Autumn - They All Fall Sometime

It was just getting cool enough where they didn’t stick to their own clothes during the day and could huddle around a comfortable fire in the evenings. Her favorite part though was the leaves. The Goshinboku for one never turned, though she had the sneaking suspicion it was because the tree was somehow more alive than was normal for a tree. The rest of the forest around the well seemed to follow along the same thread. However now they were traveling closer to the mountains and she reveled in the golds and reds of the surrounded flora.

As they broke for lunch Kagome had an idea. To save on time she made everyone some ramen and while they ate she gathered up the largest pile of leaves she could manage, well aware of the multiple pairs of curious eyes following her movements. Shippou, of course, was the first to bound over to her side.

“Whatchya doing Kagome?”

She smirked down at him. “Having some fun.”

“You have fun collecting leaves?” he asked skeptically.

Chuckling, she answered, “No, I have fun doing…this!” And with the last word she ran the two steps to the pile, held out her arms, jumped in the air, and landed with an audible ‘whoosh’, the leaves scattering in all directions.

Shippou was in awe. “Can I try? Can I try?” he shouted, bouncing up and down in his enthusiasm.

“Of course.”

By the end of the afternoon they’d managed to create the largest pile she’d ever seen and she’d gotten both Miroku and Sango to join in. It had taken quite a bit of coaxing with Sango though. Not only did it sometimes seem like she’d forgotten how to have fun, like she’d lost whatever child-like qualities she’d had with Naraku’s destruction of her family, but she also had Miroku’s hands to contend with. He kept trying to maneuver them into the pile at the same time, where the leaves would obligingly provide cover for his ‘bumbling’.

The only one who didn’t get involved was, unsurprisingly, Inuyasha. He watched their antics from beneath the shade of a tree, arms folded, as he grumbled about their acting stupid and wasting time.

Kagome didn’t miss, however, how his eyes occasionally seemed to light with curiosity, and maybe even…longing?

By the time they were done it was near dark and everyone was too tired to travel further so they settled down for the night. Much giggling and chatting later, ignored by the sullen hanyou, they all fell asleep with much better dreams than they’d had in weeks.

She woke sometime later, unsure what had pulled her from sleep, but she turned to look for the reassuring form of Inuyasha lurking in the trees. When she couldn’t spy him she got curious and decided to see if she could find him.

She wandered slowly, soaking in the soothing breeze, rubbing her hands over her arms to keep away the slight chill of the night, so she was surprised when she came upon it. She had thought the pile of leaves they’d made earlier had been the largest ever but the one she saw now far outmatched it. Hearing a slight rustling she startled, wondering if it was just the wind or an animal, and crept her way around the pile. She was stealthy only to keep from disturbing the night; she had no fear that something might be so near camp when Inuyasha was protecting them, not when she couldn’t sense anything either.

Circling around twice just to be sure she was alone she took one last furtive look over her shoulder, bounded up to a quick sprint, and launched herself into the leaves.

She landed on something warm.

With a yelp she tried to roll away but whatever it was held her tight and only rolled with her – on top of her. There was just enough of a hole in the leaves where she’d landed for the moonlight to silhouette the figure.

“Inuyasha?” she gasped, reaching up to run the fingers of one hand through his hair, the moonlight making the silver near glow while casting the rest of his face in deep shadow. “What were you…?”

He cast his eyes away, suddenly not looking at her, and she didn’t have to ask anymore. He had wanted to join them earlier but hadn’t, either for pride or awkwardness or not knowing how or any other assortment of reasons. Instead he’d come out here, in the middle of the night, to try it by himself, away from prying eyes.

Before he could think what she was doing she rolled them back over into the cover of the leaves. There was so little light she had to lean close to see his face, though she was glad that meant the redness in her own face was covered, and whispered, “I bet I can jump in and make the leaves spread farther out than you can.” There was nothing like prodding his competitive side to get him going.

His eyes narrowed briefly and then she found herself laying on the cold ground as he raced off to pile the foliage even higher than before. She barely had time to get out of the way before he launched himself. “Watch this, wench!”

He belly-flopped into the leaves, scattering them beyond the trunks of the closest trees. She tried to look suitably unimpressed, though it was hard. “I bet I can do better.”

With that their competition began in earnest and they rarely waited for the other to get out before jumping in. There was much more touching than either was used to and as their contact increased so did their lingering in the leaves before getting out to jump again.

Kagome pretended to be winded long before she had leave to just so she had an excuse to continue to lay where she’d landed, half sprawled across Inuyasha – especially when he was giving her the courtesy of neither complaining nor freezing up. When she felt his sigh she took that as her cue and pulled the leaves more closely over them to act as a blanket as they stared up at the sky, taking the opportunity to snuggle just a little bit closer to him. If he noticed then he didn’t mind.

After a few moments she glanced up at him to see he was looking at her, a strange glint in his eyes that she couldn’t be sure was from the ambience of the moonlight. Without warning he suddenly swooped down and kissed her, pulling back after a mere brush of the lips. Even the lack of light couldn’t hide the brilliance of his blush though so he quickly blustered to cover up. “Maybe there is something to all this leaf jumping stuff after all. Either that or you’re just stupid.”

She wasn’t fooled for a second and just smiled up at him. “See, I told you it’d be fun.”

He huffed and looked up at the sky, then quickly back to her, eyes narrowing. “You’re never playing in the leaves with Miroku again.”

She laughed softly, holding him close for as long as he’d allow. “Only you, Inuyasha, only you.”

~ ~ ~

Word count 1,261. Obviously I like the long version better but if you're curious the 594 word version is posted on my deviantart account. flametwirler.deviantart.com/art/They-all-fall-sometime-100491693