Chapter 58
Felicitas multos habet amicos
"Prosperity has many friends"

"You were sick,
but now you're well again,
and there's work to do."
—Timequake

Kagome had planned out grand ideas for her time out and away. She'd thought that she was ready, that she'd prepared herself adequately.

But she hadn't realized that in all her time preparing to leave, she hadn't really talked to anyone else. She'd had no dealings with any of the villagers or any strangers.

Kunitame's home had shown her that she was as ill-prepared as when she'd first fallen into this world. Perhaps more so than before.

Inuyasha though proved himself her anchor over and over.

He'd dragged her through the village when it felt like her brain was on the verge of just shutting down completely. Everything had suddenly become too much for her to handle, and she felt one more thing away from just fritzing out completely.

It was so embarrassing to need to leave like that, especially when it was one of Kaede's friends.

Why couldn't she just be normal?

Inuyasha pulled her into a hug, and she felt her body give out under it.

She was so tired, physically and emotionally, and she couldn't help it. She buried her face into his clothes, breathing in the scent of him, and feeling his arms wrap solidly around her. One wrapped around her lower back and another wrapped around her shoulders. They pressed her firmly against him, and it was such a relief.

He was there. He was always there. Her own arms circled around him, trying to draw him closer. His head rested on hers, and she let herself unwind from the stress of dealing with people and strange men who were friends of friends.

They stood like that for a while before he lifted his head from hers.

"The others are coming," he said quietly.

She looked up at him, as his ears swiveled, but he made no move to let go, and so she buried her face right back into his chest.

She didn't care what anyone said. She just needed some peace and quiet for a few more minutes.

Fingers lightly traced her spine as they moved up and down her back. He hadn't asked her if she wanted to go back. The answer would've been no anyway. She wouldn't get better if she didn't at least push herself and try. She had to get better. She couldn't stay like this forever.

"Here they are!" Shippo shouted, and Kagome tightened her grip on his waist, keeping her face hidden.

"Is—oof!" Miroku grunted. "What?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Dunno," Inuyasha said with a shrug. "Is it?"

The question was obviously directed at her, and after a few seconds, she nodded her answer.

"Kagome, do you want to talk?" Sango asked her quietly from where she stood.

Kagome didn't want to talk about it anymore. She just wanted to pretend that everything was back to normal.

At least Inuyasha wasn't pushing her to talk about it.

"Are we going to keep moving?" Miroku finally asked.

There was a lingering pause, and she turned her head slightly to see who they were looking at to speak.

Unfortunately, it was her.

"Yeah," she mumbled after a long space of extremely awkward quiet.

"Alright then," Miroku stated. "We'll start heading north, and we'll see you whenever you're ready."

She heard footsteps start walking away, and then a short pause.

"Here, Shippo, come with me," Miroku said after a moment, and the tiny footfalls she attributed to the tiny fox disappeared with the monk.

Inuyasha let out a sigh.

He was probably irritated that she was holding all of them back.

Again.

"Sorry," she mumbled her poor excuse of an apology into his chest.

"For what?" He asked, his claws resuming their path up and down her back.

But he didn't push her to continue and didn't repeat his question.

A girl could get used to this.

After an undetermined period of time, she pulled herself back. Inuyasha let her go without resistance.

"You good?" He asked, and she nodded. "You wanna walk? Or do you want me to carry you?"

Her feet still throbbed, and her legs were aching something fierce, but she didn't want to abuse his kindness. Maybe she should still walk for a bit to try and stretch it out?

But Inuyasha was already in front of her, kneeling down, waiting.

Since when had he been able to read her so well?

She looped her arms around his neck as he pulled her up against him as he stood, shifting her weight slightly to get her into position.

"Ready?" He asked her, turning his head slightly.

"Yeah," she breathed, and he ran slowly, keeping his movements smooth and soft. But maybe he wanted the time alone with her too.

She smiled, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. His hand squeezed her thigh in return and kept moving.

When they caught up with everyone, Inuyasha didn't stop to let her down, opting to keep her on his back instead. She'd started to shift to get down when they caught up, but he didn't make a move to let her down. Instead, his grip tightened on her legs, keeping her in place.

She didn't fight him on it, but that might be because she also really didn't want to walk on her aching limbs anymore than she has to. Kagome let her body sag against his as he shifted her once again, forcing her to stop supporting herself and lean against him, watching the trees on the side of the road.

"What did you and that fucker talk about anyway?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha, be nice," Miroku said, with a roll of his eyes. "Kunitame was just giving us a message of thanks to pass onto Kaede when we saw her next."

"Don't see how that took forever for you to get out of there."

Kagome let her eyes close as Inuyasha's gait felt like he was rocking her to sleep. She was already tired, but now, it was just unfair. It was like he was doing this on purpose.

"We wanted to make sure that no one was upset about a portion of our group leaving early."

