To Protect the One I Love

Author's Notes: I wasn't planning on making this three parts, but since it ended up being really long, so here's the third part to our evil Kagome trilogy.

Forced Away From You: Part 3

            Inuyasha opened his eyes and found himself chained to the wall and unable to get free.  Looking around he saw his surroundings had drastically changed.  He was no longer outside and instead seemed to be in a room similar to Kagome's but much more lavish.  This one had several scrolls opened and hanging on the wall and artifacts in several display cases in different areas in the room.  "This is…?"

            Suddenly, Kagome jumped in front of him with a smile.  "Oh look!  The puppy has woken up!"

            Inuyasha blinked.  "Kagome?  Wait, no!  You're not her!"  He snarled in hatred.  "Where am I!?"

            "Let me get a closer look at him."  A voice said from the far end of the room.  Where darkness once enshrouded him, Subaru came forth into the room's artificial light and approached Inuyasha.

            Inuyasha gasped in shock.  

            "You finally recognize me, huh?  Well, it's too bad cause you're too late.  With you gone, the Shikon no Tama is as good as mine."  Subaru smiled.

            Kagome petted Inuyasha on the head.  "But don't worry!  We'll keep you around long enough so you can see your friends perish before your eyes."  She winked at him.

            "How…how did you know?"  Inuyasha managed to ask the monk.

            Subaru scoffed.  "Please, if I can penetrate your pathetic miko's mental barriers, delving into your mind was child's play.  You're growing anxiety as night drew near was a dead give away.  Then all I had to do was lure you away from your friends and you'd be mine."

            "Subaru-sama…" Kagome said, looking out the window that covered the entire section to Inuyasha's left.  "They're coming."

            Inuyasha gasped and looked out the window just in time to see Kirara with Kagome, Sango and Miroku.  No Kagome, don't!  Run away!

            Just then, Kagome threw her arms around Inuyasha as the real Kagome watched in horror, and planted another evil kiss upon his lips.

            "Inuyasha!"  Kagome gasped.

            Inuyasha felt repulsed by the action, but immediately felt his energy leave him.  When she pulled away, he could barely keep his eyes open, and he slumped downwards.  Had the chains not been holding him up, he would've fallen to the floor.

            Then Kagome turned to her clone and winked.

            Kagome was furious.  Pulling back her bow and arrow, she aimed it at the glass and was enveloped in a bright pink light.  "How dare you…" Releasing it, she shattered the window and it exploded both inside and down upon the people far below a good forty or more stories.

            Jumping inside, all of Inuyasha's friends stood ready to fight.  "Release Inuyasha now!"  Kagome demanded, aiming another arrow at Subaru.

            "Are you scared, miko?"  He asked calmly.

            "That's one thing I'm feeling right now."

            "Oh?"

            "I'm also feeling angry, worried, confused and curious, but you already knew that didn't you, Subaru-sama?"  Her voice was low and menacing.

            Chuckling, Subaru moved out from behind his creation.  "So you knew it was me the whole time?"

            "No, but the aura is the same as before.  I didn't need to see you to know who it was.  Your creatures give off the same feeling.  What I want to know is why?  Why go through all the trouble of getting the jewel when it's useless to you?"

            "Useless?  Staying in this world, this plain of existence and pretending I belong with the rest of you lowly creatures.  THAT is useless."

            "EH?"  Everyone wondered.

            "I may appear to be human, but I am actually much more greater than that.  Inuyasha, a hanyou, mixed between youkai and human is similar to me in only that respect.  My father a great monk in his time, came down to a hot spring to bathe when he came across a beautiful woman.  She was a tenyou, a heavenly maiden come down from the heavens to also bathe.  When they met they fell in love and I was the result."

            Subaru raised a hand and looked at it in hatred.  "My mother had to return to the heavens, as was where she belonged.  And my father, having reached enlightenment before his time, was able to ascend with her, leaving me to rot in this plain between realms.  I am meant to ascent as well, but the monks of the monastery said it was blasphemy to speak such words.  They do not know me!"  He shouted.

            He looked at Kagome, and could sense the Shikon no Tama shining inside her heart.  "You… with the power of the jewel, I would be able to join my parents in their heavenly abode and look down on everyone below me, as if should be!"  He shouted.

