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Hold still.

KURAMA: What? (Falls backwards with a splash.)

Next time, don't wiggle.

KURAMA: What is this?

A hot tub. A reviewer suggested that it might help us get along better. Is it working?

KURAMA: People are only supposed to wear bathing suits in these!

You mean more than one person stays in it at a time? That's gross!

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Inuyasha flexed his fingers, flicking away the snatch of orange hairs caught in his claws the last time Shippo had tried to zip in front of him. He growled and made another swipe. A rat-legged kitsune cub couldn't outrun an inuhanyou flat out, but the brat kept ducking and changing direction. His nose caught water and moist earth ahead - Shippo was leading him toward the stream. Inuyasha broke concentration to sniff carefully for the chemical-floral odor of Kagome's soap before taking another swipe at the bobbing tail in front of him.

That puff of snot! Laughing when that other puff of snot had called him an animal!

Couldn't/ blame/ little Hojo, though, now could he? Not after the things he'd seen. After all, if a girl made him heel with a word, and let him whine and fawn at her feet, who wouldn't think he was her tame dog? Hojo had probably wondered why he bothered to speak or walk upright. He'd probably wondered who'd had to housebreak him.

Inuyasha jerked out of his thoughts as Shippo dodged left, giggling. "Get tangled in your leash, dog boy?"

"Hold still and say that, brat!"

"Down, boy!/ Down!/"


Inuyasha gave a snarl and leapt-

-out of the underbrush-

-past the treeline-

-and landed up to his wrists and ankles in running water. He barely had time to register the scent of human skin before the screaming started. His eyes fell on the stony streambed. Yup, Sango was going to get some good ones in...

"Inuyasha..!"

Inuyasha ears flicked back in preparation for the fall. He looked up.

And felt his insides turn to snow.

Kagome was on her knees in the stream with her back to the current. The spray kicked up like a halo while eddies cast white arcs around her waist, blurring her outline and making her skin gleam. And even with both arms cast across her chest, no one had to tell him that the water was cold.

The flush was growing on her skin the longer she looked at him, and there was an angry light in her eyes like nothing he'd ever-

"Sit!Sit!SIT!!"

Yup: cold. And just deep enough to soak him all over before his face hit the rocks at the bottom. He came back up snorting water out of his nose. He fell for it every fucking time. "Shippo, you little shit!"

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So much for a peaceful night away from the village. After what he'd just seen, Inuyasha was sure that he wanted to- he knew that he- okay, he had no clue what to make of /...anything/, but the last thing he wanted to do was talk to that sniveling whiner. Of course, the part where he'd gotten to make him snivel and whine hadn't been so bad.

Miroku's let's-pretend-to-be-asleep plan had worked ...sort of. The monk had propped himself against a trunk and gone dead to the world, but Hojo spent so much time fumbling with that borrowed blanket that he was more than obviously awake when Kagome and Sango stormed back in.

"Higurashi!" the boy's voice was quiet but urgent. "I have something I have to ask you."

Kagome's answer was a bit clipped as she unrolled her sleeping blanket with a flick. "Yes, Hojo?" she asked, glaring up at the dog demon. Looked like getting dunked in the stream wasn't punishment enough...

"Kagome!" the kitsune cub bounced up to her feet. "Inuyasha grabbed my by my tail!" Inuyasha's scowl deepened. With that cute-little-me act, Kagome was going to forget all about who'd tricked him into the water in the first place.

"Inuyasha!"

He blinked. The hiss had come not from the miko, who was busy between Hojo and Shippo, but from Sango. "What do you want? Another rock?" He looked back to Kagome. Both the kitsune and the scrappy turd of a human were facing away from him, but he could see the warm indulgence on her face. Now was it directed toward the runt or the other runt?

"It may not be my concern what bargains you make with Kagome," insisted Sango, "but I had better not find out that you've broken your word where Shippo is concerned!"

