Settle the Score
by Chri
Author rantings:
Hello everybody. Looks like I took a bit longer than expected with this chapter. Actually, I had it ready almost a month ago. But then life got a little busy, and despite having the chapter beta-read, I didn't get to posting it. I don't think I've ever taken so long with giving a chapter the finishing touch. A big sorry, especially to my beta-readers. Your work is appreciated, even if it doesn't look like it.
At the positive side, the troubles (at work) are finally sorted out, and I even have a week of vacation soon. Which should translate into more time for this story. :)
October 24th, 2009: Chapter completed.
Disclaimer:
Inuyasha and the other characters of Rumiko Takahashi aren't mine.
The chapter epigraph is from a song by Wumpscut
Special thanks to:
dangersque and JMaxwell for beta-reading.
Chapter 33
There are two types of man on our mother earth
Some have all the luck, some just live in dirt
There are several types of the color of the skin
But what's crucial is to lose or win
Down where we belong
"Kagome?"
Everything was black.
"Kagome!"
A vague feeling of tension unsettled her, urging her to get up.
"Kagome? Are you awake?"
Someone was calling her. Kagome opened her eyes and found herself looking up at the evening sky. The clouds were a fiery red, as if the heavens were burning. It looked abysmal, for a second she felt like the world was ending.
Then, Sango suddenly appeared in her field of view. She was in her black battle gear and looked down at her worriedly.
"Can you hear me?"
Instinctively, Kagome tried to sit up, but immediately fell back to the ground, too weak to even sit. She felt cold and hot at the same time.
"Kagome! Are you all right?"
Kagome closed her eyes, feeling cold sweat running down her brow. "I – I'm…. I don't know," she croaked. Her throat felt coarse and dry.
Where was she? What had happened? There were memories, like after waking up from a dream, but she couldn't piece them together.
The last thing she remembered was riding her bike, and then -
Inuyasha! He was in danger!
Kagome sat up and somehow crawled to her feet. Barely standing upright, she wavered and would have fallen if Sango hadn't caught her.
"Kagome, look out!" she heard her friend say, her voice thick with concern. "You have to lie down!"
She didn't care, trying to orient herself. Where was she? And where was Inuyasha?
When Sango tried to carefully move the miko to the ground, Kagome clung to her, unwilling to stop. She remotely registered that her left arm hurt, but didn't care. "No! Sango, I have to -"
Her friend didn't listen, laying her down to the ground. Kagome cried out, feeling helpless. The world was spinning before her eyes.
"Kagome, please calm down," she heard Miroku say to hear in a soothing tone. "Please tell us how you feel."
"I feel awful!" Kagome cried out defiantly. "Happy now?!"
"What happened to you?" Miroku continued in an even voice.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "We have to help him."
Miroku and Sango looked at her, puzzled.
"It's true, I swear!" Kagome coughed. "He's in danger! Please, you have to help me."
She looked at them expectantly. Sango seemed to argue with herself, even Miroku looked tense. "Kagome, we'll help you, but please tell us what happened to you," the monk asked her after thinking for a moment.
"I don't know!" Kagome said quickly. "It was some kind of… psychic attack. I don't know. But I know that Inuyasha's in danger."
Sango nodded. "All right. Miroku, let's go take a look at the village." She turned to the side, addressing the little fox demon standing next tot her. "Shippou, you watch after Kagome."
"No!" Kagome shouted, sitting up with a jerk. "You have to take me with you! Please!"
"I want to go, too," Shippou added. "It's stupid to split up!"
"Think about it, Kagome," Sango said, ignoring the little demon. "You're as white as a sheet. Are you sure?"
Kagome tried to give a resolute and reassuring front, but feared that she failed miserably when Miroku and Sango shared an unsettled look. "I have to go," Kagome said quickly before the two changed their minds. No matter how she felt, she couldn't stop so close before reaching her goal, especially not after this mysterious assault. She wiped over her face with her sleeve, brushing away the sweat and the tears. "I feel bit wobbly, but I'll be all right."
"I hope you know what you're doing…" Sango said, moving besides Kagome. Miroku moved to the other side and together they helped keep her upright.
"Kirara, please help us," Sango said. The fire cat transformed and sat down next to them. Carefully, Sango and Miroku heaved Kagome up the back of Kirara.
