• ** The set-time is around the point where Naraku has almost all of the sacred Shikon Jewel and where Inuyasha's feelings for Kagome are a lot more apparent. Enjoy (; **

    READ DESCRIPTION FIRST c:

    --Underlined speech is thought--


    Kouga
    Inuyasha
    Demon Inuyasha
    Kagome
    Sango
    Miroku
    Shippou
    Kaede



    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    "What do you want now, you skinny wolf?"
    "It's exactly what it looks like, half-breed. I want your blood dripping from my claws, and no one's gonna stop me this time."
    Kouga ran across the gap spacing the two apart and swiped at Inuyasha's arm, and caused fabric to fly free. Inuyasha unsheathed the Tetsusaiga and pointed it towards Kouga.
    "I don't know who you're trying to fool, but nobody's falling for it Kouga! Quit the act and beat it before I decide not to spare you."
    "Today's the day, Inuyasha, the day I cut you're stupid head off and use it as a decoration for the wolf den!"
    Kouga lashed out at Inuyasha and threw a punch with the tainted shard, causing Inuyasha's left arm to shatter. Kouga grinned when he heard the bone breaking, and Kagome tried reasoning with him.
    "Kouga! Please stop! Inuyasha didn't do anything! Your arm is glowing with a black light!”
    "Kagome, don't try to stop me from giving this mutt-face exactly what he deserves! Stay out of it!"
    At that moment, Kouga felt a sharp pain jump across his arm, and his heart changed immediately. Kagome ran to Kouga, still attempting to reason with him, while Inuyasha clutched his broken limb.
    "No Kagome! Stay away from me!"
    As Kagome drew closer, Kouga pushed forward, shoving her away and onto the ground. A horrible dark light started to pour from Kouga, and Inuyasha ran to him, and ripped the shard out of his arm, Kouga falling to the ground unconscious at the removal. Inuyasha gripped the shard in his hand, suddenly feeling strange.
    "Kagome! Are you alright?"
    "Yes Sango, I'm fine, but look at Inuyasha's face...!"
    Inuyasha's eyes started to turn a dark red, his pupils turning blue, while his fangs and claws grew longer. Everyone knew what was happening. At that moment, they realized he had released the sword, and the demonic energy was quickly moving into the hanyou's body.
    "Oh no! Inuyasha is transforming again! Get away, now!"
    The first one he looked at was Kagome.


