Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, but I bought the most wonderfulest Inuyasha Wall Scroll at Vintage Stock…dreamy sigh I get to drool ever time I look at my wall now. It's got Inu on it & Kagome & Miroku & Sango & Shippo & Sesshoumaru & Jaken & Bitch Queen From Hell (Kikyo, of course) & the three little elf people from the first movie…& goes on & on

Amehana: wow I'm up to chapter eight! YAY!

I guess that's all for now. Just remember 2 review!

Now, one would believe that once your greatest enemy has been defeated that things would calm down.

You've had your beginning, you've had your journey, you've had your battles, you've had your hard times and you've completed the final battle.

Now is the time for the beloved heroes and heroines to complete their quest and bring things to a close. This is the time for celebration, things quieting down, then riding into the sunset to live happily ever after…right?

Ha.

Funny.

No way! We are talking about the Inuyasha gang! Happily ever after is boring, not to mention conforming, and our antagonists are far from normal!

But, still…

One would at least expect things to calm down, even for these people we love so much with their crazy, abstract lives. You would thing once the greatest enemy has been defeated that there wouldn't be any more battles.

But that wasn't the case for our heroes.

Not in the least. Actually their battles increased.

It started out reasonably enough, the usual youkai wanting to get their hands on the Shikon No Tama, believing that it was now in weaker hands and easier to access. (A/N: hahaha wrong!)

It wasn't that bad at first…but then the attacks started to get more and more probable…to the point that they were expected to break out every day, and that can get hard on a person, very hard.

You see, when Naraku had taken the jewel he had tainted it to make it more powerful, of course, and with that the aura of the jewel increased…so it's only natural that more demons would be drawn to it.

Well that's an easy fix, sō? All you need is to purify the darn thing, right?

Wrong.

Kagome would purify it; it's just that she couldn't.

Naraku had tainted it badly, so it would need many days, maybe even months, to bring it back to its former, safe, state.

But with an attack on the village every single day, it was impossible to even suggest. Not only did it destroy the time that would be needed, but also, every demon that got control of the jewel soaked it in more evil.

So instead of the jewel being purified, it got more and more evil with each passing blood spilling bout. They thought it would calm down after the first few weeks, but it didn't. This even worried Kaede-sama.

We all are aware that the lives of the Inuyasha characters are far from conformist, but this was getting out of hand.

Even in this story, after the main villain is defeated, it's supposed to get better…

That is…

Unless what we thought was the greatest threat, was really, unknowingly, masking the real evil…

Chapter IIX– Ironic Aftermaths

Kagome wiped sweat from under her black bangs while gasping for breath, right after she unconsciously leaned on the closest thing to her, which just happened to be Inuyasha's shoulder.

She didn't care, she was too tried to care or care if he cared, which he didn't.

The miko was exhausted, of course she was, who wouldn't be after slaying and entire team of assorted centipede demons? About fifty or so, it turned out.

They all were tired: Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Shippo, Kagome, and even Inuyasha, who had taken down most of the youkai himself.

Kagome had every right to lean on Inuyasha for support, unlike the rest of them; she had been using both her physical and spiritual strength. Being the only able body miko, she had to purify the demons before they could be slain, and that took life energy.

One demon was bad enough, but fifty, that's fifty times she had to pull out her chi and transform a wooden arrow into a special purity arrow. Actually, more than fifty times, like when she missed. Although, if she missed, she would wordlessly whip out another arrow and pump out more energy for it without fail.

But now that the battle was over, she could no longer keep herself upright.

Inuyasha wrapped a supportive arm around her waist and held her up. He heard her heart rate slowly decreasing from the quickened pace it needed for battle, still, it unnerved him.

That is why –and it wasn't too surprising when it happened– he shot a glare that could pierce flesh at Lady Kaede when she walked up to them. "This is going to kill Kagome, granny." he growled.

"Iie, Inuyasha, I'll be fine, I just need to rest, that's all." argued Kagome weakly.

Inuyasha looked back at her. He sighed and gracefully bent down a bit to wrap his spare arm under Kagome's legs and then he moved the other securely across her back and lightly picked up the girl, cradling her to his chest.

Kagome gave no protest and laid her head against him, slowly closing her eyes.

