~Chapter Nine~

Inferno

Since that night, Inuyasha didn't try to rip the shard out of his back. But his youkai was relentless with him and the shard itself was beginning to take its toll on the hanyou. Despite that he could stand up straight and showed no signs of fatigue, he was buzzed, jittery and found it hard to focus on the easiest tasks, like re-tying his haori.

All the way back to the village, he made a perimeter around the group, slaying any demon or bandit who had the intention of stealing the jewel shard from Kagome. It helped get out his energy and it gave him something to do. At one point during the journey back, he had made a presence. Koga had asked him snidely why he was covering in blood and youkai scent.

"Doing my job," Inuyasha had replied, eyes drifting over Kagome before launching himself back in the trees, disappearing from view.

They were finally back at the village and Inuyasha was lounging in Goshinboku, but the tree offered him no comfort. He came to a powerful realization that hurt his heart; he couldn't call this home anymore. He didn't have a home, and he couldn't believe that he deluded himself into thinking he did. He hung around for Kagome, called this place his forest because Kagome stayed here and called it his forest too. But if she was going to leave him for Koga...

It simply amplified his sense of loss and it was a terrible feeling digging through his chest.

Koga, though reluctant to leave Kagome while Inuyasha still hadn't come around, had left to go check on his den and pack mates. He had jokingly mentioned that they were like cubs that needed continual supervision and then he had disappeared, saying that he would back soon.

So that left the rest of the gang, minus the still elusive Inuyasha, in Kaede's hut while the old women stirred some stew in the kettle pot for them. Kagome was noticeably quiet.

"So Inuyasha has a shard of the sacred jewel, does he?" Kaede asked.

"Yes," Miroku replied, "And I fear that as everyday passes, it will become harder and harder to get it from him."

"Ah, I see." Kaede moved to put another log in the fireplace, "Ye will have to convince his demon blood to give up the power..."

"I'm not sure that will be so easy..." Miroku started, before he frowned suddenly. Both he and Kaede looked toward the door.

"Youkai..." she muttered darkly, grabbing her bow and pushing the screen door aside. Miroku and Kohaku were quick to follow, tailed by Kagome and Sango. There, in the distance, starting with the crops, a swarm of demons, dozens of them, were headed in their direction.

"They sense the jewel!" Kohaku exclaimed as the screaming began to start as villagers began fleeing, spotting the demon herd.

Kaede hurried to Kagome and gently pushed the girl towards the stair, "Listen closely, child," she instructed, "Ye are the miko with the jewel, the protector. Ye will be slain without a second thought. Take the jewel, take a bow and head to the shrine at the top of the stairs. Lock ye self in it. There is a sacred barrier on it. Those with corrupted souls cannot enter," the old women gave her another insistent push, "Don't ye delay! Go!"

Kagome watched with dread as the demon's headed right for the village. She wanted to protest, wanted to tell them all to join her in the shrine so that everyone would be protected, but Kaede was already shoving her up the hill.

With no option, knowing she could be a costly distraction if she stayed, Kagome raced up the hill, wishing with all her heart that Inuyasha was there, protecting her. Though she had no doubt that he would fight these demons, she wanted him next to her, or even in her line of sight. It gave her great comfort, just to see his annoyed face. That was how he would look, without the shard... annoyed that he had to fight these puny demons.

Her heart clenched, because right now, his face would be blank, bored even. She clenched her fist, anger fueling her steps. How dare he put her in the position of having to ask for the shard back, because she was going to have to do that, eventually. They knew it could be done, Kohaku being the example.

But she couldn't really be mad at him, because he probably hadn't chosen to have the shard shoved into his back. Then again...who knows?

Glancing over her shoulder as the demons drew nearer, Kagome desperately sought out a flash of white hair, but there was nothing yet. She opened the doors to the shrine, stepped in and slammed the door shut just in time, hearing the indelicate thud and screech as a demon hit the door and was evaporated by the spiritual barrier. She heaved a sigh of relief, her hand over her heart and glanced around.

"Now what...?" she asked herself quietly. She couldn't watch, or she'd feel even worse. With a small sound of consternation, she moved to the center of the room and knelt, watching the door. Outside, she could hear the chatter of the demons, shouting, taunting her.

"Come out, come out, little priestess..." one of them goaded. She heard clattering weapons and footsteps. She pictured more approaching, "Come out, come out and we won't hurt you."

"But I thought we was gonna eat her young flesh..." another whined. An oof sounded.

"Shut up, fool! She's supposed to think we ain't gonna hurt her so she comes out with the jewel."

