InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Bind a Soul ❯ The Aroma of Change ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3- The Aroma of Change

Yawning loudly, Shippou sat up from his place at Kagome's side. The first thing that popped into his head was if Kagome was okay. Slowly he turned towards Kagome, almost scared of what he might find.

However, Shippou was not expecting Kagome to completely disappear. "Kagome? Kagome!"

The poor baby kitsune didn't know what to do. Where was Kagome? Maybe she just shrunk. But after a very extensive search of the sleeping bag, there was still no sign of Kagome.

"Shippou? What are you yelling about?" Sango said tiredly from where she had been sleeping.

"Kagome's gone!" Shippou was on the verge of tears.

Fearing the worst, and that Kagome had in fact passed on during the night, Sango was up in an instant. What she expected to see was Shippou crying over the body of Kagome. What she didn't expect to find was that Kagome was not there at all and that Shippou literally meant Kagome was gone.

Miroku was also thinking that Kagome had died. To his relief he discovered the same thing Sango had. But that made him no less worried over that fact that the young miko was not there. "Inuyasha," the monk called up to the dog demon that was sleeping in the tree above the campsite.

Sango looked up to see the dog-demon's reaction to the missing Kagome, but what she saw made her smile.

Miroku had the identical smile on his face, though his thoughts were slightly darker than Sango's.

Inuyasha had one arm around Kagome's waist and the other arm under her knees. The young girl's head was tucked in the nook of Inuyasha's neck while her arms held the hanyou tightly around the neck.

Both were sound asleep despite the earlier commotion.

"We should let them sleep some more," suggested Sango as she turned to fix breakfast.

Miroku could only nod in agreement, still in a slight shock of the sight before him. Everyone knew that Inuyasha and Kagome were in love, but it was still a complete surprise to find the two so close to one another without fighting.

Shippou just sat in the place he had been sleeping and stared up at the slumbering couple. Something was different. Kagome's scent, it didn't smell the same. And on that same note, Inuyasha's scent had also change.

Curiosity got the better of him and while his other comrades were busy getting ready for the day, Shippou sneaked up the occupied tree and tried to figure out just what was different.

After a few delicate sniffs of Kagome and still no solution to his question, he started on Inuyasha's scent. It was still the same scent, but there was something different and underlying, just like Kagome's had been.

It was like Inuyasha and Kagome's scent had merged at the edges. It was all too much for the little kitsune to take in at the moment. Deciding to ignore the new developments, Shippou climbed onto Kagome's stomach as gently as he could and curled up in the hanyou's haori, which Kagome was still wearing.

With the steady breathing of Kagome and Inuyasha, Shippou couldn't help but fall asleep with a slight smile on his face. Maybe now they'd have a real family.

~_^

Kagome did not want to wake up. She was so warm, so comfortable, and so content. She did not want to wake up. But with someone constantly shaking her shoulders, it was kind of hard to stay asleep.

"Kagome, Kagome? Come on, we're leaving now," Shippou voice said through her fogginess of sleep.

"Shippou-Chan?"

"Come on Kagome. Wake up."

Kagome opened one eye to see Shippou sitting on her stomach. She was lying on top of her sleeping bag and the others were already prepared to leave.

"Five more minutes," Kagome muttered before rolling over, knocking Shippou off in the process, and buried her head in her pillow.

Why was she so exhausted?

It was then when she remembered. She had almost died last night. And Inuyasha saved her. Kagome had to allow herself a small smile. Inuyasha had protected her from death itself.

"Kagome!" Shippou yelled as loud as he dared at the tired girl.

She never acted like this in the morning! She was usually awake before Sango and Miroku. Those wounds must have really gotten to her.

"Oi, brat, let her sleep!" Inuyasha yelled as he entered the campsite.

"But Inuyasha, we're leaving now!"

"So what? I said let her sleep." Inuyasha's voice had dropped to that tone where there was no room for discussion. If he said Kagome was going to sleep, than by Kami she was going to sleep.

Crouching down, Inuyasha gently untangled the sleeping miko from her sleeping bag and placed her on his back.

"Runt, pick up her sleeping bag and get a move on," Inuyasha said roughly.

Shippou stuck his tongue out as soon as Inuyasha turned his back, but still did what he was told. He wasn't in the mood for any bumps so early in the morning.

