InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Falling Over You ❯ Chapter Three: The Moonlight and Her Eyes ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three: the moonlight and her eyes

When he returned, Rin climbed up into his lap and with a tiny yawn, fell back to sleep. He rested his hand on her head, using his claws to gently work a knot out of the little girl's hair while she slept. "Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken asked. "What is it Jaken?" he returned. "W-why have we not attacked Inuyasha for the tetsusaiga yet?" "Do you question me, Jaken?" "N-no Lord. N-not at all!" "See that it doesn't happen again," Sesshomaru said. That's one way to avoid a question, he mused to himself as he looked down again at Rin's sleeping face. The little girl had opened something within him, within his heart, and this strange woman, something about her tugged at it now. I am a demon! I should not have such feelings for any human, especially not one who travels with my worthless younger brother. Feelings.I do have some strange feelings towards her though, don't I? That woman. He remembers watching her with the crow demon, telling his brother that she didn't want his help, the determined set to her jaw. That reckless, stupid woman. He knew she was the very thing that stopped him from claiming his right, the tetsusaiga. But could he harm her to take it from his brother? He didn't know. He didn't want to have to find out. I'll find a way to draw her away from the others. He cursed himself for the weakness. She was a human. What was it about her that drew his attention? The fact of her uncanny hearing, that she always knew when he was watching her? That she had a shard of the shikon jewel. Ridiculous. He knew it, and as much as he told others and himself that it wasn't true, it was her that drew his attention, her reckless courage, her desperate strength, the woman that she was, and the woman that he knew she could be. And he had hated his father for that which was within his own heart now. The irony did not elude him. Sesshomaru closed his eyes and went to sleep, allowing himself, somewhat bitterly, sweet dreams of the sad eyes that were set within her ever- smiling face, a façade she only dropped when she was alone, or threatening his life.

"Why should I be worried? She always said she'd leave. I never thought it was a lie. It's just like her to not give us any notice though," Li told Kagome. She had gone to tell them that Kuma was fine and not to worry, but nobody seemed surprised that she'd disappeared like that. "You know where she is, don't you?" Li asked as he showed Kagome to the room the other girl had once inhabited. It was bare, a bed with a thin blanket, a small cd-player, a guitar, a dresser and hamper, some music books in a corner. It wasn't much bigger than a walk-in closet. No windows even. "She asked me to pick up a few things for her," Kagome lied. "Sure, take whatever she wants. We'll throw the rest in storage I guess," he said absently. "You're just going to empty out her room?" "Why not? Now that she's gone, she won't be coming back. I liked having her around," he said as he tossed himself up onto the dresser, "but that was selfish. She was never happy here." Kagome put the guitar into it's case and Li tossed her a small bag of picks from beside him. "What did she hate about this place so much?" Kagome wondered aloud to herself not realizing Li had heard her. "What was there to like? She never met her parents, couldn't even remember their names when they were repeated to her multiple times. She lives with the equivalent of perfect strangers. She was just never really here. And then there were all the doctors. I'd be fed up if I had that many doctors telling me that I'm messed up too. They say she can't remember her parents because of the trauma of the accident, but the accident I was in with her was pretty traumatic too, and she remembers me fine. I don't buy it." Kagome closed the case and looked at the music books, wondering if she should bring any of them. "She doesn't use those anymore." "Oh." "She didn't really ask you to pick anything up, did she Kagome?" "N-not really. But I know that she'll want her guitar." Li nodded. "Bring a sweatshirt for her too. She's never prepared for bad weather. And a pair of sneakers. But don't tell her I suggested it. She doesn't like carrying anything extra with her." "Thank you."

