Note from moi: The first chapter was just too long so I divided it and made some changes too. Enjoy.

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Chapter One-Point-Five (heehee): The Battleground

He lay panting in a cell, covered in blood. He had a cell all to himself, a rank granted to the humans titled 'special' by the demons, but at the same time, he wished deep inside him for company.

His eyes were blurred from the sudden dark cell after the bright hotness of the arena, and his arms trembled and twitched as though still fighting.

Someone appeared in the doorway, and he lunged upwards instinctively. His angry shouts sent the person stepping away from the door, but a voice issued from it: "Easy. Settle down, Miroku-sama. Your battle is over. I am here to take care of you. Shhh. It's all right."

Miroku stopped, and sat back in the dank hay. He couldn't focus his eyes on the person, but somewhere a name was surfacing. "Ka…Kagome," he said weakly.

"That's right. It's me, and I'll fix those wounds. I'll be right in."

Her voice trembled just a little bit. Miroku wondered vaguely if he scared her, and felt an odd sadness. His door, marked E-10, creaked open, and she came in with bandages in her hands.

He lay back, chains clanking. "Water…" he gasped.

Kagome stood up, her voice thick with tears. "I'll get it." She went over to the pump, and pushed with all her might, but she could barely move it. A trickle of water came into the stone bowl near Miroku, and he licked it up, every droplet. Then he heard sounds that he hadn't heard in a long time. Kagome was hunched over the pump, and little sobbing sounds were escaping her.

"Kagome-sama…do I scare you…that much?"

"No, Miroku." She sobbed harder. "No, you don't."

Miroku struggled upright and hissed in pain as fresh blood ran down in a little rivulet from his side. Kagome was next to him in an instant.

"Don't mind me," she said between hiccupy sobs, trying to swallow the reflexive tears. "Don't. You're wounded. Let me help you. I'm fine," she said, pushing away his hand gently.

She peeled back the black and purple clothing from his upper body. She withheld the gasp that longed to escape her. No matter how many times she saw wounds, it was always as raw to her as the wound itself. "I- I'm afraid you might need Kaede's skills…"

"That bad?" He coughed, a blood flecked Kagome's apron. "Oh- sorry-"

"It's dirty anyways. Please, Miroku, stay resting here and I'll get Kaede to see you." She went to the door, and shut it behind her, hating her weakness. Miroku's eyes gleamed in the half-light, and then those vanished. Kagome bit back the sobs again– if a demon superior heard her showing weakness, his reflexive response might be to kill her. Already she was in danger. She stood for a long moment, composing herself. Then she slowly walked away, taking care not to jar herself– her back was sore and tender, but that was the least of her worries.

What she had seen not even one hour ago was so shaking that she thought she might die.

• • • •

One hour earlier:

Outside, as the day wore on, the demon crowd was building in excitement. First had come the low-breed battles. Those were fairly enjoyable, short and brutal and full of flying flesh. Then came the special program events– anybody could see low-breed demons fighting in the forest any day– and normal humans fought with demons. Sometimes the humans won, and covered in blood were taken for a lap of honor around the sands. Most collapsed before the lap was through. The dead demon was thrown to the other low-breeds. And if the low-breed won, he was fed the humans, and then fed to the mass of demons. There was no shortage of low-breeds. In some ways, they were even lower in status than humans– shocking though it seemed.

After this, more talented humans fought higher-class demons, until the climax of the show– when humans fought humans. This was a special treat for most demons, and it was always very bloody and traumatic to the humans. Demons couldn't get enough. And of course there was the star of this event: Inuyasha. He always won his matches. First he was set up against mighty demons, and then, weakened, against humans. He always won, there, too– so he didn't fight many matches. No one wanted to waste higher demons like that, and fighting humans were sometimes of short supply.

Inuyasha come out onto the bright sands. He was energetic and struggling mightily against his bonds. The other demon was calmer. He seemed to have the intelligence to not waste energy like that.

