If the Roles Were Reversed

by Glon Morski

I: Until he fell down the well and 500 years into the past, Inuyasha didn't believe in legends. His beliefs were challenged when he found himself in a world in which said legends are reality. Problem? He wants to leave that world behind, while it is unwilling to let him go. And so he begins a search for a substitute for a duty, aided by Kagome, his slef-proclaimed hanyo protector.

50. To Save a Friend

Here you go, chapter 50. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

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ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:

Amy: So, I write too much like I'm writing the script of an anime, is that what you mean? Because that's kinda what it sounded like to me. Or is it just that it's too detailed and thus moves forward too slowly? *ponders* I have to admit, I'm thankful for your honest opinion, but some pointer how to improve would be nice. I know, I'm quite demanding for an author, aren't I? *laughs* As for your comments on how I portray certain characters, again, thank you for your honest opinion and your input. Especially where Kagome's concerned, you made me realize that her behavior, while obvious to me as the author, can sometimes/often be misinterpreted by a reader who can't look into MY head to know what I'm thinking when I write. While the issues you pointed out with Kagome aren't addressed in this chapter, however, I assure you they will be in the chapter that follows… although I can't really promise that my explanation of her behavior will actually satisfy you LOL Who knows, maybe even you'll disagree with it. We'll have to wait and see. And while I'd love to write a detailed reply responding to your comments about every single character, I'll have to refrain. If you have an account, by any chance, I'd be more than happy to send you and 'essay-like response' via PM (because it would turn out REALLY long), but as things stand, I hope you'll forgive me for only responding to points I thought were most important. Still, I humbly thank you for your review, it really did me some good to get some criticism for a change :) Oh, and on another note, yes, I realize this fic is going to be extremely long, but so far, you needn't worry, I still have more than enough plans for it and more than enough moments I'm dying to write and considering I'm not planning on writing anything else until this is finished, I don't think you need to worry about me leaving things unfinished.

weeaboobsmarnie: 'Thanks for sharing' so makes it sound like this story is over LOL But anyway, to answer your questions: Kagome didn't wear a sarashi up until now because I was too lazy to check what women could possibly wear instead of a bra in Feudal Japan. I mean, I had an idea, but I didn't know it was called a sarashi, for instance. Now that I know, though, let's just say that Kagome wears it and lets pretend she had always worn it, alright? And as for my bio, it's stated there that I use music to inspire every type of scene or even entire one-shots, so you shouldn't use that as a reason to hope for certain types of scenes in this fic. Especially since it's rated T and I don't plan on upping the pairing, so even if there might be some… let's say more intimate scenes (I doubt it will be a blow out lemon) I doubt it will be anything too explicit. Like I said, T rated. Thanks for the reviews :3

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Tracks for this chapter:

The Last of the Mohicans: Fort Battle

Standard disclaimer and reader's key apply

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Chapter 50 – To Save a Friend

Inside Kaede's hut, four humans and two small demons were sleeping soundly, as was expected, considering it was the middle of the night. They were quite rudely awoken soon enough, however, as the mat that hung in the entrance was all but shoved aside and a young half-demon quite literally stormed in.

"Wake up! We've got an emergency!" Kagome said loudly – and to be honest, probably louder than was actually necessary – effectively waking everyone in the small hut up. The urgency in her tone, however, seemed lost on all of them due to the fact that they were still half-asleep. Only Kaede woke up fast despite her age, as she knew better than anyone else in the hut that the hanyō wouldn't have awoken them if the situation wasn't dire.

"Kagome, what the hell? It's the middle of the night," Inuyasha grumbled tiredly at her, obviously not having really registered what the silver haired girl had said. Opposite him, on the other side of the hut, the two slayers and Kirara wore similar, confused expressions, although unlike the kannushi, they were trying to actually wake up. Kagome growled at the black haired teen.

"If we wait 'till sunrise, all we'll find of Miroku-sama will be a corpse, so you're either getting up, or you're staying behind and I'll go alone," the hanyō-girl half-said, half-growled. Her words were mostly directed at the waking taijiya, but they had the desired effect on Inuyasha, as well.

"Like hell you are!" Inuyasha shot back, instantly awake and getting ready. Sango wasn't far behind, as she and her brother were already getting their gear together without asking any questions. "I'm going, too. I'm not staying behind!"

"Then go get the Jewel," Kagome replied without flinching at Inuyasha's outburst. She was only partially surprised when Inuyasha froze at the order and visibly hesitated. Sensing the question he was about to ask, Kagome grabbed him by the shoulder and all but pushed him out of the hut. "Get the Jewel," she repeated. "It can't stay unguarded in the village, so if you're going somewhere, you have to take it with you. If you don't, then you're staying here. No 'buts'," she added before the black haired teen could even think to protest. "And be quick about it, we have to hurry."

"And what exactly is going on?" Sango asked as Inuyasha ran off, the taijiya's boomerang already slung over her shoulder. She was obviously ready to go and, more importantly, ready to fight, which was a good thing. Beside her, Kohaku was also ready, although the boy was obviously still a bit uncertain as to whether he'd be of help or not.

"I don't know," Kagome replied earnestly. "All I've been told for now is that Miroku-sama is in danger and needs help. I didn't ask for any details, we can ask for those on the way."

"Fair enough," the elder of the two slayers replied with a nod of, probably, approval.

"I do know Naraku is involved, though. There's no way he isn't considering that Miroku-sama's friend was being pursued by his insects when I spotted him."

"Naraku, huh," Sango muttered under her breath, her expression immediately darkening at the mention of the spider. Kagome didn't blame her, considering what the demon had taken from her simply because he wanted the treasure from her village.

"And what if Inuyasha doesn't conquer his fear of the Jewel?" Kaede asked, her question only loud enough for Kagome to hear. There was no need to let the slayers know of this particular problem. Kagome's eyes narrowed.

"He will conquer it," she replied without an ounce of uncertainty. "But if tonight is too soon, then he'll have to stay behind…" she trailed off, knowing she didn't need to speak any further for Kaede to understand. If Inuyasha had to stay behind, then Kagome would, too. Though he was getting stronger and better at controlling his powers, Kagome still didn't trust Inuyasha's strength enough to leave him on his own, even in the village. Which meant that if he wouldn't be able to take the Jewel, as he hadn't been the last time Kaede had made him try, then he and Kagome would stay, while Sango, Kohaku and Kirara would go help Miroku (hopefully managing to save him and not getting killed along with him, though Kagome doubted the slayers would be easy to take down – not when they knew they were up against one of Naraku's schemes).

It quickly turned out, however, that Kaede's worries were for nothing. Five minutes after being all but shooed off by Kagome, Inuyasha was back with the Jewel hanging around his neck before the kannushi thought to hide it under his shirt. Nodding at their small group to ensure that everyone was ready, Kagome motioned to the tanuki hiding behind the priestess's hut to transform into his yellow, flying form and bring them where they were needed, since they would definitely arrive faster by flight than on foot.

They were about to take off, no longer than fifteen minutes after Hacchi's initial arrival, when Kohaku spoke up.

"What about the well?" the boy asked suddenly, his words causing both Kagome and Inuyasha to freeze, as neither had really thought about it (ironically enough). They weren't the ones to answer the inquiry, though.

"Worry not. I will put the strongest barrier I can around it. No yōkai will get close," Kaede assured, her bow and a quiver filled with arrows already slung over her shoulder. Kagome frowned at the old priestess.

"Wake someone up to go with you. I don't like the idea of you going into the forest alone at night," she said shortly and Kaede merely waved a hand at her.

"Ay, ay, now off ye go, ye are needed elsewhere."

"Right. Thanks, Kaede. Let's go, tanuki!"

The raccoon-dog-demon didn't need to be told twice and swiftly took into the air, for the first time showing that despite his size and weird form, he could fly quite fast if he needed to. Given the situation, however, it was all the better.

"How long until we reach where Miroku-sama is at?" Kagome asked their ride. The first response she got was something akin to a worried whine and it didn't exactly assure her.

"About a quarter of the night," Hacchi replied, causing Kagome to frown worriedly.

'That's long,' she thought with narrowed eyes. 'I can only hope it won't turn out to be too long.'

"And what's the exact situation?" Sango questioned before Kagome could, the slayer obviously being experienced enough in this kind of situation to remain calm – or at the very least not let it show how stressed she was. The same couldn't be said for her little brother, much less for Shippō, who had insisted on going as well and with whom Kagome didn't have the time to argue that he should not.

"Well… Miroku-danna can't use his Air Rip at the moment because it was wounded," the tanuki began, although he wasn't allowed to say much more than that, as Inuyasha interrupted him.

"The Air Rip was cut?!" he asked in nothing short of astonishment, although it was understandable. None of them, not even Kagome, had ever considered the possibility of the Kazaana receiving a wound.

