Stay Chapter 18: Inuyasha's Rival Arrives, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: WOW! I already got 320+ reviews! I never expected to get this much reviews! Thank you so much to all of my wonderful readers! If you need some favors, just say them and I'll be glad to do them! Just don't go asking for money because I don't have a lot.

Starting for this chapter, I'm giving out an award to the best reviewer every time I update. Winner/s will be posted below this chapter! Okay, enough of my blabbing, here's the 18th chapter (What?.! I already reached chapter 18?.! Oh well, a few more chapters and "Stay" will be over…)

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN INUYASHA. Or Kagome. Or Miroku. Or Sango. Or Shippou. You get the idea now, right?

Chapter 18

Inuyasha's Rival Arrives

"Are you hungry already?"

Inuyasha's eyes looked down to see Kagome looking up at him. He was back long ago but he decided not to enter the hut again. He still needed some time alone so he camped outside, resting on top of his usual tree when they stayed in the old miko's village.

"No. Just go back inside, Kagome." He could clearly see the worry in Kagome's eyes. "I'm fine here." He added, hoping that that would be enough to ease the worry Kagome was feeling. He didn't want her to worry.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha silently for a while, as if searching his eyes for something. Then she saw something that made her smile. "Something in Inuyasha's eyes is different. He looks… peaceful now." She thought, immediately vanishing the anxiety in her heart. Inuyasha was all right; she didn't need to worry anymore. "We're going to sleep. Kaede-baachan was very happy to know that I had recalled everything." She informed Inuyasha. "I also told everyone that we're going to continue searching for the Shikon shards early in the morning."

"You better rest then." Inuyasha replied, feeling relieved when the worry in her eyes disappeared.

Kagome nodded and said, "You too." She turned her back at him and started walking back towards the hut.

Inuyasha watched her go, a little smile playing on his lips. "Everything will be back to normal now." He thought contentedly. He shifted his gaze towards the star-filled sky when his ears heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Inuyasha?"

"Wench, you should sleep already." Inuyasha muttered but nevertheless, he looked down at her and waited for her what she had to say.

"I forgot to tell you…" She said; her warm brown eyes connected with his amber ones. "Thank you." She gave out a sweet smile that made Inuyasha's heart beat faster. "Thank you very much."

"F-For what?" He managed to say, his cheeks burning heavily.

Kagome shrugged. "Just thank you." She answered him. "Thank you for making me happy."

"You're so weird." He told Kagome with narrowed eyes.

She giggled. "That's all right." She said and turned her back once again. "See you tomorrow then!" And she walked away—happy and contented. Inuyasha was fine and that was all that mattered.

"Keh! What was that all about?" Inuyasha complained though he was smiling too.

"Oh no!" Kagome cried out, looking utterly horrified when she finally came out of the hut.

"What's the matter, Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned, looking concerned at her friend.

"I forgot the charm jiichan gave me!" She said, putting her backpack over her shoulders.

"You talk like your whole life depended on that piece of crap!" Inuyasha groused, crossing his arms over his chest arrogantly. "You don't need that anyway! What's the big deal if you left it?.!"

The young girl from the future looked even more aghast. "Jiichan will kill me!" She said, looking like the world was going to end.

"Kagome, it's all right okay?.! Just don't get yourself killed and that's enough! That's the purpose of the fucking charm, right?.!" Inuyasha said, trying to snap Kagome back to her senses.

"I guess you're right." Kagome said, looking cheerful again. "Okay, let's get going then!" She announced excitedly.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Shippou joined in, feeling glad that they were going to travel again. Somehow, he missed the expeditions they had had in search for the pieces of the sacred jewel.

"Inuyasha, where are we going today?" Miroku asked curiously.

"I don't know." The hanyou answered. "Ask Kagome."

"Kagome-sama, can you feel any presence of Shikon shards?" He asked the miko gifted with the ability to sense Shikon shards.

Kagome was silent for a while as she focused herself at the task of searching any hint of Shikon shards. "No… I don't sense any Shikon shard near here."

"Maybe we should be on our way now." Sango suggested.

"Take care everyone." Kaede told them then turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, watch over Kagome carefully. Naraku might—"

"I know, I know. You don't need to tell me anymore." He cut in.

"Okay." The elderly miko replied. "Kagome, don't be so hard on yourself, okay?"

"Thank you, Kaede-baachan. Don't worry, I'll be careful." She assured the concerned miko with a smile.

