Disclaimer:

Turtlequeen2: How did you like the last chapter?

Shippou: Hey! How come I haven't been in a chapter for a while?

Turtlequeen2: Oh, relax! You'll be in this one!

Shippou: Really? -eyes light up-

Turtlequeen2: Yep! -coughs- Though, I don't guarantee your happiness… -cough-

Shippou: -blinks- Wait… what?

Disclaimer!Inuyasha: Oh great… another victim of your torture in this story! Will you ever stop?

Turtlequeen2: -silence-

Disclaimer!Inuyasha: You're a cruel, cruel person…

Turtlequeen2: -laughs nervously- Anyways! I'd like to thank the following reviewers: blueyedevil586, angel-kamui, xXxDarkFairyxXx, HeidiBax, kagome past and present, junyortrakr, katana sohma-demon girl, Luna Rain Glimmer, Reads-way-2-much, and AsianDelicacy!

Much thanks to AsianDelicacy for taking the time to review every chapter!

I don't own the Inuyasha cast. I only torture them. -cough-

Disclaimer!Inuyasha: Hey! I heard that!

Chapter 12

Protection

It had been a week since Kagura had come to stay in Sesshoumaru's house and she honestly could not remember what had happened during the last few days since she was so hyped up on pain killers. Other than the day where she first learned that she was in the house, the rest of the week was a blur to her.

Now being able to move her arms without as much stinging agony going to her back, Kagura was able to reach for her own food and drinks if need be. She was very thankful for it since she no longer had to rely on Jaken to feed her. It seemed that each time they were forced to spend time together, they would always end up in some type of argument even if she could not barely remember what they were about.

"Damn…" she murmured sorely. "This is such a pain in the ass." Aside from Jaken, no one else came to her room. Even when Sesshoumaru was home, he avoided seeing her, being either too busy or not in the mood to deal with her "attitude." She could not say that she missed living with her family. She was actually happy to be away from that place. Though, now, with no one around to interact with her, she experiencing a level of boredom that made her tempted to count how many striped prints were embroidered in the sheets on her bed. She was sure there were hundreds.

As the young woman contemplated what she could do in order to entertain herself, a sudden shout made her tense up immediately. Of course, she quickly regretted any sudden movements as invisible liquid fire shot up her back and made tears sting the back of her eyes. "God, what the hell is going on out there….?" she growled after she recovered herself, now irritated that she allowed herself to be startled despite her bedridden condition.

The shout was heard again, but she thankfully knew not to react in the same way. Remaining still, she concentrated her mind on trying to figure out what the yelling was all about.

"…Rin!" came the distant cry of a frustrated servant.

The cry got louder. "Rin!"

Kagura frowned. "…Is that the name of the girl that annoying idiot mentioned earlier?" she murmured to herself.

"Get back here, Rin!" Jaken shouted, the volume of his voice increasing as he neared the door.

In an instant, the door to Kagura's room slammed open before closing again. The shuffling of furniture could be heard being pushed against the entrance before Jaken's muffled voice yelled once more.

"Open up the door this instant!" The poor servant could only solve to pounding on the door.

Kagura found that her eye twitched as her irritation rose. Ever so slowly, she rose herself onto her elbows and turned her head as far as she could before growling out, "Would you shut the hell up for a few seconds?" in the direction of the door. Due to the constrictions of how far back her neck could go, she could not even see Rin or the door which were both in the far corner of the room. Geez, was peace and quiet too much to ask for?

Jaken scoffed from the other side. "Sesshoumaru-sama specifically told me to take care of Rin and that's what I'm trying to do!"

The girl in question cringed when the older woman practically screamed in her direction. "…I don't want to take that medicine!" she declared childishly, turning back towards the wooden structure that separated her from her caretaker. "It makes me have nightmares!"

The servant let out an annoyed huff. "If you don't take it, you'll end up being in pain! Do you want that?"

"I'd rather be in pain than have more nightmares!" Rin declared stubbornly.

Jaken let out a growl. "Fine!" he indignantly declared while throwing up his hands in defeat. "You can stay in there for all I care!"

