Disclaimers: InuYasha and the others do not belong to me, and I don't think they ever will.

Thank you to animeobsessed3191 and Taeniaea, my first reviewers on FanFiction! And, um, animeobsessed3191? Well... I've been told that I end almost all my chapters with cliffhangers...

Love Bites

("If I give her my soul," Kikyou glared, though her knees shook, "I will die."

InuYasha said nothing, maintaining his stoic expression as his eyes stopped changing. His eyes were rimmed with a deep ruby shade, his pupils almost drowning in a clear amethyst color surrounded by brilliant gold.

Kikyou took two steps closer. A warning growl rose up in InuYasha's chest, while he ground out between his fangs, "Move again and you won't have to give Kagome her soul back by yourself.")

Kikyou stared at InuYasha in disbelief. She smiled in denial and shook her head as if to clear it. "Excuse me" Kikyou growled. "I thought you said that you didn't care that when my soul is handed off to this... this... girl, that you"

"Couldn't care less" InuYasha finished for her. "Not any more."

"InuYasha, you are in denial" Kikyou insisted. InuYasha growled at her.

"I doubt that, Kikyou" InuYasha replied. "I can finally see what you really are, and I don't want anything to do with you."

Sango and Miroku stared at InuYasha in disbelief. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, and Shippo hopped onto InuYasha's shoulder, feeling his forehead. "Are you sick" he asked. The only reply he received was a warning growl, then he took the hanyou's advice and left him alone.

"Damn it, Kikyou, don't make me kill you" InuYasha said coldly. The ice in his voice rivaled that of even Sesshoumaru. What everyone found out was that, while a pissed-off InuYasha was scary, a quiet InuYasha was even scarier.

While his face betrayed nothing, because his friends and enemies in the clearing knew his habits, the carefully schooled expression spoke volumes, indicating that he was not to be messed with. His silver-white hair splattered with blood, some was his own and some not. His haori was torn and frayed in some places from the battle, the red a deeper red, nearly black, in some places where he was still bleeding. Across one cheek was a clean slice, still running in red rivulets down his face. He was smeared with dirt and grime, and didn't seem to give a damn. The mixed colors in his eyes foreshadowed nothing good.

Sesshoumaru, perhaps the cleanest that had been fighting, clearly felt the energy rolling off his younger brother in waves. The hanyou was angry, no doubt about it, and he couldn't really blame him. The boy had been alone since his childhood, and he had the scars to prove it. The abuse he'd suffered as a child gave InuYasha an unsurpassed ability to ignore pain. It couldn't possibly have been restricted to physical pain, either. InuYasha had certainly numbed himself to the core in order to deal with Kikyou.

Kikyou drew an arrow slowly, and aimed it right at InuYasha's heart. "No, InuYasha" she said. "I think it's me that would be made to kill you. Do not push me."

"Oh, I'll push you alright" InuYasha responded, challenge dripping from every word. "Right off another cliff." This came off as unexpected to everyone. Shippo blinked rapidly up at InuYasha, and Sesshoumaru struggled to remain unaffected while Sango and Miroku's jaws dropped. Even Kouga, who was making his way slowly up the hill, gasped. InuYasha's posture betrayed nothing.

"Would you" Kikyou dared. "Would you really choose this girl, that is not even from this time, over me? We could go back to what we had, InuYasha. We could be together. Have each other."

InuYasha shook his head slowly, left and right, and that was it. "You destroyed anything that we could have had when you pinned me to the God Tree."

"You cannot kill me" Kikyou declared.

"I'll sure as hell try, if that's what it comes down to. Now let Kagome go and give her back her soul."

Kikyou glared at him, but the soul stealers set Kagome on her feet. Her legs were weak, and she collapsed to her knees. She was still shivering, still cold. Shippo hopped up next to her, and patted her leg reassuringly.

InuYasha picked up his sword, not taking his eyes off Kikyou, almost like he expected her to try something. He pulled Kagome to her feet, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He held her in the circle of his arms, sword held tensely toward Kikyou. "You okay" he asked gently. Kagome nodded, having no choice but to lean into him for support.

"Yeah" she shivered. "But I'm cold."

Kikyou smirked at that. "Of course you are" she snickered. "I hold part of your life in my hands."

"Uh" Shippo interjected. "I think you just insulted yourself there..."

InuYasha stood quickly, bringing Kagome with him. He glared meaningfully at the undead miko. "What the fuck was that supposed to mean" he yelled.

"It means, my dear hanyou" Kikyou began, an note of disgust in her voice"that I have Kagome right where I want her."

"Well that tells me a lot" InuYasha sneered.

"That... is so... sick..." Miroku commented. Sango smacked him with her boomerang, and he saw stars. Everyone looked at the fallen perverted monk disbelievingly. Shippo frowned.

"I still don't get anything he says" he complained.

Kikyou glared at the kit. "Give me the jewel, fox."

Shippo stuck his tongue out at her. "No" he cried, emboldened by InuYasha's words. Kikyou shot an arrow at him, but he quickly dodged behind InuYasha with a loud wail. Kagome frowned and looked worriedly over InuYasha's shoulder to the young kitsune. InuYasha growled, vibrating Kagome from head to toe, and, coupled with her shivering, looked like a tremor ran through her. All anger was directed to Kikyou. Kikyou could feel the tension thick in the air, and the fear she had managed to subdue came crashing forth. That was her last arrow. She did the last rational thing she could think of.

She ran.

InuYasha cursed under his breath and gave Kagome a comforting and explaining squeeze before entrusting her to Sango and taking off after Kikyou. Kikyou was barely down the hill before InuYasha caught up with her. They could all see the following battle.

