Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me but to Rumiko Takahashi!
Unearthing Love Again
CHAPTER 1: The Fight
It's a typical day in feudal Japan and Kagome had just got back to the group after returning home to her time to replenish her supplies.
"Ah, Kagome! You brought those thin potato things!" shouted Shippou excitedly when he saw Kagome pull out the bag of potato chips from her giant yellow backpack. She smiled and handed them to him before walking over to Sango and Miroku to give them the treats she got them from home.
"Those are too good for you runt." Inuyasha said roughly as he hit the young Kitsune demon over the head while snatching the chips out from his tiny hands. Shippou glared at Inuyasha for a few seconds before remembering Kagome was only a few feet away. Inuyasha was confused as Shippou's glare turned into a smug smile.
"Kagome! Inuyasha stole my food!" Inuyasha stiffened in response to Shippou's complaint and quickly hid the bag uselessly behind his back. He whipped his head around to glare down at the runt.
"Inuyasha…" said Kagome with a raising tone. Inuyasha turned nervously to look at Kagome's strangely calm face. "Give them back, please." Kagome said sweetly and smiled at him. 'She's not going to hurt me?' thought Inuyasha surprisingly.
'She's not going to hurt him?' thought Shippou unhappily as he crossed his arms and pouted. Inuyasha slowly brought his arm out from behind his back and dropped the chips in front of a still upset Shippou.
"Oswari!" THUMP!
All you could hear from the hanyou (in the 3-foot deep hole his face just made) was mumbling something about a bitch and how it was only food. Miroku burst into laughter and Sango chuckled silently to herself. Shippou grabbed the chips and ran to Kagome, laughing quietly to not provoke Inuyasha further. He plopped down and started eating happily, very satisfied that the stupid dog got 'sat.'
Inuyasha only caught the hoishi's laughing as he peeled himself out from the dirt and glared at them. They were all getting ready for lunch on a grassy cliff at the edge of the forest with a beautiful view. They were sitting under a tree to shade them from the heat of the beautiful summer sun.
"Damn monk, shut the hell up before I smash your face in!" growled Inuyasha as he regained his balance and went back to his previous sitting position. He wanted to take out his anger on someone and Miroku was the most annoying at the moment with his loud laughter.
"Maybe you should just be nice to me, baka!" Shippou yelled, feeling safe by Kagome. He thought it would be funny to provoke Inuyasha from a distance to see if maybe Kagome could 'sit' him again. He smiled at the thought.
"Feh... Youkai are NOT nice!" said Inuyasha. "We should be looking for the shikon shards, not being lazy, sitting here and resting. You weak humans always have to rest!"
"If you think about this logically, we have been traveling and working very hard… we need rest. Our bodies are not as tough as demon bodies. Just look at these poor girls! Sango clearly needs some rest and positive attention." Said Miroku innocently, as he reached around and groped Sango's butt. Sango yelped and him in the face in response.
"That pervert is right Inuyasha, just enjoy the food and lighten up. You complain too much." said Sango as she took out her giant boomerang and started on the much needed task of cleaning it up.
"Feh!" said Inuyasha and fixed them with a glare.
Inuyasha got up and turned to head into the forest with every intention of getting away from this entire good-mood-bright-shit. It was very annoying, and he was still pissed at Kagome and Shippou.
"Inuyasha! Where are you going?" asked Kagome, getting up also.
"None of your business wench! I'll go where I want and I don't have to explain myself!"
"Just don't be gone long, and don't go too far!" Kagome called after him as she sighed. She understood Inuyasha and knew he had to act all tough to make himself feel better, but his actions wouldn't ever fool her. She knew deep down he cared for them and for her as much as she cared for him.
"Heh, 'don't be gooone looonnngg'," mocked Inuyasha under his breath, even though there was no need to be quiet. Inuyasha stomped into the forest, jumped into the most comfortable looking tree and decided to take a nap.
……..
Inuyasha woke with a start, something was…wrong. He scanned the area and saw nothing wrong, but his keen inuyouki senses were on guard, as if an enemy was approaching. Inuyasha jumped stealthily from tree to tree only to glide silently right next to Kagome. Kagome had no idea he was right behind her.
"Inuyasha, please tell me next time you are going to do that, you scared me half to death." Said Kagome still turned away from him.
"Wha-" said Inuyasha with his eyes and mouth wide open. "How did you know-"
"I just did," interrupted Kagome. "I can tell when you're near." She simply stated with a smile and a hint of a blush. "Inuyasha, I think I feel shikon shards close by."
"How close?"
"I'm not sure, they are very faint, but their aura is growing… almost as if they were headed this way." Kagome said. Inuyasha felt worried but did not let it show.
"I wanted to alert you guys, I feel like danger is approaching. Where is everyone else?" Inuyasha said as he looked around.
"Oh, they went to hunt for some food to take with us on Kirara, but I said I would stay behind. I wanted to stay just in case you came back from the forest and wondered where everyone went. I didn't want you to worry." Kagome trailed off.