As Kuma sat in the tavern singing songs for the patrons to earn some money so that she could buy things she might need, like less conspicuous clothing, and a weapon of some variety, Miroku watched her thoughtfully. "It isn't right," he said finally. "She should be with Kagome in her own time, not here trying to earn money." "Let her do what she wants," Inuyasha huffed. She hadn't said anything about Sesshomaru since that night, but he had a feeling that just meant that they were still being followed and it made him pretty tense, especially with the new moon approaching. "I can't blame her for wanting to protect herself, but this may be going overboard," Sango agreed. Shippo, on the other hand, couldn't seem to care less, as long as Kuma kept singing, and sat near her feet as she did so. "Kaede?" Miroku asked at seeing the old woman enter the tavern, she rarely came here unless something was up, and what was she carrying. "For Kuma," Kaede explained as she put the wrapped package on the table. "What is it?" Inuyasha asked as he lifted it and sniffed the package, to see if it was edible, he decided it most definitely was not. "She wanted to better blend in and asked about procurement of garments. These are they." "She's really serious about staying then," Miroku noted. "Do you think she'll be able to fit in in this time, Kaede?" "I cannot say for certain, but.Kagome, she is not." "She'll fit in just fine," Inuyasha said irritably. It was obvious to him. He had seen Kagome's world; that's why he understood that someone like Kuma could never fit in there. He saw too much of himself in her. "I'm outta here," he said before heading off to the well. He knew Kagome was due back in a few hours, and if she was, by some freak chance, early, he wanted to be there to complain about her being gone so long. Sure, he knew that didn't make much sense, but heck, he was in love; he gave up on rational behavior a long time ago.

"Well, how do I look?" Kuma said with a grin as she spun around in her new clothing. Kaede had had the common sense to give her more battle ready attire than a simple kimono. And so now she stood in a deep and bright blue ensemble similar to Inuyasha's but also decidedly more feminine, the pants wide-legged and unbound at the ankle, the top sleeveless and hanging slightly outward at the shoulder, with a loose sleeved outer jacket of a near-white shade of baby blue, and a cloth belt made from the same as the long jacket. The slightly dropped jaw of Miroku's expression seemed to show that he at least liked it, though she wasn't sure whether to take that as a good or a bad thing coming from him. "Wow! You look awesome!" Shippo commented, bounding into her arms. "Awesome?" Kuma asked. "What has Kagome been teaching you?" she laughed. "It does suit you well, Kuma. And your hair is growing quickly too, so even your style there won't give you away much longer," Sango told her. "Yeah, it's driving me crazy though," Kuma answered as she flipped a bit from her eyes and sat down.on Miroku's hand. She casually moved it away from her posterior and said, "what did I say about touching?" "Oh, uh, sorry, I just couldn't resist," he commented and for his efforts received a good whack upside the head from the demon hunter who sat beside him. "Unh, the things I do for love," Miroku groaned as he rubbed away the pain. "You mean the things you do for your hormones, don't you?" Kuma stated casually. "My.what?" Miroku asked, confused. "I think she just said you're too horny for your own good," Shippo noted. "Ah, a quick study!" Kuma grinned as she tweaked Shippo's ear briefly. "Let's get some food. I'm hungry."

Kagome's jaw dropped when she saw Kuma in clothing of the era. Her hair had gotten pretty long too, and the bottom layers she now had bound back into a tiny ponytail, though in the front the long bangs almost hid her eyes completely. "Hey Kagome!" she waved, hardly seeming to notice that Shippo was sitting on her head and waving himself, "Kagome!" he called happily, bounding at her. "You're back! We missed you!" "I missed you too Shippo," she returns with a smile. "I brought some of your things, Kuma." "Eeee!!!" Kuma squealed at seeing the black case that was slung over Inuyasha's shoulder. "My guitar!" she squealed happily as she nearly tackled him to collect it. "Ow! Hey! Watchit!" Inuyasha started complaining, falling on his ass on the end and throwing a handful of grass at her. "Bitch!" "You can do more songs now!" Shippo hopped up and down happily after jumping out of Kagome's arms. "Got that right kit!" Kuma beamed.

It's good to see her so happy, Sesshomaru thought, unable to stop a small smile from creeping across his lips briefly. He shook his head agitably. She was distracting him from his purpose far too much, but how to get her out of the way. Sesshomaru thought about this with all due gravity.and then his mind wandered to how good she looked in her blue kimono and jacket. He shook his head. I do not have time to waste thinking about a human woman.even that one. Rin came up beside him and tugged on his sleeve. Hm? She held up a small daisy for him. "A flower?" he asked, taking it. "What is this for, Rin?" She tugged on his sleeve again and pointed at Kuma. "For the pretty girl," she said quietly, barely audibly. Am I that obvious? Then there's only one thing to do, he decided. I'll kidnap her. She'll hate me for it, surely, but I can't deny that I want her if even Rin noticed, and I can't very well have her in the way when I try to claim the tetsusaiga.

