Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha and its characters are copyrighted to the amazing Rumiko Takahashi!
Bankotsu's Greatest Challenge.
Chapter 26: Tension Mounting.
Inuyasha heard the girl fall to her knees, breathing heavily and smelled her fear which permeated the air around them.
"Don't test me on this, Kikyo." Inuyasha stared at her as he slowly positioned his body between her and the girl. As much as he loved Kikyo, he refused to stand by and let her attack an innocent girl, especially one who just escaped a rampaging demon. He side glanced to check on the girl.
She sat on the ground hugging her waist and watched them, chin quivering. "Whoever you people are, just let me go, please?" Her face was pale and the blood flowering from her wounds was soaking into the ground as she tried to push to her feet.
"Just stay put and let me handle this." He kept his eyes on Kikyo and tried to keep his tone even as he stood between them and faced his lover. "Put the bow down and let's talk about this."
Kikyo's jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Out of my way, Inuyasha." Her tone stayed even as her fingers calmly drew the string and she pointed the arrow at him."
Kill them!
Before the arrow could strike Inuyasha, a large blast of energy ruptured the ground and deflected the arrow, wending it off to the side to land in a tree. Something silver spun in the air and then struck the ground, sending Kikyo flying back close to ten feet. The massive blade flipped to rest on a wide shoulder.
"Oi, do you have any idea how worried my wife is about you?" Blue eyes narrowed at the stunned hanyou. "I ought to ring your damned neck for worrying her like this."
Inuyasha's jaw tightened and he stepped towards the man. "Who asked you to butt into this?" He hooked a thumb in the direction of the girl. "Go tend to her while I deal with this."
Bankotsu's face reddened. "Watch your mouth or you'll be eating my damned fist!" He scowled and ground out, "What happened to her?"
"She came running through the trees with that demon over there hot on her heels." Inuyasha waved to the remains of the demon and scowled. "Just deal with her, leave the rest to me."
Bankotsu opened his mouth to yell at the arrogant mutt, but was cut off as he deflected an arrow. His eyes narrowed at Kikyo. "How dare you?" He stepped towards her.
Inuyasha pulled his sword out and placed it in Bankotsu's path. "Leave her to me."
Before anything else could be said the ground rumbled, knocking Kikyo down before the ground moved like the waves of an ocean as Kikyo tried to stand to her feet. Inuyasha and Bankotsu shoved their weapons into the ground, riding out the tremors.
"We'll finish this later." Bankotsu positioned his weapon in a defensive pose in front of him and his eyes scanned the area for any signs of trouble. His eye widened when Ginkotsu rolled out of the trees carrying the rest of the band of seven.
"We saw the explosion and came as fast as we could." Kagome called to her husband as she hopped off the tank and ran towards him. "Are you okay?"
He raised a brow. "I'm always okay." He jerked a thumb at the girl. "See what you can do for her."
Kagome ran over to the girl, dropping in front of her and opening her pack. She stared at the girl. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to fix your wounds, okay?"
The girl stared at her and slowly nodded, still shaking from the remnants of her fear.
Everyone else got into fighting positions as the ground groaned and rolled again, shaking their teeth together.
Miroku and Sango flew down on Kirara's back and went to stand by Kagome and the injured girl as Kagome tended to the girl's wounds.
"Something tells me this isn't good." Jakotsu managed to say before the sky turned pitch black.
Bankotsu snorted. "Gee, what was your first clue?" Before he could say anything else the screech of demons filled the air as numerous hoards closed in around them as the wind picked up to frightening proportions.
XOXOXO:
A/N: That's it for this one. Hope you all enjoyed it. I'd love to hear what you think about it. We're really close to the end now. XD