InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The New Student and Kagome's Secret ❯ Chapter 21: A Familiar Evil ( Chapter 21 )

A/N: Yay! I have another chapter up for you guys!!! Haha! Even though you guys did not meet the required 15 reviews for the next chapter, I decided to go ahead and post this anyway since you guys have been so great about reviewing in the past and I was kind of a slacker with this for a few days there. Hope this makes it up to you!

Lil'Inu: Haha! I hate Kikyo, too! But you have to remember that all of the demons were purified (unless mentioned otherwise and you will understand what I mean by that in future chapters) and Kikyo was the priestess who died purifying the demons years ago, so she's not really in this story!

Fuyumiko: Agh! *grabs flame thrower from curiosity and burns its butt because I have posted another chapter * Sorry for the cliffy! Thanks for the review though and I hope that this one was posted in time!

Ithilelda: I'm glad you like it so much! Yeah I like it in the real series when Kagome kicks ass!

Kaye: Haha! The question about him being human is right! I was being sarcastic when I said that because I thought I made it a little too obvious that he was about to become human. The second one, though, was "do you notice how Inuyasha is more open with Kagome when he is in human form?" As far as something ominous appearing, yeah, something always manages to screw up Inuyasha and Kagome moments!

WaterGoddess9: Aw! Thanks for the good luck on my tests! A) I'm surprised you didn't see that coming, but in a way I'm glad you didn't because I thought I may have made it a little too obvious. B) Yay! Someone notices it besides me!

Kitsune_Bi: Haha! You acted like you really knew something was going to happen. I love Inuyasha in human form. *sighs *

Esther Tan: I agree…Inuyasha is cool whether human or hanyou…and rather sexy as well if I might add! *squeals in delight * Oh, and more fluff is on the way!

Saccharine - Ish: I know everyone hates cliffies! Sorry! Oh and don't worry about inu/kag fluff! Henceforth, the fluff will increase with every chapter!

Angelbabe17: Tell me about it! Well, if you like "we-could-all-die-really-soon inu/kag fluff, then you will love this chapter! Oh and keep up the good work on "Like Father!"

Relix: WOW!!! Ugh…*sits for a minute wondering how to react to such a passionate review *…Thanks! And don't worry, I love this fic too much to stop!

Bean4: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Don't ya' just hate the fics that can get corny! I try to steer away from any corniness! YAY! INU/KAG 4EVER!

Thank you all for the reviews! A lot of you made the comment in your reviews "I wonder who it is." Well don't let me tell you! Read and find out!

Chapter 21

The thing laughed evilly in the darkness. Inuyasha still couldn't make out who or what it was.

"Show yourself!" Inuyasha commanded. The thing laughed again. Kagome gripped tighter onto Inuyasha's haori. He noticed how scared Kagome seemed. Normally he would have been able to sense how she was feeling and what it was in the darkness, but without his demon powers, he was the average human. Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at Kagome.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She gave him a frightened look and said nothing. `She's scared to death!' he thought. `She has never been around me in my human form when we were attacked. I can't really blame her for being frightened.' Inuyasha got into his fighting stance.

"Kagome," he said. "Go back to camp and warn the others. I am human and even I know this thing isn't here to make friends!"

"But Inuyasha…"

"But nothing!" he yelled. "Get out of here now!" He pushed her away from him and towards camp. Her bottom lip quivered. He scowled at her. "Get out of here, Kagome!"

"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted back at him. If he were in hanyou form, he would have growled at her.

"Kagome, don't make me throw you back to camp!" he said. "Go now!" She hesitated. "NOW KAGOME!!!" Tears started to well in her eyes as she turned around to run back towards camp.

`He's too weak!' she thought. `He can't fight under these conditions!' She ran as hard and as fast as she could. Luckily, camp wasn't that far away.

"Sango! Miroku! Myouga!" Kagome yelled as they came into view. Sango and Miroku were immediately on their feet when they saw Kagome's panicked disposition.

"Inuyasha…human…evil…can't fight it…" she managed to get out through pants from her running so hard. They immediately grabbed their weapons and began running towards Inuyasha.

Inuyasha watched as Kagome ran towards camp. `Be safe,' he thought and then turned back to face his enemy.

"Show yourself!" Inuyasha commanded.

"Very well," the thing said and emerged from the darkness. Shock was an understatement when Inuyasha saw the man. He was a priest! He was dressed exactly like Miroku in a purple and black robe. He was bald and had squinty eyes. Inuyasha was left speechless.

"Something wrong?" he asked with an evil grin.

