Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.

Chapter 12

"Haruto...what's going on?" she groaned, struggling to keep her eyes open as he brought the tip of his knife to the front of her dress.

"I told you," he explained with a sigh. "I'm the fourth son of the third son."

She felt the tip of his knife scrape against her skin as he cut the front of her dress open, exposing her bra to him. That seemed to wake her up a little from the haze that was seeping into the corners of her mind. She reached up to grab his hair, pulling it as hard as she could while she wrapped her legs around his waist and twisted. She was able to throw them off of the couch and she clumsily stood, running to the door. He was faster, though...and he grabbed the back of her dress, ripping it further but successfully stopping her just as she was about to reach the panel to open the door.

"I can't let you do that," he chided, throwing her down to the floor as she yelped in pain. "You have something I need, and I'm not going to let you go running back to your former mate to save you. Again."

"What?" she breathed, moving her hand down to the pocket with the tracker and subtly pressing the button from the outside of her dress. "I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," he laughed mockingly. "That's because you were born on that backwoods planet this time. Why do you think you're still alive?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly in a whisper as he crouched down over her.

"I can tell you why," he smirked, slipping the flat side of the blade under the fabric of her bra between her breasts. "It's because he can't watch you die again. I heard he was devastated last time...I wonder what this time will do to him?" he pondered, turning the blade over to attempt to slice her bra in half. She quickly brought her knee up between his legs, kicking him in the groin before he could finish. He dropped the blade and fell to the side, clutching his genitals as he groaned in pain.

Kagome snatched the blade and backed away from him, trying to get to a solid surface to help her stand.

"You bitch…" Haruto moaned, rolling over onto his knees and still cupping his groin. "I was already going to kill you...but now I think I'll play with you first…"

Haruto pushed himself to stand just as she did, and she brandished the blade menacingly in front of her body.

"Don't come any closer," she warned, fighting off the haze in her vision and the swirling in her head. "I mean it!"

"Oh, I'm sure you do," he laughed, "but you don't scare me. I told you - I'm the fourth son, and I will find glory. Killing you and getting that jewel out of you is my glory. Do you have any idea how long we've searched for you?"

The jewel.

Of course that's what he wanted.

"How long?" she asked, trying to keep him talking. Talking bought her more time.

"Almost fifty years," he sneered. "And, of course, when we find it...your mate won't let us do anything about it."

"I don't understand what you're talking about!"

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" he mocked. "Do you even remember anything about your past life? Was your death that horrible? I hear that only happens when your past is better off forgotten. I wonder how they killed you...I heard it was difficult to identify your remains…"

"I...what...I haven't died! I'm right here! I can't be dead!"

"But you were. Do you really think this is your first life? You stupid child...how do you think you got the jewel in you in the first place?"

"Kagome!" came a sudden scream along with a loud pounding from the other side of the door.

Inuyasha. He had come for her...

"Fuck," Haruto cursed under his breath. "I guess I don't have as much time to play as I would have liked. I'd better just get down to business."

"Haruto, don't you fucking touch her!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out, her heart pounding in her chest. He had come. For her. He was really here...

"Kagome!" he called back, slamming the door so hard that two large metal imprints of his fists appeared on the other side of the door.

"Persistent," Haruto sneered. "It doesn't matter," he shrugged, turning his attention back to Kagome. "Now, why don't you make this easy for me, huh? I promise, it will be quick."

"Don't come near me!" she yelled, backing away from him.

She wasn't going to let him play Operation on her. She wasn't a game for his amusement...and she absolutely wasn't going to help him earn his glory.

"Kagome!" a new voice called. Koga? "Is she ok?"

"I don't know - go faster, damnit!"

"I'm trying! Someone tried to break down the door...so it's having a hard time working!"

"Just fucking make it work!"

"It's sweet how much he still cares, don't you think? Even after all this time...even in this new body...your bond still holds strong," Haruto laughed, approaching her. She backed away from him step for step until her back hit a wall.

"What bond…?" she demanded, pressing herself further against the wall.

"Wow...he really hasn't told you anything. Maybe it's because he's terrified of losing you again...or maybe it's because in the end, he knows he can't save you from your destiny," he laughed mirthlessly, continuing to close in on her.

"Stay away from me, Haruto...I'm warning you…"

"Please. Look at yourself! You think you know how to use that? Don't make me laugh," he taunted. He leapt towards her, and she thrust the knife upwards as he was about to strike her. She felt the blade slide into him as warm, wet liquid oozed out of the wound and down her hand, dropping off of her wrist and onto the floor.

She had stabbed him.

She had actually stabbed him.

"You bitch," Haruto sneered, looking down at the knife in his right side. He pulled it out with a groan, his eyes filling with a new venom as he examined the blood that now coated the blade. "Oh, I will savor this now," he grinned coldly. "I'll rip your heart out...and when I'm done, I'll throw it at your lover's feet!"

She was defenseless.