"The priest that Miroku-danna sought out to get help from said that before he went strange. If the Air Rip is opened right now, it will widen through the wound and shorten Miroku-danna's life-span considerably," the demon explained and silence followed his words as everyone digested the information, each and every one of them consumed by worried thoughts. Kagome was first to push that information to the back of her head, however, deciding that there were more important things to worry about.

"Alright, but that doesn't tell us just why Miroku-sama needs our help so badly," the half-demon said. "Be more specific, tanuki. What do you mean by 'the priest went strange'? And just what is going on where you're taking us?"

"I mean just that, the priest went strange. One moment he was willing to help Miroku-danna, and the next he was drugging him and trying to kill him! And then there was this horde of yōkai at the temple ready to devour Miroku-danna!"

"A horde of yōkai, huh. Sounds like Naraku, alright, he rarely manages to get anyone else than low level scum to help him. That doesn't mean this'll be easy, though," Kagome muttered under her breath, though she felt a little relieved at the news that there probably weren't any real threats to deal with. Although then again, if Miroku was drugged and his Kazaana unusable at the moment, then a large number of lesser yōkai would probably be enough to get to him eventually.

"Miroku-danna said he'd be able to move once the medicine wore off, so he'd hold the demons back until then, but…"

"From what I hear, houshi-sama is hardly in any condition to be able to manage that," Sango continued when the tanuki trailed off.

"Which is all the more reason to hurry," Kagome agreed, her voice a low growl. Mute nods were all the response she received, as everyone agreed with the obvious. However, it soon became clear that hurrying would be difficult.

"Ane-ue, it's the Saimyōshō!" Kohaku suddenly called, mere seconds after the familiar buzzing reached Kagome's ears. All heads turned in the direction Kohaku was pointing at, their eyes easily finding the demonic wasps that already were a sure sign of Naraku's involvement.

"So they're called Saimyōshō, huh," Kagome muttered under her breath, although the comment went unheard by the others.

"It doesn't look like they're going to attack, though," Sango said, her voice full of suspicion. Kagome snorted in response.

"If they're not going to attack, then it means they're keeping a goddamned guard on us," the hanyō growled, liking the situation less and less – not that she liked it much to begin with.

"Keeping guard?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes looking from the wasps, to Kagome and back again. He couldn't help but be nervous when these things were around, as it was too easy to remember time they had him and Miroku surrounded at Naraku's castle.

"Yeah. From what I can tell, they're like Naraku's eyes and ears when he can't, or simply doesn't want to be somewhere in person because he's too much of a coward. He sees and hears what these wasps see and hear," the silver haired girl said before turning her head to glare at the insects. She wanted nothing more than to rip them to pieces with a well aimed Sankon Tessō, but something told her she wouldn't achieve anything that way, as only more wasps would come to take place of the ones she'd kill.

"Meaning it's highly probable Naraku knows we're on our way to help houshi-sama, while he wants to make use of the situation to kill him," Sango added with a frown, causing Inuyasha to sigh.

"And that in turn means we'll have to deal with delay tactics, doesn't it," he stated, rather than asked, his tone conveying clearly enough not only how much the idea displeased him, but also how much it worried him. Kagome only nodded stiffly.

"Probably," was all she whispered in response, as if wanting to make sure the wasps didn't overhear. There was no need to give Naraku any ideas, after all, even if the hanyō sincerely doubted the spider wasn't already planning some way to delay them, if not to get rid of them permanently, not that that would be happening.

"Miroku will be ok, though, won't he?" Shippō asked in a small voice, though he obviously tried to hide how worried and scared he was. Kagome's ears drooped.

'I wish I could tell him he would, but… I can't make that kind of assurance, can I,' the hanyō-girl sighed mentally, but didn't respond verbally in any way. Nor did anyone else. And that in turn only distressed the little kit even more.

"Won't he?" the young fox asked again, once again receiving no real answer. This time, however, it wasn't only because no one was ready to give uncertain assurances, but because their thoughts were forced to focus on something else.

"Waaaah!" Hacchi yelled when, apparently out of nowhere, a cloud of yōkai appeared in their path. Before anyone could react in any way, the tanuki dove to avoid certain collision, narrowly escaping the first demons. Several others, however, were far enough to see the raccoon dog diving and followed suit, effectively forcing him to fly in a twisted sort of slalom. This, in turn, not only considerably slowed him down, but also added the risk of one of the people riding him to fall off.

"Fly straight, tanuki! On the shortest way to the temple! Even if it means going straight through the demons!" Kagome called over the sudden chaos. The demon carrying them disagreed at first, but a reminder that they needed to hurry and avoiding the yōkai cost them precious time made him reconsider before he finally agreed and shot forward in a straight line once again. Kagome and Sango, the only two in the group who could effectively attack at a distance as Inuyasha still had to fully learn how to control the 'stream of reiki', were standing at the front and cleared the tanuki's way. In no time at all, they managed to get through the wall of demons. However, that only meant that they had a horde hot on their trail and, if there was another group waiting ahead (which there definitely was at the temple, if not even before that), they would eventually be caught in a pincer attack.

"This doesn't exactly look good," Sango said grimly as she caught Hiraikotsu after its last tour through a sea of yōkai flesh.

"But so far, it's acceptable. Let's just hope we can out-fly them and that there isn't more where that came from until the temple," Kagome replied before turning to Hacchi again. "How much further?"

"We're about half-way!" the tanuki replied, causing Kagome's eyes to widen. And she wasn't the only one. Behind her, Inuyasha cursed.

'Only half-way? Damn it, there's no way there isn't more where that came from then,' he thought as he looked back at the demons chasing them. And even he knew that another group like that from the front wouldn't result in anything pretty on the group's end. Even more frustratingly, in the current situation, he couldn't help no matter how much he wanted to, his control of his powers still wasn't sufficient.

Cursing again, the black haired teen gripped the sword at his side in a habit he hadn't even realized he'd acquired. He was glaring at his knees before directing his furious gaze at the demons following them again. His grip on the sheathed blade tightened. It was true, he couldn't really control his powers as of yet… but he could try, couldn't he? If it worked, it would get some of them off their tail and if it didn't, it might just stun them enough to slow down if only a little, allowing the tanuki to gain more distance between the group and the pursuing demons. Either way, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

Before Inuyasha could try, however, something else happened.

"Hold on tight, it's going to get rough!" Sango yelled suddenly, her voice bringing Inuyasha out of his musings. "Tanuki, go left!"

Obeying the command, Hacchi suddenly turned left, the change in direction being so sudden that everyone on his back would have been thrown off if they hadn't held on to his surprisingly easy to grasp on to skin. Unfortunately for the group, Inuyasha had been too deep in thought right before Sango yelled, and as such didn't have enough time to react. As a result, instead of kneeling on Hacchi's back as he had been, he suddenly found himself in a free fall.

"Inuyasha-sama!" Kohaku, being the one closest to the priest and thus the first to notice what happened, yelled as he threw himself forward in a failed attempt to catch the falling teen. Both Sango and Kagome turned to see what was amiss and both their eyes widened at what they saw. But while Kagome seemed to want to jump right off and follow the priest, Sango grabbed onto her arm to stop her and turned to her demonic cat friend.

"Kirara!" she called shortly, although she didn't really need to as the neko yōkai had already followed the priest, transforming into her adult form to speed up her own fall so she could catch up to him. In mere seconds, she caught up and even passed Inuyasha before coming to a sudden halt in mid air below him and catching him on her back. Then, she launched herself upward again to rejoin the others.

"Thanks, Kirara," Inuyasha said slowly to the demonic cat. The fall, and the resulting catch happened too fast for him to even have time to scream, but his heart was still beating wildly in his chest and he couldn't deny he was in somewhat of a shock. A fall from this height was definitely not something he could survive and he sure as hell didn't want to relive such an experience.

Surprisingly, Kirara didn't have much trouble in catching up to Hacchi again, as the surrounding demons were more concerned with the tanuki than the relatively small in comparison neko yōkai. As a result, when Hacchi once again dove to avoid another group of yōkai, Kirara merely had to fly up in order to be able to land on his back where she deposited Inuyasha before transforming back into her kitten form. The second Inuyasha hit Hacchi's back, Kagome was by his side and helping him up into a kneeling position.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her eyes searching his to make absolutely certain he wouldn't dare lie. Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah," he said softly before looking down in guilt. "I'm sorry."

"You've got nothing to apologize for. It could have happened to anyone. This isn't exactly a safe flight," Kagome replied and, as if to prove her right, Hacchi turned without warning once again, almost throwing Kagome off. She had let go of Inuyasha in the last second and latched onto the tanuki instead, just barely avoiding experiencing the same thing Inuyasha had not second earlier. "What did I tell you," she said simply as she pulled herself back as if she hadn't almost fallen off a flying demon at a height Inuyasha didn't even want to think about.

