Disclaimer: I own Rhiodoru, Karameida, Zaniistar, Kishotaka, Niishi, and Yuryu. All other characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Three Strikes, You're Out!

Kagome released the arrow at the same instant that Inuyasha screamed.

Kagome held her breath, time seeming to slow as the arrow cut through the air, closing the distance to its target.

Hold on, Inuyasha!

Inuyasha's scream cut off abruptly. The dragon's head slowly rose, and she saw his expression change from gloating triumph to stunned surprise. He released Inuyasha, throwing himself backwards, but not fast enough.

With a sickening crunch, the arrow blasted through the Nosaki's shoulder, disintegrating his arm and half his chest.

The explosion of spiritual power blasted the hanyou and dragon apart. Inuyasha hit the ground hard, sprawled on his back. He didn't move.

The Nosaki was knocked back by the blast as well, but he landed on his feet, staggering as he clutched the bleeding stump of flesh where his shoulder had been.

"Bitch!" the dragon screamed as his legs buckled. He slowly toppled over into the bloody dirt and didn't move.

Kagome was already running to Inuyasha. Dropping to her knees beside the prone hanyou, she cupped his cheek, turning his head towards her.

"Inuyasha?" she asked urgently, her voice wavering.

Blank gold eyes stared sightlessly through her.

"Inuyasha!" She screamed, shaking his listless body desperately, "Inuyasha, say something! Inuyasha, please!"

Face slack and eyes glazed, the hanyou didn't respond.

Nearly in a panic, Kagome grabbed his wrist, feeling for a pulse. Strong and steady. His breathing was fine too, if a little harsh. Then what was wrong with him?

That scream.

Had the Nosaki broken through Inuyasha's barriers? Had he obliterated Inuyasha's mind?

"No!" Kagome began to sob. "Inuyasha, wake up! Come back! Inuyasha!" Pain ripped through her, a knife in her heart, as a terrible ache filled her chest.

Inuyasha!

Shippo landed on her shoulder. "Kagome," he whined, tears in his eyes "what's wrong with Inuyasha? Kagome?"

She only cried harder.

Miroku and Sango shuffled over, supporting Zaniistar between them. The dragon's face was an unhealthy shade of grey and tight with pain, but his eyes were locked on Inuyasha. Shrugging off the monk and slayer, he dropped down on the opposite side of the hanyou from Kagome.

"Zaniistar," she sobbed, "help him, please help him!"

The dragon ignored her. He passed a hand in front of Inuyasha's face, snapping his fingers in front of the hanyou's eyes.

"Nothing," he muttered.

Reaching out, the dragon laid a hand on Inuyasha's forehead, his face going as blank as the hanyou's.

Barely able to keep the pain and horror that threatened to tear her apart at bay, Kagome waited breathlessly, silently praying.

"Damn it all!" Zaniistar snarled, snatching his hand back and turning an odd shade of green, "that bastard!"

"What about Inuyasha!" Kagome demanded. "Is he going to be okay? Can you save him?"

"I don't know!" the dragon snapped, "I can't tell yet! I don't even know if there's anyone left to save!"

Kagome felt all the blood drain out her head. She swayed.

Sango wrapped an arm around her. Kagome couldn't stand the sympathy and despair in her friend's eyes.

Zaniistar was once again focused on the inner landscape on Inuyasha's mind.

Or what was left of it.

The minutes stretched into eternity.

Suddenly sagging, Zaniistar sat back on his heels, his eyes unreadable as he stared at the hanyou.

That's it, Kagome thought, her anguish running so deep it surpassed despair. The dragon hadn't been able to save Inuyasha. The hanyou's mind was gone, destroyed.

An odd haze descended on Kagome, and some small part of her recognized that she had gone into shock, but she couldn't summon the emotion needed to care. It was all over.

Zaniistar unexpectedly raised his hand again—and slapped Inuyasha across the face. Hard.

"Zaniistar!" Everyone yelled in shock.

"You stupid fool!" The dragon shouted at Inuyasha, "You damnable son of a whore! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Kagome couldn't believe her ears. Had Zaniistar lost his mind as well?

Grabbing the front of the hanyou's kimono, Zaniistar hauled the limp hanyou upright and shook him.

"Bastard! Why didn't you wait for us to help you! This is your fault, now you'd better quit sulking and stop scaring the shit out of all of us!"

With that, the dragon smacked the hanyou across the face again.

"Zaniistar!" Sango and Miroku leaped to their feet, intending to intervene.

They never got the chance.

With a vicious snarl, Inuyasha's fist smashed into Zaniistar's face. The force of the blow knocked the dragon flat on his back.

Kagome was too shocked to move. Inuyasha crouched in the middle of the group, eyes blazing with fury, panting and snarling, his expression glazed and uncomprehending.

Gradually, the unreasoning anger faded from his face, and Inuyasha blinked slowly. He then flopped back onto his back.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped, lunging forward to peer into his face.

