Chapter Thirty Eight

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OMG I am SO in love with Yashahime! I was really prepared not to like it, because I'm like that lol, but I really have been enjoying the characters and the plot concepts! Now that they just recently released the dub I'm watching it as well as the sub.

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Onward!


"Name yourself!" Koga demands as he stands, moving protectively in front of where I was still sitting with Inuyasha and effectively placing himself between me and the woman.

"I was hoping that you two would kill one and other, or at least, one of you would be dead before I made my entrance. Your little tramp is more powerful than my Master gives her credit for." The woman goes on, closing her fan to reveal the rest of her face. She has a cruel smirk on her painted lips, a sharp fang glinting in the moonlight. She was some sort of demon, that much I could both feel in her aura and tell by her physical appearance.

'And a powerful one at that.' I frown, feeling her signature washing over me like a tidal wave. Inuyasha grips me under my arms, hoisting me to stand and ensuring I was steady before moving around to stand beside Koga in front of me as well.

"You must be one of Naraku's pets." Inuyasha states scathingly, cracking his fingers from habit as his claws glint in threat. The look on the woman's face suggested she didn't like being referred to as such.

"My name is Kagura." She replies evenly. "And I will see that you two have one final dance." She adds lowly, before raising her fan up above her head and opening it with a flourish. Suddenly all around us the wolf demons rise once again, eyes glowing red under her possession. I look around wide eyed, stepping in closer towards Inuyasha's back as I grip at the material of his fire rat robe.

Not this again.

"What's the meaning of this?" Koga demands, gazing around at all the rising bodies. I frown seeing the clearly tormented look in his face.

"They aren't alive, Koga. This is what we encountered when we got here before. She's using them like puppets." I explain, throwing a heated glare at the hateful demon in front of us.

"I just assumed you would enjoy having your comrades attend your final dance. It would kill them to miss it." She states, playing cruelly on words as she extends her fan outwards. I frown, looking at the object in her hands. "And once you're dead, I'll be taking those jewel shards out from your legs." Stiffening at the threat against Koga, my eyes snap towards the fan that she was still holding. The encounter with Yura of the Hair comes to mind, and the fact that her powers were all housed in the physical object of a comb.

'That fan must be the source of her power. If we can take it away from her, she won't be able to manipulate these bodies any longer.' I think to myself as I gaze at the fan, feeling around for any energy I might have left. The spark was small, but it was there.

"You sorceress!" Koga snarls in rage, taking a step forward. "You were the one that slaughtered my friends!" Without preamble he rushes the demoness, dodging the first wave of his possessed wolf demon companions that came at him. "I'll kill you!" Koga shouts loudly with conviction, his fist drawn back to take the first strike. Inuyasha, meanwhile, is beating away the demons that are closing in around us, unable to be of help to Koga.

"No, it's time for you to die." Kagura replies calmly, waving her fan at him. She produces blades made from the very wind, and Koga was completely unprepared for them.

"Koga!" I shout, watching helplessly from behind Inuyasha as he's overrun, slices running all up and down his body. Kagura stands over him confidently as Koga clearly struggles on the ground.

"This would have been so much easier if you still had that jewel shard in your arm." She sighs heavily.

"Kirara!" Inuyasha suddenly shouts, turning sharply towards where the cat demon had flew to above us on the roof so as to keep Shippo safe. "Come get Yua!" I find an argument on the tip of my tongue, but looking towards Koga struggling I bite it back.

I wasn't able to help, I was just in the way. The best thing I could do is leave so that Inuyasha could be freed to help.

Inuyasha turns to me, leaning down and quickly pressing his forehead against my own as Kirara lands behind me. "Stay safe." He murmurs lowly, his breath fanning over my lips.

