InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Moon Fever ❯ As the day breaks ( Chapter 2 )

DISCLAIMER- I do not own Inuyasha, unfortunately.

As the day broke, long rays of sunshine pooled from underneath the woven door of Kaede's hut. When the bright light reached Kagome's closed eyes, it worked persistently to pry open her shut lids. With a muffled groan into her pillow, Kagome snuggled as deep as humanly possible into her sleeping bag, relishing the way even a makeshift bed felt after a long sleep. Yawning and rotating her sore shoulders a bit, Kagome rolled over to see where the rest of her companions were.

Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she noticed that she was alone in the small room. Voices of others floated in from outside. Kagome quickly pushed her socked feet in her brown leather loafers, and stumbled out to meet her friends. Sango, dressed in her normal kimono, with the hair tied back haphazardly at the nape of her neck, sat next to the incorrigible houshi, Miroku, who greeted the 15-year-old girl with a smile.

"Good morning, Kagome-sama! It's a beautiful day…"

Sango also smiled at her friend from her place on the grass.

Kagome returned their morning greetings, settling herself next to Sango. "Where is Inuyasha?" For a moment, a shiver ran down her spine as she remembered what she had done to embarrass herself the night before.

Within seconds, Shippo had bounded and barreled into Kagome's lap. She gave him a little squeeze in greeting, and he rapidly made himself comfortable against her breast, spouting out his thoughts in his curling, childish voice. "He's been really impatient, running all over the place. I think he's mad that the new moon is tonight. He would rather go searching for shards then stay here in the hut. If you ask me, he's acting stupid!"

"He should let himself settle down for one night." Miroku frowned thoughtfully.

"It's not a good idea to start trouble before the sun sets. He's too stubborn to admit it, though."

Sango nodded, agreeing with the two, glancing at the wooden building behind them. "Houshi-sama, could we seal him in the hut for tonight?"

The monk grinned from ear to ear, remembering the first time he had sealed Inuyasha in a room to prevent him from reopening his horrendous wounds. Inuyasha had screamed, moaned, and hollered until he was hoarse, slamming his feet against the door. But, his attempts were to no avail, for Miroku's ofuda kept the doorway smartly sealed.

Miroku returned to the current situation. "It would be effective, but at the moment he's in no real danger, and it might be silly to lose his trust by tricking him into the hut…though….." He cast a frighteningly wicked grin in Kagome's direction.

Kagome was a bit flustered by his knowing smile. "WHAT?!"

"Kagome-sama, you could get him to stay in that hut." He nodded towards her, and they could see thoughts were violently bouncing around inside his head.

"Kagome-chan, as much as I hate to admit it, you are the only one out of this group that he cares about enough to listen to!" Sango gave Kagome's shoulder a light, comforting pat.

Kagome blushed a little, a bit angry at the two for putting her in such a compromising position. The remembrance of those golden eyes burning into hers made her stomach shift uncomfortably. "I don't want…Inuyasha….to get hurt…but….I….ano, I don't think I could convince him to stay in a closed hut for that long without him suspecting something!"

Miroku pursed his lips in thought again, his breath shooting out in a thoughtful hum. Within a few moments, his eyes lit with an idea. "…Maybe you won't have to say anything to persuade him!"

Even Sango looked a little daunted. "…but……"

"..how?!" Kagome finished her train of thought abruptly.

"If Inuyasha thinks that you're sick or hurt, he won't leave your side tonight, will he?"

Kagome's insides twisted again. Would he stay with me? Do I want him to? I was staring at him like a complete idiot last night. Can I fake sick without him smelling my fear?

Kagome shook he head reluctantly. "I…..I don't know, Miroku-sama. Doesn't this sound a bit excessive? Isn't there a better way?" She looked to Sango for encouragement.

Even her close friend had a wry smile donning her face. "I think Houshi-sama may be correct, Kagome-chan. Inuyasha wouldn't dream of keeping you unguarded if you were sick. I think-"

But Sango's thoughts were swiftly interrupted by a figure in a fire-rat skin kimono entering the clearing. Kagome looked quickly down, finding the grass under her fingers terrible interesting.

The hanyou boy didn't even glance in her direction, swaggering moodily towards the group of four, raising his claws in macho arrogance. "What the fuck are you lazing about for?," he spat out impatiently, his rough voice matching his swagger. "It's been hours since dawn, and here you are, layin' next to the river."

Miroku sighed patiently, fixing the half-demon with an intent glare. "Inuyasha," he said, slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child. "Maybe tonight you should think about giving yourself some rest."

Inuyasha flopped down on the grass a few feet from the others, folding his hands inside his billowing sleeves, his mouth curling into a pout. "You fucking humans are always tired, but hanyous don't have that problem! If you can't stand it, I might as well go by myself to hunt down Naraku!"

Sango sighed loudly. "It's the night of the new moon! Why get yourself into any trouble?"

"Keh! Trouble? I'm not stupid! But we might as well get a head start on Naraku."

"We know you're not stupid, Inuyasha, but you have a knack for getting yourself into trouble when you're human. If we remain hidden and quiet, nothing bad will occur." Miroku hoped that Inuyasha would use his brain wisely in this situation. He may have been smart, but he certainly didn't use his talents when it came to his own safety.

"Remember what happened last time, Inuyasha? You had a run-in with both Kouga and Kagura! And the time before? You almost bled to death from that corrupt sennin."

A snort arose from Inuyasha again, and he bared his teeth at the monk in a self-satisfied grin. "That wimpy wolf? Keh! Who cares about him! I could beat him single-handedly, wounded, while human!" Kagome couldn't help but suppress a smile at his supercilious rants.

"..and Kagura?"

Inuyasha remained silent at this, his face darkening slightly. He gave a half-hearted "Keh."

"So you agree you'll let us keep you out of trouble tonight?"

More silence followed as the dog demon's dark brows slithered down to the bridge of his nose.

"Shall I take that as a yes?"

"No!"

Miroku glanced quickly at Kagome. "Well, you're going to have to, either way!" Inuyasha looked at him as if he had just asked him to dance a tango. The monk cleared his throat, making a flourished gesture towards the dark-haired schoolgirl. "Because Kagome is-"

Before Miroku cold finish, Kagome flinched noticeably, sharply taking in air. Almost immediately, Inuyasha had forgotten his pouting, and had leapt up. A bit of concern for the Miko was apparent across his face, as he positioned himself in front of her. "What? Kagome…..what is it?"

She bit her lip, not wanting to let out the information to the half demon. But, when Sango, Shippo and Miroku also gave her inquiring stares, she was forced to tell.

"A shard. It's coming closer."

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Ok, there's not much romance in there at all, but I'm just setting it up. My mind was swerving all different directions when I started this chapter, so we'll see what happens. Don't worry! The fluff will be here soon enough. I'm going to try to write fast on this one, and update as often as possible. If you have any suggestions or comments, I'd love to read them!

*Sadia*