Hey guys! What, no reviews since Ch. 1??? Come on, I know you're all out there somewhere….. To those who did review, love you lots! Can't wait to see your comments on this one. And if you're reading without reviewing – why?!! Look, this is my second fanfic EVER, a little support would be great, ya know!

Not this again….Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Choice and Consequence

Chapter 3: Inadequate?!

Inuyasha jumped swiftly from tree to tree, keeping a sharp eye out for any youkai bent on making trouble. At least, that was what he had meant to do when he left Sango waiting by the fire a short while ago. However, it was incredibly frustrating to him that he simply could not concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing. His mind kept stubbornly returning to Kagome's weird behaviour at the camp that evening. He had thought she would be pleased at his suggestion that she take a break from shard hunting. After all, it wasn't often that he willingly let her go back to her time, so surely that should have gotten a positive reaction! A smile, a laugh – something. But she had just shrugged his gesture away.

'Without so much as a 'thank you'…' he thought.

It was blatantly obvious to him that some part of that rather one-sided conversation had caused her to run off – but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was. And for once he'd kept it simple; he hadn't mentioned the nightmares he knew she had (she probably thought she hid them pretty well – but he would have to be deaf not to hear her moaning during the night). He hadn't alluded to the amounts of sleep she wasn't getting, or the incessant muttering during the day, or her attitude towards him…

Truth be told, he was rather proud of himself.

His self-congratulatory musings were abruptly cut short when he remembered what Miroku had said after the girl had left in such a hurry. Unfortunately he had had to agree with him; that given her already unbalanced state of mind, Kagome would not want to confide in him. True, she had progressed from her initial cool ignorance of him to actually acknowledging his presence, but that was still a far cry from the way things had been between them once.

And now that hentai was out in the forest with her.

"That bouzu had better keep his hands to himself!" he growled…and brought his head up quickly. Something didn't smell right – it smelled like youkai! Then he started cursing, viciously berating himself for his carelessness. "It's back in the direction of the campsite!" he thought furiously. "How in the seven hells did I miss it?" All thoughts of his serious blunder screeched to an undignified halt when he heard Kagome's shout. And he couldn't quite believe who she was shouting for….

"INUYASHA!!"

The utter fear in her voice chilled him to the bone. Without stopping to think, he tore through the forest at a lightning-fast pace, praying to anyone who might be listening that he would get there in time.


Despite the seriousness of their current situation, Sango and Miroku raised their eyebrows at Kagome quizzically. Sheepishly, she ran back towards them.

" 'Inuyasha'?" Sango asked, somewhat amused. "We are right here, you know."

"Uh…force of habit?"

"Whatever." Planting her feet firmly on the ground, Sango flung Hiraikotsu at the attacking youkai with all her might. Miroku mumbled something in Kagome's ear (all she could pick up was the word 'prepare') and sped across the open ground, and then disappeared from view. Kagome shook her head – that was the worst thing about trying to talk at times like these; the racket was horrendous. Before she could piece together what he was planning, however, Sango made it back to her side to ask in annoyance:

"Hang on – where'd that houshi get to?"

Kagome glanced wildly around in search of their friend. Finally she spotted him hunkered down behind some bushes. A soft blue light was visible. Inspiration struck. "I think he's preparing a ward to get rid of this thing! It'll be hard without Inuyasha and Tetsusaiga here." Kagome would have liked to dwell on the hanyou's badly-timed absence, but she didn't get the chance. "Okay – so where's that shard you mentioned?" Sango suddenly jumped to the side, avoiding a near miss from their opponent. Kagome concentrated for a moment, then gasped, her heart sinking. "I – I can't sense it!"

"WHAT?! But you said there was one close by!"

"There was – there IS! It's still here, but – that's not it! It must simply be after our shards…" Kagome's voice faded away as she fingered the vial that hung around her neck, trying to figure out what to do next. 'And it doesn't look like this will be easy…' she thought uneasily.

