Panting heavily, Inuyasha pressed his hand against the side of his neck while he focused on breathing and not passing out. In the past, he'd had worst injuries – an acidic hand through the gut being a particularly shitty example – so why this one was making lights pop before his eyes and his entire body feel cold he'd never know. What he did know, however, was that Kagome was supposed to come back yesterday and during his attempt to run off some steam so he wouldn't strangle her for being late, he'd unfortunately scared the shit out of a rather weak but shockingly quick little demon who went straight for his jugular. An effective strategy that let the bastard escape while also incapacitating the guy who stepped on him.

"F-fuck," Inuyasha breathed as he struggled to take a single step back towards the village and crumpled to his knees. The others weren't going to look for him for another good hour. They knew he'd come back because, well, he'd never failed to come before and they were confident in his ability to defend himself. Which, until this moment, had always been true. Well, more or less.

Head suddenly feeling rather heavy, Inuyasha could literally feel the black slowly suffocating his mind as he crumpled only his side – crimson still gushing over his trembling fingers while the rest of his body began to grow numb.

A single tear slid down his bloodied cheek.

For an utterly and devastating selfish moment, he wished more than anything that Kagome had come back yesterday. Not because her delay in turn delayed the quest or even because he was unexpectedly dying. He just…

He just really wanted to hear her tell him it was going to be okay.

Jaw trembling, a few more tears fell while Inuyasha's quickly fading mind tried to replicate her voice and imagined her fingers combing through his hair. With enough effort, he could almost pick up on the lingering notes of her scent that still clung to his clothes and just knowing a piece of her was with him brought endless amounts of comfort.

'Gome…'

The woman in question arrived a few hours later – just before sunset - fully expecting to get an earful for being late especially considering Inuyasha hadn't come and dragged her back. What she wasn't expecting was for Miroku, Sango and Kilala to be standing there waiting for her with expressions ranging from pity to grief.

Something which would be alarming on its own but the notable absence of the person she was expecting to see sent chills down her spine.

"Where is he?" Kagome asked hoarsely – glancing around the meadow like she expected him to pop out of the bushes. Miroku let out a shuddering sigh as he stepped forward and answered – clearly trying to soften the blow as much as possible, "He's alive. For now. In Kaede's hut. You…you should go and say goodbye."

"W-what?" she breathed – her feet moving before she realized it as she tore through the forest, across the rice paddies and skidded to a halt in the middle of Kaede's hut where…a very forlorn looking Kaede was clearly trying to make Inuyasha's colorless body more comfortable. Not that he would know the difference – if it wasn't for the subtle faltering movement's of his chest, Kagome would've assumed she was looking at a corpse.

"I'll give ye a moment alone," the elderly miko offered hoarsely as she slowly got to her feet and offered the miko what she imagined was meant to be a reassuring smile, "He was asking for ye earlier."

Taking a hesitant step forward, Kagome's face crumpled as her heart withered up and died. What on earth happened? Other than the bandage around his neck, he seemed fine. Perfectly fine. Like he might be sleeping or…or…

Choking back a sob, Kagome stumbled forward before dropping to her knees and glancing over his motionless body. Maybe they'd missed something and…and she could find it. Fix this. But unfortunately no matter where her hands roamed across his bare torso or covered legs there were no other injuries. Whatever hit him must've simply nicked his jugular and figured that was enough.

Probably because it was.

Letting out a shuddering painful sigh, Kagome shakily laid down next to his terrifyingly cold body and snuggled up – resting her head atop his chest so she could listen to his slowing heartbeat and wrapping one arm around his stomach while tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I l-love y-you," she mumbled – deciding he deserved to hear it whether he reciprocated or not, "S-so m-much. A-and…"

Letting out a sob, she swallowed convulsively over the lump in her throat and pressed her body as close to his as she dared.

"A-and i-it'll b-be o-okay," she continued – giving his body a light squeeze while her whole being trembled, "Y-you'll s-see."

A deep painful-sounding inhale expanded his chest just enough to briefly raise her arm and that act alone brought a tearful smile to her face. For the moment he was still with her and she was shocked how precious the moment seemed. Closing her eyes, she listened to his unsteady heartbeat as it continued to slow while her fingertips absently traced circles across the exposed sternum. Her own breath shuddering as she tried to keep her soft sobs to an absolute minimum. If he was aware what was going on, she didn't want him to worry about her. She just wanted him to know he was loved and that he wasn't alone.

