Chp. 19 Resistant

"You guys sure you know what you're doing?"

The caveman stopped his task and looked at the puppy before turning an annoyed eye onto her. "Will you just let us handle this?"

With her legs swinging from the chair and her head propped in her chin, Kagome sighed again. "This just seems like a whole lot of trouble. Unnecessary trouble." She muttered the last part and turned her head.

Caveman guy dropped his bag of salt and stood up to his full height. The Puppy followed his lead and huffed loudly, making his shaggy hair flutter about him as he did so.

"You asked for our help, and so this is a lot of trouble we're going through for you."

Kagome didn't respond and didn't even look his way.

"Look." The Puppy began, his voice trying to cool the tension between her and his brother. "We're kind of professionals at this."

"The best!" The Caveman added.

"If anyone is going to get Death off your back, it's going to be us."

She stood in front of the mirror, not sure of what she was seeing. The room the red head had taken her to was dark despite the morning light trying to invade its privacy. It did nothing to lighten her mind.

The mirror didn't show her Kagome. Not the Kagome she remembered, or tried to. Her reflection was no longer the deranged and filthy monster she had seen before. No, the monster had been refined and cleaned up, but not tamed. The person she saw reminded her of a snake. Sleek, deadly, and bidding its time before the strike. She could practically see the scales running along her body. A snake was a step up from the mindless monster she had been, but was a monster in a pretty package any better? And what about one packaged like a whore. Lingerie, an oversized coat, and heels did not make for a wholesome look. No wonder Shippo didn't recognize her. Where did Kagome go? And if Kagome was gone, who was she?

Stepping closer, she placed her hands on the mirror to steady herself as she conjured the courage to look herself in the eye. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to look.

The assault gave her the impression of swimming through a sea of broken glass, but instead of affecting the flesh, the shards cut the mind. She seemed to hear screaming in her head, a sharp tugging on her soul as something pierced her very heart. Her every fear crawled to the surface of her mind and anxiety made its home under her skin. The ground fell from beneath her feet and she was sent spiraling down into her own personal hell. Her eyes were overly bright and maddened, yet only the warm brown that they had always been.

"I never knew you were so vain."

At the sound of the voice, she tore her gaze away from her eyes and looked over her shoulder at a figure standing in the waning shadows of her room.

"But I guess I don't really know you, now do I?" Emerging into the full light, Logan marched up and spun her around forcefully, his mind intent on interrogating her himself. Upon turning her around, he lost the fight at the sight of her tear stained face.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, you know." She muttered with a small smile as she wiped the tears away she hadn't known had fallen. "That monster in the mirror."

"That's not you." He retorted, surprising her with the sincerity in his voice. "Now what happened?"

"A lot has happened. It just hits me hard sometimes. But I'm fine." She reassured him with a genuine smile.

He grumbled to himself as he turned away to sit on her bed. "I came in here to yell at you for lying to me, but now…" he grumbled some more and rubbed his head vigorously in frustration. "Why didn't you ever tell me?

Coming over to stand before him, she kneeled down so that they were face to face. Putting a hand to his cheek, she gave him a sweet smile.

"I didn't tell you because I like you." She told him, finding it to be true. "I like you, Logan, and just being with you made me feel sane and normal."

"Normal?" he snorted, holding her hands in his. "Our relationship was not normal."

She laughed lightly. "No." she confirmed as she stood and sat in his lap. "It wasn't normal, but it was closer to it than my life. I just didn't want you to look at me differently."

"Did you know? Did you know he would find you? That he would come for you?"

She only nodded.

"So what were you planning on doing? Just let him do whatever he wanted? Let him kill you?"

She looked sadly at him as his voice got angrier.

"That's what usually happens. He finds me, takes me away, and hides me from the world while he goes off and destroys it. My time with you was the first time in a long while that I actually interacted with someone in between. It lasted longer this time because he had gotten hurt."

"He can be hurt? What do we need to do?"

She looked at him angrily and he grumbled again.

"Listen, he hurt a lot of people. He hurts you. Just think of the things he put you through. He needs to be stopped, and we'll attempt to do it without hurting him, but you need to tell us what to do if worse comes to worse."

"I don't like this conversation." Standing up abruptly, Kagome stalked away from him in anger.

"You can't just walk away from your problems."

"Don't you think I know that!" she yelled at him as she bent over to take off her heels. "I know I can't! I tried! It's my problem, my responsibility! I brought him into this world, and I'm the only one who can take him out! But pardon me if I can't bring myself to kill him! He's my only son left!"

By now she had begun to cry and missed her slip up as Logan came over to comfort her.

"Why does it have to be you?" he asked the top of her head as she cried into his shoulder.

"It's my responsibility, like you said." She sniffled. "My cross to bear."

He didn't say anything and only grunted softly as he held her. "You should get some rest."

"I can't." she said as she stepped away from his embrace. "They're bringing me some clothes to wear."

"Clothes?"

Instead of answering him, she merely flashed him what she wore under his jacket.

Not being able to fight his grin, Logan forcefully closed his jacket over her. "How could I forget?"

A knock on the door interrupted any further interaction, and while she called out she was coming, she wiped the tears from her face as Logan disappeared out the window.

Opening the door, she found the red head, Jean, standing with a bundle of clothes in her hands.

"These are some old clothes of mine, I hope they fit."

"Thank you." As she took the clothes from her hands, Kagome glanced into her face and saw concern.

"Are you alright?"

Looking at the floor to hide her face, Kagome nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'll let you get some rest."

Kagome nodded in confirmation.