The girl stuck her tongue out towards the door despite the servant not being able to see it.

Kagura was relieved when she knew that Jaken had finally left. "God, he's like a fucking car alarm that never turns off," she grumbled under her breath as she turned back around and allowed her full weight to rest on the bed again.

Rin fell silent and rotated herself to see the older woman laying in the bed, obviously not looking to be in the best of conditions. Slowly and cautiously, she began to move forward and out of Kagura's blind spot. "…Um…" she quietly murmured, stopping when she stood beside where the woman's head was.

Kagura blinked up at the small girl. "…I'm just going to take a wild stab at this, but…" she trailed off in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your name's Rin, right?"

The girl nodded her head. "…Who are you?" she decided to bluntly question, never being in the room before this time.

The woman heaved an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes. "Of course, Sesshoumaru wouldn't bother to waste his breath talking to people about how I'm practically living with him…" she murmured. She then shook her head slightly, trying her best not to be too bitter in front of the innocent child. "I've been staying here for the past week. My name's Morikawa Kagura," she added in a less aggravated tone.

Rin then let out a gasp of realization. "So that's why Jaken-sama kept going into this room!" she declared. "He's been taking care of you, right?"

Kagura managed as good a nod as she could with her head being as close to the mattress as it was. "I guess you could say that…" she replied, trying to say nice things about the annoying servant she obviously did not like. She found that it was very hard to do. "He hasn't killed me yet so I suppose I should be happy about that."

The child suddenly tensed up, her face twisting up in agony. Thinking fast, she made a grab for a chair that was left by the desk adjacent to the bed. Using the wooden chair as a brace, she leaned onto it as she pushed it to Kagura's bedside and slowly took a seat.

Kagura tilted her face up so that she could have a clear look at Rin. A small frown marred her face as she began to realize how badly injured the child truly was.

Stitches went across the girl's left cheek while fading bruises and scars spotted the rest of her countenance. The exposed skin on her arms were also covered with fading cuts and a few stitches here and there. Kagura could not even see far enough down to figure out how badly injured the rest of the girl's body appeared.

"You had a rough night, too?" Kagura remarked half-jokingly, having no clue what had happened to the orphan.

In an instant, Rin's head bowed, her brown bangs shielding her eyes. "…My parents were killed by robbers," she whispered in a voice that was enough to make even the coldest of hearts crack. "…I was the only one who survived."

Quickly realizing her mistake, the young woman's eyes widened. She bolted onto her elbows in such a jerky movement that she could not help but let out a curse. 'Dammit!' She thought to herself as a short yelp was a mixture of pain was let out. Letting out a shaky breath to steady herself, the woman then murmured, "I apologize. I wasn't aware of what happened to you…"

The child shook her head, taking a fragile arm to wipe her eyes as if it were a makeshift handkerchief. "I-I'm not mad at you…" she replied.

Kagura withheld her sigh of relief and relaxed her body. "I'm glad, then…" she remarked. Forcing out a smirk, she added, "At least I know I'm no longer the only girl in this crazy house."

Seeing Kagura's smirk seemed to ease Rin's sadness a bit. After giving a small sniffle, she exposed her eyes again. "So… what happened to Kagura-sama?"

The young woman immediately furrowed her eyebrows at the title added at the end of her name. "Just Kagura is fine," she corrected.

"Oh… I'm sorry," Rin quietly responded, quickly correcting herself. "What happened to Kagura?"

Kagura sighed. "It's a very long and complicated story that I'm sure that children wouldn't be able to completely understand…" she began.

"I'd be interested to know about it!" the child chirped innocently.

"You would, huh?" Kagura chuckled, giving a smirk of bitterness. "Well, what happened to me is a great example of horrible parenting."

" 'Horrible' parenting?" Rin echoed, her voice colored with deep confusion. It was as if she did not believe in such a concept.

"Yeah, there is such a thing," Kagura responded. "Though, I'd rather not talk about it with you at the moment, to be honest." From what she could tell, Rin's memories of her parents were still very fresh in her mind and her own story would not help the girl recover at all.

