Beta: elkonigin - thank you so much for your help!

The Miko and the Big Bad Bug

The village on the other side of the well portal was located much closer to the Sacred Tree; the shrine was more or less on the edge of the settlement. The huts were on the small side, sturdy and made Kagome think about the historical villages in her world. The forest growing around the settlement was thick and full of undergrowth, a truly wild woodland that was fascinating and a bit scary. She hoped to one day explore it with Inuyasha and her other friends.

There was little time to compare the two worlds and the beauty of the wild forest. As soon as they cleared the well, Inuyasha carried her to where Lady Kaede and some men from the village were regrouping near the village. She noticed a strange shape in the sky, which turned out to be Sango's younger brother on Kirara, keeping an eye on something thrashing through the forest alarmingly close to the wall wrapped around the village. Miroku and Sango ran just after Inuyasha, both serious and glancing towards the noise.

Kagome noticed it almost as soon as they joined the group of the villagers that were with Lady Kaede. None of them acknowledged Inuyasha, only glanced his way with looks of clear worry. They bowed to her and seemed to be overjoyed to see that Sango and an additional reiki user were to help them. Kagome was about to say something, but a particularly loud crash stopped her. She jumped and instinctively grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve when Kirara landed with a thud mere meters away from her.

"I dropped the last of our nets on it, but it will not buy us much time," said the boy, who Kagome knew was Sango's brother. He was similar to his elder sister - not only in features and outfit, but in the determined look on his youthful face. He didn't look much older than Souta, but there was some depth to his gaze, clearly the boy had seen a fair share of bad shit.

"It's alright," Lady Kaede said soothingly, and Kagome wasted a moment to look at the people around her. The villagers looked scared and had various farming tools and crude weapons. Kagome was amazed how much Sango and Kohaku stood out among them, both with wakizashi and a lot of gear stuffed on their persons. Miroku looked sharp and had his staff at the ready. Kagome laid an arrow across her bow, not yet pulling the string and glanced at Lady Kaede, who had no weapon.

'She can't use a bow well with her eye,' Inuyasha supplied without her asking. 'She will conjure a barrier and will aid in healing, but don't expect her to fight. You and the monk will be the only reiki users on the field.'

He sounded so calm; it was amazing. There was no anxiety in him, only alertness, and Kagome felt a bit reassured by his attitude. She gripped her bow tighter; she could do this.

'Oh, kami, I can't do this!' Kagome thought some time later. The youkai had emerged from the forest and it turned out to be a humongous centipede with a woman's head and hands. Wild black hair flew around her as she slithered from place to place, avoiding her arrows and batting away Sango and Kohaku's weapons. She had some kind of armored skin, because no weapon the villagers had did any number on her. She walked on many insect legs that tore at the ground and easily pierced buildings and trees. People trying to attack her had to dodge away or she'd pin them to the ground. Curses and shouts of pain filled the air, and it did nothing to help her focus. Her hands were sweaty, her breath shallow and fast after a mad dash from the now broken tree she'd been hiding behind earlier, shooting arrows at the youkai.

"Give me your treasures!" She yowled over the ruckuss of the battle, sending a few villagers flying and colliding with Miroku, all of them falling in a heap at the foot of the shimmering barrier the ghostly miko was holding. Sango landed on Kirara in front of the fallen men, Kohaku sliding off from the feline's back to help the injured get away.

Kagome reached in panic towards Inuyasha as she saw the centipede turning her way. She saw the eyes filled with malice narrowing and a wicked smile appearing on the youkai's lips. The entity shifted and lifted its tail that was definitely how a centipede should end. It curved over her head, a stinger the size of Kagome's arm dripping with something the miko didn't want to come in contact with. The last time she'd seen Inuyasha that tail had hit him squarely in the chest and smashed him against a tree when he'd gone to claw at her.

The miko gulped and put a new arrow on the bowstring. From this close, she couldn't miss, and there was no space to dodge her arrow. But was it going to be enough? Earlier that tail had shattered Lady Kaede's barrier and had let the youkai enter the village, destroying a few huts before the joined efforts of the fighters had managed to push it back and let Lady Kaede to reestablish her barrier

'Aim for the stinger,' came Inuyasha's voice, once again guiding her. In a flash of red and silver the shrine guardian appeared next to her, sticks and bits of bark raining from his tousled hair as he took out his sword. The blade transformed in a flash, drawing the youkai's hungry gaze. "She's made out of two youkai. I'll take care of the ugly hag; you purify the other one.

"Sure, easier said than done!" Kagome's gaze was glued to the tail, which moved and shifted high in the air. The hanyou didn't offer any encouragement; his focus was the opponent nearing them on her many sharp leg things.

