Pairings: Inu/Kag Sess/Rin Mir/San
A/N: …yeah, I wanna see those episodes. Even though I hate Kikyo, gives nice little Inuyasha flashbacks…(smile) Also, about the medicine thing, I got that from episode 19. I've always wanted to write that! ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
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Chapter 17
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It was a peaceful day in the swamp. Wait, nevermind…to our wonderfully mud-covered heroes and heroines, it was living hell. Except for the oh-so enjoyable exception of Jaken…please note the sarcasm…
"When will we get there?" Kouga complained, hands behind his head in an 'I-don't-care' pose. However, his expression stated otherwise as the mud squelched beneath his fur-covered feet.
"Quiet, pathetic demon!" Jaken shrieked in his sketchy, irritating-to-the-ears voice. "If we keep going this way, we should reach your friends in a couple of minutes. Hmph! You canines, so impatient! So much UNLIKE my GLORIOUS, MOST POWERFUL, Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken huffed proudly, emphasizing the fact that he served the 'most powerful lord in the world'. If he had looked back, he would have noticed the glare he was receiving by Kouga. Also, if he had kept his eyes open, he would have noticed the very eye-catching root mere feet in front of him…
SQUISH!
Kouga squelched by, now sporting an amused grin, as Jaken spit out gunks of mud, as well as wiping his eyes clean. Now that he knew the way, he didn't need the toad anymore.
"You having fun playing in the mud?" he called back merrily, smiling in a slightly scary, sadistic way. Alas, as revenge…I mean, uh, fate…would have it, Kouga was too busy acting 'cool' to notice the large root in front of him…
MAJOR SQUISH!
Kouga groaned heavily, lifting his face out of the substance daring to challenge the prince of the wolf demons. He rubbed the caked mud off of his face, and started up again, drowning out Jaken's laughing with his own growls.
'Damn mud…' he thought angrily, not caring about the mud on his arms, legs, and chest. They were already covered with mud, why not add some more to keep them company?
As Kouga entered a clearing, his mood turned ever more sour. Truth be told, that was an understatement. He was figuratively on fire, the heat boiling in his body. Jaken curiously squelched up to Kouga to see what he was looking at, and quickly turned his back.
In the center of a quite muddy clearing, was the object of Kouga's affections…as well as his rival…and he had the nerve to kiss her!
'How DARE he!' he thought angrily, more of a statement than a question. He could see Kagome's eyes wide, and Inuyasha's relaxed. 'She probably doesn't even want this! That lowly mutt!'
All remorseful feelings for Inuyasha's loss of memory flew right out Kouga's head. All he wanted to do was tear that mutt apart so much, that even the low-life demons around here wouldn't even try to eat his flesh.
So, the angered wolf demon charged.
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Miroku was exhausted. He and Sango had been fighting for what seemed like hours; there seemed to be no end to the demons. They came from every which direction, swirling, streaming, and colliding with whatever they seemed to think would help them get at their prey. Miroku could catch sight of a few of the demons darting from side to side; they were snake demons, the most poisonous ever. Their poison would surely kill him if he dared to use the wind tunnel. So, he resorted to using his ofuda charms and staff. Their progress was slow, and without the aid of their other companions, their strength faded.
Miroku glanced over to where Sango was fighting; the slayer had her sword out, and was fighting off the gruesome demons around her. Hiraikotsu lay many feet away, probably knocked out of line by a stray demon. Suddenly, Miroku's eyes widened as he saw a snake demon shoot itself from a tree like a catapult, straight towards Sango's neck. The slayer was too busy fighting off the demons around her, so she didn't notice.
Miroku quickly flung his staff, tearing apart the head of a rather weak worm demon, ignoring the blood and guts spraying on his robes. Quickly he ran towards Sango, dodging the ravenous demons around him.
"SANGO!" he cried. Sango had time to just glance in his direction before he collided with her body, sending them flying through the air. Miroku screamed in agony as he felt sharp fangs enter through his arm. He could feel the poison being pumped into his blood stream; eventually, it would work its way around his body, and inevitably kill him.