"Oh..."

"Well, never it mind now, she ain't gonna come out now." another demon moaned.

Kagome sat stiffly, refusing to let fear take her. She grit her teeth, staying as stoically still as she could, gripping the jewel in her hand.

"Lookit, lookit!" came a jubilant shout, "Let's smoke her out!"

There was a cheer of agreement and Kagome paled, hearing the telltale slosh of oil and the crackling of fire. Dear god, why was it always her? The only way out was through the door she came in and that was being dogged.

"Smoke her out, smoke her out!" they cheered.

She groaned, remembering to breathe deep so that the panic didn't set in, "It's okay, Kagome," she pep talked herself, "It will be okay. Surely, you can go this."

Secretly, not even she would admit outloud, she wished Inuyasha would come save her. He must smell the smoke. He'd come save her.

She gripped the jewel to her chest, smelling the smoke and oil in the air. It was almost whole now. On their return journey from the sorceress, she'd asked Koga for his shards back. He had been very reluctant, especially with Inuyasha's state, but she'd needed them. And he'd eventually agreed. Now only one shard remained.

She sighed, looking down at the ground. And that shard was in the possession of the demon who had craved it the longest, as far as she knew.

He smelled the youkai and then the screams of the villagers began to echo up to him. Without a second thought, Inuyasha beat feet to the village to see a herd of demons taking the place over, ravaging it, attacking the villagers.

'They were drawn here by the jewel...' his youkai commented as his eyes took in the carnage. Sango, Miroku and Kohaku were fighting, surrounding Kaede as the old women shot off arrows at a remarkable speed despite her age. But someone was missing and panic squeezed him tight.

"Where's Kagome?" he bellowed, slashing a youkai that almost took off Miroku's head from behind. The monk spun around, reaction ready to crack one on Inuyasha, but he stopped short, slightly startled by seeing the hanyou.

"We sent her to the shrine," Miroku informed him, "She was followed by some youkai."

Inuyasha didn't need any more than that. In fact, he hardly stayed for the rest of the monk's comment when smoke caught his nose. He whipped around and saw smoke furling into the sky. The shrine was on fire.

Kagome.

He headed for the dwelling, which was steadily burning up the sides as the demons around it cheered and whooped. They had the place surrounded so that they would see if Kagome were to leave.

They turned to look at him, "Back off, dog," one of them snarled, "This one is ours. Go find your own miko."

He chuckled darkly, "See, this is a problem for us, because that is my miko."

He didn't waste any time. So pent up from the shard he possessed, he slashed at the youkai, who fought him ferociously, their desire for the shard making them enraged with greed. And he would have fought every single one of them to the death had a piece of roof not started to crackle and snap, reminding him that Kagome was still trapped inside.

"I'll deal with you later," he snarled, punching a youkai close to him and leaping onto the roof. The weakness of the structure made it very easy for him to fall through. Among the crashing, he heard a distinctly feminine scream.

"Kagome?" he called, dropped to his hands and knees where the smoke was less dense. It was still difficult to see and blazing hot. He brought his haori sleeve up to his face to protect his senses. Kagome wouldn't last long in this inferno.

"Inuyasha?" her voice came back to him, coughing a little. His heart leapt and he sighed in relief, "Inuyasha! I'm over here!"

"Don't move and don't breathe," he told her, crawling towards her. In that moment, he forgot that she was going to leave him and belong to Koga, he forgot that he was mad at her and ignoring her, he was even able to push back that jittery feeling that the shard caused. And for once, his youkai was in agreement with him. Get Kagome out of here. Save her. Protect her.

"Kagome!" he exclaimed, reaching her, "Here, wait, hang on," he shrugged out of his red kimono and covered her in it as the flames broke through the walls and roof, taking the heat up and bringing the fire dangerously close to them. All around them, the wood groaned as the moisture was sucked right out of it.

"It's coming down..." he commented dryly, as if it was the most obviously thing.

A piece of the roof caved in right behind him, forcing him to grab her up and roll out of the way. She screamed. They weren't going to get out in time before the building came down on them in seconds.

"Cover your face," he demanded, pulling the material up over her head and face. He tried not to cough as smoke filled his lungs, scorching them. The roof crackled and he swore, pulling her right into the curve of his body and ducking down, blanketing her and protecting her as the building collapsed around them, the walls caving in and the roof falling. Ash sprayed up as the flames licked around them, greedy for flesh.

A beam fell just right over them, protecting them from most of the damage as the shrine came down, the flames becoming smothered by the wood. After a few moments, it was over, the fire reduced to embers and lots of hot ash.

