"Hell no!" Shouted Inuyasha, Kikyou slowly opened her eyes slightly to get a view of the group crowding Inuyasha and Keade who were both in the middle. Sango stood next to Kagome, while Miroku was on Kagome's left meaning Sango was on her right. Shippo was in Kagome's arms and Kirara sat on Sango's shoulder. Keade looked very tired and angry and Inuyasha just looked plain angry.
"Why must ye be so selfish?" Keade exclaimed. Inuyasha seemed taken back.
"I'm selfish? Ha! Listen old hag, I got Naraku I gotta hunt down so I don't need any more distractions!" yelled Inuyasha.
"What's with all this 'I' stuff?" asked Sango, seeming to be annoyed.
"Inuyasha, do not forget, you are not the only one who seeks for Naraku's demise" Miroku said.
"Heh, you guys are understandable. It's this stupid woman that's the problem" Inuyasha scoffed, staring at Keade angrily.
"I have soldiers and other priestess duties I must attend too" Keade said, turning to Kagome. "Would ye mind another person in your group?" she asked, Kagome looked at her.
"Not at all, we would be happy to invite her in our group" Kagome said happily.
"Like hell we would!" Inuyasha shouted, Kagome turned to give him an angry glare.
"Look, it was your fault she broke her leg in the first place! So shut-up and accept your responsibility! You got that!" Kagome yelled, Inuyasha stared back at her in shear anger.
"Your fighting is both annoying and unpleasant" said Kikyou, limping her way to the others.
"Though Kagome could have gotten her point across a bit more gently I have to agree with her."
"Course, everyone agrees with her" Inuyasha snorted,
"Sit!" Kagome snarled, Kikyou watched in horror as Inuyasha fell down to the ground.
"That's unnecessary" Kikyou said quickly before Kagome could utter the word again. Kagome looked at her somewhat confused. Kikyou ignored the look and kneeled down next to Inuyasha.
"You need to apologize to Keade," she said, "I get the feeling you understand that she's busy but you just don't want to understand so you continue to argue. Just apologize" she said with a warm smile. Inuyasha looked up at her with a strange look of familiarity on his face. Could it be that he saw Kikyou in her eyes? Inuyasha stood up and told Keade he was sorry and that he was going to accept his responsibility over her. Inuyasha picked her up on his back and began to exit the small hut.
"Ya happy now?" Inuyasha muttered, sarcasm and a small hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Very" she said with a laugh. That was her Inuyasha, he always did have too much pride. But it was exactly his pride in which Kikyou loved so much. Not just his romantic, funny, strong, personality. But the fact that he hides his feelings to keep others happy, she loved his pride because it seemed like she was the only one who break through it. She smiled and clutched tightly to Inuyasha's robe of the fire rat as he began to jump into a sprint. They had been traveling for what seemed like hours. By now, Kikyou was sure they were far away from the village.
"Hey Miroku hurry it up, will ya?" Called Inuyasha, Kikyou looked back to see Miroku a little bit behind them. Why was he running so slowly? Just a moment ago he was up in front trying to talk to Sango and Kagome who were riding on Kirara. Kikyou looked back again, this time she saw the fat happy grin on Miroku's face everything the wind blew up her kimono and showed what was underneath. That pervert! Without thinking she began to panic and let go of her hold on Inuyasha and fell back to hit the ground. Or she hoped, instead she was caught by Miroku. Angry she slapped him off her,
"Get off me!" she screamed,
"What the hell is your problem!" Inuyasha yelled at her. Kikyou glared at him outraged.
"It's not me! Tell that perverted monk to keep his eyes off my bottom!" She yelled; Inuyasha's pricked his ears and gave Miroku an of-course-you-would kind of look.
"Miroku your sick!" Inuyasha yelled, hitting him on the head. Miroku rubbed his head multiple times.
"What's going on? Why did you guys stop?" Asked Sango, setting down Kirara.