            Kagome did not lower her bow, but replied, "Even if everything you said was true, you cannot use the power as you seem to want to.  Only those pure of heart may wield it and unleash its true power.  Even I am not that pure and that's why all this happened.  I thought I could make a good-hearted wish but it ended up merging the two worlds in ways they were never meant to.  I am just the vessel that is meant to protect the jewel, but I know this much: Even if you were to use the Shikon no Tama, you would be corrupted by it.  The means you are taking to obtain the jewel means your heart would defile and darken the jewel.  Your ambitions would take you over and innocent bystanders would suffer."

            Subaru was barely staying still he was so mad.  "How dare you speak such words against me!  I am the holiest of anyone on this world and I will go to the heavens where I belong.  You will give me the stone or all of your friends will perish!"

            "Think again!"  Kagome released the arrow at Subaru, but was surprised when Kagome intercepted the purity jewel and batted it away like nothing.  "What!?"

            Kagome licked her lips.  "Only one of us can have Inuyasha, and I plan to have that be me!"  Taking out a sword, Kagome charged in towards her rival.

            "Kagome-chan!"  Sango threw her short sword at the miko and Kagome barely caught it in time to block the incoming bum rush.

            "Sango!  Let's go!"  Miroku ran forward with the taijiya and began battle with Subaru.

            The monk had a staff of his own and was able to easily block both human's attacks.

            Kirara dove in and tried to bite Subaru, but the monk threw a ward at the fire cat and it landed square on her face.  Kirara roared as she was forced to revert into her kitten form and passed out.

            "Kirara!"  Sango cried out.

            Kagome attempted to block as many attacks as she could, but she wasn't used to sword fighting, so she had no time to counterattack.  She took a quick glance over at Inuyasha and the hanyou was barely watching the battle with a dazed expression.  "H-hang on, Inuyasha!  I'm going to get you out of here!"  She assured.

            Kagome batted Kagome's short sword to the side and slashed again, scoring a hit to Kagome's forearm.

            The miko cried out and held her wound to stop the bleeding. 

            "You're not taking my Inuyasha anywhere."  Kagome replied. 

            Kagome gritted her teeth against the pain.  "Think again!!"  Kagome threw her bloodied hand forward and released a miko charged blast at her double.

            Kagome was blown back and jammed her sword into the floor to slow her speed.  The blast knocked her maybe ten yards back from Kagome's position.  "Are you intending on protecting your Inuyasha from me?"

            Kagome raised her sword in a defensive position.  "I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe!" 

            "That's good.  At least you won't mind when I take your life then!"  Kagome rushed in again began pummeling attack after attack on Kagome relentlessly.

            Inuyasha fought to stand up straight as the fight continued.  Kagome, I never thought anyone would go this far for me.  Y-you're willing to die protecting me while I'm stuck here, this weak human body doesn't have enough strength in it to break free.  I can't just watch you die while I give up.  Inuyasha looked at the chains and tightened his hands into fists.  This time morning isn't going to save me.  No, I have to do this now.

            "Hiraioktsu!"  Sango threw her boomerang at the monk, but he jumped above it and jabbed his staff into Miroku's stomach. 

            "You humans, when will you learn you cannot defeat me?"  Subaru asked.

            Miroku recovered and threw a couple of his wards.  "Take that!"

            "Ha!"  Subaru threw two counter wards and when the papers met, they were all incinerated.

            "What!"  Miroku gasped.

            Kagome landed more and more hits as the real Kagome tired.  In a lightning fast move, she drove her sword deep into Kagome's shoulder, causing the miko to cry out. 

            "Kagome!"  Inuyasha shouted.

            "Kagome-chan!"

            "Kagome-sama!"

Kagome smirked in victory.  "For a second I actually thought you'd be a challeng…" Suddenly her eyes went wide.

            Kagome glared at her double and tried not to move as the sword in her shoulder sent excruciating pain through her body.  But she had enough strength to stab her sword through her clone's black heart.  "Anyone who wants to hurt Inuyasha…has to go through me!"  She cried out and shoved it deeper until it protruded out Kagome's back.

            Black blood flowed down her shirt as she stepped back from the miko.  "You…you landed a hit on me, huh?"

            Kagome fell to her knees and clutched her bleeding wound.

            Kagome started laughing as her form shirted and grew, her pink skin turning into a dark green.  Four more arms grew from her ribs and a large insect-like tail grew from behind.  Sango's sword fell limply to the ground.

            "She was a centipede!?"  Sango gasped.

            "My creations can become anything I want them to."  Subaru commented.