"I'll be okay," she tried as she rubbed her cheek against his skin – her voice marred by the presence of sobs, "Don't w-worry a-about m-me. J-just f-focus on g-getting better, a-alright? A-and it'll be good."

It felt like an eternity that she laid there – his condition not improving but not worsening either. Despite the sun dipping below the horizon and their friends slowly entering the hut to say their respective goodbyes, Kagome remained where she was and did her best to stay silent so her friends could say what they wanted without interruption. Throughout the night, Inuyasha's chest and heart faltered while his body grew colder with each passing moment. And at some point, Kagome finally succumbed to the exhaustion that was grief and fell asleep with dreams of his cocky smile and the sound of his steady heartbeat playing out in her mind's eye.

It wasn't until she felt someone trying to move his body that she woke up bolt upright– ready and willing to claw the person's eyes out even though she knew in the back of her mind it probably needed to be done.

And then she heard a groan that was unmistakably his.

Quickly wiping her face a few times and rubbing her eyes just in case, Kagome blinked down at the still pale and struggling man with wide, hesitant eyes. And a pair of amber sluggishly blinked back. His chest might be rising and falling in a faltering pattern but once his eyes seemed to focus, his blue tingled lips twitched upwards before his somewhat peaceful expression faded into annoyance. Writhing ever so like he was trying to move, Inuyasha's trembling fingers weakly tapped at the futon beneath him while his eyes begged for her to do…something. Said bleary eyes darted towards his side before slowly looking back up at her…

"Oh! Y-you w-want me to l-lay b-back down?" Kagome asked hoarsely and his annoyed expression faded – his very subtle nod trying to get across what he couldn't say in words.

Nodding, Kagome sniffled lightly as she moved back down to her previous position – shocked beyond belief at his relieved sigh and the way his head weakly lolled so his cheek barely grazed her temple.

"I l-love you," she offered barely above a whisper and in response, the cheek pressed against her forehead subtly moved back and forth. Almost like a caress. And then she saw the muscles in his arm try to flex – his shoulder clearly trying to move and she smiled. While clearly still very weak from bleeding out and very much still in danger, he was being his stubborn self. Trying to do too much too soon.

"Don't m-move so much," she chided when the shoulder kept twitching and she could feel his breath becoming harsher from the effort. Sitting up, earning a very drugged looking glare, Kagome met his somewhat hazy gaze before glancing at his arm, "Where are y-you wanting it to g-go?"

The unfocused glare looked even more glarish and annoyed before his eyes dipped down to her hand then slowly moving back to where she'd been laying a few moments before.

"A-are you w-wanting to hold my hand?" she asked cautiously and she'd never seen him look more relieved. Granted he looked either high or drunk thanks to the blood loss but it was morbidly funny that he was communicating with her through eyes alone. Given the way his lips were twitching and the hint of amusement behind his eyes, it seemed he was finding the situation funny as well.

Still, it felt wrong to smile or find anything good in this situation. Even with this brief moment of joy, there was no denying that Inuyasha was still in grave danger of dying.

But she didn't want to remind him of that. She was sure he knew that much already.

Swallowing thickly, Kagome unsteadily laid back down – less surprised when his head once again sloppily rolled to touch her temple – and gently moved his heavy arm to rest on his stomach before intertwining their fingers.

The long breath and almost inaudible hum of contentment nearly broke her heart.

A heart that cracked almost audibly when he summoned the strength necessary to run his thumb up and down the nearest finger. It was hard to ignore this clear sign of his affection. Especially since he wasn't an affectionate person. At all. But given that he was, potentially, still in the process of dying, she wasn't going to spend too much energy on the topic.

Just when she started to relax believing it might all be alright, without warning, Inuyasha went deathly still. The already weak grip on her hand slacking. His chest ceasing to move. His heartbeat no longer thrumming into her ear.

Jaw trembling, Kagome was too shocked by the suddenness of it all to properly react. How long she laid there, soaking in the last of his warmth and running her thumb across his slack hand, she didn't know.

But it still wasn't long enough.