Ch. 10- A WAFFy Interlude—or, A Revealing Night part II

"Nephew?" Inuyasha stood, staring confusedly in the direction the kitsune had gone. He seemed to be heading in the same general direction as the trail Kagome's class would be taking tomorrow, and Inuyasha was worried. Not so much that Kensuke had shown up and would apparently be showing up again, but that Kensuke wasn't the demon that he and Kagome had sensed earlier. Something wasn't sitting quite right in the universe, and it was making Inuyasha uncomfortable.

"Ne? Inuyasha?" He turned around, recognizing the voice instantly. He almost smacked himself for not noticing her approach, but she was downwind, so he felt he had an excuse.

"Aa?" He was, in one way, glad that Kagome had shown up, since he needed to tell her about Kensuke (if only to warn her that he wasn't an enemy so she wouldn't purify him on the spot). But in another way, he almost wished she wasn't there. He had a lot of thinking to do, and most of it involved the raven-haired girl in front of him.

"I sensed a demon." Kagome was beginning to get a little self-conscious. 'I can't believe I'm out here in my pajamas with Inuyasha, just because I thought I sensed a demon. I'm acting like such a baby! I've spent the night in forests full of demons before, and now I'm acting all worried. God, I'm such a dork!' Kagome berated herself, wishing at this point that she hadn't left her tent, and all too aware of the near-transparency of the nightshirt she had packed for the trip.

Inuyasha regarded the girl in front of him. She was shuffling nervously in her bare feet, and hugging her arms to keep warm. He turned away for a moment (provoking a reaction in Kagome that was somewhere between anger and hurt, but that he didn't see), and turned back around holding out his usual red yukata.

"You're cold" He said gruffly to her questioning glance, trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Thank you." She said in a small voice, pulling on the large red shirt and pulling the baggy material around her like a blanket. "So, was there a demon?" Inuyasha nodded.

"A kitsune. He said his name was Kensuke." Kagome's eyes widened.

"A kitsune? Really? Wow. We haven't run into many of those…" She blushed at the look Inuyasha was giving her. "I mean besides Shippo! We haven't run into any adult kitsune, have we?" Inuyasha just grunted.

"Keh. They're all the same as the brat. Annoying, bouncy, and full of tricks."

"But still. So, I'm guessing he's not an enemy, then, or you would have killed him, right?" Kagome still looked worried. "Is he that demon from before? The one from this afternoon?" Inuyasha shook his head.

"No. The one this afternoon didn't seem strong, but it seemed malicious. The kitsune may have been annoying, but he wasn't here to hurt anyone. Besides, kitsune aren't naturally violent, just mischievous." Kagome pondered this (but mostly the fact that Inuyasha used the word "malicious" in a sentence), then spoke.

"So, what did he want then?" She sat down on the grass near the tree Inuyasha had been planning to occupy for the night, and he joined her there.

"Nothing, apparently." Inuyasha thought for a second about the conversation. "He just said he'd see me tomorrow, and to look out for his nephew."

"Nephew?" Kagome sounded just as puzzled as Inuyasha felt.

"Aa. I think he meant someone from your class, but I haven't really sensed anyone with youki." Inuyasha stared off into the night for a moment.

"I guess we'll find out soon." Kagome commented. "Maybe he has something to do with wherever we're heading tomorrow." Inuyasha thought on this.

"He did run off in the direction the trail leads." He commented. "So that might be it. I don't think he had any shards, or even had anything to do with the shards."

"And I didn't sense any, either." Kagome added. It didn't really make sense to her, why a demon would show up to talk to them if it had no interest in the shards at all. Having no idea what else there could be to say, she decided to change topics. "Have you been having a good time so far, Inuyasha?" She looked over at him, tucking her knees up into her chest to keep warm.

The hanyou was really having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying. The sight of her wearing his yukata was bringing back a lot of memories of the past couple years, some more pleasant than others, and several were sparking rather… Miroku-like… thoughts. He managed to register the question somewhere in the back of his mind, and also managed to answer it.

"Aa. It's not so bad, I guess. That Hitoshii guy is alright. He knows how to fight pretty well." Kagome almost rolled her eyes at this. 'Typical Inuyasha. Only worried about how useful someone would be in a fight.'

