InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Suffer The Fray ❯ Cruel Encounters ( Chapter 20 )

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

Disclaimer: I hold no claim to InuYasha...Rumiko Takahashi does. Bummer.

A/N: Once again, anyone that left me a review can check out my response at: community.livejournal.com/reux_fiction

I'd also like to thank my two new betas- clnv and Dei Dei- for all their amazing help and insight. I don't know how I managed to get along without them up to this point, but I'm indebted to them.

So, read on and enjoy! (Oh, this chapter really lives up to its rating...there's a bit of implied rape and lots of choice language. Just a little warning.)

Reux

The constant ache inside her head had returned. The unrelenting throb in her skull had abated for a time, but it never stayed away for long. It always found its way back to shadow her every move with a needling discomfort behind her eyes. And every time it resurfaced, its assault was stronger than the last.

She hated it- hated it more than anything. She hated it more than she did Inuyasha, or even Naraku for that matter.

However, She sneered. I don't hate it more than I hate Kagome.

"You're much more alluring when you're not scowling, Kikyo."

The miko cut her empty eyes to the youkai reclining against the wall. "I cannot help it. You repulse me."

He laughed, rolling a small object in his right hand. "You're in rare form. Have I caught you on a bad day?"

She snorted and tipped her head to view him better. "Every day is a bad day. There are no longer any enjoyable days for me."

"How sad."

Kikyo ignored his condescending remark. "Tell me what you wanted, Naraku. Before I lose my patience."

He frowned. "Come now, Kikyo. I gave you my word that I would not harm you."

"How can I trust your word when you had Kohaku take my weapon?"

He spread his arms as if to indicate his mutual defenselessness. "I harbor no weapons, Kikyo."

She gifted him with a bitter smile. "Do you take me for a fool, Naraku?"

"No. You are in fact the only one of my enemies I do not consider insignificant."

Kikyo couldn't deny the intense wave of satisfaction that rolled through her at hearing that confession. She didn't bother to scold his carelessness in regard to Inuyasha and his elder brother, Sesshomaru, thoroughly enjoying the thought of his death at their hands.

Fool.

"If that is true, then you must have also realized that I have no need for weapons. They are merely objects of convenience." She raised her pallid hands and examined the texture of her artificial skin. "All I really require are these hands, but then," She flicked her pensively dark eyes to his. "So do you."

He smiled. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but you are mistaken."

Kikyo stared at him, pain skittering along the sensitive nerves of her right eye. "For a heinous fiend, your skills at deception are severely lacking." She appreciated watching his eyes darken angrily and barked a brazen laugh. "If you continue to think lightly of me, then I'll just have to grant your wish. I'll make sure all those little fears of yours are justified."

"You delude yourself. I fear no one." He silently slipped to his stocking feet, the rustle of his ornate clothing the only sound permeating the room.

She returned his vicious glare with equal disdain. The tension zapping down her spine eased as the discomfort running rampant in her brain thankfully subsided. Infinitely relieved, she drew her gaze up his body- noting that his affinity for a dark color palette was not nearly as intimidating as he believed- and decided, overall, that his appearance was entirely too human. Meeting his fuming eyes, she sighed with resignation. "You cannot lie to me, Onigumo."

His hand lashed out and connected with her jaw, snapping her head around and shoving her backward. Her lip stung where it had split down the middle, blood trickling down her chin and welling in her mouth.

Kikyo hesitated.

She had bled before- befittingly at his hands- but never had she tasted it. That sensation in and of itself was alien. She never had the need to use that particular sense, because when did the dead require food? Rolling the warm liquid on her tongue, Kikyo marveled at how salty it was once she got past the blanket of copper. The slight sweetness surprised her as well and she finally pulled her head to look at his pleased expression.

Fixing him with an acidic stare, she collected the fluid in her mouth and spat it onto the pristine tatami mats. "And you said your hands weren't weapons?"

"They aren't unless you provoke me." His eyes loitered on her bleeding lip, a familiar heat swirling through them. "Do not speak that name again."