The guards looked to Naraku high in his booth, and he waved a red cloth lazily. The guards, to the roaring of the crowd, let loose the fighters– and the battle began.

When it was over, the other demon lay in pieces, blood soaking the ground. Inuyasha stood and clutched his side tightly, but he was the victor. He bent his head over the flesh of the demon and took a large bite. The demons above cheered.

Within a minute, the guards brought out a man with a bow and arrow, a human man whose black clothing indicated he was not to be paid attention to. He shot an arrow into the eating demon's back. Inuyasha whirled around and charged at the human– but dropped to the sand, twitching, as the guards ran forward and reset him in his bonds.

Two humans were brought onto the grounds this time; they, too, were in bonds, and their weapons were laid in the sand a few feet away. One, a man, was in demon-fighting gear, with armor and a mask. The other was a young woman also in black and red fighting gear. The demons in the stands knew it would be a good match…

…Kagome had snuck out a back way to watch. She had never seen a demon match before, nor wished to, but she couldn't keep her mind from thinking about how Inuyasha had spoken to her. She squashed herself into a nook between the stone gateway and the wall of the stands. There were demons shouting not fifteen feet from her, and that made her heart beat faster– but she tried not to be afraid. She watched as the humans, and then Inuyasha, were set loose.

The humans grabbed their weapons. Kagome didn't recognize either of them, but they were clearly the special humans trained in demon killing. The two sent metal scythes spinning around their heads on long chains, and then in perfect unison sent the scythes rushing at Inuyasha.

He dodged, but as he did the woman lifted a huge boomerang and shouted "Hiraikotsu!" The boomerang leaped from her strong hand, spinning directly into Inuyasha and slightly knocking his shoulder even as he tried to avoid it. He let out a howl, completely feral, and fell to the sand. It had only just grazed him, and yet its power had clearly fractured his shoulder or worse.

Kagome put a hand to her mouth. She suddenly realized what was happening inside her: was she really hoping that E-4 would win this battle? Was she that much of a traitor to her own kind? Horrified to the bottom of her soul, Kagome started to run back into the stone corridors of the demon housing– to put all this behind her– but the battle was underway, and it drew her terrified stare.

Inuyasha charged at the humans, claws raking the air and leaving glowing trails of demon power. Normal humans would have been vanquished in one claw-filled swipe; but these were 'special' and he was injured.

Both humans leaped aside. The boomerang returned to the hand of the woman, and both sent the chain handles of the scythe spinning for Inuyasha's legs. The man's found its hold and brought the demon crashing to the ground. The woman leaped forward to cut off the demon's head, but he was up again in a moment. He sprang away from the woman and towards the man, who drew a sword and threw it like a dart at Inuyasha's chest. It missed, and Inuyasha's snarling self reared back to land the final blow on the man. But the woman now intervened. Her sword passed straight through the demon's upraised arm, and blood spurted into the air. The man rolled away, retrieving his sword. They faced the injured demon together.

Coordinated, the woman threw a packet of powder at Inuyasha, who leaped away from a sudden gas cloud that made him choke and retch. The man lunged for the coughing demon, and sent his scythed blade into Inuyasha's side. It cut in deeply, and Inuyasha yanked it out with a savage scream. Kagome covered her ears. It was too much! Her eyes blurred with forbidden tears.

She sat and focused inwards, trying to quell the tears. If the demons near her felt her weakness, she was dead. Only their bloodlust kept them from sensing her now. When he vision cleared, Inuyasha was in the air– and suddenly–

The man's head landed almost at Kagome's feet. She stared in utter horror. The mask had come off, and blood trickled into the man's beard from his mouth. Its dead eyes stared directly at her, unseeing. She froze, skin crawling.

The woman had watched, stunned, as her partner's body crumpled in slow motion. "No!" she screamed. "Father! No!" Inuyasha stared at her unseeingly. The woman ran towards the body lying on the sand. Inuyasha leaped at her, and with a slash to her back, she crumpled. Kagome gasped, and tears started coming silently from her eyes.

