A/N: So here I am, finished my final exams, home for the summer, and back with yet another Inuyasha fanfiction. This marks my fifth one in the space of about two months. I must be on a roll! Ha ha. ;) Just as a note, as I did with "Strength in Numbers", I'm using elements from both the English anime and the English manga (spellings of character names are anime-based, while some terms and phrases used come from the manga). Hope this isn't too confusing for you guys. In any case, I hope you enjoy this, and if you do (or even if you don't), please let me know! I love reviews, positive and negative, so bring 'em on! Arigato, everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, any of the characters, or any other elements of this completely addictive manga/anime series created by the ever-wonderful Rumiko Takahashi.

They own me.

Chapter 1 - Succumbing to Sickness

The dark night remained silent as Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Shippo, Miroku and Kirara slept together on the floor of Kaede's hut. They had stopped there for a few days to rest after a particularly long and difficult battle with a hoard of terrifically annoying crow youkai, and were enjoying the rare chance to relax. They had heard nothing as to the whereabouts of the evil Naraku lately, nor had they sensed anything sinister or unusual since the crow youkai battle, so they had decided that the best thing to do would be to return to Kaede's. Another reason for their return was a sickness that Kagome seemed to have developed. While she had tried to convince her friends that it was nothing serious, just a simple bout of the flu, the rest of the group had not been entirely convinced.

Now, on the third night that the group had spent in the hut, Kagome sat up straight, roused from her uneasy sleep, and let out a barking cough, her entire body tensing as the intensity of the coughing increased. The still night air had been disturbed by the noise, but by some miracle she had not yet awakened her friends who were sleeping on the floor nearby. Inuyasha was the only one not lying down, preferring as he always did to lean against the wall of the hut, but even he had not stirred yet. She was shaking violently with the force of the body-wracking coughs, and after a few seconds she saw tiny spots of blood fly from her lips out onto her right palm, which had been covering her mouth. She drew her hand away in alarm and gasped. For a few days now, she had been feeling a bit under the weather, and the coughing spells had been becoming more and more frequent, but she had never coughed up blood before.

My throat must be raw from all the coughing I've been doing lately! Kagome realized, startled. She hadn't realized her condition was this bad.

It was right before the crow youkai attack when Kagome had first noticed she was getting sick. Earlier that morning she had awoken to a scratchy throat, and had noticed that her head felt thick and heavy. Before too long, as well, she had erupted into a cold sweat which had caused her to shiver violently, despite the fact that the day was quite warm. The battle later in the day had not helped matters much, either. Since that afternoon Kagome's sickness had steadily worsened, and now here she was, spitting up blood.

Finally, Inuyasha opened both eyes and looked around the room with as clear a head as if he had been awake all along. It was not long before he saw Kagome, seated upright not far from him, hunched over with a look of total frustration on her face. He could see, even from where he sat, that the girl was shivering again and that tiny beads of sweat had erupted along her hairline.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha spoke into the darkness, causing the girl to look in his direction. Her eyes were glassy and there was a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth, rolling slowly down toward her chin. She looks awful! the hanyou thought to himself, alarmed. He stood up and walked over to her, then sat down next to her, looking concerned. "What's the matter?" he asked, obtuse as always. Kagome lowered her head and looked down at the floor, shivering still more violently. Not entirely knowing what to do, Inuyasha kicked Miroku, fast asleep nearby, in the calf of his right leg to wake him, and shook Shippo and Sango, who had also been sleeping peacefully through all this, to get their attention as well. "Oi!" he called to his friends, willing them to wake up quickly. As they came to, Kagome shook her head and whispered,

"Inu...yasha, it's all right. I'm fine."

Inuyasha wasn't convinced at all. "Keh," he spat, "you're obviously not, woman, so just pipe down and let us help you, all right?"

By this time, Miroku and Sango had awakened and were sitting upright, staring in the direction of Inuyasha and the sick Kagome. Shippo, however, was still fast asleep, twitching lightly and mumbling random, incoherent sentences. Inuyasha gave up waking the kitsune as a lost cause, and turned to the others.

"What's wrong with her, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked before Inuyasha could explain Kagome's symptoms or what was going on. At that moment, Kagome succumbed to another coughing fit. This time her coughs were so rough that they were even painful for the others to listen to. Sango winced in sympathy for her friend and moved to sit closer to her, drawing her hair back from the sides of her face and rubbing her back gently. Kagome appreciated this kindness immensely but was not able to communicate that.

By this time, Shippo had awakened and had moved over to sit in Kagome's lap, a look of something akin to terror on his tiny face. The noise had also awakened Kaede, who ambled slowly out from her bed chamber with a look of concern etched on her lined, aged face.

"Kagome, child..." Kaede spoke softly, letting the sentence trail off. The old miko had never seen the girl so sick and Kagome's condition worried her. She was getting low on medicinal herbs and did not think she had anything to give Kagome to cure the sickness or do much to ease her pain.

After a while, the coughing subsided. Kagome sat drenched in sweat, eyes glassy. Sango looked at her friend and spoke softly to her.

"Is there anything I can get you, Kagome?" the youkai exterminator asked, "Some water, maybe?"

