AN: Okay, well, as said, chapter 13 is done and ready, and chapter 14 is in progress. I need some filler space, so capter 14 is mainly going to be filler... but good filler, nonetheless!

By the way, I've been tinkering with this idea for a new Inuyasha fic for a while, and for some random reason, I've started writing (only about 5 pages, though), and I really like it, but I need a title. If anyone is interested in helping, let me know and I'll post a summary on the next chapter.

Oh, and either no one knew where the song lyrics came from... or no one reads my little notes... in which case I feel a little stupid... but anyway, for anyone who cares, they were from "1000 words" from Final Fantasy X-2... fabulous game, the animation is amazing, and the music is delightfully addictive. I was thinking about posting song lyrics up here to see who could guess them... but if no one reads up here, then I guess there's no point...

Enjoy.

hEyKyRa13

Protect Me

Chapter 11

The Fateful Night (Part 2)

Kagome watched her roommate, her breath held in her throat. Her discovery left her not only stunned, but baffled. She had no idea what was going on, nor what to do now. Replaying the encounter in her mind of the young man writhing and hissing in pain, she shivered. She felt compelled to do something to help, but as for what that something was, she was left to her own imagination.

First things first, she reminded herself. Get him off the dirty floor.

Inuyasha groaned again, eyes fluttering and mumbling incoherently, but still not waking.

Kagome frowned, bringing her hand up to bit her thumbnail nervously. He was obviously still in pain, but hanyou or not, he was still way too heavy for her to do little more than shove around, let alone pull onto his bed or anywhere else more comfortable. She looked around his room, searching for something to ease his pain. Spotting the comforter barely hanging onto his bed, she felt a spurt of inspiration and grabbed it, clearing a space on the ground and spreading it across.

Turning back to Inuyasha, she tried delicately slipping a hand under each arm and lifting. His upper body barely moved under her strain. Determined to move him, she dug her hands a little further, wrapping around each arm a little more securely and tried again. This time, she managed to lift a little higher and inch him across the carpeted floor, pausing only once to catch her breath. Pulling his entire body onto the thick, soft comforter, Kagome made sure his head rested on several pillows.

Once she was sure he was comfortable, she sat back, watching him, wondering what to do next. I don't want to be too far away, just in case something happens and his pain returns, she reasoned. But if I know him, he'll throw a fit seeing me coddling him like this.

Kagome's brows furrowed as she concentrated, weighing the consequences. Let him suffer or endure my own suffering?

The girl sighed. Come on, Kagome. No matter how much of a jerk he may be, you're not gonna just abandon him. It's just not in your nature and you know it.

With that in mind, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way into the kitchen, picking up a hand towel from the linen closet on her way. Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, she filled it with water, quietly returning to Inuyasha's room with both items in hand. For a second, she paused, looking down at his almost peaceful state, frowning. He doesn't look like he's sleeping too deeply. If I try to do anything to help now, there's a good chance he'll wake up and be awfully pissed when he finds me here.

After a moment of deliberation, she finally settled on placing the glass and towel on the chest to be used if needed. That done, she scanned his room, looking for something to occupy herself while she waited for him to stir. Eventually, she grudgingly found herself picking up the mess from his earlier struggling, folding his clothes neatly on his bed and returning any non-damaged items to the shelves.

About a half hour later, she stood at the doorway, rather pleased with her efforts. The floor was free of all debris, save for the still slumbering human laying on the comforter. She was rather relieved to discover her charge sleeping a lot more soundly as time went on, hardly stirring even as she moved around him.

With nothing left to keep her busy, Kagome collapsed on the floor next to Inuyasha and leaned back against his bed, sighing. She glanced down at him, eyes narrowing. "You know, it's pretty pathetic that a full grown half-demon like you is capable of keeping a room worse than my little brother's. May I be the first to tell you that that was an all new level of disgusting."

She was only a little put off when his only response was a soft snore. Kagome chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I guess what's pathetic is me, trying to argue with you when you're not even awake. See?" she added, leaning down to lightly rap her knuckles over his forehead. "You're out like a log, and here I am, trying to hold a conversation. But, since there is absolutely nothing else to do and I don't want to leave you alone, try I must and will."

