InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Scorched ❯ Conspiracy ( Chapter 5 )

A/N-Sorry for the wait. The computer was down.

I once again remind you that Inuyasha and cast is not mine, but some characters are.

I must also remind you that there is violence, language and sex in my story.

Too young? Shame on you.

Chapter 5

Conspiracy

*~*~*

Her entire face hurt like hell, especially her jaw. She was still in such a painful daze that even thinking had its impact on her.

What the fuck had happened?

Funny; the last thing she could remember was being very afraid of something…a needle, if she remembered correctly. She had been deathly terrified of it, as she usually was, but there weren't doctors pinning her down to a table, or anyone at all holding her hand for reassurance.

There were other people there…but they didn't help her, they held her down painfully, ripping her coat, and her flesh in their pitiful attempts to keep her still. Not good people…

Ah, yes, now she remembered perfectly. She was part of a heist. The man that had kidnapped her, Kouga, had finally grown agitated with her struggling enough that he did the only thing she'd rather he'd never done at all; punched her fucking lights out.

Quite literally.

The very last thing she could remember was his irritated growling voice saying, "This is ridiculous…" Then he moved to her front, said something about closing her eyes, but when she didn't she saw his fist come flying at her anyway, hitting her too hard and fast for her to feel the pain, just going straight into unconsciousness.

It wasn't bad being unconscious; like being asleep, only much more deeply. There was nothing to dream about unless your idea of dreaming was swimming in nothing, all around you, absolutely nothing to feel, see, or hear but the color of black.

No, compared to the incredible pain she felt now, black was not bad at all…

Who knew how long she'd been sleeping? Just about anyone around here other than herself, but that wasn't the point; she needed out of here. A good doctor or hospital…hell, someone that wasn't demon would be nice! In five seconds it seemed Kouga and his goons had turned her body into a scratching post for their kitty-claws. She must have looked a lot worse than she felt; blood was everywhere, she could…smell it?

She must have been a lot sicker than she thought. Her body began to feel completely horrible, and not just achy horrible, the full out every-cell-is-going-to-burst horrible.

She tried to sleep, tried to move, tried to express her pain in any way, but nothing was working correctly. Her entire body pounded, and everything that would take the slightest amount of energy was too damn much to do.

She had wished that none of this had ever happened to her, but it was too common a thought for her taste. Now, she just wanted Kouga to come back and hit her again so she didn't have to stay in the consciousness of the stupid, painful awareness.

"Suffering?"

The voice caught her so badly off guard that she almost put herself out of awareness when she managed to jerk her head in surprise, but the only thing she got was a horrible pounding where it cracked against the back of the chair and an all-too-painful throbbing shot straight to her eyes.

She did, however, manage a few choice words to accent her situation. "FUCK…"

The cold voice did not stray from its nearness, but did, however, manage to sound more amused. "I could end your misery, if you'd like, but voice your wishes so they can be understood. I won't stand here translating human slang when a proper bitch should use civilized English."

Kagome snorted rather loudly and her head reacted. Her hands slammed to apply pressure to her forehead in hopes of reducing the pounding pain that ate at her nerves. "Fine by me; kill me if you want. It's better than this shit…"

The silence, she noted, was a little more than disturbing; her skin crawled nervously and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Even though every cell in her body felt like it would just wiggle right away from her into millions of molecules, part of her still allowed her body to react normally and allowed the cautious part of her to put up its guards in fear of more pain.

This man had to be another demon. Who else would it be? Demons were crawling in this place, it seemed; it almost made humans seem scarce.

Though, her eyesight hadn't returned fully when she blinked them open. All she saw was a blur of white against the pale grey of the walls behind him, with more distorted colors that were probably part of his outfit. She thought, on what was supposed to be this monotone man's face, was the color amber.

The same color eyes as the man from before…

"Who are you?" She asked when she gained enough courage to speak out into the stubborn silence.

The peace remained only a second before he finally found something to say. "I think the better question is 'what, exactly, are you?'"