    Inuyasha looked at her with a fierce expression, wanting to kill her, to smell her blood on his hands. Inuyasha raised his claws and Kagome stared at him, paralyzed with fear.
    "Inu-Inuyasha... Please, listen to me..."
    "K-Ka-Kago-me...... Get away, from me... Now, before I-"
    Inuyasha's voice cut off went he screamed and grabbed his head, his face a mix of fear and anguish. He charged towards Kagome, his claws extended, and sliced her arm, cutting open her uniform sleeve and making blood spray out of her. Her eyes widened and she gasps.
    "Kagome!"
    Kagome fell to the ground hard and looked at Inuyasha, then to her arm, then back to Inuyasha. Her face was filled with fear and she could not find the strength to move. Inuyasha raised both hands, preparing for another strike at her.
    ”Inuyasha! Stop! Don’t hurt her!”
    Miroku jumped in front of Kagome, holding his staff out, guarding her.
    ”Kagome! Come over here! Get away from Inuyasha!
    At that moment, Inuyasha swept his arm forward and his claws raked across Miroku’s chest. His hand moved up his body to his sternum as he fell to the ground in front of Kagome. Blood ran down her arm, and a large red stain was spreading down the sleeve. Sango ran out with her Hiraikotsu to use it as a shield against Inuyasha, while she got the two of them out of danger. She pulled Miroku over her shoulder and reached her arm out to grab Kagome. Inuyasha batted away the large demon bone boomerang and used it to hit Sango on her back, causing her to fall on Miroku, the two now unconscious. He stepped over the bodies that lay before him and went for Kagome.
    Kagome felt felt herself being lifted off the ground and high into the air. She looked up and it was Kirara, with Shippou on her back. Inuyasha glared up at her and snarled, and tried to jump up to reach her, but Kirara went higher.
    ”Shippou! We can’t just leave Miroku, Sango and Kouga behind!”
    ”Don’t worry Kagome! We’re not leaving without them, and we’ll get Inuyasha as well!”
    Shippou asked Kirara to move in closer so he could carry Miroku and the rest up to safety from Inuyasha, and Kagome sat by in anticipation. Inuyasha’s breathing grew louder as he waited for Shippou to come near him.
    ”I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go down there Shippou... You might get seriously hurt! It’s one thing for us to get hurt, but you’re much smaller...”
    ”I know Kagome... But we don’t have any other choice!”
    Kagome’s attitude changed then.
    ”I can distract him.”
    Before Shippou could object to her statement, Kagome jumped off Kirara’s back, landing on the ground a few yards away from Inuyasha, Shippou shouting at her to stop. Inuyasha turned to look at her, fangs bared, knuckles cracking. Kagome turned to Shippou, still keeping an eye on Inuyasha at the same time.
    ”Shippou! Get them all out of here! Before we run out of time!”
    Shippou nods, still against the whole idea of using Kagome as bait, but willing to go along for the time being. He and Kirara flew lower and carried Miroku, Sango, and Kouga high up while Kagome stood there, trying to bring back Inuyasha’s hanyou form.
    ”Inuyasha... I know this isn’t how you want to be...”
    She started to walk towards him, and Inuyasha growled and began clearing the space between them.
    ”Inuyasha...”
    Inuyasha leapt forward and in one big sweep of him arm, cut through Kagome’s torso. As she fell he swiped at her legs, blood flying in all directions. Her eyes were empty, but showed signs of sadness, not regret. She collapsed, muttering words as she fell.
    ”Inuyasha... Make sure you don’t hurt Shippou... Sit...”
    It was then that Inuyasha slammed into the ground and Kirara finally came down to the ground. Shippou jumped off her back and ran to the Tetsusaiga used his fox magic to push it next to Inuyasha. The now once again hanyou lifted his head off the ground angrily, ready to snap at Kagome for uttering the words of subjugation when he finally realized where they were.
    ”Shippou... What happened?”
    But Shippou wasn’t looking at Inuyasha. He was then running to Kagome, tears streaming down his face as the blood pool around her widened.
    ”KAGOME! NO!!”
    Inuyasha turned to see what was happening, now making sense of where he was and what he had done. He finally smelled her blood in the air, saw the blood on his hands, finally saw the unconscious Miroku and Sango, lying down on Kirara’s back. His eyes widened, and he ran to Kagome, screaming her name. He held her in his lap, her blood still spilling, dyeing his kimono a deeper shade of red. He kept calling to her, asking her to wake up, hugging her, and tears had started to fall down his face.
    Inuyasha picked up Kagome and carried her in his arms, while Shippou and Kirara flew to the village to receive medical treatment from Kaede and tell her of Kagome’s condition. Inuyasha walked, just wanting to be alone with her.

    ”I have bandaged her wounds and she now needs more rest then everyone. She should not be moved for quite a while.”
    ”Thank you Kaede. It was just so horrifying, and I was so scared... I didn’t know how things would turn out, and it worried me.”
    ”Speaking of such, can ye not tell this old woman what happened that made Kagome so fatally injured?”
    ”I’m sorry Kaede, but you have to leave that to Inuyasha to tell you what happened, when he’s ready.”

    Inuyasha sat outside the village, and was sitting beside the Bone Eater’s Well, thinking to himself.
    ”Kagome... I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen...”
    His ears twitched as he heard rustling and Miroku stepped out of the forest. Inuyasha winced as he saw the bandages wrapped around his chest, and he couldn’t look at Miroku.
    ”Inuyasha, what happened out there?”
    ”Miroku, I’m sorry about what I did...”
    ”You didn’t answer my question. What happened out there?”
    ”I sensed Naraku’s powerful miasma and demonic energy being released from the shard that Kouga had in his arm. I took it out and I wasn’t holding Tetsusaiga anymore, so all the demonic energy flowed into my body... And I turned into a youkai once more.”
    ”So that’s what happened.”
    Both of the men turned and watched as Sango stepped out of the trees, Kirara beside her, helping her walk steadily. Her posture was wobbly but at least she could walk; the Hiraikotsu had hit her directly in the spine and the after-effects could have been much worse.
    Sango... I trust you have been resting well?
    Yes, the special medicinal herbs Kaede gave me have been helping with the swelling. And Kirara has been helping me get back on my feet again. Right Kirara?”
    Kirara lets out a small meow, and Sango pats her head gently. Then her tone gets serious.
    ”So Inuyasha, are you finally going to tell everyone what happened to Kagome? Shippou keeps telling us he can’t, and that we have to wait until you want to tell us.”
    ”I... just can’t tell anyone yet.”
    ”Inuyasha... we need to know what happened to Kagome... we care deeply about her, as well as you, and Shippou.”
    ”I can’t tell anyone yet... Please understand.”
    Inuyasha walked right through the three and went off to see Kagome again. He wanted to know if there was any kind of change yet in the past few hours he’s been gone.