Everyone quietly followed Inuyasha back towards the village. It was a silent journey, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, and Inuyasha was thankful for that much.

They stopped at midday for lunch near a nice hot spring. "I'm gonna take Kagome to change her bandages," Inuyasha announced as soon as they had stopped.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say something, but after this morning, Sango again stayed silent.

Miroku had no such qualms.

"Why, Inuyasha, I had no idea yours and Kagome-sama's relationship had gone so far!"

The next moment Miroku found himself not only knocked over the head with Hiraikotsu but being kicked in the stomach by one very red faced inuhanyou.

Kagome was still asleep on the dog-demon's back. They had been traveling a good part of the day, and the only time she made any movement during the entire trip was when she had pulled Inuyasha's hair.

As soon as they were out of sight and hearing of his human friends, Inuyasha sat down with Kagome in his arms at the hot spring's edge. The water was shallow enough to see the bottom.

"Kagome, its time to wake up now," Inuyasha said gently.

The young girl yawned widely before opening an eye, raising an eyebrow, and going back to sleep.

"Bitch, wake up now or I'll strip you and throw you in the hot spring."

The threat got him a threat in return. "You do that, and I'll say the S word."

"Feh. Its time to change your bandages. You don't want an infection, do you?"

Kagome grunted dissatisfaction but sat up enough to remove Inuyasha's haori. "Did you bring me another shirt?" Kagome asked before yawning again.

"Yeah," muttered Inuyasha before holding up a white T-shirt.

"Arigrato Inuyasha."

He blushed slightly and muttered another "Feh."

Kagome got up and moved from the comfort of Inuyasha's arms before hissing in pain and falling back against him.

"Stupid wench, you're still hurt. You can't move around so much."

"Well I felt fine a moment ago!"

"Let me take care of you since you can't seem able to do it yourself!" Inuyasha growled.

Kagome blushed before nodding once. She stayed as still as she could while Inuyasha removed the bandages and applied new ones. She now understood why the hanyou complained when she removed his bandages. It hurt!

Then Inuyasha carefully helped Kagome put on her T-shirt and wash her face.

Things were different between them now. They could both feel it, but neither had the courage or confidence to say anything to the other. There was no uncomfortable silences or arguments between them for once. Inuyasha wondered what the effects of The Sharing of Blood would be, or if there would be any. Myouga had said that the act was rare enough that he hadn't seen it. So maybe with him and Kagome there wouldn't be any consequences?

Inuyasha didn't know whether to feel happy or disappointed.

"Let's go back to the others, Kagome. You need to eat something."

"Hai," Kagome replied before yawning again. "I don't know why I'm so tired."

"You're healing. All your energy is going to be focused on you getting better. Of course you're gonna be tired baka."

Kagome yawned again before just nodding and letting Inuyasha carry her back to camp. For some reason she just didn't feel like sitting him like she normally would have done. She felt like she knew him enough to know he didn't mean to insult her with all the name-calling.

Now where had that thought come from?

Kagome was tired enough to let Inuyasha feed her. He would take a large slurp from his Ramen cup, and then return to Kagome and feed her. He was very careful not to get any food all over Kagome.

Sango watched the sight before her with barely concealed interest. She never would have thought she would see the day when Kagome would let Inuyasha feed her! Truth be told, she never really thought about it until now.

Kagome was very independent. She hated to rely on others for some things. But she was so discreet about that aspect of her personality, that no one really noticed it.

She didn't even mind the indecency of it all. Maybe she should stop thinking about what everybody else was doing was indecent or not? She sure wasted enough time with it. Sango decided to ponder that thought a little more. Why not? After all, I'm a demon exterminator traveling with demons. Why should I care?

Miroku was going to have a field day with this as soon as he got Inuyasha alone. He could tease his hanyou friend to kingdom come with just the stuff that had happened this day.

Shippou sat quietly by the fire as he ate his lunch slowly. The other humans might not be aware of it, but Kagome and Inuyasha were changing before his very eyes, or rather by his very nose.

Their scents had begun to intertwine with one another. It seemed that the more time they spent together, the more their scents seemed to shift and meld. The young kitsune wondered if the inuhanyou was even aware of what was happening to him.

What had those two done that caused this transformation? It was enough to make Shippou dizzy. The other two demon companions agreed with Shippou. Inuyasha and Kagome were indeed changing.

But when would they discover it for themselves?

^_^