InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The New Student and Kagome's Secret ❯ Chapter 41: Bankotsu vs....Kagome? ( Chapter 42 )

A/N: Hello! Hello! I am back with the next chapter! I think you are going to like this one! I put some thought into it and Kagome does some pretty cool s*** in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to all of my loyal readers! *blows kisses* You make this worthwhile! I promise I will update at the next available chance! I promise!

Well, enough of that! Read!

Chapter 41

Kagome was horrified. Everything was happening in slow motion. She couldn't believe what was taking place before her very eyes. Inuyasha was going to sacrifice himself.

"Inuyasha, NOOOO!" she screamed.

"KAGOME!!!" Inuyasha screamed as he leapt in front of Kagome taking the arrow to his chest. Inuyasha groaned loudly as the arrow pierced through his haori. His groan soon turned into a yell when the tip of the arrow touched his skin.

"NOOOO!" Kagome screamed with all of her might. The arrow stopped in its path. The tip of the arrow remained touching Inuyasha's skin burning through the first couple of layers of flesh…but the arrow had stopped dead in its path. Kagome looked up and saw what was taking place. Hot tears were glued to her face as she angrily stared at the arrow.

"STOP!" she commanded. The arrow fell to the ground beside Inuyasha who soon fell to the ground as well. His breathing was heavy. His eyes were watery and his complexion was turning a pasty white.

Tears began to flow down Kagome's cheeks as she dropped to her knees beside him. She couldn't believe it. She opened up his haori to see how much damage the arrow had caused. Kagome found a lump of red, bloody, swollen flesh where the arrow had briefly pierced through Inuyasha's skin. The area was around the size of a softball and was slowly growing larger. She knew it would eventually consume his entire body.

"Inuyasha," Kagome cried. "Inuyasha, I am so stupid! What have I done?"

Inuyasha painfully looked up to Kagome.

"Idiot," he breathed. "You did nothing…to me."

"You idiot!" Kagome exclaimed. "Why did you do such a thing?! Why didn't you let me take the arrow?! I wouldn't have…have…" Kagome burst into tears and her head against his. Inuyasha purred weakly in an effort to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Kagome," Inuyasha said weakly. "At least you're…safe."

Kagome looked at him. Her face was only a few inches from his.

"I can't believe you just said that!" she said. "I don't care if I am safe! It doesn't matter if you're not here with me!!!" She had really emphasized that last statement. Inuyasha's ears, previously lying limp and flat against his head, perked up slightly. He couldn't believe what she had just said. It made him happy. It made him want to fight through this injury.

Kagome sniffled a little and placed her hand on his wound. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. She was so focused on healing him…so determined…that it was almost as if she was healing him through her anger. Kagome immediately flamed in a blue aura. Her face was stern and composed.

"What the…" Sango muttered.

"Kagome," Miroku said softly. "So you finally found the source of your true power."

Miroku, Sango, and the others watched in disbelief. They knew Kagome had found the true source of her powers. She began floating a couple of inches off of the ground, and her bright blue aura was so strong that it felt as if her power was wrapping their bodies in a tight blanket. Inuyasha watched in disbelief. He had never seen Kagome like this. Could she be tapping into her true powers? It was then he realized that he was feeling a lot better. He glanced down at his injury. What used to be a swollen, bloody, softball size mess, was now around the size of a golf ball and was healing quite nicely. He looked up at Kagome. Beads of sweat had gathered around her forehead and temples. She had a pained, yet determined expression on her face. Tears continued to flow down her face. No one had ever seen Kagome in this state.

Bankotsu had had enough. He had seen all he had wanted to see. He twirled his sword and swung it at Kagome and Inuyasha. A ball of white light headed straight towards them digging a trench and tearing up the ground or anything else that stood in its way. Inuyasha looked up and realized that Kagome may not see it.

"Kagome!" he yelled and placed tetsusaiga in front of them as he held onto her. Kagome opened her eyes and glared at Inuyasha. He was shocked. She had never looked at him like that before. She pushed him and his sword away with her left hand and then whipped her head in Bankotsu's direction. She angrily glared at the ball of energy heading towards them. She held her hands balled into fists at either side of her.

"Kagome, get down! What are you doing?" Inuyasha cried out. He tried to run to her side, but she glared angrily at him. The stare caused Inuyasha not to take another step. He sat back down in confusion. Wind whipped their hair around their faces. Kagome looked back at the ball of energy. Inuyasha had never seen Kagome with an expression like this before.

`She…she is PISSED!' he thought. `But it's almost like she doesn't even realize what she is doing…like her powers are driving her.'

