Chapter 72
Bella gerant alii
"Let others wage war"

"When we are sad - at least I am like this -
it can be comforting to cling to familiar objects,
to the things that don't change."
—The Goldfinch

Miroku and Sango weren't gone for long, and she was glad for Inuyasha keeping her company.

"Where's the runt?" He asked, and she looked out at the grassy area. Last she'd seen him, he'd been running around in the grass.

"He was just here," she murmured.

"Don't know what else I expected," he grumbled, sighing heavily.

Kagome opened her mouth to interject, but a tan ball of fluff landed on his head, biting him fiercely. Inuyasha ripped Shippo off his head, holding him by the tail at arm's length.

"What was that for?" He shouted, and Kagome frowned.

"Shippo, why'd you attack Inuyasha?" She shifted a little to look at him as he scrabbled in Inuyasha's grasp.

"You thought that I wasn't paying attention!" Shippo shouted back, pointing an accusing finger at him. "But you weren't paying attention either!"

"And what pray tell has the two of you so upset at each other?" Miroku asked as he and Sango walked up from the porch. Kirara leapt up onto the porch, trilling and rubbing against Kagome's leg.

"This little shit—"

"Hey!"

"Inuyasha, be nice," Kagome placated, placing a hand on his arm. He snapped his head towards her, and she looked at Shippo. "Shippo, stop instigating a fight with Inuyasha."

"But—"

"Both of you need to be nicer to each other," she said, looking at Shippo and then at Inuyasha.

It took a long moment, but Kagome watched Inuyasha release his grip on Shippo's tail, letting him fall to the ground and shoving his hand back into his opposite sleeve.

"Thank you," she said, and he only glanced at her before attempting to burn a hole into the ground beneath the veranda.

"Keh," was the only thing that he would say in response.

Both Sango and Miroku sat on the edge of the porch, letting their legs drape off the edge into the grass. Kirara bounced towards Sango as Shippo sat next to Kagome's thigh.

"So what did you two find out?" Kagome asked, and Inuyasha shifted his arm slightly towards her.

"Based on what Inuyasha's smelled," Miroku started, and she gently wrapped her arm around Inuyasha's, almost holding onto him, and she felt the tension and firmness slowly slip out of him.

She rested her head on his shoulder, and he let out a long exhale.

"Inuyasha keenly discovered that the smells around the trails are off," Miroku continued.

"Off how?" Sango asked, turning to look at Inuyasha.

"Smells are missing. It's only on the ground and only on the main drag mark. There's no scents anywhere else."

"Couldn't it have worn off?" Sango asked. "You said yourself that smells fade."

"Shouldn't be this far gone just yet. Especially if they were just here."

"So then what do you think it was?"

"Dunno," he answered. "But something's off here."

Kagome tightened her hold on his arm, reminding herself that he was here with her. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

A warm hand covered her grip on his arm. She peeked up at him, but he wasn't looking at her. His fingers, however, rubbed lightly against her own.

"Do you think it's safe?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha shifted the arm she held onto ever so slightly, just enough to drag her sleeping bag cushion over so that her thigh was touching his, and his arm moved to the other side of her leg, wrapping his fingers under around the underside of her knee.

It felt like he was shielding her with his body, and she found herself searching constantly for the quiet reassurance that his presence gave her.

"It's safe enough," he said, nudging his chin against her temple.

Miroku cleared his throat, and Kagome felt Inuyasha turn his head and growl at him.

She squeezed his arm, and the growling lessened, but it didn't stop completely.

"Well, we do know that the homes were damaged," Miroku spoke, leaning back on his hands. "And I find it highly suspect that the villagers would destroy their own homes."

"Or their neighbors," Sango added. "Especially when they're helping each other rebuild."

"Why would they destroy their own village?" Kagome asked. "And we didn't even know that we were coming here, so it wasn't like they could expect us."

"So the odds of it being a trap are slim," Sango said, and Kagome nodded, her cheek rubbing against his shoulder.

"Well, I suppose that means that we have some more questions for the headman," Miroku said with a small sigh. He pushed himself to his feet, holding his hands out to Sango. "Come, my dearest, let's go see what we can find and perhaps visit that shop we saw the other day?" He waggled his eye brows at her as she took his proffered hands.

"You found a shop that sold paper," she deadpanned. "Stop making everyone think otherwise."

"You ruin my fun, dearest Sango." He let out a soft sigh.

Sango turned towards Kagome, dusting off her skirt.

"He practically giggled over it. Ran around fondling all the different types of paper."

"I did no such thing!" Miroku frowned. "And we both know the only thing I fondle is you."

Sango flinched as Miroku clearly patted her rear, and she quickly slapped the back of his head, sending him stumbling forward a step.

"It was a compliment!"

"It's a weird compliment, monk!" Sango shouted at him, pink spreading across her face and cheeks as she glared at Miroku.

"Ah, but it is still a compliment," he mused, and Sango growled, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off towards the village.

"Let's go get your stupid paper and talk to the stupid headman!"

"Perhaps we could also—"

"I swear, if the next words out of your mouth are anything perverted, I will strangle you."

