Kagome felt her ears swivel as she began to pick up on the sounds of nearby birds in the trees waking up for the day. She blinked wearily with a jaw-popping yawn. They had made it through the night by some miracle. She felt like she could still sleep for a few hours, but part of her was ready to get up and get moving. 'That must be Inuyasha's body running on autopilot,' she thought, leaning her head back against the tree. 'I still don't understand how he does it. This feels exhausting. No wonder he slept so soundly in my room that night.'

The morning after he'd hogged her bed, when he'd asked her why she was so moody, she'd gotten mad at him. Kagome frowned, tightening her hold on the smaller frame snuggled against her chest for warmth. The guilt had crept up on her by midday, and she'd apologized because she hadn't slept well. Inuyasha hadn't been mad, but looking back on it now she wished he had been. Now that she'd gotten a glimpse of his sleeping patterns up close, she wanted to go back and admonish herself. It wasn't just a lack of good social skills that made him frustrating to deal with at times; he was exhausted and kept the safety of them all in mind before himself.

Her ear swiveled at the sigh against her chest when Inuyasha began to stir. Kagome loosened her hold when he shifted to sit up straighter. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, looking up with sleepy eyes.

Kagome couldn't find her voice for a moment, and luckily Inuyasha didn't look awake enough to notice. She couldn't explain why her breath caught as she took in the tangled hair or how the rising sun filtered light through the trees on his soft skin. 'What's going on? Why do I feel like I can't breathe?' She knew her body wasn't a piece of art when she first woke up; she knew she tended to have to rub the grit from her eyes and deal with a dry mouth. So why was her heart racing when she looked down at Inuyasha? 'Why does he get to wake up looking like a princess from a fairy tale when I – wait…'

Someday she was going to remember that she was in Inuyasha's body and that, while she could move the parts, she couldn't control the autonomous reactions it felt. Kagome realized she must have been feeling what Inuyasha experienced whenever he looked at her in the morning. 'He doesn't see the faults that I feel stick out...' It was such a touching realization that before she registered what she was doing, Kagome clasped Inuyasha's face between her clawed hands and kissed him.

It was the first time they'd shared a kiss since their bodies were switched, and aside from the positioning, Kagome didn't think she noticed a difference. It felt strange to be the one hovering above, realizing that her hands could easily cradle his face to guide him to tilt his head so their noses wouldn't bump.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, wanted to be in control. He reached up and grabbed fistfuls of Kagome's silver hair, pulling her closer as he shifted around to face her. In seconds he had taken the lead, and she couldn't bring herself to mind. Kagome wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him against her when she felt his tongue slide against her bottom lip. Inuyasha had her distracted as he straddled her lap, moaning against her lips at the friction.

Kagome's head was spinning, and it had nothing to do with how hard he'd pulled her hair. This kiss was so much different from the last one they'd had. There was an urgency she hadn't felt before, and when he coaxed her lips open, Kagome let out a low rumble from her chest. Inuyasha moaned and sighed against her mouth, shifting in her lap to get even closer. Kagome's hands landed on his hips, gripping the curves tightly, guiding him in his movements. She wanted him closer too. Really close. Inuyasha couldn't get close enough to satisfy her.

Her hips rose up on reflex, and Kagome led Inuyasha's down forcefully, eliciting a sound from him that she'd only ever heard in her dreams. His control faltered, and Kagome took advantage, nipping his bottom lip before soothing the mark with her tongue. She held tight to his hips as he started to rock against her. 'It's not enough. Why can't I be fine with how we'd started kissing?' It had felt so good, and now all she could feel was a burning need for more of something.

When she pulled back, Kagome inhaled and immediately caught a new scent in the air around them. It wasn't a threat, but she couldn't quite place what it made her think of. Her nose was basically drowning in the scent of Inuyasha's body on top of her, and for the new smell to appear so suddenly –

"Don't stop," Inuyasha moaned, grabbing her face and kissing her again. Kagome let herself sink into it, her hands going slack when Inuyasha began to move above her faster. 'How did we get here again?' she wondered, letting out another moan against his lips. 'This feels so good…I want more…but…more what? More of the kissing? The way his hands are on me? More of Inuyasha grinding into my lap?' He kept rubbing her in just the right place –

"W-wait!"