"The kids are about to start their day, but I don't think they'll be much of a bother. And don't be afraid to explore the grounds while you're here."

"Okay." And with a reassuring smile, Kagome closed the door to an empty room.

"Are you planning on staying?" Miroku asked, suddenly occupying the space next to her.

She didn't look at him, or the mirror in the room. "No. I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Tonight?"

"I doubt they'll let me leave that easily." She turned to him with a smile as she set the clothes on the bed. "We need to case this place."

He actually frowned at her in confusion. "Case?"

Seeing his reaction, she smiled harder as she stepped into his cold embrace and forced his arms around her. "We need to know the layout, for when I make my escape. I'll wander around today and get a feel for the place, and I want you to do the same."

Miroku nodded his agreement. Smile waning slightly, she laid her head onto his chest and hugged him tightly.

"It's almost over." She declared with a breathy sigh.

Miroku responded with an uncommitted grunt.

"What do you think will happen in the end?" she asked him. "I mean, in death you have to have some enlightenment. Right?"

"Certain things." Miroku answered her after a short pause. "I was enlightened of certain things, mostly of my life and choices."

"What about me? Any insight there? Like, what about when I die?" she asked, genuinely curious, but then her mind began to slip and wander as she mumbled to herself.

She clung to him desperately. "At this point, I don't care what awaits me on the other side of this existence, I just, oh god, Miroku; I just want death to take me. Do you think he'll let me go?"

Miroku's answer was slow and measured. "I believe that he'll, release you from this horrid situation. From this torture…but Kagome." He pushed her away and looked her in the eye. "Your life wasn't easy. Don't mistake death for being so."

Her face became clouded in distress and his grip on her shoulders tightened.

"In death, the future is not known, but whatever should happen to you, I will always be here."

"Then I think I can survive it." She smiled. "Whatever it be." She leaned in to force him into a hug, but stumbled into thin air as a voice interrupted the moment.

"Who are you talking to?"

Getting over her startle, Kagome turned on her heel to see a suspicious Logan coming through her window.

"I wasn't."

"Wasn't what?" he asked with a growl as he walked further into the room and began looking around. "Talking or talking to someone?"

"I was talking to myself."

"I heard two voices." He checked under the bed.

"I can't change my voice?" she asked, putting a masculine infliction to her voice.

"Apparently not well." He checked the closet.

"That hurts."

"I clearly heard another voice and I know it wasn't from a phone." He came to stand before her. "Was it Shippo?"

"Do you smell Shippo in here?"

He frowned in confusion. "What makes you think I have that good of a nose?"

She blinked and shook her head in surprise of herself. "Sorry, I keep getting you confused with the demons I dealt with. You have a lot of the same attributes."

"Demons again? You really believe in them don't you?"

"I wouldn't say 'believe' as much as 'know'. They are real, probably just not here."

"I don't know if you're for real or just trying to distract me from the fact that someone was here."

"Can it be both?"

"Knowing you, it probably is?"

"But you don't know me, Logan." She stepped closer to him and grabbed his hand. "Just like I don't know you."

"I think we know each other enough pretty well." His voice lost its roughness.

"We were both pretending. Now show it to me."

"Now is not the time, the kids might hear."

"I'm not talking about that." She held up his hand and stared at it in fascination. "Show me this you."

He said nothing and tried to pull away, but she held on before he could extract his hand. Looking him in the face, she intertwined her fingers into his.

"Can't hide now. Circumstances have forced us both into the light. I want to see yours under less pressure."

Grumbling, he looked off to the left but obliged her anyway. Kagome found she couldn't look away as the blades slowly extracted themselves from his knuckles. She had to force herself to move out of the way.

"That's obscene." She commented with a smile.

"You're obscene." He countered as he turned back to look at her, and as he saw that she was about to lick one, he quickly retracted them. "You really are."

"I might be. Not my fault."

"Then who's is it?"

"Somebody that I used to know."

In the silence that followed, Kagome attempted to break it by suddenly attacking Logan and throwing him over her shoulder and onto the bed.

"Cut it out!" he pushed her onto the bed with little effort. Pushing the hair out of her face, she smiled up at him and presented her hand for him to come join her.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing." He growled at her as he joined her on the bed. She fully pulled him down and he let her. With him on his back, Kagome curled up next to him and laid her head down on his chest.

"Does it hurt?"

"Every time." He answered automatically, anticipating the question.

Kagome caught up on it. "Used to that question?"

"Get it all the time."

"Must be tiring."

"Like you guessed; I'm used to it." He held up his hand. "Just like this. Doesn't even register anymore."

She made a noise of acknowledgement and commented no more.

"What about you?"

She turned her head to face him, showing that she was playing along, but didn't make eye contact.

"How do you handle your son doing these things?"

Though her body went tense, she didn't ignore his question.

"I don't handle it." She finally answered. "When he brings me with him on his little excursions, I go into a catatonic state, I guess. I go numb. I ignore it."

"Have you ever tried to stop him?"

"Yeah." Her answer was slow and he suspected she was trying to keep her emotions in check. "But he knows how to play me. Just as I'm about to strike, or even attempt to escape from him, he gives me the puppy eye routine. He guilts me, I cry and give in, and he takes advantage."

"What do you have to be guilty about?"

"I would tell you, but looking back at past experiences it'll come out later, whether I want it to or not."

Later, she thought it was pretty dumb to fall asleep. She knew that she couldn't afford to do so, yet, lying next to Logan, and having him hold her in such a comfortable silence; she had let the mundane moment lull her into a peaceful slumber. She felt him behind her, his chest moving against her back steadily.