Kikyo remembered that look, at one time, had unnerved her. Now all it did was irritate her. "Then tell me. What should I call you when the lust for me is plain in your eyes? Surely not Naraku?"

He sobered instantly, stepping away with distrust. "Onigumo is dead."

She nodded affably. "Yes, that is true." Absently touching the tacky blood on her chin, Kikyo rubbed it between her fingers. "It also happens to be false."

His next blow hit her solar plexus, dropping her to the floor like a swatted fly. Fluids long forgotten threatened to burst up from her esophagus as her rigid back flexed painfully in the opposite direction. Kikyo pressed her face into the mat, seizing with every breath until the distressed squeals of her undead innards ceased. Other than her labored breathing, she exhibited no sign of discomfort when she sat up and curled her legs beneath her. The pain receptors she'd been reborn with had been dulled by death and with the constantly crippling migraines, pain was of no real consequence to her.

Furthermore, the healing period was nearly nonexistent thanks to the number of souls her Shinidamachuu would bring to repair her body. Nothing, save for Naraku's miasma, was outside her recovery. Which begged the question...

Why hadn't he used that already?

Sighing wearily, she slid to her feet and cast him a bored look. "If you will not tell me why I was brought here, then I will take my leave." The expression on his face said he did not care one iota if she were to spontaneously combust at that particular moment. He would love seeing her dead and the Naraku she knew would have made sure she returned to her home six feet under by now. Why does he forego killing me? She stopped beside the door, turning to glance at his brooding visage.

If she had no knowledge of his wickedness, or youkai blood, she would have considered him to be another darkly handsome lord. But she knew that wasn't his face. Naraku didn't have one. She could live with her bizarre attraction to him only because she knew she was really looking upon the striking features of Kagewaki Hitomi. He had stolen the young lord's image just as he had stolen countless others- including the hanyou she had once thought she had loved. Naraku had even stooped as low as to emulate her in his little scheme to destroy Inuyasha and taint the Shikon no Tama.

Narrowing her eyes, she knew she had to put a stop to his apparently unflappable reign of terror. "I will kill you the next time we meet." However, as she watched him, continuing to stare at her, an earlier though returned. What of his aversion to Onigumo? I must test him. "Goodbye, Onigumo."

His reaction was as predictable as she'd known it would be, with him exploding forth from the chink she'd put in his armor. He crossed the small room faster than she could follow and had her pinned to the wall beside the door. Being that the wall was solid rock, she flinched when the unyielding stone stabbed into her backside. Her eyes squeezed shut and she felt, rather than saw, his amused chuckle, pulling back when his breath wafted over her damp skin. "You never learn," His knuckles brushed along her jaw and trailed down her throat to lazily smooth over her exposed collarbone. "Do you, Kikyo?"

"Neither..." She groaned when those fingers dug into the hollow of her throat, piercing her skin when they formed sharpened points. She squirmed as warm blood snaked a path down her chest to slither between her breasts and curl along her stomach. Kikyo glared at him with disgust, lips curling back as buried rage won the battle for emotional dominance.

"Neither do you, Naraku!" She leaned forward, snapping the words out like a hissing cat. "Haven't you learned that nothing you ever do will rid you of the human you once were?!"

Naraku was vibrating with rage, jerking the bloodied stakes from her throat and coiling them together to wrap around her neck. "He's constantly interfering! Even now I can't bring myself to remove your fucking head!"

Kikyo felt her ire quickly fade away to calm observation. "I have been proven right once again. You cannot kill me because you are governed by Onigumo's soul."

The vine encircling her neck jerked her away from the wall to clamp her flush against his enraged body. "My name is Naraku!"

"Naraku is just a guise for the patchwork of youkai making up Onigumo's new body." She gasped when he yanked her head back. Kikyo glared hatefully. "You are one in the same!"