Inuyasha looked up towards where Naraku sat. If he waved the red banner, it meant to finish the girl off– she was still alive, moaning and bloody, but alive. The red flag did not come. She was to be allowed to live, and re-fight in another battle. Kagome breathed a small sigh of relief.

Inuyasha started coming toward Kagome's hiding spot…and for the first time, she was afraid of him, and openly. He got so close she could see the redness in his eyes. His fangs looked longer, and stripes had appeared on his face like a high-caste demon. He went over to the man's head, lifted it above himself, and let the blood fall into his mouth.

Kagome started to scream. It couldn't be, it couldn't be! She had never seen a demon in bloodlust before, not like this. It was terrifying. That girl, that poor girl! She was dead! Her father…that head was her father…had been her father… The scream died in her throat. Inuyasha was looking at her. He'd seen her. Her life was over.

She shut her eyes tight and prayed. Nothing happened. She opened an eye a crack, sweating and shaking. E-4 had dropped the head. He was staring blankly. Then suddenly he arched back, and the madness returned to him– someone was pressing the collar button. Kagome slipped back in through the giant stone gateway as the handlers dragged Inuyasha back, and some black-garbed humans came and took the girl and the man away. Then she was inside the gateway, stuffing her fingers in her mouth to keep from screaming.

He was a murderer. A heartless demon, like any other. And she was no better, to hope he'd win. Those poor humans! One was dead…one mortally injured… She realized that the demon had won against every human he'd been up against, and shuddered. When people talked about winning, they meant death. They meant he'd taken lives. That was how he won. Certain death, only spared by Naraku's nonchalant humors. She sank to the floor.

It had never really occurred to her.

"Kagome! Where have you been!" She jumped. Someone had discovered her!

It was Kaede. She hauled Kagome to her feet. "Where were you? The demon superior is even looking for you! It's been half an hour. Where…" She stopped and looked at Kagome, whose eyes were tear-filled. "How dare you! Stop that this instant!" she hissed. "You'll be–"

"What's all this?" drawled an icy voice. Both Kaede and Kagome spun around. It was Renkotsu, the demon superior for their division. His eyes were narrowed. "You. Girl. How dare you miss your duties?"

Kaede bowed her head before him, and Kagome did the same. "Please, Superior. This girl is one of the best caretakers I have. She's got medicinal knowledge and a great obedience. But–" she pushed Kagome forward– "harm her if you wish, Superior, for though she would never dream of disobeying you, she has erred."

Renkotsu smirked at the old lady. "Well, I just might do it. But I'm in a good mood today. Just whip her for her error, and then send her back to work. If she's valuable, then why waste her? Eh?"

Kaede bowed again. "Your wisdom is great, Superior. It shall be done."

Renkotsu strutted away. Kagome found she'd been holding her breath, and let it out in a silent rush. "Thank you," she whispered to Kaede.

Kaede faced her. "Girl. If you do this again, I may not be able to help you. Come. I will whip you, and then you will return to work." She said that last loudly, for Renkotsu's benefit. Kagome flinched. Kaede may have tried to help her, but she was also serious. "And when I'm done, go take care of the human monk in E-10. He's injured."

Kagome returned to the E Block fifteen minutes later, walking carefully, her back sore. She tried not to think of blood, tried not to look at the cell inmates as they howled or glared at her or moaned in pain. She kept walking, keeping her head high, and staring at the far wall to block it all out.

She walked past E-4. The cell was empty; the demon was probably outside and resting before launching into another battle. He was a creature, a mindless creature devoted entirely to blood and death. She shuddered, and her figure receded into the shadows.

…

…End of Chapter One (and a half)…--

I have the second/third chapter all written but I am waiting to test the waters for a reaction...gives a hopeful look at lab coat So please, review.