Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Nine:

Reunions in Blood

She was simply amazing.

She was a dancer.

An artist.

Watching her move was entrancing. He could watch her for hours and never be bored. She flew through the air, turning gracefully before landing only to spin and leap through the air once more. Her muscles strained as she danced. Then she paused, turning to him on a carpet of red. Her long black hair moved like silk across her shoulders. Her eyes were like the finest chocolate, drawing him to her. Her lips parted, cheeks flushed pink.

"Any time you want to jump in and help, Miroku," Sango said bitterly before picking up her weapon once more to face the next demon bearing down on her.

Hoping he wasn't wearing a goofy grin, Miroku picked up his staff and spun it around. That was pretty much for show. Sure he trained with Inuyasha on occasion to practice a little combat with a fighting staff, but his real power lay in a curse. Funny how a curse was what made him powerful. It wasn't years of hard work and training like Sango. It didn't even require much skill. Just keep the beads that seal the curse around his hand and wrist while keeping the hand covered. The curse was a gift of sorts, from his father. Of course, his father had been swallowed by the wind tunnel, but Miroku had no intention of letting it swallow him. Still... it seemed prudent to use it only in emergencies...

"Wind Tunnel!!!" he shouted as he let the beads loose and the palm of his hand was exposed.

He wouldn't admit this to anyone, but shouting out 'wind tunnel' before unleashing it made him feel like a kid pretending to be a superhero. He suspected Sango shouted out the name of her weapon as she threw it to tease him. He could swear he would see her smirk a bit as she would shout it while being televised. It never failed to make him smile and have to keep himself from breaking out in unmanly giggles. When they were little they used to play demon hunters. Who knew that she would end up leaving to train as a demon hunter for real? She had left him a smiling silly kid, and came back a seriously stunning slayer.

But somewhere during the training she had lost her... softness. Her joy. Her smile. Seeing her again had been like meeting a stranger. He tries not to think about what might have happened if Kagome hadn't come along and stumbled into their lives.

He would fight the whole island of demons to get Kagome back. He owed her for bringing Sango's smile back.

And he couldn't bear to think what her death would do to the woman he loves.

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She was simply amazing.

She was a goddess.

An angel.

Watching her move was entrancing. He could watch her forever and never be bored. Her movements were graceful. She seemed to glide when she walked. Her voice and touch were gentle. So gentle he thought that he'd break just by being near her. And she smelled so good! Mmmm. Her smile would bring the strongest to their knees. He had never known eyes to sparkle the ways her would. She was enchanting. Loving. Motherly. Look at how she cradles the child.

"If you so much as touch one hair on Shippo's head so help me I'll find a way to incinerate you all!" Ah, her eyes were full of fire, full of life.

It was sweet how she demonstrated what a good mother she would be to the den through the little fox demon child his subjects brought her only moments ago. Very cute, but really there was no need to show off to make a good impression. He knew right away that she was the one. Her adorable attempts to prove her strength by making threats were touching really. And how she keeps looking around at everyone and everything shows that she is interested in her new pack and her new home. Look at the way she punches the wolf who suggested they snack on the kitsune. A very spirited mate indeed. Right in the nose, too. Good aim. Actually caused a fair amount of bleeding. Nice!

"Next one who even BREATHES in Shippo's direction sings soprano for the rest of their lives!"

How did he ever survive without such a spirited mate to make the dreary den into such a happy home? It must have been fate to bring such a treasure into their lives. Look how quickly she has the wolves deferring to her as the princess she is. And to think he had a silly moment's notion that it might be a little difficult for a human to fit in with demons. She was perfect! Once she has little ones of her own it will be easy enough to get rid of the fox kit. He would make a nice looking pair of leggings. Maybe something to keep her head warm on chilly nights. She was only human after all. He would have to see how their first child came out though. It would be a half breed... normally that would mean drowning or eating it, but the other half might have Kagome's interesting powers. It could make for an even more powerful demon. If not, well... accidents happen... She could always raise little ones birthed by another.

He would fight the whole island of humans and demons to keep his Kagome. She was his.

He couldn't bear to think about how lonely and dull life would be without the woman he loves.

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She was simply amazing.

She was a simpleton.

An idiot.

What was she doing sitting there coddling the kid when she had a whole den of wolves ready to scarf her down for dinner? It was the craziest thing he had ever seen! And he had seen a lot! She wasn't seriously considering staying here with this... this... this FLEABAG was she? Nah, she was smarter than that. Wasn't she?

Well, she didn't really have that great of a track record for making the best decisions in life, had she? After all, she had insisted on making friends with HIM when it was the worst possible mistake she could have ever done. Why had he allowed her to do that anyhow? He knew better than to trust humans. This whole integration of demons and humans was nice in theory, but it sure wasn't working so well in the real world. Making friends with a half demon was even worse. He was an outsider to both worlds, an abomination. But no, he had been suckered in by her smile and now here she was in mortal danger all because she was too stupid to hate him like she was supposed to. He was nothing but bad luck. If she had just left him alone, then surely she would still be safe at home.