This youkai truly was an awesome sight. It reminded her of the creatures called scorpions. It was huge – four metres tall and twice as long again. The body of the monster was covered with a shiny, smooth exoskeleton which seemed to easily deflect Hiraikotsu's impact. Its jointed legs went skittering madly over the ground as it moved around, forcing Sango to keep moving as well. Two evil-looking pincers adorned the front end of the body, and its tail (if it could really be called a tail) was tipped by a sharply-pointed stinger. Kagome swallowed nervously – she really didn't like the look of that stinger. Suddenly her brain caught up with what was happening. She smacked herself on the forehead in irritation. 'Idiot! Get your bow and arrows, you're wasting time!' Trying to gauge the distance, she made a mad dash for her weapons, praying she could reach them before the scorpion youkai could stop her. As soon as she broke out of her frozen stupor, however, the youkai focused on her – and the shards of the jewel which she carried.

The youkai started to hiss.

The sound was deafening, rising in malignant intensity the longer it went on. It was ludicrous considering the danger they were all in, but it put Kagome very much in mind of a boiling kettle.

A very angry kettle.

The faint smile that the thought had brought to her lips was quickly banished as a sudden motion behind her made her spin around. It was coming straight for her. Ignoring Sango's attempts to weaken it (and where was that houshi, anyway?!) it crashed right through the exterminator's defenses, having its sights firmly set on the hapless Kagome. With a startled cry she turned once again to frantically look for her bow. She was rather startled when it came flying out at her from the direction she was facing. Shocked, she looked for the cause – and spotted Shippo hiding inside her bag, doing his best not to be seen. 'Huh, he threw it at me…guess I wouldn't have found it in the dark otherwise.' She nodded at him to stay where he was. His answer was simply to work himself tighter inside the confines of the worn pack. Sighing in relief, she turned to face her enemy.

What she wasn't expecting was for the creature to be glowing blue. 'What the…?"

Ah, of course. An ofuda could be seen on the scorpion's back, the holy powers emanating with a ferocity that amazed her. The youkai seemed to be having trouble making its limbs work, but still it forced itself towards her with a dogged determination to get what it was after. Bracing herself, she pulled an arrow out of her quiver and took careful aim at the maliciously hissing thing. She heard a rustle in the trees behind her, but didn't allow it to break her concentration. 'Oh, gods I'm tired…' She trembled with exhaustion.

This was the sight that greeted Inuyasha as he apporoached the scene of the battle.

Events followed in quick succession.

Inuyasha dived desperately towards Kagome.

Kagome fired the arrow she was aiming at the youkai.

The youkai fell under the force of the impact and stumbled forwards.

The tottering youkai, with one final hiss, crashed into Kagome and knocked her to the ground. She gave a pained cry, then fell silent.

Inuyasha reached her side bare seconds later.

He stared in disbelief at what he saw. Kagome lay absolutely still, her eyes closed, with the body of the scorpion youkai crushing her into the dirt. Grimacing with disgust, he wrenched the carcass off of the girl, throwing it easily to the other side of the clearing in his haste. Miroku and Sango rushed over towards the pair, worry etched onto their faces. To their confusion they were forced to back off by a snarling Inuyasha. He focused entirely on the motionless figure lying before him. A low moan rose in his throat.

"Kagome…"

Ignoring the startled looks from the others, he knelt beside her and carefully gathered her into his arms, gently cradling her head against his chest. His fingers began an anxious search for any serious injuries, probing softly.

He smelt it before he saw it – the putrid stench of poison. 'That youkai must have stung her when they collided,' he thought. His nose told him that it was coming from her upper right arm, but any wounds were covered by the thick material of her shirt. He tried rolling the sleeve up to expose the arm, but the stubborn folds of cloth would only allow themselves to be pushed a little way before bunching hopelessly. Growling in annoyance, he pondered how to get the shirt out of the way without moving her too much. He was completely oblivious to what was going on around him. He didn't see Sango and Miroku battling to restrain the frantic kitsune cub, who was shrilly demanding to see 'his Kagome.' He missed noticing a second presence hanging around the campsite, one that was very familiar…he simply refused to be distracted.

Suddenly he grinned slightly. She would kill him when she woke up – or at least 'sit' him until he was unconscious – but it was the only way.