Kagome's head, already scrambled terribly for some unknown reason, began giving her a searing heat between the eyes and straight through her skull to the back of her head at the confusion she felt. "What? You come around talking about stupid translation! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm human!"
"You take me for a fool?"
"I'm human, dammit! I was born human!"

Perhaps…but not anymore, wench…though I cannot place your species…To him, she looked no different than a human would, but certain aspects of her state of mind, aura and scent stated otherwise.

If she was indeed still human, she was acting like a disease was attacking every cell of her body, making her convulse as it fought back. Her scent, still heavily laced with human blood and flesh, held a higher tone of spiciness that only demons could hold, saying to other demons that they held their own demonic auras. How spicy only determined the power and the species of the beast it came from.

And her aura; her aura wavered madly, with two different feelings being purity and demon, and they were on two separate sides, pushing against each other, fighting for control.

Fascinating. He mused as one would push forcefully and threw her body into another convulsion, and the other would push back just as madly, once again equaling it out. It was as if her body couldn't decide what to be, tainted or pure.

Why? She was born human; what gives her these qualities?

Apparently, there were many things wrong with what he was seeing. If the aura was that of a Miko, she'd simply get rid of the demonic energy attacking her by purification, but at the same time, the Miko would have to protect her demon body because it's still her body.

There weren't any demon types that he knew of capable of defeating that power, or even coming close to equaling it out. The type of demon controls what amount of power she would hold to fight back with, and it was as if the type had yet to be decided for her…

Suddenly, he understood everything, from what was happening to her, to what he could do about it.

Naraku was a vile fiend to want her dead and to give the orders without clearing it through him first, and Kouga was no better, a man to never be trusted for anyone if he betrayed both his boss and the demon species. The only reason Naraku would place a price on the human woman's head is if she were a Miko, and a strong one at that. This young woman probably didn't even know what a Miko is.

The corner of his mouth upturned in a very slight smirk. Perhaps this would be a wonderful time to take advantage of his sense of humor? It would certainly gain quite a response from those who betrayed him.

What did he care? They were the imbeciles that held no respect for him. No matter what happens in this human war, he would never go down, not when he had lived for this long with the despicable humans (who thankfully over time learned what the definition of "clean" really meant). They, on the other hand, well…they probably would, considering they'd made the mistake of taking him for a fool, and the humans, no matter how vile, foolish, or just flat out stupid they were, were never to be taken lightly.

Using a claw on his thumb, he pressed it into his forefinger's pad and pressed hard enough to break the surface of his skin. The drop of blood that formed he let drop onto her forehead, and like water her skin absorbed it immediately, all before he had licked the surface of the cut.

The pain intensified and she almost screamed in agonizing bloody murder before everything just went numb, even her vocal chords. Her pain, her body, everything was like it had been turned off, and she was silently grateful to the man/beast that had made it happen.

But her hearing, she found, still worked just fine.

"I do not help foolish humans; I kill them. If you value your life, you'll remember that."

If she could have, she would have nodded, thanked him, acknowledged him as he left, but nothing was working to her mind because now everything was numb. Instead, she just listened as he left the room and fell back into a peaceful slumber; one that she definitely needed now that her body had the chance to relax.

His eyes…amber…just like the most beautiful man I've ever seen.

She mentally frowned when she wondered if that was at all the same man, but then began to question the stability of her sanity. This man was very cold to the feeling, no emotions, no feeling towards anything he did.

The other man, well…she was attracted to him, so he had to have been a hell of a lot gentler than that…

*~*~*

"Goddammit, Miroku, can't you move your monk ass any faster than that?!"

The monk huffed and dropped the bag carelessly before his "master's" feet in the outer parking lot, rubbing his hands to return the feeling to his fingers. "What the hell do you keep in there? Bricks? Sandbags by chance?"

"No; that's where I keep the heads of all the human monk's I've assassinated over the years for being so fucking slow!"

Miroku paused before speaking again. "LEAD?"

