Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters….yet another sad one-shot…


Kagome gripped her shoulder. It was stained in blood, as well as the back of her shirt. It hurt so much. The youkai that attacked her had wanted the Shikon no Tama, the complete jewel that hung from her neck.

Now that she thought about it, it was funny. She had left her bag at the well, worried about InuYasha since it was the night of the New Moon, the night he was a human. She wanted to hurry back, to see how he was doing, to see if anything was wrong, and the scary youkai that had attacked her, destroyed her bag and her shoulder and back in the progress.

She looked up at the hidden moon with hate. Why tonight? Why couldn't it have waited? Her back… it was drenched in blood. And the claw of the demon was lodged in there like an arrow. The yellow-grey claw that made the blood drip slowly from her back. There was also a small part of a claw in her shoulder. Her face was covered in dirt from being thrown too many times.

She fell to her knees in tremendous pain. She would never make it back to the village. At least not alive. And the youkai was still after her. She could sense it.

"No…" Kagome pushed herself to her feet. "I refuse to die like this." She quickened her pace until the passed the Sacred Tree and knew she was half way there.

"If only…if only someone had gone with me…" That's when it hit her, like a cold bucket of water, she was shocked back to reality. She was a useless miko who was only strong when someone was there to protect her. And she could fire her arrows from behind. Other than that, she was useless. Compared to the others, she was nothing.

An extremely strong hanyou with an even stronger sword, a talented demon slayer with incredible skills, a powerful monk with a Kazanna cursing his right hand who could be lecherous but strong none the less, a neko demon that could fool anyone with her cuteness then bite their heads off the next second, and the kitsune, who was still so young and small, was stronger than she.

"InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, even Shippo…" She collapsed to her side and her injured shoulder strung a twinge of a pain not imaginable. "Compared to them, I am useless…at least without their weapons, they can still win a fight."

She slowly processed this in her mind. Without his sword, InuYasha is still strong with his demon abilities. Sango could do anything with her moves. Miroku…he has no choice, his weapon is always with him. Same with Kirara and Shippo…I am the only one, without my weapons, a stupid bow and arrows, I will be killed. "Just like…just like now."

She admits to herself, she was a bit frightened. But when you were in as much pain as she was in, an unbearable pain, you weren't worried about death.

The unbearable pain that only death could suffocate. She realized then she was really going to die…and die alone…so she did the only thing that made sense, a little voice told her that if she did what it old her to do, everything would be alright. So…she screamed. She screamed until her voice was choked by hot tears streaming down her face and into her mouth. The salty tears mixed with blood so she spat into the grass where the blades turned red. She rubbed her teeth and her finger turned an orange-red. She gasped and spat again and screamed and cried more.

The demon that had attacked her smelt her blood and tears and came running after her.

Kagome felt the ground shake and she knew it was coming after her. She also felt trees fall to the ground. She shook with fear. But…fear of what? Her mind had lost all consciousness and he felt dizzy. She was drifting in and out of darkness but she welcomed it gratefully.

She closed her eyes, and waited to be engulfed by the darkness. But there was a voice…

"Kagome…"

She didn't bother opening her eyes. It would take too much strength and she had lost too much blood and the will to live. Everyone thinks I'm so strong…I wish they could see me now…

No she didn't. She couldn't stand to see her friends faces while she was dead. Sango, she would have a heart attack, seeing her best friend dying right in front of her. Miroku, he would never perform another funeral without recalling hers. Shippo. He would never be the same, losing his mother again. And InuYasha…

"Inu…" Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she saw moving figures. It didn't surprise her; she was dizzy. She closed her eyes once more as she felt more tears drip down her cheeks and blood out of her mouth. "InuYasha…"

Her breathing was ragged and shallow and sounded as if she would give away at any moment.

The deep booming laugh of that youkai again, and this time she felt herself being picked up by her collar and she sailed through the air, meeting a tree. Her back and ribs cracked under the force of impact with the tree. She slid to the ground, not wanting to breathe, it hurt her so much. She opened her eyes, a twinge of pain surged through her body. She closed her eyes, another surge of pain. No matter what she did, it hurt her.

She tried to take another shaky breath but her cracked ribs punctured her lungs. She took shallow breaths, and it reduced her pain a bit.

"Kagome!"

She heard her name again…this time more clearly and outside her head. A hand on her shoulder and she was shook gently. "Kagome! Can you hear me?"

She tried opening her eyes, but she only got them half way and was greeted with a black and red blur. "Dead…yet?"

"Not If I can help it."

She heard other voices too. A girl's voice, another boy's voice, a childish boy voice…a faint meow from a neko youkai. They came…to save me? No…it's too late.

"Be right back." The boy's voice next to her said. "Sango, leave it alone. This demon is mine."

Kagome guessed Sango stepped aside but the little fox child protested. "You're human though! You don't stand a chance without your sword or claws!"

"I can still beat it without those."

She heard a youkai's laugh but then it stopped and was replaced by a terrible roar pleading with it's attacker to leave it alone.

Another hand on her shoulder, she recognized as Miroku's. "You're going to be alright Kagome. Just hang on there a little bit longer, alright?"

"I'm…not…and I can't…" Kagome gasped. The cry of the youkai again.

"Don't you ever even try to mess with Kagome again, you bastard!"

It laughed at him. "I was going to take her…and the jewel…what would you care? I can detect you're a half-demon."

That struck a nerve. "What do I care! WHAT DO I CARE! Kagome is MINE and if you ever try to mess with her again…oh well, it won't matter. I'm gonna kill ya right now anyways."

She seemed to smile. I'm his…She blacked out for a while but it wasn't long. She soon felt Miroku try to push her to wake up again. "It's gone?"

"It's over Kagome." Miroku said solemnly. She felt empty. She knew she had lost too much blood and she continued to cry. "W-where…where is he?" She rasped with her sprained voice.

"Kagome!" Instantly, she felt InuYasha beside her. "Not fair." She squeaked. "I'm supposed to protect you on these nights…not fair…" Again, she felt the darkness grab her and pull her in. "Aishiteru, InuYasha…" (Aishiteru in English is 'I love you.')

"You're not getting out of this that easily…" He sounded mad…no not really mad, upset, upset when you're both mad…and sad…and scared. "Kagome…you've lasted this long…" His voice was a whisper now. "You're so strong…"

Kagome wanted to laugh but it hurt. No…I'm weak…just like I've always been…"

She isn't going to last any longer… It was hard…but InuYasha had to admit the truth to himself. "Hang on a second…"

Kagome felt the jewel being untangled from her hair and lifted form her neck. In seconds, came the real pain. Her back cracked back into its original position, as did her ribs. Her shoulder wound felt closed and the claw came out. The real huge claw from her back was pulled out and her wound in her back was healed. Was that all? She still felt weak…but she could breathe.

She felt herself being lifted off the ground close to him, her head resting on his shoulder. "My Kagome is way stronger than that…she just needed help…"

Kagome was unaware at the time what he was talking about… Help? What help? The jewel maybe…? She didn't want to know…she just wanted to be held by him. And she could finally go to sleep. But before she drifted off into peacefulness, he whispered to her so no one else could here…

"Aishiteru…Kagome…"

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