Chapter Four
Demon Defeated
T_T I'm sorry; I have NO EXCUSE for not updating in so long!!! I'm sorry, everyone! BAD KAT! BAD KAT! (And this is after all of the reviews…now I sorta feel bad.) I'll get to working more on it while I can, but eighth grade graduation and confirmation and my cousin's wedding and eighth grade trip and prom and report cards and stuff are coming up……though it still isn't much of an excuse…^-^;;;
I hope this won't effect how many people enjoy my story, though! Ugh…most will have forgotten it and will need to re-read it again…T_T Watakushi no baka…but, oh, well. I'm sure new people will come along and read it…*still feels like a baka*
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. I'm not receiving money for this fanfiction.
Kagome stood with her bow and arrow ready, but lowered down. Kikyo, beside her, was doing the same. Kagome fought the urge to glare at her previous incarnate, but knew that if Kikyo told Inuyasha about it, she'd be dead meat. So she looked away from the undead priestess.
Kikyo, meanwhile, fought the urge to smile. Kagome was quite obviously—and also quite understandably—furious. Inuyasha had made her work with her worst rival, the one person she hated more than anything, except perhaps Naraku. Kikyo was enjoying watching the girl squirm, because both of them knew who the better was between the two of them. And Inuyasha was about to find out for sure today.
So, Kagome thought as Kikyo gave her a small smirk, this is a contest to see who gets Inuyasha? Bring it on! She gripped her bow more tightly, then thought about it. Inuyasha was starting to hurt her more than ever—what the hell did she want him for?! Nah, I'll beat her still…if only to keep Inuyasha from being happy while I'm not, Kagome decided.
Inuyasha seemed not to know of the unspoken words passing between the two women who had the same soul. He looked back, his eyes going from Kagome to Kikyo. Kagome glared at him, but Kikyo was still expressionless. Inuyasha turned away from her rather quickly, and she again didn't see the hurt look in his eyes.
"There," Kikyo said, pointing. "I sense the demon there."
Kagome didn't bother to confirm it. She readied her bow as the demon appeared suddenly in front of them. Inuyasha was already attacking. "IRON REAVER, SOUL STEALER!" With the slash of his powerful claws, a deep wound appeared in the demon's shoulder.
Kagome was already aiming an arrow at it, but took a moment to stare at the demon. It was a big, ugly one, nearly as large as Menomaru had been when he turned into his giant moth form—though it wasn't nearly as powerful. Its skin was grayish in tone, and purple blood oozed from where Inuyasha had injured it. It threw back its hideous head and howled monstrously.
Then she watched in both horror and fascination as it moved forward—the ground shook twice at its giant steps—and howled again. Then a mysterious light glowed from its shoulder, which miraculously healed itself.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted. "It's using the power of multiple jewel shards!"
"Multiple?" Inuyasha repeated, flexing his claws as he circled the colossal demon. "Well, where are they?!"
"One in his forehead, another in the left leg—"
"And also one in the right shoulder where you cut it," Kikyo finished. As she spoke, she loaded an arrow onto her own bow and fired, hitting it right in the forehead. Kagome gasped, and one fragment of the Shikon no Tama flew out amid the demon's maroon blood.
The demon let loose with an unearthly howl, as would well indicate that it wasn't exactly intelligent and couldn't speak, and lunged at the beautiful priestess who had injured him.
"KIKYO!" Inuyasha jumped in front of Kikyo, pushing her out of the way quickly. The beast's claws caught onto the fire-rat robe and the half-demon was thrown up into the air. Sango gasped and Kagome cried out as the claws came back down with him, tearing through his skin. Blood spattered against the trees and into the ground.
"INUYASHA!" Kagome immediately began running to him, but the demon was eyeing her now. Kikyo gave no reaction to the way the girl from the future was holding her former lover, just lifted up the bow and fired again, tearing away the jewel shard in its leg.
On the transformed Kirara's back, Sango held up the Hiraikotsu, throwing it at the demon's shoulder. The over-sized boomerang tore through it efficiently, and the big cat-demon swooped down so Sango could catch the shard.
The demon—injured, but without its Shikon shards—let out an animal-like defeated moan, knowing it had been beaten.
"Wind tunnel!" Miroku shouted, unwinding the beads from his right hand. The black hole tugged at the large demon's form, but it was eventually pulled in and swallowed up there.
With all that finished, everyone ran to Inuyasha.
Kagome helped the injured dog-demon up gently. He was shaking slightly, slightly dazed from blood loss. Kagome looked up at Kikyo, almost as if begging the priestess to do something about it.
Kikyo bent down, touched the wound, and everyone watched in wonder as it healed instantly. "He's still lost a lot of blood," Kikyo concluded in her soft, emotionless voice. "Inuyasha, you must rest while your body makes up for that."
"Feh," he grumbled, standing up shakily. "I don't need to rest; I'm fine…" He tripped and fell to his knees and elbows.
Kikyo shook her head. Then she turned. "You're the one called Sango, are you not?"
"Y-yes, I am," Sango replied, removing her mask so her voice could be heard more easily.
"Take him back to the village on the cat. It's too dangerous to let him walk, unless we plan on him falling more and re-injuring himself."
"Right." Sango and Miroku eased Inuyasha onto Kirara's back, then Sango hopped on (after slapping Miroku for being a hentai). "See you later," she whispered to Kagome before Kirara flew up into the air.
***
Kagome felt awfully stupid as she walked the rest of the way back with the others. Wiping away the tears she'd shed at the sight of Inuyasha's blood, she recalled what Kikyo had done. SHE could have done that! It hadn't been a day yet, though, since she'd discovered how to use the powers that had come along with her soul.
Kikyo at age seventeen had managed to be more powerful than her little sister Kaede was at age sixty or so. Kikyo's body hadn't aged a bit since the day Urasue had stolen her bones, and it was a constant reminder to Inuyasha because she looked the same as the day they turned against each other—with the absence, of course, of the blood dripping from her shoulder.
He still doesn't think I'm as good as Kikyo, Kagome thought with irritation. All that I tried to do for him, and he still doesn't get it! I can only become stronger than her…
Kagome was lost deep in her thoughts when it struck her. She'd have to practice her new powers vigorously every night. That way, she'd improve even faster, and maybe even pass up Kikyo. She was sure that if it needed to happen, Kikyo could have easily killed Inuyasha any time she liked, even without the magical arrows. So if she got better in time, and Inuyasha annoyed her too much…
Ugh. That's just like me. One minute, I love a guy, and the next minute, I'm planning to murder him. I really need a group-therapy session, Kagome thought bitterly. Then again, she reminded herself, I'm not allowed to go back to my time, so I'd miss all the meetings.
The group walked on silently.