Kagome tore her lips away from Inuyasha's and knocked her head against the tree, trying to put distance between them so she could breathe in more than his scent. 'My scent,' she realized with increasing embarrassment. That strange new scent was hers in the air around them, and she was too distracted by it to recognize that there was a tightness in her lap that hadn't been there before they'd kissed.

"What's wrong? Kagome?" Inuyasha didn't try to lean in again, but he still sat firmly on her lap.

'How do I tell him?' she thought. 'I can't tell him to get off of me; I'll hurt his feelings.' Kagome swallowed, taking deep breaths to calm herself – and hopefully it – back down. "It's…a lot…" she whispered. "So many…uh…sensations going on…"

Inuyasha nodded, and she thought he'd understood her meaning. A moment passed before his eyes widened, and he quickly glanced down between them. "Fuck, I'm sorry!" He started to move backwards out of her lap, but it was only going to make things worse. When her hands shot out to grasp him and hold him in place, Kagome couldn't fight down the heat in her face no matter how much she tried to think of anything else besides Inuyasha straddling her. "Kagome – I – I –"

"Just…give me a minute?" Kagome took another deep breath and tried not to think about how that new scent was lingering. If that was what she thought it was, then he… "Inuyasha…is it…is it gonna go away soon?"

"Uh…w-which thing are you asking about?"

Which thing was she wanting the answer for? Kagome leaned her head back against the tree gently, trying to decide if she wanted to even know the answers to her questions, since she had a few. Why had she not noticed that her loins started feeling tight? Was that normal? How long did this spicy scent linger? How the hell did he even deal with it? 'If that new smell is me when I'm – then – then he's known every time I've – oh god –'

Her real "oh god" fell from her lips when Inuyasha sputtered, telling her that he'd try to answer all of the questions she'd just asked out loud.


Inuyasha could now say that he knew what his own face looked like stunned into silence because he had an up-close view as he straddled Kagome.

He thought things had been going well. They'd woken up without a threat to their lives, and she'd initiated a kiss. That had been good, but then she'd let him take control, and he saw an opportunity to take it a little further. Feeling her tongue move against his had been fucking fantastic, and it made him want to get closer. Inuyasha just didn't anticipate how close.

Throwing a leg over each of Kagome's thighs felt natural, probably due to her riding on his back for so long. Only this was different. He'd settled on her lap, and then her hands had gripped his hips…and then he lost control. It was like his body was on autopilot, rocking against her hips shamelessly as they kissed. The sensations he was feeling with how they moved together made him want to moan. He began to crave more. The tingly feeling from the day before had returned with a vengeance, but no amount of rubbing could get it to go away.

And now Kagome had just listed off a handful of questions that he'd promised answers for, but all he could think about was how his body had reacted to the feeling of grinding on her. 'I'd be an idiot to not know what that tingly feeling means now,' he sighed. 'Kagome knows I like it now, fuck! What am I gonna do?! Where do we even begin to start talking about this?!'

"Inuyasha?"

"Y-yeah?"

"We can talk about this another time, if you want?" Kagome's golden eyes looked away. "I know it's not easy to bring these things up –"

"No, no I think we need to…to talk." He gulped. It was too easy to bring parts of his body up. Talking about it was gonna be embarrassing though. "We uh… we need to get this out in the open." Inuyasha started to get up again, but Kagome grabbed him by the waist. "You…you gotta let me move, Kagome…"

She looked panicked when her gaze snapped back to his. "What if it… sticks up?"

It was way too early in the day for him to explain to Kagome that her fears were unfounded, that his dick wasn't going to point to the sky after a little bit of kissing. He'd felt it, but luckily for them both it would go back down if he didn't keep provoking it. Inuyasha pried Kagome's hands off him and slid off her lap to sit next to her. To make her feel better, he threw the suikan over her lap as an extra cover before pulling the sleeping bag over his legs to fight off the early morning chill. "It won't…stick up…after…after that little bit we did." He blushed. "If we hadn't just woken up, then maybe –"

"S-sorry about that. I don't know what came over me… The need to kiss you got really strong, and…"

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice squeaking. "That…is why some mornings I've been more of a bastard than usual… I didn't want to make things weird if…"

"I'm in your body, I don't think this could be weirder, Inuyasha."