Kagome extended her right hand and with one great yell she reached to the left and swiped her hand in one quick motion towards the right. The ball of energy was tossed to the right of them and disintegrated into thin air. The wind whipped their hair and clothes around them until the ball finally disintegrated and the wind disappeared. She continued to have a stern look on her face as Bankotsu came into view. She allowed her hands to ball into fists again at her sides and began taking slow steps towards him.

Bankotsu was frightened by this new power of hers. Her demeanor was scarier than her power though. She had an invincible style walk to her and an expressionless face. Despite all of this, he arrogantly placed his sword on his shoulder and decided to keep his cool.

"Impressive," he said with a smirk. He ran his fingers through his hair and then arrogantly stared at Kagome. "I assume you intend to fight me wench?"

"No, Kagome!" Inuyasha said jumping to his feet. "Don't do it! Don't Kagome!"

Kagome ignored his pleas and continued to take slow steps towards Bankotsu. Sango and Miroku began to get worried. Kagome wouldn't have survived the battle with Sesshoumaru had it not been for Inuyasha. What was she thinking? Could she really take on Bankotsu?

Kagome stopped about twenty feet away from Bankotsu and stared him directly in the eyes. A slight breeze blew some of her hair across her face, but she never seemed to falter in her stare with Bankotsu.

Bankotsu shuddered slightly. He had to admit that she was starting to give him the creeps. He knew he just needed to go ahead and finish her off, but he also knew that that was exactly what she was waiting for. She was waiting for him to attack her.

"Hmph! You wish for me to start the fight, huh?" Bankotsu said. Kagome didn't move and continued to stare at him. "Fine!" Bankotsu pointed his sword towards the sky. Dark clouds began to move in and swirl in a tornado like fashion. A powerful wind began forcing everyone to gain steady footing on the ground. Lightning began streaking across the sky and soon began plummeting towards the earth.

Sango screamed as Miroku grabbed her and jumped on top of her. Myouga scooped Shippo and Kirara up and nestled next to Miroku and Sango. Inuyasha used his sword as a crutch to walk towards Kagome. He had to protect her.

"Inuyasha, no!" Miroku shouted. Inuyasha ignores his pleas and continued walking as lightning hit the ground all around him.

Kagome's expression remained unfazed. She stared at Bankotsu as if nothing was taking place. Bankotsu stared at her in disbelief.

`This girl is nuts!' he thought.

Kagome took another couple of steps towards him causing Bankotsu to back up a few steps. She emanated an overwhelming, purifying aura. He had no choice, but to back away from her or be purified. He glared at her angrily. He then smirked. Just behind Kagome, a lightning bolt plummeted towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked up. He dropped tetsusaiga and placed tetsusaiga's sheath over his head, but even he knew that wouldn't be enough to save him.

In a flash, Kagome spun around and fired an arrow towards Inuyasha. The arrow was in perfect alignment with the sheath the moment the lightning struck Inuyasha. The lightning struck Inuyasha with a loud boom. Sparks flew everywhere, and a bright blue light engulfed where Inuyasha had stood.

"Inuyasha!" Sango called. She was suddenly surprised that she was the only female voice calling Inuyasha's name. Normally, Kagome was the one worried and thinking he was about to die. She looked towards her friend. She stared at the blue, sparking ball of light that was once Inuyasha with a calm expression. Sango was confused for a second. She didn't understand why her friend seemed so unfazed…unless…she was certain Inuyasha was okay. Sango looked back towards Inuyasha. The light soon died down to reveal a protective barrier formed from the sheath and Kagome's arrow surrounding Inuyasha. Inuyasha dropped to his knees out of shock as the arrow fell limp to the ground next to him. Sango and the others breathed a sigh of relief, but turned to Kagome who was already staring back at Bankotsu. She stepped forward a little, but stopped when a bolt of lightning soared towards her hitting her dead on.

"KAGOME!!!" Inuyasha shouted. He picked up his sword and began running towards her. Bankotsu laughed heartily, but soon gasped. Inuyasha came to a screeching halt in his run when the light died down and he saw Kagome standing there perfectly fine and without a scratch on her. Inuyasha and Bankotsu were both shocked beyond belief.

Kagome's eyes were closed. It seemed she had had to concentrate extremely hard in order to protect herself from the lightning. Her eyes flew open and focused on Bankotsu. She took another step forward causing Bankotsu to take a step back. It seemed he couldn't be within twenty feet of her. Kagome moved a little to the right and then began walking towards him again.

