InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ An Unforeseen Flame ❯ Showdown! Sesshomaru vs Inuyasha vs Koga ( Chapter 23 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, nor could I ever hope to be as genius as Rumiko Takahashi.

"Kagome! Kagome, wake up!" a familiar voice urged the slumbering girl. Someone was nudging at her shoulder persistently.

"Inuyasha, leave me alone," she mumbled sleepily, batting at the offending arm. For a moment, she almost dozed off, but her hazy mind had come to a sudden conclusion. It was not Inuyasha's voice she had heard. She bolted straight up and surveyed her surroundings.

She was at home in her bedroom, her soft pink comforter pooling around her waist. Sunlight streamed in through her four-paned window, leaving four bright, warm spots upon the tatami floor. She rose from her bed looking at her younger brother, Souta, curiously.

"How did I get here?" she asked him incredulously. She couldn't remember coming home from the Feudal Era. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember what exactly she was doing in the Feudal Era before she woke up here. It was as though she had woken up with parts and pieces of her memory missing.

"Uh…You live here," replied her brother giving her a look as if she were crazy. "Who's Inuyasha?"

"What do you mean, 'Who's Inuyasha?'" Kagome demanded, glaring at her brother. Why was he playing dumb games with her so early in the morning? "You know…Half demon…From the Feudal Era… You're the one who idolizes him so much."

"Uh, okay sis," Souta replied still looking at her peculiarly. "You must have been having some dream. Mom said to tell you breakfast was ready. You better hurry up and get ready, or you're going to be late for school."

What was going on? Kagome watched her brother leave her room shaking his head at her strange behavior. He really didn't remember Inuyasha? Come to think of it, she almost couldn't place his face. But, she had fallen down the well on her fifteenth birthday. Something to do with a scorpion… No! A centipede! And there was a boy with silver hair and dog ears pinned to a tree by an arrow. That was Inuyasha. The more Kagome thought about it, the more it sounded like some fantastical dream.

Kagome quickly changed out of her pajamas and into her school uniform, making sure to grab her yellow backpack before running down the stairs. The appetizing smell of rice and fish was wafting its way through the house, making Kagome's stomach grumble with hunger. Her mother was sitting at the table with her brother and her grandfather, all of them waiting for Kagome.

"Oh wow mom!" Kagome gasped in delight. "I haven't had a real breakfast in so long!"

Her mom chuckled at her daughter jovially and replied, "At least not since I made you breakfast yesterday morning, dear."

"I was home yesterday morning?" Kagome exclaimed in disbelief. She couldn't remember being home the previous morning. She couldn't actually remember much of anything before waking up this morning. Something strange was going on, but Kagome couldn't put her finger on it.

"Of course you were," her mother answered as Kagome sat down and began filling her plate. "Where else would you have been?"

"The…Feudal…Era…of…course," Kagome replied between mouthfuls of her mother's delicious cooking. Her mother gave her a puzzled look.

"Kagome's been having some really weird dreams," Souta interjected rolling his eyes at his older sister.

"You really don't remember that I've been traveling to the Feudal Era since my fifteenth birthday?" she exclaimed flabbergasted. "I was missing for days! And you're telling me none of you remember Inuyasha?"

"Kagome, are you feeling okay?" her mother asked, a worried look resting upon her soft features. "Maybe you should stay home from school today."

"I'm fine, mom. Just…Something really weird is going on. It's like none of you remember that I've been traveling in the Feudal Era for the past three years," she replied, hoping they would stop looking at her like she was insane.

"Three years?" her mother queried, a troubled look on her face. "Honey, your fifteenth birthday was yesterday. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah…" Kagome mumbled, not believing her ears. She suddenly found she had lost her appetite. "I guess Souta was right. I was just having some strange dreams last night."

"Got that right," her brother snorted, raising his eyebrows irreverently. Kagome glared at him icily.

"I think…I'm going to head to school now," Kagome said after a long silence. "May I be excused?"

"You haven't finished your breakfast," her grandfather chided her disapprovingly.