"That being said, we're in a bit of a pinch here. A little bit more and they'll surround us completely," the half-demon growled as she glanced at the surrounding demons. As they had expected, a second group, though smaller than the first one had awaited them a bit further, which was what had originally caused Hacchi to start slaloming once again. This time, however, instead of following the tanuki, the yōkai had spread out and attempted to surround him – and endeavor they were very close to succeeding in, as there weren't many ways Hacchi could go to avoid them anymore. In all honestly, the only ways there were was up and down, everywhere else were bigger or smaller groups of yōkai, just waiting for the tanuki to try and pass, or to stop in mid-air to think of what to do – in which case the yōkai would probably attack from all sides at once.

"If this keeps up, we won't get anywhere," Sango agreed through gritted teeth. "Which is exactly what Naraku wants, otherwise they would be attacking instead of just closing us in."

And that was exactly what the demons were doing. Having finally surrounded the group fully, the yōkai were moving almost as one in a circle around them, forming something akin to a small tornado, which effectively sealed the group in from nearly all sides. Going straight through wouldn't be possible, either, as they'd be swept in the demons' flow if they attempted it.

"But there's still a way out, isn't there? We can still go up," Inuyasha said. "Or down."

"The tanuki can, that's true. Question is, can we manage not to fall off if he flies in a vertical line," Kagome replied with a frown.

"If someone falls off, I'll catch them. We don't have much choice at this point!" Kirara hissed angrily and Kagome couldn't help but agree. Of course, that didn't mean she liked it, but there was really little else they could do.

"Sango, Kohaku, get over here and hang on to me!" Kagome called as she raised one hand and bent her fingers so that her claws would be at their most effective. Given the situation, both taijiya knew better than to ask questions and soon everyone was holding on to the half-demon, including Kirara and Shippō, since the hanyō had the most strength and thus the best chances of not falling off. "Tanuki, this is going to hurt," was all the warning Kagome gave before sinking her claws into Hacchi's flesh in order to get a more secure grip.

The reaction was instantaneous. Howling in pain, the tanuki shot upward at breakneck speed, causing Kagome to sink the claws if her other hand into his flesh as well in order to stay where she was. The others holding on to her wasn't helping matters any, although it made her even more determined not to let go.

Seeing the sudden movement, the yōkai screeched and gave chase, although their reaction came a few precious seconds too late. Hacchi somehow manage to get out of the encirclement through the exit above and then shot straight toward where the temple was, leaving the yōkai to chase after him again. He hadn't exactly slowed down, but since he wasn't going straight up anymore, Kagome withdrew her claws and everyone let go of her.

"Well, Naraku's probably happy, we've lost a lot of time thanks to that," Kagome growled under her breath. Hacchi had said that he'd need about the quarter of the night to get to the temple. But even though there were no visible signs of sunrise yet, Kagome could already smell the tell tale signs of approaching dawn. Meaning they've taken way longer than the tanuki had predicted. "How much further?" she asked anxiously, but fortunately the answer was one that could give hope this time.

"We're almost there! Look, we can already see the temple!"

Indeed, a middle-sized wooden building that could only be a Buddhist temple was already close enough even for the humans to see. Unfortunately, that sight wasn't there for long as another wave of yōkai appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Gritting her teeth, Kagome drew her sword. She was done dilly dallying.

"Go straight through them, tanuki! Don't you dare try to avoid them!" she yelled as she raised her sword.

"Er… Right!" Hacchi's answer was hesitant at best, but to his credit, he did as told and dove straight into the middle of the horde.

"Out of the way!" Kagome and Inuyasha called at the same time as both swung their blades to clear a path for Hacchi to fly through. When Inuyasha had stepped up beside her, Kagome didn't know, but she didn't care, either. In this particular moment, his help was, for the first time, greatly appreciated. Not that she would actually admit to it.

What she appreciated even more, however, was the giant boomerang that flew in front and cleared a path better than her or Inuyasha's sword could (at least, so long as Kagome didn't use the Wound of the Wind, which she couldn't use in this particular moment – after all, flying straight into and being cut up by her own attack wasn't exactly something she wanted to try). Glancing to her side where Hirakotsu had come from, Kagome saw Sango on Kirara just as the slayer caught her returning weapon.

"Kagome! Leave the small fry to me! They're many, but weak! I'm more than enough to take care of them now that we are where we need to be!" the female taijiya called as she threw her boomerang again. Kagome wasn't about to object, especially since she knew that Sango was more than able to take care of herself. Plus, she had Kirara with her. She'd be fine.

"Got it! I'm leaving this to you, Sango! Tanuki! Dive! Go straight toward the temple!"

Hacchi didn't even reply this time, instead he simply dove. In a mere second, the temple came back into view, although Inuyasha and Kohaku could only see the structure itself without much detail. Only Hacchi's, Kagome's and Shippō's eyes were good enough to see not only the temple itself, but also its grounds – and more importantly where on the grounds the yōkai seemed to gather. Which was why only Hacchi and Shippō weren't surprised when suddenly Kagome leapt forward toward the ground, Tessaiga already at the ready.

The yōkai didn't even see her coming as she fell right into their midst and spun around, effectively killing all those surrounding her with either her blade or her claws. Landing lightly in a crouch, she then swiftly stood up and swung her blade once more before any of the surrounding low lives could even comprehend what was going on. A second later, they were all gone, obliterated by a well aimed Wound of the Wind. Satisfied that she had defeated the threat, or at least the part of it that was the closest to killing a friend of hers, Kagome turned around and glanced down the hole in the ground in front of which she had landed a second ago. At its center, and de facto deepest point, sat Miroku.

The monk seemed barely conscious for the most part, except his wide eyes. It was pretty obvious Kagome's sudden arrival had stunned him and the hanyō couldn't help but scoff as she shouldered her blade.

"Just a little piece of advice, Miroku-sama: next time, if you're planning to head off because the cursed black hole in your hand, which is also your mightiest weapon at the moment, needs to be tended to, keep in mind that the fiend who placed the hole there and who wants you dead is watching your every move, so going by yourself really isn't a good idea," she said as she glanced up, just in time to see Hacchi approach and transform into his real form with a soft 'poof!', which caused Inuyasha and Kohaku to fall the rest of the way to the ground and land on their feet near the edge of the hole much like Kagome had done before them. Shippō, on the other hand, landed on his butt, only to roll like a ball to the center of the hole, where he immediately jumped up to cuddle into Miroku's chest.

"You dope! Why did you keep it to yourself and disappear?" the kit accused, his words sounding much harsher and reprimanding than his actions did.

"Seriously, I would have thought you'd know better than that! Heck, I would have known better than that, and you're supposed to be the wiser one who knows better how to survive in this time period," Inuyasha grumbled, although his words were nowhere near quiet enough to not be heard.

"We were worried about you, houshi-sama," Kohaku said softly, as if unsure if he should really reprimand the monk, however mildly.

"We made it in time, then? Houshi-sama is alright, right?" came Sango's voice from above as Kirara lowered her flight a bit so that Sango could hear the answer before the two of them would go to exterminate the few low level yōkai that still remained above. And through all this, Miroku still didn't utter a word and stared at them in wonder before he let his eyes fall to his lap, looking almost ashamed for some reason.

"Yeah, we made it, somehow. Miroku-sama is fine. Though I don't think…" Kagome cut off abruptly and turned when she noticed someone in the very corner of her eye despite not having smelt or heard him approach. The others turned to see what caught her attention, too.

It turned out to be an old monk, probably the one who Miroku had believed would help him with his kazaana. The only problem was, this monk was surrounded by yōkai, which would only mean he was anything but a trustworthy spiritualist. Kagome narrowed her eyes, but didn't remove Tessaiga from her blade.

'So this is the high priest of this temple, huh? The one who 'went strange', I suppose,' Kagome thought as she regarded the old monk wearily. He didn't look like much, not only because of his apparent age but also because of his rather round built and the smell of alcohol which the half-demon could only wonder how she could have possibly missed it. From just looking at him, Kagome would have suspected him to be a drunk who loved to eat. The hanyō knew better than to let appearances fool her, though.

"You lot… You have brought trouble to my temple. For that, I'll punish you," the monk said in a low, warning tone and Kagome snorted in response. So far, she couldn't tell whether the monk was 'strange' or not, he behaved like any other spiritualist would as far as she was concerned.

"I'd like to see you try," she growled, sparing only a fleeting glance at her other companions. "Leave this guy to me, I'll make it quick," she said before turning her attention back to the monk. However, one of the people with her wasn't as agreeable to that arrangement as it would have seemed, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't Inuyasha for once (probably because he didn't exactly look forward to fighting an old man).

