InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ The Entangled Web ( Chapter 11 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: It's official! Daybreak is “shocking” and “pure awesomeness!” YAY! I was so happy, I pranced around the house five times. Thankfully, no one was home ;) Thank you Laur, Silver Dog of the Snow and Lunabell for your reviews!
 
Don't own Inuyasha, mmm k?
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 11- The Entangled Web
 
 
Kagome stared in fascinated horror at what she thought was her classmate's body. Bulky, blue arms stuck out from the boy's shoulders. His open chest, green and scaly, shimmered in the light. Foreign, thick spikes stuck out unnaturally from his back, his robe torn away from where they ripped through the material. He looked alien. He looked like a completely mismatched monster. Like Naraku after Mt Hakurei…
 
“Onigumo… what did you do?! What have you done to Hojo's body?!” cried Kagome, trembling.
 
He looked at her and grinned. His fangs glistened in the orange sunset. “It's nothing major, Kagome. I just did a little redesign.”
 
“You fucking bastard…” growled Inuyasha, sword resting on his shoulder. “You got Naraku on your side! Why do something like this to yourself?!”
 
“Like you said, Inuyasha,” answered Onigumo, his face completely serious. “Back at the castle, remember? I was still `just a weak fucking human'. But now…” He raised his muscular blue arms to look at them and smirked in triumph. “Let's just say I took your advice. Thank you so much for the suggestion, half breed. However accidental it was…”
 
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. “So that was that extra stench mixed in with the snake and ash; you smell of fucking youkai!”
 
“Well, it's not like I can rely on my snake minions forever, right? Besides, it takes a lot of time and effort to grow these little darlings; and I'm usually not one for taking up long boring plans.” He started listing with his fingers: “Lets see, finding a lot a people… laying eggs in their stomachs… killing those who try to run away for help… and you know the children!”
 
He started chuckling. “Usually they sleep through it all, but occasionally, when one wakes up and starts screaming, I just wanna slit the little bastards' throats right there. But my point,” he said, scratching his scaled neck with his yellow finger nails. “Is that I couldn't let my beloved army be destroyed in one hit like before, so I've decided to take my safety into my own, now very capable, hands.”
 
Kagome couldn't tear her eyes away from the new Onigumo. Although it was still Hojo's face he was using to talk, it seemed different from before. He still had Hojo's eyes, but they were darker. The same eyebrows seemed to be arched higher, creating a shadow across his face. A sudden thought struck her, making her feel ill; He was changing. The body was changing into Onigumo's own. And soon, Hojo wouldn't even exist physically anymore…
 
“He's just like Naraku…!” exclaimed a shocked Sango. “He's become-!”
 
“A hanyou…” finished Kagome.
 
Miroku, standing by the young miko's shoulder, shook his head in disbelief. “A mismatched hanyou, like Naraku? But how…?”
 
“There are ways,” said Onigumo smugly before trailing off. “If you have enough desire…”
 
Inuyasha's eye twitched in annoyance. “Bastard! Just tell us how already!!”
 
Onigumo laughed and tapped his nose. “Well, that's for me to know and for you to never find out.”
 
“I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!” screamed Inuyasha as he leapt at Hojo's body.
 
Onigumo stood watching intently as Inuyasha jumped above his head, tessaiga raised. Kagome's heart stopped when he didn't make any sign to avoid the strike.
 
“Onigumo! Get out of the way!”
 
Her plea fell on deaf ears as Onigumo continued to stare, grinning at his attacker. Inuyasha's eyes blazed a furious gold as he brought down the sword in a tenacious swipe. There was a strange, ringing sound of metal clanging against metal. Inuyasha's mad glare turned to one of livid confusion as he looked at the tessaiga resting against the chest of the wild thief. The green scales beneath the blade shone, completely unharmed. Onigumo's grin widened and he turned his head to look at the miko over his shoulder.
 
“Aren't you glad now, Kagome? Hojo's body was so weak before. Now it can finally protect itself!”
 