"Oh let her go," her mother interrupted. "She probably wants to see her friends before class."

Kagome rose from the table and bid her farewells to her family. She slipped her shoes on at the door and shouldered her oversized backpack. She had decided that before she started off to school, she would visit the well. Maybe she could get through and break whatever enchantment was making her family act so bizarrely.

It was sunny as she left her house, and all the plant life surrounding the shrine was vivid and green. She could hear the zooming of cars from the street in front of the shrine and see the gleaming glass of the tall buildings of the city. It all felt wrong. How could it be wrong? Civilization was normal. It was going into the past that was wrong. Maybe her exploits in the Feudal Era really were a dream after all.

Before she realized it, she was standing in front of the small, antiquated wood building that the well was inside. She pulled open the creaking door and stared into the blackness of the well for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she descended the steps.

'Okay, it's now or never,' she told herself uncertainly, suddenly feeling incredibly nervous. 'Time to see if I'm crazy or not.'

Closing her eyes, she leapt down the well, before she could talk herself out of jumping. She felt as though she was falling forever before she hit ground. Opening her eyes, she was still in the well. The old, moldy smell of the well-room was still thick in the air. There was still a roof over her head. She was definitely not in the Feudal Era, and to top it off, now she was covered with dust. She climbed up the well and dusted herself off.

'That must have been some dream,' she told herself as she continued on her way to school, still feeling as though the pieces of her puzzle weren't quite locking into place. She shrugged. She was probably just having an off day.

"So let me get this straight," Inuyasha sneered, glaring at Naraku. "You send all your demons to wear out me and the wolf here, and then let Sesshomaru, who hasn't broke a sweat yet, in on this little duel. Seems kinda unfair."

"Scared, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru taunted coldly. His mind was working quickly on a plan to save Kagome without killing either of her friends. For now, he had to play Naraku's game. It was best not to provoke the demented hanyou even further. As it was, Kagome had little more than an hour with that miasma coursing through Utsuro.

The Youkai Lord knew he would kill them if he had to, but he wasn't certain that would get him Kagome back from Naraku. If it did, she would hate him, but still be alive, but if it didn't he would be without allies and without Kagome. Every time the youkai conceived a plausible scenario, an outcome far worse than the loss of Inuyasha and the wolf resulted. It was as though he had hit an impenetrable brick wall. Still, Sesshomaru continued racking his brain.

"Yeah, Inuyasha," Koga jeered, taking his fighting stance. "I may look worse off than you, but I could still take you, even without my jewel shards."

"Why you mangy wolf!" Inuyasha yelled, rushing at the wolf demon his Tetsusaiga raised high over his head. "Wind scar!"

Four blades of deadly wind scarred the bloodied earth where Koga had been standing. When the dust cleared, there was no sign of the wolf. Inuyasha straightened triumphantly, readying his sword to deal with his brother now.

"Easier than I thought," scoffed the overconfident hanyou.

"Hey stupid…You missed," Koga's voice rang out before his bare food collided with the half demon's face. Inuyasha hit the ground and skidded forward across the dirt trailed by a cloud of dust, but his grip tightened on the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

"You are wasting your time and energy fighting each other," Sesshomaru stated quietly. Both Koga and Inuyasha paused, turning their gaze on Naraku, waiting for him to hurt Kagome yet again courtesy of Sesshomaru. "You should worry about me before turning upon each other."

Both of them glared and rushed the inuyoukai simultaneously. Inuyasha began to swing his sword inelegantly, but Sesshomaru's light whip had pulled his feet out from under him before he followed through with the action. Koga was leaping through the air, but Sesshomaru twirled gracefully from the wolf's path before his foot made contact with any part of the inuyoukai's body. The wolf landed on his feet, skidding to a halt.

"What, afraid to take a hit, Sesshomaru?" Koga taunted turning to face the Youkai Lord.

"From one in such a pathetic state as yourself?" snorted Sesshomaru, rushing the wolf, his poison claws extended. He grazed the wolf's shoulder with the painful attack. Koga clutched at his arm, trying to ignore the searing pain.

