InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Settle the Score ❯ A Walk ( Chapter 13 )

Author rantings :

It seems my Mir/San beginning was okay. Maybe too scientific at parts... Merith defused the worst ;)
My ideas about Sango were also okay, judging from your reviews. I hope she didn't confuse you, she's usually self-assured, but sometimes very shy.

Disclaimer : Inuyasha and friends are not mine. I'm glad I can play around with them a bit.

Special thanks to :
My beta readers, Kat and Niamh. Both made me aware of many faults. I'm especially thankful for Niamh's suggestions on Kagome and Kat's "collar bone".

Chapter 13

I'm going for a walk
Not the after dinner kind
I'm gonna use my hands
And I'm gonna use my mind

A Walk

Shippou panted heavily. Inuyasha was standing in front of him, again with that damn confident grin. The fox flexed his claws, ignoring the slight pain in his fingers. He had just learned that attacking armor straight on is not a good idea if you aren't able to cut through it. He narrowed his eyes, straining them to see better in the darkness. The sun had gone down half an hour ago, and the last rays of light had faded away shortly after. "Aaah," he shouted and jumped at the hanyou, aiming for the unguarded neck.

The child's battle cry was cut short when a fist connected with his stomach. The blow was not too hard, but hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Inuyasha grabbed the collar of Shippou's shirt to keep him from falling. "That was a better idea," he told his pupil. "If you can't pierce an enemy's armor, you have to find a weak spot. But, keep in mind that jumping can give away your movement, leaving you open for an attack. Especially if your opponent has better reach."

He turned the fox around so they were facing each other, preparing to set him on the ground. "If I hadn't pulled my strike, you'd be -" He saw Shippou's claws striking at the hand holding him in the air. Inuyasha let go of the fox and retracted his hand, not able to fully avoid the slash. He stepped back, while the fox land on his feet. "Keh," he uttered, gaping at the small scratch on his thumb.

Shippou looked at his claws. He had blindly struck at the hand holding him behind his neck, just following his instincts. Now there was blood under his nail. Inuyasha's blood. It wasn't much, but it was Inuyasha's blood under his claw. He looked up at his teacher, not knowing what to say now. "I'm sorry," he managed. "I didn't want to -"

"Ha," Inuyasha laughed out curtly. He had been careless, mostly because he hadn't seen Shippou as threat. He really needed to go to sleep soon if even the brat was able to surprise him. 'What a fucked up day.' He licked the blood away from his thumb, and looked down at Shippou. The fox seemed confused. Inuyasha stretched out the wounded hand, the palm facing his pupil. "See this?" he asked. "This is the first wound your claws ever left behind in a fight. Better remember this."

Shippou looked at the cut. It wasn't more than a centimeter long, neither was it deep, but it had been he who had caused it. And it was bleeding. "Really, I didn't want to ... I didn't."

"You have to think when you strike," Inuyasha explained. "This is no game. You leave wounds ..." He trailed off, remembering when he himself had been given this speech. Three deep gashes appeared in his mind, blood seeping out of them. A crying child. He had gotten into a brawl, and had harmed the child he'd been fighting with. "If you strike without thinking, you will cause things you regret later." He didn't like to be so serious, but this was a lesson the fox needed to learn soon, especially considering that they were traveling with humans.

Shippou nodded, looking ashamed. Inuyasha made a step forward, reaching down to ruffle the child's hair; he didn't want to discourage him. "And you freed yourself from my hold, not bad for your second lesson," Inuyasha told the fox with a smirk. "But if you think you can manage that again, better stop daydreaming." He walked past Shippou, towards Kagome. "Come on now, one hour is enough. Look, our spectator's already sleeping."

Shippou turned around, his eyes following Inuyasha. The hanyou was right, Kagome was really sleeping. He was a bit disappointed, but remembered that she wouldn't have seen much in the dark anyway. And it had an advantage, this way she hadn't seen him hurting Inuyasha. He was embarrassed and hoped Inuyasha wouldn't tell the others, especially Kagome. Inuyasha had said that he shouldn't worry about hurting him. 'It's his fault!'