His mouth descended to the wound on her neck, lapping up her blood like he was some kind of overgrown vampire bat. Kikyo squirmed under his touch, but couldn't bring herself to pull away completely. Leaving the puncture wounds behind, his tongue burned a fiery trail up her throat until he reached her chin. He pulled back and stared into her wide, scared eyes. "He still yearns for you-" He sneered heatedly. "Kikyo, the glorified corpse. He desires your blood, but not your miserable life."

The lust had returned to his gaze, but unlike before, he was no longer fighting it. She had never thought he could strike fear into her, but her whole body was trembling with it. Her heart tattooed erratically in her chest. He was totally unpredictable now. She knew what Onigumo had envisioned and now that he had an able body, those intentions had her petrified. "Onigumo never wanted me dead, only destroyed."

"Yes, he wants you destroyed." His other hand brushed along her waist, nonchalantly slicing through her haori to reach her skin. Those agile fingers dug into her pale flesh to cut thin trails of blood to the underside of her breast, where his brutal caress went gentle. Softly stroking her sensitive skin, he tugged on her hair as her breathing hitched. "He also wants me to throw you to the ground and fuck you until your pleasured screams turn into agonized shrieks." He slashed open the remaining shreds of her haori and exposed her breast to his razored grip.

Kikyo cried out as his vicious hold squeezed her tender flesh, tears of pained humiliation pooling in her eyes. She couldn't move; her arms hung lax at her sides. Her fear was just too great. She had figured only to gather information when she'd stoked the flames of his madness, but her gross miscalculation had her totally immobilized. She could do nothing. She was entirely at his mercy.

And her aroused reaction to the images filling her head horrified her.

Naraku chuckled at her muted whimpers. "Well, well. Who knew the virginal Kikyo was such a wanton whore." He grinned maliciously, leaning in to whisper in her ear as he cut into her vulnerable breast. His touch elicited an anguished gasp from her lips. "Do you want to be fucked until you're nothing more than a broken, bleeding shell? Fucked until all that's left is a vacant stare on your face?" He savagely pulled her head back farther, straining the tendons in her neck. "Do you?"

Her sob died on her lips as the pain inside her head erupted anew and blocked out any other agony his ministrations produced. The throbbing cancer didn't spread gradually, but unfurled like a tornado, crashing through her brain until it felt like nothing more than mush. Unable to acknowledge anything other than the plague inside her skull, her paralysis shattered in an instant and she burst from his torturous embrace. She pulled her frayed clothes together and squinted past the jumping nerves of her eyes. Her vision blurred him into a wobbling dark spot in the room. "Curse you, Naraku."

He watched her curiously. "Is something the matter, Kikyo?"

"Yes!" She hissed as she pressed her free hand to her forehead. Everything was the matter! She was supposed to be killing him to avenge herself. She was supposed to be the one with Inuyasha. She was supposed to be protecting the Sacred Jewel. She was supposed to be killing Naraku's minions, not helping them undermine their master. She was supposed to have her entire soul...

She was supposed to be alive!

But she wasn't strong enough to kill him. She lacked the power needed to purify the wretched creature before her. My soul lacks the strength! There was only one person that could remedy that particular problem. "Kagome's always getting in my way!"

"You don't say," He crossed his arms and watched her boil with wrath. "It sounds like you and I have the same dilemma."

She snared his red eyes, openly seething. "How so?"

"I need the shard she protects, but every tactic I have tried so far has come up empty. She refuses to die and that meddlesome half-breed always gets in the way."

Kikyo cackled insanely at him. "They made a fool of you." She bent over and grasped her knees with the power of her laughter. "How pathetic!"

He didn't seem to take notice. "She is your reincarnation."

The seemingly deranged miko sobered instantly. Kikyo's aching brain made a few very swift deductions. "Leave Inuyasha to me and I'll help you destroy Kagome."

"Do I have your word?" He moved closer again, a lewd gleam in his eyes.

She smiled despite the nervous clenching of her stomach. "Don't worry, Naraku. You'll get your turn when I'm finished with the girl. You are safe from me until that time."

"Excellent," He casually reached over to slide his fingers along her collarbone. He absently sucked the blood off those digits, delighted to see her look away with disgust- or fear. "But remember what happened here. If you cross me, those erotic little fantasies dancing around in your head will come true" He smirked. "I look forward to seeing you soon, Kikyo."

