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The White Stars

So the original plan was to write some of these chapters ahead of time so that I can update somewhat regularly because I am prone to procrastination and distraction. However, I've found that I am incapable of positing them pretty much immediately, so I hope you are all enjoying my sudden burst of writing inspiration which is causing me to churn out all these chapters in a short period of time~

Just keep in mind that this will not always be the case because I do actually have work and all those boring commitments. Still I hope that people are enjoying reading the story and if possible leave me a review so I know what you think~

I'm not too certain if there is some kind of official guide that was made with the character's heights and such but there seems to be a lot of conflicting accounts on their heights. Most having them really short and I cannot imagine Inuyasha only being 5 foot 4 (like 3 inches shorter than me even if that was at age 15) and the rest of the cast doesn't fare much better other than Sesshomaru. But since I'm aging them I'm letting them grow a bit too.

| Inuyasha 17 is 5 foot 9 / Miroku 20 is 5 foot 8 / Sango 18 is 5 foot 6 / Kagome 17 is 5 foot 5 / Sesshomaru 20 is 6 foot / Shippo 7 is around 3 foot / Naraku 24 is 6 foot |

Additionally, fighting scenes aren't my forte so forgive me whenever they come up.

Chapter Four

They'd been walking for hours already and Kagome was starting to regret the decision to leave her bike back in Kaede's village. Not that riding wasn't difficult in its own way when you were doing it for hours at a time, and it gave her a sore bottom. Still, she was hungry and getting ready for a break any time now. She sent a sidelong glance towards Inuyasha's back, maybe she could coax him into agreeing with the promise of some instant ramen…

As the group continued walking she silently contemplated her options for bringing up a lunch break until her stomach growled quite loudly, causing the girl's cheeks to flush. She hadn't needed the quite so adamant reminder that her that she was hungry, especially since it caused the others to give her veiled glances. How embarrassing…

Still, she still wasn't entirely on speaking terms with Inuyasha after this morning but compromises were needed in situations like this, she was starving. Plus he was so dense he probably wouldn't even realise she was upset, it wouldn't be the first time. Still it just came down to whether he let them spend long enough to build a fire and boil some water with how impatient he was. "Inuyasha! Can't we stop for lunch yet? I'll make ramen!"

The hanyou glanced towards the sky and the location of the sun to estimate the time of day before turning towards Kagome with a frown. At the word ramen his ears perked slightly and he crossed his arms over his chest relenting he said, "Feh, I suppose if ya can't wait any longer we can take a small break for lunch. I'll find a place for us to stop."

He wasn't fooling anyone with that cool routine but in light of him agreeing to stop for a break she wasn't going to call him out on it. It was kind of cute, plus there wasn't any need to aggravate him unnecessarily – not when her food break was on the line here.

"Thanks Inuyasha."

Kagome watched as the figure in red disappeared and the rest of them continued to follow at a much more reasonable pace. Following the main road until they came across a small semi-circular clearing, with their fearless leader in it. She was grateful it wasn't in the middle of some kind of graveyard or anything – it wouldn't be the first time he thought that was an appropriate stopping site. His sense of propriety was somewhat lacking.

"Is there a river nearby?" Sango asked as the group all stopped within the clearing, chocolate brown eyes surveying the surroundings as she adjusted the strap that held Hiraikotsu. "I'll get some water and fill our flasks again. The supply must be starting to get low."

"I'll accompany you Sango." Miroku offered as approached them only to freeze a few steps away from her at the glare that came in his direction. It seemed a touch more heated than usual leading him to believe it would perhaps be prudent to leave her alone for a while longer. Holding his hands up in surrender he said, "…Or perhaps you'd prefer Kagome?"

"I smell water over there, be careful," Inuyasha said somewhat roughly pointing towards the right before disappearing into the trees in search of wood for the fire no doubt.

"Alright, we'll be back soon!" Kagome slung her bow and arrows over her shoulder before leaving with Sango in the direction that Inuyasha had mentioned.

A soft mewl alerting them to the fact that Kirara had decided to follow them and after a few minutes Sango reached out to take two of the water canisters from her friend's arms. It looked awkward carrying them like that. Plus it had been her idea so she should at least carry some of the load. "So, did you have a nice sleep?"

