This chapter is really long. I hope you like it! I promise that this is the last really bad cliffy for a while! I think some of you have gone bald with worry. I promise this is the last bad cliffy for a while.

RECAP: Ikuto came to the Feudal Era running away from his brother after a very heated argument. After a few days, Animji put a demon inside of Ikuto in an attempt to make Ikuto possessed by the demon. Why? Animji is up for hire by Naraku. In return for her service, she gets the large fragment of the Shikon jewel. After much pain from the demon, Ikuto is finally taken over by the demon and is incredibly strengthened by the demon and perhaps something else that only Kikyou knows. Miroku and Sango are knocked unconscious and Ikuto has stolen Kagome's sacred jewel shards. Kagome instructs Shippo to stay with Sango and Miroku until they wake up. With Inuyasha's fight with Kagura just ending, he is not able to help Kagome at the moment. It's up to Kagome to free Ikuto from Animji's tricks. There's just one problem though. Kagome herself is about to be possessed by another demon…

Hurry Inuyasha!

Chapter 24

I don't own Inuyasha

"Let me go!" Kagome yelled struggling to get free from the men that had a hold of her. "Ikuto, hold on. You've got to be strong! Remember who you are! Remember that you're stronger than what they think! You're better than this! You can survive!"

Ikuto was coughing up blood again. The pain from before was minor compared to what he was facing now. He was growing so pale to the point where you couldn't tell he was mixed. You would think he was just another Japanese kid. His eyes were bloodshot and his veins could be clearly seen all throughout his body. He continued to beat the ground, making it shake each time he hit it, causing it to break apart. He soon stopped though and just shook on the ground, racking in pain. It was too much for him, too much to go through.

"You think he's going to pull through?" Animji said smiling. "You think this boy is going to survive at all? If he does the first thing he's going to do is become much stronger than what he was before. Then he's going to destroy your pathetic friend, Inuyasha. And when he's done doing that" she lifted up Kagome's shirt and held the demon closer "you'll kill him." She began laughing as Kagome struggled to get away from the demon parasite, but she couldn't move much with the two possessed men holding her arms. "Say goodbye Kagome."

"Stop!"

Naraku, Animji, and Kagome were all surprised to hear the word. They all gazed at Ikuto in shock, especially Animji. Naraku turned his shock into amusement and began laughing at his struggle while Kagome was so happy she almost cried. Animji was of course angry. "How is it possible that you're speaking of your own free will? You should be completely under the control of my parasite and my parasite demon should be completely under my control!"

"Don't!" he said trying to stand, but ended up falling over back on the ground. He was grunting and growling like a demon, but still deep inside, had the heart of a man. "Don't hurt Kagome!" He struggled again. Everything felt like it was burning or breaking, but somehow, he found the strength to stand. He began walking over to Kagome, stumbling over and over again, wobbling from side to side. He was going to collapse at any moment, but he had to get to her. He had to save her. No one or nothing else mattered. Only Kagome mattered and only she needed to be safe. "Don't hurt..." he fell over again. "Don't hurt Kagome."

Animji rolled her eyes and decided to let Kagome be saved for the moment and walked over to the bleeding Ikuto. She placed her foot under his chin and lifted his head up, getting blood all over her foot in the process since so much blood was surrounding his mouth. "Pathetic really! I didn't think you even had it in you. You somehow managed to overcome my demon and use your free will? Is my lovely parasite listening to you now?"

"Don't touch her!"

"Well since you're back to yourself" said Naraku "this should be much more entertaining to watch."

"Indeed" Animji walked back over to Kagome and held her parasite demon to Kagome stomach. Kagome squealed when she felt its antennas touching her stomach. Once it found the navel, she screamed as she felt it bite her and make its way through.

