Chapter 70
Una hirundo non facit ver
"One swallow does not make a summer"


"Sometimes, even grown women need
their mother's comfort so we can just take a break
from having to be strong all the time."
It Ends With Us


Inuyasha's head rested on her shoulder, and she thought that it would be heavy, but the reality was that he wasn't heavy at all. His arms tightened slightly around her waist and she found herself leaning her head against his.

It was nice, being able to sit like this. Inuyasha made her feel safe anywhere and everywhere. She didn't like being separated from him. It made everything seem way more intense and terrifying.

But she felt bad about Miroku and Sango doing all the work, and she knew that Inuyasha would rather be out there fighting and helping.

"You're sure you're okay being here?" She asked him, and she felt his head shift slightly. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"I'm fine," he said, arms wrapping even more around her waist.

"But I know that you have to be bored just sitting here," she said, twisting a little to look at him.

"Not bored," he mumbled. "It's quiet."

"Is that bad?" She asked him, leaning her head back a little to look at his face.

"No," he said, shifting so that his cheek rested on her shoulder. He looked at her with one eye before closing it. "Just quiet is all."

"Are you trying to nap?" She couldn't help the smile that spread out over her face.

He grunted but didn't disagree with the statement, which was as good as an admission from him.

"You can go lay down," she suggested, but he grunted back at her. "It would be more comfortable."

"No," he grumbled.

"No, you don't want to lay down or no, it wouldn't be comfortable?"

He growled into her shoulder, and she laughed, reaching a hand up to lightly scratch his scalp. His head buried into her, pressing harder against her. Tweaking an ear, she turned back towards her school work, picking her pen back up.

He huffed, clearly annoyed at something, but didn't move or relinquish his grip or position. She worked through a few more math problems before her brain started to feel like mush. Algebra was not working well with her tonight. Then again, math rarely worked well with her to begin with.

Then again, maybe it was the hanyou wrapped around her that was making her brain emit staticky white noise.

She let her body sag back against him, and he shifted his grip around her slightly.

"Tired?" He mumbled into her clothes sounding every bit as tired as she felt.

"I should be asking you that question," she mused, closing her math book. "Are you tired? You've been carrying me around all the time."

He scoffed lightly.

"'S not like you weigh anything," he mumbled.

"But I'm still heavier than carrying nothing." She tried to twist around to look at him, but he was keeping her firmly in place and not allowing her to move around at all. She sighed. "And you've been hunting and collecting firewood and doing all this stuff, because I—I—"

"Kagome, no," he said, his head raising up a little bit from her shoulder. "It's not that big of a deal anyway."

"But—"

"No," he repeated with a slight shake of his head. "It's not like any of that is hard. I do it all the time."

She sighed, exasperated with him, because he wasn't listening.

"Don't do that," he said suddenly, and she twisted as much as she could to look at him.

"Don't do what?"

"Blame yourself. You always do that."

"No," she started, feeling indignant at the accusation, "I do not!"

This time, Inuyasha raised his head completely, staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"I don't always blame myself."

"Seriously?" He asked her, and his cynicism normally didn't throw her at all, but this felt like he was about to give her a very personal revelation, and she didn't feel very confident that she would handle it well.

He stared at her, eyes flickering between each of hers, before exhaling sharply.

"You blame yourself for not being fast enough or strong enough." He gave her a side-eyed glance and must've see the expression on her face, because he gave a short snort of air. "You think I don't hear you talk to Sango or to yourself?"

Oh God. What else had he heard? What else had she talked about?

She and Sango talked about a lot of different things. Like a lot.

Okay, well not a lot of different things. How much had he heard?

What if he'd heard Sango's comments about her feelings for him or worse about what she thought his feelings about her were?

"So you're eavesdropping on me?" She asked.

"Can't help it if you talk too loud, and don't try to change the conversation."

She blinked. Inuyasha normally took the bait for argument, but this time, he wasn't.