In a flash he swung around his thick blue fist and struck Inuyasha across the cheek. Inuyasha hit the ground with such a force, he was dazed for a few seconds. He couldn't believe something had that much strength behind it! Even for a youkai arm! Shaking his head, he ignored his throbbing cheekbone and struggled to get up.
 
“Keh! You call that a fucking punch?” he shouted, getting into his stance again.
 
“Perhaps you should stop talking!” yelled Onigumo as he brought down another blue fist at his enemy. Inuyasha barely had time to leap out of the way as the clenched hand hit the ground where he was a second before. A huge explosion of dust erupted from the sudden impact. Inuyasha stared in shock as the smoke slowly cleared in the evening wind. `He split the ground. He split the fucking ground with one small fist!'
 
Onigumo stood in the middle of the crater, a large crack spreading out from the centre. He clenched his hand in excitement.
 
“Oh, yeah! I missed doing stuff like this.” He turned to Kagome again. “Unfortunately, Kagome, I have to deal with this guy first, so why don't you just wait there like a good girl until I'm done. It might just make things easier for you later…”
 
Inuyasha thought he felt a vein pop on the side of his head. He charged towards his enemy at break neck speed. “BASTAAARD!” he yelled as he threw a punch into the wild thief's jaw. Onigumo stumbled back, surprised.
 
“Well, looks like you're fast when you want to be, Jerkoff. Aren't you scared of hurting Hojo?”
 
“Feh! That guy can't feel anything! Like you said, `he's sleeping'.” Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. “All I gotta do now is beat you outta him.”

“Hm, as impossible as that is, you can try…” He spread his feet ready for the fight. “But there's no way you can even damage me on your own…”
 
“HIRAIKOTSU!”
 
Onigumo spun around to see a giant boomerang whizzing straight for him. He narrowly dodged out the way as it spun off the ground and returned to its master. Both Inuyasha and the wild thief looked to the group to find them standing, ready to fight. Kagome pulled back on an arrow knocked into her bow as Miroku clasped his staff next to Sango, who had the bone weapon hanging ready by her shoulder.
 
“Don't underestimate us,” said Miroku proudly. “I'm sure it's very possible if you try to take us all on at once!”
 
Onigumo raised an eyebrow, clearly irritated. “I have nothing to do with you.” He clicked his fingers. “You can play with the others.”
 
Suddenly, Kagome felt a small tremor in the ground. Her head swivelled to the edge of the village, following a strange rumbling noise. There, coming towards them in a massive stampede, were thousands upon thousands of small hebi youkai. The ground was nothing more than a sickly green and red swarm.
 
“The snake youkai!” cried Shippou, clinging to Kirara's fur.
 
“There's even more than last time!” exclaimed Sango.
 
“Kagome!” Inuyasha shouted as he began to run towards her. Something caught itself around the inu hanyou's foot, stopping him in his tracks. Inuyasha looked down to see one of Onigumo's blue arms stretched over ten metres from where he was standing, grasping the dog demon's ankles.
“I'm not done with you yet, Dog.”
 
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. He would have to trust the others with Kagome for a while.
 
 
*****
 
 
Kagome released the arrow at the hebi youkai, wiping out a large chunk of the army. Her eyebrows narrowed when the snakes from the back moved to the empty space she had just cleared.
 
“HIRAIKOTSU!” shouted Sango, as her weapon took a large swipe of the stampede. Still the swarm slithered forward at an unnatural speed.
 
“It's not having any effect!” cried Kagome. “There are too many of them!”
 
“Ladies! Beware! We're surrounded!” shouted Miroku. Kagome and Sango looked over their shoulders to see the monk with his back to them, facing another swarm coming from the other side of the village square.
 
“Wah! What do we do?” whimpered Shippou hopping nervously on the fire cat's head.
Kirara pushed Kagome into the centre of their party, making sure she was guarded on all sides. Allowing this, Kagome knocked another arrow in her bow and aimed over the torso of the cat.
 
“Everyone! Try to hold them off!”
 
 
*****
 
 
“KAZE NO KIZU!!!”
 
