couldn't defend herself against it. Something was really wrong, because Kagome fell asleep before the fight was over.

After the Hanyou could no longer follow the little one, he went with Sango and Miroku to the place where he had brought Kagome.When they got there and Inuyasha saw her lying there so still, he already felt the panic gripping him again, but on closer inspection you could see from the steady rise and fall of her chest that the girl had only fallen asleep. So the three of them decided to bring Kagome back to the camp first and to talk to her in more detail the next morning about what had happened now. Inuyasha carried her carefully on her back so as not to wake her, the others have already gone ahead.
* So close, last time I had her with me last night *, the Hanyou dreamed to himself, but then hurried when he noticed that Kagome was starting to tremble.

Shippo paced restlessly up and down the campfire. "Should I have gone? What about Kagome?" He was very worried. When Miroku and Sango finally returned, they were almost jumped on by a frightened little kitsunen, who pleaded with wide eyes for a reassuring answer to his worried fear."Nothing happened to Kagome! Inuyasha should come with her at any moment," Sango replied to his unspoken question and reassuringly patted his wild hair once. At that moment they came too. Inuyasha put Kagome gently in her sleeping bag and, with a caring look at the sleeping girl, jumped up a tree right next to it.
"Don't worry Shippo, she's just sleeping," he said. Shortly afterwards everyone went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Kagome woke up. Where was she? She quickly found her orientation again and found that she was in her sleeping bag and the others were sleeping. She sat up and wanted to see where Inuyasha was. When she saw that he was in a tree, she was a little sad, she would have liked to sleep in his arms again. * I know, I know, it's better for everyone if nobody notices and nobody knows ... * Sadly, she turned around and fell asleep again, but resolved to be the first to be up in the morning and to have fresh water in the hope that Inuyasha would notice and follow her.To her chagrin, however, she slept and only woke up when she was awakened by a scent that said there was breakfast. She opened her eyes carefully. "Good morning Kagome!" everyone came to her kindly and after she sat up, Shippo jumped onto her lap.
Inuyasha wasn't too keen to see this, but he couldn't do anything at the moment. After breakfast when everyone was full, Sango asked: "Tell me, Kagome, what was going on yesterday? We were really worried!"
Somewhat embarrassed, Kagome said that she didn't know exactly and for some reason had to follow her feelings. She related how she had seen that the jewel splinter was only around the neck of the goblin (as she called it) and that the splinter passed into its body as it started to grow. After Inuyasha had brought her to safety, she couldn't have stayed awake at all.

While the group was packing up their camp and everyone was thinking that Kagome only felt the splinter yesterday but couldn't make it out and then simply didn't think anymore, but had to act, they came to the conclusion: there must be a connection.To prevent more of these things from happening, they made the first of their tasks that they had to find this little creature and take his jewel shard for themselves.

Shortly before the group was ready to go, Kagome wanted to get some fresh water for the stressful day they had before them.
"You definitely don't go alone!" replied Shippo.
"He's right, Kagome. Something like yesterday must never happen again, we still need your instinct! I will accompany you," Inuyasha uttered in a tone that brooked no contradiction. Kagome cursed, because he called her again only as a splinter detector, but since the others agreed with him and she could be alone with the Hanyou for a short time, she agreed.

After the two were out of sight of the camp, Inuyasha took Kagome by the hand. "I was terribly worried! Please never do this again!"Kagome stopped. “I'm really sorry!” With her free hand she gently stroked Inuyasha's cheek. He relaxed a little and accepted her apology with a sigh.
“I won't take my eyes off you anymore!” After this promise, he turned her around and took her fiercely in his arms. Kagome felt like crying as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her face buried in his top. She tried to hold back the guilty tears and instead looked into his eyes. The Hanyou didn't really know how to interpret that, but before he could ask, she closed her eyes and kissed him. He wished that they had already gathered all the splinters and that the jewel of the four souls had been put together so that they could stand by their love.