"I love you." I respond earnestly, the need to say so suddenly was overwhelming. He says nothing in return, though he doesn't need to as he gazes at me tenderly, before grabbing me by my hips and lifting me onto Kirara's back. No sooner am I seated behind Shippo, who was straddling Kirara directly behind her head, then Kirara took off back towards the roof she had been perched on before. I leap off of her back, my hand still braced on her side to steady myself as I gaze down at the courtyard. The boys were facing off against Kagura once again, Koga struggling to his feet and Inuyasha coming to stand next to him.

"We're both going to make you pay for what you've done." Inuyasha promises her lowly, drawing Tessaiga. The ring of the blade being released from it's sheath and transforming echoes around us, though Kagura hardly looks fazed. He looks towards Koga with a frown. "Let's go." He murmurs, and he and Koga charge the woman together. Kagura leaps into the air, throwing another attack their way. Both Koga and Inuyasha dodge each blade as it passes by them and crashes down into the ground, the entire area shaking with the force of it. They would go to attack, but she would continuously throw more blades of wind at them, making it all useless. Even together they weren't fast enough, especially with Koga wounded.

'If only I could give them some sort of opening.' I frown in thought, before my eyes lock on her fan once again, poised open and over her head at the ready. The thought hits me suddenly, and with one fluid motion I reach for my bow and an arrow, notching it and taking aim. Breathing out I shoot, my arrow on track for her fan as it shines brightly with my aura.

Only to have Kagura manipulate the bodies to block my arrow from reaching her.

Slowly she looks over her shoulder at me, her red eyes narrowing as she does. Annoyance is clear on her face as she turns towards me.

"I know Naraku said you weren't to be harmed before being taken, but I can't have you interfering like that." She coos, and with a flourish of her fan, the blades of wind head directly for us. I can feel Kirara biting into the material on the back of my top, jumping with me dangling from her mouth as the roof explodes from under us and pieces of it go flying. She flies to another part of the roof, landing there and setting me down to sit on the slope.

"Thanks girl." I gasp out in relief, looking up towards the cat demon gratefully. Kirara lets my shirt go, growling lightly in return, before we all direct our attention back towards the fight as Inuyasha shouts lividly.

"I'll never let you take her!" He growls lowly, the sound even shaking me to the core. Tessaiga pulses in his hands, the energy forcing itself outwards then and washing over us all. For me it was a feeling of protection, of warmth. "Naraku will rot in hell before he gets his filthy goddamn hands on her!" He shouts even louder, before changing her with Tessaiga held high over his head.

Kagura's eyes widen slightly with fear, obviously taken off guard but the sudden change in Inuyasha's power.

Even I could feel it had grown exponentially.

'Demon's powers will suddenly explode and increase if their mates are threatened.' Mayumi explains. 'That's why toying with a demon's mate is never wise.'

Though Kagura barely misses the blade of Inuyasha's sword when he brings it down on her, Koga is right there and she doesn't miss the punch he delivers to her midsection. It sends her flying into the ground, the soil breaking apart as her body drags along it, leaving a trail in her wake. Kagura struggles upright, her face cold as she glares at both the male demons standing feet away.

"You want to go toe to toe with me? Fine. But you'll die slowly." Inuyasha warns her, his threat sending a shiver down my spine.

He sounded ruthless.

Inuyasha attacks with Tessaiga once again, but Kagura manages to fend him off with her fan, sending him leaping back and looking on with disbelief as the demoness stands fully once more.

"I am a Wind Sorceress. The wind in this castle is entirely under my control." Kagura proclaims, flourishing her fan once more.

If only my arrow had gotten through!

"Dance Of The Dragon!" Her voice echoes around us, wind pushing out from her in a twisting tunnel. Both Koga and Inuyasha have to brace themselves against it. Suddenly small vortexes begin to appear, one after another, and come crashing to the ground around both of them. Inuyasha dodges to the right, whilst Koga dodges to the left, and it's clearly taking everything they both have to stay just ahead of the deadly wind spirals. Inuyasha stops for a moment, eyes narrowed and clearly concentrating. It takes me a minute to realize what he's trying to do.