As the two landed, Sango on the bottom, with Miroku lying on top of her, the monk groaned in pain. Sango reacted quickly, killing the snake demon with her sword, and slowly easing the fangs out of his arm. After a few seconds, blood began pouring out, mixed with the purple liquid of the poison. Sango grimaced; Miroku's arm needed to bleed out the poison, so she wouldn't be able to fix it up.
"…unh…" Miroku groaned miserably; his head hurt greatly, he was fatigued, tired, hungry, and dehydrated. As he sat up, despite Sango's protesting, he stared down at his hand. 'Time to use the last resort,' he thought sadly, lifting up his right arm.
Sango noticed this, and her eyes widened. "No, Miroku, don't! You can't, we can find another way!"
Miroku flinched from pain, and lifted his blood-covered arm to remove the beads. "Sango…" he said shakily. "…this may be the last time I see you, but know this…I'm glad I met you; you are the most beautiful and fantastic woman I have ever met."
"Miroku…" Sango felt her eyes well up with tears. She wanted to hug him, squeeze him to death, call him an idiot, and fight off the remaining demons together, but knew it wouldn't work. He'd still go through with his wind tunnel plan, no matter how foolish; that's just the type of guy Miroku is.
"I also wanted to say that I only flirted with other women to make you jealous," the monk said with a bittersweet smile. "…and it worked."
"…idiot…" Sango mumbled, tears flowing freely down her dirt- and blood-stained cheeks. She slowly leaned her head against Miroku's back, grabbing fistfuls of the monk's purple robes. "I don't want you to go."
"Yes, but if we both die, I'd never forgive myself," Miroku replied, shakily lifting off the first couple rows of rosary beads. "After all, if I can't even save the one I love, how can I call myself a monk?"
Sango didn't reply; he was right, though. A monk helps people, and if she died, that wouldn't exactly be helping at all. She merely nodded, leaning harder into Miroku's back, desperate to treasure the moments they shared together.
The demons finally realized through their thick skulls that their prey wasn't moving, and probably wouldn't be able to fight back. So, they charged with a new fire burning in their forms, rejuvenating their strength. When they were a couple yards in front of them, Miroku tore off the remaining beads.
"WIND TUNNEL!" he shouted, the black hole sucking up all of the demons. Sango wrapped her arms around Miroku's torso, holding herself and the monk on the ground. She could feel Miroku shaking, the wind tunnel pulsing because of the poison entering him. She closed her eyes tightly, wishing this would be a nightmare, and that she'd wake up to find everything fine; Inuyasha would be normal, he'd still argue with Kagome, Kouga would still flirt with her, Sesshomaru would still hate them, and she would slap Miroku for his wandering hands and flirtatious attitude.
Suddenly, the howling winds of the hole stopped. All Sango heard was a small, weak grunt, and felt Miroku go limp in her arms. She tightened her hold, not wanting to believe anything that was happening.
Sobbing, she cried out, "MIROKU!" as loud as she could. Her voice echoed through a large area of the swamp, causing birds to leap up and out of the trees in the high canopies. Unfortunately, no one was around to hear her, except one creature. And that one creature decided to pay them a visit.
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Kagome felt like she was in a dream, floating on a cloud. Here was Inuyasha, kissing her. She'd fantasized it many times, but it was never as great as this. They say nothing's as good as the real thing, and they were right. Even though Kagome's heart and mind told her to reply the kiss, to live her fantasies to the fullest, her body made no move to do so. Her eyes remained wide, and her lips remained unresponsive. Inuyasha didn't seem to mind, however, and continued with the kiss. Kagome felt his hand snake around her waist, and behind her head, moving her closer against him.
'Come on, Kagome,' the girl thought. 'This is your wildest dreams, and you're just sitting here like a rag doll! The guy of your dreams is kissing you, and you aren't doing anything! Move! DARN IT, MOVE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!'