Again, Onigumo jumped out of the way of the attack. Inuyasha hadn't landed a hit yet, but the thief was getting tired. That, or it was the fact that Inuyasha could read the bastard's movements a little better; each time he could get a little closer.
 
Landing on his feet, Onigumo whipped out his demon arms to an abnormal length. Moving to the side, Inuyasha dodged the first punch before catching the second in his fist and brought down his blade, severing the limb in two. Onigumo's arms shot back to their original length as the wild thief cried out in pain. Cradling the stump in his one good hand, he looked up to weakly grin at the dog demon.
 
“What's this, Inuyasha? You don't care if you destroy Hojo? What about Kagome?”
 
Inuyasha's triumphant grin from his successful blow diminished as his eyes darkened. “I ain't falling for that anymore, Onigumo. I don't give a shit what happens to you or the human. If I have to sacrifice him to be sure you'll never get to her, fine by me.”
 
A flicker of panic crossed Onigumo's face, but quickly disappeared behind a confident grin. He chuckled. “You know the great thing about these arms? They belonged to a demon with a very handy technique…”
 
The flesh around the wound began to bubble like a boiling pot of water. With a sickening gurgling sound, extra pieces of flesh began to grow from the severing, until a perfect, new hand with yellow fingernails was formed. Inuyasha looked at it in disgust. Shit. Just when he thought he had made some sort of impact on his enemy…
 
Flexing his new hand, Onigumo smirked at the dog demon and cocked his head to one side. “You know, I think I'm at a disadvantage here. You have a weapon, and I don't...”
 
“Keh! Too fucking bad you didn't think of that earlier, bastard!” Inuyasha spat.
 
Onigumo continued to smile darkly as reached over his shoulder to grasp one of the spikes protruding from his back. His face turned to one of pure concentration, his mouth in a straight line, eyes frowning. With a sudden jerk and a guttural cry, he ripped the spike out. Inuyasha stared in angry confusion as Onigumo brought the long spike in front of him and examined it. Its base curved into a small handle-like structure that dripped in blood. `Probably what connected it to the spinal cord…' thought Inuyasha grimly to himself.
 
Onigumo grasped the structure like it was the hilt of a sword and held the spear in the same way as his hanyou rival. “Much better.”
 
With that, he lunged towards Inuyasha and brought down the spike, mimicking Inuyasha's previous move. The inu hanyou had barely enough time to block. He held tessaiga above his head just as the two weapons collided with each other. The blow was so strong, Inuyasha found his feet sinking into the earth as he continued to hold off the attack. Onigumo was stronger then he thought…
 
 
*****
 
 
The baby snakes continued to get closer.
 
Every time their comrades were knocked back, more would come to take their place. The group had managed to find some sort of system to keep the youkai at bay. Sango would wipe out a large group trying to get close while Kagome would take out the next ones that tried to fill out the gap in the horde. Miroku would hit those that came close enough with his staff; its holy powers seemed to hold them off for a while.
 
Kagome reached for another arrow and stopped suddenly. There was only one left.
 
“They keep getting closer!” she cried. “I've only got one arrow left!”
 
“We can't keep holding them off forever!” shouted Sango as she caught the Hiraikotsu once more.
 
“Everyone! Stay behind me!” yelled Miroku over his shoulder as he reached for the rosary beads around his wrist. Ripping them off in one fluid movement, he revealed his bare palm to the snakes in front of him.
 
“KAZAANA!”
 
The air rippled and began to suck the mass of hebi youkai into the air rip.
 
 
*****
 
 
Inuyasha threw off another hit from Onigumo and brought down a strike. The mismatched hanyou took the brunt of the attack on his sword, the impact forcing him to slide back in the dirt. Inuyasha felt warm blood trickle from the cut on his lip. Ignoring the pain of the cuts all over his body, he prepared to charge again when he saw an amused expression on the wild thief's face.
 
