Chapter 3

Kagome clutched her bow, her palms sweaty.

Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to go after Kimiko on her own after all.

"Oh come on, I'll be fine!" Kagome laughed good-naturedly as she picked up her bow and filled quiver.

"Damn right you will," Inuyasha hissed in disagreement.

"Inuyasha's right, Kagome. I don't think it's safe for you to go alone," Sango eyed her friend pleadingly.

"For fuck's sake, Kagome! Just let me come with you!" Inuyasha bellowed.

"I said I'll be fine!" Kagome insisted. "Besides, this will be a good way to train myself! What if I get separated from you all during battle? I have to learn to survive on my own!"

"Like I'll allow that! You're not getting separated from us at any point in time and you're not going after that crazy bitch on your own!"

Kagome could feel the veins in her head pop.

She was no small child, and she knew it .They knew it. Why were they all so protective of her? They were her friends, not her parents. She felt like she could not be trusted. Sango was barely a few years older than her!

"STOP IT INUYASHA. I'M GOING AND THAT'S FINAL. DON'T EVEN THINK OF FOLLOWING ME!"

She replayed that scene over and over in her head, every once a harbinger of a lifetime of regret.

'Well, if I get killed, it'll just be my punishment for being so rash,'she thought glumly. Inuyasha seemed pretty pissed at her when she left the hut, and Sango and Miroku and even Shippo remained silent. Maybe they really weren't going to come after her after all. This was what she wanted, wasn't it?

She trudged along the forest at a dull pace, the leaves crunching under her feet. "Kimiko?" she called out cautiously.

She heard a groan somewhere from her left. "Kimiko?" she repeated, approaching with caution.

Finally!

"Found you!" she grinned.

The startled Kimiko nearly launched a clenched fist at Kagome's face, but she dodged just in time.

"Woah, girl. You totally got me for a moment," Kimiko visibly relaxed and let her guard down. "I thought you were a demon or something."

"We wouldn't let anything happen to you, Kimiko," Kagome looked at her in the eye with solemnly.

"Yeah, but why would you do that? You barely know me," began Kimiko. "You-"

CRASH.

Kagome immediately grabbed an arrow from her quiver and lunged it in the direction where the noise came from. The arrow seemed to give out some sort of numinous illumination, and it seemed have hit bullseye, for a deafening roar sliced through the thick silence of the forest.

"What the-"

"RUN, KIMIKO, RUN!"

"WHERE?!"

"AWAY!"

Kagome launched another arrow.

Kimiko clumsily uprooted herself from her spot and made a dash for the opposite direction.

"Kagome?" she turned back, only to see the schoolgirl who was around her age being pinned down by a huge hybrid between a lion and an ox.

"DON'T LOOK BACK!" Kagome choked out as she stabbed the strange creature with an arrow.

Kimiko stopped on her tracks.

What was going on?

This wasn't happening.

No. It can't be.

Why would Kagome do this for her? She barely knew her!

Her breathing quickened and she began to feel dizzy. Oh god, what now?

Her vision blurred and she felt the darkness ready to conquer her.

"KAGOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

An unfamiliar shrill voice filled with urgency rang and she managed to steady herself.

A flash of brown and black whizzed past her and she watched the battle brewing at an alarming rate. Whoever it was moved at the speed of light, but even so, he was no match for the unusually large creature. The lion-ox raised a paw and bashed him, and he collapsed.

"Kouga!" Kagome immediately ran to the wannabe saviour.

"I'm fine, Kagome!" Kouga got up and winced, his right arm dripping with blood. "I'll take care of him!"

Watching the two of them fight the creature while she herself stood at the side doing nothing, Kimiko felt helpless.

Useless.

Useless.

"No! No! Get away from me! Stop!" she suddenly clasped her head and crouched. "STOP! IT HURTS! GET AWAY FROM ME! I SAID GET AWAY!"

A sudden force field rippled from her position and swept everything in proximity on its feet.

Literally.

Stop it! Stop! STOP!

The pounding in her head ebbed away, and Kimiko slowly craned her neck.

'Oh god, what have I..'

"KAGOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

That husky voice she'd heard earlier in the day came, followed by the jingling of metal rings and footsteps.

"KAGOME!"

They were here.

Inuyasha held the unconscious girl in his arms and shook her gently.

"Kagome? Kagome? Kagome, answer me, dammit!" Inuyasha was practically screeching in frustration. He looked up and caught sight of the trembling Kimiko.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!"

"I-"

"Inuyasha, it's not her-"

"I'm asking her, not you."

His voice was now soft and dangerous. Kimiko's shoulder started to shake violently.

"I don't know! I honestly don't know! I did not mean for that to happen! I didn't-"

Useless. Useless. Useless.