And so their long delayed quest continued.

"Inuyasha! I'm already hungry!" Shippou wailed while he was on Miroku's shoulder.

"Inuyasha, why don't we rest for a while?" Kagome recommended, looking at Shippou. "Besides, we've been walking for so long and there's still no aura of any Shikon shards."

Inuyasha heaved out a sigh and muttered, "Fine. We'll rest for a while."

"All right!" The little kitsune cheered with a large smile on his face. "Finally, we're eating!"

Kagome smiled too and began opening her bag for the things they were going to use.

Miroku volunteered to gather the firewood they needed to cook since he knew that Inuyasha would likely refuse to leave Kagome's side to do the chore. Shippou also went with him to help him. Sango and Kirara went to the nearby river to get some water for cooking.

Inuyasha was resting under the shade of a huge tree, his head cushioned under his arms while he watched Kagome placing a checkered red blanket over the green grass. He suddenly caught a scent that made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. "What the fuck is he doing here?.!" He quickly stood up and snatched Kagome protectively, hiding her behind him as he looked around. His claws were ready to strike the moment the enemy decided to show himself.

Kagome was surprised and confused at the same time. "Inuyasha, what are you—"

"Ssshh!" Inuyasha silenced her, ears twitching in anticipation as he waited for someone.

"Inuyasha, Kouga-kun is—"

"I know!" Inuyasha cut her quickly. "The stinking wimpy wolf is coming."

"Kouga-kun's already here." She pointed out, finally managing to say a complete sentence without Inuyasha cutting her off.

Inuyasha automatically spun around to find Kouga with Kagome, his hands clasped tightly with Kagome's. Immediately getting jealous and infuriated, he grabbed Kagome's hands from Kouga's grip and placed himself between the two. "What the hell are you doing here, wimpy wolf?.!" He demanded, his forehead almost touching Kouga's forehead as he glared at him dangerously.

Kouga smirked haughtily. "Of course, I came to pay a visit to my woman." He answered confidently.

"Who ever said she's your woman?.!" Inuyasha snarled, fangs showing.

"Says me." Kouga said with the same conviction he always had when saying that Kagome was his woman. "She is my woman so back off, dog turd."

"Keh! As if you can defeat me!" He scoffed, arrogance coating his words.

"Of course I can."

"Then show me!"

"Aren't you too excited to die?"

"Let's see who ends up fucking dead!"

"You bet! We'll really see!"

"You talk so much! Let's just fucking start the fight!"

"INUYASHA!" Kagome shouted, giving him an icy stare.

"What?.!" Inuyasha demanded, looking irritated for being delayed on killing an annoying bastard.

"Won't you two ever stop fighting?.!" She asked, looking exasperated with the situation they always ended up with every time Kouga would appear.

"It will only stop when I finish killing the wimpy wolf." Inuyasha answered, turning back to Kouga and returning to the task at hand. "Now, prepare to—"

"Sit."

Inuyasha obediently slammed himself into the ground after hearing the word from Kagome.

Kagome sighed and went to Inuyasha's side. "Stop it or I'm going to do it again." She warned him then turned to Kouga. "Please Kouga-kun, try not to fight with Inuyasha anymore." She pleaded, hoping to stop the two from fighting every time they saw each other.

Inuyasha pulled himself off the ground and shot an annoyed look at Kagome. "Why the hell do you need to beg to that wimpy wolf?.! And you! Why do you always have to hold her hands?.! Damn it!" He took Kagome's hands away and pulled her away from the wolf youkai prince. "If you don't want to get killed, stay a good distance from Kagome, got that?.!"

Kouga ignored Inuyasha completely and gave a devoted look to Kagome. "Don't worry Kagome, I'll spare this dog-face's life for you. Someday, you don't need to deal with him anymore. I'll be taking you with me."

"Stupid! Do you really think that someday will come?.! Don't fool yourself!" Inuyasha quickly snapped, smirking at Kouga.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded.

"Keh!"

Kagome sighed mentally and thought, "He's so stubborn." Finally, Kagome noticed that Kouga's two companions were not with him. "Kouga-kun, where's Ginta and Hakkaku?" She inquired.

"I sent them to a mission." Kouga answered simply. "I was about to meet them when I saw you so I thought of visiting you for a while." A smile was on his face as he talked to Kagome.