But things went wrong before Sesshomaru could even begin to carry out his plans. He followed them another night, and when he awoke in the morning, Rin wasn't there. "Jaken. Where's Rin?" "She went to go pick flowers Lord Sesshomaru. You know how she is about those things." She went to go pick more flowers for me to give to Kuma, more likely, he noted mentally. Well, it'll be alright if I stay here for a little longer. It's early, my brother's camp probably isn't even awake yet.

"I'm just going to go bathe, Inuyasha. Don't be a peeping tom, you jerk!" Kuma told him as he stopped her to see where she was going. This had gotten old fast and she was beginning to wish she had Kagome's "sit" powers. He turned red at the mention of her bath. "Oh, uh, well.hurry up! I don't want to be here all morning!" he said turning away from her and crossing his arms over his chest. Closest thing to an "I'm sorry" yet. We're making progress. "Do us both a favor and go bother Kagome," Kuma said. "We all know you want to jump each others bones, so why don't you just admit it and get it over with." Inuyasha turned beet red. She could be as crude as Miroku sometimes, honestly. All the same, he stormed off back to camp. He wasn't about to watch Kuma bathe, but he didn't want Kagome to think he was watching Kuma bathe, so it was safer if he stayed close to her. Granted, he didn't mind staying close to her.pretty much at all, but.aw, hell, never mind. Like Kuma always said, she could take care of herself. Well, today, Inuyasha decided, he'd let her.

She'd just taken off her jacket when she heard a scream. Sounds like a little kid, Kuma thought as she ran off in the direction of the trouble, heedless of her own safety, as usual, diving over the girl to keep her from getting impaled by a large-taloned foot. Another crow demon. What is it about these guys?!? "You okay?"

Rin looked up to see the bronze-eyes of the girl who Sesshomaru seemed so fond of looking down at her. She'd been so scared, and now Kuma had come and saved her. She sniffled slightly, and wrapping her arms tightly around the young woman's neck, buried her head into her shoulder. "Hey, don't cry. You're fine," Kuma said, trying to calm the girl as she made another dive away from the crow. It was bad enough trying to figure out how to fight it without weapons. But she couldn't dodge as quickly with the extra weight clinging to her chest. She covered the girl and got a nice scratch up the back for the efforts. Gotta think of something. Something.Damnit! She disentangled Rin from her and told the girl, "Don't be stupid! Run!" as she threw a melon-sized rock at the bird, just barely clipping it's wing, and tearing at her elbow once again. Needless to say, the bird didn't like that one bit. This is bad. Very bad. The crow had forgotten about the little girl entirely, but now it had a new target, the Shikon shard in Kuma's chest. "Unh!"

"Hurry!" Rin protested as Sesshomaru tried to figure out what had the little girl so panicked. "Rin, what is this about?" he asked as the little girl effectively dragged him by his sleeve to where she had left Kuma and the crow demon. Sesshomaru's expression fell. This was bad. There was a lot of blood, and though she'd managed to badly damage one of the crow's wings, Kuma didn't appear to be moving other than weak slapping motions which appeared to be an attempt at keeping the crow away from the bloody hole in her chest. There's a shikon shard in your chest.in your heart, Sesshomaru recalled his brother's woman saying. If you take it out, Kuma will die. It's after the shard! Kuma! He leapt in the air and slashed the bird in two effortlessly before moving to her side. He could see her hand balled in a tight fist, and the hole in her chest told him what he needed to know. It wasn't inside of her anymore. "You're badly injured," he said instead of what he really knew and meant. You're dying. "I won't be in your way anymore," she said weakly. "I guess, I'm not really strong enough to fight demons after all, but at least, he didn't get it. I.have to give this to Kagome," she said holding up the bloody fist. "Nobody else can have it, so don't even think of." "Shut up you fool," he said, but what he was really thinking was, I'll use the tensaiga to save her. And he lifted her in his arms and carried her away from the scene with Rin not far behind.

"Kuma! KUMA!" by noon the whole group was searching for the missing member of the group. Inuyasha went almost immediately to the lake, where he found the pale blue jacket and some tracks that headed elsewhere. He followed her scent, which was a few hours old already, and stopped dead at the scent of blood, Kuma's blood. Shippo was not far behind him and at the scent bolted into the clearing, "KUMA!!!" he sniffled. He saw the dead crow demon, and lots of blood, but Kuma was nowhere to be seen. Inuyasha kept sniffing, there were other scents here. Another human, and something familiar. His fists balled in his rage. "Sesshomaru."

