Chapter 16
"Shush, Demons"

I would rain death and destruction down upon any of those you name.

She is only a plaything. A toy I have not grown bored with yet.

Destroy her.

As you wish, my love.

Kagome rolled over, tugging her blankets up to her shoulders. She'd grown cold in the crisp night air, and she desperately sought some form of warmth.

Groaning, she curled up tighter to preserve her own warmth.

Blinking, she tried to figure out why everything was so cold.

Her room was dark still. It was late.

But her window was open.

"Inuyasha?" She called, looking for his lumpy shape in the darkness, but she didn't see him. Rubbing her eyes, she reluctantly slid out from the blankets to shut the window letting in all the cold air and making her practically freeze to death. She would definitely have to talk to Inuyasha again about shutting the window when he decided to leave in the middle of the night. He might not be bothered by the fall air, but she definitely was, and if he didn't want to freak out over her being sick again, then he had to be more mindful about things.

She reached up and tugged the window closed, except that the stupid thing wouldn't budge. She dragged her entire weight against it, but there was literally no movement.

"Ugh, stupid Inuyasha," she grumbled, staring at the window that had been shoved up so roughly that she couldn't even pull it down. Didn't he remember that she wasn't as strong as he was?

Huffing, she stared at the window and then tried pulling it down again.

A flash of something swept past her, and she yelped, spinning to face it.

There was nothing there, and she frowned, turning back towards the window.

Suddenly, she didn't want to be alone, and despite the late hour, she slipped out of her room, searching for her mother.

Her room was empty. So was Souta's and her grandfather's.

No one was in the kitchen or the living room, and she hesitated by the door leading out to the shrine; maybe they were out in the shrine. Something pressured her to stay inside, warning her that outside was dangerous.

But that was wrong. There was nothing dangerous about her home.

She ripped the door open, running out barefoot to the small building across the property.

Throwing the door open, her eyes swept the darkened room, but it was empty too.

Where had they gone? It was too late for them to be out and about, and if something had happened, they would've woken her.

She closed the door, darting back towards the house to scour the kitchen for a note of some sort. Something that would tell her what had happened.

Closing the door behind her, she turned back towards the kitchen, screaming as she saw the shadowed figure standing in front of the sink.

It was only Inuyasha.

"Oh, it's you," she breathed out. "What're you doing down here?" He didn't answer, and she tilted her head at him. "Did you see a note from anyone?"

He didn't answer or move.

"Can you close my window? You jammed it when you opened it."

He turned towards her, scowling, and she started for the stairs. She only looked over her shoulder to see if he was following, and he was.

Stepping into the room, she gestured to the open window. Inuyasha glanced from her to the window, and the hair on the back of her neck started to rise.

Something was wrong. The neon lights of the clock showed that it was almost 2 in the afternoon.

Why was it so dark?

Before she could turn fully back towards him, clawed fingers wrapped around her neck, slamming her into the wall.

"You noticed," he growled out, and she grabbed onto his wrist.

"Inuyasha . . . You're hurting me," she whimpered, staring at his face.

Something was wrong.

Everything was wrong, actually.

The dark. The window. The cold. Everything was wrong, and she knew that now.

"It's not real," she whispered, "is it?" The clawed hand wrapped tighter around her, and she whimpered. "None of this is real."

She tried to remember, tried, but the claws digging into the side of her neck made it difficult.

"I know you're not Inuyasha," she said, feeling her voice waver. "You can kill me, but I know that it isn't him."

This is not working, Inuyasha sighed out, looking bored and almost irritated.

She dug her nails into his wrist as his claws dug into her skin, drawing blood.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, apologizing to the image of his face and not the creature beneath it, digging deep and finding that little vein of reiki just under the surface of her skin and let it loose, screaming as his nails ripped out whatever part of her they'd been clutching.

Fine, be that way.

He let her fall to the ground, and she choked on the blood rushing into her mouth and lungs.

Kagome blinked her eyes open, struggling to see in the dark.

"Inuyasha?" She called, her voice raspy and sore. Turning her head revealed nothing new, and there was no answer. Her body throbbed and ached. "Inuyasha?" She called again, but he didn't answer. A small amount of light came from the still barely burning candles at the front of the shrine.

"You're awake," Sango said, and Kagome turned towards the sound of her friend.

"Ka—Ka—gome," Miroku sputtered out, and she saw him reaching out towards her with his wrapped hand. "Run."

Her eyes widened as Sango's hand closed around the hilt of her sword, twisting it violently from where it was stabbed through his chest.

It was like the dark lifted, swirling around Sango, allowing enough light for her to see by.

Forgive me, Sango said, turning towards her. But I couldn't help myself.

"Sango?" She asked, pushing herself painfully to her knees. "Miroku!"