"You're a…you're a…"

"A priest?" he finished for him. "Yes, I suppose I am…though probably not the kind that you are familiar with of late." The man grinned evilly. "Right…Inuyasha?" Inuyasha frowned and took a step back. The man laughed. "I assume you are wondering how I know your name." Inuyasha said nothing to the man. He swore the man looked awfully familiar. He concentrated hard to try to remember something from long ago.

"Are you sure that you do not know me, Inuyasha?" he asked. Inuyasha frowned.

"I don't give a fuck who you are!" Inuyasha spat at him. "I just want to know what you want."

"In do time. In do time," the man said waving his hand arrogantly as if he was dismissing the subject. `He acts as if he is toiling with me in some way,' Inuyasha thought. `What is his deal? What does he want? He acts as if he is powerful enough to take me out at any second but just chooses not to do so yet.'

"So, Inuyasha?" he asked. "Do you not remember me yet?" Inuyasha stood there and said nothing to him. The man smiled. "Aw, come on! This isn't going to be any fun if you don't remember who I am!" Inuyasha said nothing. "Does Priestess Sakura mean anything to you?" Inuyasha gasped.

"You!" Inuyasha said pointing a finger at the man as if he could rip his head off. The man laughed.

"It's seems as though your memory is coming around Inuyasha," he said with an evil grin. "You remember that day…don't you?"

~FLASHBACK~

"Priestess!" a little hanyou voice called. "Priestess where are you?" Inuyasha walked around a corner to find his priestess surrounded by other priests and priestesses. He jumped back behind the building and peeped around the corner to see what was going on.

"You need to get rid of that hanyou!" one priest called out. "Sesshomaru's personal priest is on his way to find out where he is! If he finds the hanyou here, he will kill us all!"

"But he didn't do anything! He's just a boy!" Sakura argued.

"Now Sakura! Get rid of him now! It's either the boy or us!" another said. Sakura hung her head.

"He has caused nothing, but trouble since he arrived!" a priestess argued. Sakura sighed.

"Very well," Sakura said. "I will dispose of the boy before sundown." The tiny boy gasped and took off running. He ran as hard and as fast as he could until he connected with something hard. He looked up to find a priest.

"Hello, Inuyasha!" the priest said. For some reason the man sent a chill down the little hanyou's spine. Inuyasha made a move to run away, but the priest grabbed him by the back of his clothes.

"Wh-Who are you?" Inuyasha asked timidly. The priest grinned.

"I am a personal priest of Sesshomaru! My name is Masuyo," the priest said. "I have come to take you home. Sesshomaru misses you very much." Inuyasha sniffed the man. He was lying. An image of Inuyasha's dead mother and father flashed through his mind. For the first time in his life, he felt utter rage.

"LIAR!" he screamed. He slashed the arm that was holding him leaving four huge, bloody gashes.

"Agh!" the man yelled jerking his arm away. Inuyasha took the opportunity to run. It was the first time Inuyasha had ever injured another person. Masuyo saw him running and ran after him. `Sesshomaru will kill me if I return without the boy's head,' Masuyo thought. `Wow! This kid is fast!' After some time of running, Inuyasha decided that he wasn't going to be able to lose the man. He would never be able to hide from Sesshomaru if he didn't lose him. His whereabouts would surely be known.

`Fight!' a voice commanded inside Inuyasha's head startling him. `Fight!' it repeated. `I can fight?' Inuyasha thought. Suddenly, he remembered his father's training. Inuyasha came to a stop and turned around to face the priest. The priest heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't know how much longer he could have ran after the hanyou.

`Let's just get this over with,' he thought as he reached for some tainted amulets to attack the little demon with.

"SANKON TESSOU!" the little hanyou screamed and attacked the man. The attack had shocked Masuyo. He hadn't been expecting it. The little claws slashed through Masuyo's stomach leaving a gaping hole. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to slow him down so Inuyasha could make his escape. Inuyasha took off running. Masuyo's eyes flashed with anger. He took a tainted amulet and through it at Inuyasha's running form.

"Agh!" Inuyasha screamed as the amulet hit his back. Inuyasha fell to his knees panting heavily. He glanced back to Masuyo and knew he still needed to get away. He gathered all of his strength and began running away.

~END FLASHBACK~

"Masuyo! You bastard! I would have died from that amulet had Myouga not found me!" Inuyasha growled at him.

"That was kind of the point!" Masuyo said sarcastically. Inuyasha's anger was growing. Masuyo smiled. "I manage to make it away okay, however! I never returned to Sesshomaru, rather I found a village where I perfected my fighting skills and awaited the day that I would meet you again." The man smirked. "And what timing! You're in human form! It will make your death that much more enjoyable knowing that I killed you in your weakest form because of you being a worthless hanyou!" Inuyasha growled. The man extended his staff. "You ready to die the way you should have a long time ago, hanyou!"

