A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I like how you guys are trying to figure out what's going to happen…

Becca: You're not right on the nail this time…you'll have to see what happens… Unfortunately, I have yet to decide whether I will reveal it in this chapter or another one…awesome guess though!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Twenty-One

"What do we do? We go after her, of course!" Kagome gasped. "I remember how scared I was when something like that first happened to me…but then Inuyasha burst into the room…" Kagome reminisced. "If they've got her, and Sesshoumaru can't find her, then we have to. He's helped pull us out of a jam one too many times for us not to help him out." Kagome preached. "Who all of you is coming with me?"

"Well, I'm going to have to go. I refuse to let you walk right into a trap all by yourself…" Inuyasha announced. "Dad, Jin, can you stay here with mom and Akira? If we take Sango and Miroku with us, I think we should be okay…"

Inutaisho nodded. "I agree, someone needs to stay here with Izayoi and Akira, but I would like to come along and make sure that you aren't killed…no offense…" he added.

"None taken…I think," Inuyasha frowned. He thought for a moment. "You know, it's fine with me, as long as Jin stays with the humans…but it is a lot of humans to baby-sit…"

Souta crossed his arms in an effort to pout. "I'm not a baby!"

"That's not what I meant, kid." Inuyasha promised.

"Okay…if you say so." Souta brightened.

"All right!" Inuyasha groaned. "Let's go get Rin!"

"When do you think you'll be back?" asked Hojo.

Kagome turned around. "Huh? Well, we don't know that!" she nearly laughed. "We do this a lot, trust me. My dad will be able to catch our scent when we get close enough. He'll let you know, won't you, dad?"

Jin nodded. "No worries there. Get going. Go find that little girl."

"We will." She smiled.

Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango took off with Inutaisho. They disappeared beyond the horizon in less than a minute. Eri and Yuka watched until they could no longer see their friend, and then turned to her father.

"So…you're Kagome's dad?" Eri asked.

Jin nodded.

"And how did you die the first time around?" Hojo asked, and Yuka and Eri's eyes widened.

"Hojo!" screamed Yuka. "Don't ask a question like that!"

Jin frowned uncomfortably, but opened his mouth to respond anyway. "It was Inuyasha's uncle. It happened right after Kagome was born. I sent them to the future to keep them safe, and then Jiro came along…"

"Well how does that feel? Your son-in-law's uncle killed you. What a comforting thought," he smirked.

"Excuse me?" Jin growled.

"I'm sorry. That was inappropriate…" he smiled.

"I agree!" yelled Eri and Yuka in unison, slapping Hojo as hard as they could. "You insensitive jerk!"

Hojo groaned. "I was just playing around."

"That was rude!" Eri screamed at him.

"Sorry…" he whined.

Meanwhile, Kagome had caught on to a familiar scent. She sighed. "The scent is here…" she took several steps forward, "but it isn't right here. What in the world is going on?" she frowned.

"It's a barrier…be careful," Inutaisho warned.

"They want to keep us out. Rin has to be back there…" Sango commented.

"I will…" Kagome promised. She stopped a moment. "Rin is inside the barrier. We are going to have to go in after her." She sighed. "My next question is, how do I get caught?"

"Don't stand still for too long," Inuyasha warned.

Kagome yelped. She felt as if her body was being pulled forward. Inuyasha jumped, wrapping his arms around Kagome's waist as she was pulled into the barrier. Inutaisho growled, trying to jump after them, but he was pushed violently back.

"Damn!" screamed Inutaisho. "Let me in you cowardly…"

"Calm down. Try and use your sword to pierce the barrier like Inuyasha does." Miroku suggested. "You're stronger than he is, so it will hopefully work easier for you…"

"Where are we?" Kagome groaned. "You're sitting on my legs, Inuyasha…"

"Sorry…" he whispered his reply, "but I don't think that this a very good place." He paused a moment. "It's too quiet in here…"

"I agree with that." Kagome nodded. "But at least we can track Rin in here."

"Yeah, and go right where they want us to go." Inuyasha scoffed unhappily. "Straight into their arms like lost puppies…except you know exactly where we're going." He sighed, letting out a deep breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Can you sense anyone else up ahead? I can't catch any other scent other than Rin…"

"Then what makes you think I can do any better?" Kagome replied.

"Oh, yeah, right…" Inuyasha frowned. "Sorry…"

"Come on, Inuyasha…" she whispered. "The scent gets stronger up ahead."

"I know that!" he huffed.