Rin's face fell, showing disappointment. "Okay…" she mumbled.

"Look," Kagura began, finding that seeing a child look so distraught over her words bothered her. "Depending on how long we both stay here for, I'll tell you eventually, all right?"

The child's countenance lit up like someone flicking a light bulb on. "Okay!" It was amazing how such simple words could make a kid smile.

Kagura shook her head. She did not understand how wanting to know about her story could make anyone beam. "So… are you planning to just stay in here all day?" she finally questioned after silence had consumed them for several minutes.

"I don't want to go out there until Sesshoumaru-sama comes back!" Rin suddenly declared, determination burning in her eyes.

"…That's gonna be a while from now…" the woman grumbled sarcastically. Blinking away her cynicism, she pondered, "What are you going to do until then?"

"…Could I stay and talk with Kagura?" the child replied. "I don't feel as comfortable talking with Jaken-sama…"

Kagura could not help the genuine snicker that escaped her when she heard those words. "You're not the only one who feels that way, trust me," she stated. She could already tell that this was the beginning of a very odd friendship.

Sango had wondered what possessed her to do agree with Miroku's request throughout the day. While putting on her dress and allow Kagome to assist in pinning up her hair, the young woman pondered about why she said yes to such a ludicrous suggestion. While getting into the black, style Japanese-made car and idly taking part in the conversation with the doctor, she wondered why she agreed to do such a thing. Upon arriving at the lavish retreat and stepping out of the car with the help of Miroku's hand, Sango sucked in a deep breath and tried her best to pay no mind to the affluent couples around her.

"You're not nervous, are you?" Miroku asked with a teasing smirk, his hold over her hand lingering even after shutting the door of the car and locking it with a button on his key ring.

The teacher felt more defensive about herself than usual as she quickly pulled her hand out from his. "No, of course not!" she declared. "Why would I be?" She sounded as if he had offended her in some way.

The doctor let out a nervous laugh and led the way into the gala with the teacher close behind. Once they entered the building and met with the receptionist, heads turned as the pair entered the main ballroom of the event.

Though the pair looked like they stepped out of a magazine photo shoot, Miroku was the more plain of the two. The doctor's hair was combed back even more than usual while he sported a black and white suit that was customary for the type of party.

Sango, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Her hair was pinned up into an elegant bun with small strands of her hair curled around to frame her face. A sparkling violet flower hair ornament was enough to keep it all in tack as they continued to walk. Her dress a matching dark violet skin-tight party gown that reached down to her knees. A slit was made up to mid-thigh on her left side, dangerously close to exposing the laced tops of her tan stockings. The thin black straps that kept her cleavage in check crisscrossed around her neck and connected to the cloth that exposed a section of her pale back. In one phrase, the young woman looked dressed to kill.

Though despite looking the part, the girl was definitely not prepared for the reactions that she got for wearing such a beautiful piece of work. She felt as if all of the men were eyeing her like hawks while the women seemed to glare at her condescendingly. Out of nervousness, she grabbed a hold of Miroku's hand as they continued into the room. "…Um, Isha-sensei…" she murmured. "…This seems a bit awkward…"

The doctor gave her hand a light squeeze back, inwardly celebrating since he had since figured out that he was now at the gala with the most beautiful girl in attendance. However, such emotions did not make their way onto his face as he turned to smile at her. "We'll be fine. I promise," he assured her. "Just follow my lead."

"O-okay…" she replied. She idly hoped that they would not be at the gala for very long. Her five inch black heels were not planning to stay kind to her feet after another two hours.

"Another thing…" Miroku began. "Since we're supposed to be like a couple, it would be nice if you could just call me by my name at least until after we leave…"

Sango almost frowned at this. Using his name? What had she gotten herself into? Letting out a sigh, she nodded her head. "Fine…"

"Great!" the older man chirped, tightening his hold over her hand so that he could lead her towards a group of familiar doctors he spotted by the back doors.

"Hey, Tsujitani-san!" the leader of the group greeted with a smile. The man was also dressed up in a suit and had his arm around the waist of his date.