It was like Dog Boy was learning, and while she was really happy that he was learning how to communicate with words, it really sucked that he was using all that learning on her.

He stared at her, clearly agitated, and she fought the desire to curl up slightly and avoid him. Instead, she dragged herself upright to stare him down and show him that he wasn't right.

"You're strong enough, you know," he said, gaze turning back towards the fire, and whatever fight she'd thought they were going to have fizzled out, dissolving in her surprise.

She gaped at him for a moment, remembering to shut her mouth a second later.

It was an unexpected comment from him.

He'd always ragged on her for being lazy and weak compared to Kikyo, and even though he hadn't done that in ages, those little malicious thoughts still ran rampant in her head. She just hadn't expected him to attempt to obliterate them in the course of a single sentence.

Her eyes watered, and she felt him tense behind her.

She twisted in his lap, and he let her wrap her good arm around his neck. His arm kept her bad shoulder from raising any higher.

"Kagome?" He asked as his claws ran up and down her back. She sniffled.

"I'm not," she mumbled.

He was completely and utterly wrong, but it was sweet of him to say it anyway.

She wasn't strong enough. Recent events had proven that more than enough. He was just being nice.

Inuyasha was a nice person, even after everything he'd suffered through, after all the loss and the hate, he was an unbelievably caring person.

And she loved him for it. Loved him even though he'd never love her like he did Kikyo. She'd seen the way he went the moment she called, and how could she hope to compete with his first love?

Kagome held onto him for just a moment longer and then slowly started to pull away from him. Except that he refused to let her go.

He held her firmly against him, hands wrapped around her back, pressing her to him.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, and after a beat, his arms released her, letting her be free if she chose.

But she didn't choose, opting to sit in his lap for a few moments longer, which he didn't seem to begrudge her for.

She leaned her head against his, and she smiled as she felt the slight pressure returned.

"You're strong enough, too, you know," she mumbled, and he scoffed but didn't retort.

They sat like that for a bit longer before Kagome drew away.

"How do you think Sango and Miroku are doing?"

He breathed out a long exhale through his nose.

"Haven't heard anyone screaming, so they're probably fine."

A yawn escaped her before she could stop it, and she quickly covered her mouth.

"Tired?"

"I shouldn't be." She let out a small sigh.

"Go to bed," he said with a nudge of his shoulder. She reached for another text book, and his hand batted it away. "Go to sleep. You're tired. You can work on them tomorrow."

"So bossy." She carefully lifted her leg so that she could move out of his lap and onto the ground.

Inuyasha helped her down, and she dragged her bag towards her, pulling out a change of clothes.

Glancing over at Inuyasha, she caught the flash of red on his cheeks before he spun around facing the opposite wall.

Smiling to herself, she changed quickly and with fumbling movements, especially with her bum ankle impeding everything.

"I'm done," she said, and Inuyasha moved back to her side, carrying her to her sleeping bag against the wall.

When he was done, he patted the top of her thigh, and she caught his sleeve.

"Are you going to sit up?" She asked, and he gave a short nod. "Can I—?" Her voice broke as she tried to ask the question that lodged in her throat like a badly swallowed pill.

"Yeah," he said softly, settling down beside where she would lay, leg extended out in front of him. She took a deep breath and settled down, where her head rested on his thigh. Catching a piece of fabric between her fingers, she rubbed her nail across it as his hand rested on top of her head, nails lightly scratching her scalp. She hummed, staring at the fire.

"They're okay, right?" She asked him, and his fingers hesitated for just a moment. "They're okay without you?"

"Sango and Miroku can handle a couple small ass insects on their own. You should be more worried about Shippo. That runt would probably run back here and bring the bugs with 'em."

She giggled, bringing her hand up to rest on his knee.

"You're probably right."

"Probably?" He snorted. "You know I'm right. You've seen that little punk in action."

