Chapter 33
Omne quod movetur ab alio movetur
"Everything that moves is moved by something else."


"Every atom of your flesh
is as dear to me as my own:
in pain and sickness
it would still be dear."
Jane Eyre


The morning was coming. He knew it was, and with it, he could feel the new moon approaching.

They'd said that they'd wanted to start just before dawn broke, when it was still dark with only the slightest discoloration of the horizon.

His fingers reflexively curled against her form.

He was going to have to let her go.

And he really, really didn't want to.

Not after—not after everything and getting her back, really back.

He'd shifted her in the night, so that she rested with her head across his thigh, between his legs, so he could curl around her, his body keeping hers warm.

Exhaustion clawed at him, but he wasn't going to sleep, not now. Not when he would have these moments with her again. He'd been starving for her and only just realized it. He'd whet his appetite for her attention, and then he was expected to just let her go?

He could hear them stirring on the other side of the wall, and he knew what was coming. Now it was just playing the waiting game. He stared at Kagome's sleeping form; she'd only been asleep for a short while.

His fingers stroked through her hair absently, and briefly, the thought of escaping with her flittered through his mind.

He could. Run away. Through the well, even. He could keep her safe anywhere.

But she needed this. He forced himself to remember, struggling through the bitter taste it left in his mouth. She needed the curse to break, and then she would really be safe. He couldn't protect her from that. He'd already tried that.

But that didn't stop the beast inside him from suggesting softly that he could find another way.

There was no other way, because there wasn't enough time.

A knock against the wooden frame of the door had his eyes snapping up to glare at Sango's dark form in the doorway.

"Kaede and Miroku have gone down to the hut. They said to bring her."

He let loose a low growl, but Sango didn't back away.

"We don't have long to start," she reminded him, like he needed it. He'd just spent the last few hours thinking of something, anything, any other way to make this not happen.

"I'll be there," he growled. "You can go now."

Sango huffed but left the small room, exiting the hut.

He just—he wanted a few more minutes with her. All to himself. That's all.

He wanted to be selfish for just a little longer before he had to give her up again.

"Kagome," he said, softly shaking her shoulder. She grumbled, curling herself tighter around his leg. "Kagome, we have to go."

"Five more minutes?" She mumbled. "It's still dark."

"Your eyes aren't even open."

"I can feel it," she whined, burying her face into his thigh.

"Kagome, we have to go."

"But why?"

"The old hag and Miroku have to perform the counter curse."

"And they have to do it now?" She moaned, cracking her eyes open. "I knew it!" She hissed to herself as if confirming that she'd been right that it was too early to be awake.

He pulled his leg away from her, catching her head before it hit the ground.

"I'm not getting up," she groaned, curling up into the warm blankets. He found himself contemplating curling up behind her, and just wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. But he couldn't. He had to take her to the hut, and then he had to let them do whatever it was they were going to do.

Kaede said it would be 'rigorous' and Miroku didn't offer any other reassuring tidbits. Instead or running away, like he wanted to do, he scooped her up off the floor, blanket and all. She was still wrapped in his haori, and he didn't mind at all. She could stay wrapped in it for as long as she needed. Kagome twisted and wrapped her good arm around his neck holding herself closer to him. Shifting his grip, he brought her closer, now unafraid of her rejection of his touch; she hadn't pushed him away other than that first time. Knowing that she wanted to be close, that she wanted his touch, settled something deep down inside him. Her face buried into his shoulder made him preen at being the sole source of her comfort.

Walking out of the room, he carried her through the doorway, shoving the mat aside with his shoulder as he walked out in the cool night.

"You okay?" He asked, and she nodded against the side of his neck.

"When did it get so cold?" She mumbled, curling against him more, and he relished in the feel of her, of her body against his.

She was awake and soothing him with her attention, even if she was half asleep.

It was quiet for a moment, and Inuyasha thought for a moment that she was asleep, not that it was a bad thing. It was early, and she was still recovering.

Kaede and Miroku would take care of this. They would. He had to trust them that they could reverse whatever it was. Reiki or no, he would follow her wherever she decided to go. If this past week had proven anything, it was that he could not exist without her.

And God help him if anyone else figured that out.

He continued on trekking through the quiet village. The line of trees mocked him, taunting him with escape and hidden alcoves, but he continued towards the hut where everyone was waiting.

