Disclaimer - *InuYasha* - She doesn't own us, thank the gods, or else I would probably be long dead of various causes by now.
*DracOnyx* - don't listen to him. He's right that I don't own him, but I could never kill him . . . he's too cute. I can, however, torture him for being a baka : )
Author's Notes - well, here you are folks. A decidedly longer chapter, to make up for the shortness of my last one. Hope you enjoy. I do believe this is the hardest chapter I've ever written . . . and I thought lemon scenes were rough. Fight scenes are ten times worse, let me tell you : ) I had to draw myself diagrams to be sure I got placements right . . . yick! Anyway, read, enjoy, and please review : ) I love reading them . . . they are so much fun : )
Chapter 13 - Claims
Kagome dropped lightly to the ground, keeping a few feet in between her and the wolf youkai.
"What are you doing here, Kouga? You know InuYasha will blow a gasket if he finds you." Kouga looked confused for a moment.
"'Blow a gasket'? What does that mean?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest in a gesture that was eerily similar to InuYasha. Kagome waved the question away absently.
"Never mind, Kouga. It's not important. Why are you here?"
"Why . . . to claim my mate, of course. Now that you have matured, you will bear me strong pups and help me to rebuild my pack.." He advanced on her slowly, his eyes glowing with an unholy light. Kagome began to back away slowly, trying vainly to keep as much distance between them as possible.
"Kouga . . . look . . . you see . . . the thing is . . ." Her back hit something solid, and she started in surprise before strong, familiar arms wrapped around her protectively.
"She's already claimed, wolf. Even your pathetic excuse for a nose can't have missed my scent on her," a voice growled, as Kagome heaved a sigh of relief.
"InuYasha," she breathed, happy for the first time in two days. He leaned down to nuzzle her neck slightly, nipping at her skin with his teeth.
"Of course I could smell you on her, mutt, but you haven't completed the ritual . . . she's still claim able. And I'm here to claim her as my mate . . . as I promised," Kouga replied, his own voice dropping into a growl. "Beside, why would she choose a filthy, pathetic half-breed like you over a full-blooded youkai such as myself? You must have forced yourself on her . . . Kagome would never have allowed you to bed her willingly." InuYasha's growl intensified from a low rumble to an out-right snarl at this, his arms tightening around Kagome possessively.
"She did choose me, you wimpy wolf! I forced her to do nothing!"
"I doubt that highly . . . but I'll make it fair for you. Fight me for her. One on one . . . no sword, no shards . . . just teeth, claws, and flesh. Or are you afraid you can't win?" InuYasha snarled, baring his fangs to the wolf youkai as he stepped forward, placing Kagome firmly behind him. Kagome's hand on his shoulder stopped him from outright leaping at Kouga.
"I'm not some prize for the two of you to fight over, you know. I make my own choices," she said.
"If dog turd can prove to me that he can protect you as his mate by defeating me, I'll leave you alone. If not, you are mine, Kagome. In time, you will come to love me as you do him." Kagome shook her head firmly in denial at Kouga's statement, but stopped when InuYasha turned to face her, one clawed hand gently cupping her face as his golden eyes met hers, his expression serious.
"He's right, Kagome. This is the only way that he'll stop trying to lay claim to you."
"InuYasha . . . you could be killed! No, I won't allow it . . ."
"You don't have a choice here, Kagome. It has to be done," InuYasha said firmly. Stealing one last kiss from her, he turned away and approached Kouga. "Get rid of your shards, Kouga. And don't forget, Kagome will know if you don't give her all of them." Kouga nodded, swiftly removing his three shards, which he walked over and handed to Kagome solemnly.
"I hope you will forgive me when this is all over, Kagome," Kouga murmured. Kagome just smiled softly at him.
"There will be nothing to forgive, Kouga. He will win."
"You have that much faith in that mutt?" Kagome merely shook her head at his insistence, and tucked his shards into a pocket.
"I have faith in InuYasha." Kouga snorted and turned to stand across from the hanyou, a determined look stamped upon his features. "Please, be careful InuYasha," she murmured as the hanyou and wolf youkai sized each other up, neither wanting to make the first move.
At last, InuYasha's patience wore thin and he leaped for Kouga, his claws reaching for the wolf, intent on shredding his heart from his chest. But the wolf was fast, even without the shards, and dodged out of the way, his own fists lashing out. InuYasha saw the move, and landing on one hand, sprang back up and over to his feet, out of Kouga's immediate range. They continued to strike and dodge, feeling each other out, until Kouga drew first blood with a claw strike to InuYasha's chest, shredding the thin shirt of Kagome's time and drawing strips of red across the pale skin beneath.
InuYasha hissed in surprise, but shrugged the pain off, lunging back into the fight with a spinning kick that caught Kouga on the shoulder, sending him spinning into the ground. Kouga was back on his feet within seconds, and the two traded blows back and forth across the clearing as Kagome looked on, a worried expression on her face.
Hearing approaching footsteps from the direction of the village, she moved to intercept them. Miroku and Sango stepped into the clearing, tensing at the battle that raged before them.
"Kagome, what in the heaven's is going on?" Sango asked, her eyes on the battle. "Why are Kouga and InuYasha fighting?"
"Why isn't InuYasha using the Tetsusiaga?" Miroku asked quietly, looking in concern at Kagome's worried face.
"They're fighting over me," Kagome replied. "No swords, no shards . . . just straight one on one." She sighed, and shook her head. "I honestly don't know how this one is going to turn out . . . gods, I hope InuYasha wins."
