Disclaimer

AN: Hey guys! Thank you so so so much for all your reviews! You're all amazing! I hope I posted this chapter soon enough for you guys. Sorry if you would have liked it faster, but I only have about two hours to myself a day (if that, lol). Anyways it's a longer chapter so I hope that will make it up to y'all! Enjoy!


Chapter 24- Love Can Hurt

"Kagome get up. Get up!" Sesshoumaru hollered and shook her while he held Rin at his side.

"What? What's wrong?" Kagome said as she opened her eyes to the soft light of dawn, and Sesshoumaru in her face.

"Come on, we have to take cover in the woods." He said and pulled her to her feet.

"Why?" She asked, still sleepy.

"Look way over there." Sesshoumaru replied quickly and pointed towards the rising sun.

Kagome followed where he was looking. At first she couldn't see anything, but when she held her hand above her eyes she saw it. They looked very, very small, but in the distance there was what looked like a large army marching towards them. "Oh Kami." Was all she could say.

Knowing that Kagome wasn't going to move, Sesshoumaru grabbed her wrist and pulled her straight into the woods. He continued to run further until he felt they were far enough out of sight.

"Sesshoumaru, where do you think they're going?" Kagome asked as she hid behind a large tree with Sesshoumaru and Rin.

"I'm not sure, but I bet they're headed towards another army. The war is coming soon, it looks like it's only a month or two away." He replied, staring intently out at the field that the army would soon be passing through.

"A month or two?" Kagome mocked.

"I don't know the exact date. I just know that the armies look like they are gathering together now." He replied.

"How did you know they were coming? They're so far away." Kagome asked. "They're so far away that I don't think you could smell them."

"No, but I could hear them. When they get closer you'll be able to hear the steady beat of their marching."

"Lord Sesshoumaru, why are we hiding, can't you fight them?" Rin asked (who was still hanging in Sesshoumaru's arm).

"There is times when there is even too many for me to be able to fight." Sesshoumaru replied.

"They're taking long enough to get here." Kagome said, getting impatient and stepping out from behind the tree.

"Get back here." Sesshoumaru ordered.

Kagome listened and went back.

"Can't you hear them now?" He asked.

Kagome stopped moving and focused on listening for the army. "I hear them. They're getting closer." She said as she listened to the thundering beat of their footsteps. "Do you think they seen us?" She asked, looking back at Sesshoumaru.

"No, not from that distance, and if they did, we could've easily been mistaken for small animals." Sesshoumaru answered.

They all waited for a few minutes until the army finally began to pass by. All the men wore metal armor and marched in sync with one another, except for the occasional guy who was fooling around.

"Ha ha! I should sing a marching song." A goofy looking man said, and nudged the man beside him.

"Like that would cheer anyone up. We're all exhausted as it is. Just shut up and march." The man replied.

"I don't know, but I've been told! A demon's heart is very cold!" The goofy man began to sing. He smiled and looked around to see what the men thought. Most of them just looked at him like he was nuts. "My sword calls for demon's blood! But my stomach calls for meat and rice!"

"That didn't rhyme at all." Another man said from behind him.

"Sorry." He replied back and then continued to make up silly rhymes to his song.

"That's a big army. There must be almost a thousand of them." Kagome said. She was almost stunned at the amount of people there were as they marched passed. At the moment she thought they would never be gone.

"Yes, and there is many more of them." Sesshoumaru added.

"Finally." Kagome sighed as they army finally left the area she could see.

"What's going on here? Sesshoumaru?" A childish, yet brave voice said.

Kagome jumped when she heard a different voice behind her, she turned around and looked pass Sesshoumaru. "Shippou!" She hollered and moved around Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried and jumped into her welcoming arms.

"I missed you so much!" Kagome said happily. She hugged Shippou like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Oh Kagome, I thought I'd never see you again." Shippou said, trying to hide his tears in her shirt.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked as she held the fox demon out so she could see his face.

"Me and the wolves were traveling through, and then I heard a loud noise. So I went to see what it was. Oh yeah, you probably don't know that I'm with Kouga and the wolves now." He replied.

"Yes, I did hear. Sango and Miroku told me. How is Kouga? He better be treating you right." She said and glanced around to expect a tornado to burst through the trees.

"He is treating me very good. Kouga is very nice, and he doesn't hit me like InuYasha used to. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if he were to show up any moment."

Sesshoumaru watched both kitsune and miko, and cleared his throat to get their attention.

Shippou stopped talking and looked over at Sesshoumaru. He gave Sesshoumaru a dirty look and then looked back up at Kagome in question.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, can you put me down? I want to see Shippou." Rin asked, struggling in his hold.