Surprise and confusion slipped over her expression as she glanced towards the other girl. The knowing look that was coming her way made Kagome's stomach drop somewhat though she feigned ignorance while fiddling with the water flasks. "Yea, I don't mind sleeping out under the stars after all, though it was a bit cold."

"Oh? Even sleeping with Inuyasha with his arms around you keeping you warm?" She teased while nudging Kagome lightly in the ribs with her elbow.

That comment caused Kagome to almost fall on her face tripping over a branch. She caught her balance again with Sango's help, the other girl having grabbed her elbow. Face flaming she murmured out a thank you. She'd thought that they'd woken up and separated before any of them had seen but it seemed not…well at least it wasn't Miroku that had seen.

"I guess you saw, huh?" She asked shyly as she bit her bottom lip, "Miroku didn't…?"

"Sorry," she apologised as she slipped an arm around her friend though she was mildly concerned about why Kagome didn't seem happier about the outcome. Wasn't it what she wanted? She wondered as she replied, "No I'm fairly certain you'd separated by the time he woke up. I went to watch the sunrise and do some training with Kirara while you were all still asleep…so why is it that you aren't happy about this? Did he do something?"

Kagome shook her head sharply, "No, no it's not anything like that…it's just…"

Kagome woke up slowly, she mumbled something about five more minutes. She was warm and comfortable curled up for a change, but wait…why was she sitting up? Frowning the blue orbs opened to a curtain of white which only further confused her until she reached up to rub her eyes and her fingers slid through Inuyasha's hair.

So that's why she was sleeping sitting up instead of laying down. Her expression smoothed out into a smile then as everything slotted into place and she remembered what had happened the night before. It also seemed like Inuyasha had wrapped his over-shirt around her to help keep them warm overnight.

Still…as much as she was enjoying being curled up in his arms, lavishing in the affection and closeness it was just a little embarrassing. Especially when it occurred to her that the others could catch them like this – especially Miroku. Just the thought of it caused her cheeks to warm up and reluctantly she tried to wiggle and pull away from him with the intention of disentangling herself from him only to be stopped short.

Oh dear…

Inuyasha had an especially strong grasp on her it seemed. At least as far as she was concerned, not surprising considering he was a hanyou and she was just a human…but it didn't help her current predicament. If anything the arms had tightened around her after her wiggling. She sighed in resignation and sat there wondering how long it would be before he woke up.

Frowning she sat there in silence trying to think before she remembered last night, her gaze falling on those soft velvety ears once more. It was worth a shot right? It would probably wake him up and if not…well it was something to occupy her time with until he finally got around to waking up.

"Hn…" he murmured with a soft sigh as his ears twitched beneath the fingers, until finally sleepy golden eyes opened. "Mm…Kagome?"

"Hi," she said quietly and her fingers stilled.

"…" he was confused at their positioning in his half-awake state before finally deciding it was fine. He knew this scent, nuzzling his face into her hair and the crook of her neck as he closed his eyes again with the intention of sleeping again.

"I-Inuyasha…" Kagome stuttered, her cheeks darkening as his arms remained around her, pulling her against his chest as Inuyasha nuzzled into her like a cat or a dog. It was embarrassing but, if they'd been alone she probably wouldn't have minded. "W-we have to get up…let go Inuyasha. Are you listening?"

This was comfortable and nice. She really did smell nice…wait! Soft ears twitched and golden eyes opened once more. So it wasn't a dream then? He'd thought perhaps he was just experiencing a very vivid and comfortable dream but no… vaguely remembered talking to Kagome last night and gathering her up into his arms while she played with his ears. He hadn't expected her to sleep with him all night.

Suddenly realising his arms were still around her, well that answered that question. She probably couldn't get out of his arms! That thought caused his cheeks to heat up and he abruptly released the grasp he had around her waist as he pulled away from her neck. Averting his face from her as he did so. How embarrassing…

Kagome suddenly felt bereft without the arms around her despite her previous desire to separate from him. It felt sudden and the morning suddenly colder, though that may have been partially because his over-shirt had slipped from around her when he removed his arms. She pulled back slightly trying to get a look at his face to gauge his reaction as she murmured, "Um, thanks…Inuyasha, I –"

"I…sorry. I gotta go do something," Inuyasha said abruptly as he stood up causing Kagome to slide off his lap as he did so. Turning on heel after grabbing his shirt and Tetsusaiga and disappeared into the forest without another word, leaving her alone and staring after him.