Bargains? Shippo? Huh?

"What are you talking about?"

"Back in the village-"

"Higurashi, I really have to ask you something," Sango and Inuyasha both turned around as the whelp started bleating again, "Who is Inuyasha?" he asked tentatively.

The dog demon smirked at the look Kagome shot Hojo. The supposedly-sleeping monk cocked an eyebrow. By now, everyone knew that Hojo was a moron, but this was a stupid question even for him.

"I'm right here, asshole," he snarled from the tree.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Just ignore him, Hojo. Now what do you mean? I already told you how I met Inuyasha."

"Yeah, but are you two, umm..." he trailed off.

In the dim light from the campfire, Hojo probably couldn't make out the redness rising on Kagome's cheeks. Stupid bitch, /thought Inuyasha, /when are you going to wise up and see that he ain't worth blushing over?

"Hey, is he sleeping with you?"

Miroku jerked halfway to his feet, "What was that?"

That's fucking it!

Kagome's eyes went big, "Hojo-kun-!" her voice shrilled. Inuyasha dropped to the ground, landing next to Sango as she clapped both hands over her mouth.

"Hojo, you have no right to ask me that!" Kagome told him as Inuyasha snarled at the same time Inuyasha snarled, "You better shut the fuck up!"

"Wait a minute," Miroku looked from Inuyasha to Kagome and back, "you mean they are? -ow!" he ducked as Sango gave his head a smack.

"What's going on?" Shippo piped from one side.

"But-" Hojo pointed.

Inuyasha growled, following Hojo's line of vision. And blinked at the sight of the kitsune cub nesting down at the foot of Kagome's sleeping bag.

"Oh," he heard the blush in the girl's voice. "Yes, Hojo, Shippo does that."

"Higurashi!" Hojo gasped stupidly. "Did you think that I meant-"

"Good night!" she squeaked.

"You know I'd never-"

"She said good night, loser."

Kagome looked up as she slid into her sleeping bag. "Inuyasha, be nice."

The dog demon snorted. Shippo laughed. "You might as well tell him to grow wings, Kagome!"

"Shut up, runt!" he shouted, jumping back into the tree as the kitsune snuggled up by Kagome's waist.

Inuyasha went back to watching Hojo fold his blanket in half. The runt tossed a few times, looking for a comfortable way to prop his head on his arms, but at least he didn't ask for a pillow. All in all, Hojo gave Inuyasha no further reason to pounce down from his perch and remove any part of his squishy pink body from the rest of him. Damn.

He took a breath as the minutes passed. This was better. Inuyasha cast one more look at Hojo, and then let his gaze linger on the girl and the kitsune. He allowed his mind to drift into her even breathing, and the perfect stillness of the cub. He looked like he felt so safe; did he even know..? It must have been six months since the nightmares finally trickled to a stop. Now he just lay his head against Kagome's knees and fell right to sleep.

That Manten may have been a, ugly weakling and a fool, but he certainly managed to make an impression. Inuyasha peeled his lip away from his teeth, then quieted. No way would he get to sleep on memories like those. Both of those bastards were dead, anyway.

He closed his eyes and tried to force his mind onto better things. The choices were limited, most of his good memories had to do with battles or finding jewel shards, fighting and winning: the time he'd sliced out Sesshoumaru's arm and then told him off, mastering the wind scar, beating Hojo into fertilizer - okay, so some of these had yet to happen...

His early years were scrappy, mostly of his mother being sad, but there was the odd day when it hadn't felt bad to be alone, and there were months of peace with another woman in another life. Inuyasha let his eyes stay on Kagome and Shippo until they finally slid shut.

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He'd been halfway though the dream about Sango in the uniform, and while it wasn't his number-one favorite, waking up hadn't been on his list of things to do about it. Miroku flicked his eyes toward the light thud that had deprived him of Sango's very welcome attentions.