"Nobu-san!" Miroku replied. "It's nice to see you again!" Glancing over at Sango, he gently pulled her up in front of him. "This is the beauty I met at the center I work at." His smile widened at his last sentence.

Upon hearing the word "beauty," a light blush dusted the woman's face. She then managed a respectful bow before introducing herself. "My name's Kuwashima Sango."

"Pleased to meet you, Kuwashima-san," Nobu responded, returning the bow. Looking at the woman beside him, he added, "This is my wife, Kumiko."

After a while of uneasiness, Sango eventually got into the swing of things. With each new person that Miroku introduced her to, she grew more social. By the time they had walked away from the event, it was as if the young woman was the main attraction as opposed to the doctor himself.

Miroku grinned at the teacher, clearly impressed as he walked with her towards his car. "I never knew that you were such a charismatic person," he remarked. "You were practically the most popular woman there."

Sango almost averted her eyes from him, suddenly feeling embarrassed by his comment. "W-well, I kind of have to have people skills due to the nature of my job… I was just nervous at first due to the setting…"

The older man chuckled. "Since you're always so serious, I also never expected you to pick out such a revealing dress…"

The teacher's cheeks practically flamed red at the mention of the dress. "Well…t-this was actually Kagome-chan's idea…"

To this, Miroku let out an outright laugh. "Why would she suggest a dress like that?"

"…W-well, we kind of had a bet to see if she could teach Inuyasha a new phrase within a day…" Sango began. "…If she couldn't, she'd let me wear whatever I wanted, but if she could, she would get to pick out the dress for me."

The doctor shook his head. "I never knew that she had such a side to her." He then smiled in a more gentle manner. "Well, no matter the reason, the dress really suits you."

"T-thank you…" Sango then paused, remembering the type of person he was. "…I think…"

Once the two were within sight of the car, Miroku averted his head when he heard a few more of his colleagues calling him over for more last minute conversations. He then turned back towards Sango. "Do you mind?" he questioned.

The young woman shook her head. "I'll just wait by the car," she replied, continuing to head towards the car until stopping in front of the door to the passenger's side. She then idly watched as Miroku stood with his friends and talked about various things.

However, what the teacher failed to detect were the three men that closed in around her from behind. By the time she had noticed, she found herself trapped in place.

"Hey, beauty," the tallest of the three slurred, clearly sounding as if he had one too many drinks from the bar. "Why are you out here all alone? Do you need a ride home?"

Sango's eyes narrowed at the men, trying her best not to show the ebbing of fear that began to form in the back of her mind. From their casual wear of jeans and shirts, she was able to figure out that they had wandered onto the parking lot from some other place nearby. "No thank you," she began in as calm a voice as she could manage. "I already have a ride home."

Another man dared to move around the front of the car so that he stood on the other side of her. "There's no one around here," he pointed out.

Not wanting to get into any trouble, Sango immediately blurted out, "I'm here with my boyfriend so I would appreciate it if you left me alone."

As if on cue, Miroku had left his circle of friends and turned towards his car only to see Sango being hounded by strange men. Deciding to be mindful at first, he approached them calmly. "Is there something wrong here, gentlemen?"

Sango's face shown relief upon seeing the doctor, but her eyes reflected panic.

"You mean this lame guy's your boyfriend?" the tallest of them remarked before the three men laughed.

Catching onto Sango's panicked expression and the men's words, Miroku quickly knew to play along for the time being. Keeping a straight face, he responded, "Yes, this is my girlfriend so I'd appreciate it if you left her alone." His eyes narrowed at the men and moved forward in order to reach for Sango's hand.

However, before the woman could take the hand, another hand pulled back on her left wrist. Looking back, she found that it was the quieter one of the three. While she stared back at him, the letch even went as far as to grope her backside!

"C'mon! You can do better than this guy! Let us show you some real fun!" the man declared with a perverted grin in place.

Sango had finally had it with these men! Already having a low tolerance for perverted men, the fact that one had just touched her without her permission made her furious! Reaching her right arm around to her left side, she then twisted around her left wrist so that the man's grip could loosen. Once that was done, her she used her right hand to grip onto the man's own arm before pushing forward her weight to completely flip him over her shoulder!

