Ch. 7

Listen to Your Heart! Fight for Those You Love!

Glancing at the darkening sky, Kagome held her breath. The new moon had arrived and Inuyasha had not yet returned. Her worst nightmare had come true. She was certain he had lost his powers in the presence of Naraku. Inuyasha was now in grave danger, as were the others. She looked worriedly at Miroku, whose countenance reflected tremendous concern. They were powerless to do anything. Kagome doubted Naraku would permit Inuyasha to survive the night. Miroku placed a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. His face told her "don't worry. They'll make it … somehow." Kagome, reading his expression nodded, tears welling in her eyes. She then directed her vision back to the dark castle.

Inuyasha was bleeding profusely, with no sign of stopping. The pain was agonizing. With blood cascading down his chest, Inuyasha forced himself to a sitting position. With deep concern in her eyes, Sango gently placed her hands on his shoulders so he would not fall back down. Blood seeped further down his robe of the fire rat. Kirara moved over to allow Inuyasha rest his back against her side. Inuyasha's pride had once again put everyone in grave danger. He desperately searched his mind for a plan, but came up empty. "If it weren't for that damn barrier," he thought to himself. Clutching his wound with one hand, his brown eyes burned with hatred at Naraku.

Naraku returned the stare with a look of arrogance. The day he had been waiting for had finally come. The half-breed had finally revealed his time of weakness. The day of his enemies' deaths had finally come. "You pathetic fools," he taunted motioning his hand towards Kanna's mirror, "Watch helplessly as those you hold dear perish before your eyes!"

Miroku saw him first. A small figure was making his way towards them, running through the thick miasma. "Kagome, Look!" Looking up through her wet eyes, Kagome saw him too. A small figure was running at top speed, as though determined to carry out some sort of mission.

"Something's wrong, Kagome. Get behind me," he ordered. Kagome was about to oblige when she felt her blood run cold. She squinted her eyes. She immediately recognized the figure. It was Sota, but something was different. He did not succumb to the poisonous atmosphere. She expected she would at least sense a jewel shard, but she did not. This both puzzled and worried her tremendously. Naraku had done something unthinkable to him and has pitted her brother against them! "Oh, my gosh! It's Sota!" she shouted.

"Get behind me now, Kagome!" shouted Miroku, interrupting Kagome's thoughts of dread. "Naraku must have done something to him! It isn't safe!" Kyofu was now nearly upon them. With blades suddenly appearing in his hands, he lunged at Kagome.

"Oh, no! Kagome!" shouted Miroku as he shoved her out of the way. Kagome fell a few feet to the left and landed on her side, her butt and hands striking the ground at the same time. Kyofu cursed as he missed his intended target, and instead nicked Miroku's right arm with one of his daggers. Howling in pain, Miroku collapsed to the ground in agony. He stared in disbelief as miasma began to emanate from his seemingly minor wound. "Shit!" he thought, "The daggers are infused with poisonous miasma!" He would soon die if he did not get an antidote! The poison seemed far worse than the Saimyosho's poison. He felt the poison quickly enter his bloodstream, sapping his strength with record speed. His eyes began to blur; they now burned with anger. "Sota! What the hell's the matter with you? Don't you recognize your own sister?"

Kyofu forced Sota to smile wickedly. He laughed chillingly. "You humans are so naïve," he said with Sota's voice, "My name is not Sota. To answer your irrelevant question… Of course the boy recognizes his sister. He's simply unable to reveal his recognition of her. He is completely under my control!" He then prepared himself to attack his intended victim, Kagome. He laughed. "How amusing! The pathetic boy is begging me not to harm you."

"What the hell?" demanded Miroku. He did not sense any demonic aura coming from Sota. He turned to face Kagome, his face asking the question for him. "Is a jewel shard involved?"

As Kagome rose to her feet, she slowly shook her head 'no.' She then let out a frustrated growl at Kyofu's remarks. She would not forgive this incarnation or Naraku for what they have done. It was chillingly similar to Sango's predicament. "Sota! Listen to me! Don't listen to him! You're stronger than you think! Fight him! You can do it! I have faith in you!"

