A/N: I'm so excited to show you this chapter, hope you like it!
Beta; lovely Cstorm86

The Miko Braves the Night

Kagome couldn't stop a sigh of envy as she ran her fingers through the windblown black mane. It wasn't fair - as far as she knew this hair saw no conditioner and rarely saw a brush other than a set of claws combing out some twigs and leaves. And yet, somehow, this hair was healthier than hers. It was also soft, unlike his usual white hair that was rough like a dog's
fur.

"What is it?" the boy sitting on a chair by the kitchen table grumbled. After his failed attempt to carry her home, Kagome had made him come with her so she could tend to his bruised head.

Hurriedly she parted the outlandishly pretty hair to reveal the injury - according to Inuyasha it didn't hurt and would disappear at dawn. She poked the swollen flesh with a finger and got a hiss from the boy.

"You said it's not hurting," she said, partially to apologize, partially to jab at his tough dude mask.

"Keh! It doesn't when you don't poke it!" he barked back. Shaking her head Kagome put an ice bag against it, applying just a bit of pressure. She sighed when she heard a mumbled curse, when she rested a hand on his shoulder to help her straighten up, his muscles were tense. She rubbed his shoulder.

"This is your punishment for showing off," she said with just a hint of teasing. It was actually nice to think that Inuyasha'd tried to impress her even in his human form. Well, he'd failed, but it still made her want to smile. Inuyasha grabbed the ice bag and held it against his head for a while before throwing it in the sink, barely missing the tower of dishes in need of washing.

"Feh! Not my fault you wiggled and fought me like a fucking kappa taken from a freaking pond!" Inuyasha complained and she playfully swatted his arm.

"You, mister, are lucky you didn't say anything about my weight!" she lifted her nose in the air. It had been his fault, he'd startled her. And he'd refused to put her down when she'd asked him to.

"Your weight? Wench, your weight is just fine, your attitude is the problem! Don't you trust me?" Inuyasha glared at her from under his black bangs, his eyes human-like, but carrying the same burning intensity of his usual gaze. She froze at this question. "I didn't drop my charge since that one time when Aki barfed on me three centuries ago!"

"Of course I trust you!" she growled at him. She didn't like the idea of him thinking she didn't - it wasn't true. But then the last bit of information registered and she froze yet again, her finger pointing at the boy. "What? Why?"

"Feh! You'd barf too if you saw that pile of shit that sick bastard kept in his basement!" Inuyasha declared and looked away. Kagome's hand rested on his shoulder of its own volition, rubbing soothing circles.

'You saw a lot during your service at the shrine, komainu,' she thought, her heart squeezing. She couldn't even imagine his life back then, battling vile youkai, serving her ancestors and being kept in the forest, away from people, because he was of the same blood as the ayakashi. He was like a guardian on the border between the light and darkness. She imagined him, his white hair flowing on the wind, as he stood in the torii gate, watching the sun set over the mountain and the village, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his ears alert, eyes blazing with determination.

'Keh!' she blushed when she realized she spoke to him those words and he saw the mental image she had conjured. Hurriedly, she stepped back and turned around to hide her blush. 'I've seen some shit. You'll see your share too, just wait, wench.'

Just for a second, before the vision in her imagination fizzled away, she saw herself standing on the other side of the red gate, leaning against the pillar, her miko robe completed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, a branch of the Sacred Tree with little bells tied to it held in her hand. The Kagome in the vision seemed to radiate soft light and was smiling. She also looked prettier than Kagome remembered her mirror reflection to be.

Surprised by this addition, she looked back at Inuyasha, but couldn't see his face, because he lowered his head. And, sadly, there were no ears to betray his mood. Was it how he saw her? A fuzzy feeling filled her and she found herself smiling, feeling a bit too warm on her face than she should be.

"Well, well, we have a guest," the miko looked up to see her grandfather standing in the doorway. "Is this man the mysterious late visitor maybe?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, grandpa, it's alright, it's just..." Kagome tried to explain, but Inuyasha's gruff voice stopped her, the boy glaring at her grandpa.

"He knows who I am, Kagome," Inuyasha crossed his arms in front of his chest. "He sent you to see my weak form before I was ready to show it to you."

"Well, of course I know," Hiro smiled. "I would never send my granddaughter to face a stranger. Besides, we both know that it'd take too long for you to be ready," Hiro pointed a finger at the boy. "I saw it in my tea leaves, today was the best day to do this."