Luckily there was no car parked in the parking spot next to them so the man only landed with a loud smack against the pavement. The man in question stared up at the glaring woman with fear in his wide eyes. It was as of he were looking at a demon! After he let out a groan of pain and got to his feet, him and his other cronies quickly made their disgraceful escape.

With the idiots gone, Sango let out a snort. "Those damn drunken perverts!" she growled. "I hope that will teach them to keep their hands to themselves in the future!"

Miroku stood by with his mouth agape, inwardly thanking his lucky stars that he had never inappropriately touched her. Despite how Sango may have appeared like a dainty woman, he now knew that she definitely was not of the sort.

Noticing the doctor's shocked expression, Sango let out a sigh. "Are we going to leave or are you going to gape at me all night?"

Instead of directly answering her, Miroku gasped out, "Don't tell me you learned that in the school you were trained in!"

It was then that the young woman chuckled slightly. "Of course not," she began before smirking. It was the type of smirk a villain could have before revealing their evil plot. "…But it does help when your father was a former mixed martial arts instructor."

The doctor could not help the involuntary shiver that ran down his spine at her answer. "Impressive…" he commented. "I never would have suspected it." Finally glancing at the keys in his hand, he went to unlock the car and waited for her to get in from her side before following suit. Once the car was out on the road, he decided to ask a question that was pricking the back of his mind. "So… why did you tell them that I was your boyfriend?"

Suddenly, to Sango, her lap became extremely interesting to stare it. A deep crimson dusted her cheeks as she worked up the urge to explain herself. "W-well… I was j-just thinking of a way to g-get them to leave me alone…" Sucking in a deep breath, she willed herself to stop stuttering like a high school girl. "I thought that if they knew I wasn't single, they would leave me alone…"

"Ah…I see…" Miroku murmured with a smile as he kept his eyes on the road.

"…T-thank you…" she then remarked to him in a timid tone.

"For what?" He found himself confused again. Why did she need to thank him for? After all, she was the one who ultimately got them to leave her alone.

"…You didn't deny my lie and you tried to help me," the young woman explained as if it were common sense he should have known already.

The doctor snickered at her words. "Maybe it was because I liked the lie a little too much?" he admitted in a teasing voice. Despite how much he would have loved to say that he was just going along with her plan, a part of him had to admit that it felt nice to be referred to as Sango's "boyfriend."

Sango flushed red again. "W-well, don't get used to it!" she sputtered.

Miroku continued laughing. "My apologies," he responded. Once at a stoplight, he turned to beam at her. "To help make up for the hectic night you have endured for my sake, would you mind if I took you out for some coffee?"

Despite how Sango was inwardly suspicious of his motives, she found herself tempted by the idea of free coffee. Returning the smile with one of her own, she chirped, "Sure, why not?"

The next day was another seemingly normal work day for everyone at the medical facility. After Miroku finished his check up on Inuyasha's health, he said a few kind words to Kagome and left the pair alone together.

Almost an hour into their session, the frustration began to mount between them yet again. "Inuyasha…" Kagome sighed when he saw his sightless eyes narrow at her. It was not like glaring at her would help him any!

Inuyasha let out a small growl. It seemed like the more she taught him, the more particular she got about what he spelled out on her palm. Even if he managed to make out a phrase for her, she would still correct him on the smallest details and then make him repeat himself.

Noticing that the young man was about to cross his arms, she grabbed for his wrist and finger-spelled, "Mou ichido." Once more. "Gomen. Chotto chigaimasu." She then apologized and told him that he was only a little off this time around.

"Keh!" the student snorted. Did she not just spell out the same thing to him the last time he tried? This was beginning to become hopeless to him!

"Inuyasha," she spelled out, wanting him to try and focus again.

Letting out an annoyed sigh as if to say "fine," Inuyasha pulled on her hand and attempted to finger-spell the latest phrase. "Itadakimasu." It was the word used to accept meals or other items.