His time was limited. They would only have one chance to get this right, and he wasn't going to be the reason why she suffered any more.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" Miroku said as he stepped out of the hut, holding a small candle.

"Why do you sound surprised, monk?" He growled, walking past him and into the small hut still carrying Kagome against him. "Didn't think I'd show?"

"No, no, not at all!" Miroku quickly countered. Kaede was finishing a symbol on the wooden floor; there were three others drawn at specific points.

"Set her on the floor there," Kaede pointed to the empty space between the designs. "Take off anything that isn't her yukata and under garments."

Run. Take her and run. Keep her safe.

He grit his teeth as he moved closer into the circle and lowered her to the floor. Kagome stirred, twisting slightly in the blankets.

"Kagome," he spoke softly to her.

She made some sort of fucking adorable noise in the back of her throat and tried to bury herself deeper into them.

"She woke?" Kaede asked, awed at the idea.

"Early this morning," he grumbled, tugging at the blanket with his free hand while Kagome fought him on it.

"Kagome?" Miroku asked, kneeling down beside her sans staff, which seemed weird at the moment.

"Five more minutes?" She asked, and Inuyasha looked up at the monk and priestess. He'd give her five more minutes, he'd give her a thousand if she asked him for it, but he didn't think there were any to spare.

"Kagome, we have to start sooner over later," he said, and she whined but released the blanket.

Kaede pried it off, pulling it out from under her, even as Inuyasha held a hand against her back to keep her supported.

"The haori too, child." Kaede carefully pulled the fabric away, handing it back to him.

"When did I put that on?"

"Don't ask dumb questions," Inuyasha scoffed, tucking the haori under his arm as he fought down the heat in his cheeks.

Kagome wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's so cold!"

It really wasn't though. Her skin was still pale, as if she'd been bled dry and revived with only the barest amount of necessary blood.

"Aye, ye can have a blanket when all is said and done." Kaede stood, pressing a hand to the crown of Kagome's head before moving back to her spot at the sigil she was drawing. The white marks bold and distinctive on the floor of the small hut.

"Where's Sango?" Inuyasha asked.

"Making sure that Shippo and Kirara are a safe distance and patrolling to prevent any disruptions."

"Once we start, stopping becomes—" Miroku's voice drifted off.

"Dangerous," Kaede finished. "We must see this all the way through no matter what ye think or want." Kaede lit a few more candles, placing them in various spots in the small hut.

Kagome sat still, arms wrapped around herself as she watched them before slowly shifting her eyes towards him again.

"It'll be okay," he whispered, leaning in close to her ear. She turned to look at him, and he met her gaze with a look of complete seriousness.

"If I—You'll tell Mama—" she obviously struggled to find the words that she wanted to speak.

"You'll be fine." He didn't allow her to finish her thought, because it simply wouldn't be happening; he wouldn't allow it to happen to her ever.

He tried to convey that in his look, and he saw the corners of her mouth twitch into a slow and small smile.

"Kagome," Kaede said, interrupting. He looked up at her, the hand at Kagome's back twitching at the notion that he would have to leave her alone in the circle shortly.

"We need to begin. I need your head here and feet here. Inuyasha, help her."

He did as he was asked, helping her shift around the circle as Miroku and Kaede took their respective seats on either side of the circle.

"I think it would be best if ye left, Inuyasha," Kaede ordered, and he snarled at her.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome chastised in a gasp.

"I ain't leaving her, hag!"

"Kagome's returning reiki may purify ye," Kaede amended.

"I don't care!"

"Inuyasha," Miroku started, and Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her form, dragging her against back against his chest. "We don't want to harm you in the process."

"I'm staying right the fuck here!"

Kagome's hands covered his own, and his growls and snarls quieted slightly.

"Does he have to go?" Kagome asked.

"No, child," Kaede said. "But I am aware that purification is painful. I would only want Inuyasha to avoid the unpleasantness."

"If he wants to stay," Kagome started, hesitating slightly. "It wouldn't—Can—Will you?" She turned her head to look at him, and he met her gaze before giving a slight nod. She relaxed, and he pulled his hands away from her, resettling her back into the proper place in the circle before shifting to the wall to her side, so that she could see him.

"Alright," Kaede said with a long exhale and a glance to Miroku. "We will begin. Whatever happens, Inuyasha, ye must stay there."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Sit. Stay."