"He can be brave when he needs to be," she argued, fingers lightly running over the weave on the firerat.

"Yeah, he can." Inuyasha ran his fingers through her hair, and she sighed, rubbing her cheek against his leg.

"Just like you can be nice when you want to be."

Another snort.

"Now I know you've whacked your head too hard. I ain't nice."

"You're nice to me," she murmured, shifting her head slightly.

"Keh, you're the only one."

"So I'm special?"

"Would you go to sleep already?"

Kagome giggled, reaching up to wrap her fingers around his and drag them in front of her, and he let her manipulate him however she wanted. He could just as easily pull away, but he didn't. Instead, he just let her do whatever she wanted.

And if anything made her feel special, it was that.

She ran her thumb over his knuckles, feeling the strength that ran just under his skin, along the tendons. He was always so gentle with her.

She brought his hand towards her face, placing a light kiss to the fleshy part of his palm, just under his thumb.

He jolted under her, and she thought that maybe she might've overstepped, but then his fingers closed around hers, and she relaxed.

"You'll wake me when they get here?" She asked, eyes drifting closed.

"If they wanna talk," he answered, and she supposed that was a fair answer.


She blinked a few times, noting that the room was significantly brighter.

Someone slowly ran their fingers through her hair, and she stretched her legs out, feeling the muscles and tendons in the injured one almost crackle.

Whimpering, she tried to tamp down the sudden and indescribable urge to curl up in a ball and cry about how badly her leg ached.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked quietly.

"Fine," she whimpered, and he snorted.

"You don't sound like it."

She shook her head, and he gave a loud sigh.

"Did you move your ankle too much?"

She nodded, smothering the whimper into his leg.

His hand rested on her head for a moment.

"I'll help you sit up and put some salve on it."

However nice that sounded, she couldn't fathom moving into any position except the one that she was currently in, because moving hurt.

Taking a deep breath through her nose, she attempted to convince herself that she could do this. She could sit up and let Inuyasha take care of her. She could do that without being a giant baby about it. Even though she wanted to be a giant baby about it.

Inuyasha put an arm under her, helping to rise, and she exhaled sharply as she accidentally shifted her leg even more.

"You good?" He asked, and she nodded frantically. She was good. She was fine. She would absolutely not cry.

He unzipped her sleeping bag so that he could get to her foot, leaning down to sniff the bandages. Before she could ask what he was doing, he moved to the basket and taking out the two small pots of salve. He sniffed one and then the other, before picking the second and heading back towards her.

He sat down beside her leg, dragging it onto his lap so that her ankle was accessible to him. His gaze flicked to her as he made each move in unwrapping the bandage.

Black and blue marks still mottled her skin, but the swelling did look like it had gone down some.

"Still okay?" He asked, and she nodded. He pulled the lid off the pot and dipped his fingers inside, crinkling his nose as he did so.

"Is the smell strong?" She asked, keeping her voice low as she glanced over at Miroku and Sango.

"Kaede's never smell this bad," he said, making a face, and she covered her mouth as he started spreading the salve across her ankle.

"I can do it if it smells that bad," she said, reaching towards her ankle, and Inuyasha batted her hand away with a half-hearted glare.

"Just saying, Kaede at least knows how to cover up the shitty smell of her medicine." He gently wiped his fingers over her ankle, leaving no spot bare.

She watched the care he took with her, being so gentle and careful as he handled her ankle. He'd always been so gentle with her, even when she didn't always take the same care with him. Her eyes fell to his beads and, not for the first time, she'd thought about pulling them off. She had no reason to really keep them on anymore. He wasn't a danger to her or anyone else.

"Can I use the same bandage or do I need a new one?" His voice drew her attention back to his face.

"You can use the same one."

He moved quietly, rewrapping her ankle securely with the bandage. She watched him tie it, setting it back down on his leg.

"Better?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Thanks."