The fire was almost gone. Even once his eyes adjusted, he couldn't see more than shades of black against the dull red seeping from the embers. Someone was sitting up near ... yes, that would be Kagome's bedroll. But the sound hadn't come from there, it had- Miroku cast his eyes about and caught another outline: Inuyasha was crouched on the ground beneath his tree, eyes gleaming like two lost coals.

"Who- " the first figure breathed, "Is someone there?"

Hojo? Miroku's eyes blinked in the dark, falling uselessly to the dark lump that was probably Kagome. Yet another of Mushin's lessons came to mind. "Have your limits, boy; women appreciate that. Feeling her up when she's asleep may seem like a good idea, but if she wakes in the middle your ass is hers, and not in the fun way. Now, if you're looking for that sort of thing..."

I didn't think he had it in him... thought Miroku, Ah well, I'll see if Inuyasha desires my help in discouraging the boy. Another glance to the slumbering Kagome and his thoughts darkened. On second thought, I will help whether he wishes it or not.

Inuyasha answered the boy with a deep growl. Miroku blinked. Black as midnight in a witch's soul, and the half-human son of a Demon Lord was snarling in the dark.

Miroku gave an unmonkly smirk. Inuyasha might chide him for his emphasis on "technique," and "finessing," people, but the dog demon did the same thing. This whole display was as perfectly groomed to intimidate as Miroku's was to charm. Inuyasha had probably learned by trial and error instead of through years of dedicated study, but still, it was /damn /good. If the boy had half the sense of a garden slug, he'd be scared shitless.

"Is that you, Inuyasha?" the boy's voice was quiet but steady. Damn.

The growl broke. "Leave him alone," he breathed. Miroku's brow furrowed.

"I..."

"Just because you've got rocks in your head instead of eyes don't mean I do."

"I was just going to move him."

Shippo...

Another growl, and, "Leave him."

Miroku hid a smile. That Inuyasha is surely one scary bastard when he chooses. A shame it's lost on such a mind.

Kagome made a small sound, and for a moment, Miroku couldn't see Inuyasha's eyes.

"Go back to sleep..." his rumbled words just barely seeped across the camp. So he does know how to keep his voice down... A pause, "I mean you, moron," he hissed. Miroku raised his head before he realized Inuyasha was still talking to Hojo. "Go back to sleep before I make sure you don't wake up!"

There was the sound of strange shoes in the dust, and Hojo's voice came from a bit further away. "Well... We are both awake, Inuyasha, and I do still need to talk to you."
Another growl as Inuyasha seemed to crouch down beside Kagome.

Miroku could hear the boy swallow, and then, "I want to apologize."

The growl cut abruptly. Miroku's jaw dropped.

"Wha-" Inuyasha's head moved and he was surely looking at Kagome. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet, "What do you mean?"

"I have never been more ashamed of myself," Hojo confessed. "Now that I look back on it, I can't believe I thought you were a pet-"

Miroku felt his eyes would burst from trying to see the look on Inuyasha's face.

"-I mean you walk and talk and help with things. I hope this doesn't mean I'm prejudiced against youkai. I swear to you I will try to fix this flaw in my character... I hope you don't think less of me, Inuyasha."

He had to hold back a laugh at this. Somehow, I doubt that's possible.

"I should have known better. When Higurashi told me you were a demon, I thought she meant-" a pause, as if the boy were shaking his head. "I'll pay more attention. An apparition's just another kind of person. I see that now."

Miroku felt the words sink in his ears. He let his head sink back, just a little, against the rock. All Kagome's stories, and this was what brought it home: How different that world must be... Had Kagome been like this when she'd first come? Seeing things for the first time, like a new child?

"Get some sleep," Inuyasha's voice blackened. "We'll be there tomorrow."

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KURAMA: I wish I could change into some dry clothes.

There's always the-

KURAMA: No.

But you looked so-

KURAMA: No.

Do you know how many bribes died to bring you that Sephiroth costume?