They came to a clearing. Kagome gasped. Rin was lying unconscious on the floor. She looked very pale, but surprisingly otherwise unharmed. She made a move to run and grab the little girl, but Inuyasha grabbed her by the shoulder before she had the chance to do so.

"Don't go near her." He warned Kagome. "They're just waiting for you to go get her. They know how nice of a person you are, and they know that the miko inside you will compel you to help her, but don't…"

"But Inuyasha…" Kagome whined. "She's…"

"If we stand here long enough, someone is bound to notice. We'll wait for them to come out, okay? If Rin is okay now, she'll be all right a little while longer while we try to figure out who did this."

"All right," Kagome frowned.

Outside, Inutaisho's repeated attempts to strike down the barrier that kept him from his son were failing. Feeling the anger begin to build inside him, Inutaisho growled, raising his sword and taking one more swing. The barrier resisted at first, but then slowly began to dissipate.

"Great!" smiled Sango. "Let's go!"

"They went that way…" Inutaisho pointed.

Inside, Kagome screamed. "Inuyasha! No!"

"Kagome! Get Rin and run!" Inuyasha demanded.

"No, I'm not leaving you!"

Kagome and Inuyasha had stayed put for a while. Rin had not moved, but no one had come for them, either. There were no strange scents in the room, other than that of Rin, and Kagome and Inuyasha had just begun to step forward and retrieve Rin when something fell from the ceiling.

Inuyasha pushed Kagome out of the way as a black claw-like appendage closed itself around his midsection.

"Inuyasha, what is that? Are you okay? Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha struggled, frowning as he answered her. "Like I said before, take Rin and run!"

"Whether or not I'm out of this cave doesn't matter anymore! What the heck is that thing?"

Inuyasha yelped as the unidentified creatures claw tightened around him.

"Kagome, don't you recognize me?" the creature whispered.

Kagome nearly dropped her sword in utter shock. The voice sounded very familiar. She had heard it hundreds of times before…

"No…you didn't…" Kagome stammered.

"Kagome, look out!" Inuyasha warned.

Inutaisho, Sango, and Miroku were finally inside the cave when they began to hear the struggle up ahead.

"They're in trouble! Come on!" Sango yelled, charging ahead.

"Something doesn't smell right," Inutaisho growled. "What would they be doing inside this cave?"

"This is the place the barrier was hiding. It makes sense that Kagome and Inuyasha would be here. All we have to do is find them." The monk spoke up.

Sango's brow furrowed in confusion. "Miroku, I don't think that he is talking about Kagome and Inuyasha…" she realized.

"I wasn't." he clarified.

"Well then," Miroku scratched his head, "who were you talking about?"

Sango gulped. "There is something bad up ahead…." She whispered, more to herself than to anyone.

"I don't understand what's going on." Inutaisho commented. "It's physically impossible…isn't it?"

"Let him go!" screamed Kagome from somewhere near the end of the cave. The clink that reverberated through the cave seconds later told the three of them that something bad was indeed happening up ahead. Kagome had dropped her sword…

"We have to hurry!" Inutaisho growled. "She has to have that at all times! If Inuyasha is in danger, without it she might…"

Sango and Miroku paled.

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"They probably found the little brat and ran into some trouble," smirked Hojo. "I guess we'll see what happened if they get back…"

"What do you mean, 'if'?" yelled Yuka, slapping him in the head. "Shut up! Quit being so negative!"

Hojo latched onto Yuka's wrist. "That wasn't very nice," he warned, venom dripping from his voice.

He felt a strong hand on his arm. "Neither are you. Don't make me hurt you, boy. Release the girl right now." Jin ordered him.

Hojo laughed, but dropped Yuka's wrist quickly.

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Sango's jaw fell to the floor. Kagome was all right. She had reclaimed her sword. Unfortunately for Inuyasha, he was still in the monster's clutches. But it wasn't this that alarmed Sango. They had been in predicaments such as this one before. It was the monster itself that had Sango worried.

The beast was large. If one was looking at it from a distance, one could easily see that this one monster had once been several monsters. He was made of a mixture of the various demons that they had fought over the past two months, and a couple that Sango hadn't seen before.

…but what was most shocking to her, on top of all this, was the monster's face.

Miroku paled as soon as he realized what it had taken Sango only mere seconds to grasp. "You...you…" he stuttered.

"How is this possible? How can you be here?" Sango whispered. "I thought we…"

"That's because we did, Sango…" frowned Miroku in suspicion.

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A/N: Hope you like it! Mr. Evil guy will be unveiled in the next chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!