While Ayame relentlessly came after Inuyasha with her Katana, Inuyasha could do nothing but dodge the weapon or stave it away with his claws, seeing as Totosai had taking Tetsusaiga. This was insane, she was seriously trying to kill him! And Kouga was helping Ginta and Hakkaku to their feet before just watching them fight, but he guessed it was because the wolf knew Inuyasha could take on Ayame and come out victorious easily. While he grabbed the blade of Ayame's sword, Inuyasha could hear the pleading voices of the two wolf demons, "We tried to stop her, honest we did, she just wouldn't stop coming..."

"Stop griping, I know it wasn't your fault," Kouga sighed before turning back to the fight, a serious glint in his eye. The hanyou couldn't help but wonder if the wolf was worried about him or if he was bored with this, but in either case, Inuyasha couldn't afford not to pay attention to the hostile girl in front of him.

"Look, stop attackin' me and I won't have to hurt you, kid!" Inuyasha growled as he lunged at Ayame, who barely dodged the onslaught from him. Not all wolf demons were insanely fast, Inuyasha had just remembered that it was the shards of the Shikon no Tama in Kouga's legs that allowed him to move so quickly, without them he'd probably be a lot slower as well, "He said he didn't propose to you, why don't you just drop it and leave him alone?"

"Kouga did propose, he said he'd make me his wife on the night of the lunar rainbow!" Shouted Ayame as she struck the sword towards Inuyasha again, who easily dodged the blade...only to have a bunch of Ayame's razor leaves being blown right into his face, "You're the intruder! You're the one who should leave him alone, you filthy half-breed!"

A cry of pain tore away from Inuyasha's throat as he fell back, wiping his red kimono sleeve against the several cuts on his face in order to dislodge the loose blood out of his line of sight. However, rather suddenly, Kouga was standing in front of Ayame, grabbing her wrist and twisting it to the point where she was gasping in pain, her katana now on the ground, "Don't you dare call him a filthy half-breed, you miserable child. Go back to your elder and say the offer for marriage is rejected. If you want power to help your tribe, by all means I'll help. But, marriage is for love, not for treaties, got it?"

Inuyasha never noticed before, but Kouga could actually look like a really dangerous foe. Even when the wolf had accused him of slaughtering his kin, he never looked this angry at him...which sort of made the hanyou glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that speech. However, feeling a few shreds of pity towards Ayame, Inuyasha approached the pair and put a hand on Kouga's shoulder, trying to look at his face, "Lay off, she's just a kid. And kids don't know any better and just do what they can to be accepted," He would know, after all of the royals in his mother's palace had mistreated him and he had actually done all he could to earn respect, it was never enough there because of what he was though...

With her lip trembling, Ayame blinked at Inuyasha, obviously frightened of Kouga but surprised with Inuyasha, as if she had not expected the hanyou to stand up for her. As if she had expecting him to just sit back and watch Ayame getting hurt after she had insulted him... "Why?"

"Why what?" Inuyasha snorted, turning his gaze away from the pair (he felt Kouga's eyes burning on his form as well), he felt his lips part to mumble, "Don't think you're special kid, just get out of here and leave us alone already."

Out of the corner of his eye did Inuyasha see the wolf demon girl nod, jerking her wrist out of Kouga's hand before running back into the woods of Musashi and out of sight. Sighing, Inuyasha went back to Kouga, looking at the pitless blue eyes before him, "She won't come back, at least not for a while. Apparently she's not as hot-headed as you are."

Although Inuyasha smirked, that smirk faded as he was crushed against the ground with the wolf's 'osuwari' command, "You're worse than I am, mutt-face," Having said that, Kouga started to make his was back towards Kaede's hut, leaving Inuyasha to pick himself up. Those cuts on his face still hurt...

Soon enough Inuyasha had made his way back to the village, Kaede immediately treating the cuts and scratches on his face while the hanyou sighed and allowed the old woman to work. After all, Ayame had done a bit of a number on him, and he'd heal faster if the old woman used those herbs on him. After she was done, he finally left the hut to go back to the tree he was at before, looking up at the darkening sky above.