Kuma gasped awake, her eyes shooting open and taking a moment to focus. At first all she could make out was the white hair, and confused, she asked, "Inuyasha?" and then as her eyes focused and the figure turned his face to her she got even more confused. "Sesshomaru?!?" She forced herself up into a sitting position. "Don't push yourself. You almost died," he said matter-of-factly. Almost died, died, under the circumstances what was the difference, really. She looked around the room. Indoors somewhere, and dark. There was a window to the north. Night had fallen. "Why did you help me?" she demanded. "Would you have rather I didn't?" "Don't avoid the question," she said hoarsely. He stood from the chair where he had been sitting beside the window, and moved toward the bed, sitting on the edge of it beside her. "You saved my ward. Consider this a thank you," he told her. Not exactly a flat out lie, he figured, but also only part of the reason. Sesshomaru handed her a glass of water. She looked skeptical at first, but he could have killed her many times over now, and hadn't. It didn't mean she trusted him, just that.she didn't not trust him. She took a cautious sip and he couldn't help but smile a little when she wasn't looking. "The little girl?" she asked finally. "Yes. Rin." "She's okay then?" "She's fine. She's been bothering me to see you since this morning. But I can make her wait if you're still tired." "No, it's fine." "I'll get her," he stood and moved towards the door, about to open it when Kuma remembered something. "Sesshomaru?" "Yes?" "The shard?" "In the pouch around your neck. Look down," he said. "I shall return shortly." Kuma did look down, and sure enough, there it was. She even opened the tiny black pouch to be certain. It was, along with the money she had earned in the tavern. She had half expected him to take it, to claim it as his own. After all, he was the enemy.wasn't he? But then why had he saved her? Because she'd tried to save the girl? It made sense, but not enough. It explained why she was alive, not why she still had her jewel shard, or why she was in a comfortable bed drinking a glass of water and listening to the crickets outside the window as she looked at the stars through the lace canopy.

The little girl ran into the room ahead of Sesshomaru, disrupting Kuma's thoughts, and was about to plow into her when Sesshomaru warned her, "be gentle Rin, she's just woken up." This caused Rin to stop abruptly in front of her, and hold a tiny red flower up for her to take. "Arigato," Kuma said, accepting the slightly damaged bloom. "But I think it suits you much better," she said with a gentle smile as she put the bloom behind the little girl's ear. Rin grinned widely, giving her a full display of her missing baby teeth, and those that were still there. Kuma patted the girl's head gently. "Isn't it late for you to be up, kitten?" Kuma asked. Kitten? Sesshomaru wondered, but figured it must be a term of endearment that humans used. Kuma's eyes widened as the girl climbed up into the bed with her and curled up, falling asleep almost immediately after some adjusting. She looked at Sesshomaru questioningly. He had to clear his throat before speaking to keep from smiling. He hated to admit it, but it was a little cute. I must be going soft. "Well, you see.she usually sleeps in here, with me." "Oh!" Kuma started suddenly. "This is your room, I, didn't realize." "It's fine. This is my castle. It has many rooms, one no better than another. You should rest." She hadn't realized that Sesshomaru would have a castle, though he did have a regal bearing, she noted on second thought. At seeing the confusion in her expression, he took the empty glass from her hand and said quietly. "Since my father's death, the western lands have been in my charge." "Oh." "Now go to sleep. I swear to you that as long as you are in my castle, no harm will come to you." He pushed her shoulder softly to get her to lie down again, and that in addition to the fact that she actually was extremely tired was all it took to get her to lay back once again. She let her head loll to the side as she watched him go for the door once again, but grabbed his sleeve lightly to stop him. The gesture tugged at his heart again as he tried not to let any expression cross his eyes and betray his thoughts as he kneeled down beside the bed. "What is it?" he asked. "Why?" She tried to form more than that, tried to get out, why are you being so nice to me? Why are you helping me? But she was so tired. Only when he gave her a perplexed look of his own did she manage to say anything further. "Why are you being so nice? You're the enemy.aren't you?" "It's because." he began to say but stopped. Could he tell her? Should he? He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't not. She was asking. She wanted to know. And he could see the way she was patiently waiting for an answer, just looking at him-curious, confused, and a little sleepy. "It's because I." he stopped again. What am I doing? I can't afford to be distracted like this.and if I tell her now. He shook his head and looked away from her. "It's because you no?" she asked confused. Maybe it means something different in this time, she thought, genuinely perplexed. No, I have to be at least as brave as her. If not, then I don't deserve her anyway.Deserve her? I want her, love her, but deserve her.when did I decide that? he wondered as he looked back up into her eyes again realizing now that he had an honest hope that, somehow, in some circumstance that was beyond both of them, he could build a life with this strong and simple young woman. My heart hurts. Must be because of that damn crow, Kuma noticed as Sesshomaru looked into her eyes again. "It's because I'm." he tried again, and getting fed up with his hopeless attempt at speech, he gently pushed some hair from her eyes and pressed his lips against hers, his eyes closed so he couldn't see what he was certain would be the horrified reaction that she would most certainly wear. After all, he was a demon, and she was.a goddess, the woman he loved, the human woman he loved. She didn't kiss back, she was honestly too stunned, and he saw that in her expression when he pulled away, not horrified, just.extremely surprised. "I am in love with you, Kuma," he said as he stood, letting a claw gently trace her jaw line, because he was rather certain that when she wasn't so exhausted she would never allow it, completely certain that this was his only chance. "But you are also correct-I am the enemy."