“The monk…” he heard him murmur. Inuyasha flipped his head around to see his friend sucking up the snakes into his palm, the rest standing behind him. It looked like he was struggling. Of course. There was so many of them. Too many youkai at once would be a struggle…
 
Seeing movement in his peripheral vision, the hanyou snapped his head back to Onigumo to see him reaching into his robe.
 
“Hmm… so it's time for this, huh?” his enemy said aloud, holding up a small hive in his blue palm. He threw the mottled brown mass to the ground, splitting open one side. A loud humming filled the air before hundreds of sickly yellow wasps flew from the destroyed hive towards the monk.
 
Inuyasha jumped.
 
“Saimyoushou! MIROKU!! CLOSE THE AIR RIP!!!”
 
 
*****
 
 
Miroku turned his head at the sound of his ally to see the pack of poisonous insects approaching. He gritted his teeth and returned his focus on the destruction of the hebi youkai.
 
“Houshi-sama!! Close the air rip!” cried Sango. He shook his head.
 
“That's what he wants! I will destroy them all, Sango!” he shouted as the first of the insects flew into the kazaana. They watched, frozen, as more and more of the wasps were sucked up. Miroku's hand began to tremble violently. Thick beads of sweat slid down the sides of his face.
 
“Houshi-sama! Stop or the poison will kill you!!”
 
“Please, Miroku!” begged Shippou.
 
“NO!” cried the monk weakly as he sank to his knees.
 
“Miroku!! Close it or I'll fucking kill you!!” shouted Inuyasha, who quickly jumped out of the way as Onigumo brought down the spine-sword again, shattering the ground.
 
“Worry about yourself,” said Onigumo, smirking.
 
“That's enough, Houshi-sama!” screamed Sango as she wrapped the beads around his fist again. He collapsed into her arms. Kagome looked on helplessly as the taijiya cradled the unconscious man in her lap. He was barely breathing.
 
An amplified hissing, scraping sound brought the conscious part of the group back to reality. The left over snakes were charging madly towards them, fear of being sucked into oblivion gone.
 
“There's still so many!” cried Kagome in anguish. She was shocked to see the little fox boy bravely jump off of Kirara and face the oncoming swarms.
 
“KITSUNEBI!” he shouted as streams of blue flames left his fist, wiping out the front row. A surviving youkai leapt out to head butt him in his little stomach. He was forced back, rolling onto Kagome's shoes, knocked out, dizzy swirls in his eyes.
 
“Shippou-chan!!” gasped Kagome, scooping him into her arms.
 
The snakes were upon them. Sango beat back the creatures furiously with her weapon while Kirara ripped apart the snakes on the other side. Kagome stood in the centre with their two wounded comrades. Suddenly a hebi leapt up to attach itself to Sango's arm, its furiously red tentacles sliding over the black material of her slayer suit. The exterminator's eyes widened in shock as she watched the suit begin to sizzle and melt beneath the snake's bite.
 
“Acid?!” she exclaimed. She began to feel the burning sensation of the corrosive on her skin. Realising the true danger, she turned to her fire cat.
 
“Kirara! Get Kagome-chan out of here!”
 
Without hesitation the fire cat grabbed Kagome by the collar and pulled her into the air towards the other side of the village square.
 
“Wait! Sango-chan!!”
 
Before getting a few metres in the air, the hebi youkai leapt at the flying cat. Kirara struggled to kick them off before more and more latched themselves onto her fur, dragging her to the ground. Thinking quickly, the fire cat threw Kagome and the kitsune to a clear patch of ground.
 
 
*****
 
 
Inuyasha noticed the spectacle out of the corner of his eye and turned to run to her.
 
“KAGOME!”
 
“Don't look away during a battle!” shouted Onigumo as he thrust the spike into the inu hanyou's chest.
 
Inuyasha stopped dead at the feeling of being impaled. He looked down to see thick red crimson flowing from the wound. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he swung his fist into Onigumo's face sending him flying to ground. Breathing heavily, he roughly pulled the spike out of his chest, his blood splattering on the ground. Throwing the offending weapon away in disgust, he raced towards his friends.
 