The Hanyou huffed angrily and bent down to open the bag as the monk muttered inaudibly about temperamental half-demons and a clothes line. He pulled out a piece of cloth (courtesy of Sango) buried beneath some homing equipment at the bottom of the bag and sniffed it delicately to once again pick up her scent.

He hadn't forgotten it, but he wanted to be completely positive in a place like this where many other scents could cover trails or make them harder to find.

"Do you need her picture, boss?" Miroku asked sincerely.

"I know what she looks like."

The trail was running colder by the minute, and every passing moment became another spike of danger for Miss Kagome Higurashi. The war brewing was stronger than ever in the undergrounds; from secret spying equipment, Shippo picked up the heavy signals of demons grouped together, plotting their revenge on the humans by targeting the most important of people and estates.

They'd start here first, in their homeland of Tokyo, destroying everything that was of importance and capturing people to become slaves to their masters. While Japan battles the full frontal assault, other countries around the world would plan to aide in some way, and demons would come out of the woodwork in surprise to trap them as well.

Fully, the demons gave it a month before every last human was captured or killed, maybe not even that much time, but only under the condition that every supernatural human that could possibly oppose them was destroyed.

That sure as hell didn't give Kagome much time, and that also made his search for the jewel that much more important. He needed them both under his protection to be certain they'd be safe, and it'd take a disaster of mammoth proportions to stop him. He'd figure out what to do about the rest of the war later.

Humans were foolish creatures, but at times demons could be just as bull headed. Why destroy a race with super intelligence like they have? A race that's spent all of evolution becoming what they are today (not that he was impressed)? It made no sense to him. They were completely defenseless creatures, for the most part, anyway.

Even a hideously disgusting, worthless creature (he thought of himself), didn't deserve a death such as this.

He knew one thing, though; they were not taking Kagome Higurashi. They could have everyone else, but that woman was not dying because of a demon war, he could guarantee it.

"So how do you intend to breach the most dangerous club on the planet?" Miroku asked innocently, but it was clear that his curiosity had peaked once he'd seen the actual building they were to break entry to.

For the Hanyou, it was a terribly good question. How does one go about sneaking into a club, right under the most dangerous and trained nose in the entire demon kingdom? Sesshoumaru probably knew they were outside, and probably also knew what they were after. If he wanted to, the demon could kill them without effort or being seen from his club station, but more often then not the demon's curiosity allowed pointless lives to be spared.

Inuyasha wasn't about to back out, though. "We'll have to be pretty fucking careful."

"If that isn't an understatement…" Sango grunted from her position beside the bag. "Sesshoumaru, the demon Lord, owns this club, right? No one's going in without him knowing about it."

Miroku shrugged nonchalantly as he crouched beside them both. "Maybe he won't care if we take her back. What would he want with her, anyway? A demon like him usually will choose to either leave humans alone or destroy them."

"Don't say things like that!"

"Sango, I meant no harm."

"Houshi, I-" Sango squealed quite suddenly and turned to slap the monk across the face instead of knocking him out completely for his rude action. "What have I told you about touching me?!"

He sighed and touched his stinging cheek, relieved that she didn't knock him out like she very well could have for his bold movement towards her backside. "Sango, you were worried; I was simply trying to comfort you…and I fear that there is a slight chance I will not live after tonight's adventure."

"Stop it; don't say that!"

"My sincerest apologies…"

"If you two don't shut the hell up, I'll use your heads to bash through the walls," Inuyasha hissed, removing gloves from his hands in order to better see his claws. "We'll go in killing if we have to, but our best bet is going through the back entrance."

Both humans turned to glance over the car they were all stationed behind to said entrance. It looked like Sesshoumaru was probably the only one that was allowed to enter that way, for at the entrance were two huge demon guards on either side of the door, and the sidewalk led to a single limousine parked alongside the curve.

Yeah, that's going to be real simple…both thought simultaneously.

"The limo's waiting for the jerk; that means he won't be there, so we won't have to worry about him."