"Annoying bastard… Why the hell does Kagome have to be friendly with him?.! He should have just gone with his own business instead of appearing here!" Inuyasha thought, staying beside Kagome as he glowered at the male youkai in front of him. He couldn't just leave the two alone. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kagome—the one he didn't trust at all was Kouga. "He might kidnap Kagome if I leave him alone with her." He thought, watching every move Kouga made. Then he heard something that made him really mad—if only he could rip Kouga into smithereens…

"Kouga-kun, would you like to eat lunch with us?" Inuyasha heard Kagome say nicely.

"WHAT?.!" He immediately burst out, unable to believe Kagome's words. He turned to Kouga and threatened him. "You wimpy wolf, don't you dare say ye—"

"Sure, Kagome."

"Damn."

Miroku and Shippou arrived shortly with an ample supply of wood to create fire. A few minutes after, Sango and Kirara had also returned. Both couples had a surprised expression on their faces when they saw Inuyasha and Kouga not fighting.

"Kagome-chan, how did you manage to keep them from fighting?" Sango asked, looking amused.

"Them?" Kagome looked at Inuyasha and Kouga, who were sitting on either side of the blanket with arms folded proudly over their chests. She sighed and continued preparing lunch. "They were fighting a while ago… I'm just lucky because they stopped when I told them to stop." She said.

"It must be pretty hard for you. Those two are so hot-tempered and stubborn." Sango told her friend.

"Yeah, Inuyasha won't give up the fight." Kagome agreed.

"You know him. He's just being protective."

"I know, but sometimes he's exaggerating things." Kagome glanced at the two then sighed. "Boys. They're so hard to understand."

"You're also giving him ramen?.!" Inuyasha looked appalled as Kagome gave Kouga a cup of noodles.

Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha, we only have ramen. All of us are eating ramen." She explained patiently like she was talking to a little kid.

"Keh! You shouldn't have invited him to eat with us in the first place!" Inuyasha said crabbily, gripping his chopsticks tighter.

"Inuyasha, it's just a cup of ramen, okay? You shouldn't be making such a big deal out of it." She tried her best to make Inuyasha stop his complaining. All she wanted was to eat peacefully.

Everyone else was just watching silently, looking interested with every event that was occurring—but not in an obvious way.

"Who said I was making a big deal out of it?.!" Inuyasha asked, his temper slowly rising.

"Never mind. Just pretend I didn't say anything." It was starting to tire Kagome. She would never win against Inuyasha. "Kagome, just shut up, okay?.!" She mentally told herself.

"Keh!"

She sighed inwardly at Inuyasha's last comment. "Finally."

Just when Kagome thought it was over, Kouga suddenly spoke with his eyes glowering at Inuyasha.

"Hey dog-face! How dare you shout at my woman while I'm with her!" Kouga growled, placing the empty cup of noodles on the blanket. Apparently, he was finished eating and now he wanted to do something more interesting.

"What?.!" Inuyasha also put his cup down and looked fiercely at the wolf youkai. "Why the hell do you always have to say that Kagome is your woman?.! Damn it! She isn't fucking YOURS!" He repeatedly said in his mind.

Kagome was getting extremely nervous with the course the two hotheaded boys' conversation was heading. One minute more and she was sure that the two would be fighting again—ready to kill each other.

"Are you deaf or what?.! I said stop shouting at my woman!" Kouga said crossly, standing up.

Inuyasha also stood up, flexing his claws. "Why you…"

"Inuyasha, stop it!" Kagome also got to her feet and went to Inuyasha. "You mustn't fight with Kouga-kun."

"He's the one who wants to fight! I'm just granting his wish." The hanyou reasoned out, never lowering his eyes from Kouga.

"Inuyasha, wait!" Miroku said hurriedly. "I can feel Naraku's youki."

Inuyasha sniffed the air and quickly unsheathed Tetsusaiga. "It's definitely that bastard!" He muttered then looked at Kouga. "Guess it's your lucky day. You've escaped my wrath." He told him, smirking disdainfully.

"As if I wanted to escape, dog turd!" Kouga replied, sneering. "Be glad your life was spared." He also got ready to fight Naraku.

"Whatever, wimpy wolf." Inuyasha replied uninterestedly. "I'm the one who will kill Naraku."

"You wish."

Inuyasha ignored Kouga's comment and glanced at Kagome, who was beside him. "Kagome, stay beside me." He told her. "I'll protect you." He added sincerely.

Kagome nodded, grabbing her bow and arrows. "Thank you, Inuyasha." She thought then looked around for their enemy.