"No!" Ikuto yelled. He somehow found the strength to stand. "Don't hurt Kagome!" He ran over to Animji and gave her a right hook that sent her flying. He soon made quick work of the men holding Kagome, since his demon was much more powerful than the one inside of them. They were knocked out before they could even respond. Ikuto's eyes returned to normal as he grabbed a hold of Kagome and held her bleeding gut. "Ka...Kagome" he shook his head. "No! This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to you."

The wound immediately closed back up and she winced, feeling it inside. "Ikuto...don't worry about me. If you're yourself, then you can defeat Animji. I know you can do it." She screamed in pain.

"Kagome!"

Animji angrily stood. 'It would seem that the demon wants to get straight to the point with her and would rather just possess her quickly. Why is it that it took so long inside of the boy?' "Don't worry Naraku; you'll still get what you want. Kagome will slay him."

"Not if I slay you first!" Ikuto gently sat Kagome down and his eyes become bloodshot again. "I'll kill you!" He stood to his feet and he held his head for a moment. "I...we'll kill you."

"We'll?" Animji asked. "So my demon has decided to defy me and listen to a mortal boy instead?"

"We are stronger than you. We thrive."

"Why protect the girl?"

"The girl" he held his head again and moaned a little bit. "The girl is ours."

Inuyasha landed outside of the mansion on Kirara and was greeted by the lord before he entered. "You may not enter! You and your friends have done enough damage to my home!"

"Where are my friends?" Inuyasha asked getting off of Kirara.

"The demon slayer and the monk are with the fox child in that contraption that devilish boy brought! Don't come back here again!" He went back inside, angry and frightened.

"Contraption?" A light flickered in his brain. "Oh, he must mean that thing Ikuto brought, that tent." Inuyasha followed Shippo's scent and was easily led to the tent where the three of them were inside. Miroku was holding his head, still a little dazed while Sango was lying still on the blow up mattress. "Where's Kagome?"

"I don't know" Miroku said "I just woke up."

"What happened?"

Shippo began to go into a slight panic. "I...I...Ikuto was possessed by the demon and he fought Miroku and Sango!"

Inuyasha was highly disappointed. "Keh, you two were defeated by that whimpy human boy?" He got a good look at Sango. "He did this?"

"The demon made him much stronger" Miroku said.

"Yeah" Shippo said sarcastically "you keep telling yourself that."

"So what did Ikuto do with Kagome?"

Shippo shrugged his shoulders. "He stole the jewel shards and left. Kagome left to go after him. She said she would kill the demon controlling the demon in Ikuto. She told me to stay and watch Sango and Miroku and explain to you what happened."

"Demon strength or no demon strength, you two shouldn't have been defeated so easily by that boy!"

"And you shouldn't have let him out of your sight!" Miroku said.

"It's not my fault! Kagura came and-"

"Kagura, huh?" Miroku sighed. "Pointing fingers won't get us anywhere. Let's just go get Ikuto and Kagome safe and sound. If Naraku is involved then he must have some sort of plan involving him, much bigger than Ikuto getting possessed. That's why Ikuto stole the jewel shards, there's something more, something bigger."

Inuyasha nodded. "Stay here and wait for Sango to wake up. I'm going ahead to get Kagome!" Inuyasha left out into the pouring rain to find the idiot that was stupid enough to get possessed and the idiot that was stupid enough to follow him. "Kagome, you better be alright!"

"Ours?" Animji asked. "You are listening to the mortal! Why?"

"We thrive. We are strong. We are stronger than we imagined."

"So what now?" she stepped closer. "Going to do his bidding for the rest of your life until that body sheds away and all you're left with is those four jewel shards?" She grunted. "How dare you listen to a mortal instead of me?"

"We have outgrown you."

Kagome moaned in pain and Ikuto went back to her side. "Ikuto, take control again! I..." she was already beginning to grow pale "I know you're strong enough to."

"Hold on" he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. "I can't hold on for much..." he opened his eyes and they returned to normal. "I can't hold on for much longer. I'm losing it, Kagome."

"You're strong enough to make it."

