Revolving Around Water by Vixeria Snow

Scents

Quote of the Day:

Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol.

~Anonymous

Revolving Around Water - Chapter Three:

Scents

He opened his eyes slightly. Something felt off. Not the normal "Naraku is coming" off, but the kind of off where there was something amiss. Cracking both his eyes open to look around the camp, he saw nothing was out of the ordinary. Sango and Miroku were fast asleep. Kirara was curled up in Sango's lap. Shippou was out like a light and Kagome-

Jumping up as fast as lightning, he sniffed the area. "Sango, Miroku! Get up!" He exclaimed, "Kagome's gone!"

Jumping awake at the hanyou's outburst, Sango eyed the area where she had last seen Kagome."Inuyasha, calm down," she said, "she probably just had to go pee."

"Fine, but if she ain't back here in three minutes, we're going after her," Inuyasha stated, plopping himself down on the ground beside them. He began to twitch tap his knees, one of his legs bouncing in impatience.

Sango and Miroku shared a look before sitting upright and stretching. It was only a few hours before morning - might as well wake up for the time being. Kagome had made them such an amazing dinner last night - it was as if she wanted them to get fat and lazy.

The camp went silent as they watched Inuyasha impatiently wait for Kagome to come back. When three minutes passed, he jumped up, scaring the whits out of everyone. "I'm going to look for her," he stated.

"Maybe she is taking a bath," Sango said. It really wasn't that surprising if she thought about it. Kagome had been the most irritated out of all of them the past two days and truthfully, it was getting annoying. Maybe this is exactly what the girl needed to relax.

"Let us wait a little longer," Miroku said, not in the least bit worried.

"Fine," he said, sitting back down and doing the same thing once more.

Kagome giggled before looking up at the moon. Boy, time sure did fly when you were having fun. She gasped when she realized she had been gone for far too long. She looked at her hands and noticed she was beginning to wrinkle. She giggled and looked at Sesshomaru to see that he had stopped playing as well.

"Sorry, Sesshomaru," she said, "I've got to get going."

"Hn," he said, "you are worried about the half breed."

"No, not really," Kagome said, "I could care less what happens with him. I just don't want to make everyone worry. I also don't want to be putting up a fight if Inuyasha comes looking for me."

"Hn," Sesshomaru said. "Our time was...enjoyable."

Kagome smiled at him as she got dressed. When she finished, she turned to see that Sesshomaru was struggling with his hakama. He was facing the side a bit, trying to get it to tie properly, but he was failing miserably. Giggling once more, she walked over and grabbed hold of his tie along with his haori. She fixed him up, tucking his haori in as best she could before tying the knot.

"Don't get used to this," Kagome said with a laugh, "I'm only doing this because you looked like you were having trouble."

He grunted something she couldn't hear before picking up his armor and placing around his torso. He clasped it together easily enough before placing his sash around his waist which, Kagome once again, tied it neatly. He stuck his swords on his his left hip before leaning over slightly to put his boots on. Once they were secure, he looked at Kagome, who had wrapped a towel around her hair.

"Will I see you again sometime?" She asked.

"Hn," he said with a nod of his head, "perhaps."

Kagome smiled at him. "Alright," she said, "I'll see you later."

He nodded and she turned her back on him with a saddened smile. She knew she would see him again, but she couldn't help but feel saddened that it would be a while before she could see him again. It really did suck.

As for Sesshomaru, he was admiring the her backside from those tight things she called "shorts" before he, too, turned and disappeared.

"That's it, she's been gone too long!" Inuyasha yelled, startling Shippou who was just falling back to sleep.

"Calm down, Inuyasha," Kagome's voice called from the surrounding trees, "before you wake up the entire forest."

Everyone looked over to see Kagome walking over to them with a towel around her head and wearing - god, what was that?

Kagome was wearing some tight shorts that looked like they had been pants at one time. They looked like they were rolled all the way up to her thighs, leaving lots of bare skin for the world to see. Her top seemed even more revealing than her bottoms - she wore a spaghetti strap white shirt that had a flower petal design swirling around it to a corner of the shirt. It stopped just above her belly button, showing off her curves and skin once again. Her breasts were nicely accentuated with the spaghetti strap shirt.

"K-Kagome," Sango said with wide eyes, "what on earth are you wearing?"

Miroku was currently having a nosebleed while Inuyasha couldn't help but stare with huge, wide puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, this?" She asked. "Well, it was actually at the back of my closet. I figured with the days getting so hot, this would come in handy. I actually brought the matching outfit with me - I figured it would keep you cool, too. As for Inuyasha and Miroku, I got them something to wear, too in this hot weather. Shippou was a tough find, but I managed."

Sango's jaw nearly hit the floor when she heard that Kagome had gotten her an outfit just like hers. With wide eyes, she turned to look at Miroku, who had somehow managed to knock himself out. Inuyasha had blood slowly dripping from his nose.

"Inuyasha, clean yourself up," she said, "I'm beginning to think you're more like Miroku than you lead everyone to believe."

Snapping out of his daze, he quickly shook his head and glared at Sango. Kagome laughed hysterically before walking over to her bag. She needed to comb out her hair. It was going to be a long morning. Kagome dug through her bag and grabbed a brush before taking a seat on her sleeping bag and unwrapping her hair from the towel. She sighed in bliss as the brush ran through her hair almost smoothly. It was odd - usually after she got through taking a bath, it would be so tangled. Maybe it was because this time when she took her, ahem, bath, she didn't proceed with washing it with shampoo and conditioner.