But, Inuyasha had been giving him an explanation - that he should watch out when jumping - not prepared for retaliation. They had been training for an hour and, like the hanyou had said, he hadn't been able to hurt Inuyasha even once. Shippou sighed, feeling guilty. He was glad that Inuyasha wasn't angry with him. 'This won't happen again!' he promised himself.

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome. She was sleeping, turned to the side. Her knees were slightly angled, and her head was lying directly on the grass. She had pressed her hands to her chest, most likely because of the chill evening air; her breathing was slow and regular. At least she had calmed down again. 'I don't want to wake her,' he thought. 'Am I pushing her too hard?' Making up his mind, he stepped behind her and knelt down. He moved one arm behind her knees and the other behind her back, pushing his hand between her upper arm and the ground. He stood, picking her up with him.

She stirred in her sleep, half-opening her eyes. "Inuyasha?"

"Sssh," he tried to sooth her. "Everything's alright. Sleep on." She didn't seem really awake, since she closed her eyes again and let her head fall against his chest, near his collar bone. He had to hold her a bit awkwardly, but as long it was comfortable for her, he didn't mind; he would easily be able to carry her back like that. He turned towards Shippou. "Be quiet." With that, he began to walk back to the camp; Shippou trailed after him. They continued on their way in silence.

Inuyasha tried his best to walk smoothly, and it seemed he was having success; she didn't wake up. This was the first time he had carried her like this. He'd carried her on his back more often than he could count, but never like this; at least, not for more than to get her out of harms way. She had almost subconsciously accepted that he carried her. 'Does that mean she trusts me?' Likely. Did it mean she liked him? He didn't know, but he thought so. Hoped so?

'Why can't you be more -' He stopped this train of thought. It had only been a misunderstanding. Still, the memory was lurking in a dark corner of his mind. Shippou had told him that she had only meant that he should be more polite. 'I am polite, dammit! Would I carry her around otherwise?' he thought, looking down at the sleeping girl. 'Although, a month ago I would have woken her up.' But what counted was now, wasn't it?

And right now, he was carrying her although he usually didn't do stuff like that. He felt uncomfortable when he had to let others near him, that being the reason why he rarely did. When he had embraced Kagome after their second encounter with Sesshoumaru, he had done so out of fear. Whatever his feelings were for her, in that moment he had only been terrified that she could have easily been killed. Even with Kikyou there had always been this flavor of sadness, even when she had been alive. He didn't hug people out of love or happiness.

'She better appreciate that I'm carrying her.' Well, there was some excitement involved in the case of Kagome. He couldn't say that her body pressed against his left him unaffected. It was bad - pleasant - enough when he was carrying her on his back. But now, her breast pressed against his chest a bit, her face was only inches away from his. 'Enough of this.' If he let himself be distracted, something could stalk them. Glad he had found something to occupy himself with, he breathed in, checking the vicinity for unusual smells.

He caught Kagome's scent, mixing with the fragrance of something she called 'Shampoo'. It made her hair look healthy and smell strange. 'Argh! Now I'm thinking of her stupid hair!' If Shippou hadn't been behind him, he would have sighed. His thoughts had wandered off a lot the last two days. 'Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep?' He hoped that he would be able to catch up that night.

In a way, it was no surprise. In just a few days, he had met - killed - these slavers, found his old home again, and met Eiji. Not to mention the fact that he had admitted his memory lapse to Kagome. Did he trust her that much? He couldn't say that it had always been top priority to keep it secret, simply because he had had nobody to tell anyway. But he had always kept his weaknesses to himself. After he had met Kikyou, he hadn't wanted to speak about his past. 'Maybe I didn't want to scare her away?' No, she had sometimes asked him, but accepted that he didn't want to talk about his past, unlike Kagome, who liked to dig deeper.