After going through several tries, the young man had finally managed to get it perfect. Happy about this accomplishment, Kagome gently touched his arm with her unused hand. "You're doing great," she announced out loud, feeling relief that he had finally mastered the new word given to him. Despite how she nitpicked him, she knew that it was just for him to better understand how the wrong character could misspell the words and make the meanings come out completely differently.

When Inuyasha figured out that he had finally done something right, he sat back and let out a huff of annoyance as if all of that work was to prove that he was capable of doing it in the first place.

Kagome could read the expression on his face and rolled her eyes. "You're so stubborn…" she commented.

Before she could continue her lesson, a loud rap came on the door. The loudness of the bangs and the lack of pause between the knocks made the woman stand up from her seat. She knew that something was not right. She placed her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and pulled it away fast as if to signify that she would leave him for a few moments. When she noticed his slight involuntary scowl, she stifled a sigh and went to open the door.

On the other side was the tear-stained face of Shippou. "K-Kagome!" he choked out. "C-can I c-come in?" His eyes gleamed with desperation and sadness.

"Shippou-chan?" Kagome gasped, moving over to let the child roll into the room before shutting the door behind them. All of the sternness she held towards Inuyasha disappeared in an instant, replaced with concern for her friend. "What's the matter?"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed when he smelled the familiar metallic scent of the wheelchair. That annoying kid had returned. Why did Kagome constantly let Shippou into his room when it was obvious that he could not get along with him? He was prepared to growl, but he caught another scent that made him falter. Salt.

"M-my o-otou-san!" the child sobbed in anguish. "…H-he's…!"

Kagome's eyes widened, feeling her heart clench for her friend. "W-what happened to your father?"

"…H-he died t-this morning!" Shippou cried.

The girl let out a gasp, quickly following her maternal instincts to drop to her knees in front of the wheelchair and pulling the child into an embrace. "I'm so sorry about your loss…"

"S-someone set the house on fire…a-and h-he b-burned in it!" he choked out into her shoulder.

"Oh no…" Kagome murmured, feeling her eyes watering out of sympathy for her friend. "Shippou…"

As Inuyasha sat quietly, he was able to figure out that Shippou was the one that was crying since ever since the boy entered the room, he noticed the scent of salt. When he noticed that the boy's scent was getting onto Kagome, he figured out that the two were hugging. Despite how he disliked the child, he could not help but frown because he knew that his teacher cared about him.

"N-now I-I'm stuck here!" Shippou sobbed, his small hands around Kagome's neck and clutching at her shirt. He had been hoping that eventually his father would allow him to move into the house.

"If there's any way I can help you, I'll do it," the teacher murmured to her friend as a tear streaked down her own cheek.

After a few moments of silent crying, the pair was interrupted by Ringo's entrance into the room. She frowned, truly feeling pity for the newly orphaned child. "Shippou…" she sighed, last watching him when he decided to bolt off and find Kagome on his own. "I know that you wanted to tell Kagome-chan, but she's working right now…"

Kagome pulled away from Shippou slightly in order to glance up at Ringo. "I-It's fine, Ringo-chan," she assured her friend. She sucked in a shaky breath. "I-I'm not upset about it."

Realizing that he was interrupting her work yet again the young boy reluctantly pushed away from her. "…I-I'm s-sorry, Kagome… s-she's right…" he mumbled quietly. He bowed his head, his red bangs covering his sorrowful eyes.

"Shippou-chan…" the young woman sighed. "…If you still want to talk to me, I can come to your room after I finish with Inuyasha."

"…That's fine…" the child sniffled, looking up at her and forcing a smile despite the tears that still ran down his face. "T-thank you, K-Kagome…" With that, he rotated his chair and led the way out of the room with Ringo following behind him.

Seeing such an expression on the child's face was enough to break Kagome's heart. She turned towards Inuyasha and wiped her eyes in vain since more tears continued to fall. "S-sorry…" she remarked despite knowing that her student could not hear her. Using her free hand, she reached out to touch Inuyasha's arm. "W-we should get back to the lesson…"

Inuyasha let out a soft growl. Unlike all of the other growls, this one was not out of annoyance or irritation. He was frustrated with his own self because he knew that Kagome was crying in front of him and he could not do much to help her. Especially since he figured out that they were supposed to be friends, it pained him to know that she was upset.