"You wish!" Inuyasha said cracking his knuckles. The two men collided throwing punch after punch and hitting each other with all of their might. Finally, with one great burst of spiritual energy, Masuyo punched him in the face sending Inuyasha flying yards away leaving a trail behind him. `Damn!' Inuyasha thought. `It hurts a hell of a lot worse to be human!' Inuyasha shook his head trying to see straight again. When he finally was able to look up, Masuyo towered over him with his staff ready to strike. Suddenly, a blue light flashed in between them causing Masuyo to jump back. `A purifying arrow?' he thought. He looked to where the arrow had come from.

"Get away from him!" Kagome shouted with another arrow drawn. The others stood not far behind her. They had heard the entire thing. Masuyo stared at her. `Who is she?' he thought. Inuyasha watched the man stare at Kagome. He began to growl. He didn't like the way Masuyo was looking at her. Masuyo smirked.

"Well, Inuyasha, it seems you have back up," Masuyo said. He snapped his fingers and three men emerged from the darkness. "You're not the only one."

"No!" Inuyasha said jumping up.

"Then make them stay out of this," Masuyo said. "This is our fight!" He smiled. "Oh, and trust me. These men are very skilled at what they do!"

Sango gripped her boomerang. "Let us fight them Inuyasha!" Inuyasha looked from his friends to Masuyo.

"Don't interfere!" he commanded. Kagome let down her arrow.

"But, Inuyasha, you don't stand a chance!" Kagome protested.

"I said don't interfere!" he barked at her. Kagome jumped back a little. She scowled at Masuyo.

"Do you think he's going to fight fair?" Kagome shouted.

"Now, miss, I'm offended," Masuyo said walking towards her. Inuyasha watched him carefully. Masuyo was soon only a few feet away from Kagome, a little too close for Inuyasha's liking. Inuyasha ran in front of Kagome and growled at Masuyo. Masuyo smiled.

"It seems you still want to protect your friends in your weak, pathetic form," Masuyo said.

"You stay away from Kagome!" Inuyasha commanded.

"Kagome?!" Masuyo echoed. "The Kagome!" Inuyasha knew he had said too much.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Just stay away from her asshole!" Inuyasha said walking past Masuyo. "We have a fight to finish!"

"Very well," Masuyo said with an evil grin. "I will take care of you…and then the girl!" Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to glare at Masuyo. Miroku could have sworn he saw a flash of red in Inuyasha's eyes. Inuyasha attacked. He punched and swung with all of his might. Masuyo, however, maintained a cool disposition throughout the entire fight…much like Sesshomaru. The others watched them fight.

"I thought priests and priestesses were supposed to be good people?" Shippo asked Miroku.

"Not all of them," Miroku said. "Most of them start out as good, but then take evil paths somewhere along the way. Masuyo is definitely evil. I can feel his evil energy radiating off of him. Shippo, is this what you felt at night?" Shippo shuddered and nodded his head `yes'. Kagome gasped and looked back over to Inuyasha just in time to see Masuyo land a powerful punch to Inuyasha's face sending him flying against a tree. Inuyasha lay at the base of the tree motionless.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. Kagome readied her bow and arrow.

"No, Kagome! You heard what Inuyasha said!" Miroku said.

"I don't care!" she stated. "You and I both know that Inuyasha isn't ready to fight. Sango, Miroku, prepare yourselves to fight!" With that, she released her arrow. The arrow headed straight towards Masuyo. Masuyo turned around just in time to see the arrow's path and jumped out of its path.

"Agh!" Masuyo shouted as the arrow grazed his arm. Masuyo squatted to the ground with his arm smoking from purification. He glared at Kagome.

"That was a big mistake little lady!" he shouted at her. He snapped his fingers and the men attacked them.

"Come on then!" Kagome shouted beckoning them to come for her. She readied her arrow and released. The men easily dodged it. Sango stepped forward.

"Hiraikotsu!" she shouted and released her boomerang. The men easily dodged it as well…on the first attack anyway. They managed to jump out of its path when it first came flying by, however, when the boomerang returned, it made direct contact with one of the three men leaving him lying on the forest floor unconscious. Masuyo scowled at this, but turned his attention back to Inuyasha…who was gone! Masuyo jumped to his feet looking this way and that.