When Kagome grabbed the cat demon's fur to steady herself, she finally got to take a look at her hurting arm. The sight shocked her – the left sleeve of her shirt ended almost at her shoulder, torn to pieces. Her entire arm looked like a bloody mess, both the upper and the lower part. Now that she had seen it, it suddenly hurt much more.
"We cleaned the wound as well as possible," Sango said, having noticed her friend's look. "You scraped your arm when you hit the ground. There was a lot of dirt in the wound – I used practically all of the cleaning liquid from your first aid pack."
Kagome gulped. She carefully moved her arm, finding that it still responded to her orders, but protested every little movement with a stinging sensation.
"Does it hurt much?" Sango asked worriedly.
Kagome steeled herself, looking at her friend determinedly. "I'll live," she said. "But we have to hurry!"
Sango mounted Kirara and sat herself in front of Kagome. "Hold onto me as tight as you can," she said. "Miroku, you hold her from behind."
Following Sango's suggestion, Miroku took place behind the two girls and put his hands around Kagome's waist, holding her steady. Shippou also jumped up, placing himself in front of Sango.
Sango turned around and, after giving Kagome an inquisitive stare, said, "All right, let's go. It shouldn't be far."
Despite feeling sick and being in pain, a wave of relief washed over Kagome when Kirara finally took off the ground. 'Inuyasha, I'm as good as there!'
As Kirara gained height, Kagome instinctively tried to steady herself with her injured arm, getting a sharp sting of pain in return. She almost cried out, but managed to swallow it.
"What exactly happened to me?" Kagome asked after she found that she could talk again.
Shippou climbed on Sango's shoulder, looking back to her. He didn't seem to mind that they were now far above the ground, gesticulating without a care as he explained, "We were cycling, remember? And then, all of a sudden, the bike dropped to the side at full speed. I was so surprised that I barely managed to jump out of the basket."
"I don't even remember an accident," Kagome said absentmindedly, looking at her arm. When she had entered the strange world of light, the bike must have gone out of control.
"You hit the ground like a puppet," Sango said grimly. "I was looking down by coincidence and saw it firsthand."
"Did you fall unconscious?" Shippou asked, his tone more curious than worried. "You were out for a few minutes."
Kagome shook her head. "I felt a moment of dizziness, and then –" She told them a quick rundown of what had happened to her: that she had suddenly found herself in a strange place and how she barely managed to fend off the attacker. She had to stop a few times to catch her breath. She could feel her friends worrying, but couldn't help it.
"I'm sure it's a miko thing," Shippou said with conviction when she had finished her story. "You were too strong, Kagome."
Kagome thought about the child's guess, it actually sounded plausible. But who could it have been?
"I'd guess it was a dark miko," Miroku said, "At the least, a monk couldn't do something like that."
Sango looked back. "Do you think…" she said and trailed off, exchanging a look with Miroku. It seemed like she wrung for words, her eyes jumping from one corner to the other. "Do you think it was – Kikyou?"
'Kikyou?' Kagome wondered, remembering how possessive the attacker had been about Inuyasha. But after a second, she discarded the thought again. "No," Kagome said, shaking her head. "I think I would have recognized her. Whoever it was – was a lot older."
"In any case, it's too much to be a coincidence," Miroku said. "So I think it's either related to our current business – or to Naraku. To be honest, I hope it's not the later."
"Naraku?" they all asked almost in unison.
"We haven't seen hide nor hair of him for a while," Miroku continued. "This might be the chance he was waiting for. However, I would wonder why he was waiting for so long, until we had almost caught up with Inuyasha."
Sango gulped. "Naraku is about the last thing we need right now."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Miroku interjected. "It's probably an accomplice of Isobe Hachiro, but we have to be prepared. Lady Kagome, in what kind of trouble is Inuyasha?"
"I don't know, but it's related to… whoever attacked me," Kagome answered. "In the end, it was Inuyasha they were after, not me."
That moment, a giant shockwave split the sky. It was suddenly stopped short, dispersing against what seemed like a giant, invisible dome. "That was the Wind Scar, wasn't it?" Kagome shouted. Forgotten were fatigue and injury. "Inuyasha!"
"Yes, but what did it crash against?" Sango asked. "It looked like some kind of barrier to me."