He flinched under her touch, but she didn't notice as she continued, not understanding why she was suddenly enjoying herself.

"Since you're in no position to argue, right now, we need to get some things straight. First off," she began, waggling her finger at him, "you need to learn to lighten up. You're always so stiff and defensive. Don't forget that I'm the one whose life is in jeopardy, not you, so you're not the one that needs to be so uptight. And speaking of which, you can lay off calling me wench, all the time. Let me reassure you, I am not a wench! It's ridiculously annoying and, in case you didn't notice, rather rude, so I'd really appreciate if you'd stop. In case you've forgotten, I do have a name. Since you refuse to use my new name, even Kagome would be better than wench."

Listening to herself, Kagome leaned her head back on the bed and laughed softly, shaking her head. "Not that you'd listen to me though, right? I mean, after all, you are Inuyasha. For you to listen to me would be as crazy as you getting along with Kouga. And, by the way, what's your deal with him, anyway? He seems pretty okay to me. I mean, he may be a little too forward, but he doesn't hold back anything. He has no secrets and knows no regrets. He doesn't have a problem with letting others know how he feels, and doesn't care what they may think of him for it."

"But then again, that's not you," Kagome reminded herself, glancing back down at him. "I know you always think I don't know anything, but you've got to give me some credit. After all, I have lived with you for the last month. But I admit, I don't know everything. I know, big shock, huh? Of course, I'd never tell you that while you were awake, but for right now, I'll satisfy my conscience this way. I mean, I don't know why you act the way you do, but I'm sure there's a reason behind it. Heck, there may even been a reason behind why you apparently hate me for no reason. I don't know your history. But I'd be willing to learn."

With a giggle, she leaned closer to his face, cupping her hand around her ear. "What's that, you say? Why? Well, I'll tell you why. It's because I have way too much fun tormenting your poor, tortured soul and to repay you for all the entertainment you've provided, I've decided to do something. You're not as bad a guy as you make yourself out to be. I can read the signs of denial. I was majoring in psychology before all this happened."

Suddenly, a soft vibration interrupted her speech. "Hold that thought," she told him as she fished her cell phone out of her pocket, flipping it open and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Kagome?"

"Sango! Where are you? I thought you were going to pick me up from work today?"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. I had to ask Inuyasha to pick you up. Sesshoumaru called this morning and wanted me and Miroku to go back to LA, immediately."

"What did he want?"

Sango paused, and Kagome could barely hear Miroku mumbling some sort of apology in the background. "We don't know yet. The plane we were supposed to catch left without us due to the fact that Miroku 'just so happened' to crash into the blonde ticket attendant, making her drop all the tickets and, in the process, lose ours. We just now landed and are looking for- oh, wait, there's Sesshoumaru now. Kagome, I'm sorry, I've gotta go. I promise I'll call as soon as I find out what's going on. Until then, I hate to ask you this, but please stick around Inuyasha as much as possible. If he gets too annoying, I guess you could call Kouga. He left you his number, right?"

Kagome blushed. "Yeah, he did."

"Good. Call him if you need him, but no matter who it is, make sure one of them is with you at all times. Okay?"

"It's okay, I know the drill," Kagome assured her. "You two just be careful. And Sango, try not to be too hard on Miroku."

Sango chuckled. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

"See you soon, Sango."

"Take care of yourself, Kagome."

Click.

"What did who want?"

Kagome jumped, looking down. Inuyasha still lay prostrate on the red comforter, but his violet eyes were now half-open, fluttering with the effort to stay awake. He moaned softly, trying to sit up.

"No, don't move," she told him, reaching out to pull him back down. "I don't know what happened, but whatever it was took a serious toll on you. You need to rest."

Inuyasha frowned, but succumbed to her pleads nonetheless, coughing on his way down. Kagome jumped to action, leaving his side only momentarily to grab the glass and cloth.

"Do you want something to drink?"

The young man didn't try to speak, but nodded. Kagome was rather surprised, but said nothing as she slipped her hand under his neck and held the glass to his lips, careful not to spill. Inuyasha took a few gulps before allowing the girl to gently lay his head back down on the pillows.

"So what, did you major in Psychology at a medical school or something?"

