"Between Friends"-Inuyasha fanfic - (3 Parts)

[KawaiiKitty]

Okay, this is an experiment that finally decided to burst out of my head. I really, really like the idea of a sick male being taken care of by another male in a friendship sort of way. So this isn't really "slash-y"...nobody get mad, I'm not saying I don't LIKE slash, but I really like the canon pairings in this fandom and ain't gonna mess with 'em. And I really do ADORE the idea of men taking care of each other with no sexual overtones, in an expression of deep friendship. So that's what I've decided to write about. Eh, the title may change later, this is just something I came up with on the spur of the moment and I'm not sure I like it.

It's a huge departure for me, up until now any caretakers in my story have been female. So I'm not entirely sure how successful this little venture is going to be, I'm just going to throw it up there and see what happens.

Again, it's the Inuyasha fandom which I hope doesn't put anyone off. I tried to make it as friendly to non-fans as possible. The one doing the sneezing is...take a wild guess...Miroku. I love that I'm so predictable.

And in another departure, I am actually posting this before it's finished. I haven't quite decided if the cold shall decide to be contagious by the end of it, and for once I'm open to opinions on that front.

So gather 'round and listen to my little story...and tell me how great it is la, la, la... This chapter doesn't have a lot of sneezing in it because it's just the onset of the cold, but be patient...once he really gets miserable later on in the story, he'll provide a lot of them. He promises.

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Author: KawaiiKitty

Title: "Between Friends"

Fandom: Inuyasha

Summary: When Inuyasha and Miroku find themselves alone, and Miroku comes down with a cold, Inuyasha is forced to take care of him.

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Chapter 1-Unsuccessful Denial

Miroku sighed as he sat cross legged on the bare floor of the disused hut, resting his chin in his hand while listening to Inuyasha complain yet again about Kagome's propensity to return to her own era to do something called a "test" in some place she called a "school". To them, Kagome's time was 500 years in the future and Miroku felt he could hardly begrudge her the right to maintain her own life in her own era, apart from the perils of demons and jewel shards she faced while here with them, but Inuyasha seemed to be very bothered by it this time. Although, Miroku had the feeling that Inuyasha's ire was simply a case of "protesting too much", perhaps to cover up the fact that he actually really missed Kagome while she was gone and hated not being around to protect her from any dangers she may face.

Of course Miroku would never say such a thing out loud to Inuyasha's face. He liked his body the way it was, in one piece, thank you very much.

"Keh!" Inuyasha spat, flinging a small pebble across the wooden floor. "After we find all the jewel shards she can do all the tests she wants. She's just making this whole thing take longer."

Miroku smiled to himself. Yes, definitely a case of "protesting too much".

Still, he didn't understand why Sango had to accompany Kagome on her trip back to the magic well that connected the two eras. It had been at Inuyasha's insistence, for Kagome's protection he'd said. Miroku had to admit that made sense. Still, he couldn't help but entertain the daydream that if Sango were here, the cold and damp atmosphere would have provided the perfect excuse to try to convince her to snuggle up close to him for warmth. Which probably would have earned him nothing more than a slap, but he did enjoy trying.

In speaking of warmth, he sure could do with more of it he thought, drawing his feet under the protective warmth of his long flowing robes. He sighed, Inuyasha seemed to be under the impression that sleeping in comfortable houses was purely for the benefit of the females in the group and since it was just the "rugged male types" any old place would do for somewhere to sleep.

"You know," he ventured. "It's not very late, I'm sure we have time to find a nearby town and secure some decent accommodation."

Inuyasha grunted and gestured at the pouring rain that was clearly visible through the doorway that had long since ceased to hold any sort of door. "You wanna go out there in THAT, be my guest. As for me, I'm staying here where it's dry," he said airily.

Miroku pondered on that. If it came between being cold and wet or being cold and dry, his current situation was by far the lesser of two evils. After being caught in a downpour earlier in the day, he'd had enough of being cold and wet to last him for a very long time.

