A Miko Calls For Help

Kagome walked beside Inuyasha climbing up the mountain road. It was a humid late afternoon, with thick clouds covering the sky. The air stuck to her skin and the world looked gloomy, with a threat of rain at any moment. And yet, Kagome was smiling brightly, happiness radiating from her as she walked carrying a bag of groceries. The reasons for her good mood were many.

First of them was that she was with her friends, Miroku and Sango chatting about their visit to the village, while Inuyasha walked in silence, occasionally adding a short sentence or two. Everyone had at least one bag of groceries in their hands. They had gone to the little restaurant near the Honda Hotel to eat out - the excuse was to show Sango the place and to make Inuyasha interact with people. Afterwards they'd gone to the convenience store to resupply. That meant that she didn't have to go down to the village tomorrow.

Kagome glanced sideways at Inuyasha, who walked just beside her, his arm brushing against hers once in a while. She'd noticed a few girls in the restaurant had given him curious, approving looks, but he'd seemed to be oblivious to their attention. Now he walked with his eyes looking ahead and to the sides alert and scowling a bit, probably at the fact he was still wearing a stylish scarf over his ears. For their outing he wore a regular shirt and pair of pants, not an ancient kimono, and Kagome decided it was a nice look on him, even if she really liked the red fire rat robe.

Her boyfriend. At the mere thought her smile grew even bigger.

It wasn't even a day yet since they became an item, but she already noticed a few changes, nothing big, but worth attention. Inuyasha was now more often looking in her face and stayed closer. After the first few hours, filled with terrible embarrassment and anxiety, he'd calmed, reassured by the warm reactions her family and their friends had shown.

Kagome almost giggled at the memory of Souta eagerly claiming the bewildered shrine guardian as his 'big dog brother' and her mom hugging the hanyou. Kagome had worried about her grandpa's reaction at first, but the old man had been silent, only looking at them all as if he knew a secret they had no idea about. He hadn't say a word about tradition or anything. The young miko was pretty glad that her haphazardly put together speech hadn't been necessary. It was no surprise to her that no one tried to object the fact she dated the shrine guardian, it was her and Inuyasha's choice.

And she was so happy now.

Golden eyes looked her way and she blinked when she saw annoyance and displeasure in them.

"What..." she started, stopping when he stopped and started to put his bags on the ground.

"You three stay on the road," the shrine guardian ordered.

"Is it a youkai?" Sango asked, her tone serious. Inuyasha nodded.

"It must be pretty adapt at hiding its presence," Miroku closed his eyes. "I can't pick up any youki nearby."

"Can we help?" Kagome bit her bottom lip, but Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's a hell wasp," he informed them. "Usually they don't show up around here especially during the day."

"Where is one, there are usually more," Sango started to look around with keen, alert eyes.

"Hell wasps?" Kagome asked. "I've never heard of these."

"They are from the hidden realm" Sango explained. "I don't believe you have them here?"

"No," Miroku shook his head, all three of them watching Inuyasha run into the forest. The hanyou didn't seem worried, just annoyed, so Kagome guessed it wasn't very dangerous to him.

She sent her thoughts to Inuyasha and to her surprise and delight, he showed her a mental picture of running through the forest - it was a short chase and at the end of it she saw the youkai. Then, for a second, the vision went blank just to return with the wasp cut in two and laying on the ground dead.

'There's only one. I think it was spying on us,' Inuyasha's mind voice said. 'If you ever see something like this, you have to call me. They can be really nasty to humans.'

"Oh, okay,' Kagome promised.

'I'll patrol around, you go to the shrine.' came his next command. She still could see the forest like he did, all details vivid and sharp. He allowed her a peek in as he patrolled, but focused on his task. It took a moment for Kagome to realize he was in dog form, white paws flashing under him as he ran circles around them. It came as a surprise, but in this form Inuyasha saw the world as he normally did.

"Inuyasha killed it," she informed her friends. "He tells us to go to the shrine."

"Lucky him, we have to split his bags among us now," Sango reached for one of the bags on the ground.