Kagome looked at him quizzically. "You were listening?"

Inuyasha shot her a shrewd glance. "How could I sleep with you talking your head off?"

"How long?"

The young man paused thoughtfully, smirking after a moment. "Long enough to hear you admit you didn't know everything. Bummer I didn't have my tape recorder with me."

Kagome scowled. "Shut up," was her intelligent response.

Inuyasha laughed, an action that caught Kagome completely by surprise. No sarcasm or cynicism in his tone, just an honestly humorous laugh. Not necessarily a non-pleasant sound, she thought to herself, just not expected. She was able to do little more than stare dumbly at the young man oblivious to her attention. This isn't Inuyasha, is it?

After he finally regained his breath, he finally noticed Kagome's strange expression, tilting his head backward to watch her. "What?"

"You just laughed," Kagome stated, still dumbfounded.

"Yeah, so?"

"But… you just laughed!" she repeated emphatically.

"Your point?" he replied.

For a moment, her mouth merely gaped, moving up and down but producing no sound. Watching her, Inuyasha found himself nearly overcome by another fit of laughter, but fought the urge.

"I… I just didn't know you could laugh, that's all," she admitted.

The comment quenched the laughter inside Inuyasha rather quickly, and he scowled. "Why? Didn't expect a half-demon capable of such things?"

"No, no!" Kagome said quickly, her cheeks scarlet with embarrassment. "That's not it… it's just, I've never seen your face do anything but scowl and smirk. This is just… different."

Inuyasha snorted disbelievingly and lowered his head, closing his eyes defiantly. "Fine, then. I won't do it anymore."

"No, don't!" Kagome insisted. "It's not bad, just surprising. I'm sorry if I offended you."

Watching him, she could have sworn his pink ears perked as his head whipped back, staring at her in amazement. "You are?"

Seeing him stare at her with his head literally upside-down, a stunned expression on his face, made the girl giggle. "Of course I am. Remember? I'm the one hiding from the guy who lies because I have to tell the truth."

"You're also the girl that is lying to all the people in town and your own family," Inuyasha pointed out.

Kagome grinned. "Point taken."

Inuyasha shook his head and settled back down, yet still not ready to fall back asleep. For some inexplicable reason, he found himself somewhat enjoying the conversation, not exactly wanting it to end just yet.

"You know, you're awfully talkative this evening. This is the first conversation we've ever had that didn't involve any insults, loud voices or slammed doors," Kagome remarked, almost reading his mind.

Inuyasha nodded. "So it is."

Kagome bit her lip, wondering whether or not she should voice the concern that had troubled her all evening. Unconsciously, she brought her thumb to her mouth, nibbling on her nail.

Inuyasha noticed the action and frowned. "What?"

Oh well. Here goes nothing. "Um… well, since you're in such a chatty mood, would you mind if I took the opportunity to ask you a question?" she began cautiously.

The young man was instantly aware of her anxiety and became suspicious. "Sure," he replied apprehensively.

"Well… I just wanted to know… why did you… or, well, why are you… um…"

Inuyasha sighed, predicting where this question was leading. "Human?" he guessed.

Kagome blushed. "Well, yeah."

Inuyasha's eyebrow quirked, but he made no move to answer. Instead, he lay back down, closing his eyes.

Kagome waited, wondering whether or not he was going to answer, or if he was even considering. In all honesty, he wasn't. Inwardly, he berated himself.

He despised himself, or rather the human side of himself, and what he was. Humans were weak creatures that were prisoners to their emotions- those strange, useless things he had long since discarded in favor of his well-practiced, stoic, indifferent self. In his world, it was the demons that were the strong, emotionless indestructibles that he could do little more than dream to be. Indestructible, he reemphasized in his mind. Humans are anything but…

Kagome sighed, aware of the fact that he was lost in thought again, and assumed he would not answer her question. "I'm sorry, that was stupid. I guess it's not really any of my business. I'll go, now, if you-"

Inuyasha snorted. "Right, as if it not being your business would stop you from trying to find out, anyway."

Kagome looked at him for a moment, giving him time to continue if he wanted, but quickly figuring that he was finished and smiled wistfully. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Inuyasha nodded, eyes drifting shut again. Kagome took that as he cue, and started getting to her feet.