She originally figured the soft rumbling she heard was Logan snoring, but a soft flash against her eyelids proved her wrong. She would have drifted off to sleep but the stale breath that hit her face kept her alert, and she knew then she had been a fool to sleep.

"DON'T!" she screamed as she made eye contact with Shippo's dull, green, glass eyed stare. In peaceful times, Shippo would sense when she was about to wake and would crouch down to her level and wait until she opened her eyes. 'So you can wake up to a smiling face' he had told her. It had been sweet then, considering the scowls and serious faces of her companions; it was something nice to wake up too.

But that was in the peaceful times, when no one had died, and her gaze didn't cause him instant fury. So now, she awoke to dead eyes and patchy, pale skin. His mouth parted open when she looked at him, and she knew what was to come, but her protest went unheeded as the pain and blindness took her.

Her initial shout woke Logan, she could hear his growl of surprise, but he wasn't fast enough to save her eyes. She screamed in pain, shooting to her feet and stumbling over the confused Logan. She heard it when he noticed Shippo and she was certain they were fighting when the bed pitched her to the floor and ferocious growls filled the air.

Blind, she crawled away from the ruckus, in order to find a secluded refuge to wait out her healing, but a soft thump near her head made her stall.

"Come on, Kagome." She heard Shippo's voice say, even as she continued to hear Logan brawl behind her. "Let's go play somewhere else."

A hand gripped her hair painfully and pulled. She assumed he was in his natural by the height at which he led her. He moved too fast for her to properly follow and was semi dragged in his wake.

She guessed she had called out at the pain, either from her eyes or scalp, she wasn't sure. The pain was just in the general direction of her skull, but at the sound of her distress, Logan let out a ferocious roar, worthy of any demon, she felt, and she would have feared for anyone that it could be directed at. With his roar, the sound of Shippo's laughter multiplied as he produced clones to overwhelm the enraged Logan. His roar seemed to have alarmed more than Kagome for a siren sounded out above the clamor of the fight.

"Whoa! So noisy!" Shippo yelled over the din, sounding annoyed.

"I know." Kagome agreed, realizing she was being drug through an open door, as the noise got louder and she bumped into the seal.

Outside in the hall, they halted and Kagome heard the collective gasps and cries of a surprised crowd. Though she couldn't see, Kagome assumed they made quite a sight. A pale, dirty, young boy, leading a bloody, rumpled, eyeless woman around by the hair. For once she didn't feel like laughing at the absurdity. Her head hurt too much.

"If you let her go now." A soft voice called out firmly. Kagome heard the voice but couldn't place them. "We won't hurt you."

Shippo's grip on her hair tightened and he pulled her closer as he let out a low, humorless laugh. Shippo was not pleased. The noise of battle died down as Logan finished with the duplicates. She could hear his growl as he drew closer. Sensing him, Shippo turned to keep an eye on him and the rest. His growl was feral and low; vicious. If she had not known that it was him, she would not have thought her little Shippo capable of such a sound. They had him cornered and he had nowhere to go but up.

His sudden jump made her cry out more in surprise than pain. She wasn't the only one to be surprised. At their flight, she heard the crowd exclaim, Logan growled and grasped for her toes before they were out of reach. Not sure what kept them in the air, and not knowing how to ease the pain, Kagome just hung there, hands clasping her hair, and listened to the murmuring.

"Kagome?" Shippo called out to her, sounding small to her ears. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Just…let me down."

"That's what you want me to do? What about them?"

"I want let them hurt you."

"No!" he yanked on her hair and growled louder. "They're trying to take you away from me!"

"No they aren't!"

"So you just want to leave me?" He grew angry and pulled her to face him. His clawed hand gripped her face and left small punctures. "I love you!"

"I love you too!" she instantly followed.

"Then why are you always trying to leave? Trying to get rid of me!" He sounded like he began to cry and her heart dropped. Blindly she reached out until she found his small body and drew herself closer to hug him.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You're the only mother I know. Remember?"

She wanted to cry, she did sob, and she could pretend the wetness on her face was tears.

"Enough of this!" she heard Logan growl. "Cyclops, get him!"

Before she could ask 'you guys have a Cyclops?' she felt the heat as Shippo was struck by, whatever their Cyclops threw. With a yell of pained fury, Shippo loosed his grip and she fell.

Chaos erupted around her as the crowd rushed to the attack. She fell into a pair of familiar arms and Shippo yelled in anger, his voice amplifying loudly.

"Shit!" Logan cursed, looking at her ruined face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his fingers touching her face hesitantly.

"You should see the other guy."

"I see him. Looks like he kicked your ass." Letting out a quick, almost forced laugh, he helped her to her feet. "Kitty, get over here!"

"I didn't know you had a cat."

"Quiet!" he snapped at her. "Kitty!"

"I'm here." a voice called out, suddenly at her side and bringing with it a familiar presence.

"Hello Kitty!" Kagome greeted, turning in the direction of the voice. "Nice to hear you again."

"Oh my God, Miss Kagome! Your eyes!"

"I can imagine! Much worse than the signature look, I should think. Where's my cheery-impaired friend?"

"Hey!" Logan growled, cutting Rogue off. "Shut up!"

Something exploded and they ducked at the impact.

A soft hand grabbed hers and kept her from moving away.

"Kitty," she heard Logan yell. "You know what to do."

"Not really."

Logan growled in exasperation. "Keep her from dying!"

"Oh. Right."

"Did he run off?" Kagome asked after the sound of irritated growling grew faint.