"I'm close. The scent is getting stronger." Inuyasha looked up at the top of the cliff. "They must be up there. How'd those to make it up this high? Kagome must be really tired now. She's done too much for him!" He started jumping up on the rocks, making his way up much faster than what Ikuto did.
"Kagome, hold on for me."

She chuckled. "As long as it's 'me' and not 'us' I'll hold on for you."

"Good, I just-" Ikuto was silenced with a sudden blow to the face. He was knocked down and slid on his back for a few feet to where Naraku stood. He was ahead of Naraku by a few feet.

"What did you do to Kagome?" Inuyasha held her in his arms. "Kagome." He saw that her uniform was stained with blood and saw her blood on Ikuto's hands and couldn't help but be over come with rage. "You hurt Kagome!"

"Inuyasha" she said weakly "Ikuto doesn't know what he's doing. He's possessed by the demon. Please don't fight him."

Inuyasha growled when he saw Naraku. He gently set Kagome down and stood to his feet. "Naraku. I knew you were behind this. Only you would do something this low!"

"Glad you could join the fun, Inuyasha. Things are about to get very interesting."

Ikuto was shaking from rage. He slowly got up and raised his head. His eyes weren't bloodshot, they were red. "Inuyasha, don't touch her!"

"And why not? You've done enough damage. You should have stayed home! Who gives a crap if your life sucks? All you've done is mess up Kagome's! You did this to her!"

"No, you did. It's your fault! She doesn't want you! Not anymore!" Ikuto ran forward to Inuyasha, but Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and got out of the way. "I don't have time for this! I've got to destroy Naraku!" He jumped over Ikuto's head and ran away from the edge of the cliff, thinking it wasn't a safe place for Kagome to be. Away from the cliff was the forest and he sat Kagome down just outside of it. "Hey Kagome, you alright?"

"Inuyasha, be careful. Ikuto's really strong, even without the demon."

"Don't worry Kagome. He's still nothing compared to me."

"But he's really fast. He goes out running everyday."

"I'm still fast."

"And he can fence, and shoot arrows, and knows martial arts, and-"

"I said don't worry! He's no match for me! Now shut up and have a little more faith in me." He ran towards the direction of Ikuto. "I'm gonna make this short and sweet, okay? You'll be knocked out before you even know it!" Inuyasha made a fist, but Ikuto kicked him in the face before Inuyasha was even able to hit him. Inuyasha was knocked to the ground. He was surprised that he had to wipe some blood off of his mouth. "What's with that?"

"He has the jewel shards embedded in his body" Kagome said weakly.

"Oh, thanks for the heads up. You said everything else but that!" While Inuyasha was bickering with the sick Kagome, Ikuto started running over to Inuyasha, faster than what Inuyasha expected. 'Great, so this kid is super strong? It still doesn't make sense how strong he is. Even with the jewel shards inside him he still shouldn't be that strong.' "Okay, you've got one chance to give up and then I'm going to get serious!"

Ikuto caught up with Inuyasha and jumped higher than him and clasped his hands together and held his arms above Inuyasha's head. "Fine then. We'll just get serious too!" He brought his two fists into one on Inuyasha's face and forced him back to the ground, hitting a tree right before he hit the ground. "Give up, Inuyasha!"

"Me give up?" Inuyasha said. "That's pretty funny coming from a mortal." 'I can't play nice with him. I'm going to have to use some real force if I plan on knocking him out. I have to hurt him.' "Okay, you were warned!" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. 'I can't play around with him if I want to get a chance to kill Naraku. He might disappear before I get the chance to kill him, and I don't want that to happen, not after all of this.'

"Inuyasha" Kagome said quietly. She was beginning to lose her vision.

Inuyasha was too busy jumping around with Ikuto. 'Man, this doesn't make sense. He's jumping around and fighting as if he was a demon.' "Ikuto, it doesn't have to be this way!" Inuyasha punched him and knocked him down, but Ikuto quickly sprung to his feet and held off on the violence to hear him speak. "Don't make me hurt you!"