Her wish was granted, but not in the right way. She heard an angry roar, the tone very familiar. She suddenly reclaimed her body, and tore away from Inuyasha's grasp, just in time to see a raging wolf demon charge towards them. Inuyasha looked up as well, only to receive a kick in the head. The half demon flew into a tree, and sank into the mud. He growled and stood up, wiping the mud off his cheeks and glaring.
"Kouga, wha-" Kagome was cut off.
"How dare you, you sick mutt!" Kouga raged, anger boiling in his chest and fires burning in his eyes. "How could you do that to MY girl? You vile fiend, you're not gonna survive this!"
Kouga charged again, aiming a punch towards Inuyasha's chest. He was met with the tree behind him, splintering the wood and causing it to fall on into other trees. Inuyasha landed behind Kouga with a squelch and jumped back a few paces.
Inuyasha glared at Kouga. "What do you mean she's 'your girl'? She doesn't carry your scent, you haven't claimed her!" he shouted.
"I haven't claimed her YET, dog breath!" Kouga spat. He ran forward, shouting, "Why don't you just go back to that clay doll!" Inuyasha braced himself for impact, but Kouga smirked, and jumped over the dog. Inuyasha was about to turn around when a sharp kick landed in his side. The demon was flung back first into a thick tree. The tree shook, but stayed intact, knocking the wind out of Inuyasha. Kouga followed up with his attack by rebounding off a tree, and kicking Inuyasha further into the tree. The tree miraculously stayed put, Kouga leaping back into the mud; Inuyasha's eyes fogged over a bit as he fell face first into the mud. He did not get back up.
Kouga straightened, satisfied, but still angry. He walked over to the unconscious half demon, leaned down, and pulled him up by the hair. Glassy gold eyes stared blankly back at him. "I'm gonna kill you," he whispered sadistically to the demon. He traced a small line across Inuyasha's neck. He replaced his claw, and was about to make a hard swing, when he felt a soft hand grasp his shoulder. He jerked his head back to see Kagome, looking down with sad, yet angry eyes. He saw a staff behind her, indicating Jaken's presence as well.
"Kouga, stop it," Kagome whispered in a soft tone, yet stern enough to get her point across.
"Kagome, why do you still protect this mutt?" Kouga shouted, outraged. Why would she defend someone who violated her? "He kissed you, he freaking KISSED YOU! And you're saying you're just going to let that slide and act like nothing happened?"
Frustrated, Kouga glared hard at Inuyasha's still form, and shoved him into the tree again, his face staring coldly as the limp form before him slid the ground again. Then, he stood up and grasped Kagome's shoulders. "Kagome, you are gonna be my girl; I can't let that mutt have you, he's too weak and won't be able to protect you."
"It's okay, Kouga. I can protect myself sometimes, an-" Kagome was cut off again.
"That's the problem! You can't protect yourself all the time, and neither can that mutt! You need a full demon, who's loyal to you in every way; someone who doesn't still love someone else, let alone a look-a-like that doesn't even compare to you; someone like me," Kouga's tone softened as he finished, lifted Kagome's chin higher. "I love you Kagome, more then that half breed ever could…" with that said, he swooped down, capturing Kagome's lips with his own.
Kagome stood shocked, rooted to the spot. Her eyes were wide, to a huge extent. Too shocked to move, she slipped into a daze; her eyes drooped, and her legs felt weak. In her eyes, Kouga's image blurred away, and Inuyasha's soft face entered in. Kouga moved Kagome closer to him, and Kagome embraced Kouga as well, still too dazed to realize who it really was that was in front of her. His tongue licked across Kagome's perfect lips, begging for entrance. Said girl, filled with false eagerness, parted them, letting Kouga deepen the kiss even more.
'Heh…see who she belongs to now, mutt?' Kouga thought, pulling Kagome ever closer.
And what Kagome didn't realize was that behind her, a very heart-broken half demon stared at them with eyes mixed with hurt, betrayal, and hatred.
TO BE CONTINUED……