"R-right." He forced a cough and stared down at his hands clasped above the sleeping bag. "Does it…do you still feel, uh…tight…there?"

Kagome shifted next to him, and Inuyasha thanked his lucky stars that she didn't untie the hakama to look. "I don't think so?" She sounded unsure.

"It's normal," he cut in quickly, just in case she was getting ready to look. "The tight feeling, I mean. And whatever else you might've been aware of. The moving, the…the way you pulled me down…I…I think you might've let my body take control and…you know…"

"Oh god I'm so embarrassed," she mumbled, covering her face with her hands. Inuyasha frowned as Kagome's ears drooped. He thought she was humiliated about his body's reactions until she spoke again. "If your body was doing it, then mine was too!"

That admission made Inuyasha blush brightly. If Kagome was right, then that meant… so she was sending off those kinds of signals all those times he smelled that particular scent in the past! She never smelled that way around Koga or any other male they encountered. He would have felt pretty damn smug about it too, if he knew he didn't stink like hot lust. "Aren't you glad I never brought attention to it when it happened?"

"Very," she mumbled. Kagome dropped her hands into her lap and stared out into the trees. She remembered being mortified when she'd gotten her first period in the feudal era; Inuyasha had burst through the trees in a panic, asking where she was bleeding. It would have killed her if he'd thought to bring up her scent when she'd been aroused. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but… I feel like I took advantage of you, Inuyasha."

He couldn't imagine how. "W-what? It was a kiss, Kagome! If I hadn't wanted to kiss you, I wouldn't have!"

"I mean the whole 'not having control of your body' thing," she explained. "I know I didn't do anything, but there's something strange about your body reacting on its own, you know? I have no idea what to expect, and I let it happen…"

Inuyasha nodded, now understanding what she was getting at. "That dick is gonna do what it wants." He looked down at the grass because there was no way he could say this and look Kagome in the eye. "I won't even have a dirty thought and it'll decide to get h-hard. It just…happens sometimes, and there's no reason for it. A-and it'll go away on its own, most of the time…"

"And when it doesn't?"

He dared glance up at Kagome, who was looking to him for an answer. 'Fuck, I'm gonna have to spell this out…' "Y-you…you gotta… gotta… t-take it…" Inuyasha swallowed thickly, wishing that the marbles in her head would connect so he wouldn't have to tell her outright that she'd have to rub it out. But Kagome was looking at him like she didn't know, and maybe she didn't, which was understandable to a point. "H-have you ever… you know… played?"

"Played?"

Fucking fuckballs. Inuyasha couldn't mimic what a girl might do in this instance because he didn't know if girls did it, but he knew what he did, so he made a jerking motion with his fist, feeling his face go bright red. Kagome followed the movement and fucking finally those marbles collided because she gasped. "Oh! That! Y-yes, I've done that!"

If she hadn't blushed with the admission, he'd have been tempted to ask how that worked for girls, but maybe it was better to save that conversation for another time. Kagome mumbled that the tightness was completely gone now and that they should probably pack up.

They'd learned quite a bit about each other very quickly and frankly, he was ready to get back on the road.


Kagome was thankful to be traveling again after the awkwardness of that morning. She was certain that Inuyasha thought she was ignorant about a lot of things now after the conversation about taking care of urges that wouldn't go away. She knew that guys tended to do what he'd mimicked, but at the time all she could think about was how she might've been taking advantage of the situation without meaning to. After a period of silence as they packed up, Inuyasha finally told her that if she needed to do something, then she should do it.

"It will probably happen again," Inuyasha said, slinging the backpack over his shoulder. He glanced between the grass at his feet and up at her as he talked. "Don't…don't feel bad if you need to…take care of things, okay? I ain't gonna be mad at ya, or think any differently, Kagome."