And yet, for some reason, the fact that he charged at the beast easily the size of a Godzilla without any doubt in her aiding him in the effort to bring it down, it made her feel a spark of warmth in her heart. She could hear the calls of the villagers, the roar of Kirara taking off in the air again, the shrill voice of the youkai demanding their treasures. Her body was tense and sweaty, but her hands didn't shake as she lifted her bow to take aim.

Between her and the monster the shrine guardian ran, Tessaiga raised to attack, screaming profanities. In his mind, as she touched it, she felt no doubt, no hesitation. He wasn't going to be verbally encouraging, he wasn't going to lead her by hand, he wasn't going to patronize her. He told her what he thought she should do and since she didn't object, he went to execute his plan, not even waiting for others to back him up.

A part of Kagome wondered if he actually knew how to fight with someone more than just a shrine keeper. She sent him the image of Sango on her left throwing the giant boomerang at the centipede's head. The running hanyou ducked out of the way of the weapon and went after it as the youkai grabbed it and threw it away with a scream of pain, reiki from one of MIroku's talismans burning her fingers. Before the entity could refocus her attention on Inuyasha, the hanyou was already in the air, slashing at her neck.

Kagome noticed most of it via her bond with Inuyasha, her eyes were focused on the stinger that shot forward to pierce the shrine guardian.

She wouldn't allow it to harm her hanyou.

With a silent prayer, she let loose the arrow, and it soared through the air with a pulse of reiki, a thing she was still not used to sense coming out of her attacks. She bit her bottom lip, urging the arrow with her intense gaze to reach the evil being and save the inu.

There was no flash of blinding light. There was no booming noise. The arrow hit and immediately the scorpion tail of the youkai started to melt and fall to the ground in pieces of slimy goo. The youkai screamed in pain, the Tessaiga cutting the cry short and cleaving the head off of the neck of the youkai in one stroke. Kagome stared as Inuyasha floated down to the ground, following the head that fell down with a thud, black hair trailing behind it. The body of the youkai shook and then collapsed in a pile of goo that steamed and smelled so foul Kagome almost threw up. Inuyasha landed neatly on the head that wasn't melting for some reason. The tip of Tessaiga pierced the skull, which burst open and dissipated in a cloud of steam. The shrine guardian leapt away and turned to look at her, a smirk on his face.

Kagome couldn't help, but answer this smile with one of her own. She ran towards him and hugged him happily.

"We made it!"

"Keh, of course we did." The shrine guardian blushed at her hug, and Kagome giggled, letting him go. Together, they went to help their friends take care of the injured villagers.

Lady Kaede dropped her barrier, smiling at her descendant and her partner, then she frowned and looked up to see a moth fluttering among the steaming goo that was dissipating, leaving behind a barren spot. The ghostly miko watched for a moment as the insect fluttered away, disappearing in the trees.

.

"We did it!" called a happy voice deep in a different forest.

"Lord Menōmaru, we found the Fang of Destruction!" Two moth youkai bowed to a man sitting under a tree covered in insects; their little wings fluttering as they shifted and moved in agitation. The man smiled a pleased smile. "This time it is the real one, not the useless katana that the Western Lord carries."

"It's most fortunate. So, where did Sesshomaru hide it?" he asked.

"Oh no, my lord, it's not in the Western Lord's possession," one of the females snickered. "It's in hands of a half-breed."

"Very well, in this case I can send you two and expect you to bring the blade to me. Make haste for the place where one of your slaves found it and don't return without it."

"Yes, my lord!" The females bowed their heads and left the meadow deep in the forest. The lord standing under the tree watched the moths take flight and swirl around him.

"The worthless cats already have one of the treasures needed to release the illustrious Empress. Now my tribe will supply the other one. Soon, soon, I will rise to be the daiyoukai of the West, second only to the Empress. With her blessin,g I will take out that arrogant panther leader and add her power to mine."

.

Kagome found Inuyasha under the Sacred Tree. The hanyou had disappeared as soon as the injured had been transported to a hut to be treated by Lady Kaede and herself. Miroku proved to be a helpful nurse, aiding them in lifting and holding up wounded limbs and in usinghis talking skills to ease some of the more shaken people. Kagome tried to pay attention to how he spoke and what he said, but it was hard with Lady Kaede instructing her how to treat the injured. Kagome had had some first aid training, but it was nothing compared to dealing with a real situation.

It took her over an hour to be done with every wound and when she finally had left the hut, the headman had approached her to thank for her help and ask her to stay for a feast. Sango and Kohaku had come back from their patrol of the nearby area around that time and had made Kagome and MIroku stay. The miko had tried to call Inuyasha to join the party, but all she had gotten was a sullen response that he'd ruin it.

Hence, after a few minutes spent with the happy villagers, Kagome found her way to join Inuyasha under the tree, a plate of dumplings in hand. The evening changed to night, and the moon shone overhead, giving the area an ethereal glow and softness.

