A/N: Thanks so much for the great reviews guys! I really appreciate it!
I'm sure you know the drill from the other stories. I don't own Inuyasha...blah, blah, blah...my story line!
Enjoy!
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Inuyasha shifted in Kagome's lap. His hair smoothly slid over her legs, tickling her and waking her from her light, peaceful slumber. She blinked against the harsh darkness of the room and tried to bring his sleeping face into focus.
He had broken out in a cold sweat again. His eyes were squeezed shut with a vengeance. Even his nose wrinkled from a pain and fever that his body was struggling to fight. She wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief she had taken from her pocket earlier and bit her lip in concern.
The last time Inuyasha had laid in her lap had been the first time she watched him transform as the sun set and no moon came to take its place. She smiled a bit as she remembered how angry he had been when she saw his change with her own eyes. He had told her right then and there that he didn't trust anyone other than himself and that was how he had survived for so long. My how times changed.
She grimaced slightly as her thoughts wandered to his toe to toe battle with the spider head posing as a monk. He had lunged and fought to the best of his ability, but he had still been captured and bitten with a deadly dose of the venom invading his body in the process. She had never seen him so pale or in so much pain. He had talked to her all through the night.
That was the first and only time he had told her that she smelled nice. A pale blush rose on her cheeks and she made no effort to hide it in the dark hut. That was the night that she had earnestly fallen in love with the hanyou, but she still had her doubts about his affection.
She shook her head as she caressed his face and cleared her thoughts. She needed to find the origin of this fever. She hadn't seen an open wound on his body, so from where had this fever suddenly flared?
That's when she remembered the way some of the water had washed away from his body in a pink waterfall. She remembered thinking that there had been some blood leeching into the fire rat fur of his kimono. She thought back to the battle. The evil she-demon had barely laid a claw on him. There was no way that it could've been from the battle, right?
She closed her eyes in thought as the time line appeared before her eyes.
Let's see.
The demon had appeared with a flourish of wind tussling the evil tree's leaves.
That's not it.
There were harsh words exchanged. Sango and Kirara entered the fray. The hiraikotsu flew through the air and missed entirely as the demon rushed at Kagome.
I know its there! I just need to look!
Inuyasha unsheathed tetsusaiga and leaped in front of her. A flash of sunlight revealed that tetsusaiga had gone flying. Inuyasha had scooped her up and brought her back to the edge of the clearing to keep her safe.
Almost there. I know it!
Inuyasha used blades of blood to…
Kagome froze. Inuyasha could only use his blades of blood attack when his own blood had been spilled, but the demon hadn't touched him.
"Oh, Inuyasha, you didn't," she mumbled more to herself than to him.
She swept the bangs out of his face and a slightly more peaceful look seemed to follow in its wake. She smiled a bit and began her search for the self inflicted wound somewhere on his body.
She rationalized that it couldn't be anywhere near his legs or waist, because he hadn't crouched at anytime during the battle.
So that only leaves his arms and shoulders…
A soft rain began to fall and a flash of lightening danced its way through the clouds. Kagome had used the fleeting light to check Inuyasha's nails for any dried blood. Her suspicions were confirmed as the brief flash showed dark scarlet under the nails of his right hand. She knew that could only mean there was some kind of scratch on his left arm.
She fingered the hem of his sleeve and gently pulled it up. Another string of electricity bolted through the sky and Kagome saw a gash on his forearm beginning to weep with a mix of blood and puss. Silently, she prayed that the sun would rise soon and his hanyou blood would take care of the infection growing in the wound. She fixed his sleeve and pulled the blanket more tightly around Inuyasha. Despite the dampness of his brow, he was shivering.
A loud clap of thunder roared in the dark causing Kagome to jump a bit in surprise.
Inuyasha stirred. He slowly opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. His brain slowly registered the battle that led to his current position in the hut. He shivered and almost immediately, a cool hand reached out and rested itself on his cheek. He snuggled into it, savoring the way it calmed his nerves and took the heat out of his skin. His shoulder and ankle were still pulsating with a mild ache, dulled by his sleep, as he looked up and caught her eyes.
She smiled at him and whispered to him in the dark, "Are you feeling ok?"
"Yea. I'm alright."
His voice was rough with pain and fatigue, but he was compelled to smile back as she held his gaze, the curve of her lips never wavering. He wanted to talk to her, to distract himself from his discomfort and hurry along the rise of the morning sun. Most of all, he wanted to talk to her to comfort her and put her worries to rest.
"Do you remember the first time I watched you transform, Inuyasha?"
Her voice had grown stronger in order to be heard over the steadily increasing pound of the rain. She dabbed at his forehead, removing more perspiration as he chuckled. Her eyes glowed with mirth at his laughter.
"How can I forget? I was so angry with you and Shippo for seeing me…"
He trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish the sentence.
"What? Human?"