Kikyou stumbled backward when InuYasha cut her off. Everyone could tell he was trying to stay in control enough that he wouldn't kill her... if he could help it. Kikyou, by this time frantic, smacked InuYasha upside the head with her bow. She was going to do it again, but something truly terrifying happened.

InuYasha caught the bow at least a foot before it struck its target, almost by reflex. His entire being was calm, serene, and cold. He slowly turned to face the woman. The glare that was on his face was that of rubies and sapphires, making even Sesshoumaru tremble in fear. A tremor ran down Kikyou's spine. She struggled to summon up her miko powers, but it wouldn't work. She was too scared. She was being stared down by death once again.

InuYasha glanced around, as if he didn't remember where he was or whom he was with. A snarl worked its way across his face until he saw Kagome, cradling Shippo in her arms. He then looked to Kikyou. Kikyou cast her sanity away, and tried for the last time.

"I-Inu...Yasha..." she stammered. InuYasha glared at her. "Does that girl up there mean more to you than I do" she asked.

An evil, alarming smirk passed over his features. When he spoke, his voice was thick with a growl. "Kagome can't compare to you" he said. Just as soon as a cooling relief swept over her, it was replaced with another kind of chill that had nothing to do with relief. InuYasha fisted his hand in her yukata and jerked her forward, an intimidating glare on his face. "You're dead."

Kikyou couldn't move, and a hand violently pierced her stomach. Since she was already dead, she didn't bleed. That was bad. InuYasha rammed his other set of claws through her throat, coming out the other side of her neck. Kikyou gasped for breath, and failed. InuYasha spit a small amount of blood from his mouth to the ground, not taking his eyes off Kikyou.

He dropped her, making her land unceremoniously on the ground, writhing and arching her back in violent spasms. He walked up the hill to the others, Kikyou managing to control her movements enough to watch him. He moved gracefully when he was calm, with a fluidity he didn't possess as a hanyou. Sango backed away from Kagome and InuYasha as the hanyou approached. Kagome held her ground. She wasn't cold any more, and she faintly wondered why. InuYasha stopped in front of her.

She stared admiringly into those fiery eyes unflinching, while Shippo shied away to hide on Miroku's shoulder. InuYasha hesitated for a moment, as if he'd never seen anything like the look Kagome was giving him now: warm and affectionate, not at all afraid of him, yet cautious about what he would do. After that moment, he was back into that manic calm. He held out a hand before her, the smaller part of the Shikon no Tama in his hand.

Kagome stared at the jewel in surprise. Then she looked back up into those corruptly innocent eyes and gasped at what she saw there. There was something powerful behind his eyes, but as soon as she glimpsed it, it was locked away from her.

InuYasha took her hand and placed the jewel in her palm. Kikyou, down in the ditch, made a sound of outrage. No one paid her any mind. InuYasha slowly pulled Kagome to him, his hands firmly on her hips. Kagome tentatively held his shoulders, fisting her hands in his haori. He nuzzled her neck, and the sudden show of affection caught her off guard, causing her to jump. He growled.

"He is taking you as a mate" Sesshoumaru explained quickly.

She blinked as the other two youkai and the demon slayers' jaws dropped. Miroku blinked. "Mate" he wondered aloud.

"Like a wife" Sango answered him on reflex. "The bite near the shoulder indicates that a person already has a mate and cannot be claimed by anyone else. If it were that way..." she trailed off, with an uncertain motion with her hands.

"It would be a fight to the death" Kouga supplied, coming to stand next to Sesshoumaru. It was then that they realized Kouga was taller than Sesshoumaru. However, he hunched to seem shorter. To stand taller than him was a challenge to his authority. Daunted by Sesshoumaru's noble appearance and InuYasha's anger, he looked supremely outdone and disgruntled, not to mention peeved at the latest development. "Maybe I'll challenge him later... but I've got the rest of my pack to think about."

Shippo frowned. "You mean you won't fight InuYasha over Kagome any more" he asked. Kouga's expression shifted from wrinkling his nose to frowning and other various changes. Shippo mouthed the word, 'wow'. Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement.

InuYasha tugged away Kagome's collar, and lightly sniffed along her skin. When Kagome didn't pull away, he gently pressed his teeth to the juncture of her shoulder and neck. Once he was sure she wouldn't struggle, he sank his teeth into her flesh, enough to draw blood but not enough to wound. The line of Kagome's body tensed at the sensation. She didn't pull away, but she didn't lean into it, either. Even as InuYasha licked away the blood, she could feel something shift inside her. It was as if she'd found a part of her that she didn't know was missing.

In the ditch, Kikyou managed to scream in outrage. She tried to claw her way up the hill, but the exertion proved itself too much for her to handle. InuYasha looked at her, eyes full of hatred and contempt. It only made her angrier. He held Kagome with one hand on each of her sides, and held her close again. Kagome leaned into him, because her legs suddenly felt unstable. InuYasha sent a glance to Sesshoumaru, who easily strode down the hill and severed Kikyou's head and neck with his poisonous whip. The poison would have no effect on her - being dead and all - but it stung like nothing else. When her head fell to the ground, she disintegrated into graveyard soil and bones.

Kagome felt herself shake. However, she didn't shake; it was InuYasha. He fell to his knees, in effect taking Kagome down with him. He wrapped his arms around her as if she were a lifeline, and buried his face in her neck. All the humans and young youkai could do was watch helplessly. Kouga raised an eyebrow. Sesshoumaru strode back up to them. At the same time, a blue light hit Kagome in the back, causing her to shiver.

InuYasha looked back up at her with golden honey eyes, truly shocked.