After their minds calmed down, they fetched the water and went back to the others. Shippo leaped impatiently towards them.
"Where have you been so long?" the little fox wanted to know.He gave Inuyasha a dirty look that implied that Shippo thought the Hanyou had been mean again, because the girl's eyes still had a sad expression. Kagome got a slightly red sheen, but before she wanted to say anything, Inuyasha replied, with an equally evil look in the direction of the kitsunen: "We're back now and should be on our way as soon as possible!" That was really the best idea !

Everyone looked at Kagome. Which direction should they go in? Kagome looked around, concentrating so she could feel a splinter. But as hard as she tried, she was unable to feel anything.
"I'm sorry, I can't make out a splinter." She was looked at, somewhat confused.
"Could it be that this being from yesterday is already over the mountains again?" Sango asked, but no one could give her an answer.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and raised her nose.He tried to take in the rest of the weather. When his eyes were closed, however, the black figure that had repeatedly sent him to Kagome reappeared.
"You should NOT follow the goblin! Trust me!"
Inuyasha had no intention of following this advice this time. He growled to himself: “Kagome is in danger, I will definitely hunt down this goblin!” He opened his eyes and there it was again, that smell.

“Inuyasha, are you all right?” Everyone looked at him questioningly. He hadn't noticed that he was gesticulating wildly when he stood there with his eyes closed. But he understood her questioning looks.
“No, everything is fine, we're going north, there must be the goblin!” At that moment he had finally caught the goblin's scent.

They went off. Inuyasha as always in front, behind Sango and Miroku and finally Shippo and Kagome. Meanwhile, Sango's thoughts ran at full speed.She had noticed something strange in the morning as they continued on their way. She frowned and decided to ask Miroku about it later. During the course of the day, when Inuyasha was a little further ahead so that he could hardly have heard her, she finally asked the monk about it:
"Tell me, did you just notice, Inuyasha called the little one from yesterday as well as Kagome as a goblin and I'm sure, since I have fought against goblins with my father before, it was definitely not one and he should know that ! "Miroku looked at her a bit puzzled, thought for a moment and agreed with her.
"His behavior when he was looking for us the right way was just as strange, I think. I had the impression he was talking to someone when he closed his eyes, don't you mean Sango?" They had to interrupt the conversation again, since Inuyasha came to meet them again.

It should be a long search.Neither on that day nor in the following days did they find an exact trace. Even in some of the villages they passed, no one could help them, although sometimes they got the impression that no one wanted to tell them anything. During the time when they were walking alone through the woods and meadows, a new group picture emerged: Inuyasha at the front, in the middle Sango and Kagome, who Shippo carried in her arms - the two women talked intimately about everything women wanted important and not interested in the rest of the world (at least those were some of the comments Inuyasha made from time to time) - and finally, Miroku. There was always the usual guerrilla warfare between Inuyasha and Shippo while eating, and in the evening, when a hot spring was found, Miroku's fight to finally catch a good look at the two women again.

At night, however, everything looked very different. When Miroku, Sango, and Shippo finally fell asleep, Kagome got up quietly and walked away from the camp.She always made sure that none of the three woke up and that they might follow her. Usually when she was far enough away from the camp that one could no longer see her, she would sit down and dream into the stars. Shortly afterwards, Inuyasha always showed up. At night they always caught up on what they weren't allowed to show during the day. They cuddled and kissed, or quietly talked to each other what they were otherwise not allowed to say, but they were also completely satisfied with just lying in each other's arms and silently enjoying the peaceful company of the other. Most of the time Kagome fell asleep in Inuyasha's arms and woke up again in the morning in his sleeping bag. He always put them in there just before the others woke up. In order not to attract any further attention, he pretended not to wake up from Kagome's attempts to wake up (if he could "sleep" in a tree) and she fetched him (to her regret) as usual with a quiet " sit "by the tree.The everyday hustle and bustle. Fortunately for Inuyashas, ​​as he thought, he no longer had that smell of the black figure in his nose in between and the voice that spoke to him had also disappeared. The only thing that bothered him was that he had been plagued by nightmares every night since recently. Although he could never remember what he had dreamed, he always woke up bathed in sweat.

sequel