Kagome nodded. "Water would be nice. My throat is...so sore!" she managed to get out. Sango crossed the room and rummaged through Kagome's backpack for a bottle of water. Once she found it, she unscrewed the top and placed it into Kagome's hand. The sick girl drank deeply, knowing full well that this was the best water she had ever tasted in her entire life. When she had drained more than half of the bottle in one go, she lowered it and thanked her friend for bringing it to her. A combination of fatigue and dizziness hit Kagome as she spoke, sending her falling backwards onto her makeshift bed. Now that the violent coughing had subsided, Kagome could at least talk properly, but she had been robbed of all her energy and it was all she could do to stay sitting up. Inuyasha shook his head in frustration.

"I'm taking her back to her own time," he told the group. To this statement, he got no response. Even Kaede knew, because of her current lack of remedies, that if Inuyasha didn't get Kagome back home, and soon, her condition would worsen. It was most likely just a bad case of influenza at the moment, but with time, it could develop into something much worse.

"You don't have to, Inuyasha," Kagome told the hanyou faintly, closing her eyes and resting her hands on her stomach.

"Oh yes I do, so let's go!" Inuyasha retorted, his words coming out much more gently than they would have under normal circumstances. The girl was obviously in no condition to walk, however, so Inuyasha grabbed her backpack, scooped her up into his arms and, after saying goodbye to the rest of the group, left the hut.

"I wonder if Kagome's gonna be okay?" Shippo asked in a worried tone. He hated to see his surrogate mother so ill and willed her to get better quickly.

"I'm sure she will be, Shippo," Miroku promised the kitsune, "or at least I hope so."

It took next to no time for Inuyasha and Kagome to reach the Bone Eater's Well. Knowing how sick Kagome was, Inuyasha had bolted at top speed away from Kaede's hut toward the well, stopping only when he was in danger of running straight into it. Still carrying the violently ill girl in his arms, who had fallen to sleep since they had left the hut, Inuyasha leapt straight into it and fell down into its blackened depths.

In what felt like no time, Inuyasha and Kagome popped out of the well on the modern era side. Inuyasha had to brace himself against falling face-first onto the cold stone floor of the well house. He didn't care if he hit the floor, but with Kagome in his arms he wasn't willing to risk it. Heat was coming off her in waves now and Inuyasha could almost tell without checking that she had developed a fever. Tightening his grip on the sleeping girl, Inuyasha took the steps up and out of the well house and slid the door open with his foot. It was every bit as dark outside than it had been inside, it still being sometime in the middle of the night by Inuyasha's estimation. He quietly padded his way across the courtyard until he reached the back door of Kagome's house and slid it open silently. Stepping inside, Inuyasha closed the door and carried Kagome up the stairs to her bedroom without even needing to look around to see where he was going. He had visited this house so often now that he didn't really need to think about where anything was anymore.

Once Inuyasha had arrived at Kagome's bedroom, he went inside and laid Kagome on her bed. She still had not stirred. Worry furrowed his brows as he looked at the ill young miko with genuine concern. He hated to see her like this: weak, violently sick, helpless. It was not the Kagome he was used to, and he missed that Kagome.

Wait. What? Inuyasha could hardly believe what he'd just thought. I miss that Kagome? When did that happen? Sure I'm worried about her, but...

Inuyasha let his thoughts trail off, gazing at her pale, sweaty face. She looked peaceful, but the hanyou knew that would only last for as long as she remained asleep.

Knowing Kagome, as soon as she wakes up she'll probably want to go back to the Sengoku Jidai again or something just as stupid, Inuyasha told himself, but I can't let her. She needs to stay here if she's going to get well.

Looking around the darkened bedroom for paper and something to write with, he found one of Kagome's notebooks and a pen lying on her desk. He crossed the room, opened the book and began to scrawl out a note to Kagome's mother, explaining what had happened and why he'd brought her back. Normally he would have stayed with Kagome at least until the morning, but he couldn't risk that now. He knew that Kagome would want to return to the Sengoku Jidai with him immediately, not caring about her sickness, but if she did that, she would not get the proper treatment for whatever was wrong. It was important that Kagome stay behind this time, and Inuyasha knew he would only get in the way if he stayed too, so he would leave immediately before she had a chance to stop him.

Once he had finished telling Mrs. Higurashi all of this in a note (written with an unsteady hand and in characters that no one in the modern era would be able to read properly without some headaches and frustration), he started on one for Kagome. After finishing both notes, he capped the pen and crossed the room back to Kagome's sleeping form. Gingerly and silently, Inuyasha removed the bottled jewel shards from Kagome's clothes, and clutching them in his clawed fist, smiled at her with sadness and walked out of the room.

This is the only way to make sure she won't come back until she's better, Inuyasha thought miserably. He hated having to do this, but with someone as strong-willed as Kagome, sometimes one has to do things that one would rather not do, for their protection if for no other reason.

A/N: So what do you guys think so far? :) Love it? Hate it? Please review if you've got a spare second and let me know. I love getting feedback and it'll give me the motivation I need to post the next chapter that much faster. Thanks everyone!