His slid his hands into his sleeves as he crossed his arms, claws digging into the soft flesh as Kaede lit some herbs, and waited until the smoke reached the ceiling before beginning her chant.

Miroku was there to bolster her own reiki to fuel the actual breaking of the curse. He would let Kaede guide his reiki as she needed it. Miroku followed her chant with ease, and Inuyasha's skin raised in goosebumps at the feel of something so solidly rebelling against his youki's presence.

Kagome whimpered, and he refocused on her.

They'd . . . explained things to him. How painful this might be. They'd tried to be gentle, but he didn't need them to mince words; he needed to know exact answers. He needed to know what she was going to endure, because he needed to be able to prepare himself.

They had one chance, well, they didn't, but she did. Miroku didn't think that she could withstand another attempt to break the curse or an attack from it itself. 'Borrowed time,' he'd called it, a phrase they'd learned from Kagome and her strange time, but the notion, the implication, that phrase held and insinuated scared the living shit out of him.

They were out of time, and now, he had to endure with her.

Kagome groaned lowly, legs shifting as her hands clutched at her chest. He dug his claws deeper into his own arm, probably gouging his own bone at this point.

They lit another sprig of herb as they continued to count and Miroku's reiki lit up the circle on the floor.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, and he lurched slightly before stopping himself.

They should've run. Just taken her and outrun this stupid thing.

Her hands went to her throat, and she let loose a low howl.

His eyes widened as the blackness of the curse began permeating the circle. His heart racing in his chest as he took quick breaths to try and calm himself. He needed to be calm for her.

Another sprig was lit, and both Kaede and Miroku tossed theirs into the circle. The moment their flames touched the curse, they were snuffed out completely and Kagome screeched, thrashing on the ground as she tried to claw through the curse with her own fingers, but the only thing she did was make herself bleed.

"Kagome, stop!" He shouted at her, hand braced on the wall as a reminder to himself that he couldn't move. His heart leapt into his throat, and he dug his claws into the floor beneath him.

She'd claw out her own throat at this rate.

His chest burned and pulsated with each scrape of her nails against her skin.

Curling up onto her side, she tried to crawl out of the circle, but the lines of reiki knocked her back, singing the tips of her fingers.

They cannot stop, he reminded himself. They cannot stop. They only have one shot at this. She only has one shot at this.

He should've run. He could've outrun the curse. Figured something else out.

Anything else.

Anything would be better than this though. Anything would be better than watching her suffer.

Kagome had suffered enough.

Save her!

She screamed as another wave of Miroku's reiki ripped out another section of the curse. Inuyasha flattened his ears to hide from the noise as much as possible.

He couldn't—his chest grew tight, and he struggled to breathe. His ribs felt like iron bars that refused to move enough to allow him to breathe.

"Kagome, stop—" His voice broke as he tried to focus her attention away from the pain. He could see the curse pulling away from her in a never ending stream of pitch blackness, spiraling around the marked circle with vigor and displeasure. A writhing mass of darkness that curled and roiled just inside the lines of reiki. "Kagome, don't fight it. Let it go. Just let it out."

"Inuya—" she whimpered, reaching her hand out towards him, her legs spasming slightly against the floor. He flinched as his name morphed into a cry of pain. Her throat had deep red stripes crisscrossing her skin.

Another sprig was lit off the flame of one of the others, and they slapped them against the floor, right over the circle. Kagome's eyes rolled back into her head, and she stilled completely with a heavy sigh. Kaede continued on increasing the ferocity of her chanting.

His brain pulsed behind his eyes. A steady knocking from inside his own skull.

"Why the fuck isn't it gone already?" Inuyasha shouted.

If anything, the curse seemed to be fighting back against their efforts.

Why?

What curse was that powerful?

Who was that powerful enough to enact it?

And who wanted her dead that badly?

Inuyasha growled as they continued working, and he noted sweat dripping off Miroku's chin as he pushed on. Inuyasha was sweating too; the heat and humidity from the smoke finally getting to him.

We love her too.

"Fucking break already!" Inuyasha snarled at the dark tendrils of a curse designed to kill and punish, claws gouging deep lines into the wooden floor. His body was on fucking fire; he'd been in fires, and he was pretty sure this is what it felt like to be incinerated from the inside out. He grit his teeth, scraping them against each other.