'He's trying to find the Wind Scar.' I frown, helpless as another vortex heads his way, effectively cutting off his attempt.

"I am a Wind Sorceress. The wind in this castle is entirely under my control."

My eyes widen remembering what she had just said. Did that mean that wind created by Tessaiga for the Wind Scar was also under her control?

"Something is wrong with Inuyasha! He can't seem to use the Wind Scar!" Shippo observes, voice filled with worry.

'But if I can disrupt her wind…' I think, grabbing onto my bow and notching another arrow. "Kirara, get Shippo out of here." I order the cat demon, but she looks at me warily. I realize that I'm asking her to disobey a direct order from someone she probably considers her Alpha, as well as her friend. "I'll be fine. Go." There was no way in hell I was chancing Shippo and Kirara getting caught in the cross-fire again. Kirara reluctantly takes off, Shippo shouting towards me as she does.

"What are you going to do, Yua?!"

I frown, taking aim just at Kagura's feet. Releasing my arrow, it flies directly into the ground where I had aimed. Though I couldn't see it, I could feel the wind shifting as my aura burned brightly beside her. 'It worked!' I can't help feeling elated, notching another arrow to direct at her again. Maybe this time Inuyasha would be able to find the Wind Scar.

"Yua! Shoot me!" Inuyasha suddenly cries out his bizarre order. I look towards him quizzically, wondering if he might have lost his mind. "Stop hesitating and do it!" He presses. I frown deeply at him.

"Inuyasha, what are you thinking?! I know you believe yourself to be invincible, but I could kill you!" I insist, despite the deep pull I felt in my stomach to obey his command.

"Trust me." Inuyasha calls back, and I pause for only a moment this time, before redirecting my aim. Releasing my arrow, I can't help thinking I was making a mistake. At the last minute Inuyasha lowers his right shoulder, the arrow just barely missing him. My aura from that arrow, and the one that had landed near Kagura cross over one and other.

And suddenly the wind stops all together.

"Just as I thought! The wind has disappeared!" I can hear Inuyasha exclaim from below. My mouth falls open in shock then, finally piecing his plan together.

Kagura couldn't control a wind that wasn't there.

"Such a fool." Kagura states simply, moving to wave her fan. "I only need to create more!"

The air felt charged, and it wasn't just from Kagura's signature.

'The Tessaiga, I can feel it pulsing.' I think to myself with awe, the hair on my arms standing on end. 'He's found it! Inuyasha has found the Wind Scar!'

"DIE!" Inuyasha shouts loudly as he raises Tessaiga up, the golden glow of his energy cutting across the ground and overtaking the Wind Sorceress by surprise. I could see her shadow in the light, before sudden she escapes into the sky, summoning a large white feather and climbing on top. The top half of her kimono had been ripped to shreds, and with her back facing us I could see a spider like scar, the raised skin looking out of place from the rest of the smooth expanse of her back.

'That scar…it looks exactly like…' I trail off, swallowing thickly.

It was identical to the one on Naraku's back.

I watch as she floats off into the night, before looking down at Koga and Inuyasha in the courtyard. Koga was kneeling down now, looking torn and exhausted, whilst Inuyasha still had his gaze locked on Kagura's disappearing figure. Kirara floats down to me, and so I climb on her back, letting her carry me back down to the ground.

"Shippo, stay here." I murmur softly to the small boy in front of me, kissing the back of his head gently before shifting from Kirara's back. I'm about to step towards them, but suddenly the wind picks up once again, and the castle starts to disappear as it had before when we had first encountered it.

"The castle is disappearing!" Shippo calls out from next to me as he sits on Kirara.

"It was another illusion." I murmur, frowning as I place a hand on Kirara's shoulder when she moves nervously. I'm relieved when I see Miroku and Sango appear, both of the heading straight towards Inuyasha to interrogate him. I, meanwhile, headed for Koga as he knelt on his hands and knees now on the ground.