"Wait… Kagome-sama… Please, don't hurt that person," Miroku asked weakly from behind her. The old monk in front of her laughed at the soft plea.

"Oh yes, don't hurt me. After all, I happen to be the one who raised Miroku," the high priest said. Kagome glared in response, her eyes conveying all of the cold fury that suddenly rose within her. The emotion wasn't so much directed at the monk in front of her, however, as the monk behind her. Really, who did Miroku take her for? He should know by now that she wouldn't kill humans, right?

Then again, he asked her not to hurt the high priest, instead of not to kill him. There was a difference there, at least. And besides, his tone didn't sound as if he actually believed she'd do real harm to the priest.

That's when it hit hear. Miroku wasn't saying that because he thought he needed to say it. He did it for pretenses sake. And she could actually use that to her advantage, which was probably what the houshi was going for, anyway.

'There's a lot I can say about Miroku-sama, but him being a fool is not one of those things,' the hanyō acknowledged, although not for the first time. With a scowl set on her features to seem frustrated even though she was not, Kagome slowly sheathed her sword and glared at the high priest.

"Fine, I'll hold back," she growled, pretending not to like the idea as she lunged.

"Much obliged!" the old monk called as he threw the beads that were up until now wrapped around his torso her way. They were bigger than Kagome had ever seen them, but she still knew subjugation beads when faced with them, so she knew better than coming into any sort of contact with them. Instead, she waited until the very last moment before twisting to the side to avoid them, then gracefully jumping over them and landing mere steps away from the monk. Grinning a feral grin, she advanced on him with her claws bared and ready to cut into his flesh – or so it would seem to anyone watching. The old monk, however, wasn't fazed at all and merely opened his arms, as if inviting her to strike. Kagome hesitated and the monk laughed.

"Well, little hanyō, go right ahead, kill me!" he taunted, while the demons surrounding him suddenly attacked. They weren't anywhere near strong enough to be of any consequence and a few swipes of claws later, Kagome's way to the priest was free. She still didn't attack, though, even if she did flex her claws.

"Careful, I might just take you up on the offer," she warned, now not having to pretend to be angry. Not after what that priest had called her.

"Kagome, what are you saying?"

"Shut it, Inuyasha, stay out of it. Besides, he obviously wants to be killed," she said, flexing her claws again and bending her knees in preparation to strike.

"Then go right ahead! But keep in mind: if you kill Mushin, you'll lose the one who can treat Miroku's Air Rip," he said, just as Kagome lunged, her claws ready.

"Kagome-sama!" Kohaku called in disbelief, but even if he had tried to move, he would have been too late to stop her. The monk didn't even attempt to defend himself at first, either, though he smiled cruelly when he saw the claws swiftly approaching him.

However, it were not Kagome's claws but her fist that met the monk's cheek, effectively stunning him and throwing him off balance. The young half-demon growled.

"As if I'd ever stain my claws with human blood willingly, no matter what kind of human," she growled as she held him down by crossing his arms behind his back and putting her knee on his lower back to make sure he wouldn't stand up. The most he could do from that position was purify her, but that was a risk she was willing to take. Given how limp he was in her grasp, however, she assumed he wasn't faking being knocked out cold.

At that moment, the old monk's mouth opened slightly and something slid out of it before slipping right back in, as if wanting to leave and then deciding against it. Kagome frowned and scented the air, but Mushin didn't smell any different than she supposed he usually would. But even though her nose picked up nothing out of the ordinary, she knew her eyes weren't fooling her.

'What in the world is that?' she wondered, her frown deepening. She had faced many demons in her life and had seen thousands upon thousands of different abilities yōkai could have. But this was something she had never seen before.

"Kagome!"

She turned her head at Inuyasha's call, her eyes catching the approaching priest. Kohaku was following closely behind him, supporting a wounded and weakened Miroku. That's when it occurred to her: Kohaku was a demon slayer. If there was anyone currently with them who could possibly know what the thing she had just seen was, it would be either him or his sister.

"Don't worry, he's fine. I just knocked him out," she said off-handedly to the future-born teen as she waved a hand at Kohaku to beckon him closer. "Kohaku-kun, take a look at this."

Intrigued, the young taijiya gently lowered Miroku onto the grass and approached Kagome and the knocked out priest before kneeling at her side, his gaze questioning. Knowing she had his attention, Kagome put just a little bit more pressure on Mushin's back, effectively forcing the air out of his lungs. And whatever was inside of him along with it, although just like last time, the thing slithered out for the briefest moments before disappearing back into the monk's mouth. Her demonstration finished, Kagome turned her gaze to the young slayer.

"Do you know what that is?" she asked him urgently. She might not know what this thing was, but she didn't need to know that to realize that, so long as they didn't do anything about it, they weren't out of the woods yet. Kohaku frowned and closed his eyes in obvious concentration as he whacked his brain for the information he needed. It didn't take him long though and soon enough, his eyes opened again and he snapped his fingers.

"I remember now. That's Kokochu. A demon capable of mind control. The high priest must have been possessed by it," the young boy said quickly, his eyes moving between Mushin's prone body, Kagome and the immediate surroundings. "Kokochu can't do anything of their own will, though. They obey the orders of whoever handles the hive."

"Meaning, if we find the hive handler and defeat him, we can save the priest?" It sure sounded like it, but Kagome wanted to be sure. Kohaku nodded.

"We don't even need to kill him, though it'll probably come to that if it's another yōkai. If we can just get the Tsubo-pot from whoever has it and point it at Mushin-sama, the Kokochu will leave his body and return to the Tsubo-pot."

Well, it sounded easy enough. Almost too easy. Except they had no idea where the one with the Tsubo-pot was, and Kagome couldn't even sniff him out if she didn't know what kind of scent to look for. However, Kohaku assured her quickly, in order to give the Kokochu orders while they controlled the priest, the user of the Tsubo-pot couldn't possibly be far.

"Alright. Inuyasha, do you have a rope by any chance?" Kagome asked next, her wary glance still focused on the unmoving priest below her. He still seemed to be out cold, but she hadn't actually hit him that hard, so it was possible he'd be waking up soon. And in that case, it would be better if he was tied up at least until they could get the Kokochu out of his body.

"Here you go," Inuyasha said as he handed her what she asked for. After their latest adventures and after regretting at least twice not having a rope with him, Inuyasha had made it a point to add it to the 'essentials to bring from home' list. Mere minutes later, Kagome stood up after tying Mushin up, hopefully with strong enough knots that he wouldn't break free, but not so strong that they would cut off his circulation.

"We got rid of the lot above. Why are you tying up that priest?" Sango asked as Kirara landed by the rest of the group and she dismounted. She shot an asking glance at Kagome and the hanyō shrugged.

"Kokochu," she said simply. "We need to find the one with the hive."

"He can't be far. He has to control the Kokochu, so he must be nearby. I think the temple is our best guess," Sango said, her tone immediately businesslike. Kagome narrowed her eyes and glanced at the building. It wasn't too big, so searching it and finding the Tsubo-pot user shouldn't be much of a problem. Especially if she could just march in there and try to scent him out. He was most likely a demon, after all.

Before the hanyō could offer that solution, however, a mighty roar shook the ground and the seven friends (plus Hacchi) all turned their heads in the direction it came from, just in time to see what caused it. And it was truly a sight to behold, for it was a demon the size of which none of them had ever seen. Even Kagome had only gotten a glimpse of a demon that size once, in her father's remains' belly, when Sesshōmaru transformed into his true form. Although the again… Sesshōmaru's true form was actually smaller than this thing.

"What in the world is that?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask, his eyes wide and his body trembling, although it was only partially in fear. Most of his trembling was a reaction he couldn't control, a reaction to the massive amounts of youki that suddenly hit his senses. Never before had he felt youki this strong (though he probably could have if he had been sensitive to youki when he met Sesshōmaru), and the sheer power of the beast was truly intimidating.

Still, there was something weird about it, and although Inuyasha tried his best to figure out what it was, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"A c-c-cow? N-no… A b-bull! It's a bull!" Shippō whispered from behind Inuyasha, where he was sitting by Miroku's side, the monk as stunned at seeing the gigantic demon coming slowly closer and closer as everyone else. Kagome growled.

"Doesn't matter what it is, it's here for our heads, so we have to fight it," she said, her hand already reaching for Tessaiga. She and Sango were by far the calmest of the group. Beside Kagome, Inuyasha tensed, but realized she was right and rested his hand on the hilt of his own weapon. He wouldn't be useless this time, nor would he be protected. This time, he would fight alongside the half-demon, no matter what she said.

"Kagome-sama… you… cannot be serious," Miroku said weakly from where he was kneeling in the grass, partially hidden from the bull's view by the wall his friends had created with their bodies in front of him. "If you just leave this place, you can…"

"Miroku, you bastard, don't even finish that sentence," Inuyasha interrupted him in a low tone, much to everyone's surprise. But no one objected. Rather, they agreed, even the terrified Shippō who obviously wouldn't be doing any fighting.

