Woohoo, Fanfiction.net's lagging updates didn't mess up you guys getting to read my story! Hahaha…oh well, since I've translated everything else into English from Japanese, I figure I may as well translate the chapter titles now.

            Chapter One: Nanimo Hajimatte Iru (Everything Begins)

            Chapter Two: Sickness of the Sengoku Jidai (Sickness of the Feudal Era)

            Chapter Three: Inuyasha no ii kangae (Inuyasha's Good Idea)

            Chapter Four: Kagomesama no Kyousetsu (Kagome's Decision)

            Chapter Five: Munashiku no ai? (Is it Fruitless Love?)

            Chapter Six: Kagome no Koimizu (Kagome's Tears of Love)

            Chapter Seven: Kagome to Inuyasha no Asagohan (Inuyasha and Kagome's Breakfast)

            Chapter Eight: Tetsuaiga no Dogou (Angry Roar of the Tetsuaiga)

            Well, there ya go; I just thought some people may want to know what the chapter titles meant…enjoy the next chapter! ^_^

            My psychologist says Inuyasha isn't mine, BUT HE KNOWS NOTHING OF THE GNOMES THAT STEAL MY UNDERWEAR! (heeheheee…South Park will corrupt your mind…)

Chapter Eight

            "Kagome," Inuyasha said, eyes fixed in the direction that he had smelled Onigumo as his hand habitually wandered down to the hilt of his Tetsuaiga. "Get your bow and quiver, and stay put."

            "What!?" Kagome cried, grabbing his arm as he turned to leap away. "You're going to go battle that…that…monster by yourself after he was barely defeated by you, Miroku, and Sango together last time!? (a/n: I don't really remember how he was defeated in the anime; it's been a while since I've seen that episode. If anybody knows, please post it in you review) I don't think so!"

            "Yeah, and do you remember what he was after last time!?" Inuyasha growled, still not moving his eyes from where Onigumo was approaching. Smell was redundant now; a heavy sense of jaki had settled over the forest as the evil power grew closer.

            "Yeah, he was after me, Inuyasha; I don't care: I'm not going to let you fight him by yourself!"
            "TEME! It's safer here, and you wont distract me this time! You're staying here and that's FINAL!" Inuyasha yelled at Kagome, temper in full force, as he turned around and ran at top speed into the forest, hand clutched to his Tetsuaiga.

            Kagome stood, staring open-mouthed as Inuyasha ran at full away from her, then her face flushed bright red in anger as she muttered angrily,

            "He's telling me what to do, when he stands a good chance of getting killed? I don't think so…," she growled as she pulled her bow and arrow out of her backpack and began running towards the almost magnetic pull of the Shikon shards now imbedded in Onigumo.

--Inuyasha's POV—

            He ran towards the stench as if there were no tomorrow, wind whipping past his ears, blowing his hair out into a mane of silver fire; a casual jump brought him from the forest floor to the branch of a nearby tree, while another vaulted him through the top of the forest canopy and sent him flying towards his destination in one fell swoop.

            'Damnit, why the hell does he have to attack now of all moments!? We haven't had problems with demons in the past week, and RIGHT WHEN KAGOME'S ABOUT TO TELL ME he decides to come and ruin everything!'

            He didn't have long to dwell upon his anger and frustration; the forest canopy rose rapidly about him as he flipped gracefully back and landed in a crouched position behind what looked to be like a normal human…a normal human who reeked of jaki and had a horrid burn scar in the shape of a spider scarred upon his back, of course.

            The man ('Onigumo…' Inuyasha spat bitterly) was still for a second, then turned around slowly, an unsettlingly wide grin on his face as he began to speak.

            "Inuyasha, how nice to see you again," he commented calmly as he stared into the eyes of one very pissed-off hanyou clutching one very big sword.

            "Don't offer me your false courtesy, bastard; you were trying to find Kagome and me, and I want to know why," he growled acidly.

