AN: Inu-chan went off the deep end o.0 I feel baaaad! ^-^;; But it was the only thing I could think of. And I still support Inu/Kagome so it's hard to make it Kouga/Kagome. But I like K/K too! Does that make any sense!? ;_;

Anyway, here's the next chappy X3

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Inuyasha's head shot up to meet the owner of the voice. Kagome stood a good ten feet away, her hands clasped uncertainly in front of her chest. Even now, after all the hatred and betrayal had seeped into his veins, Inuyasha was taken with her angelic features. The soft fall of her hair and large innocent eyes almost made him forget everything. Almost.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong with you? What happened?" She stepped forward, moving closer to Kouga and Inuyasha. Kouga opened his mouth to warn the girl, but Inuyasha tightened his grip on his throat.

"What happened? What HAPPENED!?" Inuyasha roared, eyes wild and unfocused. Kagome winced, but kept approaching at a steady pace until she was standing before him.

"Inuyasha, onegai, calm down. The shikon shards in your back, they're corrupt." She spoke slowly and carefully, so as not to anger him more. He said nothing, all his attention focused on her.

"If you just let me remove them, we could-" Kagome slowly reached out a hand to retrieve the shards. In the span of seconds, Inuyasha had lunged at her, his hand gripping hers' in a painful grip.

"Don't TOUCH me!" He jerked her forward, then pushed her roughly backwards. Kagome shrieked and closed her eyes. Strong arms cushioned her fall, and she knew without opening her eyes that Kouga had caught her.

"A-arigatou." She whispered shakily, looking up and smiling. He smiled sadly back at her before averting his attention to the man before him.

"And you wonder why she left you!?"

"You make me SICK! Both of you!" Inuyasha growled. He couldn't shake the images that plagued his mind. Images of Kagome laughing with Kouga. Of Kagome on his back. Of the kiss Kagome and Kouga shared.

"Inuyasha, let me help you!" Kagome moved forward, out of the safety of Kouga's arms. He watched silently as she approached. Looking into her eyes, he saw exactly what he didn't want to see: pity.

"Don't you dare come any closer." He snarled. Kagome ignored him and before anyone could stop her, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body tightly against his.

For one brief moment, time stopped. Inuyasha's eyes had softened, his hands snaking around her waist. Everything was right again.

The shards in his back flared to life and he howled in anger before slashing angrily at Kagome.

"Kagome!"

Kouga watched in shock as Inuyasha's claw tore into Kagome's side. Her scream echoed throughout the clearing as she fell to her knees, hands pressed tightly against her wound.

Kouga lunged at Inuyasha, at rational thoughts fleeing from his mind. All he could think of was Kagome, curled into a ball on the ground, withering in pain from the wound HE had caused. Inuyasha seemed shocked himself, looking at his claw in disbelief. That's when Kouga got his free hit that sent Inuyasha sprawling to the ground.

The jewels in his back flared to life, and all rational thought fled Inuyasha's mind. With a howl, he dove at Kouga. Kagome whimpered from her spot on the ground, not out of pain, but out of worry. How long could Kouga defend himself when Inuyasha was like this?

Kouga skirted out Inuyasha's reach, his eyebrows knit in concentration. Inuyasha just kept coming, slicing with his left claw, then his right. Kouga hissed when a nail caught his cheek, a thin line of blood swelling to the surface.

Kagome craned her head back to watch the fight from her place on the ground. Kouga was weakening, she noticed with shock. Even with the three shards, he couldn't match the power Inuyasha had. All he could do was defend himself! Kagome grit her teeth and pushed herself to her knees, one hand still holding her blood soaked side. She had to stop this.

"Bastard! It's all your fault!" Inuyasha swiped at Kouga as he sprung forward. The wolf youkai lunged to the side, but it wasn't fast enough. Inuyasha ripped into his leg. Kouga grunted as he fell to the ground, unable to support his weight. Inuyasha kneeled down and picked up the shikon shard that had once been in Kouga's leg. He smirked.

"So, this was all you could do? In the end, you could only defend. You make me sick." He stood and glared down at Kouga. It would all be over soon. Kagome would be his again. He raised a hand to strike.

"Damme!" Kagome stumbled in front of Kouga, her arms outstretched. Inuyasha froze. Blood still dripped from her wound, falling in a small puddle next to her foot. Her lips were drawn into a thin line, quivering slightly. Her eyes bore into his, holding him in his place.

"Kagome…" Kouga looked up at the woman before him in awe. Even from his position behind her he could feel her anger, her pain and confusion. And here she was protecting him. Wasn't he supposed to be the one protecting her? She briefly met his gaze and smiled in relief. He was okay.