"As if we would abandon you now, Miroku-sama. I would have thought you'd know us better than that by now."

"We came this far, a little more fighting won't make us turn back. Besides, this is what I did for a living not that long ago. I see no reason to run."

"Ane-ue is right. We are taijiya. We slay demons that threaten others. We won't run from them. I won't run from them. I did enough of that already," there was something in Kohaku's voice as he said it that made Kagome glance at him briefly. There was something different about the boy. Something was changing. And it was obviously for the better. She smiled. He was almost over what had happened at Naraku's castle, and it had been much sooner than she had expected it to, which was a good thing. But still, there was one problem: the bull wasn't the only enemy. There was also the Tsubo-pot user.

"Still, how did something that big come here without us noticing?" Sango couldn't help but wonder as she reached for Hiraikotsu, her posture already that of a warrior ready for battle.

"As I said, it doesn't matter. It's here now. And we have to kill it before it kills us," Kagome said, her nose twitching as she scented the air. Much like Inuyasha did with the creature's youki, she picked up something weird with the yōkai's scent. But for the life of her, she couldn't exactly say what it was that put her on edge about it. All she could say was that, for some reason, the yōkai didn't smell like a bull despite obviously being one. What his scent reminded her of, however, Kagome couldn't tell.

"But how are we supposed to do that? Do you have a plan, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked while reaching for his chain sickle. The hanyō nodded.

"More or less, but I don't know if you'll like it."

"If you tell us, we'll tell you if we agree. But speed it up. This thing might be slow because of its size, but it's definitely coming closer." And Sango was definitely starting to lose her temper. The young half-demon sighed.

"We have to split up."

When stunned silence, interrupted only by the shaking of the ground as the bull approached, was her answer, Kagome turned to glare at her companions who were staring at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"Don't look at me like that, it's the only way. Don't forget that the bull isn't the only problem. There's still this, too," she said, pointing briefly at the still knocked out Mushin and the Kokochu that kept slipping in and out of his mouth. "We don't know when he'll wake up, but I didn't exactly hit him so hard as to knock him out for hours. It probably won't be long now. And if he wakes up while still controlled, then tied up or not, he'll probably cause more trouble. We have to avoid that. Which is why we have to split up.

"Sango, you and Kohaku are best at tracking demons next to me, but unlike me, you actually know what to look for. So you two have to find the Tsubo-pot user, first," she continued, turning to look at the taijiya. Sango frowned, took one look at the bull, then at Miroku and Mushin. Her eyes softened for a second before hardening with determination and the demon slayer nodded briskly.

"Leave it to us." She didn't need to say anything more and soon, both her and her brother disappeared inside the temple.

"Good. In the meantime, Kirara, you and I will take care of that thing," Kagome said, pointing at the gigantic bull. Kirara, already in her adult form once again, roared her agreement and motioned for Kagome to get on her back. But before the hanyō could, a certain kannushi stopped her with but four words.

"I'm coming with you."

There was no way he was letting her go alone. Nor was there any way he was sitting back and watching her fight while he did nothing, as she seemed to want him to do. Unfortunately for him, Kagome wasn't about to agree.

"No, Inuyasha. You're staying right here by Miroku-sama's side."

"I'm not letting you go off on your own!"

"I won't be alone. Kirara will be with me. Besides, I can take care of myself. Miroku-sama is wounded and can't fight. See reason, Inuyasha, and remember why we came here in the first place."

"But…"

"I'll be fine. And I'm not asking you to sit around and fumble your thumbs, either. There's something wrong with that bull, something odd. I don't know what it is, but I know there's something. Which is why we can't all focus on the offensive. Someone has to stay and protect Miroku-sama. And I'm entrusting you with that job," she turned to glance gently at the priest as she said it, her ears twitching when Kirara urged her to hurry up. The bull was getting closer and she was running out of time. She had to go now. So she didn't wait for Inuyasha's reply and instead jumped on Kirara's back where she crouched as the cat-demon took off into the sky. The half-demon didn't look back as they flew, but she prayed that Inuyasha had listened to her and stayed by Miroku's side.

[T]

Keeping her balance on Kirara's back turned out to be easier than Kagome thought it would be as the cat approached the bull fearlessly, but the hanyō wasn't going to complain. In but a minute, they were already close enough to attempt to get its attention and thus stopping it from advancing towards the temple, and Kagome wasted no time doing just that. Leaving the supervision of their surroundings and the reaction to most incoming attacks to Kirara, the young half-demon focused solely on attacking, her claws cutting the air repeatedly as wave after wave of golden energy blades flew and struck its target. However, the bull hardly seemed to care and only flicked its tail at them when they got within its range, as if he was attempting to get rid of a pesky fly. Kagome growled under her breath.

"Kirara, get me close to its head. If it doesn't want to acknowledge us, we'll make it," she ordered the neko, and Kirara obeyed without a word of complaint. Kagome sent a few more attacks against the bull on the way, but as before, her efforts were completely ignored by the gigantic beast. However, the repeated Sankon Tessō weren't completely useless as Kagome noticed something peculiar.

From afar, it might have looked as if the youki blades had no effect on the bull's thick hide. However, the wind brought the scent of blood to Kagome's nose. So her attacks had an effect. And yet, she saw none.

Eyes narrowing, the silver haired girl unsheathed her blade and focused for a second to find the correct place where she needed to cut. It didn't take long and soon enough, a perfectly executed Wound of the Wind hit the bull on his back, the energy racing from one of its shoulders to another. And this time, the gigantic demon seemed to realize there was a 'pesky fly' attacking it and actually dealing damage. With a roar that rivaled the combined yells of thousands of demons, the bull jerked its mighty head, one of its horns just barely missing the neko and the hanyō. Their enemy was big, and thus a hit from it could easily prove lethal to both of them. But at the same time, its size was its disadvantage, as it wasn't mobile enough to hit the nimble Kirara.

Still, there was something very wrong here, and Kagome knew it. The Kaze no Kizu had connected and it had dealt damage, she knew that. And yet as she glanced at where the light had torn into the bull's skin, she saw no wound. She could smell the blood, but there was no injury. Her eyes narrowed. Something was very wrong here.

Eyes narrowing, Kagome swung her blade again and another Kaze no Kizu raced towards her opponent, this time hitting one of its legs. For a second, it looked as if the attack had severed the limb from the rest of the body, but a couple of seconds later, there were no signs of any injury. Except the fact that the gigantic yōkai was definitely getting angry. Before Kagome had the time to curse the demon's seemingly uncanny regenerative abilities, the very leg she had almost cut off rose up to meet them and Kirara abruptly flew to the left to avoid, her maneuver accelerated by Kagome as the half-demon propelled herself off her neko-friend in the opposite direction, barely missing being hit herself.

Flipping around in mid air, Kagome let gravity take hold of her and dove for the trees of the small forest that surrounded the temple. Most of the poor plants had their tops broken off by the bull's belly, but the middle and lower branches were unscathed, providing a perfect landing place for her. She didn't stay there long, though, and immediately jumped back upwards. She was aiming for the underbelly of the beast now, and intended to cut cleanly into it. However, as she prepared to strike out at the flesh, it parted as soon as she got close. Unable to stop her ascent, the hanyō landed inside the bull's belly… or more specifically inside a horde of lower level yōkai that immediately surrounded her from all sides, making turning back impossible.

"We got her!"

"Now, kill her!"

"Eat her!"

"Don't let her escape again!"

"Rip her apart!"

Kagome barely had time to wrap her arms around herself to protect her neck and head, the only crucial parts of her body that wasn't protected by her fire rat haori very well, before all the demons surrounding her attacked at once from all directions and bit into her with the intention of ripping her to pieces and eating her, just as they said. The half-demon cursed her own inanity. This wasn't one gigantic demon she was fighting. It were actually hundreds, if not thousands of lesser yōkai who have all banded together and were moving as one to look as though they were one gigantic beast. It wasn't one, tough enemy, it was a shoal of them. And she had fallen for it!

'Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one? I might be strong, but even I can't fight when surrounded so completely. Damn it!' she cursed as her mind reeled in search of a way out. She had to hurry. There was only so much the fire rat fur could protect her from. Under the continuous assault, it would eventually give and if she didn't do anything until then, that'd be the end of her.