"That's not going to make sneaking in any easier, though," Kira stated, walking up to them from the general direction of the club with Shippo on her heals. "This place is crawling with demons…though I don't see how any of those jerks can stand being in the club with that music blasting so loudly; I couldn't get any closer than ten feet, and my ears are still ringing."

"Fluffy gives them special muffs so the music doesn't blast their brains out." The Hanyou began cutting strips out of the cloth and handed a piece to both the kitsunes. "You two sniff this out. You're full demons, you'll be able to locate her because they'll let you into the club."

"What makes you think I want to go in there?" Kira demanded hostilely.

"Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to getting maimed today," Shippo stated uncertainly, rubbing his ears as if they ached incredibly.

When the Hanyou's ear twitched, both took a hesitant step backward before he could lash out at them. "Oh, you'll go alright, and you'll do it because I said so, or you'll get maimed anyway, now MOVE."

"Sheesh…give an inch…" Shippo growled, but he followed Kira anyway to the entrance of the club. Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango waited patiently as the Kitsunes played their parts and convinced the door guards that they deserved entrance inside.

Mentally Inuyasha grinned. They were in. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Hey," Miroku whispered harshly as a chill picked up in the wind. He gestured in the general direction of the back door. "Isn't that the demon Lord? Your brother?"

"I thought you knew what he looked like," Sango breathed.

"I've only been around him, I've never seen him."

"Would you two shut the fuck up?!" Inuyasha growled when none other than his high and mighty brother himself slowly walked towards the limousine. "When a demon king is walking nearby, you don't sit there and talk about him! You two are the dumbest excuses for humans I've ever seen, I swear it…"

His eyes never left demon king as he slowly walked the sidewalk to his ride out, nothing in his blank expression or powerful aura that gave way to what he was thinking or feeling, if he ever did. That was the same Sesshoumaru he remembered, even the same style of royal Japanese clothing five hundred years ago. Ice prince, all the way.

Emotion was weakness to him. That was why the bastard never cut him any slack, just because he was quick to get angry or upset. But Inuyasha didn't believe that just because his older half-brother had an icicle up his ass all the time that it made the things he said true. Sesshoumaru would forbid demons to breathe if it annoyed him. The funny thing was, some demons would do it, too, and suffocate before willingly disobeying him.

That wasn't his case. He was probably the only living being, human, demon, or both, that ever stood up to him and got away alive in battle. It was because he was the only one that couldn't lose with a secret against his own flesh and blood.

There was a point in all their battles where Sesshoumaru would push him over the edge after toying with him and nearly winning, and that was always his biggest mistake. Inuyasha used anger to power his body and his mind, ignoring all pain, all words, all common sense, and in the end his brother was forced down in battle. Ignorance, in his case, was bliss.

To some, winning one battle, let alone as many as they had fought, would automatically make him the king. To others (more intelligent others), the thought of a half-demon lord ruling their kingdom was down right ridiculous, especially when his only means of forcing the true lord down involved getting truly angry. Even if Inuyasha wanted the throne, hordes of demons would come to make sure that their rightful king was at the top again.

Sesshoumaru could have the stupid position for all he cared; he actually enjoyed the position of power. Inuyasha lived just fine hiding in the dark, doing things in secret that were illegal under all laws, demon and non-demon, because there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do about it. No one knew who the hell was doing it.

Inuyasha's brows pulled together when the alleged demon stopped just feet before his limousine. With barley a tilt of the head, Sesshoumaru eyed his brother carefully, smirked, and stepped into the car.

"That bastard…" Sesshoumaru had known they were there, and he even smirked. He fucking smirked! That meant one of two things: either he already knew what Inuyasha was planning to do and had a nasty little surprise waiting for him, or a meeting was sure to be arranged in the future where he knew that he wouldn't enjoy the topic of the situation. He was betting that Sesshoumaru had a surprise for him.

"Damn..." Sango frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that it's pointless to sit here now because the jerk's probably got guards on full alert."

"Wait," Miroku leaned forward on his haunches, looking through the window to Sesshoumaru's exit door. "If I'm not mistaken, that would be Kouga and his goons."