Suddenly, she stopped and stood up straight.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said calmly. Inuyasha took a step towards her. "Use your sheath and the arrow to protect the others. Do not however touch the arrow, for purifying powers still remain within it."

"What about you?!" he protested.

"Do it!" Kagome commanded sternly. "Or they'll die!"

Inuyasha gathered up his pride and nodded his head. It kind of shocked him a bit, however, because Kagome had never bossed him around before. He had to admit that it aroused him a little, and under normal circumstances it would have made him want to take her right then and there so he could show his dominance. Under these circumstances, however, he would suck up his pride and do what he was told. His friends' lives were more important than his pride, and despite Kagome's weird disposition, something told him she knew what she was talking about. He ran over to where the arrow lay.

`Oh great! How the fuck am I going to pick this thing up without touching it?' he thought as Kagome continued moving towards Bankotsu, only to have him step away from her. Inuyasha stared at the arrow for a couple of seconds before ripping part of his shirt and wrapping it around the arrow. He picked up the arrow, but soon realized that the arrow's purification powers sensed his demon side and was burning through the shirt. He had to act fast. He sprinted towards Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Shippo, and Myouga. He glanced down at the arrow. It had almost completely burned through the shirt. He ripped another part of his sleeve and wrapped it around the arrow just before it touched his skin. His friends were soon only a few feet away.

"Inuyasha! NOW!" Kagome yelled turning towards her friends for a brief moment. Inuyasha leapt into the air.

"Miroku! Catch!" Inuyasha yelled as he through the arrow towards Miroku. Miroku reached for the arrow and caught it in his right hand. Inuyasha held the sheath in his hands as he flew through the air. He rolled over in mid air so his stomach faced the clouds. He thrust the sheath towards the sky just as a lightning bolt came down upon him and his friends. Shippo and Sango screamed as the white light surrounded them.

Kagome and Bankotsu looked towards them. Bankotsu had the bright idea to try to move, but Kagome sent him a look telling him not to think about it. He smirked and moved anyway. Kagome took a giant leap towards him. Her powers thrust him backwards. His back connected hard with the ground. Bankotsu weakly sat up to glare at the wench. He felt like he had just been drained of energy. When he saw her, she was staring back at her friends.

The light slowly died down around Inuyasha and the others. Inuyasha, who had been temporarily suspended in the air from the contact of the lightning to his sheath, continued his flight over his friends, and landed on the ground with a thud, rolling a couple of feet. Miroku weakly looked up and glanced around. They were all okay. He looked down at Sango, Shippo, Myouga, and Kirara. All of them had a death grip on each other. He smiled, glad that everyone was okay. He looked at Inuyasha. He had had the breath knocked out of him, but other than that he seemed okay. Inuyasha glared at Kagome. Miroku followed his gaze.

"How do you suppose…" Miroku began, but was interrupted by Inuyasha.

"She can sense where the lightning will hit," Inuyasha said through his heavy breathing as he stared at Kagome.

"What?" Miroku replied.

Sango and the others sat up relieved to be alive. Lightning still struck all around them, yet it didn't seem to faze them as much now.

"She can sense it?" Sango asked. Inuyasha nodded his head.

"I don't know if Kagome's powers grow with each passing day or if more of her power is revealed with each passing day, but somehow she continues to amaze me with the amount of power she gives off," Myouga suddenly said.

"Will she be okay fighting Bankotsu alone?" Shippo squeaked as he looked in her direction.

"He will not harm her!" Inuyasha growled as he cracked his knuckles and jumped towards them.

"Master Inuyasha!" Myouga said jumping to his feet. Inuyasha turned and looked at him with a this-better-be-good expression. "If I may intervene my Lord, I have been observing Lady Kagome, and I think you need to leave this one to her. From watching her, she seems to know what she is doing. If you intervene, you may do her more harm than good."

Inuyasha growled and clenched his fists at his side. He wanted to protect her. That was his job. He had to, but Myouga was often very wise and would never say something like that if he didn't have a fairly good hunch about something. Inuyasha felt helpless. He could do nothing, but watch.

"You are going to have to let her do this anyway, my Lord. Bankotsu can only be defeated by purification, and you, my Lord, do not have those kind of powers," Myouga said. "Kagome will be okay."

"She better be!" Inuyasha retorted. "Or you will be a dead flea for suggesting I not intervene!"

Myouga gulped and Inuyasha stared intently at Kagome who had now focused her attention on the grounded Bankotsu.

"Bitch!" Bankotsu muttered towards her in pain. For the first time since she had been in this state, she smirked.

