Disclaimer: Blarg honk honk. (Look up "RoosterTeeth" or "Red vs. Blue" on YouTube for a ton of laughs, because I don't own "blarg honk honk" either.)

Kagome then walked in from the kitchen, carrying a bowl.

"Here's your Ramen, Inuyasha. You'd better not spill it, because it took a lot of effort not to puke on it after I stirred in the packet of- oh, Miroku? Sango? Shippou? When did you get here?"

"Hiya, Kagome!" Shippou greeted her brightly. "We only got here a moment ago."

"Kagome, Inuyasha is in a very serious condition right now," Miroku announced gravely. "Demons have no immune systems, and are too different anatomically from humans to get sick. However, because of Inuyasha's human heritage, I believe that that gap between species has been bridged. Since he is not dead by now or comatose, I'm assuming that he also inherited some kind of immune system from his mother. I just hope that it's enough to keep this illness at bay."

"You mean to say that something as tiny as a cold could kill a demon, because they can't fight it off?" Kagome asked, horrified.

"Precisely," Sango nodded. "But no demon would ever need to fight off a disease, because they can't become ill in the first place. Our Inuyasha is an exception to that rule- much as he is to most laws of nature."

"You calling me a freak?" Inuyasha asked belligerently.

Sango smiled. "No, you aren't a freak; you're just different." She looked at Kagome with some concern. "Do you think she's alright?" she asked the room.

Kagome was staring at Inuyasha, her eyes wide and frightened.

"What?" Inuyasha demanded of her. "You got somethin' to say, then say it."

"I'M SO SORRY!" Kagome wailed, collapsing to the ground in a heap of tears.

Sango knelt beside her and wrapped comforting arms around the girl, giving Inuyasha a vicious look and mouthing what looked like, "Say something nice!" to him.

Torn by Sango's request and the strong feeling of awkwardness he felt around weepiness, Inuyasha hesitated before saying, "Er- for what?"

"All because of me you might die!" Kagome cried, sobbing even harder.

Inuyasha sighed, giving Shippou, Miroku, and Sango a hard look. Miroku took the hint and motioned to Sango to follow him out of the house, grabbing Shippou by one hand and leading him outside. Sango whispered something soothing to Kagome, and then rose and exited the house.

Now alone with the girl, Inuyasha sighed cleared his throat.

"Ah- Kagome?" he began hesitantly. "I just wanted to say that I'm not angry at you, and I think it was worth it getting sick because I got to see you and you don't always come here a whole lot, so I have to really value- Would you look at me, dammit?!"

Kagome raised her gaze to meet his, still sniffling.

"Look, okay, I hate seeing you sad. You're a good person and stuff. You shouldn't get so upset over crap like this that you didn't want to happen." Standing on unsteady feet, he managed to hobble to her and sit by her side, awkwardly attempting to hug her. He then pushed her back slightly, looking away. "I ain't no pathetic weakling, ya hear? I'm gonna go down in battle like any respectable demon would make sure of."

Kagome laughed softly, sniffing.

Suddenly, Inuyasha was possessed by a violent tremor. Frightened, Kagome could only stare at him in horror. The half-demon continued to tremble for several moments before breathing in deeply and finally overcoming the convulsions.

He smiled weakly. "So that's what all the pathetic ningens call sick," he murmured.

"Oh, Inuyasha, you fool," Kagome sobbed, clutching to him. "That's not human sick at all; to humans, that's dying!"

She continued to weep into his shoulder as he tried to comfort her, but was once again set upon by the massive tremors. Kagome pulled away from him, looking like a lost child.

"Inuyasha, does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

"It feels like white hot claws ripping out every slice of my being," he replied from between clenched teeth. "But it's just a little pain, I'm fine."

Tears glistened in Kagome's eyes, but she didn't have time to weep as a wave of nausea swept over Inuyasha, helping him empty the contents from his stomach.

Finally he was through, and he sat against the wall, trembling.

Shippou poked his head into the hut, peering at them both nervously. "I'd love to stay and help," he said in a shrill voice, "but that disease doesn't look fun to catch, and Miroku said something about Inuyasha's demon half possibly being able to transfer the disease to demons…."

Kagome nodded her head in agreement. "That's a good idea, Shippou." She raised her voice, so Miroku and Sango, who were outside, would be able to hear. "Miroku, Sango, you two should leave as well. I don't want anyone else to suffer on my account. Besides, you two could spread it to others. That would be horrible if it spread like a plague, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, Kagome," Miroku replied meekly, his defenses broken before they could be deployed. "Sango, Shippou, let us depart. We can at least seek out Kaede for these two."

"I hope you may recover quickly, my friends," Sango called to them.

Shippou waved goodbye and slid out of the house.

Kagome sighed for what felt like the billionth time that day. "I hope they return with Kaede soon," she said quietly.

(A/N): Ah, yes, this is as far as I've come in the story. I have a few ideas for the ending, which should be in a few chapters (or possibly even one), but I need the advice of my readers. I don't want to give away too much, so I'll ask about an ending theme instead: should the end be A. romantic, B. depressing C. standard (which is basically your typical happy ending), or D. weird? R&R to give me input, or email me at so I know what you'd prefer- because frankly, I'm torn on this issue. Please and thank you! ^^