He drew his arms closer to his body and then, changing his mind abruptly, raised one of his arms in front of his face in time to politely cover a sudden "Hehh…het'chnxt!"

"Pardon me!" he said with a hint of surprise, followed by a sniff and after a pause, another "Ha'chggnkht…My, I don't know where THAT came from," he mused, drawing his sleeve under his nose.

Inuyasha frowned at him. "You'd better not be catching a cold. We don't have time for that sort of thing."

Miroku flashed him his best attempt at a disarming smile. "Of course I'm not. I'm just…I'm j…hehh'ESSSH!"

"Great. You ARE catching a cold."

"I'm sure it's nothing really. I'll be fine."

Inuyasha huffily stood up from his resting place and marched over to Miroku, crouching down in his inimitable canine fashion next to the young monk. "Don't be stupid," he ordered. "You humans have to be careful, you know. Your bodies are weak."

"I am not weak," Miroku protested rather…well, weakly just as Inuyasha put a surprisingly tender hand to his forehead and grumbled his displeasure at his findings.

"Well, you sure do have a fever," he said, poking at the dirt in the disused fire pit in the centre of the floor, and added with an overdramatic rolling of his eyes "Guess we're going to have to try to find a way to warm this place up for you."

Miroku, in an attempt to prove his infallible health, put his own hand to his forehead and felt slightly vindicated when he could feel no change in temperature. He opened his mouth to smugly point that out, but Inuyasha's attention was already distracted by trying to find suitable materials for a fire among the junk and debris strewn about the room. Miroku decided not to dissuade him, a little warmth would be a wonderful thing, but he did wonder how exactly Inuyasha planned to light anything on fire, given the absence of fire-type demons Shippou and Kirara who usually lent a hand in such matters.

Of course…Kagome often had something to hand for just such an occasion, what where they called again? Miroku simply regarded them as magic little sticks that produced flame on demand. Kagome had left them with a pile of supplies, mostly bags of unperishable snacks and bottles of water, but possibly she had left some of those magic sticks in with those.

As Inuyasha piled his scrounged items into the fire pit with an almost comical expression of concentration on his face, complete with the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth, Miroku crawled over to where the supplies left by Kagome sat, rummaging around to see if he could find any of the magic fire sticks.

At nearly the exact moment that he triumphantly located and clutched the little yellow matchbox, Miroku felt a hand grab his shoulder roughly.

"Oi!" Inuyasha demanded. "What are you doing? You sit over there and relax and let me take care of everything, understand?"

"Fine, fine," muttered Miroku, shuffling back to his original spot and adding a sigh as Inuyasha snatched the box of matches away from him. "Inuyasha, do you even know what to do with those?"

Inuyasha grunted a reply that could have only meant "no". Miroku held out his hand to request the box back.

"I've watched Kagome do this," he explained. "I think I…hehh'ETCCHGHT…I think I can manage to make them work." He surreptitiously dabbed the underside of his nose with the back of his wrist, hoping Inuyasha wouldn't notice. Unfortunately for him, there was little that Inuyasha's keen half-demon senses ever failed to register.

"As long as you hurry," Inuyasha said, handing Miroku the matches. "We need to get you warmed up, the last thing we need is for you to get any sicker."

"I'm not really 'sick'," he argued, while fumbling with a match in an attempt to imitate the way he had observed Kagome wield them. "Just because I have sneezed a little bit, just a little bit mind you, doesn't necessarily mean that I'm-AH!"

He interrupted himself with an exclamation of surprise as the match burst into a small but sudden hiss of orange flame and in his shock he flung the object in the direction of the fire pit, where it promptly burnt out. Miroku sighed and took out another match, concentrating hard on striking it against the side of the box, determined not to be taken by surprise again.

"There now!" he said proudly as he managed to light the match, holding up his accomplishment between thumb and forefinger to both admire it and show it off. "I told you I'd be able to…hahh'NKTCCH!….heeehh'ESSHH!"

If the first one hadn't killed the fledgling flame, the second one certainly did. "Oh…" Miroku said glumly, looking at the now dead match with and expression of dismay. "My apologies."