Blood spurted out of his mouth as he coughed, a long endless sigh escaping him, as his fingers stilled.

"What did you do?"

This body is much more capable for physical things. You were taking too long. Sango shrugged. I got bored.

"Get out of her!" Kagome shouted, staring at her friends. One dead, one alive. "Where's Inuyasha?"

The mongrel? Sango nodded her head, ripping the sword out of Miroku's chest with a slight grunt. Well, he's not a mongrel now, I suppose.

Kagome turned in the direction she'd indicated, staring with wide eyes at the sight of him slumped against the wall, blood pooling around him.

Turns out, when purified, hanyou go human. His hair was dark, and his clothes were almost black with blood. But they keep all their wounds. Mortal or not. Sango let out a small chuckle. We all learned something new today.

Sango swung the sword, flicking blood across the wooden boards.

If you must know, I used him as a shield against the old bitch. Fucker never even saw it coming. She knelt down beside him, grabbing a handful of hair as she twisted his head up. I had to slit his throat to shut him up.

Kagome could feel everything getting hazy.

"Sango," she whimpered. This couldn't happen to her again. She'd never forgive herself for hurting them.

Now, are you going to be a good girl, and do what I say? Sango said, letting go of Inuyasha's hair, and his head flopped back against his chest, limp and lifeless. She rose to her feet, wiping her hand off on her thigh. Or am I going to have to kill this one too? She rested the blade on her shoulder, daringly close to her neck. The warning was clear. Kagome needed to behave or else Sango was next.

When Kagome smiled, he always felt at peace. When she smiled at him, he was always warm, and he felt like he belonged somewhere. Kagome made him feel like he had a place in the world where there was none for hanyou like him. He felt safe, that was really the bottom line here. He felt safe with her; she made him feel safe whenever she was around.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, taking a step towards her.

She turned towards him, grinning, but this time he felt nothing but dread. It was her face, smiling at him, but there was no warmth. There was nothing behind it. He didn't feel safe anymore.

"Inuyasha, don't," Miroku warned, staff still extended to block him. "That thing is locked in here with the ofuda; it can't get out."

"But Kagome," he started, staring at the thing pretending to be her.

"Is trapped as well as long at that thing possesses her."

"Oh, I don't know if 'trapped' is the word that I would use," Kagome said, tapping a finger against her chin. "I mean, that implies a lot of things."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Manners, half-breed."

He grimaced at the sound of that slur slipping through her lips. He knew Kagome would never say anything like that to him or about him, but it didn't make it hurt any less to hear her voice say it.

"If you fucking hurt her, I'll—"

"You'll what?" She snapped. "Rip this fragile little thing to pieces to get me out?" She laughed shrilly. "You're too sentimental for that sort of thing."

Her head snapped to the side as Sango edged in closer to her, and she glowered at her approach.

Sango took a step back away from Kagome, eyes narrowed as she sought out a way to stop her.

"What do you want?" Miroku asked as Kagome made a shooing motion to Sango, who backed up reluctantly from where Kagome was, looking every bit of unamused.

Kagome sighed, tilting her head up to the ceiling as if annoyed or bored by the question.

"Why do you insist on asking such banal questions?"

Inuyasha growled at how different she sounded. It was still Kagome, but it was also not Kagome. Kagome's voice never sounded like that when she talked to him or any of them.

"Oh, down puppy," she snapped.

"What do you want with Kagome?" Miroku clarified.

Kagome smiled, flexing her fingers as she examined her hands.

"She is," she hummed a little as if trying to figure out what word to use, "necessary."

"Necessary for what?" Sango spat, her hands on Hiraikotsu, but Inuyasha wasn't about to let her strike out at Kagome.

She wagged her finger in front of her face, as she leaned back against the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"But if I tell you everything, that's no fun."

"What the fuck do you want with Kagome?" Inuyasha snapped, taking a step forward. Kagome grabbed her fingers, bending them back to an almost dangerous angle.

"Step closer, mongrel, and I start seeing how many things will break."

Inuyasha continued growling, but he didn't move any closer, eying the shrine to figure out how to pin this bastard down.

She let go of her fingers, flexing them slowly as if testing the joints.

"Good boy," she grinned, and Inuyasha winced at how it made his chest twinge at the sight of it. This wasn't Kagome. He knew it wasn't Kagome. He'd always know when it was her and when it wasn't.

And right now this wasn't her at all.

She looked around the shrine, as if observing it like the tourists he saw at her family's shrine.

"Can ye tell us why ye've been haunting Kagome?"

"Haunting?" She blinked once before doubling over in laughter. "Oh, that's a good one. Haunting. I'm very much not a spirit, spectre, or anything of the sort." She wiped her eyes with her fingers.

"Are ye an Amanojaku?" Kaede pressed.

"I am hardly something so—mediocre as that," she grumbled. "I'm almost insulted you think so little of me."