"Hey, you alright?" I frown deeply as I kneel next to him, resting my hand gently on his back, careful to avoid the gaping wounds. "Nevermind, don't answer that. It was a stupid question." I add softly, shaking my head at myself. Without thinking twice, I allow my healing energy to flow through from my hand and into him, his wounds glowing brightly as they began to close up. Koga's eyes snap open wide as he looks towards me.

"Yua, stop! Don't waste your energy."

"I'm not." I reply evenly, frowning as I pushed every ounce I had left to close his bigger wounds. I didn't have enough energy left to heal him completely, but at least he'd be able to get home comfortably now. "I'm glad that you're okay too." I murmur dazedly, his blue eyes widening as he moves to sit up straight from his hunched over position.

It doesn't take long for darkness to start bleeding into my vision, my body drained.

The last thing I feel is my cheek pressing against his cold armor, and his strong arms wrapping around my body to steady me.


Inuyasha's POV

After answering Sango and Miroku's questions, I turn to see a sight that has me feeling like I had been punched by Koga's jewel infused arm in the gut.

There was the fleabag, obviously healed by Yua, holding my mate to his chest protectively.

Biting back a snarl, I force back the knee jerk reaction to go over there and snatch her away from him. Sheathing Tessaiga I walk over, looking down at the wolf demon with annoyance.

"Why on earth would you bring her to a dangerous place like this, you idiot." Koga suddenly snarls up at me, causing my eyes to widen in disbelief.

Was he seriously lecturing me on my mate?

"Yua can hold her own."

"Except today, when at any moment she could have died!" Koga argues back gruffly, glaring up at me as he stands after shifting Yua in his arms. "You almost got her killed, and all for what? Revenge on this Naraku guy?"

"You don't know the whole story." Miroku speaks up, frowning. "Naraku is just as much a danger to Yua as he is to everyone here."

"What do you mean by that?" Koga demands, and I feel my irritation flare.

"That's none of your concern, fleabag. Now give me my mate." It slips out before I can stop it, everyone suddenly freezing around us. Sure, Miroku and Sango obviously knew something was going on between Yua and I. They weren't blind, and regretfully not stupid either.

Of course, though, that had no idea what the extent of our relationship was.

"She's not your mate." Koga hisses at me, stepping back with Yua in his arms. A warning growl forms from deep in my chest, glancing down towards my woman in his arms before looking back into the wolf's eyes. "I would smell the claim on her."

"I haven't claimed her yet, but she knows I plan to, and she's welcomed it." I snap at him, unable to care about the damage I might be causing whatever bond those two had. In my mind Yua should have nothing to do with the asshole, but then again, I couldn't control that.

I could, however, make our relationship known, and what Koga chose to do with it would be up to him.

"She deserves better than you." Koga assurts.

"I know." I reply with honesty, the wolf demon completely caught off-guard by it. "But all the same she's chosen me, and I have chosen her. You need to let her go." I move forward, reaching my arms out towards them both. "Both figuratively and literally, mind you." I add dryly, and Koga shoots me a look to suggest he seriously wasn't impressed.

"I realize that she belongs with your group, for now." Koga finally agrees, looking down at her sleeping face tenderly once more, before very reluctantly passing her weight over into my arms. Her head naturally falls against my shoulder, as if that was where it was supposed to be, her curves fitting warmly against my own. "And for that reason I'm returning her to you. Until you've actually made your claim on her, mutt, she's still fair game in my mind." He goes on, and I can't help a smirk at the challenge the wolf was issuing. "I'll definitely be seeing you around." He adds lowly, taking one last look at Yua in my arms, before turning and racing off into the night. I frown, looking down at the sleeping woman in my arms, her reddish-brown hair tangled from the wind, some stands even pulled from her ponytail to lay haphazardly around her face. The freckles on her nose and cheeks stand out starkly on her pale skin under the moonlight, almost casting her in a ethereal glow right there in my arms. My gut clenches hard as I realize Koga had been right about one thing.

