"Koga..." she breathed, "Koga... I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about?" his breath was even, but slightly labored. She could tell her spiritual powers were crushing down on him.
"For involving you in this..." she felt another burst of power burst from her palms, as she erected a barrier at the mouth of the cave to keep InuYasha out, if he by some chance found them.
"Don't worry about me," he said with a grin she could tell was forced, "A little purifying powers won't kill me."
She sighed, finishing up her job and moving to sit next to her wolf savior.
"But they can..." she muttered.
He put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.
"Like I said, don't worry about me." He paused before he spoke again, "Now, tell me what happened with InuYasha."
She took a single, deep breath.
"We killed Naraku," memories ran wild through her mind, "And I gave him the jewel. I promised him, ever since the beginning, that I would allow him to make the wish. But, he betrayed me. He turned himself demon with the power of the jewel, and I told the others to flee. They were smart – they got out of there while they could. And he kept me as his, he destroyed the we—" she stopped short, remembering that Koga knew nothing of the well or it's powers, "—and he destroyed my family. He killed them, so I would have to stay with him."
He gave her a squeeze, "If I would have known sooner, I would have been there."
"I know you would have, Koga." She sighed, "Now, tell me what you know."
Koga thought for a moment, "...His brother, Sesshomaru..."
Her interest peaked. She hadn't given Sesshomaru a single thought in all the time she had been with InuYasha, though now she realized she probably should have.
"I was told, that when Sesshomaru found out, he destroyed nearly two forests on his own, out of anger."
A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold ran down Kagome's spine.
"Sesshomaru... will kill InuYasha, if he finds him, won't he?"
Koga gave her a tolerant look, "Of course he will..." he paused, taking in a deep, labored breath, "...He deserves worse than death, for what he's done."
Kagome sighed, resting her head on Koga's shoulder and closing her eyes. She was tired, oh so tired, but yet found that she could rest. This whole thing was putting her on edge, scaring her to her very core. InuYasha... He wouldn't give her up without a fight. Hell, he wouldn't give her up, despite everything that might happen. To him, she was his possession. No one took what was his away from him, even if it was such a thing as Tetsusaiga, a sword now useless to him.
"I'll keep you safe Kagome..." Koga whispered to her, as if he could read her very thoughts, "...I promise."
His fear is amusing, as he lands in the clearing. Finally, he has realized that had been followed, though by who I have not allowed him to learn just yet. Out of what can only be habit, he reaches for the sword that pulses at his side, only to emit a growl when the barrier rejects him.
He ignores the sword, turning to his surroundings to try and pinpoint his follower. But my speed is to great for him – all he can possibly make out is a swirl of scents.
"Come out here and fight, you coward!" his bravado hasn't changed since his transformation, to say the least, "Or run, and save your own life."
Oh, what a fool he has become.
"What have you done, baby brother?"
He freezes at the sound of my voice, his eyes widening. Fear rolls off of him in waves, his raw power seeping out in his aura.
"You are afraid of me."
It is strange to feel his true fear. Never before had he ever truly been afraid of me, as hanyo. Apprehensive, maybe. Angry, yes. But never afraid.
Unmasking my youki, I step out so he may see me, "Explain yourself, InuYasha."
"I..." his voice seems to fail him, but when he tries again, his overconfidence has returned, "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you!"
"They tell me that you have turned yourself youkai with the power of the Shikon No Tama, InuYasha," I begin to circle him, to elevate his fear, "Are you truly that desperate to become my equal?"
"Like I'd ever want to be like you!"
"This Sesshomaru is youkai. You, now, are youkai." He is foolish to think that he might be able to deny the obvious, "Your idiocy has made you forfeit the only thing that keeps me form killing you."
"And what's that?!" he takes a stance, cracking his knuckles in a poor attempt to intimidate me.
"Tetsusaiga protected you from me." It's pathetic, how he doesn't realize he's given up the one gift being mortal grants, "And you've thrown away your mortality, InuYasha."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"
Idiot.