"Then what are ye?" Kaede asked.

"Something much more fun," she said with a grin and a laugh. Inuyasha felt her reiki spark, seeing pink lightning shooting up her arm, as whatever it was shook her hand slightly. "Feisty little thing, isn't she?"

That gave him some hope. Of course Kagome would be in there fighting. He just had to figure out how to help her push this fucker out, so he could take care of it. He'd caught something with his claws earlier; the familiar feeling of scraping the edge of something fleshy and alive was just on the cusp of his reach. He'd struck it before. It was tangible, alive, flesh and blood, but most of all, it could be wounded, which meant it could be killed, and he was going to rip it apart piece by piece and glory in its destruction.

Because of what it had threatened to do to her.

Because of what it had done to her already.

Nothing would hurt her. He'd sworn that to her ages ago, but the pact still held for him.

He growled, the rage boiling just under the surface of his skin, because he didn't know what to do and how to fix it.

Kagome was in there, somewhere, fighting, because that's what she fucking did every single time that some bastard tried to get in her head. She fought and kept fighting.

"Why don't you come out and let's fight man-to-man," Inuyasha suggested. "Leave Kagome out of this."

Kagome gave him a bored look.

"Do you know how hard I worked to get her like this?" She motioned to herself. "I mean, look at this disaster!" She cackled.

"You're not leaving here. There are ofuda preventing your escape," Miroku told her. "You cannot escape with Kagome."

Kagome turned to Miroku and smiled, and Inuyasha only caught Sango's movement towards Kagome out of the corner of his eye before she tackled Kagome to the floor, and then Sango went flying through the air straight into Miroku as the sharp sound of a sword being drawn echoed in the shrine. Kagome held Sango's wakizashi in her grip with a sadistic smile on her face.

He'd barely avoided being taken down by Miroku in a stroke of sheer luck, but now he was staring at an armed Kagome, which normally wasn't a real threat—to him at least (bitch could shoot one hell of an arrow when she tried)—but the thing currently controlling her? That was completely up in the air. Maybe it knew how to use a sword. Maybe it didn't. It wasn't like he could charge at her with Tetsusaiga and hope the bastard knew what he was doing.

Both Sango and Miroku were climbing to their feet, and Kagome's eyes stared at them. Kaede shifted off to the side, and Inuyasha saw his moment, his one singular opportunity to get his hands on her. If he could just touch her then he knew that Kagome would know that she wasn't alone. He ran—leapt—whatever you want to call it—but he put all his youkai speed forward to reach her before she could react.

He let out a choked cough, bloody spittle flying over her face.

Kagome jolted upright, screaming.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha was in front of her, grabbing onto her arms, eyes wide as he stared at him. "What is it?"

She stared at him, trying to figure out what was happening. She reached out to him, and he let her drag him forward as she burst into tears. His arms wrapped around her, solid and comforting.

"It was so dark, and I was alone, and Sango! She—" She wailed, sobbing into his shoulder.

"It's okay," he murmured, stroking her hair. "It's over. It's not coming back."

"It's over?" She sniffled, and she felt him nod. She didn't remember anything. But there were times she hadn't remembered things before. "You're sure?"

"Positive."

Wiping her eyes, she pulled her head away from him slightly, looking around the hut. Sango and Miroku were both sitting upright, watching them.

"Everything okay, Kagome?" She asked.

Kagome nodded, letting Inuyasha pull away slightly.

"Yeah, bad dream," she gave a small smile to be reassuring. Sango nodded, and slowly stretched back out under the blankets, and Miroku did the same.

She looked up at Inuyasha, who was still solely focused on her.

"Can we go for a quick walk?" Her voice was quiet, but his ears twitched at the sound of her voice.

He pulled her to her feet, and the blankets slid off her legs. Clutching onto his sleeve, she let him guide her out of the hut and into the fresh night air.

"Do you—you know—wanna talk about it? Your dream, I mean."

She hugged her arms around him tighter as they walked to the edge of the trees, tugging him to a stop as the wind blew around her.

"It's cold," she mumbled into his arm.

"You're cold?" He asked, and she nodded a second before she felt his arms wrap around her, layering her in his sleeves.

"So, bad dream?" Inuyasha repeated, and she nodded. His chin rested on top of her head, and she nestled her face into his sternum.

"Yeah," she murmured, arms slipping around his waist, interlocking her fingers behind him. He nuzzled the top of her head, and it encouraged her to talk. "It was weird though. It was dark, and all the clocks were wrong." She squeezed him. "It was really cold, and I was all alone. Except then she was there."

"Who?" His arms tightened around her, and she took advantage of his warmth and strength.

"Hina," she shuddered at speaking her name. "She pretended to be you again."

"What did I do?"

She shook her head at his question.