His hand came to rest along her leg, fingers wrapping around the underside of her knee.

She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Sango stirred drawing a soft chirp from Kirara as she rose up and stretched. Kirara's tails flicked as she stretched her legs out in front of her. Sango glanced around, seeing Kagome awake and smiled.

She pushed herself to her feet, wandering over to them.

"How're you doing?" She asked, glancing quickly at her leg in Inuyasha's lap, asking a silent question that Kagome was adamantly trying to ignore.

"It's still tender. I stretched this morning, and that didn't help."

Sango gave her a consolation grimace.

"I've done that before. Definitely unpleasant."

Kirara rubbed her head against Kagome's hip, and her fingers lightly scratched her behind her ears.

A quick glance at Inuyasha showed what almost looked like a pout, and his ears tweaked out to the side.

But she couldn't fathom why exactly.

But she had to pee, and now that she was awake and semi-upright, that pressure was practically making her bladder ache.

"Can you help me go outside for a bit?"

"Of course," Sango said with a smile. "I assume you'd like to do the honors?" She asked Inuyasha, who glared, but gently moved Kagome's leg off his lap and shifted quickly to pick her up off the ground.

"Lead the way," he said, following Sango as she walked towards the line of trees.

"They have an outhouse, but it's quite—pungent," Sango explained, stopping after a short stroll into the trees.

She laughed as she caught the look on Kagome's face.

"My sentiments exactly. I had no desire to use it either."

Inuyasha lowered her feet down to the earth, waiting until she was steady to rescind some of his assistance though he didn't release her completely.

"I've got it from here, Inuyasha," Sango said, stepping in.

Inuyasha gave her a look, but Kagome's bladder wasn't giving them time to figure out their little bro-spat.

"Inuyasha," she said, patting one of the hands that rested on her hip still. "It'll only be a couple minutes, that's all."

His eyes slid to her, and she could already feel the argument coming. But she really had to pee.

"You're going to run a quick check to make sure that there's nothing dangerous, right?"

His fingers tightened ever so slightly before releasing her.

"Fine," he grumbled. "If—"

"Right, right, if anything happens it's on me. Got it," Sango said, shooing him away with a flick of her hand. "Now, go do a quick check."

"I'll call when we're done, okay?" Kagome said, watching him hesitate for just half a moment before leaping off into the trees.

"Still don't know how you deal with him," Sango muttered as she helped Kagome balance on one leg to pee.

"He's just—" She grunted as she tried to stabilize her position, "worried."

"It wouldn't kill him to make life a little easier on the rest of us."

"He's trying," Kagome muttered, using Sango as leverage to help pull herself back to a standing position. She leaned back against the tree, trying to catch her breath and sort her clothes.

"Alright, my turn. Stay there." Sango slipped to the side, crouching down beside the tree.

Sango moved with a fluidity and grace that Kagome only hoped to have once again.

"Alright, ready?" Sango asked.

"Inuya—" Before she could say the rest of his name, there was already the sound of branches and bushes moving, and he appeared, dropping down in front of her.

"You were close," Kagome said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He didn't respond except to pick her up.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, watching his ears twist sideways.

"I wasn't that close," he mumbled, and Sango laughed.

Inuyasha glared at her as they walked back towards the inn.

"Did I miss something?" Kagome asked.

"No," Inuyasha answered almost too quickly.

She looked up at him, and he was cautiously avoiding her gaze.

They walked inside the room, and Inuyasha sat her down in front of the fire.

"Good morning, Kagome!" Shippo cheered, running over to her. Inuyasha took his seat beside her.

"Good morning, Shippo!" His hands rested on her knee.

"You were asleep when we got back."

"Sorry, I was a little tired."

"It's okay," he said, patting her leg lightly with a slight nod. "Miroku went to get us breakfast!"

"That was kind of him, right?"

Shippo nodded eagerly, looking back at Sango.

"Can I tell her about last night?"