"I do not intend to kill you, but we cannot let Naraku know this," Sesshomaru whispered to the wolf as he continued to attack him. The Demon Lord countered a flurry of kicks from the injured wolf.

"What, admitting your defeat already?" Koga scoffed at the inuyoukai, his endless barrage of kicks and punches being continuously deflected by Sesshomaru. He spun around momentarily to pull Inuyasha into the fray with a quick twist of his light whip. Inuyasha's arms were bound to his side.

"Kagome would not be pleased if any one of us were to perish. We need to think of something else," Sesshomaru murmured to the both of them. Before either could reply, Sesshomaru flung Inuyasha into Koga, knocking them both to the ground.

"Wolf, stay down for a moment. Inuyasha, come at me," Sesshomaru instructed, kicking the wolf in the ribs and sending him flying onto his back.

"With pleasure," Inuyasha hissed, curling his lip. Sesshomaru drew his Tokijin, and his sword met with Inuyasha's in a loud clash of steel. "So how do you suppose we save Kagome without tearing each other to shreds?" the hanyou inquired softly, grunting with the effort of battle. Quickly, Koga was on them, a swift kicked aimed for Sesshomaru's ribs was deflected easily by the flat of his Tokijin, a move which sent the wolf flying into one of the castle's many buildings. The structure collapsed in a heap of splintered wood and dust.

Inuyasha was tiring quickly. He had been battling for so long. First the endless onslaught of demons summoned from the sky, and now this. He hoped Sango was able to tend to Miroku while Naraku was busy enjoying this twisted duel to the death, the bastard. He was desperately hoping Sesshomaru had some sort of plan that didn't involve tricking and murdering him. The inuyoukai had seemed generally concerned about Kagome, after all. If he hadn't been, he would've already attacked Naraku with all he had. Still, something in the hanyou rebelled against putting any sort of trust in his frigid half-brother.

"How are her powers of purification?" Sesshomaru inquired quietly. He hoped that Naraku could not hear the sounds of their voices over the clashing of swords. Sesshomaru went to feint to the right as Inuyasha swung his sword, but changed his mind. He let the hanyou land a blow, slicing through his armor and biting painfully into his shoulder. The wound was only a few inches deep, but it made his sword more difficult to wield. It was of no consequence, the move had done its job. The deep red trickling down the white of Sesshomaru's haori had Naraku smiling to himself.

"Got you, you bastard!" Inuyasha shouted, giving his brother a look that said 'I hope you know what you're doing.'

Koga was now staggering towards them, barely upright, but determined. Inuyasha leapt away from the inuyoukai and felled the wolf with a swift uppercut square underneath the wolf's already battered chin. The wolf lay unmoving on the ground at last, his breath ragged but still present.

"I'll kill you later," Inuyasha growled at the unconscious wolf, aiming another Windscar at Sesshomaru this time. Inuyasha waited for the brilliant flash of light to dissipate before determining where his brother had moved. The Windscar had destroyed yet another of the elegant buildings in its destructive wake and left even more ruts upon the barren earth. Sesshomaru came from behind him, thrusting his poisoned claws through the hanyou's already injured left shoulder. He screamed in pain.

'Naraku better be enjoying the show,' Inuyasha thought hatefully as he clutched his wounded shoulder.

"I thought we weren't supposed to actually kill each other," spat the hanyou almost inaudibly, swinging his Tetsusaiga around behind him clumsily.

"You have not yet answered my question," the Demon Lord replied succinctly, blocking the blow easily, sending Inuyasha reeling as the metallic clash of fang on fang jarred his injured shoulder.

"They're pretty good if she's pissed off enough," Inuyasha grunted. "But she's gotta be awake."

"Well then we must find a way to wake her," Sesshomaru remarked to himself as he sent Inuyasha flying across the castle grounds. Again, the Demon Lord began racking his brain for the solutions to his problem. If they could somehow manage to wake her, she might be able to purify Utsuro and save herself from Naraku's grasp. The only problem was Utsuro was nothing. He was empty…hollow. Was it even possible for him to be purified?