"Oh, I see what has happened here. It surprises me Kagome, that you would choose to be with someone like Sesshoumaru." Shippou said, noticing the mark on her neck right away.

Kagome didn't know what to say. She wanted to say that Sesshoumaru is a loving guy, but then Sesshoumaru wouldn't like that. And it would be a little over exaggerating. Sesshoumaru is a loving person towards her, but not to anyone else besides Rin.

"That wolf is coming." Sesshoumaru said as if he was disgusted.

"Why didn't you pick up Shippou's scent?" Kagome asked, with Shippou still in her arms.

"I did, I just didn't care about a fox. What's he going to do, bite me with his small teeth." Sesshoumaru said emotionlessly.

"Hey, you better watch what you're saying. I may not be big, but I do have a wolf on my side." Shippou said, pointing his finger at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru just scowled and stood waiting for the wolf demon to show up. Little did he know that Kouga loved Kagome too.

"Here he comes." Shippou said as the wind suddenly picked up and the trees swished back and forth.

"Kagome are you still traveling around with mutts?" Kouga asked as he stopped when he arrived right in front of Kagome. "I think it's time that you, me, and Shippou form our own little pack." He grinned and grabbed Kagome's hand.

"Ah...Kouga that's not a good idea." She said it too late. In a flash Kouga was being lifted into the air by his neck. "Sesshoumaru, put him down!"

Sesshoumaru wasn't listening to her. Not only did he not like wolf demons, but Kouga had just touched his mate. His inu-youkai was completely taking over and he just wanted to kill Kouga.

"Sesshoumaru! Let him go! He's not here to take me!" Kagome hollered desperately. She could see Kouga struggling to get air.

"Dirty mutt! Put me down!" Kouga managed to spit out. He clasped his hands around Sesshoumaru's wrist, his nails digging into the inu's arm.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cried again. Now she was getting even more upset because Kouga's nails were starting to draw blood from Sesshoumaru's wrist.

"Kagome, make him stop!" Shippou cried. He didn't like seeing his leader and bestfriend being hurt. If he was bigger he would've jumped on Sesshoumaru and tried to free Kouga himself.

Rin didn't know what to do. She just stood and watched. Everything was happening so fast to her. She didn't like how upset Kagome was though. "Sesshoumaru, please stop." Rin said, looking back and forth at her parents.

Sesshoumaru still wasn't listening. He didn't care what they were saying. If another male touches his mate, his instinct is to protect her and kill the male.

"Sesshoumaru, why aren't you listening to me?" Kagome asked. She had never seen him like this for a long time. Seeing that he wasn't paying any attention to her and continued to strangle Kouga, she began to cry. She could see Kouga starting to lose the will to fight against him, and beginning to go limp in Sesshoumaru's grip. "Sesshoumaru, why are you doing this?" She said through her tears and turned to run away. She couldn't bear to see him killing Kouga.

"Kagome, wait for me!" Shippou said and ran after her, along with Rin who followed behind him.

Sesshoumaru came out of it when he saw Kagome go running off, and let Kouga drop to the ground. 'Oh no, what have I done?' He thought as he ran after Kagome. He could smell the salt from her tears and caught up with her fairly quick. She had run straight out into the field and only stopped because of Sesshoumaru's hand.

Kagome tried to pull away from Sesshoumaru. She covered her face with her hands and cried.

"Kagome." Sesshoumaru said and laid his hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what he could say to make things better.

Kagome tried to control her sobbing, and wouldn't turn around to look at him. "Is Kouga alive?" She asked through tears.

"I- I don't know." Sesshoumaru answered, truthfully he had been too preoccupied on running after Kagome that when he dropped Kouga he couldn't remember if he was still breathing or not.

"As I said before Kagome, I don't know what could make you love Sesshoumaru." Shippou said, looking at the inu-youkai with disgust.

"Hey, don't say that! Sesshoumaru loves Kagome very much. Sometimes he may seem heartless and cruel, but he doesn't mean to be. Really, he was just looking out for Kagome because he felt threatened by Kouga." Rin said, standing up for her adopted father.

"That may be, but if he truly loved her, then why wouldn't he stop when she asked?" Shippou retorted.

"Like I said, Sesshoumaru is an inu-youkai, and it is in his instincts to kill anyone who would threaten to steal his mate. For a moment he can get out of control, but he realizes what he's doing when he notices that he is hurting Kagome." Rin replied back. "Shippou, you should know what it's like to lose control, you're a youkai too."