"Lost something?" Inuyasha asked as he landed a hard punch to Masuyo's face sending him flying to a tree. Inuyasha walked over to him. "Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?" Masuyo rubbed his face and looked at Inuyasha in astonishment. He was amazed at how powerful Inuyasha was in his human form. `It must be because his mother was a miko!' Masuyo thought. Masuyo then decided that it was time to quit playing around. He jumped to his feet and charged Inuyasha punching and fighting again.

Meanwhile, Kagome and the others were fighting the other two men. The men charged them and Sango managed to put her boomerang up in front of Kagome right when a man tried to strike her with his sword. The men were powerful. Miroku clashed his staff against the other man's staff again and again. Miroku finally managed to have his staff make contact with the man's face slinging the man to the ground unconscious. Sango, meanwhile, was fighting the other man as hard as she could. She soon knocked him to the ground and turned around to face the others. The man, however, rose behind her. Kirara growled.

"Sango!" Kagome yelled and shot the man with her purifying arrow. The arrow struck the man and Kagome began to shake a little. She had never really killed before…not a human being…not intentionally. Miroku noticed this and put his arm around Kagome.

"It's okay," he coaxed. "That man would have killed Sango." Kagome nodded her head, but still stood there in shock.

Meanwhile…

"I warned you not to attack my friends!" Inuyasha said blocking Masuyo's spiritual attacks from his staff with his sheathed tessaiga. `Weak spot!' Masuyo thought.

"Well, it looks like your friends are about to die!" Masuyo said.

"Huh, Kagome?" he said turning his attention towards them only to find the men lying around his friends unconscious. Masuyo took the opportunity and gathered his spiritual energy and attacked Inuyasha with it.

"Agh!" he yelled as he was flung against yet another tree and lay there unconscious.

Kagome had turned her head when she heard Inuyasha call her name. She watched as Inuyasha was flung helplessly against a tree. She gasped.

Masuyo approached Inuyasha. `This is it!' he thought. `This is when I get to kill this bastard!' Suddenly, he felt blue light heading his way, but turned around too late this time. He cried out in pain as the arrow pierced his shoulder. He looked up to see Kagome standing there with her bow. She had run away from the others so she could shoot, leaving the others standing far behind her.

"I've had enough of you!" Masuyo said losing his temper for the first time in front of them. "Looks like I'll just have to kill you first!" Inuyasha's eyes flashed open. Masuyo gathered every ounce of spiritual energy he had and blasted it at Kagome. A huge ball of spiritual energy came flying at Kagome. `It's too big!' she thought. `I can't dodge it!' Everything went into slow motion from there. She watched as the ball came towards her causing an immense amount of light and wind. To the left she saw a flash of red and recognized it as Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, no!" she shouted, but it was too late. Inuyasha placed himself between her and Masuyo's attack. He had run in front of her and wrapped his arms around her in a protective manner with his back facing the attack.

"Aghhhh!" Inuyasha shouted as the attack made impact.

"INUYASHA!" she screamed. The light and wind died down and Kagome lay on the ground with Inuyasha on top of her…motionless. The others made their way over to them. Miroku proceeded to roll Inuyasha off of Kagome.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Sango asked. Kagome nodded absentmindedly because her attention was focused on Inuyasha. Myouga and Miroku knelt beside him. Miroku looked up to see Masuyo's condition. He stood and walked over to him. He felt for any vital signs and then turned around to the others.

"Just as I thought," Miroku stated as he walked back over to the others. "Kagome's arrow weakened him greatly. He had used the last of his energy to attack her. He's dead." They all nodded and then turned to look at Inuyasha.

"Here," Shippo said startling the others. They hadn't even noticed that he had left until now. He held out his hand and in it were some herbs and roots.

"Shippo!" Myouga said grabbing his hand. "Where did you find this?"

"My mom and dad gave them to me when they took off to fight. They said that it was the most powerful of all medicines and that I would need to take in case I was injured," Shippo said. "I noticed it in my house before. My parents told me that it was used only in emergencies. I was never found so I just kept the roots and herbs in case I was one day severely injured and needed them." Shippo hung his head sadly. "It was the last thing my mom and dad gave me." Everyone gasped and wondered if they should take them from him or not. Kagome and Miroku exchanged some glances.

"Take it!" Shippo commanded. "I think this counts as an emergency!" Myouga nodded and took the medicines from his hand and began grinding them. Shippo turned around and folded his arms. Kagome felt a pain in her heart.

"Thank you, Shippo," Kagome said. "You have no idea what this means to us." He turned around to look at her and beamed. He was so pleased that he had made Kagome happy. Kagome's attention turned back to Inuyasha when she heard him moan. He was breathing unevenly and his face had turned pale with a hint of blue in it. His eyes fluttered open. He looked at her with eyes half open.