"Feh, Miroku was taking sneak peaks at Nariko, that's why" Inuyasha said angrily.
"For a monk I would have assumed you to be more like gentlemen and less like a pig" Kikyou spat, Inuyasha stared at her.
"What are you staring at!" she shouted, causing Inuyasha to fall back.
"Relax you don't have to bite my head off!" he yelled back, Kikyou was finding it hard to control her sudden outburst.
"Oh shut-"she stopped as she began to feel immense pain in her broken leg. Almost instantly she began to scream. The pain was unbearable; it felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing her in the leg. She could her leg begin to crack, no not her leg, but her bone. She was sweating terribly; her bone inside her leg was moving. Or so it felt like it was moving. Inuyasha moved towards her.
"What's happening?" Shouted Kagome,
"I don't know!" Inuyasha yelled,
"Her leg!" gasped Sango; Kikyou struggled to look down at her leg. It was twisting, it worse then when Keade was trying to bandage it. Slowly Kikyou was able to catch her breath,
"Are you alright?" asked Inuyasha, already sensing that the worse was done and away with.
Kikyou moved herself close to Inuyasha, slowly feeling the pain die away. She was covered in sweat from head to toe. She felt Inuyasha grab a strong hold on her and he began walking in a different direction with her in his strong arms. She hated to admit that sadly she felt just like she did when she was dying in Inuyasha's arms.
"Where are you going?" asked Kagome, standing up with him.
"To go cool her down, I won't be long" he said, as he jumped into a sprint. There was something going on in his mind, and she wished she could figure out what it was. Kikyou couldn't believe how exhausted she felt. She knew her leg was fully healed, she just wished it wasn't so painful. Inuyasha set her down by the same river they had fallen in the night before. He removed the top of his robe of the fire rat and tossed it on the floor. Then he removed the white under garment beneath his robe of the fire rat and began to dip it in the water. It take long for Kikyou to figure out what he was doing. She watched him silently; he was continuously dipping it in the water. Finally, he pulled it out the water. Kikyou closed her eyes, expecting his touch to wake her. Instead she opened her eyes to feel Inuyasha's soaked shirt towered on top of her.
"What are you an idiot!" she yelled, as she pulled the soaked thing off of her.
"Kikyou, this is the man you fell in love with?" Ayumi's voice came from behind her. Kikyou ignored her,
"I was trying to cool you down" said Inuyasha, looking almost completely clueless to what was going on. Kikyou pointed to her wet kimono,
"I'm cooled down now, thanks" she said sarcastically.
"Hey, be grateful I decided to help your sorry ass!" Yelled Inuyasha, his amber eyes glaring at her; Kikyou crossed her arms.
"You would have done better if you threw in the river" she said, letting her sarcasm get to him. Inuyasha's eyes brighten as he grabbed hold of Kikyou's arm and tossed her in the river. Kikyou rose up from the water, hating that it was so cold. She glared at Inuyasha,
"Some gentlemen" snorted Ayumi, again Kikyou ignored her.
"Well, I hope you're cooled down enough" Inuyasha teased. Kikyou frowned and took hold of him. Without another word she dragged him in the river with her.
"What the hell Nariko!" He yelled again, Kikyou smiled.
"The water was just so nice I just had to share it with you" she said through giggles.
"Why you-"
Kikyou didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. Instead she decided the only way to shut him up was to splash water in his face. Inuyasha's shocked face was absolutely priceless, his doggy ears was perked up and his eyes were wide while his mouth was dropped open. Kikyou couldn't stop laughing at how funny he looked. Of course she caught herself blushing when Ayumi made a comment on how nice of a body Inuyasha had. Inuyasha's expression changed to one with determination. It seemed like they were about to engage in an all out war of splashing. Kikyou was the first to attack as she shoved a heap of water at Inuyasha. Inuyasha responded using both arms to create what looked like a miniature tidal wave. Kikyou let out a soft scream a she fell back. The river wasn't very deep, but it was deep enough to go underwater. She lifted her head up from the fresh water, lifting her arms to block Inuyasha's massive water attack.