"It wasn't you."

"That's not an answer."

"I knew it wasn't you," she whispered. "I knew that you wouldn't do that to me."

"You have such faith in me," he whispered into her ear, and she shivered.

"Are you still cold?" He whispered, and she shook her head.

"A little," she answered after a moment. "We can go back now." She started to head for the hut, but he stopped her by refusing to let her go.

"I think we should stay here," he murmured in her ear. "Too many people in the hut."

"Inuyasha?" She asked, and he grabbed her chin, pulling her face up to look at him. He was so close; she could feel his breath on her lips.

"I was scared," he whispered. "I promised myself that if I got you out, I wouldn't wait anymore."

Her heart stuttered as she took a quick breath, before his lips were pressed against her own. He tilted her head slightly, deepening the kiss, and Kagome wasn't going to stop him. For whatever reason, he was kissing her, Kagome and not Kikyo, and he wasn't under a spell or being stripped of his humanity, and she'd loved him for so long.

So very long.

Eventually, he pulled away, gently kissing her cheek.

"Inuyasha," she mumbled, eyes fluttering open and seeing golden eyes staring back at her. He pressed his lips against hers again. She smiled, shifting her arms to wrap around his neck. A muffled growl, and she was pressed back against the tree as Inuyasha's hands moved to her hip and the back of her head, keeping them close. He pressed his entire body against her, and she dragged her hands along his back.

She gripped his haori in her fingers, trying to push him away to take a breath.

He wasn't moving away though, and what air she was gulping in through her nose wasn't enough. Ripping her face away from his, she gulped air into her lungs.

"Inuyasha!" She chastised.

"Shut up," he growled out, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her so that he slammed her face first into the tree. His hands were on either side of her head, and his hips pinning her where she was.

"Inuyasha, stop!" She shouted, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "I want to stop!"

"You know what you were doing, getting involved with a half-breed like me!" He punctuated his statement with a harsh thrust of his hips. "You want this, Kagome."

Claws tangled in her hair, jerking her hair back at an uncomfortable angle.

"Please, stop!"

This wasn't real. She wasn't awake.

"If it makes you feel better," he whispered, "I'll think of Kikyo the entire time."

She let out a strangled sob, as his teeth broke the flesh of her neck, and his claws tugged her pants down.

"No!" She pushed at his hands and screamed for help, but the silence was the only thing that answered.

This wasn't real! This was a dream! She was asleep! This wasn't Inuyasha!

This wasn't Inuyasha; Inuyasha wouldn't do this to her.

"Ki-ky-o," Inuyasha sang, enunciating each syllable of her name as his claws scraped against the tender flesh of her belly.

"This isn't real," she whispered to herself. "This is a dream."

Inuyasha wouldn't do this to her.

Her pants slid past her hips, and she threw an elbow back at his face, only to have him growl and slam her head forward into the tree, stunning her enough that she collapsed to her knees. Something ran down her face, and she reached a tentative hand to her forehead. Her fingers came away bloody.

"You're not him," she whispered, and he made an amused noise behind her. "You're not Inuyasha!"

A low chuckle resonated her ear as he leaned close.

No, he shoved her into the dirt, flipping her over onto her back. She pushed him away, but fake-Inuyasha retained his hanyou strength, and it hardly seemed to bother him. But with this face, he grinned at her, leaning down to lick the blood off her face, an even wetter stripe remaining, it will hurt so much more.

She summoned her reiki, sobbing as cloth tore away, and she knew that if it was Inuyasha, she would purify him in the absolute worst case scenario.

He would want her to do this. He would want her to stop him; he would never hurt her. He would never want to hurt her in any way

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shoving her hand into his chest, sending a blow from her hand, directly into him.

Haven't I told you already? That does not work on me. It will not help you. No one can help you.

Kagome screamed, shoving and pushing, letting her reiki flare and spark as it wanted, trying to ignore the searing hot press of his flesh against her own.

"Inuyasha!" Sango shouted behind him.

Did you think it would be that easy, dog? Kagome put her food in his gut, kicking him off the sword, and watching him stagger backwards with utter glee. He fell to the floor, clutching his chest as it bled freely.

Fuck.

He coughed up more blood, feeling Miroku's hands separate his clothes to see the damage.

She'd sliced his lung with that one. He could fucking feel it.

"Inuyasha?! Can you talk? Can you hear me?"

"Fuckin'—" He spat up blood as he talked, coughing as more fluid entered his lung.

Bastard knew where to strike.

And he was much faster than Inuyasha had anticipated.

Inuyasha ignored Miroku's hands urging him to let him see the wound, pushing himself back to a sitting position.

It didn't matter. It would heal.

Eventually.

A low wheeze started as he tried to breathe semi-normally, but that only made him cough up more blood.

Kagome swung the sword so that his blood splattered over the floor.