 
*****
 
 
Kagome hastily recovered from the fall and looked up to see Kirara being dragged under the mass of youkai. Without thinking she reached for her last arrow and sent it purifying the snakes off her feline rescuer. She took the short window of safety and ran to scoop up the now defenceless kitten. Holding the two defeated demon's to her chest, she looked around frantically for something to fight with. She gasped as the swarm reached her and lunged.
 
“KAZE NO KIZU!!!”
 
The snake youkai were ripped away by the sudden blast. Kagome looked up to watch Inuyasha land in front of her. He seemed unsteady… Kagome's chest tightened as she looked at the smooth flow of blood seeping out of a deep hole in his chest.
 
“SANGO!!” he shouted. “THE WARDING!”
 
Sango quickly looked away from her battle with the youkai to reach under her armour and pull out a small sack of powder. Throwing it to the ground, it erupted in a thick smoke screen, confusing the hebi army. Taking the opportunity, she grabbed the small beaded bracelet from inside the monk's robes and threw it in the direction of where she last saw Inuyasha. She then pulled one arm of the monk over her shoulder and ran in the same direction, ignoring the many acidic tentacles of the snakes licking at her feet.
 
Inuyasha caught the bracelet and shoved it on Kagome's wrist. “He said not to move or it will break-!”
He was cut short by Onigumo smashing into him. He slammed into the dirt, skidding until he finally stopped.
 
“INUYASHA!”
 
“Don't move!!” he yelled back at her, clutching his chest with one hand.
 
Onigumo winked at Kagome before he ran towards his opponent. Kagome watched helplessly as Inuyasha blocked an attack but was struck across the face again, after losing his footing.
 
“Kagome-chan! Are you alright?!”
 
Kagome turned to see Sango half jogging towards her, the monk's arm pulled over her shoulder. “Sango-chan!” she said, about to step forward.
 
“Don't move, Kagome-sama!”
 
The two girls blinked in surprise at Miroku looking up, exhausted, from Sango's side.
 
“Houshi-sama! You're awake!” cried Sango. Miroku kept his eyes on Kagome.
 
“Do not move an inch, Kagome-sama,” he instructed through cracked lips. “With this many youkai, the warding will only be enough to hold them off if you make as little movement as possible.”
 
“Houshi-sama!” gasped Sango. “Inuyasha…!”
 
Heart thumping, Kagome looked over at the vicious fight between the two hanyou.
 
 
*****
 
 
Inuyasha lunged for Onigumo again. His arms were aching with fatigue. He could smell the perspiration on his sweat-drenched body mix with the blood flowing down his chest. It was bad. He knew it would take days to heal, but pushed that to the back of his mind and focused on slicing the bastard in two this time. As he was about to lay another strike on him, Inuyasha's vision suddenly blurred. He wobbled on his feet for a second before the wave of dizziness passed. He didn't know what the hell that was. Surely he wasn't at his limit yet!
 
Seeing a flicker of movement, he looked up to see a blue arm whip out and whack him hard on the jaw. He collapsed to one knee and steadied himself with the tessaiga. `Bastard!' He lunged for Onigumo again and brought down the sword, only to slice the empty ground. Inuyasha jerked his head around furiously to find out where the quick bugger had jumped to.
 
A sudden sharp, slicing pain ripped through his stomach causing him to choke out a strangled cry. He wasn't sure if he heard Kagome scream his name as he looked down to his chest. A thick point, glistening with his blood, was sticking out of his torso. Shit. Not again. He heard Onigumo chuckle in his ear.
 
“You weren't watching your back, were you? Never underestimate how low a wild thief will stoop.”
 
Inuyasha felt the spike yank out of his back, causing more blood to ooze from the gaping wound. He tried to swing his sword around in an effort to catch his opponent before he leapt away. The bastard was too fast. Inuyasha felt another nauseating wave of dizziness and leant on the tessaiga again to keep him standing. What the fuck was going on?! These were nothing but flesh wounds! So why was he about to faint?!
 
