InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Close Quarters ❯ A "Tight" Situation ( Chapter 1 )

This is my first story so please be nice. But please feel free to review! I'd love to hear from you. If I get some good reviews I'll put up the next chapter when I get back from camping which should be the 11th. This is an Inuyasha and Kagome fic. I don't really know when this story would take place in relation to the anime. All I can say is that Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Shippou, Miroku, and Kaede are all in it. It's PG-13 because of some language. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: A "Tight" Situation

Inuyasha tugged irritably at the second string of beads around his neck. What had he gotten himself into?

He let out another growl and dropped the band; feeling it's weight against his chest made him even angrier than before. That combined with the pressure of a body against his made his bad mood escalate even farther past its normally high level.

"Shove over!" He spat angrily at the girl next to him.

Kagome glared angrily back before turning with a loud huff.

"I'm already on the edge of the log, so stop complaining! You got us into this mess! Haven't you ever heard of personal space? This is all your fault!"

Her voice grew higher in pitch with ever word. Inuyasha couldn't help but curse himself for opening his big mouth. Even with that thought in mind, he couldn't stop his equally enraged retort.

"My fault! My fault!? If you weren't always makin' me eat dirt I wouldn't have made the stupid comment in the first place! And it's not my fault that Kaede was so keen on the idea! And for another thing-"

"For cryin' out loud! Are you two at it again? Give it a rest already! You've only been stuck together for two hours!" Shippou had emerged from the bushes carrying a small load of kindling, which he set sloppily next to the makeshift fire-pit Miroku had constructed earlier. Sango pushed her way into the small clearing after him, carrying more wood, with Kirara at her heels.

"I must agree." Miroku added, entering from the opposite side of the camp, followed closely by Kaede. Prior to setting up camp, Sango had insisted that she not be paired with the lecherous monk, making an off hand comment after he'd left that she would someday chop off his `wandering hand.' "You two will have to deal with the situation, unless Kaede releases the spell, those beads will not come off until you two come to an understanding."

Inuyasha muttered a nasty comment under his breath; leaning forward until the strand that bound Kagome and himself was tightly pressed to both of their necks.

Kagome leaned back, wide-eyed, making a choking noise until Inuyasha relented and straightened back up.

Kaede cleared her throat to gain the half-demons' attention.

"What was that Inuyasha? Something about an `old hag?' Surely you are not speaking of me. Even you would know better. Because it is only I who has the ability to release you. Being that you certainly cannot come to any sort of understanding." Kaede gave a quiet laugh. "After all, it was you who made the suggestion in the first place."

Inuyasha growled.

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FLASHBACK

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"Inuyasha! SIT!!!"

Inuyasha plunged face first into the ground.

"OW!!! What the hell was that for!?" Pulling himself out of the considerably deep, hanyou-shaped crater, he got to his feet and stomped over to Kagome, intent on giving her a piece of his mind. Before she could even give an excuse, he pointed an accusing finger at her and let his anger get the best of him.

"You know what I think? I think you use my beads as a weapon against me! You're nothing but a power-hungry, selfish..." he was so angry he couldn't form the words in his mind before spitting them out at her. "If you had a stupid necklace around your throat, that gave someone the power to slam you into the ground at their will, you wouldn't blame me for being angry! If you knew for one second what it was like..."

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END FLASHBACK

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Inuyasha cringed inwardly at the memory. Kaede had made a band similar to his own, but large enough to bind two people. She'd put a spell on it so whenever either one of them said the `s' word, they'd both go plummeting to the floor. Kagome, determined to piss him off even more, had gone along without complaint.

"Look at it this way, Inuyasha." Shippou, with an evil grin, hopped just out of arms reach of Inuyasha, "What better way to get your mind off of Kikyou than to be stuck to another pretty girl?"

Inuyasha turned a brilliant shade of red, whether out of anger or embarrassment, no one could tell. Though a moment later, anyone would have guessed that the former was the case.

"C'mere you little twerp! I'm gonna get you!" He made a lunge for the little fox, not expecting the huge resistance from the beads around his neck. He'd given Kagome a painful yank, and growled again as Shippou stopped to taunt him, seeing him unable to give chase.

"What's the matter Inuyasha? A little kitsune too much for the big strong hanyou?" He teased him louder as Kagome started to rant about Inuyasha being more careful.

"Like hell it is!" Inuyasha raged. Turning, he grabbed Kagome and heaved her unceremoniously, with a squeal of protest, over his shoulder. He then raced after Shippou, who let out a cry of fear and fled into the bushes.

Sango, Miroku, and Kaede, who had watched this little incident play out, sat in silence, none really sure of what to say. There was a collective flinch as a rather loud crash and an even more frantic shriek from Kagome echoed through the trees.

Sango sighed, moving to sit down on the log that their two friends had vacated. Beckoning Kirara into her lap, she was the first to speak.

"I don't think that Kagome really took the health risks into consideration before agreeing to this." Kirara gave a short, agreeable mewling noise as Sango stroked her ears.

Miroku nodded silently and knelt to start a fire.