He shifted her gently, then ran one of his claws around the top of the offending sleeve. With a sharp tug the fabric parted, allowing him to slip the thing off and throw it absently to the side. His eyes widened in alarm at the extent of what he'd found. A small dark fragment of the youkai's stinger was embedded into the soft flesh of Kagome's arm. Around the puncture site her skin was raised slightly, and angry red lines traced their way out from the wound and along her arm. Guilt tore into him for a brief second – he hadn't been able to protect her – but he brutally squashed that thought. Time enough for that kind of thing later, when she was safe. Earlier he had been silently begging her to wake up, but now he was grateful that she was out cold – because this was really going to hurt.

Cautiously, wincing in apology, he dug one of his claws deep into her arm. He sliced across the top of the puncture wound, ripping the stinger fragment clear. An ugly mix of blood and sickly yellow venom gushed out of the incision that he had made. He quickly lowered his head to the bleeding gash and began to suck out the remaining poison, spitting every so often to clear his mouth of the noxious stuff. The awful smell was making his head reel, but he kept going, determined to do what he could for the person in his arms. His Kagome…

As he finished getting rid of the venom, he motioned for Sango to get some bandages for the wound he had left on her. Together they carefully wrapped the arm up, Inuyasha supporting Kagome in his arms and Sango fussing with the gauze. Once they had finished, he laid his charge down on the ground again and sat beside her to wait for her to wake up. All of a sudden, the second presence from before made itself forcibly apparent. A brown blur of muscle tackled Inuyasha from the side, slamming him into a very solid tree trunk. If Inuyasha had been fully alert, there wouldn't have been a problem – but he had been concentrating on Kagome…leaving himself wide open. He had great cause to regret that lapse in the next instant.

"What the hell have you done to my woman, Inukkoro?!!" roared a very pissed off wolf youkai. Sango and Miroku shared a look – so that was the shard Kagome sensed.

"Me?!! I didn't do anything!!" yelled Inuyasha, shaking his head to get rid of the stars in his eyes. 'Crap! Couldn't have picked a worse time for this…'

Kouga planted his foot on the still stunned hanyou's neck, keeping him in place so that he could lean down and glare straight at him. "I don't believe you!"

"Gah! I told you, I didn't do –"

"I just don't believe you! How could you let this happen?" Kouga demanded, cutting him off. "Just how many times have you let her get hurt, you moron?!"

Inuyasha threw him away with a burst of strength, but then stood still. His mind was on Kouga's words – how many times? He replayed the memories…

The attack by Sesshoumaru in his father's grave…

The burst of flame from Hiten, engulfing her…

A line of bodies, dying from Mukotsu's poison…

Her, captured by Hakudoushi and Kagura…

And most recently, red blood welling up under his gripping claws…

He answered the question in his own thoughts, 'Too many times. I let her get hurt too many times.'

Kouga, seeing that Inuyasha was not attacking him (for the moment), stalked angrily over to where Kagome lay. Before the others could stop him, he scooped her up in his grasp and swung around to face the hanyou. "This is unacceptable. You are an inadequate protector for my woman, Inukkoro. So, I'll take her off your hands." He smirked. "Bye!" And before any of them had time to blink, he was gone – along with their friend.

Sango and Miroku stood unmoving, slack-jawed with astonishment at what had happened. Sango recovered her wits first, moving to stand in front of Inuyasha – ready to hit him with Hiraikotsu, she was so mad!

"Why on earth didn't you stop him, Inuyasha?" she demanded. "Why did you let him just take her like that?!"

He hung his head. "He was right," he murmured. The other two frowned, not sure they had heard correctly.

"She's always getting hurt, and I…I am inadequate!" He slammed a fist fiercely into the ground, then bounded away into the forest.

A long, mournful howl rang out later that night, making the houshi and the exterminator jump with fright. Such an…inhuman, sad sound. Sango shivered. It was the call of something that had lost the one thing precious to them…it was the loss of joy, of hope, and love. Soul-chilling.

'We'll find you soon, Kagome,' she promised silently. 'Inuyasha may well lose his mind otherwise…if only you could see him now – you'd never get mad again…' Her thoughts trailed off as sleep took her.

But sleep was impossible for one of them. He felt like he'd never sleep again. "Kagome…"

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Wow, that one was hard to write! Review please, I'd love to hear from you! Next Chapter: Unwanted Rescue. Might be a while, uni is unbelievably busy right now…but hopefully you won't wait more than a week. Despite lack of reviews, I will continue this fic, as it's lots of fun to write – so don't worry.