"Aagh! Give me that!" Inuyasha snapped, snatching the matchbox out of Miroku's hands. Miroku took advantage of Inuyasha being distracted by trying to light the flame to have an opportunity to wipe his nose with the long flowing sleeve of his monk's robes without being caught participating in such an impolite act. Luckily, Inuyasha didn't seem to have noticed but unluckily a simple pass with his sleeve wasn't nearly enough to clear up the problem and he was forced to sniffle loudly which was enough to attract anyone's attention.

"Yeah. You're not sick." Inuyasha said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, looking up from the rather successful start of a fire he'd managed to get going in order to fix Miroku with a glare that was strangely halfway between annoyed and concerned. "Go on, what are you waiting for, huh? Get closer to the fire so you can warm up."

Miroku smiled to himself in perplexed amusement. It seemed, in his own unique way, Inuyasha had decided to care for him…

To Be Continued!

[mystic-chibi]

Aww yay! Another great Miroku story!

Oh having Inuyasha take care of Miroku is just so sweet! I love it!

[crazy_cat_girl]

This is WONDERFUL!!!

And you're right, when a guy takes care of another guy, it really says something about their bond. It's like, you know, brotherhood. And Inuyasha and Miroku are perfect for that kind of thing.

Did I mention that you are awesome?

I love this show.

I hope that you continue soon!

:-)

[shy_obsession]

Eee! I LOVE this so far! I think it was a great idea to use two male characters. Miroku reminds me so much of myself in this story because he never wants the other person to notice his runny nose. When I'm sick, that really bothers me. I get so embarrassed and self-conscious, so I refused to sniff and I wait until people to turn around to dab my nose like this. Ickk, just writing about that embarrassed me. But yeah, this is going to be a great story!

[aggedy_ann]

This is fabulous. Please, please more. You know how to make me a happy Brigid.

And since Sango went with Kagome, you'll have to snuggle Miroku to keep him warm. And I loved the bit with the matches.

[Enkidom]

Aaah, I love how you've captured the dynamic between the two characters here, it's superbly done. And the sneezing out the match made me laugh out loud. As someone who does a lot of camping I have complete sympathy with poor old Miroku there! Matches are actually all sentient and utterly evil.

And I particularly liked the opening few paragraphs, the way that they set the scene while instantly capturing the essence of the characters.

Definitely looking forward to more!

[chui]

*SQUEE* *blushes* ive never seen any Inuyasha, so since i dont know much about the characters, i havent read much of the fic before....but this is so AWESOME!!!! omg...just too cute!! i have to agree with brigid....the matches bit was so funny... im gonna have to go watch this now!!!!

[Quite Contrary]

WHEE! yay, i lurves this story!! So kawaii, i luv how Miroku is acting!

*waits for more* plz?

[Niceguy]

That's great! Captured InuYasha's impatient caring perfectly! Will you continue it?

[doggo]

I haven't watched Inuyahsa, but this was sooo cute I love the way the one taking care is a bit too inpatient for it, and the one who's being taken care of is a bit too embarrassed for it... thank you!

[KawaiiKitty]

Whoa...I left this for a really long time. I had high hopes for it and then I got really busy with work and stuff and all the really fun things like working on sneezefics fell by the wayside. But man alive, I think this is the most replies I ever got for a first chapter before and there are no words for how awesome this makes me feel. Really.

This chapter is a bit longer than I usually make my chapters. Perhaps that shall make up for the wait. I don't know if people like longer chapters or if it makes it too hard to keep the attention. But there wasn't really a good stopping point anywhere else.

There are a couple of bits in here that might be...too weird. Of course, I keep forgetting that I'm writing these for a FETISH site so going on for paragraphs about assisted nose blowing might not actually be that strange. Still, I'm a bit nervous over the reaction to those particular parts.

At any rate, I shall shut up now and here is Chapter 2

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Miroku sat reflectively listening to the sounds around him. He found it calming to hear the sound of the large heavy raindrops pelting the surroundings, intermingled by the comforting crackling of the fire reminding them that no matter the weather outside, it would be there to provide them with it's light and warmth.