I had knowingly put Yua in danger, and if she had been killed, it would have been all my fault.


Yua's POV

"You…are starting to become troublesome to me." My eyes snap open as I hear that chilling voice grating in my ear. Looking around, I appear to be in a room of some sort, blinds drawn down to separate the room from whatever was beyond. Closing my eyes for a moment as what was happening hits me, I open them to find the eerily handsome face of Naraku staring down at me from where he now stood beside my futon. I slowly sit up, not breaking eye contact with him as he stares me down with his red, beady eyes. "Usually I enjoy a challenge, but even I must admit that your constant interference is wearing thin."

"Clearly I must be doing something right then." I bite back at him, throwing my blankets from over me to find that I was dressed in a simple white sleeping robe. "Couldn't leave me dressed for this, huh?" I ask dryly, shifting slowly to stand.

"I figured while you were here you might as well be comfortable." Naraku replies easily with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "I had other things I much preferred you to wear, the foremost being nothing at all," He smirks slyly at me, his eyes tailing for my form with clear perversion that has me shuddering visibly in disgust, "but I figured we'd have time enough for that in person." He adds lowly, the clear threat hanging over my head. I feel for my energy, my power more present than in any previous dreams he had entered of mine, allowing my hands to glow purple with warning.

"I'll kill you before you get a chance to touch me." The declaration is brave, but even I know that Naraku was still many times more stronger than I. He clearly knows it as well, if his chuckle of amusement was any indication.

"It shouldn't surprise me to see you have not one, but two demons fighting for your affections." Naraku goes on, clearly speaking about Inuyasha and Koga. "Mayumi had that affect on weak minded men as well."

"You were one of those weak minded men." I remind him, Naraku frowning at me now as his gaze sharpens.

"I never fell for her womanly tricks." He hisses in disgust. "She was mine for one reason and one only. To create for me a Sacred Jewel."

"I think it was more than that." I press on, clearly able to see I had hit a sore subject. "I believe you actually came to care for her. That's why when she ran from you, you felt so betrayed. So much so that you allowed your jealousy to consume you enough to have her killed." I narrow my eyes at him, watching the faltering in his eyes, his cool facade slowly cracking. "It wasn't jealousy over ownership of the Sacred Jewel she possessed, no, it was because you wanted her and she wanted someone else."

"Enough." Naraku hisses out, disgust clear in his voice. I ignore it, delighted to see I was finally getting under his skin for once.

"How does it feel? Losing not one possession to Inuyasha, but now two?" I ask rhetorically. "Not only were you too weak of a man to hold onto Mayumi's affections, but you've lost mine without even having a chance to try." Suddenly his fist flies out beside him into the wall, a small crater forming where it had landed. The wood splinters and turns into dust, floating down to the ground in an almost serene motion. "That's all you've ever wanted, isn't it? To be loved?" I go on, voice deceptively soft, before my gaze hardens. "Love isn't within the reach of evil men like you, Naraku." He moves so suddenly that I miss it altogether, his fingers closing around my throat in a firm warning as he looks down at me with utter hatred.

"You've no idea, no right, to claim what is or is not within my reach. I am Naraku. My powers continue to grow, and soon will be beyond anyone's comprehension." He hisses at me, lowering his head so our noses brushed together. "Soon you will learn not to challenge me. Soon you will see that resisting someone like me is futile. I will have you Yua, whether or not you are willing." He snarls, before shoving me away hard enough to have me fall back to the ground. I wince, the shock causing a pain to rush up my shoulder. With a heavy sigh, Naraku shakes his head down at me, face almost looking sad. "I've grown tired of you tonight, Yua." And with a simple wave of his hand the scene around me disappears and my world goes black once more.


Waking with a gasp, I sit up straight, looking around my surroundings to try and ground myself to something, anything to let me know I was back to reality.