Shippou opened his mouth to say something back, but then he didn't know what to say because he knew it was true.

'Wow, Rin sounds so...mature.' Kagome thought and she lifted her head up and looked at Rin.

"Kagome, I'm sor—

"I'll accept your apology only if Kouga is alive." Kagome said quickly and then stood up.

Her quick reply surprised him, and her words were harsh. Sesshoumaru knew he deserved it, but what if Kouga isn't alive? Then would she never forgive him? All Sesshoumaru could do was nod and then he turned around to go back to where he left Kouga.

Kagome, Rin, and Shippou followed behind silently. When they arrived at the area that Sesshoumaru had dropped the wolf, Kouga was gone.

"He's alive." Sesshoumaru said, staring at the spot where he had let the wolf demon fall.

"Kagome, I'm sorry for this. If I hadn't have come then none of this would have happened." Shippou apologized, tears filling his eyes.

Kagome looked down at Shippou. "Shippou, nothings your fault. I'm just glad that Kouga is alive." She said, giving Sesshoumaru a glare.

"I should go, Kagome. Kouga will be leaving and I don't want to be left behind." Shippou aid and moved to leave. "It was so nice seeing you again." He said and then disappeared back in the forest.

"Goodbye Shippou." Kagome said softly. It kind of surprised her that Shippou didn't even want to stay with her. Shippou used to cling to her like velcro, and now he left her so easily. It almost hurt a little. But she knew she should've expected it, she had been gone for a long time, and while she was staying in the modern era, the group split up. Now everything is different.

Looking away from where Shippou had disappeared, she shook herself out of her thoughts and glanced at Sesshoumaru. "Let's go, we wasted enough time here." She said and headed back to the path they were traveling on.

Sesshoumaru began to follow behind his mate with Rin at his side. He had never heard Kagome speak that way before; she almost sounded like him, and he didn't like it. Surprisingly, for the first time, he was actually a little scared to speak to her, so instead he just walked on in silence.

For the next few hours the only words spoken was Rin's, and all she asked was; if they were almost there yet. Kagome just simply answered, "no, not yet." She hoped that they would arrive soon. She was sad, angry, and frustrated and didn't feel like traveling.

"Kagome, you have to stop and rest." Sesshoumaru said an hour later. There came no answer back. "Listen, you're going to dehydrate yourself if you don't get something to drink."

Kagome didn't know if she should just keep walking or stop like Sesshoumaru said. Suddenly she was realizing the terrible feeling in her gut, and she hated how things were between her and Sesshoumaru. It almost was a feeling like her world was ending. Worse than even when InuYasha always chose Kikyou. Way worse. She knew she could fix it, and accept his apology, but she was just so upset with him. Her throat was really dry, and she knew Sesshoumaru was right, she had to rest sometime. Deciding it was best to fix things, she whipped around and looked up at Sesshoumaru. "Why wouldn't you listen to me?"

"I didn't hear you." Sesshoumaru replied truthfully.

"How is it possible that you couldn't hear me? I was screaming at you."

"I just didn't. All I could hear was...Kouga struggling for air." He replied reluctantly, knowing she would not like hearing that answer.

"Oh really." And did you enjoy hearing that? Tell me the truth. Did you get pleasure out of hurting him?" Kagome retorted. She had a feeling that if he answered honestly, he would say yes.

Sesshoumaru didn't want to tell her the truth, not that truth. She is human and he is demon. What she wouldn't understand is that most demons do get pleasure out of killing, mostly when they are on a bloodrage. 'What should I say?' He wondered, and stared at her blank faced.

"Answer me Sesshoumaru!"

'When did I start letting her talk to me this way?' He thought for a moment, remembering when he would have gone after her if she dared to speak to him in an ignorant way. "Yes, I did." He finally answered.

"I knew it."

"Kagome, are you going to be okay?" Rin asked. She did not like how her parents were acting. They were making her depressed just looking at them.

"I'll be fine, Rin." Kagome replied, not taking her eyes off of Sesshoumaru.

"So, what? Is it a demon thing? That you get pleasure out of seeing other's pain? Because I think it's sick."

"It is more of an inu-youkai thing when we get protective or anger. Most demons call it rage. We talked about this before." He said.

"Yes, we did. I guess just not enough."

"Why do you care so much about that wolf?" He asked.

"Because he's a living person and did nothing wrong. He didn't deserve to die." She replied softer this time.

"Didn't you feel it?" Sesshoumaru said, moving closer so that he was only a foot away from her.

"Feel what?"