"Kagome," he breathed. "You're okay." His breathing became even more uneven as if he was struggling to breathe. A tear fell down Kagome's cheek. She took his hand in hers.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said. "Thanks to you." She lifted his hand and pressed it against her face. He smiled slightly.

"Here," Myouga said and started feeding him the medicine. Inuyasha barely moved to take the medicine. When Myouga was done giving Inuyasha the medicine, Miroku placed a hand on his shoulder.

"How is he?" Miroku whispered.

"He needs his demon powers back," Myouga said. "He can't survive this in human form. His life depends on when the sun rises." Miroku looked off in the distance. The sun would rise soon, perhaps even in fifteen to twenty minutes, but he didn't know if Inuyasha could survive until then.

Inuyasha felt the tears on his hand as Kagome pressed it against her face.

"Don't cry," he breathed. She looked down at him.

"Why not?" she said. "That was so stupid, Inuyasha! You should have let me take the attack! Why did you do that?" She started crying a little harder. He gathered his strength to touch her face softly. He smiled slightly.

"I swore to protect you," he breathed softly. He breathed in and out a little more before continuing as if it took almost everything out of him to talk. "I will always look after you, Kagome…always protect you…always be there when you need me." Kagome frowned through her tears.

"Don't talk like that!" she commanded. "Don't talk as if you are going to die! You're going to have to be strong for me, okay? You're going to make it!" The tears flowed down Kagome's cheeks like rivers now. She didn't know if he was going to make it or not…and that scared her to death. He cupped her face softly with his hand.

"Kagome…there's…something else…I need…to tell you," he said as his breathing became more uneven.

"Shhh!" she said. "Just rest. You can't tell me after you get your strength back."

"No…I may not…be able…Kagome…I…I…" he spoke, but then his eyes rolled back in his head and his hand fell limp to the ground.

"Inuyasha? INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed. She shook him with all of her might. "Inuyasha wake up! Wake up! Wake up, PLEASE!" She began crying hysterically. "Oh, God! This is all my fault! If I had just left him alone…" The others had watched the entire thing. Tears had started to flow down Sango's cheeks. Miroku hugged her as she buried her face in his chest. Myouga hung his head and Shippo stood there in shock.

"Inuyasha, please!" Kagome begged. "Please, wake up! We still have to go to the castle! You have so much left to do! Please! Just wake up! You can't leave me here! What will I do with you gone! I will have no one to protect me! I will have no one to jump in my window at night just to say `hi'! I will have no one to return to! I will have no one to make sure that I don't do anything stupid or to make sure that I stay in at night when it's dangerous or to be so overprotective of me that it gets on my nerves! Inuyasha say or do anything to me…call me a bitch…tell me to shut up…JUST WAKE UP!" With that, she flung herself onto his body crying hysterically. She hugged him with her entire body, sobbing and crying uncontrollably into his chest. She had only been there a few seconds and a large wet stain had already emerged onto his red fire rat robe.

Miroku couldn't help, but take pity on his miko friend as he watched her cry uncontrollably into Inuyasha's chest. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if the same had happened to Sango. Suddenly, something caught his attention. He tapped Sango on the back and pointed in the direction of the horizon that could barely be seen through the trees. Sango lifted her head and looked in the direction he was pointing. She gasped. The sun was rising.

"Kagome," Sango said. Kagome sniffed and lifted her head to see the sun rising. She sat straight up. She looked down at Inuyasha and then looked up to Myouga.

"Myouga," Kagome began.

"It will depend on Inuyasha," Myouga stated. Kagome stared at the sun rising then back at Inuyasha. Inuyasha didn't move. `Maybe the sun has to completely rise,' she thought. She watched and waited for the sun to rise. The sun finally rose completely. She stared at Inuyasha. `Come on, Inuyasha!' she thought. She waited some more. Nothing.

"Inuyasha, NOOOO!" she screamed and leapt onto his chest hugging him and crying hysterically. She couldn't believe it…no, she wouldn't believe it…she wouldn't believe that her beloved Inuyasha…was dead.

A/N: AGHHHH! *dodges arrows from angry readers for leaving two cliffhangers in a row * Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! I just had to give you guys another chapter though because you all have been so excellent about updating. Sorry it had to be a cliffhanger though!

Next chapter will definitely require 15 reviews though! *smiles at fans *

Lots of Inuyasha Love for you guys until then! Oh, and gomen for the cliffy again! *turns to walk away, but squeals when hit in the butt by an arrow from an angry reader *