Kagome shook her head, wiping her eyes even more. "I k-know you h-hate when I cry…" she added, pulling out Inuyasha's palm to spell out, "Shippou no otou-san ga shinimashita." Shippou's father was dead.

Figuring out that the child's name was Shippou, Inuyasha's lips twitched into a frown. Though the kid annoyed him, he could not help but feel bad for him somewhat. From the behavior the boy displayed towards him, he knew that Shippou was not much older than him when his own parents died. So Kagome was only weeping because she felt bad for Shippou? Since when did he become friends with such a selfless person?

"Gomen," she signed, feeling bad for delaying their lesson yet again.

Knowing what she meant, the young man jerked onto her arm, pulling her into his arms in order to give her a tight embrace. Even though he could not say anything to get the girl to stop crying, he hoped that actions could speak louder than words.

Kagome's eyes widened yet again, a slight blush staining her cheeks due to surprise. As much as she knew it was inappropriate to give into such an intimate gesture with her pupil, she could not help herself as her arms returned around him. She knew that he was trying to comfort her and faced his chest as more tears fell.

Despite how he disliked how Kagome was crying against him, Inuyasha had to admit that he was growing used to having the young woman in his arms. It was a nice feeling to say the least. If not for the serious situation, he would have surely blushed at such a realization.

After a while, the teacher pulled away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Inuyasha… you were concerned about me…" she murmured, touched by his attempt to comfort her.

Pulling on her hand, Inuyasha finger-spelled, "Kagome. Watashi no tomodachi." Kagome was his friend. It was as if he were explaining that that was the reason he had hugged her.

The girl smiled, signing back, "Arigatou," on his hand. She honestly knew that she barely had any right to cry for Shippou's pain since she had never known his father. She knew that his agony was obviously worse than hers. She just could not bare it whenever one of her friends was upset.

"Shippou wa daijoubu deshou," he then added back as if to say that Shippou would be fine. Inuyasha assumed that he could get through the death of his parents, the child would eventually recover over time.

Kagome's eyes widened, shocked from his attempt to cheer her up. It was the first time he had ever referred to Shippou in a positive type of way. Not only that, but it was the first time he legitimately finger-spelled anything to make her feel better! Was she finally starting to get him to open up? "…You never cease to surprise me…" she commented. Finally making up her mind, she decided to end class earlier than scheduled so that she could talk to Shippou.

After another hour passed, she informed Inuyasha that she would leave and stood up with her things.

Inuyasha inwardly sulked, knowing that she would have to go early. Nevertheless, he did not protest, letting her leave without any complaints. When he was left alone again, he allowed his own shock to surface at his actions. Since when did he care about Shippou? And why did he finger-spell such things to Kagome? Was he going soft? A small light shade of red dusted across his cheeks when he figured out the cause of his newfound kindness.

Kagome was finding her way into his heart quicker than he had ever anticipated. Was friendship supposed to make his heart beat so fast? If so, he never wanted their friendship to stop.

A/N: Aww… wasn't that last part adorable? I originally planned for a more depressing ending to this chapter but my hands typed out fluff instead. I hope you guys liked this chapter despite how long it took me to finally get it done!

And poor Shippou! I keep killing off or injuring people in this fic… lol. At least Sango and Miroku are starting to get along! Anyways… I'm so glad it didn't take me an another year to update this fic. I hope that I can update even quicker next time.

Be warned… Starting next chapter, I'm going to start skipping large gaps of time. I hope you all can keep up!

Next time: Oh no! A new development in the case of who tried to murder Inuyasha! Will they finally figure out who did it?

Also… self-promotion on my part. Does anyone reading this like Naraku/Kikyou fics or are just curious to see how a legit canon fic with that pairing would go (without bashing anyone)? If so, you should check out my fic called "Conflicted Souls"! I've been updating that fairly often lately.

http :/ www. fanfiction. net /s/4421569/1/ Conflicted_Souls (remove spaces)

-ahem-

Please review!

Ja ne!