"And I swear I will probably still enjoy it."

Sango let out another growl and kept walking, dragging a grinning Miroku off with her, who merely flashed a lopsided smile at them.

"Do you think he's blackmailing her?" Inuyasha asked, and Kagome leaned her head up a bit to look at his profile as he watched them leave.

"Who? Miroku?" She asked him, and he gave a short nod. "Why would he blackmail her?"

"Seems odd she'd want to marry—well, him."

"Why is it odd that she'd want to marry Miroku?"

He huffed, not looking at her as he stared out into the trees.

"Have you met Miroku? He's a fucking gnat in the face half the time." He scoffed under his breath, and she smiled. "And you really think that Sango wants to marry him?"

Kagome couldn't help it. She giggled at his antics.

"Oi," Inuyasha grumbled, turning his head to look at her, scowling but not really meaning any of it. "What's so funny?"

"You!" She said, breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"Me?" He sounded halfway incredulous at the idea that whatever he'd done was in any way funny or worth laughing at. "What did I do?"

"You just—" She broke out in a peal of laughter at the slight twitch of his lips. "You sound like her brother!" She managed to gasp out.

He jolted at her statement, and she wiped her eyes with her fingertips.

"I'm sorry!" She continued to giggle; she couldn't help it! The notion that Sango—of all people—needed protecting was just so funny. And her gruff hanyou was the one doing the protecting!

"Oi, wench," he grumbled at her, but his lips were still twitching upwards.

"Sorry!" She took a deep breath to steady her giggles.

"Whatever," he mumbled, looking away from her towards the grassy area.

"Can I go play now that Inuyasha's here?" Shippo asked, and Kagome only just realized that despite all their talking, Inuyasha's hand hadn't moved from her leg.

"Of course! You know I'm safe with Inuyasha." She booped his nose, and his tail flicked once as he bounded over her legs towards the grass to run around do whatever it was he did.

"You know he's just going to pick flowers and shit the whole time," Inuyasha stated, looking out at the trees.

"So? Let him be a kid, Inuyasha." She patted his arm, watching Shippo dart around the grass. "Or do you think you'll need him for backup?"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed loudly, turning to glare at her. "He'd just get in the way."

Kagome giggled, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Like I need any help!" He grumbled, thumb drifting across her knee. "I can protect you just fine on my own."

"It's not so bad having friends though, is it?" She asked him, and he exhaled deeply through his nose.

"Sango's not so bad," he mumbled.

"We both know Miroku's your best friend." She poked his side. "Don't lie."

He mumbled something under his breath, and she couldn't quite make out what it was supposed to be, but she was sure that it was an insult of some kind.

Shippo darted off across the field chasing something only he saw, and Kagome giggled as he tripped and tumbled into a cluster of dandelions, sending up little flurries that made him sneeze.

"Runt really has some coordination issues."

A small burst of fox fire burned up the remaining drifters, and Shippo looked over his shoulder at her, beaming.

"I guess the good news is that his fox fire seems to be in better control," Kagome said after a moment.

Inuyasha grunted at that, but he didn't elaborate any more on the issue. Kagome turned away to watch Shippo as he continued to play, darting back and forth across the grassy area.

She wasn't sure when she drifted off, but she jolted awake at the sound of Miroku's staff.

"What did I say?" Inuyasha snapped at him.

"I was honestly being as quiet as I could!" Miroku hissed back, before shooting a quick grin at her. "But since our beloved Kagome is awake," he started, and Kagome lifted her head from Inuyasha's shoulder. His haori was draped over her, and she lifted her hands, staring at it before looking up at him. He refused to meet her gaze, eyes barely flicking in her direction as a light pink blush stole over his face.

How did he even get it off without waking her?

She shifted a little so she was sitting more upright, and she realized that her ankle was resting on top of his shin.

How long had she been asleep?

"Thanks," she whispered, sliding her arms through the sleeves. He wasn't getting his haori back right away. She was warm, and she didn't quite want to give that up just yet. "What did you find out?" She rubbed her face with his sleeve, trying to perk herself up to listen to them. Sango and Miroku were both sitting on the edge of the veranda with Miroku's staff resting on the wooden floor beside him. He twisted, sitting back against the column to face them.

"Well, we explained what we'd discovered and how we didn't think that it was youkai causing the problem. He was quite—upset with the idea that we suspected someone other than youkai causing the issue."

"But no one has actually seen the youkai doing anything, so he had no real proof that we were wrong."

"So what happened?" Kagome asked.

"He wants us to figure out what happened," Sango said as he rubbed Kirara's ear.

"And he'll pay us quite handsomely if we get rid of whatever is destroying the village."

"Miroku missed the part where he said we have to figure it out."

"Look," Miroku pointed a finger towards her. "I can find something to blame for this."

"That's called lying, Miroku," Kagome said with a roll of her eyes. "If we're going to help these people, we should do it the right way."

"Kagome, your good heart purifies us all," Miroku said with a slight tilt of his head towards her.

