InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reunion ❯ Chapter Eleven: Battle Ground ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter Eleven

A/N: Hi, guys! I hope that you are ready for the next installment in this little tale. sigh I have a dissenting review about my plan for a death fight between Kouga and Inuyasha. As the old saying goes, you can't please everyone. I appreciate the review, Pintura, and would like to say that I haven't seen these episodes that you referred to. Where I live, we only get up to the episode before Inuyasha going after his father's killer, somewhere in the seventies. Also, I have heard about Kikyo's death in episode 124, I believe. This throws off my resolution to the triangle that I had in my prequel to this story, 'The Pain of Being Alone'. Fortunately, since this is fanfiction, I am not obligated to keep with the true storyline of the series. Anyway, keep the reviews coming in, for or against, as I appreciate them all and try to use them to be a better writer. Now for the obligatory disclaimer, I don't own Inuyasha. The stage is set, let the show go on!

Miroku awoke to the grey light of early dawn. As was his habit, he arose and began his day with a prayer. After his prayer, he looked around the camp at his companions. He smiled at Sango's sleeping form. How he wished that he was getting a closer view of her, but he had yet to figure a way to get near her without getting a headache! He turned his gaze to Kagome. His smile faded as he looked at her. She was hugging Shippou to her in her sleep and it was obvious that she had not slept well. He sighed. 'She'll be alright. Inuyasha is upset but he will be back. He loves her too much.' He looked back at Sango as she started to wake up. As much as he enjoyed watching her sleep, he enjoyed watching her morning strech even more! He watched her until she noticed him looking. He smiled, "Good morning, Lady Sango! I trust you rested well."

"I rested well enough, houshi-sama." Miroku winced at the honorific. She usually used that when she was ... upset with him.

He turned to see if Kagome was waking when the first arrow hit him high in the right shoulder. The second took him low on the left side and the third took him in the right thigh.

"Miroku!" Sango screamed. 'Strange.' he thought, as he blacked out from the pain. 'She only calls me by name when I am in trouble.'

Arrows had fallen on Sango as well, but her armour had turned them. She desperately wanted to see if Miroku was alive but she had more important things to worry about. Kouga's wolf demon pack had come out of the woods, running at the camp and howling like their four footed allies! "Kagome! Here they come!" she shouted, counting on her earlier scream to have awoken her companion. "Kirara!" she called to her fire cat. Kirara transformed at a run and Sango swung up on her as she came by with the ease of long practice. She spied the archers that had fired on her and Miroku and counterattacked. She took great satisfaction in seeing them taken out of the fight by Hiraikotsu. 'That's for Miroku!' She looked to see what Kagome was doing.

Kagome had strung her bow and was shooting at the demons but only to wound, not kill. She put no purifying power behind them. Tears were streaming down her face for what Kouga was forcing her to do. She knew some of the wolves she was having to shoot to protect her friends, her family. Silently, she cursed Kouga for what he was forcing her to do. She had sent Shippou into hiding to protect him. 'I wish Inuyasha were here!' she thought, desperately. She was so busy with the attacking demons that she didn't notice the two wolves that had come up behind her. Suddenly, one jumped on her back, knocking her to the ground! The other wolf grabbed her bow in his jaws and wrenched it from her grasp! Both wolves then grabbed an end of the bow and ran off with it. Kagome got to her knees to find Kouga before her.

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Kouga's attack was going as planned. The only flaw was the demon exterminator. The archers were supposed to take her out at the beginning of the attack along with the monk and his cursed hand. The other two humans were standing back to back against his demons. They fought well, but it would only be a matter of time before his wolves pulled them down. It didn't matter, anyway. His objective was Kagome. He got around behind her with two of his wolves and sent them to disarm her. When they had accomplished that, it was time for him to face her himself. 'Now!' he thought. 'I'll show her how a true demon is.'

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"Well, well, well what have we here?" snarled Kouga, sarcastically. "There is no need for you to be on your knees, Kagome. You don't have to beg for my attention!"

"Kouga, please! Stop your attack!" begged Kagome.

Kouga laughed at her. "Now, why should I do that, when I am winning!" he gloated. He reached out and grabbed a handfull of her hair and pulled her to her feet. He put his other arm around her and pulled her to him, roughly. "Now, I have you and your jewel shards. With them, I will be stronger and faster than dog face again! But, I won't kill him right away. I want him to see that I have taken you away from him!" He leaned into Kagome to kiss her when he was hit from behind.

A small bundle of red fur had landed on his back, screaming at him! "Let my mama go, you ... you bastard!" shouted Shippou. Then he bit him, sinking his fangs to the root into the back of Kouga's neck!

"Argg!" screamed Kouga, in pain. He released Kagome and reached around behind him to dislodge the little kitsune. "When I get my hands on you!"

"Kouga! Don't you dare hurt him! Leave him alone!" shouted Kagome and she launched herself at him!

Kouga casually backhanded her to the ground. "Stay out of this!" he snarled. "Now I've got you!" Kouga exulted. He had managed to get a hand on the squirming kitsune on his back. He dug his claws into Shippou's leg causing Shippou to yelp in pain, releasing his hold on Kouga's neck! Kouga then threw the kitsune away from him and into a tree! Shippou crumpled to the ground and lay still.

"Shippou!" Kagome screamed. She started to run to her adopted son's side, when she was stopped by Kouga grabbing her hair, again.