            "Kagome? You mean Kikyo?" He asked, receiving only a harsh growl from Inuyasha in response. "No matter, I'll have whoever it is soon enough: as soon as I take care of you, of course…"

            "You mean you're still trying to capture Kagome?"

            Onigumo laughed slightly as he replied, "Of course, why else do you think Naraku released me once more? In fact, he even gave me these Shikon shards so that I may finally have enough power to defeat you once and for all, Inukoro…"

            The ground below Inuyasha suddenly exploded in a bouquet of spiked tentacles, made of a flesh that could have almost been clay; tips harder than steel raked Inuyasha's arms as he leapt into the air, the Tetsuaiga flashing in a gleaming arc in the morning sun as he chopped off the tentacles like dead lumber; his claws took care of those more stubborn and persistent.

            Much to Inuyasha's shock, the severed appendages regenerated as quickly as they fell, leaving viscous gobs of squirming flesh pulsing upon the ground as another wave of tentacles were launched at Inuyasha amid Onigumo's arrogant, raucous laughter.

            'That…jackass…is…going…to…pay,' Inuyasha grunted between sword-strokes, hewing more and more tentacles from the forest being launched at him. Finally gaining an inch of breathing room, he concentrated his energy into the Tetsuaiga; the power of the wind began swirling with verdant force around the Tetsuaiga…

            "Kaze no KIZU!"

            A huge flash of yellow light soared outward in the same pattern as Inuyasha's Sankon Tetsusou, except that this particular attack was several dozen times more powerful: huge trenches were rent in the green floor of the forest as Onigumo lifted himself up above the attack that would have rent him (temporarily) limb from limb.

            Inuyasha merely grinned as the wind swirled around the fang of the Tetsuaiga, and his grin grew all the wider as he unleashed a second blast, filled with all the rage, frustration, and adrenaline that was coursing through Inuyasha's body.

            Onigumo's eyes grew wide as the energy tore through his body; power that could destroy a hundred demons ripped through muscle, sawed through flesh, and shattered bone as the shocking intensity of the light nearly blinded it's target. Gobs of viscous flesh spattered the ground in the area surrounding the blast as his head, attached to his torso (the only part of him that was even remotely whole) slammed into the ground, Onigumo gasping for breath amidst the smoking ruins of his flesh.

            Not waiting to give his adversary even a moment to regenerate, Inuyasha bounded towards the fallen "human" and raised his sword to deliver what he thought would be a finishing strike, but was thwarted in that attempt when something unexpected happened.

            A coil of flesh, what looked to have once been part of his upper arm, leapt up and caught the hanyou by the neck, stopping his charge and forcing him to the ground while other fragments of flesh built upon Inuyasha's body and pinned him to the ground as he visibly regenerated before his eyes; within seconds of the blast that would have incinerated most demons, Onigumo was whole and not in the least happy.

            "Fool, what trifle is your weak sword!? I've felt it's bite before, but never has it been this strong!" He cried as he spat blood from his mouth. "I'm going to enjoy watching this now…"

            From his now-human arm, a blade formed; with a single thought, nothing more, the knife burst into deadly reality as Onigumo knelt down upon Inuyasha's chest; grinning a grin that would have put even Naraku himself to shame, he gently placed the tip against Inuyasha's now-exposed throat as his victim struggled to release himself from the gruesome bonds of severed flesh.

            "Fun time," Onigumo said, beginning to slide the knife over Inuyasha's throat…

            …and was stopped by a sudden blaze of purple light that lit up the entire forest as it slammed into the reanimated monster crushing Inuyasha's chest. Caught off-guard by the unexpected, vicious attack, said monster was flung back, crashing through several trees as the arrow continued its flight unabated.

            "Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked as he attempted to crane his neck back to get a better look, for surely only Kikyo could fire a spirit arrow with that much power…

            "Not Kikyo, Inuyasha," Kagome grunted through clenched teeth as she began hacking at the coil of flesh that bound Inuyasha's right hand, still clenching the Tetsuaiga, with one of her arrows; the severed flesh hissed, withered, and crumbled into ash as the young miko's energy permeated. "Kagome."