Warmth…although the fire had improved the situation somewhat, Miroku still felt uncomfortably chilly. Even through his layers of clothes he could still feel the biting chill of the evening air. He huddled up as close to the fire as he possibly could without actually setting himself on fire, and tried to take his mind off his discomfort by focusing on listening to the sound of the rain.

"Hehhh…eeehhkssht! Ihhgghht!"

If only he wasn't the one who kept interrupting it.

He snuffled into his sleeve, realising that he was feeling more and more congested as time went on. It had gone from being purely a minor irritation to a more pressing problem in quite a short space of time.

Inuyasha looked up at Miroku, seemingly disturbed from an uncharacteristically quiet reverie and snorted.

"Great, now you're getting worse. Didn't I tell you not to get any worse?"

"I really don't recall you saying anything of that sort. And has anyone ever told you that your caring heart is absolutely unparalleled?" Miroku said with a hint of tired sarcasm, followed by an even more tired "Hehhh…nngghxt!"

"What are you talking about? If I didn't care about you I'd tell you to stay sick, wouldn't I?"

Miroku had to laugh because on some level it made a bizarre sort of sense. He pulled his arms closer to his body and then remarked very unconvincingly "And I really am fine, you know!"

"Is that so? Have you seen your face lately?"

Miroku had to admit that he had not. If he had, he would have seen that his cheeks had taken on quite a flushed tinge, a betrayal of his growing fever so obvious that no amount of protesting about not having a fever would ever be able to convince anyone. His complexion had an annoying tendency to betray him in the exact same way whenever he'd indulged in a bit too much to drink, or had a particularly "interesting" thought about females…he couldn't get away with anything, he lamented silently save for a dramatic sigh.

He raised his gloved right hand to his face and coughed gently and politely. Noting Inuyasha's scrutinising expression, he smiled and attempted to make a glib comment about being "perfectly fine, really" but a second bout of coughing rendered that impossible. He stroked his neck as he cleared his throat, his throat was beginning to feel quite scratchy. Naturally, stroking his neck had absolutely no soothing effect, nor did his attempts at clearing it, so he was forced to cough even more forcefully.

Another feeling that was quickly becoming prominent in his body was a growing sense of hunger in the pit of his stomach. The bags of snacks left by Kagome were there for the taking but Miroku remembered from previous experience that these rarely satisfied hunger for very long. What he really felt like he needed was something hot and substantial.

His stomach growled at the thought, much to his chagrin, causing his cheeks to flush even redder than they already were. He opened his mouth to apologise but at the last moment suddenly scrunched up his face and uttered a plaintive sounding "Ha'chggnkht!"

And then to add insult to injury, his stomach growled again.

"You're hungry," Inuyasha observed.

Miroku snuffled and cleared his throat before replying "Mmm. I think I'll have one of those snacks that Kagome left for us."

Inuyasha snorted. "Don't be dumb. When you're in THAT condition, you need to eat something cooked. Meat. Fish maybe."

"It would be nice. But, no point in worrying about that sort of thing because there is absolutely no way to get any of that."

"Eh? What do you mean about 'no way'? There's a river right over there with plenty of fish in it."

"Didn't you…heh'EEESSH!…just say that you didn't want to go outside into that rain?" Miroku pointed out and then raised his sleeve to his face to try and hide the sound of his sniffling, which was becoming louder and even more insistent. Then he continued: "Unless…you intend for me to go out there and catch the fish?"

"Don't be stupid," Inuyasha said, standing and turning towards the doorway of the hut. "Not with that cold of yours you won't. I'll go."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Miroku said gently. "Don't forget that you're not entirely immune to these things, and it wouldn't do for you to end up catching a cold as well." Then, he mentally kicked himself for the "as well" part, it really did ruin the whole "I'm not actually sick" argument he was trying to put up.

"Keh. I'm not built like you humans, remember? I'm not so weak as to get sick as easily as you."