Kouga exited the building from the back with Ginta and Hakkaku in tow. They simply appeared to be getting air, but they spoke too quietly for Inuyasha to catch what they were saying. The bastards certainly looked like they'd been up to no good, but then again that was always how they looked; sneaky, devious, a lot of words could describe them. Only one word was needed to truly explain their meaning to Inuyasha.

Enemy.

Under no circumstances should anyone be his enemy; they usually end up on his to-do list the next day. He never quarreled with Kouga before today, but he knew that his involvement in Kagome's case had now moved him up the list. If she'd been hurt, someone would be scraping wolf demon off the sidewalk tomorrow morning.

"Inuyasha, chances are now, she's unguarded," Miroku mused, glancing quickly towards the entrance Kira and Shippo had taken to see if they were still inside. They were. "Could sneaking around them be an easier way to get Kagome out?"

Inuyasha began placing everything back in order in the bag, almost as if he hadn't heard a word the monk said, but it seemed impossible with his hearing. "That wolf bastard has a good nose. We'll be found at one point or another, but I want Kagome out of the way and safe before we dance."

The monk humbly stared at his boss as if trying to decide for certain the meaning of "dance". It really didn't sound like something he was up for…"So we'll sneak, then fight?"

"By God, Sherlock, you have it." He carefully moved without standing fully to a partial squatting position to avoid standing above the height of the car. "We'll walk around the block and go from there."

Of course…around the block…Miroku sighed while in tow behind the scariest man on the planet, followed by the extremely temperamental goddess, and focused his attention on staying low and inconspicuous.

Won't this be interesting in the obituaries…Sexy monk dies while traveling with a half-demon and college girl because they were attempting to sneak into the world's most dangerous demon club…that'll be great…

At least he would be acknowledged.

*~*~*

Amazing what one could do when they were trapped, isolated from live contact, and incredibly bored as hell.

Kagome had managed to count every nail, board, ceiling tile, and grooves in the tiles. After focusing her now watering eyes for so long, she decided to rest her eyes and ponder more over her current situation.

Well, to sum everything up, she'd been kidnapped, her identity forcibly changed, an attempt at changing her species, and she wasn't scared. She really hadn't been until the needle situation. For a kidnapper, Kouga wasn't completely horrible, but the goons she could have done without. The man who made her pain go away…well, he was the biggest thing on her mind.

He helped her, but almost in fascination, as if he really just wanted to know what would happen. Of course, she had yet to know just quite what had happened to her because of all the mixed signals she was getting from everyone around her, but she felt fine now, and she no longer worried about it.

Would she ever get out of here? Were her friends and family safe? Would they ever feed her?!

Gods, I am hungry…

How strange a time to be thinking of hunger. She wouldn't starve to death. No, Kouga said he favored keeping her alive over letting her die, and that in its own way becomes a sort of torture. Kouga wanted her to live and suffer the consequences of life with him.

Life with him, or no life at all? Choices, choices…

Up till now she hadn't even truly thought of what that meant for her. She'd be eating her meals with him, sleeping in the same bed as him, bearing his children…and yes, having sex with that demon, since that was the only way children would come into the picture. True, he was aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and there was true power behind his brains, but it was wrong. Deep down, Kouga may have been good, but working for the bad guys and forcing her to change species changed her mind about him.

The species thing didn't work, anyway…she felt fine, normal, and completely sane. Nothing was wrong anymore, except now she couldn't get the frantic thoughts of Kouga's intentions out of her head. She'd remained chaste for so long, and by a technically illegal binding she would just lose all of that?!

She supposed she really should be happy that she's alive, but...for god sake, she didn't work that long for nothing…

A noise sounded outside the building, rattling her mind as it broke the concentrated silence, approximately outside on the roof above her. Just as she focused her attention on that, another clamor struck Kagome's ears, only this was much closer, and much louder. Crashes usually were louder than sneaking, but that was damn near ridiculous. Her brain still rattled.

Crashes? What was going on now?