"Yeah." Kitty answered, as she lead Kagome to what she assumed was safety.

"He seemed pretty eager to join." Rogue added as they seemed to reach their destination.

"Sounds like it." With so much calamity bouncing off the walls, and blasts of heat and pressure slapping her skin, Kagome wasn't sure which way to turn her head. "Been here the whole time sunshine?"

"Pretty much." Said the dreary teen.

"What's happening?"

"It's pretty hard to explain. That kid exploded into duplicates and now everyone is just engaged in their own mini battle."

"That sounds like a lot more than teenagers fighting a little fox demon."

"Well everyone's using their powers." Rogue explained just as Kitty exclaimed "Demon?"

Not surprised by the power information, she had watched a man she had been intimate with sprout metal claws, Kagome ignored the question and picked out the sound of an enthusiastic Logan massacring her adopted son's clones.

"That's…not just Shippo…you're fighting...is it?" Kagome asked, hearing familiar sounds, which plucked at her memory.

"Which one's Shippo? The pale ginger?"

"Or the hot guy with the white hair and giant sword?" She heard Kitty add.

"Or is it purple robes guy?"

"Is the purple robes guy helping us or…"

"I'm pretty sure purple robes guy just tried to kill Kurt."

"Just checking."

By now, her eyes had begun to heal and her hearing was now accompanied by blurred, overly bright colors. The light was blinding and forced her to blink slowly against the pain. With squinted eyes, she couldn't decipher friend from foe. Her new eyes seemed to even confuse her brain as she even thought she saw flashes of lightening and light sabers.

"There is a lot of activity going on. How are we not being struck by debris?"

"Oh right. Like that's my power and junk." Kitty answered happily as she showed Kagome their still entwined hands. "Things just phase through me and anything I touch. See."

What she could now clearly see as a piece of burning foundation came flying at them, and after she saw no one else made a move to get out of the way, she was actually impressed to watch it pass through them without harm.

"Impressive, chipper bunny."

"Why do you have eyes?"

"But my name's Kitty."

Ignored.

Her eyes now accustomed to the sporadic colors, of a highly interesting looking battle, Kagome saw something that turned her stomach cold.

Kitty's safety destination had been a corner with a direct view of the battle. People were flying, most involuntarily, some were involved in some aggressive hand-to-hand combat, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Sunglasses shoot a freaking laser beam out of his eyes. But they were worth nothing, not even a glance. The only one she saw was currently making her way down the hall. Her rust colored robes were darker than she remembered. Her black hair loose and flowing in a non-existent breeze. The bow in her hand was the same bow she had admired so much. The wood stained black, elongated and just as deadly as the arrows they loosed. Her eyes were striking. She had never seen them as others had. They were not maddened, not dead, or even wild. They were merely determined. Hard and focused. Blinded.

"Miss Kagome." She heard whispered behind her. "Is that you?"

"You look freaking scary." Rogue chimed in, her voice was just as awed as Kitty's.

She hadn't realized she missed her bow until she saw it again. Kouga had given it to her, stolen it, but it was his gift to her. She had never been sure where it came from, but it was perfect for her. Heavy and a good conduit for miko power, so that when she ran out of arrows she could just club her enemies to death, or until someone came to her aid.

Her hand clenched around the phantom feel of it in her hand. As her clone walked towards her, she mimicked her moves as she twirled it around, getting ready to start cracking bones and fending off demons. But what it was best at doing, what she would now always remember it for, was killing her friends. She could almost feel the impact as she struck them down.

Getting away from Kitty's grip on her hand, Kagome made to intercept herself.

"That's enough, Shippo." She told the clone gently, stopping her in her tracks.

"What's the matter, Kagome?" the doppelganger asked in Shippo's voice, its eyes turning green as she smiled. "Here comes the best part."

"No. That's enough. Do you hear me, Shippo!" she raised her voice loud to be heard over the din of battle. "That's enough out of you today! Come over here!"

All clones, teenagers, mutants, and puppets stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Confusion was heavy in the air and everyone made glances out of the corner of their eye to see if anyone was going to do anything.

With her arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently, Kagome cast a stern look around. "I'm waiting. Don't make me tell you again, young man."

Finally, one of the Shippo's dislodged his teeth from Logan's leg and made his way over to her, his mouth pouting and covered in blood.

"Now don't you think you've had enough fun to last you a while? I think that's quite enough."

"But Kagome." He whined, drawing out her name and flailing his arms. "This is the best batch yet. Look. No one's dead yet."

He looked up at her and smiled. "They'll last so much longer than the others." His eyes bled black as he looked at her and his face twitched; there was nothing cute about him now. Maybe just a little.

"I said no. Now you and I are going to leave these people alone. Okay? Just me and you for a while."

"But I'm not done playing." His voice lowered, his face grew harder, and his smile more feral. There was a definite threat in his voice.

She could feel the tension rolling across her skin. Her heart beat faster in her chest, and she had to force herself to keep stern.

"Yes you are." She told him slowly, matching his tone and ignoring the growling and quaking upper lip.

He growled and snapped, launching himself at her but not making contact. On all fours, hair bristled, and canines protruding from his mouth, Shippo could barely contain himself as miasmic drool dripped from his incisors. "You don't get to tell me what to do!" he snarled, his voice not matching the contortion of his mouth. "You're not my mother!"

Shippo's viciousness and jumping at her did nothing. Not even the poison dripping from his lip, or his deterioration into an animal state could faze her. But at his last statement, she reeled back as if he had actually struck her. She had to control her face from crumbling, from showing the hurt she felt. But she knew it leaked through. She felt the eyes on her. Felt their empathy; she knew they could feel her shame and embarrassment.