Miroku grunted to indicate that he wasn't going to let the needling remark get under his skin. Instead he smiled gently and said "All the same, Inuyasha, I'd be grateful if you sat down and gave up the idea of going fishing right now. Getting soaked to the skin is unpleasant for anyone and I wouldn't want you to do that on my…ehh…ehh'KSSHHT!…account." He cursed the sneeze under his breath, he'd dearly wanted to finish that speech without interrupting himself.

Inuyasha looked as if he wanted to argue but reluctantly sat back down next to the fire.

Silence fell over the hut again, with the comforting sound of the fire and the pelting rain the only noise that was heard. Miroku tried to distract himself from his sore throat and empty stomach by attempting to focus all of his available attention on listening to the sounds. It didn't work and he soon found himself scrunching up his face in frustration as he felt that now familiar burning tickle in the back of his nose.

He raised the back of his hand delicately to his face to block a harsh and desperate "Hehhh…nngghxt!" Sensing that more were certainly on the way, and that they were going to call for a more substantial cover, he buried his face in the long flowing black sleeves of his robe.

"Heh'IHHNNGHT! Ehh'KSSSHHT!"

He sniffed loudly and wetly, far too fatigued by now to even bother trying to disguise it. Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something but Miroku pre-empted it by putting his hand up and saying with a deceptively placating smile "I'm fine."

Muttering something that sounded like "Suit yourself" but could possibly have been something far ruder, Inuyasha returned to enjoying the relative silence. The silence was "relative" due to the small fact that it was broken at nearly evenly spaced intervals by the sound of Miroku sniffling. The repetition of the noise would have been enough to drive even the most patient and/or hard of hearing person insane, so if was in fact quite impressive that Inuyasha's patience lasted as long as it did. With ever short, sharp *sniff* that filled the air, his eyebrows and his white dog like ears twitched, his impatience growing ever more evident on his face.

Finally, he predictably exploded, slamming his palms onto the ground and growling pointedly at Miroku "Blow your damn nose already!"

Miroku gave a placid smile. "Thank you for your concern…*sniff*…but I really don't need to right now…*sniff*"

"Like hell you don't. You're going to drive me crazy. Either you blow your nose and give me some quiet, or I'm going to kick you out of here." He glared straight at Miroku as if issuing a challenge, and thrust a pack of one of Kagome's more unusual yet useful items called "disposable tissues" toward him.

Miroku pushed the tissue-pack-clutching hand gently away and chuckled "I am…*sniff*…certain you'd never do that, Inuyasha." The light hearted playful quality that he'd intended the sentence to have was marred by the deep and heavy congestion that was evident in his voice.

Inuyasha opened the pack of tissues and took one out. "You do need to, and you're gonna," he ordered.

Miroku laughed again and was going to say something about not being a child who needed to be looked after, but he never got the chance. He'd forgotten just how fast Inuyasha could move when he wanted to, and before Miroku could even react, he found a square of flimsy yet somehow scratchy paper clamped firmly onto his nose, and Inuyasha was behind him holding him firmly in place with an arm across his chest.

"Wh-wh-what are you doing?" he stammered in alarm as he tried to back away from the tissue and the Inuyasha's hand which happened to be attached to it. Inuyasha thwarted Miroku's escape attempt by grabbing him by the small black ponytail at the nape of his neck and holding his head firmly in place so that the bewildered young monk found himself held hostage by a determined half demon and a tissue.

"I'm not letting you go until you blow, so you might as well get it over with."

Miroku's frantic protests were muffled by the tissue, and it was certain that Inuyasha wouldn't have listened anyway. Miroku grimaced. He would really have preferred not to have to flaunt his bodily functions in front of anyone, if he had to do THIS he might as well hitch up his robes and pee on the fire right NOW while he was at it too. Still, there was no getting out of it now.

"Fine," he muttered. "Can you at least let go, I can hold it for myself you know." He didn't entirely trust the strength of these flimsy things and the only fate worse than having to blow his nose in front of an audience would be if that tissue were to come apart in someone else's hands. He struggled and squirmed in an attempt to wrest control of the tissue away from his friend.