The ceiling tiles creaked above her. Just by glancing Kagome noticed the carefully balanced (but still noticeable) weight being placed on the tile holders carefully enough to avoid breaking them in two. Whoever was up there had to be incredibly stupid, incredibly light, or incredibly intelligent. She didn't know what she voted on since she didn't know what else was up in the ceiling.

Maybe he was holding onto something? Wait, he…how do I know it's male?

Aside from the now noticeable masculine scent catching her senses, she sighed with the realization that she really wasn't very good at keeping alive. If Kouga had meant to kill her, she'd have been dead long ago, and still that thought didn't change anything, so whoever was in the ceiling could kill her easily before she'd have her thoughts even close to sorted out. She wasn't scared, but she should have been; fear would keep her alive, curiosity wouldn't.

Or maybe, since she'd been scared when Kouga had taken her, and she had all this time to wonder about it to herself that fear was unnecessary. She'd already decided that death wasn't a bad thing, so she wasn't worried about that, or the pain that could accompany it.

Yeah, that's it…

So she watched with interest as a tile centered just above her chair was shifted out of place with claws like it was paper and tossed to a random spot above the tiles. She noted for her own purposes that the ceiling held space enough to walk in with bars equivalent to basement supporters for him to hold most of his weight up on. White dust fell to the floor like snow when the man in the ceiling finally let himself fall gracefully onto the floor in front of her, landing with one hand between his feet to help cushion his fall.

Kagome wouldn't have been more shocked or surprised if Santa Clause himself had hopped out of nowhere to declare her an elf. She stared soundlessly at the person that had been on her mind ever since she'd first seen him. She still didn't know if he was human or demon, but she was betting demon.

Not much had changed about him. His eyes were still so brilliantly expressive, like the sun had blessed him personally with color and brightness, and she began swearing up and down that one of these days she'd get her chance to touch his hair and see if it was as soft as it looked.

Inuyasha wondered if he was in the right room, but one look at her face and he knew he had her. She looked completely different, hell, demon, even. Kouga did a good job sneaking her in here if it fooled even his nose into thinking she was a different person. The red streaks in her hair gave her a wild look, while the tight outfit made her look like a dominating business woman. Fascinating…

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but his hand halted her as he rose and walked behind her to untie her. "Don't speak; they don't know I'm here, yet," he whispered. She didn't complain, just waited patiently as he sliced her out of the mess.

His voice cut the careful silence like a knife, even at a harsh whisper. "I'm only saying this once; my name's Inuyasha. You're not to leave my sight until further notice, and you won't be seeing many familiar places for a while. From this moment on you do what I tell you to stay alive."

"How did you find me?"

"I had help," He grunted while fiddling with the stupid ropes. Was Kouga trying to make is so that she lost the use of her hands and legs? They were bound so tightly he couldn't see how she could still be moving them.

Why was she even still alive? She seemed unharmed, but her coat had been ripped pretty badly on the shoulders. It didn't take a genius to know that she was forced into something; a hard fact to ignore, but a question that would have to be saved for later when they had more time to think it over.

"Why are you here? Why are you doing this?" She asked uncertainly. She didn't want to distrust him, but lately her judgment of people seemed to be a tad clouded. Whether or not he was good or evil, though, she knew she'd rather go with him than be a mate to Kouga.

He was quiet as he continued and came around to her front with a curt reply as he began working on her feet. "Because you need me, that's why."

"Yes, apparently, but why?"

His ears flicked beneath his bandana, and Kagome found herself fascinated. How was he doing that? "Because a lot less innocent people will die with me on your side, you included. You need me. End of story."

The young girl smirked bitterly. "Well, Inuyasha, up until a few days ago I didn't even believe that demons existed, and I'm still adjusting to the idea. As of now I need nothing that I don't believe in."

