InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Running Out of Luck ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

I don't own Inuyasha. Review, flame or whatever…if I don't get a response I won't continue with the story. thanks! Enjoy!

She stood trembling, watching the blood roll between her fingers from the wound on her stomach. It hurt so bad, a burning sensation went up from the wound to her chest and down to her hips. Knowing she had to get some help soon or the blood loss would be too much, she stumbled slowly out of the hut and into the battle that had just ended. Luckily, the good guys won this one.

And there he was, running towards her with a worried expression on his face. He didn't have to look at her shaky steps or ashen face for long before smelling the large amounts of her blood. He stopped right in front of her, his eyes filled with concern and fear.

It would become ingrained in his memory that picture of her holding the deep wound, blood streaming over the hand and down her leg; the hopeless, confused, and frightened look on her face as she took one last step towards him.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered and then she collapsed in his arms as everything went black.

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2 months before

"I'm tired."

"I know Shippo, we ALL are."

"He's not."

"That's true."

"But the rest of us are."

"Yes."

"So `sit' him and he'll have to stop." Kagome sighed and looked down at the kit, but before she could scold Shippo for his comment, Inuyasha swung around and grabbed him from Kagome's arms.

"Shut up brat, no one wants to hear you whine anymore." He yelled into Shippo's startled face.

"Sit." Kagome said calmly, grabbing Shippo before he was taken down with Inuyasha.

"BITCH!" The sound echoed through the quiet woods, causing nearby animals and birds to scatter.

Silence surrounded the group as they stood for a moment.

"Well, since Inuyasha has decided to rest, why don't we do the same?" Miroku said finally breaking the quiet that stretched around the group. He sat down with his back against a tree a few paces from the recovering hanyou.

"Sorry…" Kagome said as she knelt down beside Inuyasha and patted his arm, letting her hand linger there.

"Keh." He didn't look into her blue eyes because he knew he would be lost if he did. These days he couldn't be mad at her for long. Though most of the time he wasn't mad at all, he just acted like it to hide that fact. And if he did look at her, he often looked too long and had thoughts that he shouldn't be having about her. She would sit him to death if she knew some of the thoughts and dreams he'd been having about her. Her voice broke through the wanderings of his mind.

"I think we should take a rest, you may not be tired, but we are…and we could use some relaxation before starting the journey back to Kaede's." Kagome said and removed her hand from his arm to root through her bag for some food. Another shard rumor that lead to nothing. It meant that the final battle was coming, since there were hardly any shards left. Naraku held more than a half of the jewel and it worried Kagome to no end. But she wouldn't let it show. She would be strong for her companions and herself. Especially Inuyasha. She had been traveling with him for 3 years now and she never wanted it to end and that worried her. She knew she was deeply in love with him, but what would happen to her heart when he chose Kikyou? She shook her head, dug out some Ramen and looked over to him a smile on her face.

"Fine. I'll go get some wood." Inuyasha said seeing the Ramen. He stood and grumbled away into the woods. He needed to get away. He was beginning to wonder about the shard rumors also. He did want it to end, to get his revenge on Naraku for what he had done years ago, but he too worried about what would happen when it did. There was Kikyou of course, but there was also Kagome now and she had told him she'd stay with him. It irritated him when he thought about having to choose between them. At first he knew he would choose Kikyou and part of him still said he had too, but another part wanted to live…with Kagome beside him. He sighed and distracted himself by cutting up a short tree for wood.

"Kagome do you need help?" Sango asked as she began to arrange stones for their fire.

"Nope…just water. Did you see a stream around here anywhere?"

"Not since the last village we left."

"Hmm…maybe there's one somewhere around here. I think I'll take a look around."

"Not by yourself." Inuyasha growled as he dumped the firewood near Sango and the stone circle she had almost finished making with Miroku's help.

"Fine." Kagome rolled her eyes and grabbed 2 bottles to put the water in if she found any. She headed off into the woods with Inuyasha behind her. He had become more protective, but then again these days none of them could be too safe. A trap could be waiting anywhere and the group didn't wanted to take a chance this close to the end.

Just as Kagome and Inuyasha left her sight, Sango went to get the last stone. As she bent over she felt a familiar hand stroke her bottom.

"AGH!" She screamed and a resounding slap filled the forest, silencing the creatures again. "Keep your hands to yourself, Houshi." She glared at him and moved away.

Miroku hid a smile and rubbed his cheek. `Ahh dear, sweet Sango.'

Kagome just smiled and shook her head when she heard the familiar slap echo through the woods. Inuyasha muttered something about Miroku being a pervert. They walked in silence for a while both thinking different things.

`It's so pretty out here, to bad we don't stop and enjoy the scenery more often.' Kagome thought as she smiled lightly, taking in the beautiful picture the forest held. It was spring, and the leaves of the trees were back to being green and full, giving the sun a hard time as it tried to shine through.