She still felt guilty about the possibility because she had even less control over the situation than Inuyasha would have if he were back in his body. 'At least he knows when it's headed in that direction,' she mused. 'I have no idea when that feeling will hit, or if it'll randomly stick up. I don't know how to not think about it to get it back down, but I don't know if I could do that either…' She got nervous every time she had to pee or when they'd bathed; playing with the fleshy noodle was not one of her priorities.

The slow pace they were keeping was giving her too much time to think.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

Kagome chewed her bottom lip, catching it on one of her fangs. "D-do you… do you want to… be carried?" They didn't have her bike, and if they were both going on foot, it'd be forever before they reached the slayer village. But Kagome really didn't want to insult Inuyasha either.

"Are you sure?"

"Didn't you say that we need to try to act like we're normal?" She wasn't sure how well she'd handle carrying another person on her back, but if Inuyasha could do it, she ought to be able to. "We can try it and I can just walk at first, if you want?" She was still unsteady on her feet when she ran and didn't want to risk it with any additional weight.

They stopped walking. Kagome stood there watching Inuyasha expectantly, only to remember that she was the tall one currently, so she dropped to one knee with her back to him. Inuyasha awkwardly lay along her back, putting his arms around her shoulders as he swung a leg around each hip. Kagome reached back with her hands and grasped the back of his thighs, making him squirm against her.

"T-tickles," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Sorry… Gonna try standing now," Kagome said, rising up. She held tight to his thighs as she adjusted, feeling him tighten his hold. Apparently she wasn't the only nervous one. Kagome blinked, bouncing in place. "Hey that's weird! You don't feel heavy at all!"

"The hell, Kagome?"

"Look – I thought my body would be as heavy as a boulder, okay! I know you're strong but it doesn't feel like you weigh anything, Inuyasha!"

"You're not heavy, Kagome!" His voice went a little high and because he was right next to her ear, Kagome could feel it flatten against her scalp. She wanted to bite back about how loud he was, but what he said next made her forget about the pain. "Why did it take you being in my body to understand that you aren't fat?! I told you that you are perfect!"

Her feet stopped bouncing, but she didn't make any motion for Inuyasha to get down. "You say that, but…" Kagome felt her eyes burn, and she had to blink away the tears that were trying to form. "…being worried about my appearance has been something I've dealt with before we even met. In my time, if your breasts are too big, you get looked at like you're easy to give it up. If you're flat-chested, no one recognizes you as your age, 'cause you look like a kid. Can't be too thin, or you get asked if you're sick. If you get fat, you get treated like a slob. Girls in my time have to do so many things to be 'perfect', Inuyasha. You just don't know…"

Kagome wanted to curse herself for crying in the middle of the road. She felt so foolish for getting upset, but Inuyasha's words struck something within her. He sounded so certain, but he had no idea. She felt him wiggle against her back, kicking his legs in her hands to lift himself up to reach around her front easier. Kagome felt his hand brush away the tears from her right cheek. "You're right. I don't know. Just like you didn't know about how my dick could get up without warning. So you have to help me learn, okay?"

She sniffled again, bracing herself when Inuyasha shifted to dry her left cheek. "O-okay."

"And don't go forgetting what I said about you being perfect, either." He huffed.

Kagome let out a shaky laugh. It was her voice, but she could still hear his gruffness shine through. "I'll try."


Traveling with Inuyasha on her back was an experience. Once she got used to being the one carrying him and he got used to feeling her hands grip under his thighs, Kagome didn't think too much about it. On occasion, Inuyasha would tighten his hold with his legs, pressing his knees into her hips, but Kagome couldn't get a complete answer from him about why he did it. She had a strong hold on him, so he wasn't going to fall. All Inuyasha said was that he wasn't aware he was doing it.

Which could only mean that her body did it as a reflex, and she'd never noticed before. That was a terrifying thought to Kagome, who couldn't imagine why she would do it in the first place. She trusted Inuyasha completely; she knew he wasn't going to drop her on her ass. Trying to mull over the possibilities while she was carrying him only led to thoughts about things she might've been concerned about at one point, like worrying about her weight slowing them down.

"I told you that you are perfect!"