Kagome didn't really care, desperately trying to find Inuyasha. The cliff had come into view, but it still hid most of the village, only gradually giving sight as they got closer. It all took too long for her. Damn rock! Last time, Inuyasha had almost broken his neck because of it. 'Faster!' she silently begged Kirara. 'Inuyasha needs our help!'
The village was already cast in shadows, the cliff cutting off the last remains of sunlight. The main square finally appeared behind the edge; two big bonfires illuminating it. Kagome could make out movement: people were running away in all directions. 'They're fleeing,' she realized.
There! In the middle was the source of the panic – a group of about ten had surrounded somebody. Clad in red, he stood with his back to a wall.
"Look!" Kagome shouted and pointed down. "Isn't that Inuyasha?"
As if to follow her shout, Kirara dove at breakneck speed. Kagome gasped, thinking that they were too close to the ground. As if to confirm her fears, the forelegs of the cat demon grazed the edge of the cliff. With a loud crack, the stone shattered. Rock rained down, and the smell of earth charred by the fire cat's burning paws assaulted Kagome's nose.
Behind her, Kagome felt Miroku tensing. His grip around her tightened, almost winding her. Instinctively, she tensed as well, grabbing a fist of Kirara's fur with her left hand despite her injury and squeezing Sango's stomach with her right.
Kirara, however, didn't seem to care, still increasing her speed. When they passed the edge, the sun instantly vanished behind the cliff. The temperature noticeably dropped as they dived down towards the village.
"Ah!" Shippou shouted suddenly. Kirara noticeably shook at the same time.
"What?" Miroku shouted against the wind.
"It felt… strange for a second," Shippou answered, looking around warily.
"It must have been the barrier," Sango stated. "We broke through - we can worry about it later."
Down in the village, the people started to notice them. Some of them pointed up, others shouted or screamed. When the cat demon headed straight for the main square, they scattered away, creating a path below Kirara. For a second, Kagome considered pacifying them, but then discarded the thought. There was little she could do, so she turned her attention back to Inuyasha.
As they came closer, Kagome became sure that it was him, although the fires didn't provide much light. He stood with his back against a wooden wall, crouching slightly and snarling at his opponents. His routes of escapes were completely cut off, his attackers forming a half-circle around him. Next to him, one of his opponents hung lifelessly, Tetsusaiga sticking through his chest, nailing him to the wall. This was probably the reasons why his attackers held back for the moment and resorted to shouting at him.
Having almost reached the main square, Kirara gave a challenging roar. It was thunderous; Kagome could feel her ears ringing. The people behind them panicked, doubling their efforts in getting away.
It also broke the concentration of Inuyasha and his opponents, all of them carefully looking in the direction of the noise without letting the other out of their eye. Kagome suddenly felt very self-conscious and averted her gaze, unable to bring herself to look Inuyasha in the eye. She wanted to talk with him, apologize, make him apologize, but this wasn't the time for it.
"Hold on!" Shippou cried out on top of his lungs. "We're as good as there!"
Now Kagome had to look at him, having to see his reaction. How would he react? His expression was hard to read.
"You fools!" he finally growled, his tone deeper than usual. It sent a shiver down Kagome's spine. "Get out of here!"
Having said that, he launched himself at one of his opponents, clawing at his throat. His target, still distracted by the unexpected arrival, was too slow to react, but two of his comrades stepped in. One of them blocked the strike, while the other punched back at Inuyasha, hitting him squarely in the chest.
The force of the strike threw Inuyasha back, but he managed to turn some of his momentum into a spinning motion and strike out with his other claw. Blood and flesh splattered as Inuyasha left a deep gash in his attackers arm. Then he crashed against the wall, spitting blood. A muffled cry escaped him, but he managed to stay on his feet.
"Bastard!" the injured opponent hissed, carefully taking a step back behind his comrades. "Watch out! He's as nimble as a cat."
Another pointed in the direction of the approaching fire cat, which was only seconds away from landing. "Who the fuck are they?"
The question seemed directed at a smaller group standing about twenty meters behind them. Kagome hadn't paid them any attention so far, but now took a closer look. One of them was staring in their direction – Isobe. Her insides seemed to freeze. He looked like last time she'd seen him, yet everything about him felt very different.