"He will, Kagome," Miroku said, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "He's always been at his best when he's fighting for you."
Both fighter's were panting, glaring at each other from a short distance, blood flowing freely from lacerations on both, although none were terribly serious.
"Kagome's mine, dog turd. With how you treat her, how could she not choose me? You're just some half breed mutt who doesn't even have a home or a heritage. Why don't you just relinquish your claim to her and run away with your tail between your legs . . . at least you would still have your life," Kouga taunted, spitting out blood.
"Kagome IS my life, you flea bitten wannabe wolf!" InuYasha charged blindly, his rage making him careless. Kouga spun out of the way, raking his claws down InuYasha's exposed back, leaving several serious wounds. InuYasha, unable to halt his forward momentum, crashed into the underbrush and lay still.
"INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed, moving to run to him. Kouga was suddenly in front of her, scooping her up and slinging her, kicking, over his shoulder.
"I win . . . Kagome is MY mate," he stated calmly. "Come Kagome . . . it is time to begin rebuilding my pack." He began to walk off, Miroku and Sango frozen into stunned immobility. Only Shippo could react, and he promptly leapt for Kouga's tail, clamping down with his teeth onto the furry mass. Kouga howled, snatching him off and flinging him back towards the stunned humans. "Annoying kit . . . learn your place," he snarled.
"SHIPPO! Kouga, put me down this instant! God damn you, you damn barbarian, LET . . . ME . . .GO!" Out of nowhere, Kagome's aura flared up, responding to her anger and fear violently. Kouga yelped in pain, promptly dropping her to the ground as the purifying energy burned him. Kagome grunted in pain as she hit the ground, but promptly scrambled back to her feet and backed away as Kouga advanced on her, still intent on claiming the prize he now considered rightfully his.
A blur of silver knocked Kouga into the forest just as he was reaching out to grab her. Kagome gasped, suddenly finding herself facing a bare, fully healed expanse of InuYasha's back.
"InuYasha?" she whispered, stunned. She could have sworn that he was out cold. He glanced over his shoulder at her, and Kagome stepped back as the stripe on his cheek came into view. 'Oh no . . . he's lost control again . . . even with Tetsusiaga nearby . . ."
"No more playing, you pathetic wolf. Kagome is MY mate!" InuYasha growled, his claws flexing absently as Kouga picked himself up, shaking his head to clear it. "Come on, flea bag . . . I haven't got time to waste on you and your pathetic attempts to claim my mate . . ." Kouga snarled and charged him, jumping up into a roundhouse kick, aiming for InuYasha's head. InuYasha read the move and reached out, snagging Kouga's leg in the air, claws digging into the flesh fro purchase as he used the wolf's momentum to fuel his own movement. He spun with the wolf in his hands, flinging him into the air before leaping after him.
The mid-air collision was spectacular, InuYasha using both fists to hammer into the small of Kouga's back, sending him plummeting head long back towards the ground below. Kagome could only watch, stunned, as InuYasha once again beat him to ground, kicking out to send Kouga flying into a nearby tree before he touched earth again. Kouga slumped for a moment, coughing blood, before staggering back to his feet and charging the demonic InuYasha again. InuYasha merely grinned, his claws extending their length as he awaited Kouga's charge, his own crimson eyes bloodthirsty. He swung, not anticipating Kouga's ducking and sliding under neath his blow at the last second. The wolf youkai came up behind him, his fist planting itself into InuYasha's face when the hanyou turned to find his opponent.
The punch only dazed him for a second before he was back into the fray, Kouga expending all his strength and speed to merely avoid being shredded. He'd never seen InuYasha like this . . . this was not the hanyou he'd expected to beat so easily. He was barely managing to dodge the attacks, much less get in any counter-attacks of his own. Finally, he saw an opening and took it, his fist flying towards InuYasha's head. Unfortunately, he realized too late that the hanyou had deliberately left himself open. His hands clamped onto Kouga's wrist, and he spun, flinging the lighter wolf demon to the ground.
The hanyou - turned - youkai was on the wolf leader in a second, his snarling face inches from Kouga's own, pining Kouga to the forest floor.
"Yield, wolf. Give up your claim to my mate and yield, before I begin to hunger for the taste of your blood," InuYasha snarled, his crimson eyes boring into Kouga's own, their look that of a feral beast. "Or do you wish to leave your pack leaderless by dying needlessly here?" Kouga whined, baring his throat in submission, yielding his claim to Kagome to the stronger male. InuYasha leapt off him, his chest heaving as he fought back the desire to kill the wolf and be done with it. Kouga slowly stood up, facing Kagome for a moment and nodding before moving to leave.
Clapping echoed through the clearing, stopping everyone where they stood as cold laughter joined it.
"Well done, InuYasha . . . just what I would expect from a common beast such as yourself." Kagome froze. She knew that voice, only too well.
"Naraku . . ." she whispered. "He's here."
To Be Continued
AN - Yes, yes, I know . . . put down those rotten vegetables, I know I left a nasty cliffhanger there again. I can't help it . . . leaving cliff hangers is my way of telling you I want you to keep reading my story : ) And really, I am terribly flattered by the number of people who like this story : ) Next half of the chapter will be posted next Monday : ) Till then, I've also posted a new Final Fantasy VII fic called 'A Second Life' and, heaven's help us all, a new Yu-Gi-Oh fic (I'm an avid fan and a duelist) called 'Out of Darkness'. Go check em out if you share my interest in those two things : ) Later all, and I hope you had a happy easter and a good spring break or what not.