"No," he paused and swallowed to give himself the strength to say what he feared, "weak."
"Inuyasha. Being human doesn't mean that you're weak."
She sighed with frustration. He was always so hard on himself, so demeaning. It always pained her to watch his internal struggle. She always listened as he ranted and raved about wanting to become a full demon to increase his power, but it was times like this that she wasn't so sure he meant it. Sure, he complained that humans were weaker than youkai or even hanyou, but she could tell he enjoyed it when he could feel his emotions more clearly. She also knew it was more troubling to him to have lapses in memory from his youkai transformation than it was to have lapses in power during the night of the new moon. As much as he complained, he liked being a half demon much more than he let on.
"I didn't mean it like that you know," he stated flatly, interpreting her silence as feeling insulted.
"I'm not mad at you for saying it, Inu-chan. You don't have to play the tough guy act with me. Really. Its ok."
He blinked at her, slightly taken aback but also a bit shocked. He thought he had done a good job of disguising his contentment with being a mere half breed. He hated not fitting in to either world of humans or demons, but in the long run, it was exactly his misfit status that had brought him a high level of determination. It was his misfit status that gave him a feared respect among humans and less than a second glance from demons. In the end, it was his saving grace.
He opened his mouth to speak when a loud thud echoed through the small hut. A bit of dust and a few beetles fell from the rafters and it was obvious that someone had just landed on the roof. He sat up with relative ease. The only discomfort he felt was in his shoulder, which throbbed with a dull ache and had a gel like feeling from being disjointed earlier. He was happy that the sling Kagome had made for him was taking the weight of the limb instead of his shoulder.
Kagome's hands flew to his back to help support him, but he shrugged off her touch. It was obvious by the glint in his eye that he had heard the thud as well and interpreted the noise as a threat. A few beads of sweat dripped down the sides of his face as he struggled to get to his feet.
"Inuyasha, please…come back…here and rest," she struggled with her vocabulary to keep from uttering the dreaded "sit" which would only plant his face into the ground.
"No. I need to protect you. Something's out there."
He listened intently as foot steps were heard walking on the roof of the building containing the hidden couple. He listened and heard at least three distinct foot step patterns indicating three different individuals.
Who could possibly know that we're here? Who could possibly know that its my time of weakness?
There were a few soft splashes outside the door and Inuyasha limped heavily to stand in the door frame and keep Kagome safe. His ankle screamed with every step, but he ignored its wails and suppressed the cry that was growing in his own throat.
She's my Kagome. You won't hurt her. Not if I have anything to do with it.
"I-Inu…Yasha…" whispered Kagome, fear striking her heart. If Inuyasha was attempting to walk on his broken ankle to stand in the door frame, then something was definitely wrong.
Inuyasha staggered back and fell roughly on his bottom as three large figures appeared just outside the door, mere inches away from his face, with a flash of lightening. Kagome ran to his side.
If you're going down, I'm going down with you, Inuyasha.
Their hearts were pounding, perfectly in synch with one another as the figures stepped forward menacingly. Their footsteps falling heavily on the wood of the floor of the hut. Water dripped from their extremities. One of them held up a stick, ready to strike when a smaller figure, hidden in the large shadow of the other three, came forward.
"Fox Fire!"
The stick ignited with a blue flame.
"Shippo?" queried a shaking Kagome. The fire light was blinding compared to the dark that her eyes had grown accustomed. However, it was clear that the faces of Shippo, Sango, Miroku and Kirara were there and it wasn't an illusion.
"Kagome!" cried the kitsune and leapt to her side, hugging her tightly.
"Its good to see you too little one."
"Keh. Speak for yourself Kagome," piped in Inuyasha, trying to cover up his fear that was obvious only moments ago.
A cheerful reunion took place for the next few minutes and Kagome was presented with her back pack. She was ecstatic and pulled out snacks for the others before she helped herself to the last bag of potato chips. She pulled out a few extra blankets and a pillow as she munched the crunchy treats.
She had to persuade Shippo to relinquish his pillow for the sake of Inuyasha's comfort. Shippo finally conceded, with a lollipop securely in his mouth, as Kagome placed the soft cushion beneath Inuyasha's ankle to give it some support.
Feeling happy, Shippo snuggled into Kirara's warmth and quickly fell asleep. The lollipop fell from his lips, leaving a blue stain of sugar. Sango and Miroku rested their backs against the wall next to the doorframe. It was their turn to play the protector for everyone's sake.
Inuyasha rested his head once again in Kagome's lap and fell fast asleep. He knew that Kagome would be protected now, even if he was unable to do it himself. Kagome, feeling that her duty as protector had been lifted, too nodded off. Her hand was embedded lovingly in Inuyasha's ebony hair.
Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, Sango and Miroku sat up all night. Their only form of communication was through the hand that Sango allowed Miroku to keep in his grip to soothe her nerves and give her some courage.