"When Kouga touched you? Didn't you feel the pain?" He asked, moving a little closer so he could feel her warmth.

"I felt a jolt of pain in my neck for a moment." She answered as she stared up at him. "Not that I think about it, it was right on the mark; the scar that marks us as mates." She said, feeling the side of her neck.

"I felt it too."

"Why would I get pain there?" She wondered.

"That mark is not just a mark. It symbolizes a unity among demons (even though you're not a demon), and not just by love, but by power. I'm not sure how to describe it. I wouldn't call it magic." He said, confusing himself a little. "This unity, or power will hurt us both if the opposite sex touches us if it's not each other, or if one of us is in an immense amount of pain."

"Wow, I never knew that." Kagome said, fascinated at how strong love can be, and what love can do. "So, it is true then. InuYasha once told me that if two people are mates, then they can never be with anyone else again, unless their mate died. Then the mark would disappear."

"My half-brother told the truth." He replied, and then took Kagome's hand. "Now let's go get you and Rin some water." He said softly and then turned off towards the woods. "There is a stream nearby, you two wait here, I'll be right back." He said and took two bottles out of Kagome's backpack.

Kagome watched Sesshoumaru enter the woods and then sat down on the ground. She felt much better, just talking to him made her feel a lot happier.

"Kagome, are you and Lord Sesshoumaru done fighting?" Rin asked.

"I believe so." Kagome smiled softly and looked up at the bright blue sky. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, and the sun was bright and warm. She had to cherish the sun while she could because it would soon enough be winter.

"Here."

Kagome caught the water bottle that Sesshoumaru tossed to her. "That was quick." She said.

Sesshoumaru sat down beside her and silently stared at the sky with her. He could feel that everything was pretty near back to normal with Kagome.

"Thank you. For the water." She said, realizing that she hadn't thanked him for it. Sometimes she had to admit that she wasn't always the nicest to Sesshoumaru either.

After a good half-hour break, they all got ready to leave again, except this time they wouldn't be traveling by foot. In an attempt to make it up to Kagome, Sesshoumaru transformed into his inu form and offered to go the rest of they way on his back. Although it would be slightly bumpy for Kagome and Rin, they both agreed that they would rather arrive at the village sooner than if they just walked. So, Sesshoumaru took off at a run, feeling the fresh breeze flow through his fur, and his massive paws pounding the ground.

They traveled on the back of Sesshoumaru for a couple of hours, and were sure that they must be almost there. Kagome kept telling Sesshoumaru to stop running and take a break, but he wouldn't stop. He couldn't really reply back, but he knew he didn't have to stop yet.

'I can't believe he can run at the same pace for this long.' Kagome thought.

"Hey, I think we're almost there!" Rin cried and pointed ahead.

Kagome looked ahead and saw the small lights from the village. By now it was dark and the night air was chilly. "That's the village, Sesshoumaru I don't think it would be good to run into their village in this form."

Sesshoumaru knew she was right, so he slowed to a stop and let Kagome and Rin off, then transformed back.

"I don't care what is happening tomorrow, but you are going to have your last and final training lesson. Since it didn't happen this morning." He told her, not liking that they had skipped today's training.

"I will, I will. Don't worry." She replied with a smile. 'That's right, this morning was supposed to be my last training. I guess because of all that happened, we forgot about it.' She thought. She didn't really know it, but she had become a much stronger person because of her months of training with Sesshoumaru. She had become a much stronger miko and swordsman. Sesshoumaru had taught her well with a sword, and how to control her powers. Sesshoumaru always told her that he couldn't teach her to use her powers as good as an experienced miko could.

Sesshoumaru could pick up his brother's scent and expected to see him soon. As they got close to the village, he saw a dark form appear and begin to walk towards him. "InuYasha."

"Sesshoumaru, what are you doing here?" InuYasha barked.

"InuYasha, we're here to tell you something that you probably won't believe. But we need your help and Kikyou's." Kagome said before Sesshoumaru could say anything back.

"What are you talking about?" The hanyou asked, squinting his eyes to look closely at Kagome.

"Well, it's kind of long to explain. Will you invite us into your village?" She asked.

InuYasha looked like he had to think for a moment. "Alright, but Sesshoumaru you better not try anything." He said, and turned to lead them towards his hut. As they arrived in front of the hut, Kikyou came out the door and examined them all. She gave them a calm, yet angry look, for it was they who would not give InuYasha the jewel back. "Why are you here?" Her smooth voice asked.

"Kikyou, we need your help."

AN: ooo, what's gonna happen next? Anyway hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And Chapter 25 will be posted asap!