Inuyasha-fan91: Aw, I know Inuyasha was weird. And… well, you could Kagome kind of forgot about "sit." And… you're about to find out what happens. Heh heh.

Inlovewithsesshomaru: Glad to see you liked it.

Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl: Wouldn't that be funny, though? Inuyasha would say, "Let's see, Kikyo or Kagome. I love Kikyo, but she's dead. I love Kagome, but- oh crap, she's dead too, isn't she?" Hee hee.

Anna: He's so OOC, isn't he?

Beta Read by Kalliel/Banana Rum (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

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Chapter 4: Savior

Kagome lay on the ground, trying not to whimper. She could tell that the blood was still pouring out of her, but at a slower pace. She still had her hand covering the wound, although it did nothing to help.

She closed her eyes, cringing at the thought of dying, without ever saying goodbye to her family, never to play with Shippo again or watch Miroku with Sango. 'I wonder what it's like to die,' she mused.

'Kikyo did,' she thought bitterly. 'But that was for Inuyasha. I'm dying because of Inuyasha, because I fell in love with him. How pathetic. What did I ever see in him? An arrogant jerk, too selfish to help me, too absorbed in Kikyo to ever love me back. Why did I have to fall in love with him?!'

She opened her eyes, staring at the sky. It was a molten gray, with thick clouds drifting across. No birds flew overhead, or any other type of animal. In fact, the forest was as silent as the grave.

'How ironic,' she thought with a twisted smile. 'Considering this is going to be my grave. I never thought it would end this way. I thought I'd die by another demon, not by Inuyasha.'

A shadow fell over her body. She looked up. "Se-Sesshomaru?" she croaked, blood dribbling out of the corner of her mouth. With her last remaining strength, she crawled away, but only got a few feet further before collapsing in a heap. There she lay, positive that she would die more quickly then she had thought. 'But maybe that's a good thing…'

After a minute, she looked up, to see Sesshomaru motionless, staring down at her with a look of- pity? "Aren't you going to kill me?" she whispered, unable to do anything else. When he didn't answer, she pushed herself up painfully, and screamed, "Hurry up and kill me! I don't want to live! Just do it!"

He still didn't move. Kagome stood up with help of a convenient tree, and walked over, almost doubled over in pain. She put a hand on Toukijin and tried to pull it out, but couldn't, and collapsed on the ground.

Determined, Kagome grabbed a handful of Sesshomaru's robes, and pulled herself up once again. Sesshomaru looked down, a quirky smile playing at the side of his mouth. She was trying to die? 'Let's see how far she'll go.'

She grasped the hilt with both hands, wincing as a new rush of blood came rushing out of her stomach wound. She willed herself to pull it out, and with a screech it slid out. Kagome nearly bucked under the weight. Holding it with her hands, she attempted to stab herself with it. She fell over, and lay panting, defeated.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. The wench had courage. She dared to stand up to him even when she was half-dead. He spoke to her, "Girl, why are you wounded?"

Kagome hissed. "Inuyasha…" was all she managed to get out before fainting.

'Inuyasha?' Sesshomaru looked down. 'She is Inuyasha's lover. I could use her to obtain Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha.' He picked her up, holding her out at arms-length, as is she was contaminated. Sesshomaru could hear other humans coming, so he left, leaving no trace of anything that had happened there except the bloody ground.

--

Kagome awoke slowly, forcing her eyes open in the dim light. She saw she was in silk futon, covered in richly embroidered blankets. The bed was in a room with stone walls and one window, with let in only a small amount of light. The rest of the room was lit by a candle.

'Did I die? Is this death?' she wondered. She sat up quickly, and then gasped as she was reminded of her wound, and with it, everything else. Inuyasha's hatred, Sesshomaru…

Wait. Sesshomaru. Where was he? Kagome looked around frantically. 'I can't be dead if I'm still hurt, so where am I?' She contemplated escaping, before the door across from her opened.

A human-like demon came in. "Hello. I am Hatsue. I will be tending to you while you are here."

"Where is 'here'?" Kagome asked, closing her eyes for a second before opening them. "Why am I 'here'?

"You are in Lord Sesshomaru's castle. Lord Sesshomaru ordered me to take care of you, because he is going to hold you ransom for… a sword, I think."

"I will not be held like this! How dare he! That's it! I'm leaving!" Kagome said, outraged.