"Yua?" Inuyasha questions from somewhere behind me. I turn my upper half sharply, wide green eyes finally landing on exactly who I needed in that moment as he sat back against a nearby tree.

"Naraku." I gasp out through my heavy breathing, and Inuyasha's reaction is almost instantaneous. He stands and moves forward in the few strides it takes for him to reach me, kneeling down once more and pulling me into his protective embrace. I melt against him, concentrating on slowing my breathing and the racing of my heart as he gently combs his fingers through my long, unbound hair.

"What did he want this time?" Inuyasha asks lowly, voice hard as he continues the soothing motion with his fingers. I bury my face against his neck, taking in a deep breath of his familiar scent of pine and earth, finding that helped more than anything else to calm me down.

"To make a point." I murmur softly, pressing my warm forehead to his cool neck, finding it felt very pleasant against my heated skin. "He didn't hurt me this time, he couldn't. I had full power." I add, sighing heavily as finally I felt my tense body start to relax.

"And what point was he trying to make?" Inuyasha asks as he leans back, his fingers moving from my hair so he could cup my cheek, his golden gaze watching me carefully.

"That I was becoming a nuisance to him." I answer honestly. "Told him I must be doing something right." Inuyasha snorts slightly at that, a small but proud smirk forming on his lips, before it drops to a frown of worry once more.

"We need to figure out a way to keep him from your dreams." He murmurs, gently stroking his thumb against my cheek. Much like Koga had done earlier.

Koga.

I lean away gently, looking around the clearing to find Miroku, Shippo, Sango, and Kirara all asleep around the small fire.

Koga was missing.

"He left after you healed him to go back to his Tribe." Inuyasha answers my silent question, and I turn to look back at him with a relieved smile.

"Good." I sigh softly, before frowning when Inuyasha backs away from me, looking down and to the side. "Hey, what's up?"

"I know I asked this once, but I need to ask you again." He murmurs solemnly, looking back up into my eyes, his face set like stone. "Are you in love with Koga?" I blink in surprise, a laugh of disbelief leaving me.

"No." I answer honestly once again. "He's someone that I consider a friend, however." I add gently, frowning as I look up into Inuyasha's now relieved gaze. "I love you, Inuyasha. Nothing will ever change that for me." I watch as his entire face relaxes at that, before he shifts slightly to sit down on the ground just outside of my bedroll, clearly intending on staying there until I fell to sleep once more. I chew on my lower lip, glancing back towards the others, before looking towards him shyly. "You know…" I begin, playing with a loose strand on my blanket, "I never seem to have those nightmares when you sleep next to me." I bite on my lower lip in what I hope is an enticing sight, Inuyasha sending me an amused look in response.

"If you want me to sleep next to you, all you ever have to do is ask, Yua. I don't need a reason to do it." Inuyasha replies gently, a small, genuine smile on his face. Lifting the blanket so he could crawl in, instead of turning to face away from him I tuck myself facing towards him against his strong chest. Nose buried in his fire rat robe as his arms wrap around me, his scent overtaking me once more, I find it easy to fall back to sleep.

And this time I don't dream at all.


"So, mate huh?" Sango asks the following morning as she and I wash up in the nearby stream. We had both stripped down and wrapped ourselves in towels, the stream only deep enough to wash our hair as we knelt by it, along with our arms and legs. I look at her curiously as I wring my freshly conditioned hair out.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, the early morning grogginess still causing my mind to be a little fuzzy. Sango's smirk widens as she sits back on her knees, having just finished washing along her arms and shoulders.

"Inuyasha told Koga that he was your mate." She replies, and it takes a minute for what she said to really sink in. I had not wanted Koga to find out that way.

"INUYASHA! YOU ASSHOLE! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Inuyasha visibly flinches before looking towards the monk. Miroku lifts an eyebrow at him, before shaking his head, and both of them in unison sigh the same word together.

"Women."


Sooooo what do ya think? :) Hope you liked the update! Please leave a review to let me know!

Until Next Time!

T.O.T.