Kikyo watched him disappear deeper into his mountain hideaway, fumbling with the shredded fabric of her haori. I have no doubt of that, Onigumo.

"Thanks again for letting us borrow Shunsoke."

Kagome smiled at Sango. "Its no problem, I felt like walking anyways." She watched Miroku and Sango ride double for a moment, happy her horse was actually behaving for once. "Shunsoke doesn't mind either." She grinned when the gray rolled his eye to glance at her. The look he gave clearly stated that he was to be volunteered regardless of his opinion.

"Well, Shunsoke," Miroku patted the horse's loosely swinging hip. "My sore feet are indebted to you."

Shunsoke snorted and continued to walk along, ignoring them all. Shippo, the one leading him down the path, adopted a sympathetic air when he spoke. "Oh, you'll get used to it, Shunsoke. Each and every one of them are users. Just ask Kirara. She'll tell you all about it."

The cat in question cooed from her nest in Sango's lap.

Kagome strode up beside the kit and ruffled his auburn locks. "Lighten up, Shippo. Before someone takes offense."

He swatted her hands. "There's only one person who'd get offended by that and I don't particularly care."

"Shippo," She snapped in a tone that brooked no argument. "You are not allowed to rag on Inuyasha anymore. I'm not mad at him. He's not mad at me. Everything has been forgiven. Stop being so immature and mind your own business."

He gazed at her in shock. "But I...I was just,"

Kagome shook her head. "Sometimes you push it too far." She turned and nodded to the couple on horseback. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to walk with Inuyasha."

Sango sighed and watched her drop back, turning to glance at Shippo's how-could-she face. "She's right."

Miroku nodded in agreement over her shoulder. "Mhm."

Shippo groaned and glanced at Shunsoke. "We just can't win."

Inuyasha opened his eyes when Kagome's scent floated by his nose. It was still as pristine as it had been that morning. He'd been paranoid about it suddenly changing ever since the night before.

Flashback-

One minute he'd been slashing through the vile Kagome look alike, and the next he was lying on top of the real deal. He even had an un-transformed Tetsusaiga in his hand where it rested above her head. Leaning back, he inspected their surroundings at the fullest extent of each of his senses. Only the normal forest sounds- insects chirping, birds singing- reached his ears as they flicked back and forth. The bitterly sour stench of Naraku was gone; Kagome's spiced aroma the only scent assailing his nostrils. Nothing threatening caught his sharp eye, so he returned his gaze to her serene face.

Although, now her eyes were open. "Hi." She blinked at him strangely, staring as if he'd done something strange. It was then that he realized just how tightly they were pressed together, his hips effectively pinning hers to the ground. And he would have to have been a numb vegetable to ignore the sensuous feel of her breasts brushing against his chest. Blushing awkwardly, he started to get up. "Sorry, I'm getting up now."

"No!" Bolting upward, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him back down. "Don't go."

Inuyasha let go of Tetsusaiga and slid his hands to rest beside her shoulders in the grass. "I'm not going anywhere, Kagome. I was just going to get off of you."

She shook her head, burying her face deeper into his silver tresses. "No, just stay right where you are."

The command struck him as odd and he couldn't stop the involuntary tension in his back. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Her long fingers smoothed over his shoulders to wind in his hair. "I need to make sure you're real and not a cruel figment of my imagination."

Inuyasha flicked the ear tilted in the direction of her voice. "Believe me, I'm real." He slipped his hands to her shoulders, gently pushing her back to the ground. "Don't you feel how heavy I am?"

Her arms were still tense and reluctant to release him from their hold. "Yes, but I don't mind." Her teeth snuck out of her mouth to worry her full lower lip as her eyes gazed at him expectantly. He wasn't sure what she was searching for, but figured a smile couldn't hurt. Kagome's dark, mahogany eyes softened in response to his warmth and her hands fell to rest on his forearms- still holding her shoulders. "I don't mind at all. Being close to you, like this, it...it makes me feel...safe."