            "Kagome???" Inuyasha asked softly, then immediately snapped back into over-protective mode. "I told you to stay back at the camp!"

            "And I told you that it was foolish to fight someone like him without anybody around to help! And guess what? I was right!" Kagome cried, working Inuyasha's hand free. Inuyasha reached over, dropping the Tetsuaiga as he slashed the remaining flesh binding his limbs into nothingness.

            "I don't care if you were right or not, you're not staying here! Don't you remember: Onigumo's after you, if he gets you who knows what in the hell he'll do to you!? And if you're still here when he comes back, guess what: he's gonna stop trying to fight me and go after you, just like before! Now I'm telling you to leave NOW!" He roared, and Kagome swore she saw his eyes flash red as he grabbed her wrist none-too-gently and pushed her towards the sanctity of the forest as he wheeled to face the returning Onigumo.

            "Too late…," Onigumo laughed, rushing back into the clearing at top speed as spiked tentacle-arms lashed out at Inuyasha, only to leap above him as they made for Kagome, who was still sitting, shocked by Inuyasha's sudden rage.

            "Kagome! SANKON TETSUSOU!!!!!'

            Yellow energy lanced out from Inuyasha's claws, shredding the arms reaching out to claim his Kagome, and a rain of flesh once more pattered the forest. Onigumo lashed out again and again, each time evading Inuyasha as he desperately tried to grab the girl he believed to be Kikyo, only to have the offending limbs slashed to bits by his opponent's claws and sword; it seemed they had reached a stalemate, yet something, a warning and a jangling alarm, rang inside the back of Inuyasha's mind.

            'What kind of game is he playing? He's not trying to kill me to get Kagome…yet he's not even moving, he's just standing there and seemingly allowing me to destroy whatever he throws my way. There's no sense to it, none at all…'

            Onigumo merely laughed each time his attack was thwarted; Kagome still lay, safe and untouched, behind Inuyasha; more and more flesh was scattered around the forest, bits and pieces found their way onto Kagome, who was too transfixed watching the battle between the two to even notice that it was pulsing like some hideous heart as it gripped tighter and tighter; more and more bits of Onigumo crawled to each other, fusing into larger pieces, seemingly lying coiled in wait.

            'Wait a second…he's LETTING me destroy his body! That means…KAGOME!'

            "NOW!" Onigumo cried, as his final 'attack' was reduced to shrapnel by Inuyasha's defenses. All of the flesh that Inuyasha had scattered, the pieces of severed body that had laid in wait, sprung together as one and welled up as a black tide to consume their target.

            A tide of severed body parts threw itself up off the ground and wrapped around Kagome's legs, throwing her to the ground as she struggled madly to tear herself free from the flood that was moving with astounding speed to cover her waist; her chest; her arms…her neck…

            …and with a final yell of, "INUYASHA!", Onigumo's form swallowed up Kagome's face, locking Kagome inside a cocoon of Onigumo's entrails as Inuyasha's anguished cry of, "KAGOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" resounded through the still forest.

            Well, another chapter done, finally with some fighting instead of that sappy romance…lol. Oh well, I know this fight scene wasn't all that good, but just wait until the ending (yeah, I've already got the ending written up…it was running around in my head before I even started this story, and it finally motivated me enough to put it down on paper…er, on MS Word.

            Well, as always, please read and review, I really appreciate the feedback that I've been receiving. I'll be updating tomorrow, as usual; and I'm accepting requests/challenges/feedback/whatever you want to throw at me (as usual), just post it in your review.

            On another note, with this chapter, two of my goals have been completed: my first goal being to get to ten thousand words (looks like I overshot that goal by about 1200 words….0^_^), and my second being to have gotten 20 reviews (both by the end of this weekend). Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Thanks!