Still, it had only been recently that he had told her. Would it have been the same with Kikyou, given enough time? Possibly. Maybe not. 'Who knows?' Kagome now knew that he didn't remember most of his life. Should he also tell her what he did remember? He pressed Kagome to himself, hoping that she would stay warmer like that. 'Who are you fooling?' In moments like these he truly understood how much he had grown to like her. She meant a lot to him. 'Losing her, like Kikyou -' he shook his head, refusing to even think about it.

Miroku had told him today that he would have to choose between Kagome and Kikyou. 'You and Kikyou can't be together, on this side of the grave.' It was that way, wasn't it? Kikyou was dead. Nothing would change that. He didn't know what she was planning exactly, but he thought she would only stay in this world until her business was finished, which seemed to shift more and more from him to Naraku. 'Dragged out, from a death I had no desire ever to leave,' he remembered her say after she had killed Urasue. She had sounded as if her new form was absolutely to her, only her craving for vengeance making her able to stand it.

He felt sorry for Kikyou; he couldn't even begin to fathom how it had to disgust her to use the souls of the dead. He wanted to help her, but he also had ties, responsibilities, and friends in this world. He didn't want to abandon Kikyou, but he also didn't want to abandon his friends. Kagome. He didn't want to abandon Kagome. 'But you will have to choose between the two.' Damn Miroku. Did the fucking monk always have to be right?

He decided to stop thinking about that particular topic; it didn't lead anywhere. It made no sense brooding about the past; nobody was able to change it. Well, Kagome was. But, even for her, it was only the past, not her past. 'Here I am, thinking about useless shit again.' An aggravated sigh escaped him; he was really looking forward to his nap.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice snapped him out of his musings.

"Yes?"

"You're holding me too tightly," she told him.

Inuyasha noticed that he had unconsciously tightened his hold. "Sorry," he muttered and relaxed his grip.

Kagome was silent. "Why are you carrying me?" she asked after a while. She had been awoken by a hard grip on her upper arm, and found herself in Inuyasha's arms. Not remembering how she'd gotten there, she had stayed silent for a while. Being that close to his chest, reminded of her daydream, hadn't helped her in finding her voice at all. Her heart was still beating faster, but when the grip had gotten stronger, she couldn't help but try to get Inuyasha's attention.

"Keh!" Inuyasha turned his face away. "Do you want to walk?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Kagome replied.

"Then, it's okay, isn't it?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes," Kagome agreed. She didn't know why Inuyasha always responded so brusquely when being asked why he did something nice. 'Does he think it's a weakness?' Were there other possibilities? Anyway, it looked like her earlier train of thought hadn't been wrong; asking Inuyasha questions he didn't want to answer likely resulted in him closing off. "Thanks for not waking me up, Inuyasha." She didn't know what else to say, with Inuyasha carrying her like this, the situation was completely - unfamiliar.

He answered after a short pause. "In the end, I woke you up..."

That reminded her how he had pressed her against his chest. 'Argh! Will I ever stop blushing today?' she thought, glad that Inuyasha wasn't able to see it in the darkness. Or was he? She couldn't make out his expression, leaving her to listen closely to the tone of his voice. Talking to him in the dark felt like talking to a phantom; she was used to his expressive body language - his threatening gestures, the folded arms, his curious glances.

She wondered what expression his face wore. Was he embarrassed? Or curious what she would answer? 'You should answer, girl,' she reminded herself. 'I could ask him about earlier today.' It was a gamble, but maybe she could get an answer out of him. It had bothered her the whole day, not able to find the reason for Inuyasha's unusual roughness. "Are you angry with me?" she wanted to know, not asking directly.

"Angry?" Inuyasha asked puzzled. "Why?"

"Because you swore at me today," she continued. "And you haven't talked to me at all..."

"Keh!" Inuyasha noticed that he couldn't fold his arms while carrying her. "Should I be happy if you sit me because you want to have your head?"