But there was no sign of Naraku. The green grass field was empty except for them.

"Bastard! Show yourself!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Let's see then…" A voice from nowhere said. "How much power is left in that girl." A man covered in baboon coat placed one Shikon shard on the forehead of the youkai beside him. "Kill them."

And the youkai was off.

A feral roar echoed through the whole area.

Everyone turned their heads to the source of the sound and saw a three-eyed mountain leopard youkai a few meters from them. It was slowly striding towards them, eyes gleaming predatorily.

"Is that one of Naraku's youkais?" Shippou asked, gulping.

"He reeks like Naraku." Kouga said, scrunching his nose in revulsion.

The leopard youkai stopped for a second then rushed towards them—fast.

"Shit! It's fast!" Inuyasha said, quickly carrying Kagome and jumping out of the youkai's reach.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango threw her weapon at the youkai but the youkai easily dodged it. "It's too fast!" A noise coming from above distracted Sango. She looked up and gasped. "There's a swarm of youkai heading this way!"

"I'll take care of them!" Miroku said, taking off the rosary of his air void and readying it.

"Don't do it, Miroku-sama! There are Saimyoushou!" Kagome called out, looking worriedly at the poisonous youkai insects hovering above them.

Miroku gritted his teeth in defeat and quickly returned the rosary around his hand.

"We have to take them head on!" Inuyasha said, swinging Tetsusaiga towards the horde of youkais. Inuyasha took Kagome again and brought her to Sango and the others. "Just stay here. I'll finish this bunch of youkais with Kaze no Kizu!" He said to Kagome.

While everyone was busy fighting, a certain youkai was apart from the crowd of youkais. The leopard youkai seemed to have only one target—Kagome. It paced silently towards Kagome with its fangs showing and its eyes glimmering ferociously.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango exclaimed. She couldn't help her friend because she was still battling with a huge slithering youkai.

"Don't worry, I'll be all right." Kagome assured her friend, quickly drawing an arrow from her quiver. She placed the arrow in her bow and held the string, ready to release it.

Inuyasha saw that Kagome was in danger and he was about to go to her side when a youkai blocked his way. "Shit! Kagome!" His heart was beating fast as he saw the leopard youkai attacking—ready to pounce at Kagome. "Get out of my fucking way!" He swerved Tetsusaiga violently, cutting the youkai immediately. He immediately rushed to help Kagome but he was too far to save her in time. "Kagome, come on! Shoot your arrow!" He called out desperately to her.

Kagome just froze in her position, arrow not leaving her bow. "I-I can't…"

A flash of brown went to Kagome's side and hurriedly took her just in time before the youkai slammed on the ground where Kagome was standing a second ago.

"Kagome, are you all right?" Kouga asked, setting Kagome on her feet.

Kagome looked shaken but she nodded. "Thank you, Kouga-kun." She said meekly.

Inuyasha hastened to Kagome's side, worry all over his face. "Kagome, were you hurt?.!" He asked frantically.

She shook her head then looked at the bow and arrow on her hands. "Inuyasha… My miko powers… they're gone."

A/N: Hehe… I'm back with the evil cliffie! Sorry, I just had to end it here… Anyway, I'll update as soon as I get lots and lots of review! –insert a smiley here since is messing up with the smileys- Thank you for reading again! BTW, I retained most of the Japanese terms for the attacks in Inuyasha series. I hope that's all right. If you don't understand one of the words, just e-mail me and I'll be glad to explain so you will understand! Here's the list of my best reviewers for Chapter 17:

Saikoubi Sama – I like the fact that you've been honest with me. I'm really sorry for taking so long! Please forgive me. By the way, I already updated before your birthday, see?

YuniX-2 – Your review was very nice. I'm glad that you share your opinion about my story. But I would also like to defend my point, Inuyasha is confused right? He's thinking about EVERYTHING that has happened and all the possibilities too about his decision. I think you found this OOC because Inuyasha has not yet done some VERY VERY serious thinking in the series. Oh well, this is just the way I thought Inuyasha would be thinking. I know that I can't convince everyone to believe me. I respect your opinion. Thank you for the nice feedback! –insert a happy face here-

Ryuki-Chan – I appreciate readers who read my fanfic devotedly that they spend couple of nights awake just to finish reading. Thank you so much. I'm so touched! –insert teary-eyed smiley here- I'm glad you liked my fanfic!

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