Chapter 20 – Under Attack

Kagome left the hospital with her mum. She was glad that everything went without any problems and according to the doctor both her and the baby were alright. Apparently, it was still too early to distinguish any features that could give away the child's lineage, so there was no problem in that matter either. Despite not wanting to go in the first place, now she was glad that she went. It worked well to ease her mind and she had one less thing to worry about now.

"Come to think of it, where is Yori?" Her mum suddenly spoke up and Kagome looked around searching for the person in question. She was surprised when she didn't see him anywhere around, but she didn't complain either.

"Who knows, though I can't say that I mind a bit of peace, so I'm definitely not going to search for him now." Kagome said and was relieved when her mum didn't have any complaints about her mindset.

Maybe she's starting to be annoyed by his attitude as well. She thought, but didn't say it out loud. Knowing her mum, she wouldn't get any confirmation from her anyway.

Although, despite not having her usual stalker around, she soon discovered that there was someone else following her now, trying to catch what she was talking about. Those three weren't doing a very good job at hiding though and so Kagome told her mum that she would come home later and instead went to see her friends who, upon realizing that they were discovered, came out of their hiding place and returned Kagome's greeting as she spoke to them first.

Ayumi, Eri and Yuka had guilty expression on their faces for following Kagome so sneakily, but at the same time, they couldn't hide their curiosity either. Kagome knew she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from them for long and even if she tried, it would just add stress to her as these three were very difficult to deal with once they set a goal for themselves.

"I'll answer your questions, but let's go sit down somewhere first." Kagome offered before they could even start asking and then started to lead the way.

The girls were shocked after they heard Kagome's story. Of course, Kagome left out some parts and some parts were adjusted to fit the modern way of thinking. The girls were having a hard time believing that their friend is actually pregnant. Bringing the matters of time-traveling and demons would just make them think that her head was messed up.

Still, despite the shock, they were supportive of Kagome and she convinced them to keep it a secret from everyone. After that, they talked for a bit longer before heading home. They insisted on walking her home, but unlike Yori, she didn't mind their company at all so they just chatted happily with each other. Until...

Kagome suddenly stopped as she felt the presence of a demon just behind her. It just passed her by and it was gone before she turned around. Ignoring the questions of her friends, she decided to follow the direction she felt the presence to go to and quickly ran after it.

She heard a big crashing sound in the direction she was heading to and despite already running at her top speed, she was trying to raise her speed, if only by a little bit. She could hear the sounds of battle. She was getting closer and the closer she was, the more anxious she was getting. A demon in this time and place, she didn't like that idea at all.

Finally, she reached the place. It was a yard in between some old abandoned buildings. Some walls were freshly crushed and there was lots of debris lying around. She could see two people, currently standing against each other with a considerable distance between them, waiting for the other one to make a mistake and for a chance to attack.

One of those people was Yori. He was on her right side of view. So he was still around. Kagome thought when she saw him and then she looked on her left side on his opponent. It was a girl, wearing jeans and a red hoodie. Kagome couldn't see her face as it was covered by her black wavy hair. In her right hand she held a purple glowing katana. There was no mistake that the demonic presence was coming out from her.

Was she attacked by this girl and saved by Yori? She would have to properly thank him later. Maybe she would even reconsider her opinion about him and his usefulness, but at the moment she had to think how to help out in this situation. She didn't have her bow and arrows, but there had to be something even she could do now.

Before she could think of anything, she noticed that the girl got distracted by her very presence and Yori didn't miss that opportunity and immediately attacked her. He pushed her back, slamming her against the opposite wall. The girl held back the cry of pain, but due to their closeness, she managed to stab Yori in his left side.

Kagome seeing this reacted instinctively. She picked up a long sharp piece of wood from the debris scattered around and ran straigt towards the girl, concentrating her spiritual powers into that makeshift spear. Yori might be her protector, but even he isn't invincible and she didn't want to leave everything to him.

As Yori stumbled back, holding the place where he was stabbed, Kagome closed in and aimed to stab that girl. The girl managed to dodge in the nick of time as the spear powered by Kagome's spiritual powers struck straight through the wall where the girl's shoulder was just seconds ago.

"Wait!" The girl shouted at Kagome, but then her eyes shifted towards Yori, her eyes widening frightfully. Kagome followed the girl's gaze, confused by her shout and her expression, and noticed that Yori was on the move again, attacking. But the target wasn't the unknown girl, but Kagome herself.

Kagome was so shocked that she wouldn't be able to react even if she had the time for it. At that moment she could only watch in disbelief as she was looking at the approaching blood red eyes of the person who was supposed to protect her. His hand was glowing with black aura and she was sure that if she was hit by that, she would be in trouble, if not immediately dead.

Just what was happening? She couldn't understand the situation at all. Why was Yori attacking her? Did this girl use some technique to make him turn against her? Her mind was overflowing with countless thoughts, but her body wouldn't move.

Just as she was sure that there was no hope for her, the girl suddenly stepped in front of her and blocked Yori's attack with her sword. With a sudden raise of her aura, she threw Yori away from both of them, but instead of following him, she stayed close to Kagome, while Yori used that chance to run away.

Kagome's body finally gave out and she collapsed on the ground, watching the girl in front of her, who was still focused in the direction Yori disappeared into. However, when she heard the light thud from behind her, she quickly turned around and bent down.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly and Kagome looked at her, for the first time seeing the girl's face from up close. Her face felt awfully familiar, but no matter how hard she tried to think about it, she just couldn't come up with the right answer. However, she understood one thing, and that was that this girl wasn't a threat as she thought before and with that thought in her mind, she allowed herself to black out.