"You told me to 'fuck off with my useless sermons'," Kagome defended herself.

Inuyasha couldn't help but chuckle, reminded of his opinion. "Lighten up, will ya?" He had finally found out that his spell had a range; for him, it had definitely been a good deal. "I'm just not overly polite."

"You're not polite at all," Kagome muttered.

"And you're not willing to compromise," Inuyasha retaliated.

Kagome was about to answer when she suddenly felt something jump on her shoulder. She screamed, not able to make out what it was in the dark. "Lighten up, will ya?" she heard Inuyasha repeat himself, sounding very amused again. "It's just Shippou."

Shippou wanted to speak, but got no opportunity.

"Well, sorry for not being able to see in the dark," Kagome replied sarcastically.

"Uh, guys?" Shippou tried to get their attention.

Inuyasha ignored him. "Silly girl, as if someone could stalk -,"

"We've almost reached the camp," Shippou almost shouted at them.

"Don't interrupt me!" Inuyasha demanded. Then he stopped dead in his track. 'Camp?' Three pairs of eyes stared forward into darkness ahead of them. Inuyasha strained his ears, but couldn't hear anything abnormal. "Shippou," he said, breaking the ensuing silence, "don't you want to go first?"

"No way!" Shippou cried out.

"Are you afraid?" Inuyasha teased.

"You always tell me that I'm too young to see that. Go yourself, or are you too young?" Shippou replied.

"Keh! Of course not! And get off Kagome, you're scaring her!"

"Am not!"

Kagome still looked into the darkness, wondering about Miroku and Sango. Should they leave the two of them alone? On the other hand, Sango might be embarrassed if they left her alone for the whole night. It was if they were assuming in advance that the huntress would ...

Suddenly something or someone knocked against her head. The boys were bickering, obviously distracting themselves. "Would you stop that?" she asked, somewhat annoyed. 'They're so immature!'

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "What do you suggest, anyway?"

Shippou, meanwhile on Inuyasha's shoulder, pulling hair, also stopped. He gave Kagome a curious look. "Yeah, what's the plan?"

Kagome gulped. 'Since when do I have to make these decisions?' What should they - she - do now? She decided that she didn't feel like being carried around anymore. "Inuyasha, can you set me down?" Who knew what kind of trouble she could get into with the hanyou dragging her around like that? She was set down, and noticed with some disappointment the sudden loss of his warm chest.

"Oi, Kagome, what do you think we should do?" Inuyasha asked again.

"Well, it's either moving on or searching for another place to sleep," she numerated their choices.

"We could send Shippou spying," Inuyasha suggested. He patted Shippou on the back, knocking him down from his shoulder. "Finally we found a need for your useless magic."

Shippou landed on his feet and glared at the hanyou. "It's not useless! And I already said that I won't go in there alone!"

"Well," Kagome said, "I'm rather for going on." First, she wanted to speak with Sango, at least in the morning. And second, she couldn't help but feel protective. The girl had become almost an older sister to her, even if they were from completely different worlds - literally.

"Hmph," Inuyasha snorted. So, Kagome wanted to proceed... Thinking practically, and wanting to get his nap soon, he suggested, "We could sneak up on them, and leave them alone if they are ... busy." He wrung the last word out. As always, the cowards left him with facing the decisions. He didn't get an answer from them; the two were seemingly contemplating. "Well?"

"I guess that's a plan," Shippou supplied, deliberately leaving out the word 'good'.

"Okay, let's go," Kagome agreed.

Nobody moved. After waiting for a few seconds, Inuyasha got impatient. "What's wrong now?"

"I'm not going first," Kagome stated.

"Me neither," Shippou joined her.

Inuyasha rolled with his eyes. 'Like I said, two cowards.' Well, it took more than that to scare him away, right? He stepped back, looking behind himself. "There, I'm first. Now move your lazy asses!" To his relief, the two were going with him. 'It's for her sake, anyway,' he told himself. 'Ungrateful girl...'