His silence was almost disturbing, and his eyes glued her in place as he searched her inner aura. Not only was the human beautiful, but she was stubborn, too. A dangerous little mix, but something he'd enjoy having around for a while. "Then maybe you should open your fucking eyes. Not believing now is going to get you killed. This world will come down around you whether you choose to believe in it or not."
"My eyes are open, thank you, but forgive me for finding all of this a bit overwhelming."

"You don't have time to be 'overwhelmed', wench. Lean forward."

Kagome did without protest, and the ropes went slack around her arms. The gritty sound of shoes against pavement rang in her ears and she wheezed. It sounded like someone was running right outside their room.

"What?" He asked gruffly, almost as if he didn't care, but he was still listening.

"What, you didn't hear that? Someone's running close to this room!"

The Hanyou took a moment to stare at the back of her head, trying to read anything he could on her without getting in her face. "Yeah, I heard it, but you shouldn't have. Human ears couldn't have picked up people running on the pavement outside."

She snorted. "Well, I heard it, and they sounded closer than that."

I'm going to have to get her inspected when we get out of here…

"…and might I point out that my eyes were open this entire time, and they were open enough to find the object you dropped."

Inuyasha paused his mind like a VCR. "Where is it?"
"I've got it."
"Then keep it, but keep it hidden; I can't feel it anymore." Finally finished with her bindings, he stood quickly, her arm gripped between his fingers to pull her out of the chair. He turned to the only door in the room and decided to go out the easier way with the mortal girl, being as she wouldn't be very comfortable flying through the roof. Unconsciously, he squeezed his hand on her arm and dragged her to make certain that she followed.

His brows snapped together thoughtfully while in mid-walk down the empty hallway on the fresh scent trail of Sesshoumaru. Why did she smell a little differently than he remembered? It wasn't anything bad, she wasn't hurt or pregnant. Hell, he could tell she was still virgin from up here…what was it that was so mind-boggling? Almost like a different person altogether, but he didn't think that was it, either.

It couldn't be possession. She was a Miko, so her aura was pure…this would bother him for days on end. He'd know the answer sooner or later, by any necessary means. Not knowing things drove him insane. It was knowledge that had kept him alive for this long, so chances are it would help with his new assignment, as well.

Still, he couldn't help but be relieved by the feel of her warm, living hand in his. He'd managed to get her back, alive and well, and the jewel was safe, too. Now that the goddess was here, he'd do whatever was necessary to keep her safe so that this didn't happen again.

Her life is mine. I'll do whatever it takes to keep my word.

Tremendous crashes were heard through the walls from behind them, as if things as big as chairs and tables were hurdling across the room into the wall. Growls, howls and hissing echoed in response, and the chaos continued to impend.

Frantically looking around for the source of the loud noise in her ears, Kagome noted that Inuyasha seemed to be completely ignoring it. "What's happening?!"

"Kira and Shippo are the distraction," A tight smile showed only for a moment before he hid it away again. Kira must have seen someone she didn't like to have made that big of a mess…That probably also meant, though, that it was someone he really hated, too. No need to stick around, since that would only make him angry.

"Distraction? More demons?" This was a dream, just a really odd dream; Kouga had hit her too hard, that's all. For fuck's sake, she was practically swimming in demons! Nothing human could make such loud noises without bombs and dynamite. It was as if animals were in there fighting, elephants running into the walls, apes throwing things at each other…it was bizarre, and Kagome strangely wanted to go see it.

Inuyasha, however, had other plans. The exit was just down the hall, which would lead to the dangerous opening of the outside world, but it seemed the lesser of two evils. He sniffed the air carefully for nearby scents before moving towards the door again.

The scent of blood hit him hard and he froze. Kagome stopped and he spun around to her. "What?"

"My…my nose, it's bleeding," she replied, gripping it firmly between her fingers. She smelled of fear and surprise, and both emotions clearly played like movies in her eyes. This had never happened to her before, and she didn't know why it was happening now.

He frowned and brought a white cloth out of his pocket that he usually cleaned his weapons with, and he reinforced her grip by pinching her nose between his cloth-covered fingers. "Hold it there. Don't tip your head back or it'll go to your stomach."