"What's that smell?" he asked suddenly.

Kagome jerked her head up, brows furrowing. "What? What smell?"

"That smell," he repeated firmly. "I'm human and I can smell it, so don't tell me you can't either."

"Is it a bad smell?"

Inuyasha lifted his head a little to tentatively sniff the air. Still frowning, Kagome did the same. He lowered his head back onto the pillow. "No, not really," he admitted slowly. "I guess it's nice, but what is it?"

Suddenly, she thought she got a slight whiff of the scent she assumed he was referring to and found herself highly amused. He saw her features relax into a smile and looked at her questioningly. "Well? You smell it, don't you? What is that?"

"That… is me," she told him, her smile spreading from ear to ear.

Inuyasha shrank back, not liking the way she smiled at him. He felt like he had just walked into a trap, and certainly did not like feeling trapped, especially by Kagome.

"What do you mean?" he asked guardedly.

Kagome giggled at his obvious discomfort. "It's lavender and cinnamon, remember? The scent you said my room reeked of? The scent you also just confessed you liked!"

"I never said I liked it," Inuyasha countered lamely.

"But you did say it was nice!" Kagome pointed out, rather pleased with her discovery that left Inuyasha looking like he was cornered. "Just admit it, I smell nice. It's not that hard to give me a compliment, is it?"

Inuyasha scowled in that all-too familiar way, save the fact that his glaring eyes were not violet instead of amber. "Why don't you just go away, wench?" he snapped, but lacked emotional force. His exhaustion was slowly claiming control over his senses.

Kagome shrugged, but did not hide her grin. As she very slowly got to her feet, Inuyasha was vaguely aware of something- he may have had the last word, but she still won the argument, didn't she? As she always seems to do, he thought, almost bemused. He suddenly let out a sigh as he felt sleep tugging on his consciousness.

He also felt something else tugging at him and, but was too tired to notice until it was too late. Another reason why he hated being human-

"Hey, Kagome."

-he couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut when he wanted to.

Kagome froze, whirling around. Did he just… call me…? Her thoughts slowly ebbed into an incredulous degree of shock while part of her still hovered in disbelief.

Inuyasha frowned, noticing her stare, but continued anyway. He pretty much figured the reason for her surprise, something that rather surprised himself as well. Oh well. Can't stop now, right?

Hm… come to think of it… the whole "mouth-shutting" thing… it wasn't just a human problem, was it?

Yeah, but it becomes more of a problem when you're human, another voice reasoned in his head.

Inuyasha agreed with himself, and went on to prove the voice right.

"I admit it," he said softly, eyes closing again, ready to fall asleep as soon as this was all over. Sleep was already taking over his reasoning, so if Kagome thought she was going to pounce on him in the morning for whatever he happened to say right now, he could blame it on exhaustion.

"Admit what?" Kagome asked, slowly shaking off the surprise of hearing her name from his lips.

"That you smell nice," he said simply.

And there it went- as soon as the surprise wore off, it came back with a vengeance, now tingeing her cheeks crimson. He must be really tired, she reasoned, shaking off the idea that he might actually mean it.

"Oh," she replied softly, willing her face to return to its natural color. "Um… thanks."

"It's because of the new moon," he added as an afterthought.

Kagome blinked. The new moon makes him compliment people?

"What's because of the new moon?" she asked.

Inuyasha took a deep breath, already feeling the effects of teetering on the edge on consciousness. "I'm human."

"Really?" Kagome replied, re-entering the room to sit back down next to him, intrigued. While he's nearly out, this may be the only way I can get any answers out of him, she thought, filing this information for later use. Bummer his dog-ears are gone, though, she added as an after-thought. "How come?"

"Cause I'm a hanyou… yawn… all hanyous always turn human on the same night every month… my time is on the new moon."

A specific time of the month, eh? Sort of like me, she thought absently, amused. "So that's why you wanted to get back in a hurry? You knew tonight you would be human?"

Inuyasha mumbled something in agreement. "I don't like being human."

"Why not?"