"Inuyasha, why are we stopping, I thought you said this was the way, that you could smell your brother's trail.?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha stopped abruptly and decided to camp right before sunset. He'd had them running ragged for three days to prevent the trail from getting cold, and now all of a sudden, he wanted to stop? "Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong. Has the trail gone cold?" He looked tenser than usual, more tense. "New moon," he mumbled. "What?" she asked, not having made out the words. "IT'S THE FUCKING NEW MOON! ALRIGHT!" he snapped angrily. "MY HUMAN SENSESE CAN'T PICK UP THE TRAIL AND IF WE GO ANY FURTHER, I'LL LOSE IT FOR SURE!" "..Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. "I'm sorry, we didn't realize. Everyone's been so worried about Kuma, we must have forgotten. We'll camp here tonight. I'm sure the trail will still be here in the morning. Besides, Kuma can take care of herself." "If she could take care of herself, she'd be here!" he barked, but already his hair was turning color, and he was fading into his human form. It's all my fault! If I'd hung around, checked up on her, made sure she was alright.this wouldn't have happened. Now my brother's going to use her to get the tetsusaiga. Why else would he care if she was alive or dead. This is all my fault! "Inuyasha, calm down. You said it yourself. If your brother took her, than he must want her alive for some reason," Miroku said. The only time Inuyasha had been more upset than this is when Kagome had been kidnapped. "Calm Down?! CALM DOWN! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN!?! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" Kagome jumped slightly. "It's not your fault at all!" she hollered at him. "Kuma is the one who went off on her own! Kuma is the one who decided to fight that crow demon for whatever reason! She's a big girl and she makes her own decisions, so stop being a baby! The only reason this has anything to do with you is because obviously Sesshomaru knows that if he kidnaps her, we'll come after him and he'll have another shot at the tetsusaiga. She made her own decision, Inuyasha. You can't blame yourself for that." "I should have protected her. She's not as strong as she thinks she is." "She's stronger than you give her credit for," Sango said. "She fought that crow demon all by herself without any weapons and she's still alive. Have a little more faith. She might just surprise you."

