Cold by Mitsje

Chapter 1

It was starting to rain. She sighed as the raindrops pelted her, making her hair stick to her face and back. She had been waiting for InuYasha to come and pick her up at the well, but after 1 hour, 51 minutes and, she checked her watch, 49 seconds, she decided he wasn’t coming. She didn’t want to know what is was that was keeping him busy.

“Probably some youkai attacking the village…”she thought to herself with a wry smile.

So, instead of getting even wetter, she hoisted her trusty yellow backpack on her shoulders and started in the direction of the village.

Safely arriving there, against all odds, Kaede informed her that the rest of the group had travelled to a village up north, as Naraku’s henchmen had been sighted there. Deciding to waste no time, they had left midday the day before.

“Great, so what do I do now?”

“Ye can wait here, they had said they would return in two days,” Kaede said, and added, waving a small piece of paper, “ye can help me get some herbs for my medicines.”

“In this rain?” Kagome asked.

At her question, there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a loud rumble of thunder in the distance.

Kaede nodded solemly.

“Aye, child. These herbs are best harvested when wet.”

Kagome pouted. Kaede held the door open for her.

Grumbling to herself that she had left her umbrella at home, Kagome stomped out of the hut, leaving a very satisfied Kaede behind.

After about half an hour of searching, the rain steadily getting harder, Kagome came to the conclusion that she would have to venture further into the woods if she were to get the herbs specified by the old hag. She usually had a lot of respect for the elderly, but at the moment she wanted nothing more than to drag her out of that nice, comfy warm hut of hers and make her find the herbs herself. After four years of shard hunting, she was not the girl she used to be.

“Artritis my ass… you just don’t want to get wet. You’d better hope I don’t get-*SNEEZE* a cold. Figures.”

The further from the village Kagome got, the fouler her mood became. But suddenly, fate decided to grant her a little leeway. Not far ahead, she spotted a clearing full of the herbs Kaede wanted her to get. Speeding up a bit, she may her way over. At the edge of the clearing, though, something caught her eye.

A tall figure dressed in white was standing at the other side of the little field.

Kagome faltered. What the hell was he doing there? Was he guarding the herbs or something? Were they his? Was she going to have to fight him over them? Because, if that were so, Kaede could put her stupid little list where the sun didn’t shine, but no way was she risking her life over some herbs.

On closer inspection, however, he didn’t seem to be doing anything. He was just, standing there, eyes closed, head tilted up and damp hair slightly sticking to his back. And, was she imagining things, or was there an ever so faint smile on his lips?

This needed further investigation, for sure. As quietly as she could, Kagome crept closer to him along the edge of the clearing. When she got about halfway, she noticed with a start that his armor had been discarded and was laying between the trees behind him. The rain was soaking his white haori, which, in turn, was clinging to his body. Kagome blushed. Not much was left to the imagination. She glanced down at her own soaked uniform. Well, at least they were even.

Going on until she was sure he would detect her if she got any closer, she sat down between the undergrowth and observed him. She had never seen him so relaxed. His nose up in the air, catching the raindrops, he reminded her of her neighbors’ dog on rainy days. Wait a second… neighbors’ dog?

She couldn’t help it. She felt it coming up from her stomach, and was unable to keep it in. It started as a grin, but quickly grew into a silent chuckle, making her shoulders shake, and eventually, a small snort rang through the clearing.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes shot open and he turned to where she was sitting. She could have sworn she actually shrunk a bit when his eyes made contact with hers. She prayed for a swift end as he made to cross the distance between them, and closed her eyes.

“Miko,” came his voice from somewhere above her, “stand.”

Unable to deny his order, she stood, shaking from head to toe. She wondered vaguely if it was due to the cold, the fear or that she was now staring straight at his chest, which was clearly visible through the wet fabric of his clothes. It reminded her of her own attire, and she quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

A hand came up to roughly grasp her chin and force her to look at his face. It was a lot closer than she had expected it to be.

“You shall not tell anyone about what you have witnessed this Sesshoumaru do.”

He left no room for argument. She could only shake her head. He released her with a flick of his wrist, making her stumble to the ground. When she looked up at the clearing again, he was gone, along with his armor.

Quickly gathering the herbs and heading back to the village before he changed his mind and killed her yet, she tried to make her still very prominent blush go down.

When she returned to the hut, she found that the others were there as well. They were upon her immediately.

“Child, yer face is as red as a beet. Surely you did not catch a cold?” Kaede asked, putting on her concerned face.

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Kagome said, and sneezed for some emphasis.

As InuYasha started cussing at Kaede for making her go out in this weather, Sango gave her a blanket, Miroku made her some tea and Shippou climbed in her lap, she couldn’t shake the imaging of wet silk clinging to shapely chests from her mind. This cold was going to take more than a few days to get over.