It was the night of the new moon and InuYasha and Kagome were making a quiet camp in an unfamiliar wood. Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara were still at Kaede's, helping her re-stock her supplies. InuYasha, as usual, didn't want to help but Kagome had convinced him to accompany her to look for some special herbs. Being as it was the new moon; InuYasha didn't take much convincing to leave the village. His companions knew his secret but he didn't want it common knowledge that he turned into a helpless human every month.

They had had a small cooking fire, as it was still summer and quite warm at night. Kagome lay down in her sleeping bag, which was more for comfort than warmth, and watched as InuYasha flopped down with his back to her, looking across the clearing. Kagome watched as the starlight that illuminated InuYasha's silver hair changed to inky black when his human side came out.

InuYasha made a very handsome human, tall and muscular with long black hair. His eyes stayed he same though, and Kagome took comfort in that. She was certainly attracted to his human side, but she preferred him as hanyou, half-demon, even if the rest of feudal Japan reviled the half demons.

InuYasha sat, feeling his senses deaden as he became human. His ears no longer swiveled to pick up minute sounds, his eyesight lost its sharpness and his sense of smell was lessened considerably; though he could still smell Kagome's familiar scent from behind him.

He also lost his innate ability to sense danger. Demons or bandits could sneak up on them unawares and since he could no longer invoke the Tetsusaiga, they were at the mercy of any evil that came upon them. Not that he was much worried about that tonight since they were still fairly close to familiar, relatively peaceful territory.

Although he didn't mind that his companions were humans (though if asked, he'd have said they were barely tolerable), he hated when he became human on the new moon. It wasn't just about losing his demon powers, it was about being reminded that he had no place in the world, he was neither demon nor human and rejected by both groups.

Except for Kagome. The thought flitted into his mind unbidden and he tried to force it away. His other companions had overcome their inherent prejudices quickly and accepted him, but Kagome had done it from the moment she'd met him. In fact, she'd come right up to him and petted his ears! He flushed slightly at the memory, though at the time it was not pleasurable, since he was still sealed to a tree by a sacred arrow.

Yes, he finally had to admit to himself, Kagome was the one person who accepted him totally and without question, even preferred him as hanyou. But since he had been guarding his heart for so long, it was hard to let her see that he appreciated it. He was getting colder, his demon blood no longer keeping him warm, but it was not unpleasant after the heat of the day.

He was about to lay down when he heard the unmistakable sound of steel ringing against steel in battle. He was halfway to his feet, his hand on the Tetsusaiga when he realized that that might not be a wise course of action. He went to wake Kagome, so they could go deeper into the woods.

He leaned over her, face inches from hers and whispered her name, her eyes popped open and got very, very wide, she almost cried out in shock but InuYasha laid a hand gently across her mouth. She was curtained in long black hair and the sight of InuYasha as human was an interesting one that she didn't get to see very often. She nodded to show she understood to be quiet and asked him what was going on.

"Fighting, from somewhere nearby." He replied, still whispering, "We should go further into the woods."

"We should see if someone needs our help first."

"I doubt it's our fight, and besides, I can't use the Tetsusaiga right now."

"Right, well, we should still go see if someone needs our help, if we have to, we can go get Sango and Miroku." Her tone was decisive and she tried to sit up. However, InuYasha was still leaning over her and they bumped noses. For a moment she thought they might kiss, but he shot backwards and turned his back to her.

She sighed inwardly, hurt by how fast he'd tried to get away from her, He must think I'm gross. She swallowed her grief and stood to hear the clash of steel as well.

InuYasha was facing the direction of the fight, but he had jerked back from Kagome because at that moment, when their noses touched, all he could think about was kissing her. I can't let her know I think like that about her, she'd leave for sure, then were would I be? He hoped his blush was back under control when he turned to ask her to follow him, and be quiet about it.

Kagome followed InuYasha as quietly as she could, which InuYasha had to admit was pretty quiet For a human. The struggle was still going on when Kagome and InuYasha arrived at a rise. InuYasha pulled Kagome down next to him at a rise in the land so they wouldn't be seen.

Despite her pain from the way InuYasha had recoiled from her, she still felt fluttery in her stomach from the protective way his arm was draped across her back while they lay on their fronts trying to determine what was going on below them.

There was a complex encampment in the sparse woods below them. There appeared to be at least 35 people in the camp, and the steel on steel they had heard came from a couple of men that were sparring in the firelight. There were both women and men in the camp but no children.

InuYasha signaled to Kagome to follow him as he wriggled backwards so as not to draw attention to their hiding place. She did and when they were safely out of earshot he said, "See, I told you it was none of our concern."

"Yeah." Kagome's voice was soft and distracted. InuYasha noticed but didn't comment, he simply led her deeper into the woods so as not to be easily discovered if he camp sent out scouts or sentries. They found a fairly secluded area and Kagome laid down without a word to InuYasha. Now what did I do? InuYasha thought, Kagome usually at least said goodnight to him. He sighed to himself and lay down as well.

Kagome's breathing was even, betraying the inner turmoil that kept her awake. She could feel the heat from InuYasha's body even though he was more than a foot from her. She was remembering their noses bumping and she was imagining what it would have been like if he'd kissed her, or at least not recoiled. Her chest tightened but she forced the tears away and thought instead of the way his arm on her back made her feel.

It was a protective touch, done almost it seemed, without thought. That made her even more confused, it was so easy for him to touch her when he was being protective, but he recoiled almost anytime they casually touched. She decided that at some point she would have to speak to InuYasha about the way he made her feel, but she wasn't that brave yet. She sighed softly and finally relaxed into sleep.

InuYasha may have lost his demon senses for the night but he was so tuned in to Kagome that he felt her wakefulness, her tenseness and finally her sigh into slumber. It confused him, these feelings he was having, he didn't want to like Kagome, she wasn't from his time. And once they had the jewel shards back together and the Shikon jewel was whole again, she would go back to her time to protect it. Or she might give it to you. The thought came unbidden and he tried to dismiss it as nonsense.

Why would Kagome give the jewel to you? InuYasha asked himself, after all, he wanted the jewel to become a full demon, and Kagome didn't want that. She wanted him to stay hanyou. But she didn't realize what she was asking of him, But she isn't asking you, she's never asked you to stay a half-demon, she's just your friend, your friend no matter what. His friend no matter what, even when he was mean to hide his feelings, even when he's been impatient with his companions, even when he goes back to Kikyo again and again

That last thought came into his head and he nearly sat up with an enticing new thought. Kagome often went back to her time after he'd been to see Kikyo, when she did stay; she was quieter, her golden laughter gone for days. He reviewed time after time when he and Kagome had touched, every word and glance was reviewed in his head in a couple of moments and it suddenly clicked in his head. Could Kagome possibly have feelings for him? Feelings that were not simple friendship? He rolled onto his back to look up at the stars, and let himself hope, just a little bit. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.