'It's him,' she realized. 'It's him who tried to kill me.' She couldn't have explained it, but something about him, about his… aura felt exactly like the black leeches she'd fought off.
Kagome gulped when she noticed that he was staring right at her, the flickering light of the bonfire giving his face an ominous touch. Fear gripped her, yet she couldn't break the eye contact. Again she felt like staring down a well without bottom.
"Lady Kagome, be careful!" Miroku shouted behind her. Kagome suddenly noticed that she was in a bad lop-sided position; with a jerk, the monk heaved her upright again. "Do you feel all right?"
"W- Watch out," Kagome stammered, ignoring the question. She felt dizzy again, the adrenalin rush from the breakneck flight was already over. "There's Isobe. It's him who tried to kill me."
"Really, there he is," Miroku stated. "Are you sure it was him?"
Kagome nodded. "Yes, I am." Unsure whether it had been her condition or if he had tried something strange again, she avoided looking into Isobe's eyes and sized up the two people standing with him, a man and a woman. While the guy was carefully looking in their direction, the woman was following Inuyasha's fight with rapt attention.
What caught Kagome's eye were the colorful, exotic looking clothes they wore. In the case of the woman, very revealing ones that left only little to imagination. As if to make up for that, she also wore a lot of jewelry – it seemed like half her body was glittering against the surrounding twilight.
It was almost embarrassing to look at her, so Kagome turned her eyes back to the guy. His clothes looked similar to the woman's, almost reminding her of ancient Chinese style. Although covering more, they were also quite tight and would have made him look like a performer, if he hadn't been looking in their direction quite so coldly.
Kirara finally crossed the distance and landed in the flank of Inuyasha's attackers, carefully leaving about forty meters distance. Isobe's group was diagonally behind them.
Kagome still kept her sight on them. At the moment, Isobe seemed to be arguing with the man standing next to him, judging by the agitated gestures. She wondered what it was about, but the distance was too great to understand anything.
Shippou sniffed suddenly, looking from one group to the other. "Be careful, I don't think those guys are human," he said after taking another sniff. "They smell like youkai."
As if to acknowledge Shippou's statement, Sango took a firm grip on Hiraikotsu and jumped off Kirara. She got ready to throw it, but then held still.
"What now?" she asked without taking her eyes off the situation. At the moment, nobody moved, everyone carefully seizing up each other.
Kagome took her eyes off Isobe for a moment, looking at Inuyasha's opponents. Were all of them youkai? But why would they be working together with a human? The way it looked like, he was even leading them.
"If all of them are youkai, we can't pull our blows," Miroku said. Kagome felt him carefully untangle his hold on her. "Lady Kagome, I have to get off. Will you be all right on your own?"
The prospect of losing Miroku's reassuring presence scared Kagome; she had to fight the urge to ask him to stay. 'Sango can't face ten youkai just on her own,' she told herself. 'Even with Miroku, we're seriously outnumbered.'
"I'll manage," Kagome gritted out, though she didn't really feel confident about it. She'd barely said it, when Miroku already climbed off. It was almost like a strike, cold air assaulting where before Miroku's body had kept her warm. Involuntarily, Kagome shivered, making it painstakingly clear to her how debilitated she really was at the moment.
"I can help, too!" Shippou said. "I've trained a lot in the last days."
"Yes, I have something to do for you," Sango said. "Please watch after Kagome, and watch our backs. I don't want anybody circling around behind us."
The man to whom Isobe had been talking to suddenly started to walk briskly in their direction. "Hisashi and Katsu, you join me!" he bellowed in a commanding voice. "And the rest of you better finally manage to seize the half-breed!"
Two youkai stepped away from the group and joined with him. "That wasn't the deal, Masato!" one of them complained. "Katsu and me aren't here to play catch with humans and freakin' hanyou."
Masato opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short by Isobe. "You'll obey if you value your life!" he threatened. As if to emphasize his words, he gave the woman standing next to him a sharp blow to the back of her head. "And Haruka, I told you to help them!"
She had still been watching Inuyasha and, being caught entirely unprepared, stumbled forward. She caught herself after a few steps and, rubbing the back of her head, jogged to catch up with the other three youkai sent after Miroku and Sango, still throwing glances in Inuyasha's direction.