Well, with how surrounded she was, there was one thing she could do. And with so many enemies around, the possibility of her hurting herself in the process was relatively small. But it was still there and if any of her attack connected with her own flesh, it would be enough to seriously lower her fighting ability. She couldn't allow that. Strong as they were, Sango and Kohaku wouldn't be able to handle such a horde all by themselves, even with Kirara's help. And Inuyasha still wasn't finished with his training, so to hope for him to use his blade in the most efficient manner was a fool's hope. So she had to get out of here and do it without causing anything to happen that could potentially weaken her. But then, what could she do? The fur of the fire rat was not enough to protect her from her own energy blades, she knew that from experience. If there were two layers then maybe, but one just wasn't enough.

As if in response to her thoughts, something moved beneath the fur of the fire rat. It coiled around her torso and arms before extending, first from the wrists to the tips of her fingers and from her collarbone up her neck, then from the waist down to cover her legs and feet. Glancing at her hands, Kagome saw not the usual skin, but the brown-black hair of a wolf-pelt covering them. She blinked as the memory of finding said pelt hit her briefly and she smiled. She usually kept telling Kōga that she didn't need his protection, but she guessed this one time, she could let it slide. Now she had two layers of protective clothing, and while wolf-fur wasn't as good as the fire rat, it was better than nothing. With the extra protection, she could chance it, and so she let her youki build up within her entire body, intend on releasing it without any semblance of control from every possible pore – so long as it didn't carry the risk of her getting hurt in the process, of course.

"Get," she growled in warning as the energy levels within her rose until she could feel the power tingling on her skin. "Your filthy claws and teeth," she continued as she let the energy flow and rise even more until it hurt to contain it. "OFF OF ME!" arching her back, she released her pent up youki all at once, the energy exploding outward in a great wave of brilliant gold. The nearest yōkai shrieked in short-lived agony as they were sliced to ribbons, the demons further away panicking and hindering each other as they attempted to escape, though with little result.

Kneeling by Miroku's side where Kagome had left him, Inuyasha's head suddenly snapped up in the direction of the bull. Even beneath the gigantic demon's massive energy, the young priest could easily pick out Kagome's youki, especially now that it spiked so suddenly. His eyes widened when he saw the reason for her spiking energy, or at least what he suspected was the reason if the roar of pain that accompanied the sight was anything to go by – although if Inuyasha had glanced in the direction of the great bull's head, he might have wondered how the creature could roar in agony when it mouth was closed.

The reason for the roar, it would seem, was located on the right side of the beast's belly, close to where Inuyasha suspected its ribs should be. And right there, in the middle of the flesh, he saw a bright, golden glow. It reminded him of how he usually saw the Jewel in a demon's body after it had been swallowed, the only difference being its color. The light the Jewel gave off was usually white. The light he was seeing now was clear gold.

The hand he held on Seyryuu's hilt trembled. What he was seeing was not the Wound of the Wind, of that he was certain. But if that wasn't it, how much energy was Kagome releasing for him to not only feel but even see it so clearly? It had to be a lot. And if she released attacks with his much power behind them, it probably meant she had to, for reasons that would probably best remain unknown, even if he desperately wanted to know.

A part of him was yelling that he should have gone with her. Maybe he would have been of some help to her. He wasn't useless anymore, he could fight! Maybe not as well as Sango or Kagome, but he could fight, damn it! Why was he always being left behind to watch from the side lines?

But another part of him, the part that usually lost his internal battles, was telling him that it was good he had stayed behind. Kagome hadn't left him behind to sit back and do nothing, she had left him behind so that someone capable of fighting would be by Miroku's side if things went bad. Though he wasn't the best fighter of the group, Kagome had still entrusted him with the important role of being the last line of defense if something unexpected happened. And it was good she had, because the bull wasn't stopping. It seemed the hanyō's best efforts hardly fazed it, to be honest. A few more ground shaking steps and the demon would reach the clearing that marked the border between the forest and the temple grounds. One step more after that and its front hooves would crush the temple itself.

"Gotta keep it together. Gotta keep it together," Shippō chanted beside him, his voice trembling even more than his body did. The kit was obviously terrified, and with good reason, but to his credit, he wasn't running yet.

The bull took a step closer and Shippō barely held back a terrified scream, which came out as a high-pitched 'hhiiiiiii!' instead. Inuyasha clenched his fists and stood, then took two steps towards the massive demon in order to stand between it and his friends. Hand resting on Seyryuu and ready to draw any second, Inuyasha addressed the kit as calmly as he could, despite being slightly scared himself. He could hardly hold this thing at bay by himself. But hopefully, he could hold it back long enough for Kagome to come to his aid.

"Shippō, you and Hacchi grab Miroku. Try to find some cover and hide. I'll keep this thing occupied," he said, his voice sounding much more confident than he felt as the beast drew closer still. Behind him, Shippō's eyes grew huge with both fear and disbelief.

"What are you saying, Inuyasha?! How in the world do you think you can fight this thing if Kagome can't even get it to slow down? You'll die!" the kit yelled as tears sprang to his eyes, his voice betraying them even before they fell. Inuyasha drew his blade and scowled, although Shippō couldn't see it, since the priest's back was turned to him.

"I won't!" he yelled back, both to assure himself and the kit. "Like hell I'll let that thing kill me! No chance, Shippō. I don't plan on dying here. And I don't plan on letting any of my friends die, either! Besides, who said anything about fighting alone?! As if Kagome would allow that. I won't fight by myself, we'll fight together. So do as I say and take Miroku somewhere where you can both hide! It's the stupid monk this thing is probably after, anyway."

"Inuyasha…" Miroku muttered, having heard the priest's words despite being only half conscious because of the drugs still coursing through his system. Hacchi didn't need to be told twice to flee, though, and quickly set to trying to get Miroku to stand so that he could lead him away. Shippō hesitated only a second longer before following suit, but not without warning Inuyasha to 'better keep the promise he'd just given'. The priest nodded briefly in response, his eyes still locked on the slowly approaching yōkai, although his attention was soon called elsewhere as a dry laugh came to his ears from his left. Turning, he saw the bound Mushin, whom he had completely forgotten about, and who had finally woken up after Kagome had knocked him out cold. And as it turned out, it was a good thing he had been tied up because the Kokochu had still to be taken care of.

"Fool," the old, possessed priest said with a chuckle. "Resistance is futile. You might as well give up. Everybody at this temple will die soon, anyway. Even you and Miroku. Even the half-demon."

"Shut up! What do you know? Like Kagome would be beaten by something like this! She won't die!"

"Oh yes, she will. If she's not already dead," the old priest laughed despite being unable to move and Inuyasha shuddered, his eyes immediately moving to the spot he had sensed Kagome at, where the golden glow was the strongest. Kagome wouldn't die. She wasn't dead and she wasn't going to be. There was no way. She wouldn't die… right?

As if to mock him, the golden light faded as if it had never been there, and Kagome's youki escaped his senses along with it.

At the center of where the golden light had originated from, Kagome hovered for a second in mid air as the last of the energy blades around her dissipated into nothing. She had been lucky. Surrounded by enemies as she had been, the attack had cut through them and she somehow escaped harm herself. That, however, left her surrounded by nothing but air as the demons surrounding her, or at least a very large number of them, had been completely annihilated. Those that remained immediately moved in from the sides and from above, attempting to surround the hanyō again and recreate the part of the fake bull's body that the hanyō had destroyed. Unfortunately for them, gravity took hold of the half-demon girl first and she fell before they could surround her.

It took her a second to get her bearings. Her attack might not have hurt her physically, but releasing so much energy had still taken its toll on her and left her dizzy for a moment. The cold air of the outside world helped to clear her mind, though as it hit her in the face as soon as she fell out of the shoal. Eyes snapping open, the hanyō once again flipped over in mid air to land on her feet on one of the branches, but landed on another demon, instead. Sighing, she gripped its yellow fur to steady herself, just in case. She was no longer dizzy, but she would still need two more seconds to regain some of her strength.

[/T]

"Thanks, Kirara," she said to the cat before looking up at the mass of yōkai looming before her – a mass that ignored her completely despite the fact that she had just single handedly wiped out a good number of their forces, and was instead headed straight for the temple. She cursed.

"It would seem this will be harder than we thought," the young neko said, her ruby eyes also focused on the bull. The fact that she didn't acknowledged Kagome's thanks, the hanyō knew, meant two things: one, the thanks was not needed because Kirara had only done the obvious and two, Kagome was a fool to do what she had. It mattered little that there was little else, if anything at all that she could have done. In Kirara's eyes, it was still stupid if it endangered Kagome's life. And that move had. The half-demon decided to argue the point later, though. Instead, she merely nodded at Kirara's observation before cursing when she saw just how close to the temple the shoal had gotten. There was no doubt in her mind that once the demon's got close enough, they'd drop the disguise of being a giant. This was merely meant to intimidate their foes and to take them by surprise when they suddenly revealed what they really were and charged with speed no one in their right mind would expect. And while the low level yōkai this horde was made of was nothing Kagome and Inuyasha couldn't handle, their numbers, coupled with the element of surprise if she didn't warn Inuyasha about the true nature of the enemy, just might turn the scales in the yōkai's favor.