"We will find a way to get even with him," Miroku winked at the two girls. Kagome just shook her head at them - of course Inuyasha would go running through the woods after a long time spent among so many people. Carrying bags didn't bother him, she was pretty sure that he could easily run up the mountain track with all the bags and the three of them on his back. The forest was Inuyasha's domain, she guessed he found it very calming and fulfilling to patrol it.

But it still meant she had to carry a bunch of bags filled with ramen packages and snacks. And the road was steep, the day humid... When Miroku told them about his plan for salvation from their not fun fate Kagome giggled and agreed to it. It was just right and it wouldn't really hurt anyone...

Inuyasha rejoined them after twenty or so minutes, panting after his run. He had found two more wasps, who were now dead. As soon as the huge dog approached the three humans, Kagome went to hug his neck and played with his ear. Inuyasha stood there, trying not to show how much he enjoyed the touch of her hand, when suddenly he found himself with a bunch of bags tied with a piece of cord to form two bundles, thrown over his back.

'Oi!' he glared at Kagome, who giggled at his indignant expression. 'I'm not a pack mule!

"Oh, just help us carry it, you are way stronger than we are!" she patted his shoulder. The dog sighed and shook his head, grumbling. Sango and Miroku, who had dropped the sudden weight on the inu, glanced at the miko to make sure it was alright. 'Do this for me?'

'Keh! I'd be carrying most of these anyway, I guess,' the shrine guardian snorted.

This was why, when Mama Higurashi and Souta went out of the house to help bring in the goods, they stopped stunned, staring at the three young people walking and chatting, with a dog the size of a horse walking between them, bags of groceries hanging from his sides. Kagome, Miroku and Sango carried some stuff too, but most of it was on Inuyasha's back, so as soon as they reached the doorway, they stopped to take it off of him and put it all on the porch to be carried inside later.

The hanyou changed back to his normal form as soon as the bags were off of him. Kagome reached to touch him and opened her mouth to assure him that he'd get an extra ramen cup for carrying all the stuff half the way, when she paused.

She could sense energy gathering near the house, a few paces away from where she stood. She turned her head just in time to see the ghostly form of Lady Kaede glimmering into view..

"Sango, we need you!" she called out to the exterminator, then looked to Kagome and Inuyasha. Sango dropped what she was holding and ran into the house to get her things,. "Please, come to aid us. A strange youkai is about to attack the village and we couldn't prevent it's ascent up the mountain."

'Inuyasha?' Kagome asked, feeling his hand pulling the package she was holding from her hands.

'We will go only if you say yes. I will protect you,' he whispered in her mind. Kagome nodded, her heart beating faster at the thought that soon they'd go against a youkai the ancient miko couldn't deal with alone. Up until today Inuyasha had always told her she needed to train more before she could go to the other world, a sentiment shared by Sango, but Kagome had been working hard almost since when she'd come to live at the shrine. She wanted to show her friends she was not a total noob and there was a village to protect.

"We're on our way," with all the sureness and calm she could muster she told the ghost, who smiled at them both and disappeared. Kagome gasped when Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her and with a dizzying speed he carried her to her room to get her bow and change out of a sundress. He himself left her there to grab Tessaiga and his fire rat.

As Kagome tied the obi of her miko attire, her fingers shook. She was about to go into a real battle, with her friends, against an unknown youkai. In an unknown world she'd only glimpsed before. She wanted to help the villagers, prove herself, but she was worried that she needed more training. All her friends had been fighting youkai for much longer than her and up until now she hadn't been in a real battle.

When Inuyasha returned to retrieve her, Kagome grabbed her bow and quiver, trying to rein in her anxiety and nerves. She wasn't going to be alone. She could count on her friends to guard her back, just as she planned to do for them.

The four of them ran out of the house and towards the well. No one asked Miroku to join them, but the young exorcist did that nonetheless, armed with his staff and sutras. With heart beating fast, full of adrenaline and hope, Kagome released the seal on the well portal and allowed Inuyasha to pick her up and jump with her into the darkness of the portal, their friends hot on their heels.

The rest of Higurashi family was left to take care of the half-emptied bags of shopping left on the lawn in front of the house.