Masato, not looking happy about being reprimanded, had stopped and seemed to weigh his options. Hisashi used the opportunity to turn back to Isobe. "Are we at least allowed to kill them, your majesty?" he asked in a leering voice.
Isobe shrugged. "Be my guest."
Masato moved forward with a start. "Come on, let's get this over with," he said to his companions.
Keeping advancing on Miroku and Sango, he turned to the youkai surrounding Inuyasha. "What are you idiots waiting for?" he shouted at them. "If you don't have the hanyou by the time I'm finished with those humans, I'll have your worthless hides!"
The threat obviously worked, as they all launched themselves at Inuyasha.
- - -
Sango felt as if time slowed when she saw the bulk of youkai attacking Inuyasha. Her first impulse was to storm forward and help him – he didn't look well, probably having taken a number of hits before their arrival. He hid it pretty well, but she knew him for too long to miss the subtle hints.
But her chivalrous feelings were gone almost as quickly as they had come, the battle-hardened part of her mind taking over. The four youkai were advancing on them and blocking their way to Inuyasha: to ignore them would be reckless, if not suicidal.
'Hiraikotsu,' she decided, was her only way of helping him out. But the youkai were already upon him – she would have to aim straight at Inuyasha, hoping that he'd notice the weapon and manage to avoid it.
For a split second, the thought of what might happen held her back. If he didn't make it in time.... But she knew that the the enemies superiority in numbers was too overwhelming to play it safe. She had seen what Isobe by himself had been able to do, and now he had a dozen youkai with him.
'We'll have to take out some of them quickly,' she thought. The youkai leader, Masato, seemed especially dangerous, judging by the confident and agile way he carried himself. 'Can I take him out directly?'
No, wouldn't work. Maybe catch him by surprise, when Hiraikotsu returned unexpectedly? Unlikely. She had only one throw with the element of surprise on her side, then maybe another depending on how things developed. Some of them had to fall before then; she had a feeling that Miroku and her couldn't hold off all four of them, not with Kirara tied down with watching over Kagome.
'The right one it is,' she decided and took aim. All those considerations had taken barely a second, her mind working almost entirely on estimation and years of experience.
Her body almost seemed to welcome the chance to finally release the tension. As she threw, she knew that she couldn't afford to screw up; her aim had to be perfect. "Hiraikotsu!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, also hoping to give Inuyasha a hint.
A strange feeling washed over her when she felt the weapons leave her hand. The leather strap almost gently brushed her index finger, belying the raw force the weapon had gathered. And she had guided it straight for her friend; and she no longer could stop it. 'This will either save his life, or kill him.'
Two of the youkai advancing on them stepped to the side, but it wouldn't even have been necessary – Hiraikotsu shot past them with a healthy distance, heading straight at the group behind them. One of them joked about her aim, but Masato immediately turned to him and snapped, "Idiot, watch out for -"
He was cut short when spell scrolls hit them, thrown by Miroku. The female youkai, Haruka, managed to dodge with a roll to the side, but the other three youkai were caught and bound in place, at least for the moment.
Meanwhile, Hiraikotsu reached its primary target. Sango couldn't make out what happened to Inuyasha; youkai jumped left and right to save themselves, others dived to the ground. A few unlucky ones weren't quick enough or got tangled up – Hiraikotsu ripped right through them, blood and splintered bones flying through the air. Still, it barely brushed the wooden wall they had pushed Inuyasha against, and the undeterred weapon continued on its way.
It had been a wonderful throw, but never before had Sango been so worried at the sight of youkai mutilated by her weapon. 'Please,' she prayed, 'don't let Inuyasha be among them.'
A growl brought Sango's attention back to the situation at hand. Though Masato couldn't see the mayhem, unable to turn his head, the shouts and cries probably told him all he needed to know. He growled again and his face started to change as he fought against Miroku's magic. "Help… us… already!" he brought out through gritted teeth.
Haruka jumped to her feet and hurried to Masato, but Miroku threw another set of spell scrolls at her. Yet like before, she managed to evade them, almost artistically dodging past Masato and coming to stop near Hisashi. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Sango would have turned to Miroku and told him to stop ogling the scantly clad woman.