"Kirara, hurry back! We have to warn Inuyasha," Kagome ordered urgently and the cat-demon complied and sped up with a roar. If they had been over a flat land, Kagome would have jumped down and ran herself, as she was just slightly faster than the younger cat demon. However, they were flying over a forest and in this case, she would have had to jump from tree to tree while having to adjust the way she went to not run into any trees that might stand in her direct path. Which was why she remained where she was. In this particular situation, Kirara would be faster, as she'd be able to fly in a straight line where they needed to go.

The neko yōkai was fast, not that Kagome expected anything else from her. But still, she hadn't been fast enough.

"I guess he doesn't need a warning anymore. What Inuyasha needs is help," Kirara growled apologetically, though she didn't speed up. She simply couldn't, she was already going as fast as she could. Kagome glanced towards the fake bull's head and cursed loudly. There was no head. It had already changed into a column of demons which coiled like a snake in the air and then flew straight towards the temple. A second wave followed on the ground, born from the 'legs' of the shoal.

"Shit!" was the only word the half-demon allowed to pass her lips before she was off, heading right into the middle of the demons that ran on land, while Kirara took off to take out as much as she could from the demons in the air. It was really the only thing they could have done, since only one of them could fly. And there were two groups, anyway, so they had to take care of both of them – lower the numbers that would actually reach the temple, if nothing else.

As for Inuyasha, Kagome had been right, the surprise of seeing without any previous warning the true form of the 'bull' left him frozen for all of a second. And that second would have cost him his life if he hadn't been lucky, although 'lucky' depended on the way one looked at the situation, really. Said luck consisted of the fact that the demons bound to the ground never reached him, being killed by a Kaze no Kizu that struck them from behind before they even got close and those that were following being stopped by a furious half-demon, and the fact that from the flying group of demons, only few bothered to rush at him. Most headed towards the fleeing Shippō and Hacchi, who were slowed down by the actual target of the demons: the still almost-comatose monk. Or at least, looking at the way he moved, he seemed almost-comatose. What Inuyasha didn't know was that Miroku's body was numbed by the drugs, but not as much as it would have been without the adrenaline coursing through him, which was more than enough to keep his mind awake.

One problem still remained, however, and that problem were the few demons that actually went for Inuyasha. While they were neither strong nor numerous enough to actually endanger his life and he was able to easily cut through them and kill them with his sword or his reiki (or both), there was enough of them to stop him from going after Miroku, Shippō and Hacchi for a few seconds. And those seconds were more than enough for the larger group of demon's to close in on them.

"Your hanyō friend can't possibly have enough strength left to fight that many. And even if she has, she'll never make it in time," Mushin said with a sadistic smirk that looked very out of place on his elderly face, even if Inuyasha hardly knew him. The high priest himself didn't seem overly concerned over the fact that he might die as well, but that was probably because the Kokochu controlling his body wouldn't die if the body they were possessing did. Which meant that even if he wanted to go to help his friends, Inuyasha's hands were tied, for he couldn't leave Mushin to be killed. Firstly, because he was Miroku's family, or something close to that, anyway, and secondly because he was the only one who could treat the Air Rip wound. And the old monk obviously knew it because he laughed sadistically. "It is as I said, you will all die here. Starting with the monk and the two useless yōkai who flee rather than fight."

And all things considered, it looked as if the monk was right. Knowing that made Inuyasha swear as he cut down demon after demon. Most weren't coming after him, most were headed for Miroku, but the kannushi still couldn't ignore those that would tear into his flesh if he turned his back on them to go and help the friends Kagome had trusted him to protect. He swore again.

However, it weren't the terrified screams of his friends dying that reached the kannushi's ears next. What he heard, however, wasn't much better.

"STOP IT, MIROKU!" Shippō's voice reached Inuyasha's ears and, although his back was turned and he couldn't see what the kit was yelling at Miroku to stop doing, he still felt cold dread in his stomach.

"If you open the Air Rip now, your life will…"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Miroku's voice interrupted the Tanuki's words and Inuyasha didn't need to hear more to understand the situation. Eyes widening, the kannushi quickly cut down the last demon that was near him and purified the few others that remained near and turned around, just in time to see the first of the yōkai that had been aiming to kill Miroku, Shippō and Hacchi disappearing into the Kazaana's void. The future-born teen froze when he saw that, Hacchi's words from before they reached the temple hitting him hard and causing the air to leave his lungs as if he'd been actually punched.

"If the Air Rip is opened right now, it will widen through the wound and shorten Miroku-danna's life-span considerably."

"MIROKU!" Inuyasha yelled. The sight of Miroku opening the Kazaana and the memory of the tanuki's warning of what would happen if he did were enough for the kannushi to forget about Mushin, not to mention his own safety. Thinking little of the consequences or how he'd deal with them, the young priest took off at a sprint towards Miroku, although he had enough reason left to come from a side that would leave him protected from the Air Rip's pull. "STOP, MIROKU!"

"What the… He's opened the Kazaana?!" Kagome yelled incredulously from where she was, her free hand fisting at her side and her grip on Tessaiga hardening. But unlike Inuyasha, she couldn't rush to Miroku's aid. She was the living wall that stopped even more demons to rushing at them and until she destroyed them all, she had to stay where she was. She had to. Which meant Miroku's life was in Inuyasha's hands and she had to trust him to stop the houshi before it was too late. That didn't mean she wouldn't wrap this up as fast as she could and rush to their aid, though.

Inuyasha was meanwhile already almost at Miroku's side, but just before he reached him, the monk lost his footing and flew backwards, pushed by the force with which the demons were drawn into the hole in his back. Cursing, Inuyasha fell flat on the ground, only barely avoiding the Kazaana's pull as it was briefly directed more or less in his direction. But soon enough, he was free to move again as the Air Rip's pull was directed more skyward when Miroku fell into the hole that Inuyasha had briefly wondered at the origin off, and came to a stop at its bottom, his back hitting the small stone monument that stood there.

No longer needing to fear meeting the same fate as the yōkai, Inuyasha jumped back to his feet and quickly followed Miroku. He slid down into the hole and came around the small monument that supported the monk so he could come up behind him. And when he did, he grabbed the beads that Miroku left hanging loosely around his arm with one hand, the houshi's Air Rip arm in the other and tied the sealing beads around his hand, effectively closing the Kazaana.

"You fucking idiot!" he yelled as he did it before letting Miroku go and causing the stunned monk to fall none too gently to the ground. Miroku stared at him with a mixture of shock, accusation and guilt – shock because he probably didn't expect someone to force him to close the Air Rip, guilt because he obviously had something to be guilty about considering what he'd just done and accusation because he most likely believed that it would cause their deaths. It wouldn't, though. Not if Inuyasha had any say about it.

"I… Inuyasha…" Miroku said slowly, his voice dazed and the kannushi only glared with righteous fury shooting from his eyes.

"Moron! If you open the Kazaana again, I'll break your damn arm!" It was the best way Inuyasha could show just how much Miroku had scared him just then. It wasn't safe for the monk to open the Air Rip, so why in the seven hells had he done it? Did he want to die? Well, even if he felt like it didn't matter, Inuyasha sure as hell wasn't going to let him. Damn monk, he was just like Kagome, ready to throw his life away if it meant saving others without giving an ounce of consideration to the ones he was saving. Maybe they didn't want him to die protecting them, ever thought of that?!

"He closed the Kazaana! Now there's nothing to fear!" the yōkai were very obviously glad at this turn of events and they didn't hesitate to charge right at them in an attempt to end both kannushi and monk. Inuyasha turned to them, eyes blazing with fury that was born from worry. His hand almost flew to Seyryuu's hilt (when had he sheathed it?) and he quickly drew and swung the sword in the same motion in a move akin to a quick draw.

"As if I'm going to let you come any closer, bastards!" he yelled as his blade cut the air. In his anger, Inuyasha had reacted too fast and had swung before any of the demons were close enough to get cut, leaving himself wide open to their following charge. Or at least, that's how it would have been if not for one, simple fact: his blade might have cut only air, but that didn't mean the yōkai weren't harmed by something else.

And indeed, even before Inuyasha had finished his somewhat wild swing, a bright light erupted in front of him as Seyryuu released the reiki that was coursing through it into the air and sent it straight at the incoming demons.

A few yards to the side, Kagome turned after killing the last of her batch of yōkai, just in time to see Inuyasha unleashing the true potential of his blade. Her eyes widened at the display as she watched the light-blue holy energy race into the sky and meeting the demons head on before racing through them, unhindered, like water passed through a net. It looked like a river, just as it should, but when she narrowed her eyes and got a better look, she realized that, just as when Kaede had done the same thing, it wasn't a continuous flow, but a myriad of smaller forms that the energy saw fit to manifest as – in this case, a myriad of small daggers.