"You and your stupid tea leaves!" Inuyasha groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Grandpa, you should've just told me," Kagome pouted while Inuyasha just scowled at him. "And I think it was Inuyasha's decision when to show this form to me, it wasn't too nice to rob him of this choice."

She smiled at the still seated boy, who gazed at her with wide, dark eyes. Before she could name the emotions shining in them, grandpa spoke again.

"I'm glad to see that the bond of friendship and respect is strong within you two," Hiro praised, resting his hands on his obi. "On the matter of sending you to meet strangers, Kagome. Mrs. Ito from the village called to inform us that there is a young man called Hojo coming up the mountain. According to her, he claims to be your friend. They tried to convince him to stay the night in the village, but he refused..

Kagome's heart stopped beating for a moment.

"What? Hojo's coming to visit?" she gasped and frantically looked around. The house was in no shape for visitors, they didn't have any gluten-free food Hojo ate because of his diet, the guest room wasn't prepared and... and... the dishes in the sink were still not washed! He'd think she turned into a sloth! And...

Kagome glanced towards the top of Inuyasha's head and sighed when she remembered there were no cute ears she'd have to hide. Instead she saw his dark scowl targeted at her.

"Who's Hobo?" he asked.

"A friend and his name is Hojo Keichi, not Hobo. I mean we went on one or two dates in high school, but it never went past that," she realized she was babbling and shut her mouth. It looked like with every word she spoke the spark in Inuyasha's eye dimmed until the boy looked away from her.

"Anyway," Hiro looked towards the window. "It's dark out there and the boy left the Ito house just a few minutes ago. Who knows what things can lurk in the dark. Maybe it'd be wise to go and..."

Kagome gasped at that - the boy was helpless against youkai, just like most humans were. Heck, she was a miko and she was pretty sure she was no match for many of them. Before she could say anything, Inuyasha jumped to his feet, knocking the chair he'd been sitting on over.

"No fucking way! She ain't trained enough to go out of the barrier!"

"I believe she can brave the night," Hiro looked at the growling boy in front of him. "The forest was quite peaceful lately, so I don't think Kagome can't handle it. Besides, it's just a small distance down the road and back, not an endeavor into the youkai domain."

"Old man..." Inuyasha clenched his fists.

"I..." Kagome started and swallowed when she realized both males looked her way. "I could use the protective talismans I wrote as a part of my training lately," she suggested. She knew that in the dark her bow would be useless, but to just ward off some mischievous youkai her ofudas could be enough.

"No. You ain't going anyway. I am not risking your well-being for a stupid human!" Inuyasha declared.

"Yes, it sounds like a good plan," Hiro agreed with his granddaughter. Kagome smiled in relief upon that and walked towards the living room where she had her ofudas stored in a drawer. Inuyasha stomped after her and grabbed her wrist when she reached in the drawer to retrieve them. Kagome looked up in his face.

"You can't go, Kagome," he half ordered, half pleaded. "It's the new moon..."

"I'll be fine, Inuyasha," she smiled at him soothingly. "But Hojo is a bit dense at times and I don't want some youkai to take advantage of him. I will go and fetch him as fast as I can, promise."

Those dark brown eyes stared at her and Kagome felt the grip on her hand tighten.

"Hojo's my friend, Inuyasha. I won't abandon him," she declared, preparing for his harsh retort and hoping she could somehow end their argument soon.

To her surprise, Inuyasha let go of her hand and... The woman blinked when she saw him shrugging off his kimono. With a grim expression on his face he draped it over her shoulders and stood up to glare at her.

"Then move your ass. I can't carry you in this form so you will have to run to keep up with me," he grumbled. The miko's lips spread in a wide, grateful smile and the shrine guardian quickly looked away, scoffing. She grabbed a handful of her ofudas and hurried after her partner.

She'd been anxious about going in the forest at night, especially since there was a big chance she was going to fight youkai, but with Inuyasha at her side she was no longer afraid. She rubbed a hand against the rough fabric of his kimono and went to grab a flashlight and her phone before she ran after her friend to save another.

.

Hiro looked after the pair as they disappeared into the darkness of the forest following the barely visible road. True to Inuyasha's words, they were moving at a pace closer to a run than to a walk.