"Now, where were we...." Kouga began, but he was cut off by a scream of pure rage.

"KOUGA!" Inuyasha roared.

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Dawn was breaking, and Inuyasha was still a couple of miles from the camp. 'Come on, come on!' he thought to himself. 'Faster, you stupid hanyou!' he berated himself. When he had gotten closer to the camp, he heard sounds of fighting. 'NO! Don't let me to late!' he thought, fearing the worst. He broke into the clearing, just in time to see Kouga throw Shippou into the tree and then grab Kagome by the hair. Rage infused him. Tetsaiga was barely able to control the demon within him as he drew his father's fang. "KOUGA!" he roared, as he leaped forward.

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Kouga turned to the scream. He saw Inuyasha bearing down on him. 'Damn!' he thought, realizing he had no where to go. 'That filthy hanyou is going to win!' was the last thought that went threw his mind before Inuyasha's sword cut him down.

Kagome, freed from Kouga's grasp, went to Shippou. She didn't hear the shouts of "Kouga's dead!" coming from the wolf demons or see them run from the field. All she saw was the body of the little kitsune in front of her. Sobbing, she gently turned him over to check for signs of life. He groaned softly as she did this. "He's alive!" she shouted. "Oh, Shippou! Why did you do that?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I couldn't let him hurt you." came the reply, barely a whisper. Shippou's eyes cracked open. "Mama, are you alright? I thought I heard papa-Inu? Did he take care of Kouga?"

'His voice is so weak!' she thought. "I'm here, baby. I'm fine. And Inuysaha got rid of Kouga."

"Good." Blood started to leak from his mouth. "Papa-Inu?"

"I'm here, runt." Inuyasha said, his voice thick with emotion.

"I tried to protect mama. I tried to be a full youkai."

"You did good, son." said Inuyasha, calling him that for the first time. "I'm very proud of you."

"Mama, he called me 'son'." Shippou's voice trailed off as he lost consciousness.

"Shippou! SHIPPOU!" screamed Kagome.

Inuyasha put his hands on Kagome's shoulders. "There's nothing we can do, Kagome." he said, quietly. He felt as if his heart were breaking for her pain and for his own. "He's going."

She bowed her head over the little kitsune and wept.

Inuyasha stood behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. His eyes scanning the woods. He couldn't bear to watch what was happening. After a moment he thought, 'Her shoulders are getting warm.' He looked down at Kagome. He drew in a sharp breath. She was glowing! And the glow was enveloping Shippou, too! "Kagome!?" he whispered.

She turned her face to him. Her face was serene as she looked up at him. "He has your heart. He may not be your blood, but I could not let him die."

"K, k, kikyo!?" he stammered.

The once dead miko nodded her head. "I could not let your son die." she said again. "And Kagome was willing for me to come forth to heal him. I cannot heal him fully. He will be weak, but he will live." She smiled sadly. "I cannot stay, but tell her thank you and consider this a wedding present for the both of you."

"Kikyo, I ... I don't know what to say to you, except thank you." Inuyasha paused. "My love." he finished, softly.

Kikyo's spirit smiled through Kagome's lips. The glow surrounding Kagome began to fade. Before it disappeared completely, she said one final thing. "Forgive her, Inuyasha! Her heart is torn in two from what she did! Forgive her!" The voice faded into nothingness as Kagome's head sagged forward. Inuyasha leaned forward to brace her before she fell.

"Kagome? Kagome! Are you allright?"

She drew a deep, ragged breath. "Yeah." she said, slowly. "How is, Shippou?"

In answer to the question, the little fox demon stirred. His eyes slowly opened, and he looked up at her, blinking. "Mama?" His voice was still weak, but it didn't hold the promise of death in it now. "What happened? I don't hurt as much, anymore."

Kagome began to cry, softly this time. She gathered Shippou in to her chest. She smiled through her tears and said, "You're going to be fine, my little one, you're going to be just fine!" Still smiling, she looked up at Inuyasha.

He knelt beside them and put his arms around them both, tears of his own joining hers. This moment wasn't to last, though.

"Inuyasha!" he heard his name called. He looked up. Sango was waving at him frantically from the monk's side. When she had his attention, she pointed toward the forest. At the edge of the forest, the wolf demons could be seen massing for a charge. He snarled as he stood and drew Tetsaiga. "It's time to finish this! No one hurts my family and friends and gets away with it!" As he leaped to her side, she mounted Kirara. A nod passed between them, they knew what was at stake. One of Daremo's companions limped up to join them. He smiled grimly. "Care if I join this party?"

Inuyasha smiled back, just as grim. "Sure! The more the merrier!" He looked at the wounded man. "Your friend?" he asked.

"Dead."

Inuyasha nodded. Glancing at Sango to check on her readiness, he barked a command. "Let's GO!"

They began running toward the demons. The demons broke into a charge when they saw them coming. And this is what Daremo and Sesshomaru saw when they arrived on the scene.

A/N: For those of you that thought I was going to kill Shippou and have Sesshomaru bring him back to life, HAHA, I fooled you. grins evilly Are we having fun yet!? I considered stopping it where Shippou was dying but thought that that would be too cruel. Thank you for the review, PJ, and trust me, you didn't upset me. Neither did you, Pintura. Well, I will soon be getting to Inuyasha's family, I promise. And there will be a whole new can of worms opened then. See ya'.