Ikuto took a quick glance at Inuyasha's sword and smirked "We know better Inuyasha. We are stronger than you. We can defeat you, half breed." Ikuto quickly lunged out and grabbed a hold of Tetsusaiga and it of course didn't burn him, since he wasn't a demon.

"What are you doing fool? My sword won't work for a human!"

Just then as he finished his sentence, the sword transformed into a giant fang. "Do we look human?"

Inuyasha's mouth dropped in pure shock. "No way!" 'No way should be able to use my Tetsusaiga. I can't even use it when I'm human. There's no reason to why he should be able to use it. He shouldn't be able to use it unless he's protecting someone anyway.' Inuyasha jumped out of the way before Ikuto could chop him in half with his sword. 'Looks like he at least won't be using the wind scar on me.'

"I'm not going to let you ruin Kagome's life anymore than what you have! It' your fault that she's in this place! She doesn't belong here. She doesn't want you!" Ikuto was handling the Tetsusaiga as if it was his usual fencing sword. It was heavy of course, but he was carrying it around with one hand, unlike Inuyasha and had a perfect form.

'Is this his way of protecting Kagome?'

Animji was watching the whole fight with Naraku and getting angrier with each moment, even though Ikuto was fighting Inuyasha just like Naraku wanted. 'My demon has decided to listen to his dark desires and cooperate with him until Inuyasha is dead? This is sickening!' "My demon has betrayed me!"

"He's destroying Inuyasha. That is all that matters."

Ikuto swung Tetsusaiga and Inuyasha barely got away, but not before getting cut in the shoulder by his own blade. Inuyasha got angry and clawed Ikuto in the chest. Kagome saw it and yelled sit without thinking. When she realized that it didn't do anything, she remembered that the rosary was broken. 'How am I supposed to keep them off of each other if I can't sit Inuyasha?' "Be careful! Don't hurt him!"

'She would be concerned about his safety when I came to save her. She doesn't appreciate anything I do for her.' "Ikuto" 'This isn't getting me anywhere, not with him having my sword!' "Ikuto, stop this! I don't want to have to hurt you!"

Ikuto was holding his bloodied chest in pain. "We are not afraid of you, half breed!" His wound began to heal. "We thrive." Ikuto charged at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha got the upper hand and gave him a right hook. Kagome started to go in and out of consciousness after that.

"You idiot! If you let that demon stay inside of you, what do you think will happen?"

Ikuto continued to fight against Inuyasha. Inuyasha was dodging Ikuto's attacks, but barely. "You'll be dead and Kagome can go home!"

"You idiot! If you continue to let the demon live inside of you then you'll only hurt Kagome! If you somehow managed to kill me, then you'd move on to Kagome next!"

"No!" Ikuto took another swing at Inuyasha with the sword, but Inuyasha moved out of the way. "We wouldn't hurt Kagome!"

"The demon would! You already hurt Miroku and Sango. Kagome's next! You've got to stop this before you hurt her." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles again. "Because I swear if you hurt Kagome, I will kill you! I'll do it before you get the chance to kill Kagome! I don't kill humans, but if it comes down to her or you, I'd stop you! After all, you don't look human, remember?"

Ikuto shook his head. "No! We…I…we wouldn't hurt her! We wouldn't kill her!"

"It's only a matter of time!"

"No!" Ikuto ran with the Tetsusaiga in his hands and was about to slash Inuyasha, but Inuyasha grabbed his hands and fought him off.

"Ikuto, stop it!" The Tetsusaiga was dangling above Inuyasha's head. One false move and it could have been over. "I know you don't want to be this way! I know you want to live your life with Kagome as a human, a normal human!"

"You don't know what I want! I want you dead!" Ikuto put more force into his arms and brought the sword down more.