Her fingers twitched, scratching against the skin of his chest or neck.

"Why would we—?" Inuyasha's voice choked, and he clutched her thighs tighter. "Why would we care about that asshole?" He cleared his throat, and Kagome shifted her grip, and he made a noise when her fingers left his skin.

Kagome hummed out a small sigh.

"Go to sleep, Kagome," Inuyasha said, bumping his head lightly against hers. She settled more firmly against his back, the sun and his back warming her despite the chilly air.

"Kagome," Sango's voice drifted into her head as her hand gently rubbed her back, and she lifted her head from her sleeping bag.

When had she gotten her sleeping bag out?

She blinked, staring at it before looking up at Sango, questioning what had happened in the last few minutes.

"You were out of it," she explained. "So we decided to let you sleep while we set up camp."

"You should've woken me up," Kagome said, rubbing her eyes. "I would've helped."

Shifting to her knees only proved that she did in fact still ache.

"I know, but it's not like it's that difficult to get camp set up." Sango held out her hands so she could climb to her feet. "There's a stream nearby if you want to wash up a little. Miroku said we've got a little bit before dinner is done."

Kagome followed her through the trees to the narrow little stream that wound around the woods and rocks. It wasn't deep and probably barely had anything worth eating in it. It might only be deep enough to soak her feet without actually touching the bottom, but the water was cold and refreshing, waking her up more as she rubbed her face with her hands.

The sky, what little she could see of it, was fading into night and already the forest felt it was dimming right before her eyes.

"Better?" Sango asked, and she gave a quick nod.

"So what's for dinner?" She asked.

"Rabbit and some berries," Inuyasha answered, and Sango yelped at the sound of his voice.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She snapped.

"Not my fault you can't hear worth shit," he said, taking a step back to avoid a lazy punch from her.

"You could've said something earlier!"

"Yeah," he agreed nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders, making Sango huff angrily. "Dinner's ready."

"Thanks," Kagome said, giving him a smile. He looked away, turning to walk ahead of them, leading them back to camp.

Her legs still ached when she moved or walked, but it was at least slightly better, which was a relief. Albeit, a minor one, but one nonetheless.

She sat down with her back against a tree, and Inuyasha brought her a skewer and claimed his usual spot next to her. Well, 'usual' might be a strong word to use there. 'Usual' as in 'he's been doing that a lot lately' and not 'he's been doing this for a while now.'

Kagome glanced over at him as he took a bite of meat off his stick. Shippo came and sat with his back against her other thigh, devouring his own meal. She smiled, ruffling his hair, and he hunched over slightly before turning his head to look at her and smile, food smeared across his face.

She picked at her dinner, nibbling slowly at it, and she was keenly aware of Inuyasha watching how much she ate and what she ate. But when she turned to look at him, he stared at something else.

"So, Kunitame said that there were rumors of a youkai terrorizing villages in the north," Miroku stated plainly, and Kagome turned towards him.

"Oh yeah? Are we going to head there?" She turned to look at Inuyasha. His brow raised as he turned to meet her look.

"Are you sure that you feel up to fighting a youkai?" Sango asked her.

"Yeah," she said with a nod, glancing at Inuyasha, who was only eying her food. "I don't know if I can shoot a bow though." She said, and rotated her shoulder around a bit, feeling the stretch and pinch.

"You said it hurt last time," Inuyasha pointed out, eating a handful of berries.

"Yeah, but that was days ago. It might be all better now."

He gave her a look that clearly stated that he doubted it but didn't say anything else about the topic.

"Eat your dinner," he commented instead.

"Yes, mooom," she drawled, leaning against his shoulder.

"Shut up," he mumbled, hands in his sleeves now and a light pink dusting on his cheeks. She giggled before looking up at Sango and Miroku, the latter who wore a smirk across his face that meant nothing good was about to come of out of his mouth.

"So bold," Miroku commented, and Inuyasha's face snapped towards him in a near snarl.

"You know you're already on thin ice," he growled.

"Ah, but it's the risk that makes it fun."

"Don't agitate him," Sango said as she tossed her skewer into the fire. "Come on, let's go for a walk, so you both can calm down."

Sango pulled Miroku to his feet, dragging him away by his sleeve.

"My love, I didn't realize I'd left you so neglected," he said, taking the initiative and her hand as he led them away into the trees.

"Keep your pants on!" Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome heard the growl and the Miroku's low voice speaking as he clearly dragged Sango farther off into the trees.

Kagome turned towards him.

"Do you have to make Sango angry all the time?" She asked him, and he shrugged, smirking to himself. "Why can't you just let it be?"

"It's payback," he commented, giving her a side eyed look.

"Payback for what?"

"Doesn't matter. Finish your dinner."

Kagome sighed, and Shippo patted her leg.

"You should go follow those two," Inuyasha said pointing his nose with a slight nod towards where Miroku and Sango left. Shippo blanched and stuck out his tongue at the idea.