"Inuyasha?" he heard Kagome's voice behind him.

"Yes?" he asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but couldn't stop himself from dragging the word out.

"I can't see my hand in front of my eyes," she stated, irritated with his tone.

Inuyasha sighed. Were the gods against him today? He stretched out his hand. "I'll lead you." The girl gulped when he took hold of her hand. 'If there's something wrong now, she can search the fucking way herself. I've had enough!' After he had made sure that he held her hand firmly, he went on, hoping that he would have his peace from now on.

"Inuyasha is holding Kagome's hand," Shippou laughed behind him.

"Shut up, stupid brat," Inuyasha growled, unable to decide whether he should strangle or beat the annoying fox. Coming to the conclusion that either would require too much effort, he settled for continuing on his path.

They didn't speak any more, each preoccupied with imagining what they might find, and not wanting to cause any unnecessary sound. Kagome let herself get pulled along, trusting that Inuyasha would watch out for her. He was holding her hand, and it made her heart beat faster again. She wondered if Inuyasha was thinking along the same lines. 'I guess not...' First, Shippou's comment would have flustered him more, and second, the constant pull on her shoulder joint served as a reminder that Inuyasha was likely looking at the matter from the practical side. Was he in such a hurry to get to Miroku and Sango?

"I can't hear anything suspicious," Inuyasha muttered. They were really near now, and he thought that he would hear something in case Miroku was laying Sango. He wasn't sure how the girl would react, but he was sure the monk would make all kinds of noises. 'Damn horny monk.'

He was beginning to see a shimmer in the wood. After a while, Kagome also seemed to notice it. Automatically, they all started to tiptoe. Inuyasha headed for a tree, knowing it would be a better spying position. 'Why am I going first?' he asked himself. It wasn't like he was interested in Miroku and Sango. Well, they were likely already sleeping, but he wasn't able to make sure because the crackling of the fire distracted his ears. 'Fire? Fuck, not tonight!'

Kagome dropped to her knees, crawling the last few meters. Inuyasha stopped in front of her. She crawled next to him, gesturing him to drop down next to her. "What's wrong? Did you hear something?" she whispered. Inuyasha shook his head; she was able to make that out in the half-light the fire provided. "Everything's all right," he told her, but she thought she could make out annoyance in his tone. Was he disappointed that he wouldn't catch them in the act? 'Uah ... act.' The double meaning managed to embarrass her once again. In a few moments she would know if she had reason to.

'And here we are creeping, up on them...' It was ridiculous. She felt childish. She felt curious. Depending on this moment, the situation between Miroku and Sango could change completely. The fire threw shadows, sending them dancing on the trees. There was a slight slope upwards, preventing her from seeing the fire itself - or their two friends, for that matter. She couldn't help but stop for a moment, admiring the scene. It looked like a safe haven in the dark forest.

After Shippou had caught up with them, they advanced as one in an unspoken agreement. They crawled to a thick root that stood out of the ground, intending to use it as a barrier. Three pairs of eyes peered over it.

Miroku and Sango were lying together on the blanket the monk had borrowed from Kagome. Both were still - again? - fully clothed. Miroku had his right arm stretched to the side. Sango was resting her head on it, lying next to him on her side, with an arm thrown over his chest. 'Hell, half her body is thrown over his chest!' Inuyasha thought.

Kagome sighed, admiring the sight. 'They are so sweet!'

"Pah." At least the two didn't look like they'd been trying to fulfill Miroku's wish for an heir. Didn't smell like it, either. 'I hope that will relax Kagome...' The apparent problem was the still-burning fire; it looked like it would take at least an hour to go out. He glared at Sango and Miroku, one of them - or both - had thrown wood into the fire not long ago. "Those two couldn't be more annoying," he commented, exasperated.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, keeping her voice down. "Can't you be happy for them?"