Kyofu laughed at Kagome's 'pathetic' attempts to reach her brother. "Nice try, wench! He cannot hear you! Are you ready to face your death?"

Kagome's face fell. She backed away a few steps, now terrified. She could not reach her brother. He seemed lost forever. How could she get that demon to leave her brother's body?

Miroku bared his teeth in anger at Kyofu. "You bastard!", he said as he pointed his staff at him.

Kyofu simply chuckled in response at the insult from the weakening monk. His eyes flashed with pure, demented pleasure. Kagome was shocked. Never in her life had she seen such a display of pure malice on her brother's face.

Miroku, sensing Kyofu's intent, thrust out his staff to trip him as he attempted to attack Kagome. Crashing to the ground, Kyofu howled in rage. He dashed over to Miroku with daggers flashing with poison. Miroku tensed. He knew he could not withstand a second helping of the poison, let alone the full dose Kyofu had obviously intended to administer. He rolled himself to the left sluggishly, striking Kyofu on the head, just barely avoiding the deadly daggers. "Tell me your name! Is that you, Naraku?" demanded Miroku.

Chuckling, Kyofu relented; the blow to his head did not faze him. "It won't do you much good since you are about to die, but I do relish in the idea of your knowing the name of your killer…my name is Kyofu!"

Miroku swallowed hard. He knew what the name meant. The name… it meant 'terror'. He was definitely living up to his name. He had succeeded in instilling fear in their hearts. He knew they would be unable to harm Sota and he was taking full advantage of that fact. "Run, Kagome! Get outta here! I'll try to hold him off!" he pleaded, as he slowly rose to his feet, using his staff to support himself. Kagome hesitated. She could not leave her friend to defend himself. He was weakened and would not last much longer. What made matters worse was the fact she had no medicine with her. She also could not bring herself to aim her weapon at her brother. "But Miroku!" she protested.

"This is no time to argue! Go now! That's what Inuyasha would want. He would want for you to survive! Please!"

Kagome paused, tears streaming down her face. "I'll go find help! Please be careful, Miroku! Don't die!" she shouted as she turned and ran. It was the worst decision she had ever made in her life. Leaving her friend alone to fight one of Naraku's incarnations, the worst kind of demon.

All stared in anger at what had transpired. Kyofu had poisoned Miroku. Miroku was using what remained of his strength to keep the demon at bay. Inuyasha sighed inwardly, his back against Kirara's side. He was relieved to see Kagome get away, but filled with great concern for the monk. Without remedies from Kagome's era, he would soon die. Inuyasha hated feeling helpless. He hated his weak human form. His vision shifted to Naraku's arrogant, triumphant gaze.

"I'd wipe that smile off your face if I were you! It looks as though your little plan is not going according to plan! Kagome got away!" shouted Inuyasha, smirking. The blood flow from his wound had slowed, but not yet ceased. The pressure he had placed on his wound, along with Sango's assistance helped accomplish this. Both Inuyasha's and Sango's hands were sticky with his blood.

"Oh, my plan is working perfectly," he said with confidence. "Once the monk is dead, Kyofu will hunt down your precious Kagome and kill her and whomever she contacts for help", he paused and continued. "Weakened and you still find the strength to threaten me. Inuyasha, your bravery surprises me. Do you not realize your death is at hand? I would be praying for a quick and painless death if I were you, but I will not allow for that outcome. It shall be long and painful."

Peeking from around the corner in the adjoining room hid Naraku's slave, Kohaku. With sweat trickling down his face he knew he had a choice to make. Naraku was about to kill his sister and her friends. "I can no longer pretend", he thought to himself as he reached for his chained weapon at his waist. He closed his eyes. He was not proud of what he had done under Naraku's command. "No more. No longer, bastard," he thought to himself.

It was pure madness. No. It would be suicide to confront Naraku as he was now. His mind raced. Kyofu was going to kill Kagome and Miroku if he did nothing to stop him. Naraku was going to slaughter his sister, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara if he did nothing to stop him. He found himself stuck with a dilemma. Who to help first? A sudden smile played gently on his lips as he realized it was no longer a question of whether he would help, but who he would help first. A sinister sounding voice suddenly rang out from behind, interrupting his thoughts. "What do you think you are doing, slave?"