"Move wench." Inuyasha snapped, seemingly getting over the shock of Kagome defending the wolf. As a matter of fact, that was just another image that was burned into his mind. It squeezed at his heart, but he had long since given up hope listening to what his heart told him. Two years ago his heart told him to pick Kikyo, and he had listened. If he had been so sure he had made the right choice, then where was she now?

Kagome turned to look back at him defiantly, her head held high and proud. Stubborn, as he remembered her to be.

"I don't want to hurt you…"

"You already have, Inuyasha. In more ways than you'll ever know." She whispered bitterly. She wasn't going to back down. He growled and took a step forward, trying to scare her away.

Kami-sama knew she wanted to run, to flee. He had hurt her the last time she had stood in front of him, that time she had been so sure he wouldn't harm her. Hell, she had a hole in her side right now because once again she had thought he wouldn't hurt her!

Kagome felt the familiar pressure against her chest and gasped. A panic attack. Eyes wide, she fought to stay calm, to fight the tidal wave that threatened to overtake her. She couldn't panic, not here, not now. It was getting harder to breathe. She was only able to get short gasps of air into her lungs. It hurt. It all hurt so much.

"Kagome!" Kouga was beside her, somehow standing on his injured leg. 'Of course,' she thought numbly. 'he's youkai. He heals fast.'

His two hands on her shoulders were enough to bring her back from her panicky state. The world stopped spinning and she could breathe again. It was as if, when he was near, she could forget everything. Except for the angry hanyou-turned-youkai before them.

"Inuyasha, listen to me! You don't know what you're doing! You're not yourself! Naraku is manipulating you! The shards are corrupted! Let me help you!" She pleaded, fighting to ignore the tingling sensation in her side where the wound was still fresh. Inuyasha snapped his jaws at her, much like a rabid dog would.

"Kami-sama, what's wrong with you?" She whispered, tilting her head to the side as tears filled her eyes. Kouga watched Kagome's mood change in amazement. Even after he had hurt her, not once, not twice, but three times*, she still cared for him. Kouga felt his heart drop. Was there room in her heart for two? He didn't think so. Keeping a grim mask on his face, he decided to back Kagome, whatever she decided.

Inuyasha stared blankly back at her, arguing silently with himself. Was this what he really wanted? To make her suffer when she had already suffered so much? Was it all really his fault? A small part in the far corner of his heart shouted yes, it was his fault. A voice in his head told him it was all her fault. He should kill her now. Then he and Kikyo could be happy. Wasn't that what he wanted?

Kagome watched him struggle, and her confusion changed to sympathy. Somehow she knew exactly what he was thinking. She was acutely aware that Kikyo was nowhere to be found. That he was partially blaming himself, arguing with an unknown source.

"Inuyasha…" She reached forward to place a hand on his shoulder but he quickly withdrew and snarled.

"Don't touch me."

And then he was gone. He didn't run, or jump, he just wasn't there. Was this Naraku's doing? Kagome grimaced and placed her hand over her wound, as if just noticing it was there. In some sense, she did just notice it. Kouga slowly approached her, a slight limp in his leg that was already partially healed.

"Kagome, daijoubu?"

She looked at him for a long while, not saying anything. He watched her silently, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Iie. I'm not."

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AN: Okay, firstly, lemme address the lil' * that I placed above. Inuyasha did hurt her three times. (At least). Once when he chose Kikyo, again in the beginning when he tried to strike Kouga and hit Kagome instead. And now a third time. Damn, Kagome needs to stop jumping in front of things XD

Anyway, wow, almost 200 reviews o.0 And I'm really enjoying this story, if not for a few spots where the plot kinda died ^-^;;

I would have made it longer if not for two things. A: the powerful closing line XD XD XD and B: I have to ask the readers this before proceeding:

Would you like to see a lemon? X3 Very sudden, I know. But I was thinking of a way to go about doing this, and because I didn't want to end the story with this one battle with Inuyasha, and there hasn't really been any Kouga/Kagome fluff, I was thinking of making it a lemon.

I don't know if anyone would be offended (though I can't really see why) and stop reading. I could write two separate chapters, but that would mean waiting an extra week or so for me to type out two separate chappys to please everyone. Argh, why does this have to be so hard!? In all honesty, I don't even know how well I could write a lemon. Never really tried.

Anyway, feedback is greatly appreciated. Especially because I think having the lemon would be a good thing and it would help me tie the loose plot ends together X3

Review Please!

Daijoubu: are you okay? or I'm okay

Kami-sama: God (or paper, but here it's used as God XD)

Iie: No

Damme: Wait/stop

Hanyou: half demon (Inu-chan)

Youkai: Full blooded demon (Fluffy-chan!)

Onegai: Please

~Neoshipper~