'These two aren't my problem...' Inuyasha thought. He knew he wouldn't be able to find sleep before the fire had died down; he had stopped trying a long time ago. Usually it was no problem, but tonight he was tired. Damn, he felt his body longing for sleep. 'But it looks like I'll have to stay up an hour more,' he thought wistfully. Putting out the fire would look suspicious, they always let it burn down. The humans seemed to like the warmth, the light and the feeling of protection the fire provided. Well, he had at least time to search for a proper sleeping place. He eyed the trees, contemplating which on looked the most inviting.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" he heard Kagome.

Inuyasha remembered that Kagome had asked him something before. 'Looks like I should pay more attention...' What had she said again? "I'm okay," he answered, trying to sound like he knew what she had asked. "What should be wrong?"

"You've gone silent all of a sudden," Kagome told him.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted as silently as he could, crossing his arms in front of him. "Should I get all mushy and stuff just because of these two?"

"Inuyasha!" she huffed angrily. Miroku and Sango were finally coming together - judging from how they were lying, very close together. And all Inuyasha had to say about it was that they were annoying. She sighed; getting into an argument now would only wake up the pair. "You know, I thought about what could have happened. Looks like my fear was groundless," she commented.

"Yeah, smells like it," Inuyasha agreed. He noticed Kagome giving him a strange look. "What?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly, forcing a smile on her face.

Inuyasha looked at her inquiringly. He forgot too often that humans didn't share his sense of smell. To him, it was natural to rely on it, to get all kinds of information from it. Just like his eyes, his nose told him about his vicinity, what animals lived there; it told him about the physical state of his comrades and enemies, if they were exhausted or afraid. Like Kagome could see that the two still had their clothes on, his nose also told him that the two hadn't had sex and, now that he paid attention, that Sango couldn't have gotten pregnant even if Miroku tried.

He relied on his smell both consciously and instinctually. It was, for instance, a reason why he tried to avoid staying in Kagome's time as often as possible. It smelled of thousands of people. It smelled of smoke and stench he couldn't define. His instincts were confused by a myriad of unfamiliar smells. Although he adjusted after some time over there, it left an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach: not knowing if there was danger near, only able to assume there wasn't.

But, humans rarely understood that. In a way, it was like two different worlds. They could smell the most obvious things, but they weren't aware of their surroundings through their sense of smell. To him, it was as important as his eyesight. Humans simply couldn't relate to that. Many were easily repelled by what they didn't understand, or found it disgusting. Kagome wasn't that type, but on a few occasions he had noticed that she didn't know how to take the knowledge he gained with his sense of smell. "I can't help but notice these things," he explained.

"That's not it," Kagome reassured, guessing his train of thought by his far-away look. "I only thought that it might be hard noticing things you probably don't want to." At least she wouldn't want to be able to smell if a person had slept with someone the day before. Just imagining having to walk through Tokyo during rush hour gave her the creeps.

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's not as bad as it sounds. It's ... natural to me. I don't give it a second thought," he told her truthfully. He gave her a small grin, trying to make clear that he liked his sense of smell just as it was. "And I really wouldn't want to miss my accurate nose." After all, it had proven useful countless times.

"I know," Kagome told him with a smile. Then, she moved her hand in front of her mouth and yawned into it. "I'll go to sleep now." She was already curious about tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would question Sango for once. She was a bit insecure, knowing that they would touch some delicate topics, like children, how to get and not get them, or Miroku's curse. She hoped that she would find the right balance between delicacy and honesty. But, if she was able to do that with Inuyasha, Sango shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Inuyasha watched Kagome crawl into her sleeping bag. He guessed that her worries for Sango had been the main reason for her sudden awakening earlier. Now that she was reassured, the exhaustion had returned.

Once again, she had proven that she liked him like he was. Instead of being repelled or irritated by his nose, she had been concerned about him smelling unpleasant smells. She had a trait that made her worry about his differences - even if the worries were unfounded - and not scorn them. Even if he didn't tell others, didn't even want to recognize himself, he found that her attitude was unique. 'And dangerous for herself, in this time,' he added with a twisted smile. Not that he was complaining, but being too trustful could be fatal.