    ”Old Kaede, has anything happened?”
    ”Nothing yet, Inuyasha. Give her time, it probably will be days before she even wakes up, and longer until she moves around at all.”
    Inuyasha fully entered the small hut and sat down next to Kagome. Kaede went outside for more cold water and Inuyasha was left alone with her. He held her hand and sat there silent for a while. He looked over at her bloody clothes and felt a burning inside himself. Had he really done all of this to the people he cared about? Including Kagome? He just wished her eyes would open so he could tell her how sorry he was. He would be willing to wait. Kaede came back in a few moments later with the water and she placed a cloth upon Kagome’s forehead.
    ”It seems we require more medicinal herbs, what with all the bandages we’ve had to use in such a short time.”
    Kaede leaves the hut again with a basket, and shortly after her departure Inuyasha follows. He believes they could get things done faster if there were two of them.

    ”It hurts... I’m in pain... I’m bleeding...”

    Kagome’s eyes flipped open and she stared up at the ceiling of Kaede’s hut. She used her arms to prop herself in the bed she had been set in and looked around. She saw her bloody clothes, and the bandages she was wearing. She moved her arm and touched them, which just left pain that spread through her body in seconds. She took the cloth off her forehead and tried to see if she could hear anyone’s voice, and she heard no one. She had to see Inuyasha, and she wanted to make sure everyone was okay. She rolled over and placed her hands flat on the floor. It was a painful effort to try to even sit up rather than to stand up, but she would have to manage.
    When she was almost on her feet, she dressed herself and used the wall to support herself. Just moving her foot sent shocks through her, but she didn’t complain. She parted the curtain and began to leave the hut to look for Inuyasha.


    ”Inuyasha, could ye hand me the basket for herbs?”
    ”Uh yeah sure...”
    Inuyasha picked up the basket full of herbs and handed them to Kaede.
    ”Here.”
    Inuyasha’s mind wandered off to thoughts of Kagome and how she was doing, what she was thinking about. He felt so guilty about the whole thing, all he wanted was for her to be better again. To laugh, to smile, to look and feel alive again. He told Kaede he was going to be alone for a while and ran off, leaving her to the herbs.

    Kagome limped through the forest, going to check anywhere Inuyasha might be. She was looking through the trees, and she found Miroku, Sango, and Kirara, the demon cat lying in the grass with the monk and demon slayer in deep conversation.
    ”They must be talking about Naraku...”
    She didn’t see Inuyasha around and she was too weak to even stop to say hello, or even if she did, they would stop her and take her to the village again to rest before she could see Inuyasha. She turned around and headed for the overlook, where Inuyasha liked to sit up in trees.

    ”Miroku! Sango! Hurry, come quick!”
    ”What is it Shippou?”
    ”Kagome is gone!”
    ”What?! What do you mean she’s gone?”
    ”I went to the hut after gathering food to check on her and she wasn’t there!”
    ”Does Inuyasha know about this?”
    ”No, not even Kaede knows yet, because as soon as I saw she was missing I ran to find you two!”
    ”We should go find Kaede and she can help us find Kagome!
    ”We should divide up! Sango, you and Kirara go find Kaede and Miroku and I can try to start looking for Kagome!”
    ”Good idea Shippou. Let’s start looking.”

    Inuyasha walked around aimlessly in the woods, no destination planned. He realized he was at the overlook and he stopped. He walked to the edge of the hill and watched the village. He noticed Sango and Kirara, flying through fast.
    ”I wonder why Sango is in such a hurry...”
    Inuyasha stepped away from the edge and decided to go back to the village to check on Kagome and started running.