Onigumo's dark chuckles brought him away from his thoughts. “Amazing, these spikes, you know!” he laughed, holding up his weapon dripping in blood. “Not only are they remarkably sturdy, they even secrete their own poison...”
 
He gestured towards the bleeding wounds in Inuyasha's chest. “Best not to move around so much. You don't want it to spread faster…”
 
 
*****
 
 
“Inuyasaha!” shouted Sango as she moved to run to his aid.
 
Onigumo smirked. “Perhaps you should all just sit and watch.” He leisurely clicked his fingers.
 
Suddenly the snakes from within Sango's dying smoke cloud dove out of its murky depths, onto the monk and taijiya. Reacting quickly, Sango held up the hiraikotsu in front of them defensively, just in time to bare the brunt of the attack. The two were slammed back into the wall of a hut on the other side of the village.
 
“Sango-chan! Miroku-sama!” gasped Kagome. She could see Sango's arms trembling, trying to hold off the youkai as they continued to press them against the wooden hut.
 
“That's right, don't kill them yet,” grinned Onigumo. “I want them to watch. You too, Kagome,” he said looking at her. “I want this imprinted in your memory for the rest of your life.”
 
Kagome hugged her two youkai friends tighter and looked at the bloodied Inuyasha. How much more could he take?
 
 
*****
 
 
Inuyasha got to his feet again, spitting away the blood in his mouth and wiping his chin on his sleeve.
 
`Fucking poison? Damn sneaky bastard!'
 
Inuyasha dragged in a rattling breath, trying to focus his vision. He wasn't going to lose like this! Not when Kagome needed him! His eyes flickered to his fallen friends before reaching Kagome's frightened face. Inuyasha cursed. He was the only one left now! No way in hell was he going to let this motherfucker touch her!!
 
“FUCKING DIE!!” he screamed as he put all his effort into one blow with the tessaiga. Onigumo moved to the side in a blur and brought his hands up to encase one of Inuyasha's arms. There was a loud snap that seemed to ring throughout the village. Inuyasha looked down at his broken left arm, hanging limp at his side. He couldn't feel the pain yet. Maybe the poison was killing all feeling in his body. Inuyasha tightened his grip on tessaiga's hilt.
 
“Feh!” he spat weakly. “You think that's gonna affect me? All I need is one hand to wield a sword.”
 
Onigumo frowned. “Tenacious as ever, aren't we? Perhaps I should just shut you up for good.”
 
His blue arm suddenly whipped out to grab Inuyasha by the throat; the other rammed its fist deep into his gut. Blood spluttered from Inuyasha's mouth.
 
“Inuyasha!!” screamed Kagome about to move.
 
“Stay…!” was all he managed to gargle out. Kagome stiffened, torn over what she should do.
 
Onigumo retracted his arm length to hold Inuyasha's bleeding face to his own. “Did you hear that, Inuyasha?” said Onigumo quietly. “That is the last thing you will ever hear coming from her mouth.”
 
Inuyasha's eyes widened in fury and was about yell an angry retort when the arm around his neck threw him across the other side of the village. He felt himself collide with something hard the second before everything went black.
 
 
*****
 
 
Kagome nearly dropped Shippou and Kirara in shock as she watched Inuyasha crashing through one hut and into another behind it. The two homes lay in ruins as the huge clouds of dust slowly settled. She could faintly hear Miroku and Sango yelling out for Inuyasha to answer. All she could do was stare blankly at the wreckage. She couldn't think. Her mind seemed to be completely blank. She didn't even notice the silent tears streaming down her cheeks. He couldn't be… He just couldn't…
 
Onigumo stretched out one hand to shift through the rubble and extract the limp body of the inu hanyou. Laughing loudly, he brought his arm back to inspect his handiwork.
 
“Pathetic. He actually thought he stood a cha-!”
 
Onigumo stopped. Slowly, his face became outraged as he looked closer at the lifeless hanyou. His lips curled back over his teeth. “What?! He's still fucking breathing?!”
 