"Okay, Okay, you win!" she told him. "I surrender."
"Damn straight I won" Inuyasha snorted, Kikyou rolled her eyes and without another word tackled him to the ground.
"What's that saying?" she asked, rising up and crossing her arms. "Oh that's right, 'never take your eyes off your enemy'" she said with a giggle. Calming herself she held out her hand, reluctantly Inuyasha took hold of her hand. Only instead of picking himself up he dragged her back in. Kikyou was unable to hide her blush as she found herself on top of Inuyasha. There faces were so close together she could feel his warm breath tickling her skin. Kikyou could feel herself leaning in towards him. She wanted desperately to kiss him and judging from his dreamy expression he too wanted to kiss her. He leaned in closer to her, there lips almost touching. She could almost taste him.
"We should head back, there probably worried" said Inuyasha, pulling away from her.
"Yeah, you're probably right" said Kikyou trying not to sound disappointed.
The exited the river in silence, both embarrassed. She watched as Inuyasha ringed out his shirt and placed it back on. He then handed Kikyou his robe of the fire rat.
"Take off your wet kimono and put that on. You can wear it until yours dries" he said. Kikyou nodded and went behind a tree. She began to undress, still not understanding why Inuyasha pulled away from her like he did. She was sure he felt the same she did, He felt something, I just know it. It was also obvious that he had pulled her down on purpose. She shook away her thoughts and was grateful that Inuyasha's robe fit her just right. She managed to make it look like an actually kimono on her.
"Hmmmm…. Kikyou, he has got it for you" said Ayumi walking towards her. Kikyou didn't utter a word until she realized she no longer looked like Nariko but like herself in her original hakamas and white blouse. She was in her spirit form which meant Inuyasha couldn't see or hear them.
"I felt it" she told Ayumi. "It was the same feeling I got when I tripped over my bow at the bridge and fell into his arms so long ago" she said.
"Well, it was obvious he felt the same" said Ayumi, her red painted lips curling up into a smile. "How do you know?" Kikyou asked. Ayumi's brilliant blue eyes brighten.
"Did you not see the way you two were gazing in each other's eyes? Well you probably didn't because you were looking into them. Oh, you two looked so cute! So adorable!" Ayumi babbled.
"Ayumi! Will you pay attention?" Yelled Kikyou,
"I'm sorry what?" she said, regaining her composure.
"He moved away from me. Maybe I don't have a chance" she said.
"Don't say that! What I saw today was nothing like I had ever seen. He almost kissed you; meaning whatever stopped him must have been a thought about Kikyou. A thought about you" explained Ayumi, Kikyou smiled.
"You're right, I can't give up. Inuyasha still loves me" she said, feeling rather happy.
"Kikyou I've decided to take you up as my pupil. From now on you shall address me as 'onee-san' and I will teach you everything you need to know about men" said Ayumi.
"Hey wait, who said I wanted to be taught!" Kikyou protested.
"You don't get a choice" Ayumi said smiling.
"Ayumi" Kikyou growled sternly.
"It's 'onee-san'" Ayumi corrected. Kikyou sighed,
"Fine, onee-san, could you please return me back to Nariko's body?" she asked,
"Of course" Ayumi replied happily. Kikyou felt herself return to Nariko's body, she snuggling onto Inuyasha's robe. She breathed in his warm scent. I will make Inuyasha mine.
"Would you hurry up? Ya slow poke!" called Inuyasha, poking his head from behind the tree she had been changing behind.
"Inuyasha, how long have you been there!" She yelled angrily. Inuyasha moved from behind the tree and toward her.
"Relax, I didn't see anything. I'm not Miroku you know" He said taking her hand, "Let's go" he said, tugging her along with him. She smiled, will be together soon Inuyasha. I promise.