With a quick strike of her claws, Haruka sliced the binding scroll in two, and hurried on to Katsu.
"Ha, those are nasty little toys," Hisashi laughed, so loud he couldn't hear Masato grit out a warning. "I'll –"
At that moment, the returning boomerang sliced straight through him, cutting off whatever he'd been about to announce.
Haruka screamed and threw herself to the side, barely dodging the weapon. A muffled cry escaped the still bound Katsu, whose left arm was now dangling by his side, almost ripped off and only held to his body by a tissue of skin.
Sango welcomed the Hiraikotsu silently, glad that her plan had worked out thanks to Miroku's spell scrolls. She turned her sight on Masato, who was now growling loudly. His face had half-transformed, looking distinctly feline. Their eyes locked, and she could feel his frustration and his bloodlust.
Keeping her eyes fixed on Masato, Sango caught Hiraikotsu. The unyielding stare he gave her surprised her; there wasn't an ounce of fear in his eyes. "I don't have time to play around, youkai," she mumbled as she, with another swirl, sent her weapon straight at him.
Masato's eyes started to glow red. With a loud shout, he broke free of Miroku's spell and crouched below Hiraikotsu, evading it by a hair's breath. As it flew over him, he struck out with his fist, hitting the weapon on the flat side, changing its course. With a loud thud, it dug into the ground some way behind him.
For a second, Sango would have bet that he was about to transform into his youkai form, but then the glow in his eyes vanished and his face slowly returned to normal.
Sango changed her stance and drew her sword, silently cursing that she hadn't managed to take him out. At least one of his men was down, and the other had taken a serious wound.
"Not bad, human," Masato growled as he freed Katsu with a slice of his claw. "I guess that's what you get for underestimating your opponent. Please excuse my rudeness."
Sango gulped, the bad feeling in her stomach increasing. For having been in a battle rage just moments ago, the youkai now looked eerily calm.
"Apology accepted," Miroku said, taking a step forward, partially shielding Sango from the youkai. "What is your business here, youkai?"
Masato coldly looked at Miroku. "The time for words is past."
"It seems awfully cowardly to attack a little human village with a dozen youkai, don't you think?" Miroku pressed on.
"Don't call me a coward, monk!" Masato growled. "We were acting perfectly civil until this mental hanyou attacked us all of a sudden."
"This mental hanyou is our friend and wouldn't attack you without reason," Miroku stated. "What is your relation with Isobe Hachiro? What are you doing here?"
"That's none of your business, monk," Masato said. "If you were wise, you would keep your nose out of it."
"You ganged up on Inuyasha," Miroku replied. "You have to be prepared for his friends also joining the fray."
Masato was about to reply, but then stopped, looking shaken for a second. He turned back to the other group, finding the fight still continuing. Sango's heart gave a jump when she made out Inuyasha, but her joy vanished when she saw a youkai landing a straight hit at the hanyou's cheekbone.
"Inuyasha…" Masato mumbled, turning back to Sango and Miroku. "The brother of the western leader?"
"The very same," Miroku replied. "You can bet that Sessoumaru won't be happy hearing about this."
"We'll see about that," Masato said, dropping into a battle stance. "Haruka, Katsu, I want to question them. Keep alive as many as you can."
The two youkai barely had time to comply before Masato launched himself forward. In a rush, they hurried after him.
"I can't use the wind tunnel in a village," Miroku whispered quickly. "Should we retreat?"
"Only if we have to," Sango replied.
She couldn't say more; Masato had already reached them, striking out with his claw. Sango countered with a strike of her sword, driving the youkai back.
Haruka and Katsu finally caught up and moved into their flanks, taking Miroku and Sango into a pincer. Following her intuition, Sango took the initiative and attacked Haruka. Masato tried to hit her in the side, but Miroku struck out with his staff and, blocking his path, engaged the youkai into a fight.
Focusing her full attention on Haruka, Sango attacked. Like before, the youkai showed great reflexes and flexibility, evading her strike, but that was what Sango had counted on. 'No battle experience,' she thought and targeted another strike straight at Haruka's neck.
That's when, eying her aim, the youkai's necklace caught her eye. 'It looks like Inuyasha's!' Sango thought with a start. In her surprise, her strike slowed down and her opponent could avoid it again. Still, the sword left a cut, barely missing the carotid.