"Dammit," Kohaku thought to himself. "Busted." Turning around, he faced his nemesis. Forcing himself to maintain a blank look on his face, he responded to Hakudoushi's inquiry. "I am observing the master," he lied.

"Peh!" If I didn't know any better, I would say you were plotting against him and his magnificent plan," he responded icily. Hakudoushi then narrowed his pale, violet eyes. Unblinking, he stared long and hard at Kohaku, as though he were gazing straight into his very soul. Kohaku felt the gaze pierce him. Did Hakudoushi inherit this ability from Akago? Kohaku suddenly felt his body freeze. He could not move and this made him feel very uneasy. It seemed as though Hakudoushi was trying to search his soul to determine whether or not he was lying. Kohaku's heart pounded violently in his chest. It felt as though it would burst under the stress. Kohaku swallowed hard. After a few moments of probing, Hakudoushi slowly shook his head and smiled wickedly. Kohaku felt the grip on him release. He could finally move once more. He shifted his feet. The short incarnation of Naraku then suddenly thrust out his bladed staff and pointed it at Kohaku, the blade barely touching Kohaku's nose. He felt his blood run cold as he heard Hakudoushi continue… "You, my friend, are being deceptive to your superiors, an unfortunate, common trait among our underlings. I'm afraid you'll have to be eliminated… permanently from your position."

Crossing his eyebrows, Kohaku grabbed onto the handle of his weapon. "I don't think so!" he muttered defiantly as he leaped backwards a few feet. The proximity of Hakudoushi's blade to himself unnerved him. He held out his weapon, one hand on the weapon's handle, the other on its chain. Hakudoushi's face was filled with utter delight.

"Interesting; a weak mortal challenging a powerful demon. Who will survive, I wonder?" he inquired sarcastically. The two stared each other down for what seemed an eternity when Hakudoushi suddenly thrust his weapon at Kohaku. Kohaku back flipped out of the way just in time. Hakudoushi lunged again. Barely able to dodge the attack in time, Kohaku threw his scythe at Hakudoushi, who dodged the attack with ease. As he caught the returning weapon, Kohaku knew he had to run. He was horribly outmatched. To his dismay, the only direction he could run was to the room in which Naraku resided, his intention of betrayal was revealed too soon.

Naraku turned to face the fleeing boy with Hakudoushi in close pursuit. Naraku knew immediately of Kohaku's betrayal. He grinned evilly. "It seems as though you have been granted an additional performance before you perish," he said, "We must thank Kohaku for this privilege." He then addressed Kohaku. "Face me, coward!"

Hakudoushi ceased his pursuit and walked to Naraku's side, smiling smugly. Kohaku froze. He swallowed hard as he turned to face his worst enemy, his knuckles turning white due to the death grip he had on his weapon.

"Hmm… I wonder how this incredible sword works?" inquired Naraku as he lifted the Tetsusaiga to his face to stare it, marveling at its magnificence, the sword obstructing the view of his face. The Tetsusaiga suddenly coated itself with a beautiful, hard, sparkly substance. He moved the Tetsusaiga slightly to the side, so now only half his face was visible. Inuyasha and his friends gasped. "Kohaku! Run! Get outta the way," shouted Inuyasha.

There was a look of horror on their faces. Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief. They were looking at the prelude to the Diamond Blast, Tetsusaiga's newest and most destructive attack! Kohaku would not stand a chance against it! Naraku smiled. "Goodbye, traitor!"

"Kohaku! NOOOOO!" shouted Sango as she quickly jumped to her feet and ran towards her brother.

A/N: So what do ya think? Please review and let me know! A special thanx to my sister, WindScar for helping me make this chappie even better! If you have the time, please check out the fic Double Trouble by Inuyashas.Friends.Forever. It's another Inuyasha fic I'm working on with WindScar! Thanx so much!