"How old was Chichi-ue when he died?"
"Hell if I know!" He's confused. His emotions are written across his face, allowing me to read him as if he were a book.
"Over five thousand years old, baby brother," using speed, I appear behind him, causing him to jump and leap away from me, "How old am I?"
"What the hell does this have to do with anything?"
"I am over three thousand years old, InuYasha, and I cannot die."
"The hell you can't!" he lunges, claws poised, but it is a simple task to dodge him.
"Abandoning your mortality causes you to abandon her, InuYasha."
"Who are you talking about?!" he attacks again, but it is a futile attempt.
"Your miko, the one you hold hostage."
"She doesn't have anything to do with this!"
In less than a second I have him on the ground, trapped by his neck and unable to escape my hold.
"She keeps you together, InuYasha." He is so dense, so stupid, thinking that with his simple wish he can defy his destiny, "She purifies your inner demon, keeps you sane. The moment she dies, as a mortal is bound to do, you will lose control."
"What crap are you spilling out now?!" he tries to throw a punch, but it is easily blocked.
"You were never meant to be demon, baby brother, but yet, even as hanyo, you may become one. The moment your precious little miko disappears, you will revert to the mindless blood thirsty youkai you used to become."
"You're full of shit!"
He manages to escape my hold, pulling himself to his feet on the opposite side of the clearing, in front of the cave that rests on the mountain side.
"Fight me!" his challenge is his signature on his own death warrant, "Fight me and I'll show you fucking weak you really are!"
"As you wish."
"Koga, no!"
He turned around, looking at her with pleading eyes as sweat beaded his forehead, "Kagome, let me out."
"No, Koga," Kagome pulled herself to her feet, pulling on his arm, "You can't go out there. And you can't stress yourself like this – the barrier is effecting you enough as it is!"
"I will run through it if you don't put it down, Kagome." He warned, gently pulling his arm oust of her grasp, "Please."
She sighed, defeated. If Koga ran through the barrier, he'd be lucky to escape barely alive.
"Be careful," she pleaded, as the barrier disinigrated, "Sesshomaru isn't going to like someone stepping in on his fight."
"Of course."
And then he was gone, leaving her alone at the cave's mouth, to defend for herself. She watched in horror as the two brothers lunged at each other, the battle turning into a blur of white, as Koga stood by on the sidelines, watching with caution.
She wanted Sesshomaru to win. She wanted Koga to win.
But, God, she didn't want InuYasha to die.
You're mental, you know that?
Kagome promptly ignored the voice in her head, trying to brush it off. She'd become a bit schizophrenic over the time she's spent with InuYasha, but found nothing wrong with it. Whenever she spoke to him, he just made her want to cry. So why not talk to herself?
The blur of white became figures as Sesshomaru rightly punched InuYasha across the face, sending the once-hanyo sprawling across the field. She watched as Koga tried to take a go at him, but Sesshomaru knocked him into the mountain side as InuYasha gathered himself up and attacked again. The blur of silver began once more.
She felt sorry for Koga, but knew he'd be alright. She had tried to stop him after all, but he hadn't wanted to listen.
Go help him!
No, she couldn't do that. Walking over there put her in battle range. As far as she was concerned, she hadn't been noticed yet. InuYasha was too preoccupied to notice her, let alone realize Koga was there.
Silver returned to forms once more, as InuYasha threw Sesshomaru into the air. And then he stared straight at her, his lip curling up.
Way to go, Kagome! You jinxed yourself.
"Bitch!" he yelled at her, charging.
She cringed, covering her head.
She was going to die. Oh, fuck, he was going to kill her.
But then there was a crash of talons on metal, and she managed to bring herself to look up.
"Leave." Sesshomaru's voice was crisp and clear, and she was quick to obey.
Darting between him and out the entrance of the cave, InuYasha was blown past her, snarling. She made her way over to Koga, who was starting to twitch, stirring.