"Not falling for that," Inuyasha said. "If I let you go, you will just try to get away. I know enough not to let my guard down around you…I've battled you, remember? I'm not letting you go until you do it. I can stay here all day…can you?"

In a brief flash of annoyance, Miroku thought it would rather serve Inuyasha right if a messy situation were to result. This uncharitable thought was overshadowed by the fact that he'd detected a compliment about his skills in battle hidden within Inuyasha's statement, and he felt a twinge of gratitude for that.

And then he thought perhaps it was time to finally face the music and do what needed to be done. Taking a deep breath, he blew his nose into the waiting tissue, slowly and carefully to avoid any possibility of an unfortunate accident. He hadn't anticipated how good it would feel to clear his nasal passages…or just how much clearing needed to be done.

When he was finished, Inuyasha released his grip on Miroku's hair and flung the well soaked tissue into the fire where it hissed and spat angrily before slowly beginning to brown at the edges. Then, he turned and wiped the fingers of the hand he'd used to hold the tissue on the edge of his baggy red clothes, much to Miroku's dismayed embarrassment.

But Inuyasha said nothing about that. All he said was "There now, perhaps we can get some quiet."

Miroku, mortified into silence, said nothing. But any of the hoped for quietness was short lived however, as Miroku's stomach growled once again.

Inuyasha stood up. "That's it. I'm going out to catch some fish."

"We've been through this," Miroku protested weakly. "It's not a good idea."

Inuyasha held up his hands so that his long, white, claw-like fingernails were clearly visible. "This is me we're talking about. It will talk five minutes at the most."

It was easily true. Inuyasha's powerful hands and lightening fast reflexes usually meant he could catch a fish with his bare hands in mere moments. Miroku did wonder if the fish would be out in this weather. Did fish shelter from the rain? He didn't know.

There was no reasoning with Inuyasha when he was determined to do something. No matter Miroku's protests, he disappeared out into the unrelenting rainstorm leaving Miroku in the hut on his own. At least it affording him a spot of time to indulge in some day dreams. How nice it would be to be nursed by Sango for example…perhaps even being allowed to rest with his head in her lap. He smiled wryly. Not likely to happen in the near future of course, but that was what daydreams were for, right? Succumbing to the silence and the solitude, he allowed his mind to slip further and further into fantasy.

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More to come soon!

[tma]

*FLAILS* How did I miss this before??? *smacks self on forehead*

This is SOOO cute. Granted I don't know much re: the characters- but from what I've heard it seems to be really in character. I completely ADORE the back and forth.

And Inuyasha protestsing re: Kagome... that was really cute.

Oh.. and the making the fire... I Totally loved that.

And the fish catching... that was great.

And here are a couple of my Favourite lines.

Miroku gave a placid smile. "Thank you for your concern…*sniff*…but I really don't need to right now…*sniff*"

"Like hell you don't. You're going to drive me crazy. Either you blow your nose and give me some quiet, or I'm going to kick you out of here." He glared straight at Miroku as if issuing a challenge

:lol:

And...

How nice it would be to be nursed by Sango for example…perhaps even being allowed to rest with his head in her lap. He smiled wryly. Not likely to happen in the near future of course, but that was what daydreams were for, right? Succumbing to the silence and the solitude, he allowed his mind to slip further and further into fantasy.

Awwww!!!! :D

[crazy_cat_girl]

Awwwww! This is so beautiful!

I love it to pieces!

Please write more soon :-)

[KawaiiKitty]

Okay, chapter three has the opposite problem...it's a little shorter than I usually make. Heck, easier to read right? And it has less sneezing in it but the muses INSISTED it goes this way, I had very little choice in the matter.

This story is really deciding to flow out of me right now so I may...GASP...actually finish it in the near future. I actually know what has to happen next and how it ends, it's just a case of writing it down in words that do the scenes in my head justice.

So...

