Chapter 2
"Kagome!!!!" yelled a familiar voice. Inuyasha was busy hacking at Naraku, but jumped back to see if Kagome was injured. All at once his blood began to boil as he saw that damn wolf carrying her off. He did not have time for this right now.
As if to emphasize this, he felt white hot pain shoot through his back as Naraku stuck him from behind. Inuyasha fell to his knees for a moment, but was spared further pain by Sango. She and Kirara had swooped in as Inuyasha was struck to attack Naraku. Inuyasha knew that without Kagome and her miko powers, that this battle would be lost. He did not want to run, his pride screaming at him to keep attacking Naraku until he was lifeless before him.
As Inuyasha struggled with his pride and anger, he heard Miroku, "Sango!!"
Inuyasha turned to look and saw Sango lying in the grass unconscious. Kirara had morphed back to her smaller form and was lying next to Sango. Inuyasha saw Miroku run to Sango. Naraku was going to attack again, and Inuyasha struck first. His Tetsusaiga cut through Naraku's right arm and into his chest. Inuyasha struck again, hoping against hope that it might make a difference. Naraku stumbled back and Inuyasha became more confident, once again swinging Tetsusaiga at Naraku.
Suddenly, Inuyasha was sent flying by a small tornado. Kagura appeared riding her feather and grabbed Naraku up onto it with her. Inuyasha watched as Kagura and Naraku flew off to the south.
"Damn her." Inuyasha yelled to the uninterested sky. Inuyasha was drawn back from his anger as he heard Sango moan. He returned to them and saw that she would have a nasty bump on her head. Kirara looked like she was mostly recovered now. Miroku was tending to Sango, and Inuyasha instantly thought of Kagome.
"Where is Kagome?" said a small fox youkai coming out of the forest. Shippo looked very worried when he saw Sango, but kept looking around for Kagome. Miroku looked around too, and got a puzzled look on his face.
"She was over there, I saw her get hit, but where is she now?" Miroku looked up at Inuyasha with concern on the handsome monk's features.
"Koga took her. I saw him carrying her off just before Sango got hit." Inuyasha's words dripped with bitterness and anger, "If he lays one hand on her, I will kill him. In fact, I might just kill him anyway for interfering!"
"We need to make camp somewhere so Sango can rest. Then we can go after Kagome and Koga." Miroku said in an almost pleading tone. Miroku was sure that Inuyasha would disagree and maybe even go after Kagome himself.
Inuyasha picked up Sango and ran into the forest without saying anything. He ran until he found a small, sheltered clearing and lay her down. He had grabbed the supplies too and rolled out bedding for Sango. As he gently put her into the bedding and stood up, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara came into the clearing of Inuyasha's choosing. Miroku went straight to Sango and checked on her before rummaging through the supplies to find herbs.
"I am going after Kagome." Inuyasha said and started out running back to where they had previously been fighting Naraku.
Miroku shook his head knowing that there was nothing he could do but tend to Sango and look after Shippo until Inuyasha returned with Kagome in tow. Miroku found the herbs he was looking for and began to make something to ease Sango's pain.
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Inuyasha made it back to the clearing and walked around sniffing the ground until he found Koga's scent near where Kagome fell. He began tracking them, although he had a feeling as to where Koga had taken her.
As he was tracking, a million thoughts were blazing a trail in Inuyasha's mind. What had Koga done to Kagome? Would he try something stupid like making her his mate? This thought made Inuyasha's chest tight, and it confused him. Sure he hated the wolf, and wanted Kagome back, but why should the thought cause him pain? He loved Kikyo didn't he? The young miko had definitely become part of their little "family", but he didn't care for her more than that. Or so he tried to tell himself. Inuyasha was so absorbed in his thoughts and confusion that he did not smell the wolf youkai until he was almost on top of him.
"Inuyasha, why have you come into my territory?" Koga asked with a smirk on his face. He knew why Inuyasha was here, but wanted to piss him off so that he did something stupid.
"You stinking wolf, you know exactly why I am here. You took Kagome. Now, give her to me or I will kill you right here and now. I would love to rip you apart piece by piece so don't give me even the slightest excuse why I should!!" Inuyasha was furious. He knew that Koga was playing games with him, but he did not yet know why.
"She doesn't want to go with you, you mutt. She is going to stay with me and be my queen. You don't deserve her anyway; you just want her for her miko powers. She is happy with me and has not even spoken of you since she woke up." Koga was lying, but he hoped it would distract Inuyasha long enough for his wolves to get into place.
"You lie. You are holding her against her will. You have tried this before Koga and it didn't work then, nor will it work now." Inuyasha could smell the lie that Koga was telling, and as he sniffed the air, he also smelled Koga's wolves in the forest trying to surround him. As soon as he realized this, he drew Tetsusaiga.
Koga knew the moment that Inuyasha drew his sword that he had discovered his little plot. He was confident that the number of wolves he had brought with him would be able to defeat Inuyasha, "ATTACK!" Koga yelled into the woods.