With a cry, Haruka stumbled back, holding a hand to her bleeding neck, also shielding her necklace from a closer look. Sango cursed for letting herself get distracted and followed, taking along the swing of the sword for an overhead strike.
Haruka ducked, fear evident on her face, obviously having caught on to the fact that Sango – especially armed with a sword – was way out of her league. "Please!" the youkai shouted, taking another step away from Sango, "spare me!"
In her hurry, Haruka stumbled over a little bump in the ground and fell backward. Her head hit a stone with a loud thud and then rolled to the side. Sango took the sword in a two-handed grip, preparing to finish her off, but couldn't help but wonder if her opponent was already unconscious.
'I can't take any chances,' she reminded herself and made to kill the youkai, when she heard Miroku crying out behind her. She turned around, finding the monk with a deep wound in his left leg. With his remaining arm, Katsu had gotten a hold on Miroku's staff, while Masato had likely been the one to injure the monk, blood dripping from his claws.
Making a quick decision, Sango hurried back, leaving Haruka lying on the ground. Before she reached them, she saw Kirara suddenly jump at Katsu, burying the youkai beneath her paws. Taking advantage of the commotion, Miroku could wrestle his staff out of Katsu's hands.
Threatening to bite Katsu' throat, Kirara growled loudly, keeping an eye on Masato. The youkai growled back, making a shooing motion. Then, somehow sensing Sango's attack, he turned around and met the strike she threw at him with his claws. With a loud noise, her sword shattered. Disbelievingly, Sango saw Masato's claws pass inches before her face.
She took a step backward, keeping what was left of her sword between herself and the youkai. To her surprise, Masato didn't push his advantage. "Give up," he said in a calm voice. "If you turn yourself in peacefully, maybe I can let you live. At the very least, I can promise you a quick and painless death."
"I'm a taijiya," Sango hissed back. "A death like that would be a disgrace to me!"
"A taijiya risking her life for a hanyou?" Masato asked. "Are you sure you have your priorities straight?"
Keeping her attention on the youkai, Sango gazed longingly at Hiraikotsu out of the corner of her eye. Could she reach it? With a real weapon instead of this crappy sword, things would be different. What she needed was a diversion; this wasn't an opponent she could turn her back to.
As if reading her thought, Kirara locked eyes with her. Sango nodded and threw her sword at Masato; Kirara ripped out Katsu's throat, his cry ending in a sudden gurgle, and then launched herself at Masato.
Trusting Kirara and Miroku to keep the youkai busy, Sango turned around and ran as fast as she could.
It seemed to take forever until she reached Hiraikotsu. 'Faster!' Loud growling and shouts came from behind her, but she didn't dare look back.
When she finally reached her trusted weapon, she jerked it out of the ground and turned around to find Kirara jumping at Masato. Almost too quick for the eye to follow, he dodged and struck at her.
Kirara made a high-pitched whine and crashed to the ground.
"No… Kirara," Sango whispered. How badly was the cat hurt? Her worries grew when Kirara didn't move and transformed into her smaller form.
"Masato!" Sango yelled. Not caring about anything else, she threw Hiraikotsu at the youkai and started forward.
Miroku had to jump away to avoid the weapon, and Masato jumped right after him. Sango rushed forward to the spot where Hiraikotsu would meet up with her, keeping her eyes on the youkai. She could see the back of his hand smeared with blood. There was also a wound on his leg, and a cut over his eye, which was starting to bleed. Kirara and Miroku had put him under pressure.
"Prepare to die!" Sango shouted, jumping forward to catch Hiraikotsu.
As if to mock her, Masato jumped up and turned his back towards her, attacking Miroku. The monk was still on the ground after dodging Hiraikotsu, his expression unusually tightlipped. When Masato grabbed for him, Miroku tried to defend himself, but was too slow. Masato smashed the staff out of his hands and then hoisted the monk up by the neck.
When their faces were level, Masato turned around, holding Miroku in front of him like a shield. "Enough of this," he said in a commanding voice. "Drop your weapons if the lives of your friends means anything to you." As if to underline his threat, he dug his claws into Miroku's neck.
The monk winced, but shouted, "Sango, don't listen to him. Think about yourself, think about Kagome!"