Kagome slowly reached into her quiver and retrieved an arrow. She carefully placed the arrow on her bow and pointed it towards the center of the swirling clouds. Her arrow began to glow a bright blue.

"What are you…" Bankotsu began, but was cut off when Kagome released her arrow into the clouds.

The clouds immediately began to spark and crackle, and all of the lightning stopped slamming relentlessly into the ground. It seemed as if all of the electricity and energy in the clouds was being sucked into where Kagome's arrow had penetrated. Yellow sparks and white lightning crackled.

"You know," Kagome said. "Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice."

Bankotsu glared at Kagome in confusion, but soon figured out what she was talking about. He looked around him and discovered he was completely surrounded by black impressions in the ground from where lightning had struck. The only place untouched…was where he sat. It soon hit him that that was the reason she had been stepping towards him like that. She was working him into that position.

"Ha!" he laughed. "It will take a little more than lightning to kill me!"

Kagome turned to walk away from him and stopped after a few feet. She turned and looked at him over her shoulder.

"What about…lightning that's been purified?" she said calmly.

Bankotsu's eyes grew wide and a frantic expression engulfed his features as he looked towards the sky. A bright blue bolt of lightning plummeted towards him.

"Nooooo!" he shouted as the lightning came down upon him. Kagome whipped herself around and stared at the scene in front of her. The lightning struck the ground so hard that if they hadn't seen the lightning hit, they would have thought they were experiencing an earthquake with the way the ground shook beneath their feet. Everyone was knocked to the ground except Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha stared intently at the scene before him and refused to lose his ground. Kagome glared at Bankotsu's spot, now being hit with an immense amount of purified lightning. Kagome pulled an arrow from her quiver and placed it on her bow. She pulled it back and released it, sending it flying towards Bankotsu's spot. When the arrow hit its target, the lightning that had previously been plummeting towards the earth now shot back towards the sky. The lightning continued to fly upward into the clouds from whence it came until it disintegrated any trace of clouds or lightning left behind. The dark clouds were soon replaced with a blue sky and white fluffy clouds.

Kagome stared at the spot where Bankotsu had once been. Nothing but a black, concave indention was left behind. No bones or remnants of any kind could be seen and the ground sizzled as small amounts of gray smoke rose from the ground.

Meanwhile, everyone had been staring at Kagome and what was taking place before their very eyes. When it was all over and Kagome was left standing there staring at where Bankotsu had once been, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo jumped up and began excitedly running towards Kagome. Inuyasha stood there in disbelief, dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed. Miroku and Myouga stood up, and walked over to stand next to Inuyasha. Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest. Miroku, Inuyasha, and Myouga exchanged glances, all of three of them at a loss for words.

"Kagome!" Sango and Shippo shouted excitedly as they ran towards their friend. "Kagome you did it! That was amazing!"

When they were a mere few feet from her, her eyes suddenly rolled into the back of her head and she slowly began falling to the ground.

"Kagome!!" Sango and Shippo cried out. Inuyasha heard their desperate cries and looked up just in time to see Kagome falling towards the ground.

"Kagome!!!" he shouted and began leaping as fast as he could towards her.

Kirara reacted, quickly changing into her larger form and catching Kagome just before she hit the ground. She gently laid Kagome on the ground, then nudged Kagome's head as if trying to wake her. Sango and Shippo quickly dropped to her side, followed shortly by Inuyasha, then Miroku and Myouga.

"Kagome!!!" Inuyasha shouted when he arrived. Kirara stepped out of the way to allow Inuyasha through. He stared at Kagome then gently picked her head up off the ground.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. "Kagome! Say something! Answer me! Can you hear me? Are you okay? Say something!"

"Lady Kagome!!!" Miroku and Myouga shouted as they ran up beside her.

"What's wrong with her?" Sango asked Miroku and Myouga.

"Step out of the way," Miroku said as he knelt next to Kagome. He checked for vital signs. She had a faint heartbeat, her breathing was shallow, and her power was extremely weak. "Shippo, do you know that medicine that priests and priestesses take when they overexert themselves?"

"Yeah," Shippo said with a nod.

"Go get it! It's by Kagome's backpack! It should still be there because she gave some to me!" Miroku said. "Hurry!"

Shippo nodded and ran off to retrieve the medicine. Miroku immediately began chanting incantations and prayers. He ran his hands a few inches over her body. Inuyasha was careful to make sure Miroku's hands didn't get any lower than that.

"What's wrong with her?" Inuyasha demanded. Miroku stopped chanting and looked up at him.

"She overexerted herself again," he said. "But this time it feels different."