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Chapter 3

Miroku hadn't realised that he'd drifted off to sleep until he was startled back awake. Although he should have known that what he was witnessing was in fact a dream due to the sheer improbable wonderfulness of it all: despite the fact that even in the dream he was still snuffly and feverish, it was in far more pleasant surroundings. It involved a comfortable mat with a fresh warm blanket, but instead of a pillow his head rested on Sango's knees and she stroked his hair and mopped his brow with a cool wet cloth while looking down at him with a look of maternal tender concern. The words "You're so irresistibly handsome, even when you're unwell" might have figured in there somewhere, a few times over in fact.

So he was not at all pleased to have that torn from him only to discover that he was in fact sleeping while sitting upright with no blanket in sight, in a dimly lit and damp hut, next to a diminishing fire and of course Sango was nowhere to be found.

And the source of his rude awakening was Inuyasha standing in the doorway, dripping wet and clutching a string of fairly small sized fish.

"Hnnh?" Miroku said groggily, momentarily forgetting where he was and what was going on. "Has it been five minutes already?"

"Five minutes, are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how hard it was to catch even THESE puny things. Keh!" Inuyasha's face twisted into a merge of scowling and rolling his eyes. "Look at this fire," he scolded, throwing a scrap of wood onto the flame. "You're hopeless, Miroku. What's going to happen to your health if you let it get too cold in here?"

Miroku blinked sleepily at Inuyasha. "What's going to happen to your health? Look at you! You're soaked!"

Inuyasha snorted derisively and shook himself off like a dog, sending a shower of water droplets flying in Miroku's direction. Miroku gave a pathetic attempt at a playful smile and added "Besides, it's going to smell of wet dog in here now."

Inuyasha rapped Miroku over the head with a clenched fist. "Yeah, you don't sound like you can smell anything anyway. And don't call me a dog," he growled. "And will you stop trying to change the subject? Damn it, Miroku. When are you ever going to get it into your thick head that people might actually care about you?"

Miroku looked up with surprise shining in his violet eyes. It was a notion that he was getting used to, having spent the majority of his life up to this point as a solitary wandering monk, driven only by the need to defeat the one who had cursed his bloodline and rid himself of the threat of death that loomed over his head like a black cloud-or failing that, at least produce an heir to carry out this task.

The fact that he now had companions that cared about his fate and stood by him certainly meant a lot to him, but sometimes the alien concept of trusting others didn't come very easily.

He opened his mouth, intending to say something but not quite able to find the words for it. Instead, however, he found himself scrunching up his face in frustration and rushing to cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve.

"Heh'NNNGXXT! Heh'EEESSSHH!" he sneezed harshly, and with a somewhat painful sounding edge, followed by a heavy sigh. "You know, I think it's possible that I don't feel entirely well after all."

Inuyasha rapped Miroku over the head again, but more gently this time. "It's about time. How many times are you going to make us worry about you, anyway?"

Then, as if to signify that the matter was no longer open for discussion, Inuyasha crouched down next to the fire and began skewering the fish with sticks and arranging them over the fire, trying to get them the perfect distance at which they would cool nicely but not get burnt by the flame. It was probably an exercise in pointlessness, the fish usually did get burnt unless Kagome was the one cooking them, but Inuyasha but so much concentration into it-to the point that the tip of his tongue stuck out from his mouth slightly-that Miroku thought it would have been cruel to say so.

Miroku sniffled and rubbed at his nose to try to itch away an oncoming tickle. It only seemed to make it worse however, and that familiar look of half concentration, half desperation came across his face. He raised his hands in preparation but after a few desperate inhalations, nothing came of it.

"Ah, never mi-" he tried to say with a relieved smile, but the breaths took over again. His hands hovered near his face as for what felt like an eternity, to him at least, sharp demanding inhalations commanded the absolute attention of his entire body.

"Oi!" Inuyasha shouted in alarm. "Not on the fish!"

Miroku buried his face in both his long sleeves. "HeehhhEEEEKKKSSSSH!" After he'd finished, he sniffled and said haughtily, yet in a pathetically heavy voice "Not on the fish? You should know me well enough to know that I'd never do anything so rude. That would be more your style, wouldn't it?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and brandished his fist at Miroku. "You want another one of these?"