"Humans are weak."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Whatever you say," Kagome replied, realizing he was in no position to argue. Not to mention should he decide to wake up enough to be in a position to argue, there was little chance of them ever continuing this very informative conversation.

Recalling the evening's events, she was suddenly reminded of something, and frowned sadly. "I heard you screaming and thrashing. Every month- is it always that… painful?"

Inuyasha didn't answer, and she thought he had gone to sleep when he mumbled, "Yup."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't. S'not your fault," he replied, slurring his words slightly.

"But-"

Suddenly, she was cut off as Inuyasha, his logical, rational mind long since shut off, twisted around to his side, conveniently resting his cheek on Kagome's thigh and his arm coming up to curl around her waist, holding her like a child would a teddy bear. "Mmmm, G'night, Kagome," he said softly, already beginning to snore.

Um…. oookaaay….

The last time she felt her heart beat this hard, Naraku was holding a pistol to her head, and, of course, the pounding was for an entirely different reason. The organ felt like it wanted to leap out through her throat and slap her awake from what she was sure had to be a dream.

This has to be a dream… Inuyasha would never just… um, grab…. me… dream, Kagome, remember, this is a dream… wait, why are you dreaming about Inuyasha, anyway?

It seemed the farther she delved into her thoughts, the more twisted her thoughts would become, and the hotter her face would grow. Shaking her head to rid herself of the ridiculous notions springing forth out of her control, she tried to relax her stiffened body, all while her raging heartbeat pounded somewhere behind her ears, making her feel dizzy. Very gently and very careful to not wake him, Kagome slipped her fingers under his arm, pulling it slowly away from her body to rest on the ground. She inhaled sharply when Inuyasha started to move, but then, apparently thought better of it and merely rubbed his cheek against her leg, sending her face in another flurry of flames after she had just gotten it back to normal. With a hard gulp, she let go of his hand, staring at his face, praying desperately that he did not try that again.

Okay, Kagome, you can handle this, just breathe… one down, just one more to go…

The girl frowned, not knowing exactly how to remove his head from her thigh when he didn't look like he wanted to be moved. A small voice in Kagome's mind reminded her of this; she could almost feel a smirk of satisfaction wanting to transform her panicked expression.

Well, if he is that comfortable, wouldn't want to really disturb him, would we? After all, without his scowl, he is kinda cute, especially when he's sleeping like- Stop that! Bad Kagome! Bad!

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath, imagining by now that her face was sporting new shades of red by the minute. Forcing those thoughts from her mind promptly, she instead fixed on how she was going to get him off of her. She glanced around and her eyes fell on his abandoned pillow. With a smile, she snatched it and proceeded to carefully lift his face high enough so that she could scoot the pillow in between her and him. Moving as quickly as she dared, she then repositioned herself out of the way and laid the pillow, with Inuyasha's head, on the ground, holding her breath to see if he would stir. Luckily, he did little more than to release a somewhat loud snore, leaving Kagome relieved but still a little edgy. Hopping to her feet, she inched to the door, glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was still asleep, then shut the door and returned to her own room, flopping onto her bed with a big sigh. She glanced at the clock.

Wow, 11 already? she thought, suddenly aware of how tired she was as her eyes drifted shut.

Only one thought crossed her mind before it shut off completely.

Next new moon… can't forget… gotta remember… get… camera… human… and a… a… really soft… cheek… hmmm… G'night… Inuyasha…

AN: Well, there was the bit of mushy I promised... and yes, the scene should look a bit familiar... Inuyasha commenting on Kagome's scent... lying on her lap... sort of, anyway.... oh well... I was a little bummed that I don't hear from my usual reviewers anymore, but I'm very glad for the reviews I get!

Review Responses:

suppup17: smile There. I updated. Happy?

Kagome92111: I try to update as much as I can considering I don't know when I'll have time to write the next chapter...

IceSpikeXBlackRose: raises eyebrow Well, well, well... she's back! Glad to have you back, my friend...

helmet-head: I hope this chapter met your expectations...

Larnom: Yay! Both Rileyand Bonnie-san make their triumphant returns!

Next Chapter: Rage ... That's the title... but the question is, who's gonna get enraged? Inuyasha? Kagome? Naraku? Sango? Miroku?..... Shippo? ... You never know....