Kagome sighed and picked up her pace a little more from the slow walk she'd been doing. Inuyasha would just remind her again, however long it took before his words stuck, so she didn't want to keep nudging him to talk about things she'd never noticed about herself. 'It's strange to feel my own body bouncing on my back,' she thought. Despite her tight hold on his legs, Inuyasha's form continued to shift slightly against her. He kept a firm grip on her shoulders, but it didn't stop other…things… from moving…

"B-boobs!"

"What?!"

"Nothing! S-shut up!" Kagome sputtered, feeling the heat burn her cheeks. Behind her, she could hear Inuyasha muffle his laughter, and she was thankful that he didn't take her comments to heart. She hadn't meant to blurt out her thoughts! 'I forgot he's not wearing a bra. They're really wiggling against my back…'

Inuyasha's thighs tightened around her hips again, but she chose not to bring attention to it. Kagome needed to figure this one out on her own.

'Why would I close my thighs?' she wondered, pausing to hoist him up further on her back to readjust her hold. The moment he settled, Kagome felt the press of his legs again. Inuyasha didn't comment on the pause, which could only mean that he understood. She knew that he'd done the maneuver on occasion in the past. 'Could…could it be some kind of…s-sex thing..?' It was a stretch to think that for years she'd been sending hidden signals to the half-demon to let him know that she was interested in a lot more. 'It didn't start that way if that's the case, but… now that the thought is there, I... I kinda like it. But is it me that likes the thought or Inuyasha's body that likes it?'

Nothing below her waist was willing to answer that question. If Kagome didn't have her hands full and she knew it wouldn't hurt, she'd have probably given her groin a pinch out of annoyance.

"K-Kagome?"

"Yeah?" she replied, too distracted to notice the way Inuyasha's voice shook.

"Something's coming quick."


Inuyasha gripped the suikan tighter, feeling a level of anxiety that he hadn't experienced in a long time crawling up his spine. There was a crackle of energy in the air heading towards them, and they were essentially crossing its path with their asses exposed. He'd told Kagome that they would run before engaging in a fight, but he didn't get a chance to remind her. The demon barreled through the trees, sending limbs and debris across the open path before turning and spotting them immediately. It was easily three times taller than Kagome, Inuyasha wagered. The longer he looked at it, the more he could see that it had similar features to one of those goblin things from Souta's games. For every muscle it had, there were four lumpy sections that jiggled in every direction at once.

'It's no more than some bottom-of-the-barrel level demon,' he thought, tightening his hold as Kagome ground to a halt. She hadn't let go of him yet. "We can try to run," he whispered. "Kagome –"

"We don't have a choice," she cut him off, lowering him to the ground. "Stay behind me?" It wasn't a demand, but a plea.

It would have been better to try to run, so why did she feel like she had something to prove? Was it because of the rabbit the night before?

"I sure as hell ain't leaving you to do this alone," he scoffed, reaching behind him to grab an arrow and the bow. He'd tried on a previous occasion to use the bow, but he had been in his body, and the weapon hadn't been built for his extended reach. Even in Kagome's body, when he'd last attempted to aim for a target, he'd lost an arrow in the woods. 'Maybe I'll have better luck this time, since we're about to be attacked,' he thought, taking his stance and raising the bow. He fumbled with getting the arrow placed, but he couldn't help that his hands were shaking. 'I don't know if I can use Kagome's spiritual power, but maybe I can do something…' "Kagome! Move!"

She sidestepped at his request with her hand on the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha fired the arrow, wincing as the bowstring snapped against his inner forearm. Kagome really had come a long way if that recoil didn't affect her! Then again, he was a novice at best, so his posture and bow grip were probably wrong.

They watched with dismay as the arrow soared through the air, impaling itself on the demon's shoulder. It wasn't a terrible shot, but if things were normal, then Kagome would have been able to use her power to obliterate the demon. Instead, they had him.

"He's pissed now," Inuyasha groaned, hearing the demon roar and begin to stalk towards them. Next to him, Kagome pulled the sword from its hilt, producing its untransformed state. "Fuck!"

"We'll worry about it later!" Kagome sheathed the blade and stepped in front of Inuyasha again. "Keep firing arrows!"