Opening her eyes, she came face to face with an angry-looking Inuyasha. "Where the hell were you?" He asked.

"I told you this already, Inuyasha," Kagome replied, growing irritated, fast. Didn't he ask this question once already? Wasn't once enough anyway?

His nose was twitching and he was sniffing at her hands. "What the fuck, Kagome!" He suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her wrists, "What the hell were you doing with my brother?"

Kagome blinked. She forgot to cover the scent. Looking over to Sango and Miroku, who had worry etched onto their faces, she turned back to look at Inuyasha. "He was just passing through." Kagome said. It was the truth - Sesshomaru said so himself. "I was being an idiot. I came out of the bath, got dressed, and while on my way back, I, quite literally, bumped into Sesshomaru. I didn't really bump into him like, fall on him or anything, I actually lost my balance and he grabbed my hand to hold me up. It wasn't exactly the most gentle gesture though. He did it roughly - I think I might get bruise on my wrist later." She gulped slightly, hoping they bought her alibi, even though she didn't quite believe it herself. She knew she didn't just "bump into" Sesshomaru. And she knew very well there wouldn't be any bruises - maybe she can use makeup? No, Inuyasha would smell it right away. She might get lucky and think they would forget by then?

"Could you let go of my wrist so I can go back to straightening out my hair?" She asked. He growled and looked at her suspiciously, but he seemed to have bought the lie. Maybe she wasn't in so much trouble after all?

He let go of her wrist as though he was disgusted or something. Then he hopped back up into the tree he was perched in hours earlier. He would tell her the following evening about everything. He would make sure he got his point across, no matter the cost.

Just wait, Kagome, he though to himself. You will see.

It was late afternoon when the group finally decided to just stop and rest for once. It was just too humid to do anything. Sango had finally consented and let Kagome "dress her up" in those weird modern clothes she had brought from the future with her. Miroku did the same as well, though he had no idea how to put them on, he had Inuyasha show him. When Kagome took him with her to the modern era, she made him wear "shorts" sometimes and Souta had helped him out with that.

Kagome figured Inuyasha knew how to do this, so let him handle Shippou and Miroku. She, however, got to work with Sango's matching set. She wore the same spaghetti strapped-shirt, but it was pink with white flower petals going around it. She wore the same "booty-shorts" and sandles.

Kagome smiled at her handy work before checking her own self over. She, out of everyone, didn't feel nearly as hot and sticky as the others. Sango still carried her bone boomerang on her back and had managed to find hiding places for various other weapons - though, Kagome had no idea where she was storing it all. When they came out, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Shippou were wearing shorts that reached their knees.

"I feel," Miroku said with a frown, "exposed."

Sango and Kagome laughed at that. "You're telling me," Sango said, "I have been...demoted to wearing something skimpy."

"Hey!" Kagome laughed with Sango. She knew she was only joking. Sango had to admit, however, that it was rather refreshing to get out of her slayers' suit and kimono for a change. It felt weird wearing one of those things that Kagome called - what was it? Panties and a bra?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked at Miroku when she heard a jingling noise. He had his staff in his hands, as always, and was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She sighed - she was being "checked out" (as Kagome would put it) by Miroku. Innocently touching the edge of her boomerang, she let it slide precariously off her shoulder and smacked Miroku squarely in the forehead.

Swirly eyed and on the ground, Miroku faced her. "That was uncalled for," he said in a daze.

"Mmhm," Sango said. "Completely." She was being sarcastic, she knew she was, but she loved having his eyes on her, and what made it even more delicious was the fact that she got to smack him around for it.

Kagome rose an eyebrow at the two but shook her head as Shippou diverted her attention. He hopped onto her shoulder and she looked at him with a smile. "Kagome, are we going to stop to eat a snack and go swimming?"

Kagome laughed. "It's not good to go swimming in the rainy season."

"But you had stream water scent on you this morning," he said with a frown.

Kagome nodded, "That's true. But I also have been vaccinated for these kinds of things."

"Vacated?" Sango said, not sure if she heard right.

"Vaccinated," Kagome repeated as Sango came to walk at her side. "It's one of those things future people do. Every human being who is born is to have shots - which means they stick these needles in you to keep you immune to certain things, like poison, illness, and many more things. That's pretty much what vaccinated means - I'm immune to lot's of things."

"You mean," Sango said with wide eyes, "if you were suddenly hit with poison, you wouldn't be affected?"

Kagome shook her head, "I'll be affected. Remember Tsubaki? You know how she poisoned me?" Sango nodded, "I was only able to withstand it because of the immunity shots I received back home. That's why I was able to move like I did. Most people say I just have the willpower to do that, but in reality, it really is the doctors - or healers - from my time. They are what keep me going here."

"Oh, I see," Sango said with a nod. "Almost makes you a different species." She was joking, but Kagome elbowed her anyway. The two laughed before continue on in silence. Everything was quiet. There were birds chirping, but Kagome supposed that was natural.

Later, as the sun began to set, and everyone had just eaten dinner. They all sat around the campfire telling "ghost" stories as Kagome liked to call them. When Shippou began to get too scared, everyone laughed and decided to just settle for conversation. Soon enough, however, everyone began nodding off, and Kagome was once again the only one awake. She was startled, though, when Inuyasha jumped from his perch and tugged on her arm, making her stand and follow after him.

They walked quite the distance, with him leading her to the middle of nowhere. Finally, he stopped at what looked to be a fallen log. He stared at her for several long moment before taking a deep breath. "W-We need to talk," he said in his most serious voice.

That's when Kagome knew he wasn't joking.