All at once, the anxious beat of his heart eased and any awkwardness between them disappeared. Kagome had always been a strong woman with a courageous will and steely determination, but she had always needed rescuing. He reveled in the powerful role of protector and would be content to spend the rest of his days watching over her even if she hated him. If he wanted to face the bald truth, he was bred to be a loyal guardian- it was in his blood as an Inu-hanyou. He wasn't about the skirt the truth- there was nothing she could ask of him that he wouldn't do. From his dog's perspective, she was his master and he lived to please and protect her. He'd tried to deny it at first, and had continued to deny it until the day she left.

After spending the last five years living and breathing only because he knew one day she'd come back, he was done lying to himself. He was totally lost without her.

Inuyasha eased the tension in his arms, lowering his weight onto his elbows on either side of her. "How many times do I have to I have to tell you? I will always protect you." He snared her fingers and entwined them with his own. "Stop trying to fight your battles alone."

She rolled her head to the right, staring at the bow lying in the grass. "Sometimes they are my battles and sometimes I have to fight alone." She turned back to him when he growled quietly. "Do you remember the bandits I killed?"

His objection was instantly silenced by her shimmering gaze. "Yes."

"That way my fight and I managed it alone. Not very well, but I did." She squeezed his hands as she sniffled. "But you know what? Even though I knew I had to do it myself, it didn't stop me from wishing that you were there with me." She blinked back her tears. "Just now, I wasn't sure I could get myself out of that mess alone- and it was my mess! I didn't think I could save myself!"

"But you did," Inuyasha dropped his forehead against hers. "You told me exactly what I had to do." He inhaled the scent of her tears. "It's okay to need help."

"You never need it."

He grinned. "Kagome, I need lots of help. Trust me."

Her momentary pout faded away as she smiled. "I do trust you...with my life."

-End Flashback

He had intended to ask if she trusted him with her heart, but as fate would have it, Shunsoke chose that moment to scare them both nearly to death. And I thought that horse was evil before... Suffice it to say, the atmosphere was lost and he was left to continue wondering about the condition of their relationship. He'd tried to ask her again, but suddenly found speaking on that subject awkward. He had long acknowledged the fact that he needed her to need him, but he wasn't sure if she realized that yet- and Kagome may have gotten much more capable, but she was still the same vulnerable girl that needed saving. She'd said as much herself.

Communication was their real problem.

While their thoughts and feelings seemed to remain behind their respectively closed doors, there was an openness between them that hadn't existed before. Neither of them were hesitant to touch the other in front of their companions as they had before. It seemed that despite their inability to convey with words what they needed, both of them were more than willing to seek physical comfort in the other. After collecting themselves and joining the others at camp, Kagome had no reservations about situating herself in his lap and wrapping them both with his repaired, fire-rat haori as they discussed Shippo's big find. After a few seconds of uncertainty, he hadn't minded either. Sango had stared curiously, but always the reserved one, caught herself and stopped. He knew she had questions, but the demon slayer was a private person. She would never think to intrude on someone else's business. He figured she would wait until Kagome offered up the answers herself. Miroku didn't bat an eye, but Inuyasha wasn't fooled. Eventually his curiosity would get the better of him and he would be forced to endure his ridiculous advice.

Shippo had just been too enthralled with his discovery to notice.

Which brought him back to the present- and the enticing sight of Kagome's curved backside through the flapping tails of her two-tone hoari as she bent over to inspect the ground. While the thought of running his hand along her body was tempting, he figured he wouldn't push his luck. Sidling up beside her, he placed his hand on the side of her hip. Kagome straightened back up and leaned into his body and he took her relaxed reaction as a greenlight to slip his arm around her waist. She crossed her arms and stared thoughtfully. "We're going in the right direction. She stopped here to rest." She pointed to the darkened splotches in the dirt. "See how the blood drops are more like small puddles?"

"Yeah. There's no doubt about it." He curled his hand around her slim waist until she fell back into his shoulder. "Rin's on her way to the village."