Inuyasha still stayed calm though. "Ikuto, I know you want to live your life with Kagome as a normal human…because I was going to live my life with Kikyou." He quieted down. "I was going to use the Shikon jewel to become a human and live my life with Kikyou, so yes, I do know what you want. I know that you don't really want to be this way. You're strong enough to resist this, if you want to! Don't let this puny demon manipulate what you want!" Inuyasha pushed the sword up as much as he could, but Ikuto wouldn't let Inuyasha have the complete advantage. "If you want to help Kagome, I've got to stop Naraku!"

Ikuto let go of the Tetsusaiga and let it fall to the ground, transforming it back to normal. Ikuto dropped to his knees, moaning in pain. "Inuyasha, get the jewel shards out before we…before I attack you again."

Inuyasha smiled and picked up the Tetsusaiga. "I knew you weren't that weak. Where are they?"

"In my arms and legs." He held them out and braced himself for Inuyasha to cut through. "Hurry, I don't think Kagome's going to last as long as I did."

"I don't see why" he said making the Tetsusaiga transform. "She's a lot tougher than you." He carefully cut Ikuto's right arm deep enough until he could see the jewel shard and took it out of his arm. Ikuto winced in pain. Inuyasha had to cut deep to get the jewel out, and then had to do it to his other arm and two legs. He started to lose a lot of blood, but the wound did close up, but just not as fast. 'He's still strong. He's not as strong, but shouldn't be this strong. What's his deal?' "Can you stand?" Ikuto's skin color returned to normal, along with his eyes.

Ikuto struggled to get up, but was able to. He stumbled a little bit, but Inuyasha caught him. "Thanks" Ikuto said quietly. "Let's get Kagome. They put a demon inside of her."

Inuyasha walked with Ikuto over to where Kagome once was lying down. When they got there, she wasn't there. "Where is she?" asked Ikuto who had to fight the demon mentally, trying to make sure it didn't manipulate him like it did before. "So, what did you do to her?"

"I left her here" Inuyasha broke into a cold sweat when he felt something fly right between Inuyasha and Ikuto's face. Inuyasha looked behind him to see an arrow firmly stuck in a tree and the looked ahead to see Kagome with her arrows and bow. "Oh no, not again!"

"Again?" Ikuto asked worriedly in a slight panic. "She's done this before?"

"Kagome, snap out of it!" Inuyasha jumped out of the way before Kagome could shoot him with her arrow. It barely missed him.

'Good thing she's only mildly good with that thing' thought Ikuto. "Kagome, you've got to fight this thing! If I can do it, I know you can!"

"My master wants you dead" she said in a daze, preparing to shoot Ikuto this time.

"Get out the way, you fool!" yelled Inuyasha.

Ikuto jumped out of the way, but Kagome fired arrow after arrow at Ikuto, and he was tired from his battle with Inuyasha and wasn't healing up as well as before since the four jewel shards were taken away. "Kagome, you've got to stop this!" He ran deeper into the forest, trying to avoid her, but he was getting tired. Fighting the demon off and trying to keep control over his own body took away a lot of his strength.

"Get out of the way!" yelled Inuyasha. Ikuto didn't dodge the last arrow in time and was hit right under the shoulder by the arrow and pinned to one of the trees in the forest. "Ikuto!"

Kagome dropped her bow, seeing that Ikuto's head had dropped and his eyes were closed. The demonic aura that she had sensed was gone and from where she was, she couldn't tell if he was alive. 'Ikuto?' She could still feel the demon inside, telling her what to do. And she knew the demon could still hear its master, telling it what to do. She dropped to her knees and her lips started quivering. She started to fight the demon, and she could feel all of her senses returning and her spiritual power growing as her anger rose. "Ikuuuuuuto!" She got back on her feet, stumbling to him, feeling much weaker, now that she felt the demon breaking apart inside. It was completely gone. "Ikuto!" She ran to him and started sobbing as all of wounds returned, the ones that Kagura gave him, the one that Inuyasha gave him, the one from earlier from before he even came-the one that he got in the fight with Koashu. "Ikuto!"