"Well…I'm the only one you know." Her voice only cracked a little, and as her words hit him, Shippo's rage was smothered. "Now you get rid of her. Get rid of all of them and go wait for me outside."

In sulfurous puffs of smoke, all the puppets were banished until only the real Shippo remained, but the rage of one was enough to make their absence go unnoticed. Breathing heavily, he simply looked at Kagome with contempt.

"What did I say? Go wait for me outside. Now!"

Only with a slight pause did he follow her orders; and without a look backwards he bounded away. The estate residents moved out of his way and made no move to stop him. It wasn't until she heard the window break as he exited the building that she relaxed her body. With shaky breath and body, Kagome turned to the involuntary audience. With her face red, Kagome looked at them all. Sunshine and Kitty, the other teenagers, Bald Wheelchair Man, Red, Sunglasses, Female Inuyasha, and finally to Logan; she bowed deeply to them.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble we've caused. For all the people we've hurt. And I apologize for getting you involved in my business. Shippo is my responsibility and I should've dealt with him before it escalated as much as it has."

She raised herself and smiled sadly as she tried to hold back her emotions.

"I will now take care of things and will appreciate it if you do not interfere. We will be out of your hair soon."

They followed her out and they weren't even trying to be discreet about it. Nobody even tried to use their inside voices or whisper to each other. Their footsteps sounded loudly, even in the open air of outdoors, and the one time she glanced back, she met the disapproving glare of Logan full force. He looked as if he had been waiting, daring, for her to turn around. She could still feel his glare on the back of her neck now.

"I heard what you said."

Waiting outside, just as she had ordered, Shippo stood defiantly in front of her, his angry little face shadowed by evil and tousled hair.

"You said you were going to deal with me."

She didn't respond, and even the crowd seemed to quiet to hear what he had to say.

"You're not planning to leave with me at all." He pouted angrily. "You're just going to kill me again."

"I said that's enough. I should have never brought you back in the first place. And to be honest, you…have been a terror."

"You're the real terror!" he shot back, sounding offended. "You killed everybody! Twice!"

"Not everyone. Not yet."

A snarl distorted Shippo's face as the evil of the jewel rippled beneath his skin, and to her horror, she saw that he began to cry. His tears left streaks along his dirty face.

"I won't let you." He quaked. "I won't let you kill me again!" at his last word, Shippo exploded. His skin seemed to rip and split, revealing fur the color of his hair. As he transformed he was crying, but as he changed so did his vocal cords and that cry became a howl as he changed into a nine tailed fox with black writhing markings in its fur.

With a bark, he belched out a torrent of flames her way.

She planned to dodge the fire, but a solid pressure in her hand gave her another plan. With a silent thanks to her guardian angel, Kagome wielded Miroku's staff before her and channeled her Miko powers through it. Though she had use of her powers again, the unfamiliar method of channeling in through a staff instead of a bow and arrow had her slow to form a manifestation. The flames were halted, but not far enough to stop the heat from blistering her hands.

Trying to blink through the sweat that instantly began to pour, she almost missed the attack as the fire subsided and Shippo struck from the side. Though her hands suffered extensive muscular damage, she refused to look at them, she barely managed to keep a grip as she swung and belted Shippo in the head. The miko power still being channeled through it, acted as an extra form of force, causing Shippo to yelp on contact.

The hit sent Shippo crashing to the ground, but he didn't stay down for long. Instantly on his feet, he shook off the attack with a grunt before eyeing Kagome again. They began to circle each other, wary of the other's movement.

Kagome bolted towards him with staff in hand and determination on her face. If the situation hadn't had been so serious, she would have laughed at the startled expression on Shippo's face before he ran…away from her.

It wasn't until she almost upon him and after it had gone on embarrassingly too long, that Shippo realized that he was bigger than her. And as he abruptly stopped and turned around, reminded her that he also had teeth bigger than her too.

Though she couldn't see it, Kagome wore a similar expression to the one Shippo conveyed when she attacked. When he suddenly turned on her, her momentum made it hard to stop and she slid to the ground to avoid his gaping maw. Unfortunately she had been flailing when falling, so when she was lifted from the ground by her arm, that arm was trapped inside a cage of teeth, and it hurt like hell. Damn did it hurt!

"No!" Kagome screamed. "Bad Shippo!" Grunting more from frustration than pain, Kagome climbed onto his snout, as he tried his hardest to give her one less arm, and began to beat at his gums. She hated losing limbs. No, she hated re-growing them. It wasn't a small limb that grew larger to replace the old one, it was a process of growing the bone, then cartilage, muscles, and finally skin in layers. It was a gross and disturbing event to watch. If the limb was retrievable, she could reattach it, but they were still a hassle to lose.

A stroke of genius, or insanity, made her decide to fight fire with fire. If Shippo wanted to bite her arm off, then she'd just have to bite him back. Her teeth were blunt, she was never really good at chewing through raw meat, and the feel of fox nose was not something you should get used to, but she bit down as hard as she could.

He still wouldn't let go and she began to lose feeling in her arm. Clutching to his muzzle, Kagome began to kick out at his face, aiming at any vital part, and successfully connected to his eye. He reeled back on his hind legs in pain, howling bloody murder as Kagome tried to forget how unpleasant the soft, gushy, gel of an eye felt to a naked foot, but at least her arm was free.

