50,000 words! Thank you to everyone who has continued this far! I didn't really expect my first fic to get this long, and still not even be in the final climax, but here we are. It's odd for me to go back to the first like 10 chapters. They were all short, and I think I was awkwardly writing and hadn't really picked a style or plot yet. It's easier now.

One long chapter left in this arc, till next time!

The Band of Seven, Part 2

His ears pressed against his head as the loud explosion erupted below him. He hadn't jumped high enough to completely avoid the flames, but fortunately there didn't seem to be a trick to it, and the robe of the fire rat was able to protect him. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything past the smoke when he landed. He kept his body tense, watching out for Jakotsu's next swing.

"Hey!" He heard. "What's the big idea interfering Renkotsu!" The sneak attack wasn't a trap? The smoke finally began to clear and he saw Jakotsu unscathed. He looked up. "Oh just give me a second. I want your bloody ears, not exploded ones." Inuyasha watched as the man pulled out a cell phone and started ranting. He blinked in confusion.

Suspicious of the move, but also needing any advantage, Inuyasha moved the enormous Tessaiga in front of him to cover his body and reached down to his own pocketed phone. "Kagome, did you see where the shot came from?" he whispered.

"I think so. The enormous building towards your left with all the glass windows." He considered how to use that. "I'm going to take Kirara and see if we can catch him off guard."

"What?!" he shouted.

"Huh?" He looked back at the now battle-ready Jakotsu. "I just said we can continue without any more interruptions, weren't you paying attention?"

No. He growled. "You shouldn't have decided to fight alone, you're just going to get hurt." Kagome, listen!

Jakotsu smiled. "Don't underestimate Jakotsu of the band of seven!" He swung his snake blade.

I have to end this, now! He swung Tessaiga at the blade, and the moment they collided, he stopped the strike. Jakotsu's blade began wrapping around Tessaiga, and the moment it did, he threw the blade away, taking the coils of the snake blade with it. He used both hands and dug his claws into his arms, coating them both in blood. And before Jakotsu could recover from the unexpected move, he struck, "Hijin Kesso!" The blade glowed a dull pink before being left unscathed, but the force did push the blade to the ground. He leapt. "Sankon Tessou!"

Both fighters were disoriented by the screech of the metal, but Jakotsu recovered first, pulling the intact blade back for another strike at the now disarmed vigilante. "Goodbye!"

There was no dodging it and no weapon to block with. Instead he charged all the youki he could into his claws and leapt right at the incoming blade. "Sankon Tessou!" The sword split into two.

"What did you do to my Jakotsuto?" his opponent shouted. He tried swinging again with the half sword. Inuyasha tensed before realizing the blade obviously wasn't following its intended trajectory. "No!" he whined. "Jakotsuto." He was swinging the blade around wildly.

"Give it a rest already!" With Jakotsu focused on his broken blade, Inuyasha ran towards him and punched him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

He looked back towards the building Kagome mentioned. Kagome. He ran as fast as he could.

x

x

"You shouldn't have decided to fight alone, you're just going to get hurt."

She knew. Of course she knew, but everyone else was fighting, or searching, or doing something. She could do more than be a lookout, especially with Kirara's help. "Stay in his blind spot, Kirara," she whispered as they approached the building. Even at this distance, she couldn't sense any spiritual power coming from the man or his weapons, and he clearly felt human. It made sense, explosions and guns didn't really need a spiritual boost to cause harm.

She was finally close enough to really see him. He had what looked like a miniature cannon atop his shoulder and was holding a phone in the other hand. He was distracted yelling at someone. Good.

Slowly, quietly, they approached the far back of the building and she dismounted onto the ledge. There was a balcony that went around the whole circumference of the building. It was an observation deck. She waved to Kirara to stay out of sight. She drew her bow and quietly took off her shoes to make sure he wouldn't hear her coming. She had long since muted her phone. She went around one corner, and then the next, until she saw him out in the open, now aiming the cannon straight at what she assumed was Inuyasha. She heard him whisper, "Damn you Jakotsu." She pulled back the bow and took aim. He fired.

She couldn't help but flinch at the explosion and only barely managed to not make a sound. Hopefully Inuyasha dodged that. She watched as he went to reload the cannon. I won't let him. She drew back her bow and aimed carefully. She wouldn't shoot the man, but she could immobilize him by his clothing, at least for the second it would take for the sleeping powder Sango gave her to take effect. He bent down to grab something out of his bag.

They locked eyes. "Who?!" he asked. Then he laughed. "Oh, looks like someone tried to play the hero." She took a step back and was about to drop the bow to take a fighting stance until she saw him take out a gun from his pocket. "That wasn't very smart." She tried to quickly aim the bow at his gun hoping her weapon would miraculously come out on top, but was too late. The loud sound of a gunshot filled the air.

She braced for pain, but it didn't come. Instead she heard him struggling along with a loud thunk. She opened the eyes she hadn't realized she closed and saw Kirara having bit his other arm, the cannon having fallen to the ground. He was trying to shake her off. The jolt must've messed up the gun's aim. "Kirara!" She saw him begin to move his shooting arm towards Kirara's head. No! In an instant, she aimed her bow and released the arrow at the gun. It hit, and dragged the gun off the building. She saw him reach his free arm towards his bag again. "No!" Quickly notching another arrow, she fired straight at his sleeve, pinning it to the wall behind. Another gun fell out of the jolted hand. Taking the opportunity, Kirara released her fangs and tackled the man to the ground, putting all her weight across his body. Taking no chances, Kagome ran over and kicked his bag away. She sighed in relief.

"Bitch!" She looked towards the sound. Inuyasha was leaning over the observation deck, from the outside. He was looking at her, extremely shaken, the picture completed by the blood dripping from his arms.

"I'm alright," she reassured him. She was about to scold him for calling her a bitch, but also realized it might've been very intentional. Miroku had once joked about it because of him being inuhanyou, but she had warned him off calling her that. And yet, Renkotsu was alive, and conscious. It was best he didn't shout out her real name. "Inushinku. Besides, I wasn't alone, I had Kirara." She knew it was a lame excuse. She reached out for a moment and petted Kirara's fur. She owed her treats for a year, maybe a lifetime.

In a single jump, he was in front of her. "You idiot! I heard the gunshot." She couldn't even reply before she was crushed in a hug. She could feel the tremors coming from him.

She relaxed into the hug. "I'm sorry. I really thought I could catch him in a sneak attack." She sighed. "Your first attack on Jakotsu didn't exactly work either. Do you know how shaken I was to see the explosion?"

"I'll heal better," he answered.

"It doesn't make you immortal either," she countered. She pulled away and saw his distraught face. "Alright. I'll take Kirara and we'll take Renkotsu and Jakotsu to the police." She thought for a second. "You did beat him right, you didn't just run off?" He nodded. "Good. I'll see if I can get an update from…" She looked at the still struggling Renkotsu. No names. "... the others. Go stop Bankotsu." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Be careful. I know you can win."

He took a shaky breath, but nodded again. He would win. He had to. He heard an 'oh!' come from her. She quickly took off the small bag on her back. She reached in and grabbed something, a first aid kit. Of course she'd have a first aid kit. He smiled humorously and rolled up his sleeves so she could wrap his arms. A little less blood loss might make the fight with Bankotsu easier. He could hear a helicopter not too far away, but fortunately the deck wasn't on the top floor, no doubt to hide Renkotsu, so they likely didn't have a good view. Although, hopefully they hadn't seen Kirara flying around.