Inuyasha came over to them and was horrified, watching it all happen again, only with Kagome and Ikuto. "Is he?"

"No!" She shook her head. "I didn't want this to happen!" Ikuto began to moan as he lifted his head. "You're okay!"

"I'm not a half demon like Inuyasha, remember?" He looked at his shoulder. "I'm not going to die because of your arrow." Ikuto tried to move his arm, the one where Kagome shot him. "I…I can't move my arm."

"I…I'm sorry!" Kagome reached out to touch where he was shot, but pulled her hands away. "I'm sorry Ikuto!"

"It's okay Kagome. I think I broke it earlier when Kagura attacked me. I can't feel my legs either." Ikuto moved his other arm and put his hands on the end of the arrow where the tail was. He snapped it and the tail broke off. "Inuyasha, don't you have a demon to kill."

Inuyasha snapped out of his shock and nodded. "Yeah, I've got a demon to kill." He got up and tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga. "And I'm gonna kill him too!" Inuyasha placed the four jewel shards in Kagome's hand. "Don't get yourselves killed and stay here." Inuyasha ran back off towards the direction of Naraku and Animji.

Kagome put the jewel shards in her pocket and bit her lip. "I wish this wouldn't have happened, Ikuto. Don't worry though. You're better now, and you can go home. Then you'll be safe." Kagome's concentration left Ikuto, hearing something rustling in the forest. "Uh, I don't think it's safe to stay here."

"Inuyasha said-"

"Come on Ikuto!" She grabbed his working arm and tried to get him to stand. Come on, I can't lift you by myself!"

"I don't think I can stand at all, Kagome. I can't really feel my legs." Ikuto heard rustling in the forest. "Kagome, leave me and go find Inuyasha. I've gotten you in enough trouble!"

"Stop telling me to abandon you! Since the first time I saw you, you told me that you could manage by yourself. You didn't want my help and you figured you were strong enough to make it home without me. Well, I found out that you were alone and that you really are a tough guy, but I also found out that you don't want to be alone, and you are a tough guy, but you can be sweet." She wiped her eyes so she wouldn't cry. "I also realized that you still need my help, so stop being a jerk and accept it. I'm not leaving you behind and you can't make it without me. We're going to survive this together, got that?"

Ikuto chuckled lightly. "Still the though girl Kagome? Still trying to take charge? You did the first time I met you, as if you already knew me. I guess you did, and I'm glad that you know me. I'll listen. You can't 'sit' Inuyasha so you'll take it out on me, right?" He tried to get up and wasn't able to move at first, even though Kagome helped him. He tried though, and deep inside he was able to find the strength to rise. His legs were shaking, about to give out at any moment, but he was somehow able to stand up.

"Come on" she walked with him away from the forest. She could feel the ground rumbling beneath her. "Sounds like Inuyasha started his battle with Naraku."

Inuyasha and Naraku were indeed in the middle of a battle. Inuyasha used his sword and he was able to break Naraku's barrier. From that point on, it had been wind scars with and the occasional attempts to absorb Inuyasha. When it came to Naraku, you never knew where you stood in battle, since it usually ended with him simply running away, if he was really there to begin with. This time it was actually him, but Inuyasha was still having a hard time delivering a finishing blow.

Kagome had her hands full with Ikuto. They were running away from some of the possessed villagers that were commanded by Animji to attack them. They were shooting arrows at them, and the only thing Kagome could do was run. "It's okay. Hold on, Ikuto!"

Just before an arrow hit them, Miroku came from behind the villagers and started throwing sutras. Their demons were surprisingly being destroyed, while Ikuto's interestingly enough survived. 'Their demons are being destroyed.' The villagers were knocked out while the last arrow that was fired missed them be a little bit. Kagome looked behind her and smiled. "Miroku!"