    Kagome was almost to the outlook when she noticed something. She heard voices; Shippou and Miroku.
    ”Kagome!”
    ”Kagome!”
    Kagome fell up against a tree too hard and slammed herself into it, causing her to slide down the trunk painfully. She dropped down as low as she could go and hid under the underbrush, listening and watching as they passed by her. Before she spoke to anyone, Inuyasha would come first. But he wasn’t here. She’d have to continue looking somewhere else quickly, before she collapsed of exhaustion.

    Sango had finally found Kaede, with a basket full of herbs, heading back into the village. She explained what had happened, and Kaede went to help her look for Kagome. When they had gotten back to the village, Sango noticed Inuyasha, coming in fast.
    ”Kaede! Inuyasha doesn’t know yet!”
    ”And why didn’t ye tell him thus?”
    ”Because I hadn’t seen him till now! I wonder what’s going to happen...”
    We’ll just have to wait and see.”

    Inuyasha had been running his fastest to get to the village, he hadn’t even noticed Kaede and Sango riding in on Kirara right in front of him.
    ”Oh hey Sango, Old Kaede.
    Inuyasha! I thought you were running around somewhere in the woods!”
    Yeah, I just came back really quick, then I’m going back again.
    ”Oh, that’s nice.”
    ”I guess. Well, see you later Sango.
    ”Yeah, bye Inuyasha.”
    Inuyasha jumped onto a rooftop and began jumping from them as he left.
    ”Kaede, I don’t think he was here to see Kagome.”
    ”He was. But let’s let him find out on his own and start looking for Kagome.
    ”He was? How could she know that just from that small conversation?

    Kagome went to the last place she could go to look for him; the Tree of Ages, the place they first met. She lost her balance and her knees buckled, causing her to fall straight forward. She lay crumpled on the ground and let herself recover for a while.

    Inuyasha pulled away the curtain and looked at where Kagome should have been. His face turned to immediate shock then panic.
    ”Kagome! Where is she?!
    Inuyasha ran through the village in a rush asking everyone and looking everywhere. He started to scan the forest, looking high and low for any sign that Kagome was there. Then he caught her scent by the overlook, so he went there.
    He didn’t see her, but knew she had been there. He could smell her blood, her blood which was smeared against a tree, leading down. There was her blood on the ground too.
    ”Kagome... Where are you?”
    He began looking for her scent on everything. He found himself near the well, where her scent was the strongest. He started walking where her scent lead to, and found himself walking in the direction of the Tree of Ages.

    She couldn’t move. Not much anyway. She had lost a lot of blood, without realizing, and she had run around with so much difficulty and pain, she was now utterly exhausted. She knew she had to at least check the tree first. So she summoned her strength, used her hands as a balance, and began her slow descent towards the tree.

    Inuyasha knew she had to be here. He ran his eyes over everything, not missing an inch. He noticed more of her blood in the dirt, and bloody handprints against the trees. He began approaching the tree, still peaceful looking, as it did on that day long ago, when he met Kagome. He heard rustling and he put his hand on Tetsusaiga, then turned around and looked straight forward.
    And saw Kagome walking out of the trees. Her hand was on her chest, a failed attempt to stop blood from seeping out. Her face transformed then, if was one of sorrow, to one of tiredness and happiness.
    ”Inuyasha... I’ve finally... found you... I’m so happy...”
    Kagome started to collapse to the ground again, and Inuyasha ran over and caught her, hugged her, and started to tear up when he looked at her face.
    It was a face with no regret, and no sorrow. Inuyasha sat on the ground, still embracing Kagome, who had already fallen asleep in his arms.
    ”So Sango, how was Kouga?”
    ”He was only unconscious, so he was just fine. He was exceedingly worried about you though, but he did have to return to his pack.”
    ”Yeah, and I’m glad that skinny wolf pup decided to high tail it outta here! I would’ve killed him if he stayed around any longer!”
    Kagome and Sango burst into giggles, and Inuyasha gives them a sour look.
    ”I’m sure you would have Inuyasha.”
    Inuyasha smiles at Kagome.
    ”I’m glad she’s laughing. I’m glad she’s happy.”


    3,236 Words o.o