Tired golden eyes watched her wearily, and his face was filled with—disgust?

"Inuyasha?"

The hanyou blinked up at her, and Kagome noticed that he looked as green as Zaniistar had a few moments ago.

"I think I'm gonna be sick . . ." Inuyasha mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut.

Kagome didn't know how to respond to that, so chose not to. She was still trying to reason with her heart, which seemed determined to climb out of her throat in relief.

Zaniistar, who had just hauled himself up, crawled over and flopped down beside the hanyou.

"You didn't have to hit me that hard," the dragon grumbled, gingerly fingering his swelling cheekbone.

Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, well, you didn't have to hit me. You should've known I would attack back."

Zaniistar muttered something uncomplimentary about dog demons under his breath.

Kagome felt the beginnings of anger stir. Here she had been terrified for Inuyasha's life, and they were treating it like a fun little wrestling match or something?

"Um, I hate to interrupt," she snapped, "but would it be too much trouble for you to explain what just happened?"

"Yeah, and why you two were beating each other up," Miroku added from behind her.

Inuyasha simply closed his eyes again drowsily, ignoring them. Zaniistar, on the other hand, gave them a sheepish look.

"Well, I'm not all that sure what Inuyasha did. I've never seen anything quite like it, in fact. But, what it seemed to me, was that when the Nosaki was about to break through his defenses, he . . . how would you describe it?"

"Mind lock," the hanyou muttered unhelpfully.

Kagome was at a total blank.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Zaniistar mused, obviously finding some use with enigmatic term.

"Well, that makes no sense whatsoever to the rest of us," Sango noted dryly.

"Oh right. Well, what Inuyasha essentially did was seal his mind shut to lock out everything, including the Nosaki. The problem with that is, he also basically severed the connection between his mind and the rest of his body, so he couldn't hear or see or feel or anything. It's actually really dangerous to do, in case you can't reverse it. I've heard of the theory before, but I've known anyone who was actually daring enough to try it."

"Yeah, well," Inuyasha mumbled sardonically, "I doubt any of your dragon buddies were about to have their minds torn to shreds before either."

"Good point. Anyways, Inuyasha basically locked himself away from any outside influence whatsoever. After Kagome blasted the Nosaki apart, there was no way for Inuyasha to know that the battle was over, so he stayed in the mind lock, and I wasn't strong enough by far to get through to him." The dragon shrugged. "So I figured maybe I could jar him out of it physically. It worked, too."

Inuyasha snorted. "You're just lucky I didn't kill you. I was really disoriented at first, and I almost used my claws instead of my fist. All I knew was it felt like I was being attacked. I thought you were the Nosaki for a moment before I got things sorted out."

Zaniistar once again fingered his now very swollen cheek. "I guess it could have been worse, but I still don't feel exactly grateful to you, Inuyasha."

"It could have been a lot worse," Inuyasha muttered, pressing one hand against his forehead for a minute, and Kagome noticed the faint shadow that filled his eyes. He had overused his powers, and it was causing him pain again.

"It was harder than it should have been, fighting that damn dragon," the hanyou continued quietly, "because I had to fight with my demon blood at the same time."

Biting her lip, Kagome remember with a flash of worry how Inuyasha's demon blood had begun awakening every time he used his mind powers. That last time that had happened had been back at the dragon lair.

She took a deep breath and plastered a large, fake smile on her face. "But it doesn't matter, because it all worked out in the end and no one got hurt!"

Zaniistar gave her a flinty look. "Speak for yourself, Kagome," he grumped, flinching as he touched his swollen cheek again.

Kagome smiled again, for real this time. Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around the Inuyasha's, even though she had to bend awkwardly because he was still lying down.

"Inuyasha, why did you say you felt sick?" she asked, suddenly recalling his earlier comment.

Her eyes widened as she felt a shudder run through his body.

"That bastard dragon was trying to distract me so he could break through my inner barriers," Inuyasha mumbled. "He kept somehow projecting sounds and images and smells into my mind, even with my barrier. Some of it was . . . horrifying. It was the most disgusting, sickening stuff you could ever imagine . . ." He trailed off with another shudder.

Zaniistar nodded, looking slightly nauseous. "I got a glimpse of the kind of things the Nosaki was throwing at Inuyasha, and it wasn't pretty. Like I said, the Nosaki are the masters; they know all sorts of dirty tricks for getting past someone's barriers."

"Stupid fool!"

Kagome jumped at the sound of Niishi's hateful hiss. She had completely forgotten about the girl who was now staring at the body of the Nosaki in contemptuous hatred.

Kagome's eyes fell on the dead dragon as well. That one dragon had nearly killed Inuyasha. If it had of been anyone else battling the Nosaki, they would be dead now. But, Inuyasha hadn't been the one that dragon had come for.

A knot of icy fear settled at the base of Kagome's spine. Who had the real target been?

: x ∙ To Be Continued ∙ x :

Chapter 15 – Trust and Truth