"Hey, grumpy face, why didn't you come to the feast? " She asked when she sat down next to Inuyasha. She'd made sure he wasn't injured earlier, dragging from the hanyou the information that he had just a few bruises on his back that weren't that bad. She had told him she trusted him he wouldn't lie to her about his injuries and had gotten a reply that, well, so maybe he had a bruise across his chest too, but it wasn't serious. Still, she had a bag of bandages and ointments with her, just in case she had to inspect the shrine guardian. According to him, he would be perfectly fine come morning, but it still didn't sit well with her that he didn't want anyone to see his injuries. Well, for now, she decided to let it go and let him relax.

"The humans here are used to youkai, but most of them are scared shitless," he shrugged and winced a little. "They don't actually want me around once the danger is gone. I never stick around after the youkai is dealt with. You handle humans, remember?"

"Mhm," she nodded; her eyes narrowing at his wince. Her heart ached for him; he had just risked his life for these people, and they didn't want to honor him by allowing him to join the festivities.

"So? Why aren't you handling the people?" He looked at her; his hair shining in the moonlight. His ears were cocked to the side in curiosity, golden eyes glowing in the shadow. She smiled up at him and picked a dumpling from her place with a pair of chopsticks.

"I am handling a person right now," she said and offered the dumpling to him with a spark in her eye. He blinked at it.

"I can eat myself," he grumbled, a blush across his nose barely visible in the moonlight.

"Oh, it's a couple thing." She didn't let her hand drop, the dumpling close to his mouth. He watched her for a moment, then quickly ate the offering. Kagome almost laughed out loud at the cute image of his cheeks filled with way too much for one bite. Then, as if it was the most normal thing, she picked another dumpling and took a bite out of it. "Nice," she said after swallowing, her gaze drifting to the shadowy forest and the glittering stars. The hanyou swallowed his food and shifted so his back would rest against the tree behind him.

"It's the same mountain and the same sky," he said.

"Maybe." Kagome turned to offer him more food. "But it's nice to sit here with you and look at how peaceful and pretty it is. What?"

Her gaze dropped to where he was looking, to the half-eaten dumpling. Was sharing like this like kissing? Kagome blushed despite herself; it was silly to think that. She was about to pull her hand back and finish this one before giving him another, but in a flash the chopsticks were empty. 'Oh.'

"Keh." He cast his eyes to the side, chewing madly and almost choking as he swallowed. A warm smile spreading on her lips. For the next few silent minutes, she shared the plate of food with him, watching him relax. When the dumplings were gone, Kagome started the second phase of her plan.

"Okay,so how is your chest?" She asked, reaching to the bag settled on her other side. One ear twitched in irritation.

"I told you I'm fine."

"And I want to make sure you're fine."

"You said you trust me I'd tell you I'm fine." He glared at her, sitting up and scowling.

"I told you I trust that you'd tell me if you were injured," she corrected. "And you told me you are bruised. Let me see and put some ointments on them."

"Feh, you don't have to waste that stuff on me!" He sounded defensive.

"Inuyasha," she soothed, her hand on his sleeve. "You can trust me. I don't want you to be in pain, even if you heal faster than humans."

Slowly, the shrine guardian relented. Kagome sighed as she watched him pulling off his top layers, exposing a lean body that a naughty part of her wanted to paw at. But that part was easily silenced when concern took over. He wasn't just a little bruised! The whole left side of his back was bruised and scratched where he'd hit the tree, and his chest had a purple mark going across it. It was a miracle he didn't have any broken ribs!

Talking about wanting to visit this forest in a better time to distract him, Kagome treated his injuries, then wrapped them in clean bandages, despite him huffing that it was useless. Then, carefully, she rested her head against his shoulder where she didn't put pressure against anything aching. He tensed, but then slowly relaxed a bit.

"I'm so glad I've met you," she whispered, blushing at her own words.

"I... uh..." The hanyou sounded embarrassed. Suddenly, he shifted and his arm went around her, pulling her closer against his side. "Me too. Crazy wench." His voice was barely a whisper near her ear, but it made her feel hot and happy. She was about to say something when they both jumped, startled by an amused voice.

"Are we interrupting something?" Miroku asked, as Sango gave Kagome an apologetic look over his shoulder, and Kohaku intently inspected his feet.

"Damn, monk!" Inuyasha let go of her and went to put his kimono back in order. Kagome, her cheeks flaming, giggled at the trio of newcomers, each holding a bowl or a plate of food.

They interrupted something, but judging by the food they carried, it was not to joke and tease them. They'd had the same idea she did. So, Kagome smiled at her friends and beckoned them to come and sit with them under the Sacred Tree, holding onto Inuyasha's sleeve to keep him at her side.

The shrine guardian never tried to pull it out of her grasp.