The yōkai screeched in agony and surprise while Kagome watched the energy tear into them, stupefied. Her eyes darted from one yōkai to another as they disintegrated, keeping count. The yōkai that were at the front of the charging mob didn't stand a chance and were soon nothing but ashes. Those who were further away suffered wounds of various degrees, depending on how many of the countless daggers hit them and whether they darted to the side in an attempt to avoid them or not. The mob was scattering, but the reiki wasn't letting up and, following Inuyasha's command, split to follow each of the bigger groups of yōkai before dissipating.

Once all of the energy was gone, the yōkai regrouped faster than Kagome would have expected them to. But then again, most of them were wounded, some had died and all in all, the remaining mob was pissed as hell and more than willing to pay Inuyasha back tenfold for what he did to them. It wouldn't be pretty if they succeeded, either, not that Kagome was planning to let them.

Pushing herself as fast as her body would go, the half-demon reached Inuyasha, who was as stunned at the stunt he had just pulled as the yōkai had been and had yet to recover, just in time to slice through the nearest yōkai that wanted to take his head in retaliation for wounding them. She landed in front of the priest and glared sideways at the yōkai, her eyes conveying her message to them clearly: come any closer and you die. As expected, however, they didn't heed her warning and attacked again, and again they fell dead long before coming close, sliced to ribbons by Kagome's claws or Tessaiga's blade before the hanyō once again landed before the kannushi. Killing the demons wasn't as easy as the hanyō made it look, however, even if she used her claws instead of a well placed Sankon Tessō, or even a Wound of the Wind, which would probably solve the matter faster. It was a decision Inuyasha didn't fail to realize as he came out of his stupor, especially since it was beyond weird for the half-demon to extend a battle she could end swiftly.

"Kagome?" he asked softly, his eyes narrowing worriedly when he noticed she was panting slightly.

"Can you do that again?" she asked him quietly without turning around and Inuyasha blinked, not fully understanding what she was talking about. Kagome took in a deep breath, but not in order to clam herself as much as to try and get enough air into her lungs. She was worn out. The stunt she had had to pull in order to escape when she had been in the middle of the shoal had cost her a lot of energy and she was feeling it. The yōkai that still remained may not be powerful or very numerous when compared to when they first arrived in the form of a gigantic bull, but there were enough of them for Kagome to know that, as she was now, she wouldn't be able to get rid of them all. Not without a lot of difficulties, anyway.

"Seyryuu's full potential, the stream of reiki it creates. Can you use it again?" the half-demon clarified, her eyes never leaving the yōkai in front of her as they wondered how to attack, how to get rid of her and not be killed. Luckily, they didn't seem to notice how exhausted she was. But then again, she had already learned to never show weakness in a fight and she wasn't about to start making beginner mistakes now. She might be tired, but there was no way she was letting them know that.

"I… I don't know," Inuyasha admitted reluctantly. "That just now was a fluke. I have no idea how I've done it, much less if I can do it again."

"Try," was all Kagome replied as she readied herself to rush the remaining yōkai. If the low lives weren't going to strike, she would. She was in no position to be dilly dallying, anyway. "I'll keep them away from you so you can focus. Try to do the same thing again. If you've done it once, you can do it again. I know you can," and with that, she charged forward, ignoring Inuyasha as the priest called her name.

She wasn't lying, she really did believe Inuyasha could do it again. The only question was if he could do it now, or if he had really just been lucky and would need to train several more days before he got the hang of it. Whatever the case would be didn't matter in the long run, though. If Inuyasha managed to do it again, great, it would make her job easier. But if he didn't, it wouldn't be the end of the world. She would just have to finish cleaning up by herself.

Of course, the yōkai weren't going to allow her to kill them without retaliating, but it wouldn't save them. Soon enough, both Tessaiga and Kagome's claws were drenched in blood as the hanyō cut through enemy after enemy. There were still a lot left, though, and although she was far from showing it, she was tired, which meant finishing the fight all the harder, despite the fact that Kirara was quick to join her when it became obvious that Inuyasha's previous attack truly was nothing more than a fluke and he was unable to recreate it, managing only the familiar, earthbound stream of reiki that, considering their enemies were all flying, was no help at all. The young kannushi gave it up soon enough, though and joined the melee as well, cutting through any yōkai that had the gall to approach Miroku that Kagome and Kirara let slip between their claws. And thus they fought on.

Kagome had to admit that this had to be the first time she was glad when help arrived in the form of a familiar boomerang made of demon bone as it flew through the ranks of the remaining demons and cut through them effortlessly before returning to its mistress's hand.

"We got the Tsubo-pot. Kohaku is using it on the high priest as we speak. What are you three playing at?"

"Kill first, explain later," Kagome bit out as her claws tore through yet another demon and Sango didn't ask any more questions, obviously realizing that the half-demon wasn't playing around, but that, for some reason, she couldn't finish the left over yōkai as swiftly as she would have liked. The taijiya couldn't tell what was stopping the half-demon-girl, of course, not that anyone else could, but she would find out soon enough. She might not like to admit it, but Kagome was actually reaching the absolute limit of her stamina.

With Sango's help, the leftovers were quickly dealt with. As soon as the last yōkai fell, the taijiya turned to Kagome with an asking look on her face, but before she could ask anything, the hanyō sheathed her blade… and fell to her knees as her legs buckled under her as soon as she decided to let her weariness show. Sango's eyes widened, as did Inuyasha's, the kannushi falling to the ground at Kagome's side faster than the hanyō could blink.

"Kagome?!" the kannushi called worriedly, and with good reason. Never before had the hanyō reacted this way, much less when she wasn't wounded. Or at least, Inuyasha couldn't see her bleeding anywhere, so he assumed she wasn't injured.

"I'm fine," she assured him as she leaned back to sit down in the grass, supporting the weight of her upper body with her hands and glancing at the sky above. The sun had long since risen and it was a bright, new day, but with all that had been going on, Kagome hadn't even noticed when that happened. She doubted anyone else did, either. There was just too much going on tonight. "Worn out, but fine," she gave him a tired smile before turning to look over her shoulder at the edge of the weird hole in the ground where she knew Miroku was still lying. "What about Miroku-sama?"

"He's fine," Inuyasha replied immediately. "Worry about yourself for once!" Kagome couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Well, you should try to worry less. I told you, I'm fine. A little tiredness never killed anyone," she replied, although she couldn't help but feel glad that he cared this much for her. She wasn't used to it and knowing someone cared so much as to be so worried just because she'd worn herself out made her feel warm inside. Warm and at peace and like she belonged…

She cut that thought off right there, and the warm feeling along with it, blocking it from her consciousness. Her thoughts were moving into dangerous territory.

'You're a hanyō,' she reminded herself. 'Hanyō don't belong anywhere. They don't have a home, nor a family. Stop looking for one. You're only setting yourself up for more hurt. They're your friends. Nothing more. You cannot allow them to become anything more,' she coached herself and progressively, the warm feeling subsided. It didn't leave entirely, of course, but it lessened to a point that she deemed acceptable as a feeling to get when a friend worried over her. Sango frowned.

"You're hanyō, though, Kagome. And hanyō don't get worn out easily. If you're tired enough to collapse then it should be enough reason for worry," she said, also kneeling at Kagome's side and examining her with narrowed eyes. Again, that warm feeling in Kagome's chest started to amplify, and again, the half-demon mercilessly stomped it down.

'Just your friends. Nothing more. Just friends. And even less in Sango's case.'

"Believe me, considering a certain stunt I had to pull earlier, it's not all that astonishing. My own fault for being as careless as I was, though. I made a mistake and I had to pay the price for it. That's how battles work. But I appreciate your concern," she said softly, despite gently shooing both taijiya and kannushi away from herself and towards people who, in her opinion, needed their help more than she did. She then stood up despite the fact that her vision spun slightly. She needed to rest. But first, she needed to make sure than everyone else was alright. That included the high priest who was supposed to treat Miroku's Air Rip wound.

"How is the high priest?" she asked as she approached Kohaku, ignoring Inuyasha's protests behind her that if she was tired, she should sit down or, better even, lie down. Kohaku looked up at her uncertainly.

"I don't know," the young boy replied slowly. "The Kokochu came out, but he still won't wake."

Kagome frowned, but it soon became apparent why the old monk refused to open his eyes when the half-demon took in his scent, and actually registered it now that the fighting was over. She wrinkled her nose. He reeked of alcohol.

"Don't worry, he's fine. He's just sleeping off an excess of sake, though I hope he'll wake up soon."

Mushin's only response, however, was a loud snore.

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And this is it. Hope you enjoyed :D Can I… hope for a review?

Next Chapter: True Friends

See you then!