"Ew, gross! Do you know what they do?!" Shippo crinkled his nose at the thought. "Why do you want to be alone with Kagome?" His eyes widened, and he quickly leapt into Kagome's lap, wrapping his arms around the middle so fast it surprised her.

"Shippo!"

"You don't get to touch Kagome anymore!" He shouted at Inuyasha, who merely blinked at him in confusion. "You weird pervert! You're as bad as Miroku!"

"I'm—I am not!" Inuyasha snapped back.

Shippo patted her side gently.

"It's okay, Kagome. I'll sleep with you tonight to make sure Inuyasha doesn't bother you."

Kagome tried to hold back her laughter. She really did. But Inuyasha's borderline tomato red face was simply too funny to try and ignore and pretend that it didn't exist.

"Relax, Shippo," she said, patting the kit's head. "No one is nearly as bad as Miroku, so I'm sure that it'll be safe." She wove her fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp a little the way he liked it. "And besides, Inuyasha has to carry me, doesn't he?"

"I can do it!" Shippo said, puffing his chest out.

"Ha! Naraku will die of old age before we get there if you carry her!"

"I'm not that slow!"

And with that comment, an acorn pegged Inuyasha right in the middle of the forehead, and the chase was on.

Kagome huffed into the soft fabric of her sleeping bag.

She'd set herself up in prime position for him to leap down and let her touch him where he could lean back against the tree.

It was perfect, and he was just going to let her suffer, the jerk.

She twisted herself around again. Tired didn't even begin to describe how she felt. It was like she got that sweet taste of sleep during the day, and now her body was addicted to it. It wanted so much more, and yet, here she was, because some stupid dog-boy was keeping his thigh to himself.

Idiot.

A soft thud behind her made her twist around to see its source, but she didn't have to go far, because Inuyasha was already stepping over her and sitting down in front of the tree.

She didn't even ask before she wrapped her arm over his knee, and curled up against his leg.

Clawed fingers ran through her hair, and she hummed her appreciation. They continued their lazy movements until she lost all sense of everything.

Kagome for the first time in a very long time, felt like she was in a good place. For instance, no one had stopped her from picking at her nails, and no one had given her any long looks of concern.

It was a good day. A really good day.

She'd woken up in her sleeping bag with no Inuyasha, but she felt like she'd slept better than she had in a while. She actually felt rested.

She felt like a Kagome that was borderline normal.

Her legs, though they still felt stiff, didn't feel like they were going to fall off. Now it was just more muscle stretching, and it felt kinda good.

Kagome smiled, glancing over at Inuyasha, who was openly staring at her.

"What?" She asked. "Is there something on my face?" Her hand came up towards her face, but his quickly snatched it, bringing it back down to her side and giving it a slight squeeze before he let it go.

"There's nothing wrong with your face," he muttered.

"Oh, you were just staring, and—"

The bridge of his nose steadily grew redder and redder, and he glowered at the ground in front of his feet.

Her hand found his, and she intertwined their fingers together under his sleeve.

She smiled at him, seeing Shippo riding on Miroku's shoulder, and when he glanced back at her, she stuck her tongue out at him, and he did the same before grinning back at her.

She felt light—so much lighter than she'd felt in weeks.

Squeezing Inuyasha's hand, she looked up at him, before a blip ran across the back of her head, making her head snap to attention to the road in front of them.

"What?" He asked, tugging her to a stop, before reaching for his sword.

"Shard," she whispered, eyes scanning the landscape, trying to find where it was, where that little tingle in the back of her head was coming from.

"Where?" Inuyasha asked, moving to stand closer to her.

"What's happening?" Sango asked, already pulling Hiraikotsu off her shoulder.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's a kind of a blur," she murmured, staring out at the road ahead.

"A shard is somewhere nearby," Inuyasha commented, keeping his voice low.

And then, it clicked, and her heart froze as could now clearly pick out that there were two shards coming their way very quickly. Too quickly, in fact.

Way too quickly.

Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going on.

That—that wasn't right. He'd never moved that fast before.

"Kagome? What is it?" Inuyasha asked, sword now drawn and waiting.

"I thought—" she started, but it was too late.

He was already upon them.

The name came out in a hushed breath, as he appeared followed by the rush of wind whipping around him.

Her voice carried on the dying breeze, and something was very, very wrong.

"Kouga."

A/N: So my Six Sentence Sunday post, apparently tortured some of you, and I apologize (sorrynotsorry) for it. A lot of times, I'll pull those quotes and queue them up and it's weeks later before I see them, so to be honest, I didn't know what was popping up until I saw some of the tags on it.

But we're down to three more Mondays worth of school, and I'm really, really excited. Both to be done with this year, which has felt like it took years off my life, and to see some of my students embark out on their lives like the feral little kittens they are.

Anyway, I hope that you liked the chapter, and as always, let me know what you think.