            Kagome looked up in horror at the new youkai, but couldn't get to her feet to move.

            "You may have destroyed my human form, but you are no match for my true form!"  The monster chuckled.  "No you die!"  Its mouth was filled with rows and rows of teeth, not to mention the two scissor-like mandibles on the sides.

            "Hiraikotsu!"  Sango threw her youkai bone weapon at the centipede, but Subaru came and changed its direction until it embedded into the wall almost to the ceiling.

            "KAGOME!"  Inuyasha pulled on the chains that bound him when his entire body thumped with power. 

            BA-DUM

Nani?  He looked out the open window and saw it was still nighttime.

            BA-DUM!

            Inuyasha's symbol on his forehead began to glow and as he pulled on the chains, the brackets holding them to the wall began to break.  Then, the shackles around his wrists bent until there was a resounding crack and they fell to the floor.  One good pull with each foot freed his legs and he rushed forward.  "Kagome!"

            Kagome closed her eyes as the creature dove down, but gasped when strong arms wrapped around her and jumped away.  When they landed, Kagome opened her eyes and saw Inuyasha looked down at her worriedly.  His symbol's glow seemed to die down a bit.  "Are you okay, Kagome?"  He asked.

            "Inuyasha?"  She winced and looked down at the sword.

            After setting her down, he grabbed a hold of the hilt.  "This is going to hurt."  He warned.  Kagome nodded and braced herself as he yanked once on it, pulling it free of her shoulder.

            "AHHHhhh!"  Kagome cried out and tried to focus on Inuyasha, as her vision began to fade.

            As Kouga sat next to the river, thinking about Ayame, he felt a jolt run through him and for an instant, saw Kagome's reflection in the water.  "Kagome?"   He stood up and looked around.  "She's in trouble!"

            "Kagome-sama!"  Miroku and Sango rushed to her side, Kirara in Sango's arms, as Inuyasha ripped a part of his inner robe to stop the bleeding.  "Hang in there!"

            "Watch her."

            "Inuyasha…" Sango watched him take the sword that was covered in Kagome's blood and face off with the centipede as it recovered from its fall.

            "You bastard…first you trick me, then you hurt Kagome."  His symbol once again glowed a bright red as he brought up the sword.  His human eyes glared at the monster with pure hatred and the wind from the window blew his hair off to the side.

            "Oh?  So what if I did?"  It replied.  "What are you, a human, going to be able to do about it?"

            Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha rushed in.  "I'm going to tear you to pieces!"  The centipede laughed and hit Inuyasha to the side with two of its arms.  He ran into the wall and made a big indentation. 

            He felt more pain than usual, and barely recovered as the monster came in again.  Inuyasha jumped to the side and landed a hit, but without Tetsusaiga he wasn't causing enough damage.

            Miroku stood up and grabbed his wrist.  "Sango, stay here with Kagome-sama."

            "No, Miroku, you can't!"  The taijiya shouted.  "You don't have kazaana anymore, remember!?"

            Miroku stopped and glared at the centipede.  "Dammit, you're right."

            "Eat this!"  Inuyasha slashed downwards, slicing off the centipede's three right arms, but it countered and caught Inuyasha in its jaws.

            "Inuyasha!"  Sango and Miroku shouted.

            Kagome, who was feeling increasingly dizzy because of the loss of blood, saw Inuyasha get caught and fear enveloped her.  No, Inuyasha…Then she slipped into unconsciousness.

            When the centipede tightened its hold, Inuyasha accidentally dropped the short sword to the floor.  Even with Tetsusaiga on his hip, without being a hanyou, he wouldn't be able to wield it. 

            "You just can't do anything right, can you Dog-Crap!?"  Kouga came bursting in through the open window and landed a hit to the centipede's chest. 

            Its grip on Inuyasha loosened and he was able to push the jaws apart enough to jump free as it crashed to the ground.  He landed besides Kouga and glared at him.  "When the hell did you get here!?"  He demanded.

            Kouga crossed his arms and scoffed.  "Feh, how should I know?"

            "It doesn't matter anyway, because you will both die here!"  The centipede dove down again, but this time, Kouga jumped up and wrapped his arms around where the centipede's neck should've been.

            "Looks like you're going on vacation!"  He shouted, twisting in mid air to toss the centipede out the window.

            It fell with a death cry and landed with a splat on the city street.

            Both Inuyasha and Kouga stayed at the window to make sure it was dead, before Inuyasha scoffed and turned away crossing his arms.  "I could've done that."