"But I can't –" She had seen him take the shot. He could go through the entire supply of arrows and not make a fatal strike –

"You can do it, Inuyasha! I know you can!"

'Kagome has more faith in me than I do.' He resumed his stance and nocked the arrow, hoping that his first shot wasn't pure luck, and fired. There was no vibrant display of energy like Kagome produced, but he had struck the demon again in the shoulder. It continued to advance on them, but he was already pulling back his third arrow. 'This fucker isn't going to hurt Kagome! I won't let it!'

"Inuyasha –!"

There was something different about this shot, and he knew it before he even let go. A burning sensation centered in his right palm, but Inuyasha was too focused on aiming for the demon's chest. 'Let me protect Kagome,' he thought, tightening his hold on the bow. A slow heat began to build in his palm again, making his fingertips tingle as he gripped the fletching. A pink glow shone brightly from the corner of his eye as he pulled back the arrow. 'Don't let me let her down, please…' His body was already in the perfect stance; it knew that he was determined. With no hesitation, Inuyasha took his shot, not noticing that the arrow wasn't charged with spiritual power.

The demon continued to rush towards them, letting out a guttural roar. Inuyasha's third attempt pierced the chest, but not where he'd hoped. Blood squirted from the puncture between its ribs on the opposite side of his previous shots. Inuyasha reached back and prepared to grab his next arrow, but the searing pain running across his drawing hand had him dropping it. 'But I thought that workedWhat did I do wrong?' He was feeling like the skin on his right hand had been rubbed raw.

"F-fuck…" he whimpered, staring at the reddened skin. He'd managed to singe the palm of his right hand with that stunt. 'What the fuck do I do now?! I can't shoot with my other hand and risk doing the same thing!' Blisters were beginning to form, and some had begun to tear open after he flexed his hand.

Kagome was right next to him, reaching for his hand. "Inuyasha –"

"Kagome! You need to get us out of here!" he cut her off. "The sword won't work and I can't use the bow –" He hated that he couldn't protect her, that he had to rely on her to save their asses again when she wasn't accustomed to his demonic speed. He always assumed he'd die in a fight, but he didn't expect it to be in a woman's body, and certainly not when he couldn't protect Kagome.

"We can't run!" she snarled, making his head shoot up in time to see her push her way in between him and the demon he'd pissed off. "You managed to use my powers a little bit, so I should be capable of doing something!"

Inuyasha stumbled as Kagome started to back up, keeping him behind her as she drew the sword again. Tetsusaiga remained in its dormant state, but over the growling and roars of the demon approaching, he could hear her beg for its help. The scabbard could shield them for a while, but if it were to break, they would be fucked anyway. They needed to make tracks, not –

"Please, Tetsusaiga!" Kagome cried out, swinging the sword before her as the demon loomed above them. He reached for her, ready to pull her with him. They likely wouldn't get far, but he had to try – "Let me protect Inuyasha!"

The sword cut through the air, releasing a small sliver of energy that cut the demon across the chest, between the arrows he'd shot earlier. The demon stumbled. Its torso was split open, and it let out a piercing shriek that drowned out the sounds of spurting blood, tearing organs, and snapping bones. It dropped to the ground in two chunks. Inuyasha hung onto Kagome as she gasped for breath, the wide blade of Tetsusaiga returning to its dormant state.

"Kagome! You – you did it!"

Slowly she turned to face him, looking as shocked as she sounded. "I…I did…"

"That was fucking amazing! Kagome – do you realize what this means?!" He hoped she had an idea because he sure as hell didn't. All he could think about was how much heat was emanating from the blistering palm of his hand. Inuyasha spared a glance down at the bright red hue of his skin, feeling his stomach turn over. It fucking hurt something awful –

"Let me see?" Kagome's soft voice surprised him. It was still his voice he heard, but the tender way the words came out was unmistakably hers. It suddenly hit him that it wouldn't matter how well they could mimic each other if people really knew them. They had always been unusually close, but even in his body, Kagome still carried some of her mannerisms. Worse was that he still acted like himself in her body. Kagome held out her hands, and he placed the back of his right hand against one of hers, letting her examine the injury without having to touch it. "How did this happen?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I was trying to use your spiritual power. I…I tried to think about how you did it, and I think it started to work, but…"

"You're not me," she finished, and he nodded silently. "Oh Inuyasha… I'm so sorry…"

"W-what are you apologizing for?! I'm the one that scorched your hand!" Kagome looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her ears had drooped, breaking Inuyasha's heart.