"You shouldn't be up yet," Sesshomaru said with all due surprise when he found Kuma sitting in the garden with Rin, many colored flowers strewn across her lap as the little girl ran around collecting them and giggling all the while. "I'm okay. If I stay in bed any longer, it'll only take me longer to get back to the shape I was in. I'm taking it easy. All the same, I'll have to leave soon. I'm sure everyone must be worried about me, disappearing like that. You still have my old clothing, right? This kimono is nice for sitting around in a castle, but not very practical for traveling," she said. "I've gotten rid of them, but replacements have been made. They couldn't get all the blood out, but you won't even notice the difference," Sesshomaru told her as he sat beside her. She was going to leave him soon. He knew it was coming, but he still hated it. As long as she was with him, he could forget everything: his brother, the tetsusaiga. Nothing mattered but the moonlight and her eyes. She nodded vaguely. "That will be fine then. Arigato." He sat down beside her. "Rin will be sad to see you go," he told her. "So will I." Softly, he placed his hand over hers in the grass. She pulled away. "Gomen. Sesshomaru. I. We're still enemies, as long as that's true, I can't." "No, Kuma. I'm the one who should be sorry. It was selfish of me to bring you here. I intended to bring you here and have you out of the way while I claimed my father's sword, but even tetsusaiga means nothing to me, as long as you're here. If you asked me to, I'd give it up, you know, let him keep it.but only if you asked." She thought about this for a moment. It would make life much easier for everyone, if she could just say the words. If she could just force through her lips, Sesshomaru, please stop your quest for the tetsusaiga. It would be so easy, but she couldn't. "I want to ask it, but I can't." He hadn't expected that answer from her, and after a pause she continued. "Trying to claim that sword has kept you going for so long. I can see it in your eyes. Without it, even if I stayed, you'd crack and break eventually. Until you find something else to give your life meaning, I want you to keep trying to claim the tetsusaiga. I don't want you to get it, per say, but.I want you to have something to live for, and that can't be me, at least.not right now, and maybe not for a very long time. I don't know that the time can ever be right. All I really know right now is that I want to be with you, but I can't stay." "I don't understand. If you want to be with me then, why.?" "I'm still learning about this world, learning how to be a certain kind of strong. I'm not ready yet to be a woman who can love you in the right kind of way." "The right kind of way?" What did she mean? There was more than one way to love? He didn't understand her, and it hurt to know that. "The forever kind of way," she explained. "." "." "In that case," he said finally. "I'll wait. And while I'm waiting, I'll become the sort of man who you can love in the right sort of way."

"You're really worried about her, aren't you Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. Everyone else was asleep already, but the truth is, Kagome was worried too, really worried. "Sesshomaru has been following her," he stated frankly. "Not us, not the tetsusaiga. Her. What does he want with her, Kagome?" She had been surprised by this, but she tried to explain it away. After all, worrying wouldn't bring her back. Finding her would. "Maybe it's nothing. You follow me sometimes for no real reason." "That's because I.er, I mean, that's what I'm worried about." That's because I love you, he thought. And he was certain, there was no way his brother would ever love anybody, but he might, as Kuma herself so eloquently phrased it, want to jump her bones, and Kuma wouldn't be strong enough to fend him off if he tried anything. His fist clenched a little tighter as he thought of this. Kuma felt too much like an annoying sister for him to just sit back and let something bad like that happen to her. Kagome put her hand over his and snapped him out of it. "W-what?" he said. "Because you what, Inuyasha? You started to say something." "Never mind." "Don't start with that again," she said with a slightly annoyed tone. "Just tell me. Why do you follow me." He's going to say because I need you to find the shikon shards and become a full demon and I'm going to have to keep myself from crying because I'm in love with him, the jerk. "BecauseIloveyou," he said quickly and quietly. "What?" there was no way she would make that out, but she was pretty sure that shikon and shard weren't anywhere in it. "Because I'm in love with you, you twit!" he snapped, much more loudly than he should have. Miroku smirked to himself and rolled over, thinking, about damn time. Finding himself face to face with Sango's open eyes, he smiled and put a finger to his lips with a tiny wink, and with an affirming smile, she closed her eyes once again. The most beautiful woman alive, Miroku mused as he stared at Sango's quietly resting features for another few seconds before closing his eyes to sleep as well. Leave the lovebirds alone, he thought as he drifted off to dreamland once again, having pleasant, if perhaps, improper dreams about a certain demon huntress. "You.you love me?" Kagome asked with a tiny gasp as Inuyasha's words sunk in. "Yes, idiot," Inuyasha said grumpily before being rather startled by Kagome's arms wrapping around his neck and her smiling face getting rather close, kissing distance, as he did everything in his power to not. "I love you too," she told him and gave him a tiny peck on the cheek. That was all the encouragement he needed, and a small "eep" escaped her lips as he claimed them with his own, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling away from her only when he needed to breathe. Breathing, he decided, was just one of those bad habits he was going to have to get over. "Let's sleep now," Kagome said. "We'll be better able to help Kuma if we're conscious to do it." Inuyasha nodded in a daze, drifting off with the woman he loved in his arms.

