha looked at Shippo, he was sure it was a long time since Shippo last slept peacefully.

"Not good. Bruises all over his body. Who knows, he might even suffer from internal injuries." Kagome sighed.

"Maybe we should send Shippo to Lady Kaede. He could recuperate nicely there." Inuyasha suggested. Kagome agreed.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Shippo one of your friends?"

"Yeah, unlike me, he's a full blooded fox youkai. Bu then again, he's the youngest, the most vulnerable of the lot."

Kagome kept quiet for a while, than she asked again: "Are both of you close?"

Inuyasha gave Kagome a quizzical look. "No. Do we look close to you?"

Kagome nodded innocently.

Inuyasha smiled faintly as he recalled the past. Staring into the starry night, he said: "Shippo always say things that make me mad, and I would punch him, many times..."

"How bad!" Kagome said accusingly.

Inuyasha smirked. "Shippo's a kid, but that does not mean he's gonna get away scot free if he gets me pissed off."

"You're not going to bully him, Inuyasha. I'm going to keep an eye on you..." Kagome said indignantly.

They stared at each other for quite a while before Inuyasha turn back to his star gazing: "Get some sleep. I'll be around watching."

Kagome flopped over and fell asleep in her sleeping bag, not knowing that Inuyasha had turned around and was gazing at her with eyes full of mixed emotions. "She still thinks the same..." Than he sighed and turned back to the night sky, the stars kindly blinking down at this lonely soul: "But those feelings she once had for me was lost, forever..."