"You mean I get a choice? You really are…heeh'nngghxt, pardon me…you really are kind."

"Maybe I just feel sorry for you because you're so weak," Inuyasha needled.

"Hmph!" Miroku grunted, folding his arms, although the stern impression he was trying to give off was marred by the need to sniffle and wipe his nose with his sleeve. He found himself starting to shiver even more uncontrollably and it was becoming impossible to hide his discomfort.

"You're cold," Inuyasha said in a low, almost tender voice.

"It's to be expected," Miroku said. "It is nighttime, and the air has become much chillier."

"I could make the fire bigger, but then we might run out of things to burn before the morning…"

Miroku thought of making a crack about it being unusual for Inuyasha to think ahead like that, but decided it wasn't really the time for such things. Inuyasha was being pretty kind to him, and he really ought to show his gratitude somehow.

"Not to worry," Miroku said with a smile. I've survived worse things than a cold, I'm sure I'll live."

"I don't know why you insist on playing games with your own health. Why is it so hard to get you to look after yourself?"

Miroku arched an eyebrow. "Is this coming from the same person who didn't want to rest off a large stab wound in his stomach?"

"I told you, my body is different to you humans," then Inuyasha paused, recalling that particular moment in their history. "Perhaps I should force you to rest the same way you forced ME to rest…tell me, do YOU like being kicked in the back?"

Miroku held up his hands. "Not necessary, not necessary!"

"You kicked me a lot, now that I remember it," Inuyasha scowled.

"Well, you wouldn't lie down," Miroku said sheepishly. "Anyhow, that was a long time ago and I…hehh'EEEKSSSH!" With yet another sigh, he sniffed, seemingly forgetting the end of his sentence. This was quickly followed by another bout of shivering.

"Hang in there," Inuyasha said. "This shouldn't take long to cook and getting something hot into you should warm you up."

Miroku nodded, and shivered again. The food couldn't come quickly enough.

***************************************************

To be continued! (and soon, too! )

[Quite Contrary]

Yay! I'm so glad you continued this story! Miroku is such a cute pain-in-the-butt, isn't he? More plz!

[tma]

It involved a comfortable mat with a fresh warm blanket, but instead of a pillow his head rested on Sango's knees and she stroked his hair and mopped his brow with a cool wet cloth while looking down at him with a look of maternal tender concern. The words "You're so irresistibly handsome, even when you're unwell" might have figured in there somewhere, a few times over in fact.

DIED!!! I honestly melted into a little puddle o' goo.

Miroku looked up with surprise shining in his violet eyes. It was a notion that he was getting used to, having spent the majority of his life up to this point as a solitary wandering monk, driven only by the need to defeat the one who had cursed his bloodline and rid himself of the threat of death that loomed over his head like a black cloud-or failing that, at least produce an heir to carry out this task.

AWWW!!! *snuggles Miroku*

"Oi!" Inuyasha shouted in alarm. "Not on the fish!"

Miroku buried his face in both his long sleeves. "HeehhhEEEEKKKSSSSH!" After he'd finished, he sniffled and said haughtily, yet in a pathetically heavy voice "Not on the fish? You should know me well enough to know that I'd never do anything so rude. That would be more your style, wouldn't it?"

Loved the exchanges between the two- Cannot wait to see more. *grins*

[Guest Xylaphone]

I remember reading this during my lurker days.

It's so cute! I love the lil banter between Mirkoku and Inuyasha.

Keep up the great work!

[aggedy_ann]

I love it. (I've finally started to catch up on the show so I'm understanding more and more now as well It's nice having it and not having to wait and see if I'm up at 2 am when it's on, and the last few times I actually was, I fell asleep 5 mins in. )

Seriously...I'm loving the exchange between the two. Mmm....I just want to snuggle Miroku, but I think that's your job, not mine.

[Hai]

Please write more. Please write more. Please write more. Please write more.