"I can't help, but feel a bit jealous," he muttered as he switched on the lamp that would show them the way when they came back. The lamp light couldn't offer more than guidance, but he knew it would be helpful. "He wouldn't do that for most of us."

"It couldn't be helped," said a gentle voice near him. He turned around to see an old miko standing on the edge of the light cast by his lamp. one eye covered while the other gazed down the road. "There's a human in need of saving and if his miko deems the human worthy of saving, Inuyasha will go. Even in his weakened state. After all, even as he is right now, he still can aid her."

"Lady Kaede," Hiro bowed his head politely. "What made you come here tonight?"

"I merely came to redo the seal on the well," she pointed to the well house. "You must remind them that it needs a current Higurashi to cast it, otherwise it will need redoing."

The old shrine keeper nodded. "I will tell them to do it as soon as it's possible, thank you for your help."

"It was the most logical thing to do," the woman looked to the top of the mountain. "The youkai world is... not peaceful right now. The Western Lands suffered a great blow from the South and the Western Lord is... frantic."

"The Western Lord? Frantic?" Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Like how?"

"You, my dear descendant, don't want to know the answer to this question," Kaede sighed. "I'd better go now, my village needs me."

Hiro bowed and when he looked up the woman was gone. All that remained was the silence of the moonless night and one lamp to keep the darkness at bay.

.

Kagome ran after Inuyasha, his white kosode flashing in the narrow beam of her flashlight dancing in front of her. She was thankful that the road was relatively smooth, but it was pretty steep for mad running in the middle of the night.

"You remember how to use these ofudas, right?" the boy in front of her asked.

"Of course!" she panted out. He was human now, but he still sounded less breathless than her, running a bit ahead of her. She frowned when she realized he slowed down to run beside her.

"Good. Then charge one or two and give them to me!" he demanded.

"What, now?" she gasped. She'd put her reiki in the talismans before, but not while running down a forest road in almost complete darkness.

"And when would you prefer it to be? When we come across a youkai?" he asked sourly. "I'm not exactly fit to fight youkai like this!"

"You have a sword!" Kagome pointed out. Inuyasha rarely parted with his katana, insisting on keeping it at his side even when he was doing chores around the shrine. But, to be honest, Kagome never had seen him train or even draw it.

"And it's useless!" he barked at her. "Just do what I say!"

"Okay, okay," she muttered, reaching her free hand in her pocket to pull out two crumpled pieces of paper. She squeezed them in her fingers and tried to reach her reiki, force it to flow into the kanji.. It was hard to divide her focus between the road and this task. A few stumbles later Inuyasha grabbed her arm and forced her to stop, so she could focus on the talismans. She gave him a grateful glance, but he wasn't looking her way.

The boy's eyes and the flashlight he held were turned towards the walls of the forest, trees towering over them and almost blocking the faint starlight. He was silent and tense, like a watchman expecting an ambush. She could sense tendrils of youki, thin and distant, so she wasn't surprised he was on edge. After all, for tonight, he was not this powerful being, but an ordinary boy.

Kagome closed her eyes, trying to focus on her ofudas, sending her reiki to them as fast as she could. Now, when she was standing still, it didn't take long.

She felt a pang of guilt when she looked at Inuyasha again, he probably felt vulnerable and uneasy, but still he went with her. He had made it clear he didn't want to, that he didn't want her to go, but when she'd explained to him she had to go, he didn't try to keep her in the shrine. Not only that, he actually joined her, despite his weakened state, because he didn't want her to go alone. Gratitude filled her heart and Kagome promised herself to reward her friend for accompanying her. He was not as invincible as his usual self, but he cared. And with him Kagome felt as if she could fend off a hundred youkai with ease. With Inuyasha at her side, watching her back, she felt she could brave the moonless night.

As soon as her reiki surrounded the papers with soft light, the ofudas were snatched from her grasp. She was about to complain, but a soft flute tune made her pause with her mouth open. Inuyasha glared at her and Kagome hurriedly fished her phone from another pocket. In the silence of the dark forest the ringtone sounded eerie and otherworldly. Kagome swallowed and started to walk again down the road.

"Hojo, is that you?" she asked worriedly. Was he lost? Or were there youkai stalking him? Where was he?

What answered her was a breathless, fearful voice of her old friend.

"...Kagome... Kagome, I'm on the shrine road and there's this woman..."