"Heaven forbid my mate learns the taste of blood."

Inuyasha mentally ridiculed himself for being caught off-guard. He'd never done that before. Damn, this wench is distracting…Upon facing the door again he found he was staring right at Kouga and his puppet goons, who were coincidentally in his way of exiting. It didn't look like any of them were in a hurry to move.

His ear flickered back to be certain that Kagome was behind him, and her hand gripping his coat showed that she really was in no hurry to go to Kouga. He cleared his throat and smirked. "I think you're a little confused, wolf. She doesn't even carry the scent of you on her."

"Not yet, she doesn't." Kouga eyed her carefully, making her uncomfortable. Was he reading her? Smelling her? What did it mean when a demon looked at you as if they could see your very soul beneath your eyes?

His eyes darted back to Inuyasha as he declared confidentially, "I've claimed her verbally, and unless you're meaning to test that claim, you have no right to even be touching her, half-demon." He stood tall, trying to look impressive, but he didn't impress anyone.

Her eyes narrowed on the center of that handsome, deceitful face. "Don't call him that," she said, although the effect was ruined just slightly by the cloth over her nose. Kagome thought she felt Inuyasha shift just slightly under her hands, but she wasn't certain.

"You'll learn your place soon enough."

"Shut up," Inuyasha snapped, taking a deep breath. "I've never had quarrels with you before, bastard, but if you start shit with me, I'm going to be the last person you ever see."

Kouga smirked sardonically. "Give me the girl and no 'shit' will be started."

"Go fuck yourself," he countered without missing a beat. Kagome cocked an eyebrow at the back of his head and would have dropped her jaw had it not already been open so that she could breath.

"So then, that's a challenge on my claim?"

He was quiet, clenching his fists, his eyes unfocusing as thoughts flew in his mind. Kagome thought for a moment that he hadn't heard the question, but he almost seemed to wake from the trans just as quickly as he went in and a less-than-worried smile showed his current state of mind. "I'm saying you don't have a claim. She stays with me."

"You'd fight for a human you've never met?" Kouga asked, a little surprised.

"If that's what it takes to piss you off."

The demon huffed. "Have it your way." Hakkaku and Ginta moved behind them to be in triangle formation, circling them every which way. Kouga remained in front of the door. Inuyasha faced him, his attention somehow on all of them without removing his gaze from the wolf. Kagome still gripped his coat, glaring behind her at Hakkaku, since he seemed to be the one who disliked her the most. She didn't trust him at all since the needle incident, and she liked it that way.

Kouga grinned and pulled a knife off of his belt. "I think I'll cut your heart out and serve it to your brother on a plate."

"Sesshoumaru would kill you. He wants to be the one to kill me."

"Death would be worth it if I took you with me."

They were cornered, trapped. Maybe Inuyasha wasn't worried because he knew what to do about it, but by the looks of it, he'd never fought Kouga before, either. Neither knew how strong the other was.

He could die…it sudden dawned on her that the man she'd been dreaming about ever since she first saw him might die in a battle basically about her. The first wave of guilt hit her low in the gut. She refused to be responsible for his death.

The blood would not stop. Kagome could feel it going down her esophagus even though she was bent forward. The feeling of it, the thought, it began to make her feel lightheaded and strange, and knowing it wasn't stopping just made that worse.

A shudder ran through her, stiffening her muscles enough that she dropped the cloth keeping the blood in. It flowed freely down to her chin and even lower to stain her red shirt. Unlike a regular nosebleed, the blood flowed so steadily it was like a dripping faucet, and her neck, chin and collar bone were completely covered in a sheet of it.

Ginta was the first to notice with a gasp. "What the hell--?"

Her eyes became unfocused, and then finally blacked, pulling her into that darkness she'd gotten to know so well over the past couple of days. The last thing she felt and heard was firm hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her and telling her to stay awake. "Goddammit, wench, snap out of it!"

She could hear him, but she couldn't obey; the darkness was consuming her.

*~*~*

A/N-Thanks for reading! Review if you can!