"Did you," blood spattered over his chin, "think," a long wheeze as he wiped his face with the back of his hand, "that piddly-assed," wheeze and cough, "sword could," a long hacking cough made him end his tirade early.

Kagome shrugged as his eyes watered. Miroku was still crouched next to him.

"Seemed to take you down a notch just fine," she sniped.

"I'll kill you for this," Sango growled, shifting her weight.

Kagome's head twitched at an odd angle, and she stilled for just a moment before turning back towards the group. The hand gripping the sword trembled, and Inuyasha's growl ended in a hacking cough.

"I believe it's time that we wrapped this up," Kagome said. "Someone's being a little fidgety." She huffed slightly as if annoyed, looking around the room, eyes alighting on Kaede.

Inuyasha couldn't stop her—though he tried—or warn anyone fast enough.

Stupid lung.

Stupid half and half body.

Kagome lunged towards Kaede, and by the time that Sango and Miroku caught on, all they could do was shout. Sango threw something—his vision was blurring in and out at that point—but Kagome knocked it away with her sword before coming to a stop in front of Kaede.

Kagome very carefully rested her hands on Kaede's shoulders.

Do not worry, little sister. No harm will come to you, I'll make sure of it. Stay over here, okay? She said, guiding her to the nearest corner of the shrine, and then patted her twice on the shoulder before standing.

Kaede stared at her with a look of complete befuddlement.

"Little sister?" She whispered as Kagome darted back off towards the group, disappearing mid-step.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha hacked, head whipping around the space that was suddenly and simultaneously too large and too small.

"Kaede!" Miroku called. "Are you alright?"

"Aye," she answered, still looking lost at what had just transpired.

"There!" Sango shouted mid-throw, and Inuyasha could only follow her trajectory, as the knife made its way towards Kagome as she tried to open the door leading outside.

Kagome struggled to find a break, a wavering, a weakness, anything where she could grab a figurative foothold and start climbing out of whether she was. She'd been in the dark place before, how many had tried to drown her out in the dark and failed. She pushed herself through the dark and the quiet until she felt it quiver and recoil back on itself.

She could feel it around her, trying to pull her back in, and it seemed like she was flailing about in silt and mud, sucking her back in when she stilled.

Her fingers brushed the edge of something, and she inwardly cheered, struggling and fighting all the more for it. Feeling herself slowly work her way out of the creature, she blinked at the sight of her friends before her. Inuyasha was bleeding, and her eyes widened as she saw how much of his clothes were soaked in his own blood. He looked pale too.

"Inuyasha!" She called and saw his face harden as he looked to the creature around her. She kept pulling herself out of it, but the more she pulled the more she didn't want to take any chances on getting herself caught again.

"Are you hurt?" He shouted, with a hard cough that sent blood spilling down his chin.

She shook her head, as her shoulders came free. Spidery legs lifted her higher into the air, slamming down into the wooden floor surrounding her friends. He slammed in down just in front of Inuyasha, forcing him to dive for the ground as the leg broke through the shrine floor and into the soft earth below.

"It is a corrupted spirit!" Kaede shouted. "Purify it!"

But how? Her reiki had never directly obeyed her without a bow and arrow.

Another leg rose and aimed for Miroku, coming down too quickly for Kagome to see and for Miroku to completely dodge. Kagome screamed as it ran straight through Miroku's thigh and into the floor below.

"Miroku!" Sango shouted, swinging Hiraikotsu to slice through the leg, as Inuyasha ripped the severed limb out.

"Get him out!" Inuyasha snarled, turning back to face her and the creature. Sango looped Miroku's arm around her neck and quickly pulled him to his feet and towards the exit.

No one leaves! The creature snarled, and Kagome felt her reiki flare under her skin, and she coaxed it to come out more. She just had to purify the spirit and then this would all be over.

Legs slammed down through the floor, making Sango dodge and roll, dragging Miroku with her.

The floor was covered in blood. Way too much blood for it to be safe.

They had to end this now.

Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga at the legs, hacking up blood as he did.

Her reiki swelled, and she hesitated in letting it go.

"Kagome, you gotta purify this thing!" Inuyasha shouted, diving to the side to avoid another wood splitting strike.

"But I'll purify you too!"

"Do it!" Another strike and dodge.

"But you're hurt!"

Miroku slumped against Sango's side, and her face contorted.

"Miroku? Miroku!" Sango shouted, dragging him off to the side as another leg struck the ground where they'd been.

"I'll live! Do it, Kagome!"

She couldn't stop. She had no choice. Inuyasha said he'd be fine, and she had to trust that he knew what he was capable of and what his body could handle.

Kagome dug deep into that feeling of her reiki being goaded into response, and she tugged it out and pulled it out herself, letting it wash over everything in the shrine, purifying everything that it touched.