With freedom came good cheer, with good cheer came saluting, with saluting came lack of grip, and with lack of grip and a vicious buck came an airborne miko.

For a second, in that brief moment of weightlessness, she wondered if Lucy was in the sky with diamonds, what the hell was she in the sky with. Blood droplets at the moment. What a jip.

She came crashing down with a sickening bounce that stole all the air from her body. Curling in to a ball, she tried to eat all the oxygen that she could swallow. Greed could get you dead. The shadow that loomed over her proved that true.

"Oh come on!"

Duck and roll. The teeth clamping together was loud in her ears, present in the mere place her head had been only seconds before. Heads were a bigger bitch to grow.

Just keep rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling!

The world was a blur, her arm hurt whenever she rolled on to it, and she could hear the patter of paws and teeth following. It was almost reminiscent of a game. Tag meets Ring Around the Rosie with a hint of Blood Mary.

Shippo should have been a lot faster than her, but she managed to stay ahead of his snapping teeth. His tails were another story. They looked fluffy, but they felt like no such thing. She didn't see them coming, but in her mind, just as that moving blur of fur hit her, she was confused as to why they didn't feel like a spongy cloud instead of the MACK truck that it was.

The strike sent her flying sideways where she landed hard and slid a good feet. Spitting out the dirt she had collected, Kagome picked her head up to spot Shippo. He hadn't moved from where he had attacked and was only watching her. Waiting for her to get up with hackles raised and thick saliva dripping from his maw.

The ground never felt as comfortable as it did now and she wanted to do nothing more than lay there and nap. But that was hard to do when a demon fox wanted to bite your head off and your captivated audience decided to interfere by kicking your weapon into arms reach.

"You're welcome!"

She looked at the staff, Shippo glanced at the staff, she peeked at Shippo, and he glared at her.

Grabbing the staff, and ignoring her body's every protest, she leap to her feet and charged. This time, Shippo didn't retreat and he didn't attack. He waited for her to bring the fight to him. Setting his hind legs, he drew in a deep, hot breath, and crouched low. Once she got close enough, and he could feel the vibrations of her feet tremble through the earth, he let loose a tide of flames hotter than desire.

Kagome didn't bother to dodge and trudged straight through the flames. She was tired and done with playing. The holiness of Miroku's staff and her miko powers kept the flames at bay once again. But the intense heat stole her breath away, her skin tightened to painful proportions and her hair began to wilt away at the edges. At the hottest point of the inferno, she swung the staff high and brought it down with all the force she could muster.

As her strike hit true, the flames ceased and she saw that she had met with the top of his head. With his eyes closed in pain, he didn't see that she continued her assault, and with her motion pushing her forward, she stepped to the bridge of his nose and launched herself into the air. As her feet lifted off, she heard him growl threateningly, but it was too late to stop her.

With a double handed grip on the staff, she used both gravity and the strength of her arms to bring its points down and into Shippo's back. She met heavy resistance, but with a little extra shove she inserted the staff further in, and judging by the horrible yelp and sudden collapse of body, she assumed she severed his spine.

The keening was painfully loud in her ears. He writhed beneath her in agony and she hesitated to move. Now that she had done the deed, she found herself regretting it. She didn't want to hurt him, but she knew she had to. No turning back now.

Leaving the staff in place, she clambered off his back and rounded onto his front. Kneeling by his head, she ignored the pathetic attempt at a growl that ended in a pained whine. With tears in her eyes she grabbed his muzzle and planted a kiss onto his previously bitten snout.

"Hey." She called out, trying to catch his attention, and when one half lidded eye looked her way she gave him another kiss. "I do this because I love you."

At this, he began to thrash around more, but his thrashing was feeble and useless. Reaching a hand out into the air, the Shikon was deposited into her palm as Miroku convinced her to let him hold it for her instead of storing it in her body. After a short reflection, she agreed that clawing it from her belly each time could be a problem. What if they had nothing sharp at the time?

Forcing his mouth open, and keeping it open, someone was struggling, she leaned in as far as she could and forced the jewel down his throat. She vaguely heard someone yell at her to not crawl in, but she ignored them. As she made her retreat, his rapidly closing mouth caught her shoulder but she was quick enough to avoid further harm. Initially he attempted to hack the jewel back up, but she pounced onto his muzzle and hugged it close.

"It's okay." She cried. "It's going to be over soon."

She closed her eyes against his pain as her breathing became shaky.

"It's going to be okay." She mustered up again.

His thrashing and bucking stopped, only to be replaced by whining and whimpers.

"It's going to be okay."

"No it's not."

She felt the difference in her hug. It was smaller, fragile. Though her vision was blurry, she recognized the small boy in her arms. He was crying, clinging to her, and being eaten alive by the jewel. In his transformation, the staff had become dislodged and lay discarded on the grounded below them.

"It is." She blurted, trying to keep her lip from trembling too much. "No more suffering."

"I don't want to go."

"But you have to, sweetie." She kissed his temple and smoothed his hair. "You don't belong here anymore."

"Neither does Miroku!" he cried out, each word punctuated by a cry of pain as hairline cracks spread across his form.

"No. And neither do I."

"Then let me stay." He ended his plea with a cry as he pulled her in close. His cries alternated between those of misery and pain. In some places that she held him she could feel him crumbling away, revealing the light of the jewel within. She both wanted to let him go and hold him tighter.

"I promise I'll protect you and I won't cry anymore. I'll be strong for you. I promise. Just let me stay."

She had to collect herself and she found it hard to breathe. Her throat was thick and sobs were the only thing that seemed to escape.