"I just hope that we can all survive this little ordeal. Well, whatever happens, it is sure to be good for a laugh later on."

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Returning a short while later, Kagome busied herself with preparing the ramen she'd brought back from her own time. Inuyasha followed reluctantly as he was dragged from the fire, to her bag of belongings, back to the fire, and then around to each member of their party as Kagome distributed their dinner. Picking up the last of the bowls she allowed Inuyasha to take a seat on the ground next to Miroku, and, not that she had much of a choice, sat beside him.

"Dig in everyone. But be careful, it may be hot." She cast a sickened glance at Inuyasha as he began messily shoveling noodles into his mouth. Then, managing to keep her comments to herself, she turned to her own bowl. She poked absently at her meal, having lost her appetite. Her thoughts wandered to earlier that day, when Inuyasha had chased Shippou through the forest with her over his shoulder. Inuyasha had been all but gentle, but he had been careful. He'd made sure she wasn't getting scratched or hit by low branches or thorns. She blushed as she remembered how he even turned to ask her if she was doing all right. She pressed her hand to her cheek as heat rushed to her face.

`Oh no! I'm blushing!' Trying to calm herself, she noticed Inuyasha watching her from the corner of her eye.

"Are you gonna finish that?" He asked gruffly.

"What?" She blinked in confusion and he gestured to her bowl. "Oh! No! Here, you can have it." She held the bowl out to him smiling faintly.

He raised an eyebrow at her, taking the proffered bowl and looking quickly at it. Raising his eyes to hers with a questioning look, he pushed it back towards her.

"But it's still full. You haven't eaten anything. Aren't you hungry?"

Kagome shook her head `no`.

"All right then." He turned, but then did a double take and looked at her. "You know your face is all red. You don't have a fever or somethin' do you?" He stuffed a mouthful of ramen into his mouth, not taking his eyes off of her.

Kagome covered her face in her hands, and shook her head again.

"N-no! I'm fine, really." She giggled in embarrassment.

"Right." He turned and quickly downed the rest of his broth, dropping his bowl on top of his first, and wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

"Well I think it's time that we all got some much-needed sleep. We need to get an early start tomorrow." Miroku got to his feet and stretched.

"Here Kagome, let me help you clean up." Sango stood and moved about, picking up the empty ramen containers. Reaching Miroku, she bent over to retrieve his bowl.

Kagome looked on as Miroku eyed Sango appreciatively, his fingers twitching ominously. She felt indignation on Sangos' part well up inside of her and did the first thing that came to her mind. A growl much similar to one Inuyasha would make emitted from her throat. But as Miroku extended a hand toward Sango, that growl turned into an enraged `SIT!!!' that sent Inuyasha and herself crashing to the ground, with her lying half on top of an angrily shaking hanyou.

Sango shot upright as Miroku withdrew his hand, grinning sheepishly as Sango stared suspiciously at him.

With a quiet groan, Kagome carefully removed herself from Inuyasha. She rubbed her shoulder, which had connected with the ground painfully hard.

"What the hell was that for!?" Inuyasha was beside himself with anger.

"Sorry, it was a reflex." She glared pointedly at Miroku before turning to Inuyasha. "I'm sorry Inuyasha, I didn't mean to." She turned away, still massaging her shoulder.

Inuyasha growled in reply. His anger was quickly ebbing as he watched her continue to nurse her injury. It may have served her right for always `sitting' him, but she was only human, not a half demon like him. If she wasn't careful, she could be seriously hurt. He stood and, maybe a bit too roughly, helped her to her feet.

Kaede cleared her throat to disguise a laugh, and when they all turned to look at her she regarded them with a placid expression.

"Ahem. I'm going to bed. If you are going to be up much longer, do not make to much noise. I need my rest." She turned to walk towards her bed.

Inuyasha snorted.

"Yeah, like an old hag like you needs her beauty sleep." He muttered under his breath.

Kagome turned to look at him, opening her mouth to speak. But then Inuyasha looked towards her with an `are-you-sure-you-really-want-to-do-that?' expression, crossing his arms over his chest. She frowned and closed her mouth.

Inuyasha smirked, before faking a yawn and stretching.

"Well, I'm gonna hit the hay." He crouched down, ready to spring into the trees above him, when fingers clutched at his shoulder. He sighed in annoyance and faced Kagome. "What now?"

"And just where do you think you're going?" She asked, releasing his shoulder and putting a hand on her hip. " I hope you don't think I'm going to sleep up in a tree!"

"Well I don't want to sleep on the ground!" He shouted back.

She crossed her arms.

"Well if you make me sleep up there I'll just use the `s' word and we'll both be on the ground again." She smiled triumphantly.

"Gimme a break. Fine, we'll sleep on the floor." He stomped over to a tree, Kagome hurrying awkwardly after him, and slumped down against its trunk.

Kagome situated herself on her side against the tree, not looking really comfortable, but she kept quiet. She'd been relatively careful about `sitting' them all day. And concentrating on that had been harder than she'd thought. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep. As she slowly let her eyes fall closed, one thought came to her mind.

`Where was Shippou?'