Suddenly wolves and wolf youkai came pouring in on Inuyasha and Koga. Inuyasha began attacking the wolves with Tetsusaiga and his claws. He killed the first three wolves instantly, and they lay bleeding and broken at his feet. Koga, seeing his kin fall, joined the battle. Koga used his claws to slash open Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga at Koga, but he missed due to a particularly large wolf that chose that moment to lock his jaws into Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha swiped at the wolf with his claws and it fell injured to the ground. Inuyasha had caught the wolf in the stomach and his intestines were visible lying on the forest floor shining with spilled blood.
Inuyasha turned once again to Koga and hoisted Tetsusaiga up. Koga saw this and began to step back. Inuyasha however had fooled him and instead of swinging Tetsusaiga he jumped at Koga and drove him to the ground beneath him. When the wolves saw their leader go down, they momentarily stopped attacking. They did not want to injure their leader by accident if they went after Inuyasha.
Inuyasha smiled cruelly at Koga as Tetsusaiga rested against his neck, "One move and I will remove your head from your shoulders, wolf." Inuyasha was trying to decide how pissed Kagome would be if he killed Koga. He did not think that she loved the wolf youkai, but knowing her, she would likely get pissed off and go home if he killed Koga.
Koga signaled to his wolves to stand down. The wolves formed a loose circle around the inu-hanyou and their leader. Koga looked up into Inuyasha's smug face and spoke, "Then do it you half-breed, but know that Kagome will never forgive you for killing her love."
Inuyasha kept the smug façade, but inside the wolf youkai's words stung. Inuyasha once again was assailed by doubt. When he realized this doubt, he again became confused. Why should he care if Kagome loved the damn wolf? He tried to summon Kikyo's face to his mind to banish this doubt, but when he did, he saw Kagome's face instead, and it confused him further. Had Kagome replaced Kikyo in his heart? If so, why had he never noticed before? Did he… love her? The swirl of emotions cascaded through his mind. Then, as was usual for Inuyasha, instead of trying to sort out the feelings, he became angry.
Turning back to the task at hand, he kept Tetsusaiga tight against the wolf youkai's throat and used his claws to cruelly remove the Shikon no Tama shards from Koga's arms. When he was done, Inuyasha stood up while keeping Tetsusaiga pointed at Koga.
"Remove his leg shards." Inuyasha commanded the nearest youkai, "Or I will kill him now and you will not have to worry about it." The youkai looked to his leader for confirmation.
"Do it" Koga said unhappy about how the situation had played out in Inuyasha's favor. The young wolf youkai did as he was told, trying as gently as possible to remove the shards encased within his beloved leader's legs. When the shards were removed, Inuyasha held out his hand for them, and the youkai handed them over, a look of shame crossing his face.
"Now, Koga, I am going to let you up and you are going to lead me to Kagome. I will follow behind you with Tetsusaiga pointed at your back, so I would not advise doing anything rash. I can find her with or without you, but for the moment I have decided not to kill you. Before I let you up, however, you are to tell your wolves to run off into the forest. If even one of them follows I will kill both you and the wolves present, understood?" Koga was disgusted with the turn of event, but had no choices but to lead Inuyasha to Kagome or die.
"Yes, I understand you inu-hanyou bastard. Wolves, get lost for now. Go into the forest and for the love of Kami do not follow." The wolves did not want to go, but they followed their leader's instructions. When all the wolves were gone, Inuyasha motioned for Koga to get up. Koga did as he was bid, though it tore at his pride to be at the inu-hanyou's mercy. Koga began walking towards his camp at a sluggish pace.
"Get moving you disgusting wolf, or I will kill you right now!" Koga was seething with rage but started walking at a faster pace. They were only a mile or so from their destination, but Koga knew it was going to be a long and humiliating journey to the den. One of the youkai coming from the den moved onto the path.
"Koga!! What happened?" Ginta asked, concerned for his liege. Ginta took in the scene in front of him. Koga was stopped on the path with Inuyasha behind him. Inuyasha had Tetsusaiga pressed roughly against Koga's back.
"Inuyasha, he is from the den and does not know. Ginta, go into the forest and do not come after us." Inuyasha pushed Tetsusaiga harder and broke the skin on Koga's back. Tetsusaiga was pressed against his spine, and Koga did not want to anger Inuyasha at this point.
"Stop. Koga, tell your wolf to go back to the den and clear out all the wolves and youkai. I do not want any surprises when we get there." Koga was furious. His plan had been to have the wolves ambush Inuyasha when they returned to keep him from taking Kagome. Now, that was not going to happen. Kami damn him.
"Ginta, do as he said." Ginta stood for a moment unmoving, trying to process what was happening. When the inu-hanyou growled, Ginta took off in the direction he had come from.
"Keep going Koga, or I will slice you in half." Inuyasha was pleased with the turn of events. Now he did not have to worry about the other wolves in the den when he and Koga arrived.
Ginta ran hard to get back to the camp. While he was not usually very bright, a brilliant plan began to formulate in his mind. He knew Koga would be pissed if Inuyasha took Kagome from him again. He had to reach the den and mobilize everyone before it was too late.