"I want nothing more than to keep you here with me. But being selfish has already put me in a bind."

He screamed in pain, his tiny claws piercing her skin as he gripped out in reflex.

"What's…selfish….about that?" he managed to spew out, each word seeming to drain him.

She kissed his cheek and wiped the tears from his face. "I've kept you from your parents long enough."

His look was wide eyed, fearful, and pained. His breathing came in short, shallow spurts and a stillness seemed to come over him.

"Did you forget about them?" she laughed with teary eyed humor.

"No." he lied with choked voice. "Will I really see them again, Kagome?"

"Of course. They've been waiting a long time for you."

"But what about you?"

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm almost done with all this."

"I'll tell Trey you're coming, ok? Then we'll all be together again."

"Ok." She whispered, her voice not wanting to cooperate. "Take care of him for me."

He started to say something, but as he opened his mouth only screams came out. The fissures encasing his body had grown to epic proportions and the light of purification was blinding. She tried to hold onto him a little longer, but his body turned to dust in her arms. Her little Shippo was gone.

She felt like throwing up. She felt it trying to rise in her throat, but lack of food only had her dry heaving. She looked at her hands accusingly, as if this one the one time they could have saved them further.

'Don't take too long.' the air whispered into her ear as a gentle breeze blew through her hair.

She slumped over to the ground and tried to curl herself into the tiniest ball possible. Though she was getting tired of crying, she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop for a while. Not after this one.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the jewel. Reaching out with a shaky hand, she clutched it to herself like a teddy bear and cried harder. Ugly crying; wet and filled with plenty of sniffles.

Movement caught her attention and she saw Logan and his associates making their way towards her. Though she hated not saying goodbye, she just didn't have it in her at the moment.

"Miroku." She moaned. "Get me out of here."

And no sooner had the words left her mouth she found a shadow looming over her. With neither a word nor sound, he lifted her into his arms, his staff gone from sight, and leapt backwards into the sky. Whether they flew or just jumped far, she never knew. The sudden onslaught of air made her close her eyes against the burn, and when she opened them again; they were long gone from Logan and his people. From that ridiculous sized mansion. From civilization all together. They were alone in a wooded area, and that was just fine by her.

She wept.

She cried.

Then she slept.

Though she was sad about killing Shippo and his hopes of seeing her again, she found herself more tired than anything else. She was tired of killing and feeling bad about the killing. She knew they needed to be put to rest, but it hurt her mentally every time. She was tired of it.

So with a exhausted sigh, she trudged through the gateway when it appeared. She lumbered through the new stretch of forest she found herself in and slouched until she found the road.

With a heavy heart she schlepped down the empty highway alone and in the dark. She didn't have a destination in mind, wasn't like she was hunting Inuyasha, wherever he was, it wasn't this universe; not anymore. Either he had just been passing through or he had finished what he had sought out to do.

She was whitewashed in the beams of headlights as the crunch of tires on asphalt filled the air.

"Are you alright miss?"

Stepping out of the direct light, she looked up to find a large black car had stopped before her and two men were staring at her. The taller of the two was the one who spoke first.

"Are you hurt?" he asked again after sharing a glance with the driver.

She didn't feel like being bothered at the moment and that was what these two guys were doing. Holding back a sigh, she merely shook her head no.

"Then why are you freaking covered in blood?" the driver asked, his voice harsher than his passengers.

She looked down at herself and remembered that she was covered in blood. Some hers and some Shippo's, but it was mostly Shippo's. The black blood was Shippo's. She realized her clothes were a mess and she probably did look suspicious. Didn't mean she had to ignore the driver's attitude. But when the guns came out, she was highly offended.

"Are you a grudge?"

She folded her arms angrily. "What does that mean?"

"I see a little Chinese girl walking in the dark covered in blood, looks like some grudge shit to me!"

"First off, I'm Japanese, you racist."

"Chinese, Japanese it's all…."

"Dean!" the driver was interrupted by his passenger giving him a meaningful look. "Stop what you're saying."

"Secondly!" she continued. "Just because I'm walking in the dark by myself covered in blood does not make me an onryo!"

"A what?" Dean the driver asked in annoyance.

"An Onryo" The passenger clarified for him. "A Japanese vengeful spirit. That's what the Grudge was."

After making a face of appreciation, or derision, she wasn't too sure which; Dean turned the gun back onto her. "So you say you're not a…"

"Onryo."

"That! Then why are you covered in blood?"

She fought back a yawn while making a show of disregarding the gun on her. "I hit a deer."

And that's how Kagome met the Winchester Brothers and through a series of yelling and apologizing and passive aggressive conversing, the boys found out she was cursed and she found out that they knew how to summon the guy who did it.

She didn't know summoning took such prep work. Salt and incense and fast food. Maybe she was missing something. But thy said they were the best and they seemed genuine, so she shrugged and let them do what they had to do.

After being whisked away from the highway, the boys drove around until they came upon an abandoned warehouse to conduct their ritual. Not having the time or place to freshen up, she was given a new shirt by Sam and that was a clean as she was going to get. Abandoned warehouses didn't have custodians.

She felt a familiar chill run down her back and sat up straighter, suddenly aware of a presence out of her peripheral. She knew it was Death before she fully turned, but as she moved her head she faulted at the dead gaze of an old man with corvine features.

"Uh, hello."

At the sound of her voice, the boys stopped their preparations and looked up in alarm.

"Sit down." The new arrival told them in a dismissive voice as two chairs suddenly knocked into the back of the boys' knees and forced them down.

