Uh... Hi... um... please don't kill me?

I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in awhile. DX. Been swamped with school, (why do I have to have Algebra 2 hw EVERY night?), and other stuff real-life related. DX. So yea. This is 1,293 words, according to word count, w/o ANs. So enjoy. Daniel is currently incapacitated, as I'm sure you are all delighted to hear (Why does everyone hate Danny? D=.), and Kagome can't speak as of right now, we'll have someone else do it! 8D.

Ginta: *blinks* Huh - me? Uh.. ok.. DISCLAIMER: Cassie doesn't own anything of Inuyasha, only this plot and her OC, Daniel.

In the Present Forever

Chapter Eleven

Kagome had seen Daniel coming, and closed her eyes in anticipation of the hit. She wanted to die. Inuyasha had caused this. He had betrayed her. And in the end, he never really loved her.

That hurt her the most. It really did. More than the fact that he had told Daniel about her, and betrayed her. Worse than the betrayal.

Yet the blow didn't come. She opened her eyes and couldn't even speak, now.

Kouga stood in front of her, having grabbed Daniel's arms by the wrists to keep him from hitting Kagome.

"So…. You're the son of a bitch that took her," he growled at Daniel.

Daniel sneered lightly. "Yeah, I'm the one who took her. Got a problem, Balto?"

"I have a problem with you taking Kagome…. But sure as hell not about kicking your ass!" Kouga said, swinging a leg up towards Daniel's stomach, letting go of Daniel's wrists as his shin connected with the lizard-like demon's side, sending the demon towards the side because of the slight momentum and power.

Daniel quickly regained his balance and his smirk became a scowl. "Hmm… seems like hanging around the humans hasn't made you completely powerless…" he muttered. "You might be a good fight."

"I'll be more than a good fight. I'll be your death." Kouga snarled. "Now, less talking, more fighting!" He closed the small gap between him and Daniel, his fist pulled back as he used his momentum to give the punch a better effect, colliding easily with Daniel's cheek as he threw his arm out to hit.

Daniel staggered back and touched his cheek lightly. "Ow…" he murmured. He clenched his other hand into a fist and pulled his arm back, lashing out with a retaliation punch towards Kouga's stomach.

Kouga stepped back to avoid it, but wasn't quite quick enough and winced as it hit. He jumped up and back, drawing Daniel away from Kagome. "Come and get me, gecko," he said, licking his lips.

Daniel took the bait easily and chased after him, scowling. "Get back here, coward!" he shouted.

Shippou crept silently over to where Kagome was, pressing a finger to his lips as he dug for something in his jacket. He pulled out a hairpin and inserted it into the lock of the chains, and twisted it around carefully. He could see Kouga and Daniel fighting out of the corner of his eyes, a flurry of kicking and punching, dodges and blocks… it reminded him of the old days, almost. He smiled as he heard a click and Kagome's left hand was freed from the chains. "Keep fighting Kouga…" he muttered as he worked on the other lock.

Kagome was crying again, looking at Shippou with a kind of sad but happy look. She still couldn't find the ability to speak now. Shippou noticed her tears and was startled. "K-Kagome? What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked, still working on her other arm.

Kagome smiled through the tears, and shook her head. He was worried about her, Kouga was currently fighting to protect her, and she was sure that Ginta and Hakkaku were around somewhere, probably waiting to be decoys or something if needed.

Shippou grimaced and sighed quietly. The other lock popped open and Kagome's arm came free. "Now to work on your legs…" he muttered, rolling his shoulders for a second. At least these weren't super-quality chains – Kagome wasn't strong enough to have broken them off, like Kouga would be able to, but they were sure as hell easy to pick, if not a little long compared to the real cheap ones. Ah well, what does it matter? At least he could pick them.

Kagome rubbed her sore wrists and looked over and Kouga and Daniel with a pained expression. Kouga already had a smudge of blood coming from his lips, there were scratches on his arms and his shirt had started to become ripped up. She couldn't see Daniel's face, but she figured that he must be worse off than Kouga. She could see a nice gash in his right arm that was still bleeding quite profusely.

Daniel leaped up and back a few feet and wiped some blood from his lip, breathing hard, and Kouga gave a smirk. "So, you realized you can't fight me?" he sneered. Daniel gave a weak laugh.

"Heh, you wish, Balto. I'm just getting started."

"Then why are you already out of breath?" Kouga asked, running towards Daniel quickly and leaping up, coming down to land on the other demon and kick him neatly in the chest, sending Daniel reeling back a few steps as he brought his arms up to fend off the attack. As Kouga was off balance still from the attack, Daniel shoved him off and threw a punch at Kouga's stomach, causing Kouga to cry out from the suddenness of the hit. He had been vulnerable that one second – it wouldn't happen again.

Kouga scowled and shook it off, grabbing Daniel's arm with one hand, and holding him there as he kicked him in the stomach, aiming a punch at Daniel's face at the same time.

Daniel used one hand and blocked the punch towards his face, but coughed heavily as Kouga's knee impacted his stomach. Kouga leaped up and back and looked over Daniel's shoulder for a second where Kagome and Shippou were, and saw that Shippou had unlocked all of Kagome's chains and was helping her get out. Kouga only needed to distract Daniel a few minutes longer… he smiled and became less tense, though he kept his muscles ready to defend against a sudden attack.

Kouga looked straight back at a panting Daniel, and rolled his neck, sighing as the bones in his neck cracked. "So then, you ready to finish this?" he asked. Both of them were a bit bloodied up, and Kouga was more than sure he was going to have bruises for a few weeks, but if he could get in just a few more hits… he could probably beat Daniel.

Daniel laughed breathlessly. "Heheh… you bet!" he snarled.

Kouga charged towards Daniel and tried an easy high-kick, causing him to go off balance as Daniel ducked and swept a leg under Kouga's and tripped him. "Hah, not so smart, are ya?" Daniel taunted as he kicked Kouga in the side angrily, sending him flying a few feet away. Kouga smacked into the wall and grunted as he hit the ground and attempted to get back up.

"I'm smarter than you." Kouga said, leaping up and running forward, too fast to see properly for anyone much slower than him. Daniel wasn't expecting the punch to his stomach and a rather cheap – but admittedly fair, considering what he did to Kagome – kick in his pelvis, and he fell to the ground, clutching his poor organ and gasping from the pain.

"You son of a bitch…" Daniel breathed, glaring up at Kouga. Kouga smirked.

"That's the way it works. Now where is the sacred jewel that you took from Kagome's body?" Kouga asked, rifling through Daniel's pockets until he found it. "Now… touch my woman again, and you're dead," he growled, leaving the lizard-demon on the ground with nothing seriously injured but his pride.

"Just you wait, Balto…" Daniel muttered harshly, alone now in the warehouse. "You'll get yours… and don't think that the miko and your kitsune friend will get away scott free, either. Don't assume that I didn't notice him. Because I did… I just hadn't cared at the time."

Rawr! So, how do you like it? I plan on wrapping this up pretty soon, guys. Just FYI. I don't want this to extend over too long, I've already had times when I just lose interest and stop, then keep going because I know you all like it and would kill me if I didn't keep writing. So yea. Daniel will just... meh. Kouga has already proven able to beat his ass. XD. So yea. Review, please, it makes me happy (and more willing to work on this! 8D).