Kagome shivered. "She's looking for help." She rubbed her upper arms to chase away her goose bumps. "I'm worried about her." Tugging at his arm, she moved out of his reach and started after the others. "I have no idea what your brother was thinking when he cast her off like that. Naraku's targeted her before, so what would have stopped him from doing it again?"

Inuyasha slid his arms into his wide belled sleeves. "Keh, it's because she's a human."

"That never seemed to be an issue before. I thought he enjoyed having her around," She glanced over her shoulder at him thoughtfully. "I mean, otherwise she would never have been with him to begin with."

He looked at her skeptically. "Who are you trying to convince?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. You know him better than I do."

"Ha! That's a stretch and you know it."

Kagome sent him an icy glare. "Inuyasha..."

"Alright, relax." He sighed. "I saw Sesshomaru a few days before you came back and asked him where Rin was because he came alone. He didn't answer me, but just mentioning her name had him acting like a dick. He even had the balls to jump my case about-" Inuyasha realized what he was saying and cut himself off.

"About what, Inuyasha?" Kagome stopped walking and turned to face him, halting him in his tracks. "Inuyasha..."

He glanced away at the neighboring trees. "You, alright?"

"Oh." She blinked. "I didn't think he cared."

The hanyou growled and stalked past her, bumping into her shoulder to spin her around. "Don't start thinking he's Mr. Wonderful, because he's a fucking asshole."

"Mhm, and you were obviously Mr. Nice Guy."

Inuyasha froze and whirled around angrily. "Whose fucking side are you on?! Sesshomaru's a heartless bastard and he left Rin alone and unprotected! How the hell does that make me the fucking bad guy?!"

Kagome rocked her head back and stared at the clouds, praying for an infinite amount of patience. "I. Am. Not. Taking. His. Side." Returning her mahogany gaze to his flaring amber orbs, she grasped the sides of her head in frustration. "I was merely stating that your impulsive behavior doesn't help when dealing with Sesshomaru. You let him push your buttons too much."

The hanyou huffed. "Keh. He was ragging my ass, so I returned the favor." He clenched his fists at his sides in an attempt to calm down. "And I got the fucker's number because he didn't have shit to say after that."

She had lost count of his expletives awhile ago, and now totally tuned them out. Striding past him, she stared blankly with thought. "So there's still something there." She wrapped a hand around the wide, leather strap of her quiver, keeping her eyes trained to the path ahead of her.

Inuyasha watched curiously as she nearly disappeared from his sight. Realizing he was being left behind, he dashed after her to catch up. "Oi, what the hell do you do mean, 'something's there'?"

Kagome looked up, saw it was him and smiled. "You're as clueless as ever." She reached over and gave the ear closest to her a soft tug. "There's still something between them. It's what makes Rin so determined to find him, and consequently, it's what makes him keep her away."

He stared at her like she'd sprouted three heads. "I still don't understand the gibberish you just said."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, let it out and began. "You and I have a connection- one that remains regardless of the time apart or distance between us. With me so far?" She continued at his annoyed nod. "Well, Sesshomaru and Rin obviously have one too. But unlike us, one of them doesn't want to have that bond."

"So the dumbass sends her away in an attempt to sever it, but Rin refuses to give it up."

Kagome gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Very good."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot."

She laughed heartily. "I never said you were, just a little on the slow side." She snatched his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Let's just say you wouldn't make a very good teenage girl."

"Well, that's a relief." He snorted derisively.

Kagome giggled and playfully patted his chest. "Yeah, that wouldn't work out very well for us."

"No, it would not- Kagome?" Inuyasha glanced at her with concern when her hands fell limply from his side. She'd stopped walking, or even functioning, staring blankly at the rooftops of the village on the other side of the hill. He waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Kagome?"

"I..." She swallowed awkwardly.

He immediately scented the air, searching for that familiar sour smell. "It's not Naraku again, is it? Kagome?" He focused on a particularly known smell to him, but it was of a different origin- and it was mixed heavily with Rin's along with a thick coating of metallic blood. Could it really be? "Who's in the village, Kagome?"