The two girls walked in silence after she finished explaining what had happened before and after they slept in each other's arms and Kagome wasn't sure whether she felt better or worse for getting it off her chest. Especially with the sympathetic, almost pitying looks Sango was giving her - it kind of hurt.

"So…another words he ran away with great haste."

"Yes, he did…" Kagome said dejectedly with a sigh as her shoulders slumped and she kicked a stray rock, watching it careen through the air and into the tall grass.

"Don't worry, we know Inuyasha doesn't deal with emotion very well. He's taking baby steps."

Understanding wasn't enough though. It'd been hours and her thoughts were still going around in circles, wondering yet again why he'd had to flee from her like that. It wasn't like she didn't understand that it was awkward and likely he hadn't known what to say or do, but still it had hurt her pride as well as her bottom when he basically dumped her and ran…

The sound of running water finally reached her ears. She picked up the pace, finally breaking through the foliage to see a clearing near the river. "To be honest I don't even know why I'm so upset. I was going to tell him that we should separate before everyone woke up anyway…"

"It'll be alright Kagome."

She nodded at the reassurance as they walked towards the crystal water. Unscrewing the lid of the first bottle she dunked it into the water submerging it and consequently her hand. The water was surprisingly cold and the bottle slipped from her hand for a moment and she grabbed at it twice before stopping its escape. A difficult feat with wet hands, though she had less trouble with the second bottle since she was expecting the sudden chill.

Perhaps it was hormones…when was it the last time she'd had PMS?

She wondered silently as she stood and brushed off her skirt before the duo turned to go back to the clearing and the rest of the group. As they walked something niggled at the back of her mind and Kagome finally focused on it rather than her personal troubles and realised belatedly that it was a Shikon jewel fragment. That in itself was something to take note of, but more than that – it was coming in their direction quite quickly.

It the same time Kirara hissed, its fur bristling before transforming into its full form.

"Watch out! There's a Shikon jewel shard coming out way, we have to get back to Inuyasha!" She alerted Sango as she picked up her pace to a run as she tried to get closer to the rest of their group even as her mind was focused on the moving shard.

It was moving too quickly…they weren't going to make it.

The demon jumped with cat-like grace and agility from tree to tree before dropping down to the ground a short distance away from the girls, cutting off their route to the rest of their group. Straightening to his full height in a smooth graceful movement, long black-violet strands were pulled back in a braid that fell past his waist and matching black-violet eyes narrowed and shifted in a slow appraisal of the small group that was spread before him as his black tail swayed softly behind him.

He was clothed similarly to Sesshomaru – wearing white hakamas tucked into black leather boots and a matching haori, though the right shoulder and sleeve was decorated with a pattern of orange-gold flames. His sleeves did not billow freely instead he wore black leather guards as well as the cuirass over his haori making it appear a bit firmer fitting. A steel guard over his left shoulder was secured to the cuirass with a strip of purple cloth while a purple and gold sash was tied around his waist with a sword on his hip.

So this was the group he'd heard about was it? The hanyou and strangely dressed priestess as well as the rest of their strange…pack, that were searching for and carrying more of the Shikon jewel shards. Or at the very least he had the strangely dressed priestess and…a slayer? He'd thought they'd been wiped out. It seemed luck was on his side to catch them divided especially since he'd guess the shards were with the priestess, it was a curious thing that they had not yet been extracted from the group.

Sango slid to a halt beside Kagome at the sudden appearance of the demon. If not for the pointed ears and undulating tail he might have been able to pass as human unlike the majority of demons that they encountered. Of course…looking 'human' made them no less dangerous, if anything it made them more so, that was something that had been drummed her over the years by her father.

She had discarded her outer clothing leaving her in her pink and black fighting suit. Moving slowly but with purpose she moved just in front of Kagome with Kirara at her side as she gauged the strength of their enemy and the likelihood of slipping past him. "What do you want?"

"Insolent, aren't you Slayer? My name is Kaishun and I have come to relieve you of your jewel shards." Kaishun said as he drew his katana from its sheathe and the blade pulsed red as almost black eyes glittered in mild amusement.

So this chapter is a bit of a short one I apologise about that but this seemed like a good place to let it end.
Especially so that you could have it sooner rather than later since I'm still working on the fight scene.