Sango could hardly believe what had just happened. It didn't seem possible, but she had seen it with her own two eyes: Goshinki bit right through the Tessaiga's blade and had followed that up by delivering what had to be a killing blow to Inuyasha. The hanyou had gone down in a rush of blood, and did not move. If he had survived that at all, he would be in no condition to keep fighting.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. She stepped forward as if to run to him, but Sango was relieved to see Miroku cut her off. She would have done it herself if she were in any shape to fight. Instead, she allowed Kirara to hang back for now and kept an eye out in case they needed to spring in for a rescue.

"Stay back," Miroku told Kagome, reaching again for the beads that kept the kazaana contained.

Goshinki turned with impossible speed. One enormous arm lashed out, striking the monk hard enough to send him tumbling to the earth. Sango could only watch in horror as he hit the ground hard and lay still. She didn't realize she'd cried out until the words had escaped: "Houshi-sama!"

Abruptly, she made up her mind. Slipping from Kirara's back, she murmured a quick order to go protect Kagome, and to grab her and flee if necessary. Having done all she could for Kagome and Shippou, Sango made her way over to Miroku. She hadn't seen him hit his head, but he had taken a hard hit and now he wasn't moving. It was not a good sign.

What was she thinking? Even if she were in any condition to drag him to cover, Goshinki was too close. It would find them easily, no matter where they tried to hide. Their only hope for escape would be to call for Kirara, and she couldn't carry all of them very far. They would have to leave someone behind, and that wasn't an option she was willing to consider.

But she couldn't help it; if she couldn't fight, helping the fallen was one thing she could do. Even if in the end it might not matter.

"Idiot monk," the monster said, its sneering voice accompanied by the unholy buzzing of Naraku's insects. "You were trying to suck me into that void of yours despite the insects and their poison." It veered its head around to look at Kagome. "Don't be in such a rush to die. I like my food to be alive when I eat it."

Not for the first time, Sango wished she had brought the hiraikotsu. Nevermind that throwing it would probably put her into the same state as Inuyasha and the monk…

Miroku stirred, groaning, and tried to sit up.

"Stay still," she murmured, "you took a bad hit."

He didn't listen, doing his best to push himself upright again. Sango grimaced, but helped him anyway. After all, he'd done the same for her not very long ago. And if they were all going to die in a few moments anyway, what did it really matter that he shouldn't be trying to move just yet?

Goshinki towered over Kagome, looking more vicious than ever—all teeth and claws and horns. Sango felt as if her heart was in her throat. The youkai sneered down at Kagome. "You fool, Inuyasha cannot save you. He is already dead."

Sango knew all too well that she couldn't help either. Perhaps there was some way the monk could use the kazaana and not also kill Kagome…

Despite Goshinki's bold declaration, it turned out Inuyasha wasn't quite so dead after all. He had managed to haul himself back to his feet and now threw himself right back into the fray, as if he had not been bleeding out on the ground mere moments ago. Now he tore into Goshinki with gusto, severing an arm with his claws alone.

Inuyasha crashed to the ground beneath a fountain of Goshinki's blood, sneering with reddened eyes and holding up a bloody hand. His hands had changed, the claws becoming more pronounced. His face had changed, too. His features seemed sharper and more cruel than usual. More youkai than usual. "What's the matter, Goshinki?" he asked, in a voice that sounded almost nothing like the voice Sango knew. "I thought you said you knew all my moves."

Goshinki sputtered in confusion—apparently he could no longer read Inuyasha's thoughts as easily as he had before.

Sango watched with a growing sense of apprehension as Inuyasha went straight back to the fight. Watching him now, it was as if he was not only uninjured, but also a completely different person. And perhaps, she thought, in some way he was.

He slashed through Goshinki's hide as if it were hardly a barrier, inflicting massive amounts of damage and seeming to revel in his opponent's pain. He attacked again and again, evading Goshinki's counterattacks as if he were the one that could read minds, and did not relent until Goshinki collapsed to the ground, the life beaten out of it. Then, only Inuyasha remained standing, and he looked almost as surprised and confused as Sango felt.

Kagome, however, seemed to have no apprehension. She headed straight for Inuyasha until he snapped at her not to come any closer.

That was when the truth fell into place: during the battle, when they'd thought he died, Inuyasha had most likely transformed into a full demon instead. The person who stood before them now was not the Inuyasha they knew, it was Inuyasha as he might have been, had he been born fully youkai instead of only half.

"What happened to him?" Shippou asked. Sango had not even noticed him come up.

"I think…" she trailed off at first because it sounded so strange to say. "I think he's become a full youkai."

If she was right, Kagome could be in grave danger. They might actually have more to fear from Inuyasha than they had from Goshinki.

Except she hadn't counted on Kagome.

"There's no enemies left," she told Inuyasha, continuing to walk resolutely toward him even as he snarled like an angry dog. "You can stop now. We're your friends. We don't want to fight you."

Shippou started to shout a warning, but it turned out Kagome had the situation neatly in hand. She spoke just one sentence more, but that was more than enough: "Inuyasha, sit."

Overwhelmed by his youkai blood or not, the subduing spell did its work, and Inuyasha came up sputtering and looking much more like his usual self. Sango breathed a sigh of relief as Kagome threw herself into Inuyasha's arms.

At least the battle was finally over, and they'd all made it through in one piece.