"Keep on going ahead. Get him to safety."

"But where's Shippo and Sango?"

"Shippo is still waiting on Sango's recovery. There are more demons coming. I sense them coming."

Kagome nodded. "Right!" She struggled to keep going while a hoard of demons came to destroy them. Miroku used his wind tunnel and disposed of them while Kagome and Ikuto continued going on. "Hold on Ikuto!" Ikuto lost the feeling in his legs and fell over in pain. "Get up Ikuto! We need to keep going." Ikuto yelled out, pushing himself farther than what he had ever done before and somehow found the strength to go on and used what little strength he had to move his legs. "Just a little bit longer, and you'll be home."

Miroku closed his wind tunnel once he saw Naraku's poisonous insects. "Darn it" he closed his wind tunnel and started destroying demons with his sutras and staff, but he couldn't kill all of them, and many didn't even want to kill them. They were after something else.

Inuyasha had his hands full chopping up Naraku. His parts were everywhere, and Inuyasha constantly had to avoid Naraku when his tentacles started reaching towards him. "Wind scar!" His attack hit Naraku and his parts flew everywhere and one of his parts fell on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Get your disgusting body off of me!" He jerked his shoulder so the piece would fall off.

Kagome ran past Naraku and Inuyasha with Ikuto struggling, still holding on to her. Inuyasha noticed her. "Get away you fool! I told you to stay still!"

"Can't talk!" She kept going on with Ikuto. Inuyasha saw the demons going after them and ran over to Kagome and Ikuto right behind him and prepared to attack them with the wind scar.

"You're not getting past me! Leave my friends alone!" He used the wind scar, killing all of the demons that tried to attack them. Inuyasha continued his battle with Naraku, and used the wind scar on him, but before Inuyasha could finish him off, Naraku turned into a tornado of miasma and began laughing.

"Inuyasha, this has amused me greatly, but I'm afraid I grow tiresome of this. I hope your reincarnation had a nice time, Inuyasha." With nothing else to say, no more torment to cause to Inuyasha or Ikuto, Naraku disappeared. Inuyasha began to grumble. "I'll get you, Naraku!"

All of this only angered Animji, who was watching all of their struggles from a distance. She was still mad that her precious demon betrayed her and now two of her parasite demons were destroyed. Everything she planned with Naraku was falling apart, and now most likely, she wouldn't get the large fragment of the Shikon jewel. 'I can't let these disgusting humans and disgraceful half breed get away with defeating me!' "I summon you forth, Tetsume!" She had her box in her hand and opened it. A flash of light appeared and after the light was gone, a demon, a little larger than Kirara appeared. It resembled a dog more than a cat though, but it wasn't either. It had four tails and ferocious fangs and claws. Its fur was a pale blue color and its eyes were icy blue. It was ready to rip anyone and everyone apart. "Destroy that girl and boy, and anyone who gets in your way!"

Tetsume ran to Ikuto, but Inuyasha used the wind scar before it could kill the two of them. "Keh, you can't do better than that?" Tetsume was bloodied and spilt in half, but Animji wasn't worried at all. "That all you got?" As soon as he finished his sentence, the two halves of Tetsume became whole but now there were two separate Tetsumes. "No way!" One went after Inuyasha while the other went after Ikuto and Kagome. Kagome and Ikuto had no where to go. They were between the cliff and the demon that was growling at them. Inuyasha struggled to get to them, but had his hands full with the demon. Miroku caught up with them and attempted to stop the demon, but Tetsume's mouth began to glow a bright yellow and prepared to shoot out a beam at Kagome and Ikuto.

"No!" Miroku used his staff to hit Tetsume and it began smoking, but it didn't stop it from firing the beam. It missed them though, but broke the ground under them. Miroku put a sutra on Tetsume, but it wasn't being killed. Inuyasha had his hands full with the other Tetsume.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, seeing her and Ikuto fall.