Inuyasha let out a shout that ended in a hoarse cough, and Kagome was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, released from her captor. Coughing, she pushed herself up on her hands, and ran for where Inuyasha had collapsed. His hair was black; he was human.

"Inuyasha?" She shouted, rolling him onto his back.

"Miroku!" Sango screamed, and Kagome glanced over at her friends, but Miroku was completely still and pale and—Kagome looked at the amount of blood pooling underneath him.

Inuyasha's breathing gurgled, and she refocused, watching as he gasped and hacked up blood.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, pushing his tops apart to see how bad the wound was. It wasn't that big, he'd definitely had worse, but it was where it was located that was the problem. It looked like he'd been stabbed, and if she had to guess from the bloody foam now erupting from his mouth, he'd possibly punctured a lung.

Which was fatal for most humans even with medical intervention.

And she'd just purified him in an era when no such thing existed.

"Inuyasha?" She whimpered as he gasped and more foam trickled down the side of his face.

Sango sobbed behind her, Miroku's name falling from her lips in a repetitive chant before she too fell silent.

Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's hand as her eyes watered.

He squeezed her hand with his, dark eyes meeting her own as he wheezed and gasped for air.

"Inuyasha," she placed a hand on his cheek, and he leaned into the touch of her fingers, "I'm so sorry."

He squeezed her hand again as she sobbed, resting her head on his chest.

"You bastard!" Sango screamed, and Kagome whipped her head around to watch her leap to her feet, Hiraikotsu swinging above her head, and Kagome blinked as four black splindly legs, needle sharp, pierced through her chest as she let the boomerang go.

"Sango!" Kagome screamed.

She was pinned to the shrine wall, blood trickling down her chin as she pulled at the spines impaling her.

"Fuc—ker," she wheezed, ripping one of the spines out. Kagome staggered to her feet to help, ripping one out of Sango's midsection as she cried out in pain.

Sango crashed to the ground after the last one was removed, and she struggled to push herself back to her feet.

"Sango, stay down!" Kagome shouted as Sango failed once again to rise under her own power. "Stay down, please."

"M—M—'roku," she gasped, coughing and wheezing as she crawled towards him on her hands and knees. "I wanna—" she collapsed, and Kagome helped her back up and over to Miroku's body, where she collapsed, curling up against his side.

"Sango?" Kagome pressed, reaching out to touch her friend with trembling fingers. Sango made a quiet whimpering sound, laying her arm across Miroku's midsection. "Sango," Kagome shook her shoulder, but Sango just coughed, blood projecting from her mouth onto Miroku's robes, before she fell still as well. "Sango!" Shaking her shoulder roughly, Kagome waited for her to move or respond, but Sango didn't—she didn't do anything. "Sango?" She took a quick breath. "Miroku?" She turned slightly. "Inuyasha?" She shifted towards the now human hanyou and touched his face.

He was still warm under her fingers, but his eyes stared unwaveringly at the ceiling above him. His chest didn't move.

"Inuyasha," she cried.

The dog is dead, the creature laughed. And by your hands no less. Huzzah.

Kagome wiped the foam away from his mouth with her thumb.

"Shut up." She gripped his haori with both hands as she tried to gather her wits.

This wasn't real. There was no way that this was real.

It couldn't be.

She couldn't have lost everyone.

Not this easily.

There was still Naraku. They still had to defeat Naraku. And save Miroku from his wind tunnel. Make him pay for what he did to Sango's family and Kohaku. Avenge Kikyo's death. There was still so much that they had to do.

You—

"I said, shut up!"

Such spirit, the creature mused.

"This isn't real! So stop playing games! I'm done with all of this!"

She's done, she says.

Kagome turned towards it, watching it as it moved, taking on a shape that resembled something more human-esque than it had been.

"What are you?" She asked.

Fine, it said, grinning widely and showing off its teeth. Let's play for real.

It lunged before she could move or react, sinking it teeth into her neck and then ripping itself away.

Kagome dropped to the floor, eyes darting between the still form of her friends, her loved ones, as a taloned foot dug into her back, and the great maw descended once again.

The knife sliced through her upper arm, embedding in the door, and Inuyasha was pretty sure that his lung had completely deflated when he saw her blood splatter.

"You fucking slut," Kagome hissed, turning her head to glare at Sango. "I'm fucking killing you first."

Inuyasha tried not to flinch at hearing her voice say those words. He'd joked about hearing her say them, but not like this.

"I'd like to see you try!" Sango bit back, starting towards her, but Inuyasha grabbed her arm, halting her movements. He watched the blood dampen her sleeve, though the creature didn't seem to mind it at all, though the stench of blood was beginning to make him nauseous.

"No more blood," he ordered.

"I'm not letting her get away!" She snapped, jerking her arm away from him. "I am not losing her to this thing!"