"Because if I had been able to get Tetsusaiga to transform sooner, you wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

He felt like they were going around in circles. "We didn't know that we could lean into the other's abilities like that," he tried again. It wasn't normal for him to be the one that was this logical, to be dishing out the level of sympathy and understanding that Kagome was notorious for. "We tried, Kagome, and it worked out. That demon is gone, and the worst we got was my hand getting raw. At least it's not bleeding?" It looked moist and sticky like all the other blisters he'd gotten over the years and broken unintentionally.

"That's true…"

"See? So there's nothing to – K-Kagome –?!"

Inuyasha had looked away for only a second so he wouldn't be tempted to put on a smug look when she agreed. Then he felt something soft and wet slide across the palm of his hand. When his head whipped around, he saw Kagome bent over his hand, licking it.

If his hand hadn't stung from the blistering, he would've jerked it away immediately. 'What in the hell is she doing?!' She was taking care not to press hard against his hand, but the longer she continued to lave his palm with her tongue, the more he struggled to think about why she was doing it. To make matters worse, he found himself liking the feeling.

Kagome finally paused and looked up at him innocently, which really didn't help keep his mind from drifting to dirtier fantasies. "What's wrong?"

"W-what's wrong?! Kagome, what the fuck?!" he sputtered. "Why are you licking me?!"

She continued to stare at him, almost like he was the one that was insane. "I thought…I thought it helped wounds heal quicker?"

"…What?"

"I don't know how much truth there is in it, but I've heard that a dog's saliva can encourage wounds to heal faster," Kagome explained. "And when you get a cut on your finger, a human's first instinct is to suck on the cut. I thought that since you're a half-demon… do dog demons not..?"

Inuyasha's brain nearly fried at the thought of Kagome sucking his fingers, so he almost didn't hear what she was implying. "I…I don't know!" he shrieked. "All I know is that when I'm a half-demon I heal faster!" A moment later he regretted his outburst because her expression fell again. "I – I'm not upset, Kagome! I'm just really confused is all…"

His assurance didn't do much, unfortunately. "Did it help at all?"

"I…" he wiggled his fingers. Kagome still cradled his hand in her larger ones. "It doesn't sting anymore?"

Kagome let out a sigh of relief, and when Inuyasha looked back up at her, she was smiling again. "I'm so glad I could do something," she replied softly. "Let me bandage it up with some ointment first, okay? We can check it later tonight to see how it's doing. It might not be as bad as we once thought."

"Yeah…" He hoped so. Inuyasha felt guilty that he'd caused damage to Kagome's body when he knew they should have tried to run. He'd assured her that in the event of a battle they'd run, yet he'd allowed this to happen. 'I feel so useless. I swore to protect Kagome years ago, and now I don't have the means to do so at all.' His head shot up again when he realized that she'd said that she felt useful for once. "The fuck do you mean you're glad you could do something?! Kagome, you took down that demon! You got Tetsusaiga to transform! You've done a hell of a lot more than you realize! You saved our asses!"

"But – if I had listened to you, you wouldn't have gotten hurt –"

"Yeah well, it wasn't the first time I fucked up, okay? Remember the beads?" He watched as she applied a thin layer of that cold ointment stuff to his palm before wrapping it with a soft bandage. "Point is, you proved that you're a hell of a lot stronger than you think you are. After last night, I was afraid of what would happen if we got into a battle. I still am, cuz next time it might be worse. But you showed me that if we got cornered, you could get us out. So don't go feeling bad about not being able to hunt like I do anymore, alright?"

Kagome secured the bandage, and Inuyasha was reminded of the time that her feet had been similarly wrapped. That had been much worse, but he'd felt just as bad. He looked up to thank her when she leaned down, pressing her lips against his cheek with a soft kiss. "Thank you, Inuyasha. You don't know what that means to me."

He was pretty sure he did know.