Sango stopped dead, holding Hiraikotsu ready for another throw. Her mind worked furiously. If there was anyone she couldn't lose, it was Miroku. But if she threw her weapon away, all of them were as good as dead.
"I stand to my promise," Masato continued. "Turn yourself in peacefully, and maybe we can work this out."
Sango saw Haruka still lying on the ground next to her. "Hurt Miroku," she said, pointing at the unconscious figure, "and your woman dies."
"Kill her if you must," Masato replied.
"I will," Sango shot back desperately. "Release him!"
But Masato didn't budge. Suddenly, something little shot at him from behind – Shippou. Hoping for a diversion, Sango started forward, but Masato reacted immediately. He turned to the side, giving Shippou a hit with his free fist, and sent the fox demon sprawling back.
Before Sango could reach him, he had already turned back to her. "One more step, and I'll really kill the monk," he said, sounding dead serious.
Sango stopped, cursing. A few more steps, and she could have saved Miroku. She saw the monk's body flex, and the youkai obviously noticed it as well. "Don't do anything stupid, monk," Masato said. "If you heroically sacrifice yourself, there's still the girl behind us and the fox child."
At hearing Kagome mentioned, Sango looked quickly, finding the girl kneeling unsteadily on the ground. She looked awful, her body shivering violently. She didn't seem in any condition to turn the tide.
"You've lost, accept it," Masato said. "Your hanyou friend is finished as well."
Sango turned around, finding Inuyasha held by two youkai, while the others punched him. It was hard to tell whether he was still conscious.
After a few seconds, Sango closed her eyes and dropped Hiraikotsu. "You've won," she said, her voice sounding like that of somebody else to her.
'I'm sorry,' she thought, collectively thinking of everyone around her. She didn't think their chances of working this out were great, not after all the casualties on the other side.
"Go take a look at your cat," Masato said, snapping Sango out of her thoughts. "Maybe you can do something for her."
Not liking follwing the youkai's orders, but having little else she could do, Sango turned to the side and ran to Kirara. Gulping, she knelt down next to her.
There was an awful lot of blood on the ground. The cat didn't move at all, she didn't even seem to be breathing.
"Kirara!" Sango said disbelievingly. She scooped the cat up, her heart skipping a beat when the head of the little cat rolled to the side.
"No…" Sango whispered, putting her back on the ground. This couldn't be true. "Kirara!"
She placed her ear on Kirara's chest, but there was no breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. "Kirara!" Sango cried, her sight turning blurry. "Kirara..."
With a shaking hand, Sango grasped down, hoping against all hope that Kirara was still alive. She touched the neck, feeling for a pulse, but there was nothing. Just blood, everywhere.
She felt like a part of her died that moment. Since she could remember, Kirara had been with her. They'd been inseparable since she had been a little girl. She'd often been Sango's only companion when she'd set out to exterminate a youkai. They'd been through hell and back again.
It hurt.
It hurt so much. "Kirara!"
"Watch out for the prayer beads," she heard Masato say behind her, "I think there something about them, he tried removing them before. Tie his hands behind his back."
Sango turned around, hatred boiling up in her. She found Masato standing over Miroku, who was lying on his stomach, a youkai tying his arms behind his back with a rope.
"You bastard!" Sango screamed. She jumped up and sprinted at him. The world around her felt unreal; only Masato and her, that was all that mattered.
Another youkai jumped in her path, but Sango ducked under his grip and continued, only having eyes for the murderer of Kirara.
When she reached him, she punched him with all her might. It felt like hitting a wall, yet she didn't care, throwing another punch. But strong arms seized her from behind, pulling her away from Masato.
"Let me go!" she roared and stepped violently on her assailants' foot. Hearing a cry from behind, she was free again and charged at Masato.
The youkai dodged, but she got another two hits in until she was seized again and pushed to the ground, forced to lie on her stomach. She cried out in pain when someone rammed his knee in her back, pinning her to the ground. Strong hands grabbed her by the wrists and twisted her arms behind her back.
Someone stepped before her and crouched down; Sango strained her neck, looking up. She found Isobe Hachiro leering down at her. Almost gently, he put an arm on her shoulder.
"Don't worry your little head too much, cutie," he said with a cruel smile. "You'll be reunited with your kitty soon enough."