Shippou went to sleep next to Kagome. Content that everyone was settled down, Inuyasha resumed his search for a an appealing tree. Most of them had rather thin branches; he preferred the thicker ones for sleeping on. Finally, he settled for the healthiest looking tree and contemplated between a strong but uncomfortably shaped branch and one that was a bit thinner. He decided for the latter, thinking that the shape would make up for it. He jumped up and settled himself against the tree. After shifting around a bit, he found a comfortable position. He thought that he had made a good choice; he had slept on worse.

The fire was still burning below. As always, he tried to occupy himself. The problem was that he had to be quiet so that he wouldn't wake anyone. He had given up counting leaves and other useless occupations; they bored him too soon to be of real help. "Fucking fire," he cursed, glaring at the flames. Cursing didn't help either, but it was at least entertaining. With nothing coming to mind, he leaned back, straining his senses for something unusual. The uncomfortable feeling had left during the day, but after he had gone to train with Shippou, it returned. The fire was just the final touch.

He caught the scent of Kirara, but it was very faint. He sniffed again, but it seemed to be just a lingering scent from earlier. 'By the way, where is she?' He hadn't seen her for some time. He was about to readjust on his branch, when he caught a new whiff of Kirara. Including that they were in a forest and there was no wind, she had to be about fifty or sixty meters away. After half a minute he could also hear her approaching, so he wasn't surprised when the fire cat stepped into the clearing in her smaller form.

"Where have you been?" he muttered lowly. Kirara glanced up at the branch, giving a short meow, and headed for Shippou and Kagome. Inuyasha wondered again where the cat had been. He had thought that she had been hunting, but maybe she had been watching over Sango? He remembered that he had caught her scent just before, it could have been a remnant from the evening; but then, maybe not. 'Maybe Miroku isn't the only voyeur,' he laughed to himself. He should tease Miroku tomorrow, it would be interesting how the monk would react when he was the one who was spied on. 'Monitored by a fucking cat ...' Would be damn funny.

Kirara reached Kagome and Shippou. Inuyasha noticed that they were already asleep, obviously both had been tired from the day, especially Shippou. Another good aspect of the training: the kid was too tired to annoy him. Kirara nestled herself between the sleeping two, careful not to wake them. After glancing over at Miroku and Sango, she closed her eyes.

Inuyasha stared from one happy little group to the other. 'Looks like I'll be the only one sleeping alone.' It wasn't fair that Shippou could sleep next to Kagome, but he could not. 'Annoying little runt.' He grumbled, feeling stupid. How would it look if he curled up next to Kagome?

Inuyasha noticed he was sitting up straight and relaxed himself against the tree trunk again. The fatigue was pulling at his eyelids, but the crackling of the fire kept him awake. At least it was dying down; his previous guess had been too pessimistic. It shouldn't burn for much longer. He looked over at Sango and Miroku. The monk owed him for keeping silent about the sake. In retrospect, it might not have been the best idea to keep silent, even let Miroku get a girl drunk in general. If Kagome found out, he would be in for a lot of trouble.

Well, it looked like they hadn't done anything Kagome disapproved of, so everything should be okay. And it had been Kagome who had stated that the monk and the exterminator would make an oh-so-wonderful pair. So, she couldn't complain about him helping Miroku, could she? If she wanted to complain, this time she could rant at Shippou. The brat was involved at least as much as he was. This thought pleased him, and he decided the matter finished.

He yawned suddenly, stretching himself. He looked down; the camp fire had reduced to embers. He double-checked his surroundings, again finding no reason for his discomfort. 'Must be the damn fire,' he thought, letting his eyes drift shut. If there really was something out there, he was sure he would catch scent of it. Glad for his accurate nose, he sniffed again, before relaxing himself against the tree.

That's all! It's shorter than usual (heh), but still long enough, I guess.

Title epigraph is from Bad Religion.