"We're not!" Inuyasha snarled.

"You can't leave this place," Miroku shouted, slamming his staff into the floor, dragging Inuyasha's dwindling focus back to the task at hand. "You might as well give Kagome back, and we will consider letting you leave peacefully."

Kaede was mumbling a chant behind them, too low to be heard by anyone else, and she'd lit something that was going to smell awful, he just knew it.

Kagome smiled, one with too many teeth, like a predator trying too hard to appear less dangerous to its prey.

Inuyasha knew that smile, had seen it on the face of his brother, on other humans, on his mother's family, all out for his blood and life.

"Do you know what the great thing is about possessing a person with as much reiki as this?" Her fingers sparked pink lightning wildly.

Inuyasha staggered to his feet, struggling with his lack of air and fully functioning organs.

"There are very few things that can stop me now." She reached for the ofuda on the door, easily ripping it off the wooden frame as pink lightning sparked around her fingers, letting it spiral towards the ground. She wrinkled her nose at her smoking fingers.

That shouldn't be possible.

But before he could move, Miroku's staff struck the ground in front of her, erupting in a blast of reiki, that made his nose itch and his skin crawl from all the way across the shrine.

Kagome shrieked, arms smoking as she blocked her face from the blast. She brought them down, glaring at Miroku, whose barrier held in front of the door she'd intended to escape from.

The sword was thrown so quickly, and Inuyasha didn't move fast enough.

This would be so much easier for you if you would just participate—

No!

No, she would not go quietly into that good night, and she would not let whatever this was hurt her friends.

Your friends? It laughed at her. Your friends do not even realize you are gone. She could feel it sneering at her. I have been practicing. I am quite convincing.

No! It was a lie. They knew! Inuyasha would know! He would know that she wasn't herself!

They were out there, and she was wherever this dark place and empty place was, but she was not going to give up!

She was not!

Inuyasha's face floated across her vision, and she remembered the last that she'd seen, the last part that she was sure was real, or at least seemed the most plausible to be real, his throat was slashed by the creature. It hadn't been that bad, but the amount of blood that he'd lost.

That concerned her.

And then the face he'd worn in that dream, so reminiscent of the dead eyes she'd seen so many times she'd lost count. Each one hurt just as much as the last one.

She knew that he'd push himself, especially if he thought she was in danger—and she was—but she didn't want him risking his life over her.

You worry over a mongrel?

You shut up! You don't know him! He's better than you! He's stronger than you!

Hmm, perhaps. The creature mused. But he does have one particular weakness that I fully intend to take advantage of.

Kagome's heart stuttered just for an instant.

What is it?

You.

One hand grabbed Miroku's robes, practically tossing him to the side as his other came up to grasp the blade mid-air before it struck Sango's face.

It sliced his hand to ribbons, but everyone else was unscathed. It was his preference anyway. His blood over theirs. His blood over hers.

He glared at Kagome, squinting as her form blurred for a moment as he wheezed in air into his one functional lung. He shook his head as Sango pried his fingers off her wakizashi before reclaiming it.

"You said no more blood," she chastised as he let it drip off his fingers onto the floor.

"Better than your face," he grumbled. Kagome reached over to the throwing knife embedded in the shrine door, drawing it free, before releasing it with a hiss and letting it fall to the floor.

"Don't like that one, do you?" Sango taunted. "I had Miroku bless it, so you couldn't use it against us."

Fucking cunt, Kagome spat, and her form wavered again.

He could see the redness on her hands and how it extended up beyond what he could see with the sleeves.

"She's not immune to your reiki," Inuyasha hissed at Miroku, mostly so Kagome couldn't hear, but also because talking required air, and he really didn't want to cough up any more blood.

"Got it," Miroku said, drawing out an ofuda and chanting, his words mixing with those of Kaede behind them.

You don't have the balls—

Kagome howled, staggering as Miroku's ofuda hit her square in the chest. Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head as Miroku and Sango both ran towards her. He followed, but slower and with a lot more effort than it should have been.

Kagome doubled over, fingers clawing at her chest as she tried to pry the ofuda off. Inuyasha was the only one who saw her grab the knife on the ground, the one that burned and shocked her fingers to touch it.

"San—!" He shouted, feeling the gust of air as his fingers just missed knocking it out of the way.

Sango cried out as the knife was embedded to the hilt in her thigh, staggering back a couple steps, leaning on Hiraikotsu to keep her balance as she slipped to the ground and wrenched the knife out herself.

Miroku was wide-eyed as he watched Sango.

Inuyasha knew the feeling. Miroku needed to make sure that she was okay and not actively dying, something that Kagome was clearly willing—and planning—on taking advantage of, because she landed a punch to Miroku's jaw that was—well, it was a fucking beautiful punch that sent Miroku sprawling back on his ass. Had she not been possessed, it might've been a turn-on, but that was something to think about later.

