Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters.
The moment Inuyasha charged forward, Kagome felt a sudden heaviness in the pit of her stomach. As usual, he had gone forward, quickly forgetting any strategy he had entertained for even a second. With a yell, Kagome was on her feet, but it was already too late.
The hanyou stopped short, abruptly. His head hung so that she could not see his face and Tetsuseiga lowered slowly to the ground.
"Inuyasha!" There was no response. He stood motionless. The dim outline of Naraku seemed to become hazier. "Damn it," she yelled as tears of frustration came to her eyes. "If I had a bow…I could help you if I had a bow, now!" she screamed at him although she knew he would not hear her.
Suddenly, he half turned toward her although his face was still obscured. He raised his left hand with agonizing slowness. On instinct, she looked down. A bow and a quiver of green feathered arrows with small metal tips sat not a yard away from her.
Without another thought, Kagome dove for them, scraping her knees painfully in the process. She had drawn this weapon so many times before that now her hands moved without direction from her mind. Within seconds, she had aimed and shot off an arrow at the barely visible outline of Naraku. The arrow shone as it streaked toward him, but stopped as though it had hit a brick wall.
However, Inuyasha was now looking at her with a slightly bemused look in his eyes. He shook his head slowly and with a growl, turned back to Naraku. With deliberate confidence he sheathed his sword. Kagome watched in shock. "What on earth…" she mumbled softly.
"I don't accept you here," Inuyasha said in an almost even voice that covered his passion. Kagome had only heard it once or twice before and it chilled her blood to hear it now. The atmosphere was now so tense that the very air seemed discontent to stay still and so it whirled around Inuyasha.
"You have no right to the things here." He walked slowly forward. "You have no right to play with my memories and to warp my feelings." The cave grew lighter until only a small bit of shadow still clung to Naraku feebly.
"I will keep…" Naraku started.
"No." Inuyasha's voice cut through the almost slimy tone of the demon's voice. He continued to advance on him. "I will not stand your presence here any longer." Kagome shivered as the wind whipped around her.
With ever step Inuyasha took, Naraku seemed to shrink. Or maybe Inuyasha was growing. She could not tell. The light around them was blinding but still very tangibly part of Inuyasha.
"I will not be defeated so easily," Naraku rasp, now visibly weaker that a few moments before. He darted around Inuyasha with surprising speed toward where Kagome stood.
"No," Inuyasha said this time less evenly as he turned. He drew Tetsuseiga, quickly slashing across Naraku's path. The demon veered to his left and skillfully dodged an arrow shot by Kagome.
Kagome snorted in annoyance as she drew another arrow and sighted along its length. Moving almost faster than her eyes could follow, the two attacked mercilessly, sparing little energy for defense. It made it impossible for Kagome to keep the white baboon pelt in her sights for more than half a second.
Suddenly, one of Inuyasha's cuts made contact with his opponent, and Naraku was thrown to the opposite wall. He was still for a moment, before using the wall behind him to push his body upright. With a roar, Inuyasha charged with his sword drawn.
Then Naraku moved unexpectedly. He dashed forward, straight into Inuyasha's charge. Off balance and unable to compensate, he made a clumsy swing, which Naraku dodged under and came up, pushing his shoulder into Inuyasha's gut.
With a surprised yelp, Inuyasha fell backwards to the cave floor and Naraku pounced on him, pinning the hanyou down. He grunted as the demon pushed him down.
Immediately Kagome recognized her chance and without hesitation, let an arrow fly straight into Naraku's exposed side. He howled in surprise and pain as Inuyasha gave him a quick kick in the gut, which sent him flying to the wall again.
Inuyasha was up in a flash and quickly delivered one final slash through Naraku's torso. There was a sound like a balloon deflating and Naraku's severed body slowly turned to black smoke and dissipated. A brief moment of silence followed and Inuyasha slowly sank to his knees panting heavily.
Kagome dropped the bow she still held. She walked up to him quietly and put a hand on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Inuyasha had finally recovered fully. He stood and looked Kagome in the eye.
She looked away first. "Are we trapped here then?" she asked quietly, looking at her feet. Inuyasha grabbed her quickly and the ferocity of the embrace gave her his answer.
Kagome cried on his shoulder, her breath coming out in harsh sobs. Her mother, brother, and Grandfather, she'd never see them again. Or Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kaede. She gripped the fabric of his haori. They stood like that until she was too exhausted to stand. Inuyasha picked her up with unexpected tenderness and carried her to a place where his back was against something. Kagome fell asleep with her head against his chest and his arms wrapped around her.
A/N: Ahhhh!!! Mush!!! I hate mush. Well, that's not true, but I get the feeling when I write mush it's very trite and cheesy but oh well. One more chappie, that's all. Thanks for all the feed back; you guys rock my socks.