            Kouga laughed.  "Yeah, but you were too busy getting your ass kicked."

            Inuyasha raised a fist.  "Don't push me!"

            Kouga rolled his eyes.  "What are you gonna go about it?  You're still human, remember?"

            "You two can fight later.  We have to get Kagome home."  Sango said.

            Miroku nodded.  "Subaru-sama left sometime during the battle, but I'm sure we'll see him again."

            Kouga looked over and saw Kagome bleeding profusely from the shoulder.  He immediately turned around and punched Inuyasha in the shoulder.  It was a light punch, but in his human form, it blew him back some five feet.

            "What the hell was that for!?"  He demanded.

            "How dare you let Kagome get hurt, Dog Crap!"  Kouga rushed over and picked up Kagome into his arms.  I knew it.  She was in danger.

            Inuyasha got mad.  "Hey, put her down!"

            Turning to the black haired human, Kouga looked at him unfazed.  "And how were you planning on getting her taken care of?  You don't have any hanyou strength to carry her like before."

            Inuyasha knew he was right and walked over to Sango and Miroku, getting on Kirara.  "Fine, but I'm watching you.  You do anything but carry her and wait to see what happens when I turned back into a hanyou, bastard."  He warned.

            "Yeah, yeah whatever."  The wolf leader said before jumped out the window and bouncing onto a nearby rooftop.  So this is Kagome's world…not much to see…

            Back at the house, as Kagome rested, Inuyasha stayed by her side the entire time.  He had returned to being a hanyou, but this time it was too late.  It was about midday the next day when Kagome woke up and the first person she saw was Inuyasha.  "Inuyasha…you're okay."  She smiled.

            "Thanks to you."  He admitted.  "How are you feeling?"

            She tried to move her arm, but it hurt too much so she stopped.  "I don't think I'll be able to fire any arrows anytime soon."  She laughed.  "But I'm mostly hungry."  She tried to sit up, but Inuyasha placed a gentle hand on her other shoulder. 

            "No, you've lost a lot of blood.  You need to rest."  He insisted.  "You don't have anything to worry about.  Everyone else in downstairs, including that wimpy wolf."

            Kagome blinked.  "Kouga-kun's here?"

            "Yeah, and annoying as always."  Standing up, Inuyasha tucked Kagome's blanket underneath her chin and patted it twice.  "You stay here and I'll make you some of that medicine to speed up the process."

            Kagome smiled broadly.  "Okay."  I'm glad you're safe, Inuyasha.  For a long time I was worried.  Now that we know who our enemy is, we can find a way to end this.  She admitted she liked this side of Inuyasha, although getting stabbed through the shoulder was a bit extreme to see it.  Inuyasha…

            Downstairs, Inuyasha heard Kouga telling Kagome's little brother Souta about his fights with various demons and undead Shichinintai.  "Then the demon came up and grabbed right onto my arm."  The wolf said.  "But I didn't even cry out.  I tried punching him with my other fist while he tried to drive me into the ground."

            "Wow!  That sounds sooo cool, Kouga-niichan!"  Souta exclaimed.

            "EH!?"  Inuyasha jumped over the railing of the stairs and landed next to Souta.  "You think this wimpy wolf is on the same level as me?"  Inuyasha never liked the nickname the little boy had given him, but to share it with this guy?

            "No way!  Kouga-niichan's way cooler!"  Souta exclaimed.

            And unlike Inuyasha, Kouga reveled in the attention.  He knelt down and wrapped an arm around the boy, knowing it would piss Inuyasha off more.  "See?  For a human, this kid's alright."

            "You really think so!?" 

            Looking at the boy with a smile, Kouga nodded.  "Sure, do you want me to teach you the move I used again the demons?"

            "Would I!  Oh, could you!?"  Souta jumped up.  "Oh, this is going to be soooo cool!"

            Inuyasha crossed his arms and began to walk away like it didn't bother him.  "Hmph, anything that wimpy wolf comes up with is nothing to my Kazu-no-Kizu."

            Both Kouga and Souta looked at him, then each other.  "Come on!  I'll show you outside!"  Kouga picked up the boy and dashed outside.

            Behind him, Inuyasha gritted his teeth.  "This sucks!!"

Author's Notes:  Well, if you think I'm through messing with Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship, you're wrong.  Just wait for the next chapters.  If you hated before, you're really gonna hate me later.