"Next one who even BREATHES in Shippo's direction sings soprano for the rest of their lives!"

That was his Kagome.

Didn't matter if she was surrounded by dozens who could eat her for dinner in a heartbeat, she wasn't backing down. They sure did though. In fact, they looked a little afraid of her. Keh. Would...Would she be safer here after all? At least until the game was over and the other humans were all dead or someone declared a winner? He could wait them out. She had a battalion there to protect her, and he was only one. He couldn't be selfish. He had to think about Kagome's safety first. He clenched his fists so tight his claws dug into his own skin, drawing blood. It killed him to even think it, but...

"Let GO of me, Kouga!"

Everything went a bit fuzzy.

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He was simply amazing.

He was unreal and amazing.

A savior.

Inuyasha had found her! And so fast too! She had agonized over the thought of having to actually spend the night in this cave with all these weirdoes. Kagome tried to wrestle her fingers out of Kouga's grasp before the snarling silver haired hanyou got blood all over her clothes again. Luckily Shippo helped out by chomping on the wolf demon's hand. Grabbing Shippo she jumped out of the way and hid behind the two demons who had brought her Shippo not too long ago. Inuyasha seemed... different. His eyes were red, not a speck of gold at all. Weird. And were his claws longer? Were those stripes on his cheeks? Ah, right. Demon blood taking over. Yeah, this wouldn't end well for the wolves.

"Um..." Kagome tapped on Ginta's (or was it Hakkaku's?) shoulder. "You guys might want to consider maybe backing waaaaay up. Or, you know, running for your lives."

"Why, sister?"

"Inuyasha is about to make mincemeat out of everything breathing. To thank you for bringing me Shippo, I'm trying to save your life here."

"What's mincemeat?"

Kagome shook her head and sighed. "Teeny tiny little bits of meat... look, that's not really important." She winced as blood flew in an arc and created a nice gory line on the wall between her and the two wolves. "Do you really want to stick around and find out?"

Both wolves shook their heads vigorously and followed Kagome along the wall to the cave's entrance. They watched in horror as two other wolves attempted to help their pack leader and ended up in several pieces. Ew. Ginta and Hakkaku had no problem following Kagome's suggestion that they stay behind her. They did, however, shout out encouragement for their leader like really ugly cheerleaders.

Kagome gave Inuyasha a little wave and smile from the sidelines as he glanced in her direction. Like a really pathetic cheerleader. But at least it got the dog demon out of his blood rage and the beautiful gold returned to his eyes and his fangs went back to normal. Well, normal for Inuyasha.

"I'm not letting her go," snarled Kouga from the ground. "I will kill you first."

"Feh. You ain't in no position to be making no threats, you mangy wolf."

He really wasn't either. Kagome almost felt sorry for the battered wolf. Almost. After all, he WAS planning on keeping her captive for the rest of her life. Not to mention planned on making her play den mother (she snickered at her own pun) for a bunch of demons. Still... considering nearly everything on this island wanted her and Inuyasha dead, it didn't make too much sense getting rid of the one who might actually want her alive.

"Inuyasha..."

"Kinda busy here, Kagome."

"C'mon, let's go."

Confused, he stopped in mid slice (in mid air too, which was quite a feat) and got a kick in the ribs by an angry wolf demon. She cringed. That had to hurt.

"Nice timing," he snarled after he hit the ground, "Whose side are you on?"

"Pleeeeease...."

Inuyasha rolled to his feet and rammed his fist straight into the wolf's nose, dropping him like a stone. Then he scratched some dirt in Kouga's direction and sauntered over to Kagome.

"Whatever."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. She was back safe at Inuyasha's side. Things were going to be okay.

"Come back... koff koff... coward!" yelled the bleeding demon.

"Bye Kouga!" Kagome smiled cheerily and waved as she grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve and started walking towards the woods. She ignored the faces Shippo was making at their ex-captives.

Kouga stopped yelling and waved back, looking a little befuddled.

An out of breath camera crew appeared at the sidelines just as Inuyasha scooped her up and jumped nearly straight into the air. Kagome giggled at the site of Kouga attempting to look triumphant before closing her eyes and holding on tighter to Inuyasha.

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"Looks like we missed the fun," Miroku said as he shifted his weight.

Sango's nose wrinkled at the sight of all the bleeding wolf demons strewn about. "Looks like."

"On the bright side," he smiled warmly, "We are on the right track."

Kilala jumped into the air with her two hopeful passengers with a roar. She hoped Kagome had some treats for her. Kagome ALWAYS had treats! And this time she didn't have to fight that bully Buyo for them!

Maybe now Sango would let her eat the noisy humans with the cameras!

Life was good.

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Author's Note: To everyone who reviewed so kindly, thank you very much for your encouragement. It means a lot to me.