"C'mon, Koga," she knelt beside him, smacking his cheeks lightly, "Wake up."
He open his blue eyes, sitting up and shaking his head.
"Damn dogs..." he muttered as he pulled himself to his feet.
"I told you not to go in there, Koga." She sighed, "But while InuYasha's preoccupied, I'd say we should get the hell out of here."
"Fuck no, you won't!"
Kagome turned as she saw InuYasha turn his attention away from the battle, turning invisible to her eyes a second later. Before she could even blink she found Koga in front of her, shielding her, and the metallic smell of blood filled the area.
Koga made a grunting noise out of the back of his throat, pushing InuYasha away with a sickening sound, blood dripping to the ground. Kagome stared in horror where InuYasha's hand had no doubt gone straight through Koga's stomach.
"Koga!"
"Go!" Koga barked, "Get out of here. It's just a scratch."
It's just a scratch? Her mind echoed, Now who used to say that about the holes in his stomach...?
She ordered her brain to shut up, though she was well aware the action was futile and worthless.
"Koga, you can't figh—!"
Too late.
Koga was in the fray, pushing InuYasha back away from her, as Sesshomaru advanced from the other side.
This was all going horribly. The fact that she was the cause of it all just made it all worse for her, but it didn't seem to matter to the three demons who were fighting. Apparently, now that InuYasha had injured Koga, Sesshomaru saw it fit to allow the wolf to join battle, and the previous blur of silver turned into a blur of silver, brown, black, and blood red.
It made her feel sick, seeing the blood of the people she knew and cared for. It made her disgusted, to know she couldn't change this because she was emotionally incapable of doing so. She could purify InuYasha and be done with it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
Kikyo could have.
Damn, why wouldn't she stop criticizing herself? She wasn't Kikyo. She didn't and couldn't do the same things as Kikyo. She had compassion, unlike the clay pot.
"Fool." Sesshomaru's words broke her out of thought, her gaze turning to see the hanyo pinned to the ground once more, the smell of burning skin filling the night air as Sesshomaru's poison burned at his brother's neck, "You think you can defeat me?"
"I know I can defeat you!" InuYasha yelled, pushing the daiyoukai off of him and rolling over and pulling himself up to his feet, charging seconds later, "Die, Sesshomaru!"
In a movement that was inhumanly graceful, Sesshomaru dodged, grabbing a hold of InuYasha's wrist as he passed, flipping the boy in the air and sending him into the ground to crush his foot down on the once-hanyo's ribcage.
"You're no better than the hanyo you used to be," InuYasha made a strangled sound as Sesshomaru applied what could only be thousands of pounds of pressure on his chest, "In fact, you may be lowlier than he."
Koga came up from behind Sesshomaru, launching himself up into the air and soaring over the daiyoukai, falling into a kick on InuYasha's face.
"I agree with dog breath over there," Koga said, stepping off of InuYasha, "You were better hanyo, idiot."
"Repeat again, what you have just addressed me as," Sesshomaru ordered, glaring at Koga.
"Heh... heheh..."
InuYasha, though, saved Koga a near death experience from Sesshomaru by taking the distraction into his advantage. He managed to take a swipe at Sesshomaru's leg, attempting to sever the limb from the daiyoukai's body, but he dodged with a small jump. Yet, with the pressure now gone, InuYasha landed an attack on Koga's side as he jumped up, sending the wolf flying. Koga hit the mountainside once again, and was promptly knocked out of consciousness.
InuYasha knew that even with Koga out of commission, he couldn't win against Sesshomaru. Stealing a quick, feral glance at Kagome, he held back a snarl. But he knew Sesshomaru would just block him, if not decapitate him, if he went for her again.
"Damn it all to hell."
Sesshomaru just watched, with a smirk, as his brother darted away in a flash of red and silver. And with his half-brother's abandonment of the fight, Kagome collapsed into a pile behind him at the mouth of the cave.