"Let her go, you fucking piece of shit!"

He would not lose her. He would not lose her to some fucker that couldn't be bothered to show his face.

And then the growing and roiling blackness that swirled over her began crackling, green lightning snapping around it, singing the wood around her still form.

As if pulled up by the curse itself, her body arched up towards the ceiling, as another scream erupted from her abused throat, more rasp than anything else. Her reiki flowed up, overpowering the circle and making it glow so bright that they all had to shield their eyes from it as it engulfed the room entirely, flowing gently over his skin.
Both powers hissed as they collided, but the curse was dwarfed by her own power that it had tried so diligently to subdue and failed brilliantly, engulfing the hut and the vicinity in its blinding light.

But it didn't burn him. It didn't purify him.

Squinting, he tried to watch as the two powers swirled around each other, but it was too bright and his nose burned with the sharp, clean scent of lightning as it struck the earth in a storm.

"Kagome!" He called, trying to find her form in the blazing light of the room. Sweat dripped into his eyes, burning them as he blinked it away. "Fuck!" His eyes burned, and he was pretty sure that he'd be seeing spots for weeks after this.

A sharp gasp and the light vanished from the room, both light and dark disappearing back inside of her.

No! They couldn't fail, not when they were so close!

His stomach churned and roiled, and he gagged on air and something else, before turning to the side and retching so violently blood and bile spewed from his mouth.

Kagome coughed, a deep wet sound, as something dark and viscous spewed from her mouth, dribbling down her chin and cheek. It smelled of—he couldn't even name what the smell was—just that it was wholly unpleasant. Something with traces of pitch and bad eggs, maybe.

More coughing and more liquid.

"On her side lest she choke on it!" Kaede ordered, lunging across the invisible lines as she rolled Kagome onto her side. Miroku helped keep her in place with a firm hand on her shoulder. His own stomach was struggling to not crawl out of his mouth.

"Don't let it touch you!" He shouted over his shoulder at Inuyasha.

Right, like he was going to roll around in the stuff. His arms trembled at the effort of supporting himself.

Kagome hacked and gagged on the black mucous as it poured out of her mouth.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked, moving to see what was coming out of her.

"The curse's physical form."

"That was in her all this time?!" He blanched as the strength of the smell increased tenfold, forcing him to cover his nose with his sleeve. He refused to leave because he couldn't handle the smell.

"Yes and no."

"We had to break the curse's hold on her spirit," Miroku explained, holding out a cloth with a sigil drawn over it as Kaede uncorked a bottle of funky ass smelling oil and poured it on the cloth. "And the only way to do that was give the curse a physical form."

"One that she could expel herself," Kaede finished. "Aye, that looks like all of it. Quickly, wipe her mouth and tongue."

"What the fuck is that stuff?"

Miroku's hand glowed with reiki as he wiped the inside of her mouth with the cloth, and when he pulled his hand away, the oil had turned black.

"Purified oil, of sorts. It will help remove the last vestiges of the curse from her body and skin."

"So it's gone?" Inuyasha asked. Kaede held out another sigiled cloth and Miroku wiped the black away from her face with his hand, running the cloth over her hair as well, before swiping the ground.

"It is now," he answered with a smile. Tossing the fabric into a bowl, he flopped back onto his rump, bracing himself on his arms. "But I think I'm going to sit here for a bit before I set that mess to burn."

"Ye did good work, Monk," Kaede said, rising to her feet. "But I think this old woman will need a good long nap before she does anything else today." She started for the door before pausing.

"Agreed. Maybe I can convince Sango to do the same." He waggled his eyebrows at Inuyasha, who rolled his in response.

"I will gather everything later. Leave it as it is for now," Kaede said, shuffling out the door and towards her own hut.

Miroku flopped onto his back, taking a deep breath.

"You okay?" Inuyasha asked, glancing away from Kagome at the monk.

Miroku rolled his head towards him at the question, raising an eyebrow.

"I am deeply touched by your concern," Inuyasha snorted his remark, "but there is nothing wrong that a little food and sleep can't fix."

Inuyasha started to ask another question, but stopped himself.

"You can touch her now. It's safe. She's just tired; she'll wake after she's rested some."

"The curse is gone?" He asked again, easing towards the girl. "It's over, right?"