Inuyasha looked up cautiously, ash littering the two of them, turning them a dusty gray. With a grunt, he leaned to the side and kicked a piece of wood away from them, letting daylight into their little cave.

"You okay?" he asked her, sniffling a little from the smoke. He pulled the material away from her face.

Kagome opened her eyes and gazed up at him. His voice was still deep, and he still resembled a youkai, but in that moment she felt like he was the old Inuyasha.

She smiled at him, not sitting up at first. She wanted to stay close to him for another moment. "Yeah I'm okay," Kagome said hoarsely. She was still staring at his face when the shriek of victory came from the surrounding demons.

Kagome jerked upright, her hand curling around the jewel protectively. "Inuyasha, watch out!" She yelled, leaping forward to pin him to the ground as a youkai went soaring over their heads, screeching.

"Kagome! Inuyasha!" Sango yelled from afar. Still on top of Inuyasha, she peeked out to see the gang running up the steps, having taken care of the demons in the village. Now only the hundred or so demons surrounding the shrine were left, and they were all eyeing Kagome with hungry gazes.

"This is bad." Kagome muttered.

He blinked when suddenly, she was on top of him and despite the dire situation, his heart stopped. Why was it that she had the power to rattle him on the inside, to melt his good reason? Even covered with ash and dust and both of them were hot and sweaty from the heat of the burning building, she was still just as radiate as ever.

'Because she belongs with us, dude,' his youkai commented.

He grabbed her around the waist and stood, taking her with him. Sango was riding on Kirara in the sky while Miroku and Kohaku came up the stairs. The demons stood between the monk and the hanyou and the glint of greed in their eyes released a growl from him as he pushed Kagome behind him slightly.

"Give us the jewel, youkai!" the demons exclaimed, "And hand us the miko too!"

"You want her?" Inuyasha snarled and on reaction, his hand strayed to his sword. The barrier on it crackled, rejecting his full youkai touch. It was part of the reason he didn't want the shard anymore, "You're gonna have to go through me first!" he grabbed the hilt of the Tetsusaiga, the barrier burning his hand. But the blade transformed into its giant fang form and he brought it smashing into the ground, shouting "Kaze no Kizu!"

The wind scar whipped through the demons, who shrieked and started to flee, but the energy of the attack swept through them, disintegrating them. And when they were all simply dust, Inuyasha dropped the Tetsusaiga, his hand on fire, his body humming from using the sword against its will.

Kagome gripped Inuyasha's fire-rat haori around her tightly as the dust and ashes swirled around them in the aftermath of Inuyasha's attack. His power was just as awe-inspiring, even stronger, but she noticed that the Tetsusaiga rejected him a little, making Kagome frown.

When the dust had settled, Kagome looked around her in dismay. The most beautiful building of the village, the shrine, was history. All that remained were charred pieces of it. But the Jewel was safe, and that was all that mattered.

With a sigh, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. It was the most...well, basically the only time she'd seen him since they'd rescued him.

"Inuyasha...?" Kagome said hesitantly, taking a step closer to him, still wrapped in his clothing.

He turned to face her and smoothed her fly-away hair down, "You alright?" he asked her.

Before he could get a response, a scent hit him hard. He growled low in reflect, before he pulled himself together, his face blank. He dropped his hand from Kagome and stepped back from her slightly. His left ear started up its rapid tic again.

Koga appeared at the top of the stairs with his pack mates, Ginta and Hakkaku.

"Kagome!" he called, racing up to her, "I saw the fire from the den..." his eyes swept over Inuyasha, distrustful of the hanyou still, "Are you alright?"

Inuyasha cross his arms over his bare chest, his face emotionless. Of course, how could he have thought for even a moment that she belonged to him. She had Koga now; she no longer had room for him in her life. She was safe now, that was all.

He began to walk away. He couldn't see this, couldn't be around them. He may have a jewel shard that allowed him to hide his emotions, but it didn't disguise the hurt he felt on the inside.

"Wait... Inuyasha!" Kagome called, taking a step in his direction. "Where are you going?" she called, her face tight with worry and hurt, "Why don't you stay around some?"

He stopped walking. Stay? Why? Why would he stay without her? What did the village have for him? The only reason he stayed was because of her, because she made him feel like he could belong here.

"Why?" he asked her over his shoulder, "Why stay in the village? Aren't you going to go be with your mate, Koga?" he asked flippantly.

His youkai hissed in his head, angry that Inuyasha had let that slip.

A/N:

Inuyasha and Co belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The script is mine. Arigatou.