The man was intimidating, and judging by the boy's expression, she wasn't the only one affected.

"Friend of yours?" she asked without looking their way.

The man only stared at her. Waiting for her to breakdown in tears and confess her sins; well that's the vibe she got from him.

"Um, Kagome…this is Death." Sam answered; his voice slow and non-threatening.

"Yeah, the guy who cursed you, remember?" That was Dean, making it sound like she was in the wrong.

"A curse?" the man tilted his head at her, almost in disappointment. "Not a curse, Kagome. Think of it more as guiding."

"Who the hell are you?"

He looked down at his hands and examined them. "I think you know. So let's not play this game."

When he looked back up at her, she saw the resemblance. Though he was older, shorter, scarier, and definitely more intimidating, his eyes were the same. Old, dead, and as black as they were deep.

"There she is." He commented, once seeing the recognition in her eyes.

"Why do you look different?"

"I look however the universe pictures views me. And here…" he gestured towards himself in a presenting manner.

Her foot kicked out before she knew it was happening. She connected with his chest and sent him skidding backwards in his chair. To her infuriation, his facial expression didn't change.

"I hate you!" she screamed, springing to her feet. "He's here, now! Do something!"

"Whoa!" Dean exclaimed after realizing she was talking to them. "That's freaking Horseman of Death."

"Yeah." Sam added. "We can't make him do anything."

"Then what was the point of all this?" she asked with disgust.

"Ask him nicely?" Dean offered up as a failed attempt at humor.

"I'm also curious as to what you were expecting to happen." Standing up, Death straightened his clothes.

She took a step away from him. "They were going to summon you…"

"Invite." Dean interrupted. "We were trying to invite you here."

"They said they could help me." Her voice sounded broken to her ears and she looked away to collect herself.

Death began to stalk around the room; orbiting her. "What made you believe they were capable of such a thing?"

She threw her hands up for lack of anything better to do. "I don't know. They smelled trustworthy. Seemed like they had been through some weird things like this before."

Death's eyebrows rose in interest. "Smelled trustworthy? What an interesting choice of wording."

"You've been sniffing us?" Sam asked, just as interested if not weirded out.

"I didn't want to say anything earlier." Dean told him. "But I do think you forgot your deodorant today." When Sam tossed him an annoyed glare he only shrugged.

"Sorry to inform you." Death continued, ignoring the boy's banter. "But the Winchesters may have done many incredible, if not horrendously idiotic, things. But they can never bend me to their will. Perhaps I have been too generous with favors?"

The boys shook their heads no with placating expressions.

"No, Kagome, the only one who can help you, is you. You're almost finished, why are you trying to get out of it now?"

"I've always tried to get out of it." She corrected him hotly.

"And you've yet to succeed. But I admire your persistence."

"I don't want your admiration."

"Of course not." His voice was flat, but a small patronizing smile graced his face; cautious. "You want nothing from me, yet I expect a lot from you. The most important being you finishing what we started here. I even brought you a gift."

Suspicious, Kagome reluctantly turned to where he indicated and stopped breathing.

It stood up against a column where she was sure it hadn't been a moment ago. Walking over, she tentatively grasped it in her hand and hefted it up. The weight was instantly familiar; her hands fitting perfectly into worn grooves. On one end, she even saw tiny teeth marks from when a small child had started teething.

"This is mine." She whispered, not trying to hold back her tears before facing him. "Why are you giving this back to me? Where did you get it?"

"Like you said, 'it's yours', and I picked it up from where you left it. Now I think this and me allowing you to keep your angel boy toy, should be the incentive you need to get on with things."

Kagome had been gazing at her bow when she felt the presence behind her; pulling at her. She only glanced at it out of the corner of her eye before giving Death a steely gaze. Any warmth she had been feeling for him for the bow was now gone with the manifestation of the door.

"If the gifts weren't enough." He simply explained as the pull on her became stronger.

She planted the bow down and took a defensive stance, bracing herself against the pull. "Okay. I'll finish this. I'll kill Inuyasha. Then what? What happens afterward?"

If it was possible, Death's face went slacker. Void and empty. Surprised at her question and not wanting to show it. "That is entirely up to you."

"Bullshit!" she screamed. "You're up to something! What's going to happen to me? What are you planning?"

"Planning?" he repeated idly as her feet began to slide backwards. "I am planning nothing. Everything I had planned is in effect. You are being put through a ritual as punishment for stealing from me. All I need is for you to finish it. But for when this is over, as I said, that is entirely up to you."

"I don't believe you." She said quietly in resignation as the pull became too strong for her. But before she was sucked in completely, she grabbed hold to the column for one last reprieve. "But I'll tell you this. It won't end the way you want."

He looked at her placatingly. "But it will end."

With one final stare down between the two, Kagome's grip faltered and she was sent silently through the door, her glare on Death until it closed. The silence that followed was both awkward and ominous.

Death slowly turned his gaze to the Winchesters.

"Whoa, first off…we didn't know it was actually you." Dean offered up first.

"We…we thought it might've have been a rogue reaper, maybe." Sam added.

Death didn't respond; he didn't even blink; he only stared with a subtle animosity.

"But…" Dean continued. "We invited you here. Invited is the key word, because…we thought you…look we bought you a pizza"

Death's head quirked in interest, but the menacing pressure only thickened.

"Plus, Krispy Kreme." Sam put in with enthusiasm. "The hot and ready light had just turned on."

The Horseman of Death's head rose in approval as the atmosphere lightened, and with a rustle of bags, he was gone and the boys could breathe in relief.

"Thank God for doughnuts!"