He knew he was repeating the question, but he needed to hear the answer again. He didn't know if he could survive another episode.

"The curse is gone, but it won't be over until we find who did such a terrible thing."

Inuyasha slid his hands under her shoulders, lifting her from the floor. Daylight sifted in front the open doorway, and it hadn't registered in his mind that the sun had finally risen and the day had started.

"I'm going to kill them," he said, shifting Kagome in his hold as he stood, the muscles in his legs aching slightly. "I'll tear them apart for what they did to her."

Miroku made a noise in his throat as he sat up, fumbling for his staff on the ground behind him.

"Here, I'll walk with you," Miroku said, pushing himself off the floor, wobbling on his feet for a moment, even with the help of his staff.

"You okay?" Inuyasha asked him, and he nodded, waving his hand at him as he took a couple steps, steadying himself on Inuyasha's shoulder before continuing.

"I've overdone it a little, but I'll be fine," he said. "I suppose that it's good you weren't purified after all. Otherwise, you might now be able to support the both of us."

"I might be weak as a human, but I ain't that weak."

Miroku leaned against him as they walked back towards the hut. Sango ran towards them, grinning like a maniac.

"Ah, Sango!" Miroku called out, leaning off Inuyasha to open his arms to her. "My love!" Sango skidded to a stop in front of Inuyasha, looking at Kagome.

"How is she? Kaede said the curse was broken!"

"Kagome is fine, though it is my body that is truly weary without its better half," Miroku answered, swooning to the side, though he kept a firm grip on Inuyasha's haori.

"She looks tired," Sango said, and Miroku huffed loudly at his side. Inuyasha caught sight of Sango stifling a grin as she ignored the monk entirely.

"Would you stop already," Inuyasha grumbled at her. "He's going to mope all day at this rate."

Sango let out a laugh and turned towards Miroku, who was now actively pouting at her. She slipped in under his arm, supporting him on her own weight, taking the burden, what little it was, off Inuyasha entirely. Together, they walked back towards Kaede's hut to settle in for a short rest.

Tucking Kagome into her blankets, he watched her for a moment, still and breathing, before he wandered out into the sitting room, seeing Sango preparing an early lunch.

"Hey, can you get some fish for lunch? No doubt those three are going to be hungry." She sliced into some vegetables as she made her request.

"Yeah. You'll be here?"

"I won't move an inch," she swore. "I will keep them all safe."

"Just worry about Kagome. We can find a new monk if need be."

"I'll tell him you said that," Sango laughed, as Inuyasha left the hut, feeling something akin to relief for the first time in ages.

But that felt odd in itself. Kagome was unconscious and limp, but he felt better about it than he had in the past few weeks. He felt better about leaving her alone with Sango than in the past few days. Everything just felt—calmer.

The needling instincts no longer pressured him, and he felt almost leisurely while he caught his fish before heading back to the hut.

Handing the fish to Sango, he grabbed her unused knives and moved outside to sharpen them while he sat on the roof.

Kaede woke up before the others, moving to sit next to the fire pit and sip at her tea while they waited for Miroku and Kagome to wake.

Miroku woke mid-afternoon and looked half-dazed to the world when he stumbled out. They'd already eaten lunch, and Sango made him a small dish and some tea.

"It feels like I'm hungover," he mumbled, shaking his head as if the physical movement would be enough to clear his head. Sango sat next to him, sipping from her own cup and stroking her fingers through Kirara's fur.

Kagome showed no signs of waking, but she had shifted in her sleep some, dragging the blankets with her as she turned onto her side, which was more than they'd gotten from her in the days prior.

Not that he'd been relentlessly watching her since he'd returned to the small hut or anything. He'd kicked the kit out of the room, in no mood to be bothered with someone else vying for her attention when she finally woke the fuck up.

God, he was tired.

And tonight was the new moon.

Great.

His body felt like it was moving through molasses, and his mind wasn't faring much better. So he understood and empathized with the monk when he made that particular comment.

He'd never been hungover, but he was pretty sure it had to feel something like this.

"Lady Kaede?" Miroku asked. "You seem troubled."

"You said that everything went well," Sango started, voicing the deep inner panic that Inuyasha was currently suppressing.

"It did. But—" She trailed off.

"But what, hag?"

"When we broke the curse on her reiki, there was another seal as well."

"Wait, so she's not going to have her reiki?"