Trapped.

Seconds from being stabbed to death.

Everything seemed to slow down in those few seconds before he leapt toward her again. She could feel her heart pounding in her throat, each beat roaring in her ears as the blood drained from her head. The dizziness she had been fighting had also intensified, making it harder to process what was happening...and yet, she could feel her baser instincts being triggered.

She had always known that 'fight or flight' was a survival instinct, but she never thought that she would have to put it so fiercely to the test.

Haruto charged at her, knife poised in the air and ready to be thrust into her tender flesh...and yet, by the grace of God, some sort of eerie calm washed over her. Her mind went blank as the tip moved closer and closer to her.

It was seconds from striking, yet she felt no fear.

Instead...she raised her hands and brought them together in front of her chest. It was as if someone else had taken over her body. Her hands then began to tingle and glow a warm pink as she thrust them outwards toward Hartuo, pushing him backwards. He suddenly flew halfway across the room and to the ground with enough force to make him yelp in pain.

What.

The.

Fuck.

What the hell was that?! Had she just...no fucking way! Had she just pushed a man halfway across the room with her glowing hands?

She had to be imagining things on top of everything else that was happening...but she didn't have any time to process what had just happened. Haruto was coming back for more.

Kagome continued to hold her hands in front of her body, balling them into fists as he pushed himself back up with a grunt and grabbed his side in pain. His face twisted with malice, and a battle cry was ripped from his throat as he charged her again. She punched his sternum, knocking him against the wall on the other side of the room as the door finally opened.

Inuyasha.

He stood in the hallway, haloed by the bright light filtering in from the outside. He spared but a second to glance at her in shock before quickly shifting his gaze to Haruto as he forced himself to stand and charge once more. He had only made it a few feet before Inuyasha intervened.

He grabbed Haruto by the shoulders, tossing him into the couch like he was nothing more than a rag doll. The force of the impact made the couch flip over, and Haruto moaned in pain. However, Inuyasha wasn't satisfied, and he stalked towards the injured man with a lethal and powerful gait.

He picked Haruto up by the collar of his shirt and punched him hard in the face, breaking his nose. "I told you not to touch her," he screamed, his voice a guttural roar. He punched the man again, blood splattering around them from the force of his fist.

"Inuyasha!" Koga called as Kagome slumped down, the spinning in her head starting to become too much to handle. The glowing around her hands dissipated, and she watched as Koga rushed forward to the pair. "Let me handle him before you do something you'll regret," Koga advised, stopping Inuyasha from punching him again. "Take her home and see to her needs, ok?"

"Yes...go and take your mate home like a good little pup," Haruto sneered, and Inuyasha paled as he glanced over to her. "Oh, don't worry - she knows everything now," he laughed. "It seems someone forgot to tell their mate some very important things."

Inuyasha's face twisted in anger, and Kagome thought he was going to punch Haruto again. Instead, he threw him into Koga's arms, making his friend stumble slightly as he caught him.

"Handle him," Inuyasha growled, rubbing his knuckles on his black sweatpants and coming to stand before Kagome. He bent down and picked her up, gently cradling her to him. She felt his fingertips gently caress her cheek as he looked her over.

"Kagome…" he breathed softly, smoothing her hair out of her face.

That's when she stopped fighting the dizzying swirl in her mind and allowed her vision to fade to black.

A/N:

Thanks as always to Saucy for the edits! You are a Goddess and I LOVE YOU!

And….HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! You're all my Valentine and Saucy and I love and appreciate all of the support you guys have shown us so far! Truly! It warms our hearts to see that people actually like this story, and ever review is just a reminder that we should keep going and posting and writing and editing, SO THANK YOU!

House keeping:

Voting is over, but results aren't in yet. If you voted…no matter who you voted for…thank you for taking a moment to participate. Really. It's fun, you helped make someone's day and show them a little support, and it means the world to all of us writers and artists that you showed up!

Teaser game – I had a last-minute plot change, which will have a ripple effect through the rest of the story (God I love this buffer). All that means is that due to that and it being V Day, the teaser game won't go up on tumblr until tomorrow at the earliest.

Fic Recs – going to start recommending fics here starting next week! If you have a gem you want to pass along, let me know!

Posting schedule change – since voting is over, we're now switching to once a week updates guys.

Next chapter goes up Friday, 2/21!

Until then!

-Lemon Lush

A/R:

To MeTheAnimeLover7: Thank you for leaving us a review! I hit you back up on tumblr, but I just wanted to tell you again how much Saucy and I appreciate the review! I hope you love this new chapter too!

To Guest: LOL! Yes…she should have. But she was too shy and nervous. Not that he would have minded…Thanks for leaving this story a little love and hope you enjoyed this new chapter!

To Cass: Don't worry! He did! Thank you for your review and I hope you like what happened!

To Lola1991: Only if he can….Thank you as always for your amazing review! I hope you enjoyed how this one ended ;)