Things had been going rough, but it was to be expected in such a difficult time in his life...he had just lost his closest friends, and then there was Kagome and Kikyou...he never had decided which one he loved over the other. But it didn't matter now, seeing as they were both dead. And it was all thanks to Naraku. Naraku...fury began to burn him at the mere thought of that bastardous demon, he's wanted him dead for so long, but...would Inuyasha ever be able to achieve his goal of defeating Naraku now that his companions were gone? All of them, slain by Naraku's devastating hand?

...Well, not all of them. There was still Kouga, who was with him now. And Kouga at least would be helpful, and now that they weren't constantly bickering, he was actually someone Inuyasha would be willing to say was a partner, perhaps even a friend. But, a lover? No, that couldn't be right...he found himself blushing at the thought, and shaking his head, the hanyou immediately dismissed that theory. There was no way he could be in love with Kouga...was there?

While pondering, Inuyasha absently looked over the smell of graveyard soil and blood, thinking that it was just some old coot getting buried again. The village was, after all, demon central since Inuyasha had awoken...but, didn't he already get rid of the harmful demons? Tensing, Inuyasha felt cold arms wrap around him from behind, and after jumping out of the person's arms, Inuyasha was glaring at the person who dared to touch him, "Get out of here, Jakotsu! If you don't, I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"Tough words for someone with no weapon," Jakotsu licked his lips with a smirk as he approached Inuyasha, drawing an item from his belt. What was strange about this item was that it was not the snake sword Jakotsu was so accustomed to using, but rather a small, dark grey orb that the dead man raised above his head, "But even if you did have your precious sword, you wouldn't stand a chance against me!"

"You wish, you goddamn queer!" Growled Inuyasha, cutting his arm and soaking his claws with it before they began to glow with an eerie red colour. With that, the hanyou lunged, using those glowing claws to attack, "Blades of Blood!"

"Hah! Is that all you've got?" Almost shrieking in laughter, Jakotsu jumped up to dodge the blow, throwing the orb at the ground. With a small explosion, a cloud of smoke was released into the air, and when Inuyasha landed he began to cough. What was this...it couldn't be a miasma, but it instead resembled smoke, and it was making him tired... "Now I've got you!"

Inuyasha didn't even have time to run before he felt someone grip him around the middle, his torso resting on their shoulder with a tight grip around his waist, "Put me down!" Try as he might, he couldn't escape Jakotsu's grip, he was feeling really weak and tired because of whatever was in that smoke, "Your damned soul will burn in Hell, but not until I'm done tearing it apart, Jakotsu!"

"Inuyasha!"

Blinking, the dog demon realized that the smoke was beginning to clear up as Kouga, wearing a cloth around his mouth and nose, came running towards the pair. Apparently, the wolf had seen the smoke and wore the cloth as a precaution, and needlessly said it was working wonders, for the gas didn't seem to take away one bit of his stamina, "Put Inuyasha down, human! That is, if you don't like your throat being torn out," Kouga growled threateningly as he cracked his knuckles, it was obvious that he meant to go through with his threat if his demand wasn't met.

Jakotsu, however, merely laughed, causing Inuyasha to blink wearily at him. He was so dizzy... "You think I'm letting a prize like Inuyasha go? You're out of your mind, stay out of this if you want to keep your hide, Kouga!" He spoke so arrogantly, Inuyasha just wanted to kill this bastard..."Good bye, Kouga! Maybe you'll get to see Inuyasha's corpse when I'm done with him!"

Jakotsu grabbed another orb from his belt, throwing against the ground before he started to run. Inuyasha couldn't hear Kouga following them, he probably couldn't see or smell them, plus the bang might have taken out his hearing for a short while. Damn it...Inuyasha couldn't do squat to free himself, Kouga couldn't help him, now he was stuck in the clutches of the most sadistic member of the Band of Seven...