"No, no," Miroku added quickly. "No, her reiki was freed, but Kaede said there's another seal."

"Right. There's another seal, older than the one we broke today," Kaede took a sip of tea. "But she will have access to the same part of her reiki she always has."

"The same part?" Inuyasha asked.

"So there's more reiki she can't reach?" Sango asked.

For a girl who had nearly killed Naraku weeks after they'd joined forces, she was pretty fucking strong. But for there to be more that she didn't even know about—just how fucking powerful was she?

"Aye, Kagome can only use a portion of it. A small portion by the feel of it."

"And if we were able to remove the seal?" Sango asked.

"I've never seen anyone as strong as she is now. The fact that there could be more power under the surface is mind boggling," Miroku explained, staring into his tea cup.

"Aye, she is already stronger than my sister at the same age, untrained, but far stronger."

"Can you tell who cursed her? Now that you've broken it and all," Inuyasha asked. He just needed a name and he could rip the throat out of the fucker and—

"I'm afraid not, Inuyasha. The breaking of it tells us no more than knew previously. Only that the caster was skilled and powerful. Someone well-versed in the arts."

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. It never was.

"Could it have been the same person who cast both seals on her?"

"No, I don't think so. The remaining seal is much older, perhaps even older than Kagome is."

"Someone sealed her reiki before she was even born? How is that even fucking possible?"

"I can only tell you what I felt, Inuyasha. 'Tis all I know."

"I will admit that I'm a little worried about you, Inuyasha," Miroku commented. "You're sure that you're feeling alright?"

"I feel fine. Why?" He narrowed his eyes at the monk who leaned back against the wall of the hut.

"Well, it's just that Kagome's reiki, it should've purified you. But it didn't. You should be human right now."

"Well, I ain't complaining about it."

"No, but it is something to question. Why didn't it purify ye at all? That amount would've been enough to purify Kirara or Shippo completely, but ye emerged entirely unscathed."

"You don't think that there's something wrong with her reiki, do you?"

"No, nothing of that sort. But it is something worth researching." She looked over at Miroku.

"I will admit Lady Kaede, I believe that I've had my fill of research for the next few days."

"Aye, Lord Monk," Kaede said with a nod. "I think we have earned a day's rest or two at least by the events of today alone."

Inuyasha watched the two of them. His eyes narrowing.

"What is it now, Inuyasha?" Sango groaned. "Why can't you be happy for once?"

"Because something's not right," he grumbled, eyes flickering between the two reiki users in the room. "What aren't you saying?"

Kaede merely hummed, sipping from her cup.

Miroku refused to meet his gaze.

"Okay, out with it."

"Lady Kaede, you are more knowledgeable on this subject, perhaps you should—"

"Ye are a coward, Miroku."

"Yes, I concur," he agreed readily, taking a sip of his tea.

Kaede sighed, turning towards Inuyasha.

"When Kagome wakes, we should be mindful in watching her for any signs the curse may have lingering effects," she explained. "We do not know what helped her survive her ordeals, or why ye were so affected by them, Inuyasha." She took a breath, exhaling it slowly before continuing. "Kagome was too weak to have survived the ritual."

"You're saying that she should be dead. Again."

"Aye."

"Fucking great," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. He just couldn't hear that anymore today. How many times had he almost lost her in the past week? Months? How many times would he have to face this—this . . .

Inuyasha set his cup down and rose from his seat, not speaking a word to anyone as he wandered back into the storage room to sit next to her. He sat next to her head, running his fingers through her hair.

"That went better than expected," Miroku spoke lowly. There was silence, but Inuyasha could feel Kaede's glare from inside the small room where Kagome slept.

Sighing to himself, he refocused on the girl in front of him.

He was tired, but he would wait with her until she woke.

When the change came as the sun finally sank below the horizon completely, signaling the official end of the day, the utter exhaustion that followed caught him unaware.

He found himself lying on his side, black hair pooling around him as he stared at the side of her face, with his own eyes drifting closed of their own accord.


A/N: Thank you guys so much for the kind words on the last chapter. I still don't love it, but I'm really glad that you guys did. I hope you're all prepared for some clingy Inuyasha and Kagome.

Also, thank you to whomever nominated this story for the fandom awards. I love that you guys like this story and look forward to reading it. You're all so amazing, and I'm so thankful for you all.