"Yeah. He's the captain of the Kendo Club, you know, so I would think he would be good at fighting. Eri-chan has a huge crush on him. I had to talk her out of betting for him in your little duel earlier." Inuyasha's ears perked up at that. She had been watching? He hadn't thought that she would care, since she watched him fight all the time anyway. The fact that she had been watching made him wish he had tried a bit harder and actually beat Hitoshii, but then he took that back. It was better that he hadn't dishonored the boy. It was clear that he had a position of some importance with the humans, and it was best that he not disrupt that. He didn't want to get stuck with some strange responsibility that would require him to stay in Kagome's time longer than he had to. It was nice, but it wasn't… home.

"Why didn't you just beat him?" Kagome sounded like the question was something akin to asking for the meaning of life. Inuyasha almost blushed, slightly embarrassed at the knowledge that she had watched him holding back like that.

"It would have dishonored him. I'm not part of your 'class', and if I were to beat him, it would have upset the order here. His position, the 'captain of the kendo club', it's important, isn't it?" Inuyasha spoke like he had been thinking about this for some time, which, in point of fact, he had.

"I suppose it is, a little. Everyone looks up to him, I guess. Anou… Inuyasha, if you're so worried about upsetting the order in my class, why do you keep attacking Kouga-kun whenever he shows up? Wouldn't it upset his pack if you won?" Inuyasha just grunted out a "keh" and sat silently for a minute. Kagome just looked at him expectantly. When he spoke, it was quiet, blending in perfectly with the velvet-like night air.

"Between us, it's different. By youkai standards, I'm well within my rights to challenge the stupid wolf whenever he shows his face near me. He tried to destroy my pack first." Inuyasha was suddenly very interested in the ground, the trees, and anything except Kagome. She didn't seem to realize how tense the conversation was making him.

"You mean when he kidnapped me? But I'm back now, right? So why do you keep fighting him?"

Inuyasha didn't even give her a grunt that time. The subject was uncomfortable. Technically, she was the closest thing he had to a mate, and Kouga had threatened the stability of Inuyasha's 'pack'- unconventional though it was- by taking her away. The instinct to protect his 'mate' was so deeply ingrained in his youkai blood that it was pure instinct to try to kill the wolf whenever he saw him. Kagome's very human desire to be nice to Kouga had thrown a wrench in the works. Normally, whichever of the two was the winner in the fight would have the claim on her, but since the fight never got finished, they were at an impasse- especially considering that she wasn't really mated to either of them. At that point, it was up to her, really, to decide which she would prefer for a mate, and she didn't realize it. By staying with Inuyasha but still being welcoming (at least partially) to the wolf's advances, she was leading both of them on.

'And she doesn't even realize it.' Inuyasha was having a harder time with the concept than Kouga was, he knew. 'Damn wolf only wants a mate. I don't know what I want…' He knew he would like for her to be his mate, very much so. He wouldn't admit it, of course, but way deep down he knew EXACTLY what his jealousy towards Kouga and 'that Ho-ho bastard' meant in terms of Kagome. He just had trouble processing that through to his conscious mind.

Kagome looked at him for another minute, observing the set of his face and ears. He was thinking about something, she could tell. But what, she hadn't a clue. Probably the answer to her question, but it had to be pretty involved for him to be taking so long to think about it. 'Or maybe he has no intention at all of telling me why…' The thought made her sad. She stood up, and turned to go back to her tent. Inuyasha's head snapped up and his gaze fixed on her.

"I'm going to bed now, Inuyasha." She stated, not quite coldly, but just a little more stiffly than usual. "We have another hike ahead of us today. Apparently the trail gets a bit steeper ahead, so the walk tomorrow will be harder than the one today. I'm going to need some sleep." Inuyasha stood, then started walking towards the class' campsite. "Inuyasha?" Kagome stood where she was, watching him. He didn't turn around, but she could hear his next words anyway.

"Hurry up. The woods are still dangerous at night, even in your time." Kagome's eyes brightened a little, and a smile crept onto her face. She took a couple quick steps to catch up to him, then caught his hand in hers. He tensed for a moment, then relaxed and folded his fingers around hers.

"Thank you." She whispered softly. They walked the rest of the way back in silence, hand in hand, without looking at the other. If they had, they would have noticed the smiles and blushes adorning both of their faces.