"Do you reeeaaallllyyy have to leave now, Kuma?" Rin asked with a pout. "Yeah. I can hear my friends coming, so I'd better be out of here before they get here or Sesshomaru is going to be in a lot of trouble, Rin." There goes that theory about the jewel being behind her good hearing, Sesshomaru thought. He was a little jealous, actually, he couldn't hear Inuyasha and company at all, and Inuyasha and his woman had a tendency to be quite loud. "Well, this is it," Kuma said as she turned to Sesshomaru, trying to work up the courage to effectively abandon him, even though she didn't really want to. Actually, she sorta wished she could take him and Rin with her.and she supposed Jaken could come too, though the little toad demon was pretty annoying, Sess liked him, so she figured it would be okay. But that would never work out, after all, the dog demon brothers had quite the vendetta against one another. ".good luck. Please.be safe," Sesshomaru said, but Kuma smiled, she knew what he was really thinking was please don't die. She turned and began to leave, but changed her mind abruptly and pulled Sesshomaru down, planting a strong-lipped kiss on him that made his knees buckle as he returned it with equal passion. "W-wwhat.?" he tried to ask afterwards. "One real kiss," she said softly. "I thought we owed it to ourselves, since who knows when, if, we'll ever get another one. Goodbye Sesshomaru." And she ran off, disappearing quickly from view. "Goodbye, my love," he whispered, but he knew.she heard him.

"Hiya guys!" Kuma said with another wide, fake grin as she saw the usual group come into view. "Kuma! You're alright!" Shippo said as he bounded into her. "Sure, I'm fine! Had a run in with a crow demon, but I'm all healed up now," she said. "You were with Sesshomaru. I can smell him on you," Inuyasha snapped. "Well hello to you too Inuyasha. I'm doing fine, thanks for asking," she said sarcastically. "And you're right, he let me stay at his home while I was recuperating. What? Did you think I was going to deny it? With your sense of smell? Besides, I don't see why I should," she said frankly as Kagome handed her the pale blue jacket and she pulled it on before taking her bag and guitar. "You expect me to believe, he just decided to be nice and nurse you back to health. I don't think so," Inuyasha said. "No. Actually, I expect you to believe that since I saved his little girl from that crow demon he felt as if he would be a nice guy and return the favor. Not that you would know anything about nice guys, puppy, but there you have it." "I am NOT a PUPPY!" "Whatever. Oh! Almost forgot, I have something for you Kagome!" Kuma said giddily, stopping her stride and turning around, pulling the black back out from where she had it stuffed down in her shirt between her breasts and pulled out the tiny pink shard, handing it over without so much as a second thought. "It's not in my chest anymore," she said with a grin before heading happily down the road again with Shippo on her shoulder as she sang one of her favorite songs. Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other with all due confusion and then at Kuma's back as she strolled down the road without a care in the world, and then, finally, Sango spoke up. "Am I the only one who's wondering how she got that out of her chest?" she asked. Miroku shook his head back and forth. "Nope," he said as he stood close beside her.too close, and earned a glare that forced both his hands up in the air as if to say, what? I'm perfectly innocent this time, even though they all knew what he was thinking.

"How'd you get the shard out of your chest Kuma?" Shippo asked as they walked ahead of the group. "Huh? Oh, that crow ripped a pretty big hole in me, right here," she said, pointing in the vicinity of her heart, and it pierced through as we were fighting, so I yanked it out," she said nonchalantly. "WAAHH?? You could've died!" Shippo freaked out. "I could've, didn't. Don't worry kit. That's all in the past now. Sesshomaru took really good care of me." "That's just so weird," Shippo said. "Maybe. But he didn't strike me as the type of guy who would stand for being indebted to anyone, so that's probably why. Now that we're even he won't have to feel bad about killing me when he tries to get the tetsusaiga from Inuyasha again." Not exactly a lie, she figured. It was true enough, and they didn't need to know the other part. Shippo seemed to be thinking about this, but nodding slightly, just about ready to buy it, so in order to divert his train of thought, she said, "oh, hey! I never did get around to playing my guitar for you. Would you like to hear it?" "Yeah!" he said excitedly.

Two more chapters to go. Erm.R&R is always appreciated. Hate the way I've got these things formatted at the moment, especially since the thoughts aren't marked clearly, but I guess I'll deal with that. I just don't feel like reading through this again and editing for format at the moment. Sequels and things that I write in the future will probably have thoughts marked off with '&', as opposed to speech which would be "&". Dunno. Well, whatever, I guess. Cheers! Hope your enjoying this fic n' all that.