"It's the Sacred Jewel. I can sense shards of the jewel, but..." She started moving forward involuntarily.

"But what?" He jogged alongside her as she increased her pace.

"The shards, they're tainted."

The hanyou turned his gaze back to the village. "Shards? There's more than one?" That means what I smelled was right!

"Yes!" Kagome was now in a full-out sprint, pulling her bow out of her quiver with an arrow at the ready. "Koga's down there and he's not going to be himself!"

"I can handle him."

She glared at him. "Sure, you can. But what about the others? They went on ahead of us."

She was right and even as he felt his nerves jump, Sango's Hiraikotsu slashed out from above the village. He watched fastidiously as the youkai-taijiya popped into view on the back of Kirara, an enormous whirlwind giving chase. It was only a matter of seconds before the speedy ookami-youkai caught up and smashed the duo to the ground. Inuyasha ripped Tetsusaiga from his sheath as he watched Koga ready for the kill. "Shit!"

Kagome caught him in her sights and didn't hesitate to take the shot. She watched calmly as he was nearly killed, dodging the arrow at the last possible second. He dropped into the canopy of a tall oak to stare in her direction. Even at their distance she could see the slightly deranged gleam in his aquamarine gaze. "Inuyasha, we need to draw his attention to us before Miroku or Sango decide to resume their fight. We're the only ones strong enough to knock him out."

Knock him out? Why don't we just kill his ass and get it over with? Instead of speaking his thoughts, he just nodded and widened his stance. "Okay, you flea-bitten excuse for a canine, what are you in the mood for? A Kaze no Kizu? A Bakuryuha?" He smirked. "No, how about a Kongosoha? I hardly ever get the chance to play with that one." He cleared his mind of everything but the attack he wanted, and once again reveled in the mystical transformation of his sword. The glittering blade's multiple facets flashed as he pulled it down behind him and swept it upward in one, fluid motion. "Kongosoha!"

The careening spears obliterated the top half of the tree's full upper branches, but missed the swift wolf demon as he disappeared to the ground below. Kagome tapped into her powers and easily picked him out. "He's definitely on his way, so be ready."

"Please, this is Koga we're talking about." He held the Tetsusaiga in a firm, one-handed grip as he turned to look at her. "When has he ever been able to best me?"

"Inuyasha, will you please pay-" Kagome realized her mistake one second too late as she watched a flash of black and tan slam into the hanyou. I'm so stupid! I let down my guard! "Inuyasha!"

The Inu-hanyou in question lay pinned beneath a savagely snarling creature he'd once known as Koga, the wolf demon prince. His sword arm was twisted painfully into his back, the sword pressed dangerously close to his spine. Struggling to get loose, the scent of his assailant hit his nose and he nearly gagged. The mixture of blood and decay was enough to make him decline food for a week. He smelled of death and rotting corpses, and he could feel the filth on Koga's skin. He wouldn't slaughter a village like that anymore! Something's not right! His breath blew into the dirt as he fought to release his snared limbs, throwing his head back in an attempt to smash into the wolf's face. Koga, on the other hand, was using every ounce of his strength to hold him, clawing into his limbs to make sure he remained contained. His enraged snarl hummed in his ears. "Get off me you damn mangy wolf!"

And suddenly he was no longer being restrained, the hands pinning him down easing their death grip. Inuyasha turned his head as he leapt out from underneath him, blinking in shock as Kagome lifted Koga into a kneeling position by the throat. Her eyes bored into her quarry's as she squeezed lightly. "You will stop now, or I'll make sure you don't take another breath."

A/N: Yes, I took the liberty of giving Kikyo a more....alive body. I felt the story wouldn't work without it, so please don't take it upon yourself to berate me about it. I understand it isn't quite right. And yes, there are still stones unturned, but certain things have to come to pass in order to explain what happened to Kagome. Please feel free to ask me anything you like, okey dokey?

Comments from the peanut gallery are warmly welcomed. XD.