"Aye, 'tis harming the child as we all can see, but nay young hanyou, Kagome is strong she'll pull through this."

"I know that!" He snapped, then looked back at the girl in his arms "But I don't want her to push herself over the edge, if she uses up all her energy, then, she'll die…" The very thought scared him, although he kept the same distant look in his eyes. With another glare he looked back at the old miko in front of him, "And I know she'd do it to protect this damn village." Inuyasha growled.

Kaede stood firm against his threats, her old gray eyes still. She knew he merely wanted to protect the girl. "Ye are correct Inuyasha, and that is why I have come to ye five at this hour, something needs to be discussed."

"Damn right I'm right." Inuyasha muttered, which earned him a glare from both Sango and Miroku.

They followed Kaede back to her hut where they all painfully sat down awaiting treatment, and Inuyasha carefully laid Kagome down on a palette, glancing over her sleeping form after he did so. Her body was streaked with blood like everyone else's but fortunately (more like amazingly) nothing was broken.

A girl from the village helped Sango up to go clean the blood away in a spare room, one came to help Miroku –after slapping him when he grouped her butt as a greeting, of course– and another came to tend to Kagome, under Inuyasha's narrowed eyes.

"What was it you needed to discuss with us, Kaede-sama?" asked Miroku.

"First ye all need some rest, especially young Kagome, I shall return tomorrow." She glanced over at Inuyasha. "Will ye not let this kind girl tend to ye Inuyasha?"

The hanyou snorted and looked away. "I don't need it."

The old miko sighed and shook her head. "Very well then, come now girls, take leave, lets give these weary guardians some rest."

Inuyasha made up his mind, and silently jumped down from his tree and walked back into Kaede's hut, once inside he followed Kagome's scent to the farthest room down the hall to where she had been moved earlier.

Everyone was asleep now; preparing their bodies for the battle that would most likely come tomorrow. Attacks on the village were so frequent recently, the group (being the only ones in the village with real demon slaying abilities) barely got any rest.

It was hard on them, but they continued to protect the village and its people day after day. Why these sudden attacks? Well, word that the Shikon Jewel had been completed had gotten around. Also it was commonly whispered that the sacred relic resided in quite, unarmed village, and was in the care of a little girl, no more than eighteen.

None of the attackers expected the village to fight back, or that this "little girl" had extraordinary powers, along with her close companions.

The hanyou slid the door open to step in the dark room and carefully shut it again. He crept over to where Kagome was sleeping, without making a single sound.

Once at her side, he crouched on all fours to study the girl before him he cared so much about. He would admit it now –to himself at least, though it had been obvious to the others long before– that he cared about her.

He still could catch the scent of blood on her, but barely; she was healing fine. But he had no way of telling what her energy level was.

The inu-oni tucked a stray lock of raven hair behind Kagome's ear, and then caressed her face, careful not to cut her with his claws. He smiled softly.

Kagome stirred and opened her eyes; somehow she wasn't freaked out by his figure in the darkness.

Inuyasha quickly drew his hand away. "Sorry."

"Iie, its fine." The miko forced her body to sit up. "Thanks for carrying me back here."

He shrugged slightly. "No big deal."

"Yes it is, you know you can be really sweet sometimes, Inuyasha."

The hanyou rolled his eyes.

Kagome smiled knowingly. "Even if you hate to admit it." She looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry, I tried not to faint… but I did, and you were probably worse off than I was, and I bet I embarrassed you, I'm–"

Inuyasha gently placed a clawed finger to her lips to show her she had absolutely nothing to apologize for. Then he silently removed his finger only to carefully pick her up and place her in his lap. Kagome sighed happily and snuggled into his warmth. Ah, these peaceful moments between them, she wished they could last forever and ever.

With a slight smile on his face, Inuyasha leaned against the back wall, holding her close to him. He slowly fell asleep after he knew she was, breathing in her sweet scent all the while.

Owari Chapter Hachi

Amehana: well the ending was kind of sweet…but do you get it? Naraku tainted the Jewel too much so now all demons want to get a hold of it…because they're just greedy like that…

I suppose that's it for now, meh, it was short, I'll work on that.

Be sure to review!

Word to your mother

–Amehana