"Please, Lady, do not leave until your wound is healed," Hatsue pleaded. "You wound most certainly die if you went out now."

"So? I have nothing to live for," Kagome sulked, sinking back onto the bed. After a moment, she said, "But I will stay. For you, at least. So you don't get into trouble."

"Thank you, Lady!" Hatsue bowed. "Do you need anything?"

"No, not right now," Kagome said absently. 'I want to see where I am.' She pushed herself up, wincing slightly. Wobbling, she made her way over to the window.

From what she could see, she was very high up, at least three stories high. The forest that enveloped the castle, and also hid it from prying eyes, spread for miles. A lone bird flew by, cawing its lonely song.

Kagome sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot. 'How did my life end up this way?'

--

Sesshomaru sat in his study, a brush twirling idly in his fingers. He glanced lazily around the room, appearing bored. Inside, though, his plans were whirl-a-gigging crazily. 'I'll have to send someone to inform Inuyasha of my hostage. Someone unimportant, so it won't matter if it's killed. Can Inuyasha even read?' Irritably, Sesshomaru slammed the brush down on the paper. A large blot spread, sliding over the fine calligraphy, rendering it illegible.

Growling, he threw the paper over his shoulder. It didn't quite make it to the floor, instead landing in his hair. Sesshomaru ran his hand through, pulling the paper out, cursing when he discovered ink staining his silver hair.

'No matter. I didn't need to send a written message anyway.' He stood up, brushing off imaginary dust.

A timid shadow fell on the rice paper screens. Sesshomaru, halfway around the low table, sighed. "Come in."

The screen opened without a sound, and Hatsue walked in. She bowed, then reported, "Lady Kagome is awake, My Lord."

"And you walked all the way over here just to tell me that? That wench's room is a whole wing away! You should be at your station," Sesshomaru said coolly.

"Y-yes, My Lord, b-but I thought y-you would l-like to know-"

"I could care less what happens to her. She could die, for all I care." Sesshomaru planted his hand on the low table and leaned forward. "The only reason," his voice lowered to a hiss, "that I am keeping her here, is because she is going to help me obtain Tetsusaiga. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, My Lord," Hatsue whimpered. She did not know what Tetsusaiga was, or why it was so important, but knew better than to ask. She bowed, and walked out of the room, not looking back.

Sesshomaru also walked out, ignoring the few demons who passed by. He swept up the stairs to the East Wing, and stopped at a plain wooden door.

Throwing open the door, he stormed in, to see Kagome gazing out the window. She turned around when she heard him, and bowed mockingly. "Hello, Sesshomaru."

His eyes narrowed. "Pathetic. You still want to die. Wanting to take the easy way out."

"I do as I please. How does that concern you?" Scornfully, she turned away. "I don't care to live. And what's the point of having me here?"

"To acquire Tetsusaiga. You do know what it is, don't you?"

"Then you're wasting your time. Inuyasha will not come," Kagome said, tears forming in her eyes. She shook them away forcefully.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "And why not? I thought you were lovers-"

"Shut up!" Kagome screamed, the words reverberating around room. "Inuyasha hates me! He almost killed me! And you expect him to come and save me?! Well, expect all you want, but he won't come!"

Sesshomaru's ears were ringing. "I will send it anyway. He still might come for you." Breathing deeply to calm his nerves, he made to move out of the room.

"Wait." Kagome's small voice made him turn around, and for once get a good look at her. She was still wearing her school uniform, although it was encrusted with dried blood. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was in snarls. "I-I don't want to be left alone again. I don't want to love anymore."

"And what do you expect me to do about it?"

Kagome shuffled her feet. "I don't know… I'm just…. Afraid…"

He opened the door. "Shall I send Hatsue in here again?"

"Please," Kagome whispered. Sesshomaru took one last look at her before he left.

As he walked back to his study, he thought about her. 'A resemblance to Rin, no doubt, in appearance and mind. I will have to do something about this…'

--

A/N: I really like Hatsue! She's cool. Um, yeah. And right now I hate Sesshomaru for being SO FREAKIN' HARD TO WRITE ABOUT!!!! Argh.

And we should all thank Kalliel, because you should have seen this chapter before she fixed it. It… was awful, to say the least. Sesshomaru was in Ireland. Hee hee.

Please review!