"Just the ones who need it," Inuyasha grumbled and she softly jabbed her elbow into his side.

"So Sango and I will go out and about this evening and see what we can discover. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure out where they're coming from or who's behind this mess."

There was a nagging feeling that started in her chest, and she suddenly didn't want the both of them to be forced to carry all her weight because she wasn't strong enough to stop from spraining an ankle.

"I want to go!" She blurted out, louder than she intended to be honest.

Sango and Miroku both looked surprised at her outburst, before both sets of eyes turned towards Inuyasha.

"The healer said that you should rest," Sango started, eyes flitting between Kagome and Inuyasha as nose scrunched up a bit.

She wanted to go. Why couldn't she make the words come out? They always came out so easily before, and now—now she couldn't seem to make an coherent thought to save her life.

It felt a lot like there were ticks and tallies going into the "how she was useful before" box than the "now" box.

Inuyasha carefully wove a finger through her clenched fists, where she held onto his haori in a death grip, like it was the only thing that would save her.

She looked up at him as his fingers curled around her own.

"We'll go out tomorrow," he said after a beat, eyes staring at her carefully and unwavering in their study.

"All of us?" She whispered, half hopeful he'd say yes, and half-hoping he said no. He turned away from her and back to Sango and Miroku.

"I don't see why would we couldn't go out together," Miroku said with a shrug. "Who knows? Perhaps Kagome will be our good luck charm."

She doubted that. There had been very few things in her life that had been lucky. Though, she supposed that it was luck to some degree that let her meet Inuyasha in the first place.

Whether it was luck or fate, that would always be one thing that she was grateful for.

Even if she did wind up losing him at the end of it all.

"Miroku and I will go rest for a little bit," Sango said suddenly, rising to her feet. "You're okay for a little bit?"

"And what am I?" Inuyasha grumbled. "Ain't like I can't take care of her."

"I'm sure you'll do a fine job," Miroku added, ushering Sango inside. "Come, my dearest, we should get some rest before tonight." His hand slipped lower.

"You are on your own side of the room, monk," she snapped, slapping his hand away.

"But Sango!" He whined as she partially closed the door behind her. "Such violence, my love!"

"I'll show you violence!" Sango's voice echoed behind the wall.

"And I'll show you that I enjoy it," Miroku sang.

"You go behind that screen and stay there!"

There was some minor shuffling, and Inuyasha sighed.

"He's not gonna stay behind the screen," he mumbled, and Kagome squeezed his fingers. "You okay?" He asked, voice low and quiet, and she gave him a slow nod.

"Yeah," she answered.

He huffed quietly to himself but didn't argue with her on that point. Even though she knew that he knew she wasn't fine.

She hadn't been fine, but she wanted to pretend just for a little while. She wanted everyone to not worry about her and whether or not she was going be able to handle just existing for a couple hours without collapsing under the weight of it all.

"Hey Kagome?" Shippo asked, climbing onto the porch and over Inuyasha's knees. Holding out a handful of akizakura that he'd picked from the areas near the trees. "I found some flowers for you."

She took them carefully from his little hands and started at the bright pink and stark white petals.

"Mama called them fall cherry blossoms, because they were everywhere. Sometimes she got mad when I tracked them inside the den, but I always picked the pink and white ones, because she liked them best."

She dragged him into a fierce hug trying to stifle her sudden need to cry.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Shippo lightly patted her side.

"It's okay," he answered. "It's not so bad now."

But the thought that he didn't miss his parents as much felt almost like sacrilege.

Because Kagome had found that she didn't miss her father as much either.

A warm arm draped across her shoulders, and she turned towards him.

She hung just on the edge of consciousness.

A deep seated nagging feeling that tingled just on the edge of her senses.

Something was wrong.

Well, maybe not wrong, but it was off.

And she couldn't place where it was coming from or why she was feeling it.

But she knew that she needed to listen. She knew that she needed to figure it out. But did she have to do it so early?

The more she tried to ignore it, the more it seemed to press on her nerves. Like it was antagonizing her into wakefulness, and she just wanted to sleep and ignore it.

A hand rested on her head for a moment before the fingers began carding through her hair, lightly scratching her scalp. She turned towards the hand in her desire to seek comfort in the wake of nervousness that permeated her body.

The hand paused, letting her shift, before resuming its task.

The door slid open quietly behind her, and the hand paused.

"Anything?" Inuyasha whispered as the door slid shut.

The quiet jingling of Miroku's staff was stifled as he laid it on the floor.

There was a hard thump as Sango's Hiraikotsu rested on the floor.

A soft rustle of fabric behind her, and she cracked open her eyes to see the flickering red of Inuyasha's firerat-clothed torso in the light of the flames.

"We found," Sango started, letting her words drift off.

"Something." Miroku concluded.

And to anyone else that tone would've sounded normal.

But Kagome felt that nagging feeling increase.

That something?

Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

A/N: Happy Thursday!

So this chapter leads into the next little arc, and I'm like frothing at the mouth to get to it. But patience, I tell myself.

Anyway, I hope everything is going well and that you're all doing okay!

As always, let me know what you think!