"I think we should go look for…" Inuyasha paused mid-sentence as a deep growl emitted from deep in his throat. Kagome looked at him, alarmed.
"Inuyasha, the shikon shards…I can't feel them anymore. Can you sense them? Something blocked their signal… I can almost feel dark magic." Kagome said in a worried voice as she shivered and moved closer to him. As soon as she stepped closer to Inuyasha a giant cat youkai burst out of the forest, sword raised, and charged straight at Kagome. Inuyasha hardly had time to unsheath Tessiga in time to keep the cat youkai's sword from impaling Kagome.
"Kagome! Your arrows!" yelled Inuyasha. In the same five seconds Kagome had her arrow ready to shoot, forty different youkai swarmed onto the grassy cliff in a semi-circle around them, leaving the edge of the cliff to their backs. The leader was obviously the cat youkai that first appeared. Not all of them had shikon shards, but the ones who did had a considerable amount of power. The leader signaled them to settle down.
"Give us the rest of the Shikon no Tama and I will grant you a fast death." The leader demanded, motioning to his party that he would deal with Inuyasha himself.
"Don't be so cocky bastard, be sure you can defeat someone before you promise them their deaths." Inuyasha said as he gripped Tetsaiga harder, pointing it at the leader. He knew this was going to be a tough fight. He shot an arm protectively in front of Kagome and said, "If you bastards leave now I'll maybe let you live to see another day." The reply he got was a deep, throaty laugh from the leader and a mixture of laughter and snorts from the surrounding youkai.
"You weak hanyou, you WILL die!" with that the cat youkai ran at Inuyasha with swift, elegant motions. The youkai's sword seemed to dance in its lust for blood. It was almost like the sword had a mind of its own. The blade whirled dangerously close to cutting off Inuyasha's head and other body parts several times, and each time Inuyasha evaded the sword swipes. Kagome stood cautiously near the edge of the cliff and worried over Inuyasha while trying to keep the other youkai from getting too close to her with her bow ready, but even her miko powers channeled in her arrows pointed at them wasn't enough as they began to attack her.
"Where are your other friends, weakling?" asked the cat youkai as he swung at Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha dodged, but not fast enough as it cut deeply into his shoulder.
"What friends! We are alone." Inuyasha wondered how he knew of the others, and how long this stupid demon had been watching them. Not only was he having trouble keeping up with the youkai's swings but now he was losing a lot of blood.
"You can't fool us." He laughed. "Naraku said you would be stubborn, but as I said I will kill you and I will take the human bitch and eat her. Heh, on second thought, maybe I'll take her as my pet." Inuyasha was shocked to hear Naraku's name, hearing it made Kagome gasp.
"Naraku! He sent you!" Inuyasha yelled furiously "I will never let you touch Kagome!" His anger pulsed around his like a shield in response to the threat on Kagome's life, which gave him a burst of new energy.
"Oh, did I make you angry hanyou? She's your woman then, is she? That will give me even more pleasure watching Naraku torture her for all the trouble she has caused." The youkai's evil smile enraged Inuyasha even further.
While the cat youkai was fighting Inuyasha, Kagome had her hands full with the youkai that were attacking her. She had been pounding arrow after arrow into each youkai that neared her with such fury that some of the weaker youkai hesitated to attack.
Kagome had already collected three shards from youkai she had killed, but was nearing the end of her arrow supply and there were still many left. From quick glances to Inuyasha she could tell he was struggling. Every time Inuyasha let out his Kaze no Kizu, the cat youkai managed dodged it. Then she noticed Inuyasha's red fire rat coat was soaked in dark blood coming from his shoulder… wait - his blood. 'Oh no! Inuyasha is hurt, I have to try and help him!' Her concern completely diverted her attention to Inuyasha for a second as she made these connections.
At the same moment, a youkai noticed her pause and thrust his sharp claws towards her chest.
Kagome noticed sharp claws out of the corner of her eye… too late.
She cried out in pain, wide-eyed, and clutched her chest. She had dropped her bow and fell to her knees. The remaining youkai smiled at her pain and the smell of her spilled blood. The youkai who speared her with his claws took advantage of her moment of pain and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to double over fall to the ground in the fetal position. There was blood everywhere. She could feel the searing pain of broken bones… a few ribs…? Another swift kick to her stomach spent her sprawling on her back nearly unconscious as she lost a lot of blood.
"Inuyasha!" she whispered…'Help me.' Time seemed to slow as she was kicked in the face and realized there was no ground under her. She was dead; floating… she left Inuyasha-the man she loved-without telling him how she really felt….. She forgot the pain of her body as the pain from her broken heart overwhelmed her.
WAIT- no, she wasn't floating… she was FALLING! Over the CLIFF! A scream erupted from her mouth as she fell down, down, down….
A/N: Ok so this is an old story that I decided to review and edit because I'm not that good of a writer, lol. Feel free to review and give me anything you liked about it, or if you have any (positive) criticism for me, thanks!