"Wait until Miroku gets back."

"We could be awhile," Inuyasha muttered, and Kagome patted his knee. His own hand slid out, covering hers and keeping it pressed there gently.

Kirara ran past Shippo, trilling, and he eagerly took the bait, darting off with her and the two of them ran in and out on the patio.

The door slid open, and Miroku entered with a small team of servants following him with trays of food. He sat down beside Sango, and both Shippo and Kirara ran into the room as the trays were delivered.

"Thank you," Kagome said as the woman bowed before taking a step away and heading back out the door.

"Yes, thank you!" Shippo chirped, and one of the serving women started at his statement but gave a small smile at his contagious enthusiasm. It also probably helped that his fluffy tail wagged behind him eagerly.

She nodded, moving to leave the room with the rest of the women, who shut the door behind them in their departure.

He picked up the chopsticks and started to dig in.

Kagome picked up her own set, taking small bites of her own breakfast, seeing Inuyasha do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"So tell me about last night," she said as she finished a small bite of rice.

"I used my foxfire!" Shippo shouted.

"That he did," Miroku agreed.

"We found some tracks!" Shippo continued. "With my foxfire!"

"See? You were such a big help to Sango and Miroku," Kagome said, reaching out to ruffle his hair, and his tail practically wagged in his glee.

"Tracks from what?" Inuyasha asked, shoving a piece of fish into his mouth.

"Insects from what I can tell."

Bugs were Kagome's least favorite type of anything, but especially youkai, because that meant that they were going to be huge.

"Those things aren't too hard to beat."

"That's the weird part though," Sango added with a slight frown. "They're not the same type."

"Why is that weird?" Kagome asked.

"Most insects fight each other over territory. They don't 'work' together."

"They also don't generally damage a house and then leave, at least from what I've seen in my experience," Miroku added. "For as long as this has been going on, the damage is quite minimal."

"You think there's something else behind it." Inuyasha set his bowl back down on the tray.

"Like what?" Kagome asked.

"Not sure," Sango chimed in. "Miroku and I made a few trips around the village, and the paths circle the entire village."

"There were some tracks that lead off into the trees, but we couldn't find them anymore once we reached the trees, which is odd since we're pretty sure that they'd have to be rather large to commit the type of damage they have."

"Something big enough to rip apart a house doesn't just vanish."

"But it looks more like they're digging down into the huts, not going into the sides of them like normal," Sango explained.

Inuyasha scowled.

"Bigger than a hut? It had to leave a trail."

"That's what we thought," Miroku said, taking a sip of tea. "But the trails just disappear into the tree line."

Inuyasha scowled harder.

"We were hoping to go back out in the daytime to see if it looks any different. Maybe see something we missed in the dark," Sango said. "We thought that I'd stay here, and you could go out with Miroku."

"You're okay with that?" Inuyasha asked her.

She wasn't. She didn't want him to go and leave her in a strange place. Because this wouldn't be for a few minutes, a gone and back again scenario. Instead, this might take hours.

She nodded, trying her best to smile at him reassuringly. He stared at her for a long moment.

"I have homework to work on," she explained weakly.

"And I have some sewing. We can sit on the patio and work while you two are out."

"And I'll protect them!" Shippo proclaimed, puffing out his chest.

"Really?" Inuyasha deadpanned. "You're not gonna go build flower crowns and shit?"

"I can do two things at once!"

"Sure," Inuyasha teased, and Shippo pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Be nice, Inuyasha," Kagome chided, patting his knee again.

"Keh, hurry up and eat, would ya?" He said, resting his chin in his palm.

"I can eat when you're not here, you know," she commented taking another bite of rice.

He didn't comment, but his leg shifted ever so slightly so that his knee pressed more firmly against hers as Miroku and Sango talked a bit more about what they'd seen in the village.


A/N: Happy Thursday! I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! As always, let me know what you think! I'll see you next Thursday!