Kagome screamed, not having the grip of anything. She thought for sure she was a goner, but she felt the hard tug of a sudden stop as Ikuto grabbed her arm with the arm he thought was shattered. She looked up in shock. "Ikuto!"

"Don't worry Kagome!" he had his other hand on the edge of the cliff. "Don't worry Kagome. I'm not going to let you be hurt. I won't let you go!" He struggled to pull her up. He was blacking out. He couldn't really think straight and every bone in his body, every tendon, every fiber, and every cell told him that he couldn't go on. They told him it was the end of the line and that he couldn't possibly survive. He tried to pull her up, but if anything was happening, it was his grip beginning to fail on her. "I promise I won't let go!"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha struggled to get to her, but Tetsume wouldn't let him be. "I've got to get to Kagome!"

Miroku noticed the box in Animji's hands and the demonic aura spilling out of it. "Inuyasha, destroy the box and the demon holding it! It'll make Tetsume, both of them, die!"

Inuyasha clenched his sword tightly and ran to Animji. She only smiled and opened her box. "Miroku, get Kagome!"

Miroku tried to get to them, but both of the Tetsumes came and attacked Miroku. He was too busy fighting them off and couldn't get to them. "Hold on!"

"I'm not going to let you go, Kagome!" Ikuto took a quick glance down. She could by a very slim chance survive if she hit the river, but that was too much of a risk. She could drown or hurt herself too much on the fall. Even hitting the river was a risk. She was slipping. "Don't worry Kagome!" He somehow, someway, was able to pull her up with all of his strength, everything he had left.

"Ikuto?"

He was sweating harshly, trying desperately to get her up. His life wasn't worth half as much as Kagome's, not to him. "Kagome" his arm was shaking, but he was able to pull her up, somehow, someway. He raised her up enough so that she could get both her hands on the cliff edge. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Thank you."

He smiled and his pupils dilated. "I just wanted you to be safe…" he blacked out and let go.

"Ikuto!" Kagome began to panic as she watched Ikuto began to fall to his doom. "I…I…Ikuto!"

He was ready to accept his fate. 'As long as Kagome is safe!' Was his last thought before he lost consciousness. He only wanted her safety, and he thought he could die knowing that she was alive.

"Ikuto!" Sango and Shippo quickly came riding on Kirara and grabbed his arm before he hit the ground and flew him up to the top of the cliff, where Kagome was pulling herself up.

"Sango! You saved him!"

"Look's like I woke up just in time." Sango had a cut on the side of her head and one on her lip and it seemed like a bruise was around her eye, but she sucked it up and pretended as if nothing was wrong. She placed Ikuto on the ground and put her head up against his chest. "His heart stopped, Kagome!"

Kagome shook her head. "I can't accept that!" She shook her head again. She placed her hands on his chest and started to press on it. "I'm not going to lose you!"

Inuyasha ran to Animji and used the wind scar. She started running away from him, but by the time he did it the second time, she had no where to run. "Say goodbye! Wind scar!" With a scream, she was gone, along with her demonic box and Tetsume, both of them.

Kagome continued pressing on his chest, but when that wasn't working she placed her fingers on his nose and opened his mouth with the other hand. Kagome began to blow air inside of him, begging that he'd be alright. Inuyasha came by her side and panicked when he saw what she was doing. "Kagome!" He placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to stop her, but she forced Inuyasha off of her.

"Stop it! He needs me!" She continued to do what she was doing, praying that he would start breathing again. Inuyasha put his head down. He was jealous, and he couldn't help it. He didn't mean to be, he really didn't. Inuyasha's ears slumped down once she saw the anger in her eyes when he tried to pull her away. Kagome only began to panic more, as she tried to get him breathing again. "Ikuto!"

To be continued….

A/N: Uh oh! Okay, this is the end of the demon possessed thing! Find out if Ikuto lives in the next chapter! Review!