`She's so pretty…the way she walks and smiles, her scent…everything…' Allowing himself a small smile, Inuyasha realized he'd stopped and fell behind her as he watched her. He caught up to Kagome and walked beside her.

"Wait." He said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.

"What?"

"I hear water up that way, come on let's go," and with that, he bent down to take her on his back to hurry them up.

"You scared me for a minute. I thought there was a demon or something." Kagome sighed as she climbed on his back.

In seconds, with Inuyasha zipping through the forest, a huge lake greeted the two travelers. It was crystal clear and beautiful.

"Wow…" Kagome breathed as she took in the sight before her. "Sango and I will have to come back later to bathe."

"Come on, I'm hungry."

She rolled her eyes and bent down to fill the bottles of water when she felt a chill run down her spine. She stopped for a minute concentrating hard, trying to remember why this felt so familiar.

The wind picked up at that moment and blew lightly on her face; she strained and went pale as she heard the voice the wind carried with it.

"Kagome…"

`That voice…it's so familiar…' she turned around quickly and scanned the area not seeing anyone. She then turned to see if Inuyasha could sense anything, but he was just standing there with his arms folded, looking bored.

`Doesn't he hear that? If I can surely he can too…unless I imagined it…'

But again a light breeze blew on her echoing her name louder this time, "Kagome…"

Inuyasha was getting more bored by the minute. He was about to tell Kagome to hurry up when he smelled confusion and fear radiating into her normally peaceful scent. He stared at her back for a moment seeing how rigid it was. He went and knelt beside her trying to see her face. His actions broke Kagome from her confusion and she looked at him startled.

"You okay?" He asked staring right into her eyes. He watched her force the tension out of her eyes and body, apparently trying to make him think nothing was wrong.

"Um…yup…yup…I'm fine…" She began to fill the bottles up with water, hoping he wouldn't see her hands shaking.

"You don't seem fine." He put his hand over hers in the water to steady it.

She froze at his touch and blushed. `Think Kagome…explain why you're acting like this…without telling him the wind is calling you.'

She bit her lip, "I…thought I saw a snake. That's all…it must have swum away. I'm fine now, I just hate snakes." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, knowing he wasn't buying it.

He tried to see if she was telling him the truth, something about how she was acting was leading him to believe it was bigger than a snake, but he didn't want to press it. "Stupid wench, it's only a snake." Rolling his eyes he removed his hand, but stayed kneeling until she was done filling the bottles and had climbed on his back again.

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"Thank you for the wonderful dinner Kagome." Miroku said as he leaned back patting his stomach.

"You're welcome Miroku," she laughed, "even though it's the same thing we've been eating for a week."

"It's Ramen, that'll never get old." Inuyasha informed them from somewhere in the tree above her.

"For you." She muttered as she began to clean everything up.

"Keh." He watched her, hidden by the leaves, wishing she were up there with him. `You need to stop thinking like that…' He yelled at himself. `This is Kagome…Ka-go-me…the annoying, irritable, beautiful, patient, loving…STOP! You really need to think about something else…' Unbeknownst to the others he sat up there continuing his inner monologue.

"Let me help you Kagome," Sango began to gather up all the trash and helped Kagome lay out the sleeping bags for camp.

It was dark by the time camp was set up, so the group settled down to get some rest before they began their long journey back to Kaede's in the morning. Inuyasha stayed up in the tree right above where Kagome's sleeping bag was placed. Shippo curled in beside Kagome as she lay down. Sango was on the on side of the fire, close to Kagome's head, making sure Miroku stayed across the fire, by Kagome's feet. Kirara curled in by Sango in about the same way Shippo did with Kagome.

Kagome had tried to forget about what happened at the lake, chalking it up to her overactive imagination. She lay awake for 10 minutes convincing herself of this. But as she closed her eyes a light wind blew against her face, carrying with it a chilling voice.

"Kagome…"

Kagome bolted upright and stared off into the darkness, Shippo rolled over and continued snoring his head off.

"Kagome…"

Inuyasha watched through the tree as she scanned the area. `What is going on with her?' It angered him that she wasn't telling him something. Angered him more than it should have…he didn't like to talk about stuff, but she had always been open with him. Maybe he was just looking into something that wasn't there. He sighed and jumped down.

She started when Inuyasha landed beside her and almost screamed. Luckily he predicted her reaction and covered her mouth with his hand. "Get some sleep, you'll need it." Staring into his amber eyes, she nodded slowly as he removed his hand.

"Will…will you stay down here?" She whispered hesitantly. Seeing his expression of shock, she continued hurriedly, "I keep hearing noises…I'd feel safer with you here, unless you won't be able to sleep."

"I don't need sleep. Go to bed." He settled beside her leaning up against the tree and watched as she lay down. He wanted to nestle up to her like the kit, but knew that could and would never happen. He shook his head and spent the rest of the night dozing on and off, Kagome never leaving his mind.