"Different?" Inuyasha asked. "What do you mean by `different'?"

"I mean that she should be okay. The medicine should take care of it. She's just exhausted. That's all. Her breathing is shallow and her heartbeat is low, but it's nothing that the restorative medicine can't take care of. She really overdid it though. She just may need a higher dosage of the medicine to recover, but for the most part, she should be good as new with medicine and some rest. She just overused her powers. If she had overused her healing powers, it would be a far more serious matter," Miroku said.

"How so?" Inuyasha asked.

"Here it is!" Shippo proclaimed as he arrived back with the medicine in his hand. Miroku took the medicine from Shippo and began feeding it into Kagome's mouth as Inuyasha tilted her head up slightly.

"What Kagome is experiencing right now is similar to what you experience after a long battle with serious injuries. Your demon side will eventually heal you and cause your energy to return within a couple of days or even hours after experiencing injuries that would have killed a normal human being instantly. Kagome overexerting herself in a battle, such as in this case, is similar, in that this medicine along with her own healing power will cause her to eventually regain her strength, though not as quickly as you would," Miroku said. "However, if she overexerts herself trying to heal someone, it is far more serious. She would have lost that power to heal herself by freely giving away her power to heal to someone else. It's a complicated situation, but basically Kagome could easily kill herself if she gives away too much healing to someone. When she heals someone, she is giving her energy away, draining herself of her power. When she heals, her power does not return easily. Her energy overexerting herself in battle can return in a couple of days, but when she overexerts herself when healing someone, her power can take weeks to return, growing little by little daily. That's the reason it's so serious. When she drains her body of its energy, she is basically having her soul sucked right out of her. The more she is drained, the less likely she is to wakeup from it, and with her healing power taking so long to reproduce itself, her body may give out before her power returns."

Inuyasha blinked a couple of times as he allowed this to sink in.

`That explains why Miroku was always so worried when Kagome would start to heal someone,' he thought. `When she heals, her power is completely taken from her…even her power to live. Now I understand.' Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome.

"Miroku," Inuyasha said, not lifting his head to look at him. "If I am ever fatally wounded in battle, promise me something."

Miroku gave him a confused look and asked, "What?"

"I will more than likely be unconscious and unable to stop her, so I need you to promise me that you won't allow Kagome to attempt to heal me," Inuyasha said solemnly.

"What???" Sango and Miroku said in unison.

"I've seen the way Kagome acts when she tries to heal someone," he said as memories of her healing people flashed through his mind. "It's like she is attached and couldn't let go if she wanted to. Someone always has to intervene in some way or another in order for her to be able to stop."

"True," Miroku said. "Because you are concentrating really hard when you heal someone, you don't realize how quickly your power is leaving you. Only really experienced priests and priestesses have ever been able to know when to stop, and they were normally so old that they needed all the energy they had. Everyone else normally never heals someone alone."

"Just promise me that, Miroku," Inuyasha said still staring at Kagome. "I don't want Kagome to die because of me. If you see I am almost dead, then let me die, and don't allow her to make the futile attempt at healing me."

"But…" Miroku began.

"Promise me!!!" Inuyasha demanded clenching his eyes shut and laying his ears flat against his head as he yelled at Miroku. Miroku glanced at Sango who had a look of desperation on her face. She didn't know what to tell him. Miroku sighed.

"O-Okay," Miroku said hesitantly. "I promise."

Inuyasha let out a deep breath.

"Thanks," he said.

Kagome's eyelids began to twitch a little and looked like the medicine was already starting to take effect. She was definitely going to be weak for the next couple of days, but Miroku was right. Kagome was going to be alright. That set Inuyasha's heart at ease. Inuyasha stared at Kagome and brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face.

`I promised to always protect you Kagome,' he thought. `Even if I have to protect you from yourself.'

A/N: Tada! Okay! I had to write this one quickly and I didn't have time to proofread for spelling and grammar errors so don't hate me if there are a lot of them. I hoped you liked it! It was really fun to write! I don't know, I just like making Kagome be a badass sometimes! *laughes evilly* Okay this one was very action packed, but be prepared for the next couple of chapters. There are going to be a lot of spins and twists and emotional turmoil and all that good stuff! Not a whole lot of action coming up…maybe a little…but not like a big battle or anything until the last couple of chapters. Sorry all you action lovers, but it is time to reveal a few things!

Thanks to all of my loyal readers during this time! I know it gets frustrating to see your story not updated, but trust me when I say I am going as fast as I can! I will update as soon as possible. Thanks again…oh…and read and review!!!