Hey everyone, I feel really bad about not updating.-sweatdrop- I just haven't had the… motivation to do so. Well, here goes, another extra-exciting chapter! And I promise that there'll be plenty of Miroku x Sango ness coming up! -wink-

Disclaimer: I don't own them! –ish gonna cry now-

Sango had made her way across the field, continuing to part the grass until the end. When she reached the hill, she panted a little bit and began to climb. No creep touches my friend and gets away with it. She thought.

Meanwhile, the other two were still a ways behind, but catching up quickly. Inu-Yasha wasn't giving Miroku a moment to rest.

"I hope…" Miroku panted as he ran, "we can reach them in time…"

"Oh, we will, I guarantee we will." Inu-Yasha said forcibly. His temper grew more and more.

Elsewhere, Sekushi and Kagome entered a small shrine on top of a hill. It was untidy and the doors and windows were falling apart. Sekushi threw Kagome to the floor. "Finally…"

"Finally what!" Kagome looked up, scared.

"We're… alone…" He smiled. Kagome squealed and leapt towards the back of the shrine. "Maybe if I defile you before they reach us…"

"NO WAY!" She yelled and leaned against the back of the shrine. Just her luck, she hit it hard enough so that the whole back wall began to lean and broke. The entire shrine collapsed and she fell backwards down the hill a little ways. Sekushi was covered in the remains of the shrine. "I… is it over?" She darted her eyes all around.

"Hardly…" Sekushi's muffled voice came from the rubble. He began to stand up and knock all of the pieces aside. When he was finally to his feet, Kagome had already started to run the way they had came. "Come back here!" He roared. His voice shook Kagome's nerves and she tripped, rolling down the hill a ways. When she rolled nearly to the bottom, she stood up dizzy, unaware of her surroundings. Sekushi was coming quickly, and she had no escape.

"WENCH!" Sekushi was just about to leap onto her when Sango's hiraikotsu came barreling in, pummeling his chest and throwing him back towards the shrine.

"Sango!" Kagome jumped to her feet and swayed towards her.

"Are you okay?" They said at the same time. There was a pause and they laughed a little.

"Miroku and Inu-Yasha are on their way." Sango said. "You'd better head back in that direction, I'll take care of this guy."

"Are you sure?"

"You're unarmed and Inu-Yasha's worried to death. You'd better hurry and let him know that you're okay." She smiled. "I'm a demon slayer, there isn't anything this guy can do that I can't handle."

"Thanks Sango." Kagome smiled too. "I believe in you. Be careful!" She turned to run. Thanks Sango. I'm glad you're on our side.

"Now demon," Sango turned, "it's on."

"Oh, really?" Sekushi smirked. "It's touching how you'll all help each other, die for one another. Ever thought of dying together?"

"Well, if we do it won't be at the hands of a low-class demon such as yourself. Its demons like you that make my life interesting, you know that? It's so much fun just to use you as a warm-up for the real hard stuff."

"Done with the insults yet, wench?"

"The real insult will be when I take you down." She smirked. "Bring it on…"

He leapt at her and drew a sword that was unnoticeable at his side. He swung it quickly but she backed away, it had just missed her throat. She gripped the hiraikotsu and was ready to whip it at him when he put his hand to the ground and had a grin on his face. The ground around Sango began to shake violently, almost like an earthquake. While she was stunned by the sudden shift in the earth he leapt towards her again, this time swiping her arm with the sword. She dropped the hiraikotsu; her arm couldn't support it now.

"Damn…" she muttered.

"Giving up yet?"

"You wish…" Sango brought her arm forward and released her hidden blade, taking him by surprise. She leapt forward and stuck it in the upper part of his right shoulder.

"Argh!"

She continued to push it in deeper until he struck her across the face, causing her to pull out the blade and fall to the ground. He raised his sword and came smashing towards her, but she put her arm out and allowed the hidden blade to become her shield. He was forcing the sword down so hard that her already wounded arm was shaking.

Desperate to escape, she pulled out her own sword with her left hand and thrust it up through his chest. He released the force he had on her and backed up slowly.

"You think something like that would hurt me?" He pulled out the sword and cast it aside.

What! Sango was in awe. The wound to his chest was worse than the one in his shoulder, yet the shoulder wound hurt him more? What does that mean…?

"Come at me again, I dare you."

"Gladly…" Sango readied her hidden blade to use and charged forward.

Miroku and Inu-Yasha continued to advance forward in the field. Though the scent was mixed in, Inu-Yasha was picking up a trace of something.

"Miroku…" he stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "I smell… blood."

"Blood?" He stopped, panted, and continued. "Who's?"

Inu-Yasha sniffed the air again. "A lot from Sekushi… and a hint of Sango's blood in there too."

"We'd better hurry then." Miroku began to pick up his pace again. Inu-Yasha did the same. The two of them began to slow down again when they heard something weaving in and out of the grass when suddenly Kagome appeared from nowhere and ran head on into Inu-Yasha.

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha yelled, grabbing her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She was shaking a little, and panting heavily. "I'm worried about Sango though. She's fighting Sekushi by herself."

Miroku looked at Inu-Yasha. "And you said you smelled her blood?"

"What!" Kagome gasped.

Inu-Yasha knelt down and let her climb onto his back. "We can't waste anymore time, let's hurry."

The battle between Sekushi and Sango continued, though it was getting nowhere. Sango was using the hidden blade and swiping at him randomly. He continued to dodge every attack that she threw at him. He took the butt end of the sword and drove it into her shoulder until she fell onto her back again. Any harder and the bone probably would've snapped. He turned the sword around again and put it at her neck.

"Foolish woman. Become my bride and I'll spare you."

She was silent for a minute, as though pondering something. Then she spoke. "Never." She smiled.

He touched the sword to her throat. "You sure about that?"

"Positive. There's someone else, that I care about." She looked up at the sky, suddenly tear-filled. "And I'd rather die than be with anyone else."

"So be it…" He pressed it against her throat harder so that he drew blood.

She closed her eyes, waiting for it to happen, for him to kill her. And image of Kohaku was in her mind. Sorry Kohaku… she thought. I won't be able to free you after all.

The Kohaku in her mind turned slightly, but his eyes were shining. He was smiling, he was happy. "Sis!" he called. A single tear rolled down Sango's cheek. "Don't give up! That's what Father always said. You say it too!" She recalled a time when she wanted to give up demon slaying, but Kohaku encouraged her to be strong.

"Little brother…" she smiled. The image of him smiling and laughing didn't fade, even as Sekushi stood over her with a sword at her throat. She kept her eyes closed, and another figure came into the picture. It was Miroku, and he was smiling too, holding his hand out. Kagome, Inu-Yasha, Shippo, and Kirara appeared too, smiling. Everyone…she thought. I… cannot give up to this. I have too much to live for… she reached out for her own sword, and gripped the handle. "Prepare to die a miserable death." She opened her eyes to Sekushi, still standing over her.

Ouch, another cliffhanger, ne? Mwahahaha, I'm so cruel. I'll try to update as much as possible within the next few weeks. I've got finals coming up though… Hope you enjoyed it. I think I'll rap this story up in the next chapter. -kitty smile-