Kagome let out a shaky sigh of relief and sank to her knees. He was alive. He was alive! He was alright!
 
Onigumo looked at her darkly before grinning. “Perhaps I should rectify this mistake?”
 
Kagome's heart leapt into her throat as she saw the mismatched boy pick up his bloodied spike. “One thrust through the skull. What do you say, Kagome?”
 
“No…!” she gasped putting Shippou and Kirara on the ground.
 
“No!! Inuyasha!” yelled Sango and Miroku in the distance.
 
Onigumo picked up the unconscious hanyou by the hair and aimed his strike. “Time to die, Inuyasha,” he grinned manically.
 
“NO!!!” screamed Kagome, ripping the bracelet off her wrist and bolting towards them. Onigumo laughed hysterically as he brought the point down…
 
“That will do, Onigumo,” said an ice cold voice. Onigumo halted.
 
Everything seemed to freeze in time. Kagome stood motionless in the middle of the battlefield, eyes wide in shock. Did she really hear that voice?
 
Everyone turned their heads to see Naraku floating in midair, looking down at Onigumo. His mouth was set in a hard line. Kagome's mind raced a million miles per second. She couldn't feel his presence! She checked again to make sure, only noticing the usual evil feeling of youki. `Why…? Why couldn't I sense him? I can always sense the shikon no tama! He always carries it around with him. Why couldn't I feel him coming?'
 
“How…?” she gaped.
 
Naraku looked at her with dark cold eyes and smiled. “Kagome. I have a proposition for you.”
 
Kagome looked at him confused. What the heck was going on?
 
“You have a choice,” he said. Kagome's mouth went dry.
 
“A choice…?” she asked nervously. Naraku nodded.
 
“Either I have your life… or Inuyasha's.”
 
Kagome sucked in her breath. Naraku had been planning this. So this was the trap? To get them in a position where they would have to sacrifice one of their own for the safety for another? How could they not see something as obvious as this?! Kagome's feelings of humiliation were instantly quashed by another more dominant thought: There was a way to save Inuyasha?
 
“Enough!!” spat Onigumo, raising the spike over the unconscious hanyou's head.
 
“Onigumo…” said Naraku warningly.
 
“Naraku, I've been waiting fifty fucking years to kill this bastard.”
 
“Then you can wait a little longer. Why not drag out his suffering for a while?”
 
Onigumo's eyes narrowed in fury as he stared down at his victim. His raised arm started to shake with restraint.
 
“Onigumo…” said Naraku dangerously. Onigumo grit his teeth and threw the spike into the rubble of a destroyed hut. Bored, Naraku turned back to Kagome.
 
“Either Inuyasha dies here, or you come with us. What will it be Kagome?”
 
Kagome looked to the half demon, bloodied and limp on the rocky ground. There was no question about it. There was no way she couldn't make the decision. She knew her choice would hurt him, but if he could stay alive then…
 
“I-”
 
“No Kagome-chan!” cried Sango, still holding off against the hebi youkai.
 
“Don't do it, Kagome-sama!” shouted Miroku. “Think of Inuyasha!”
 
“She is,” smirked Naraku. Kagome continued looking at Inuyasha's unconscious body and spoke.
 
“You'll leave him alone?” she asked.
 
“For now.”
 
She nodded her head as she reached her revolve. For Inuyasha…
 
“Alright.”
 
“NO! KAGOME-SAMA!!”
 
“KAGOME-CHAN!!”
 
“Hm,” chuckled Naraku. “Very well. No spiritual attacks now, Kagome.”
 
Kagome felt him appear behind her and braced herself. Something blunt knocked the back of her neck. Her vision blurred and turned to black.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A/N: The reason I said last chapter had a minor cliffy is because I thought it was going to be minor compared to this cliffy. I thought this one was pretty major. Or maybe I'm wrong. Tell me what you think!
 
Word of advice: If you want to write a fight scene, drink Coke! The caffeine is great to get you typing! My fingers were flying over the keyboard after getting stuck for three days trying to write it.
Till next time!
 
GoldenDust xx