Kagome was panting now, as the ofuda fluttered to the ground.

I will knit a blanket from your entrails, she hissed, and I'll—her head tilted back in a keening shriek.

God, she was going to tear her vocal cords at this rate.

But then he saw the thing, something black, viscous almost, peeled away from her, lifting her body up in the air as it writhed.

His eyes widened.

Kagome was still fighting.

And she was breaking free.

The pain was—well, it was definitely something else.

Kagome was not a fan. -10 out of 10. Would definitely not recommend.

But for all that her body roared in sheer agony, she realized that she could see and hear, and definitely feel, but that was beside the point.

It was all muffled, and everything looked like blobs, like she was being held underwater in a bathtub—while someone threw in eight toasters all at the same time—but she could tell that they were in the shrine and that her friends were there.

And so, she did what she always did, dug her fingers in wherever they would stick and started hauling herself out of this mess.

Because Kagome was done being used by someone—anyone—else. She wasn't Kikyo. She wasn't someone's puppet. She wasn't a vessel for whatever this shit was. She was Kagome!

Gritting her teeth, she felt herself breaking free inch by frustrating inch, as whatever it was tried to pull her back in to use and abuse.

But then the dark swallowed her again, but it was different—distinctive.

Before it had felt empty, now it felt—squishy. And kind of wet.

Thrashing her arms, digging, and kicking, she felt air and whatever this stuff was kept trying to slip down her throat and nose, which only spurred her to dig harder and faster, until she broke free from it, enough that she could gulp in a breath of air before it tried to swallow her whole again.

"Kago—!" Inuyasha started before breaking off into a hacking cough.

"Inuyasha!" She could see the blood that had soaked his front and down the tops of his hakama.

What had happened to him?

"Inuyasha!"

That was way too much blood.

"Let me go!"

No. You will not slip through my fingers again.

Teeth sank into her shoulder blade along her back, and she felt her body arch as she screamed, arms flailing as she tried to get the burning to stop. It felt like Sesshomaru's poison being injected straight into her bloodstream, infecting and melting her all at once.

She only stopped screaming when she ran out of air.

She felt her reiki building and building, threatening an explosion to fight off whatever this was, and she couldn't stop it.

"Get out!" She screamed, looking at Inuyasha. She couldn't purify him again. Not with those wounds; he'd die, and she couldn't let those dreams become reality. "Get him out!"

Sango realized what she wanted, and swung Hiraikotsu with a pained cry into him with the flat edge of it, sending him flying out of the shrine and into the open air, disappearing from her view.

And with that, Kagome let her reiki roar out of her as she screamed.

It was bright, blinding, even to her eyes, and it sapped all the fight and energy out of her, leaving her to hang limp in its grasp. She could barely muster a weak push to stop it, but that really did nothing at all.

Remember, foolish girl, your reiki cannot hurt me.

"Hers can't," Miroku's voice came from the side. "But mine can."

Kagome saw the ofuda flying towards it as another wave of reiki rushed over the shrine. Her eyes shifted, and she saw Kaede standing in the corner, praying.

The ofuda struck a moment later, and the creature howled, thrashing and shrinking, as Kagome slid out, her body damp and exhausted.

So gross.

This is probably what it felt like to be birthed.

Hitting the floor, she pulled herself away on her stomach from the thing wailing behind her.

Hands—unclawed at that—dragged her back to a chest, a barrier erupting around them, as Miroku panted behind her.

She expected to see something; ash, the final death throes of the creature haunting her dreams and nightmares and real life, but there was just a black stain on the wood and Miroku's half-torched ofuda on top of it.

"Kagome?!" Inuyasha shouted, followed by a hacking cough. Kagome turned her head as the barrier dropped.

He was bloody but alive, and still hanyou.

Just the way she liked him.

Kagome mustered up as much energy as she could to smile at him as he moved towards them.

It felt like a dream.

It felt like a dream, and she didn't want to wake up.

"She's okay, Inuyasha," Miroku said, already shifting away from her to allow her half-demon access.

Logic dictated that she should have been afraid of him. After everything that she'd seen. After everything he'd supposedly done to her.

But when his hands slid under her, supporting her, dragging her close to his chest, she couldn't.

This was Inuyasha. The real Inuyasha.

After so long, the dreams were finally kind and good.

Her hands fisted into his haori, holding onto him, grimacing from the pain throbbing up her arms and partially afraid to touch his neck.

She was awake. Right? She was awake? This was real?

She wanted to ask the questions, but couldn't find the wherewithal to question this kinder reality. Out of all the ones she'd seen, she didn't know if she could be thrust into another version of a fight where one of them could be dead or dying.

No, she was safe here. She could stay here.

He let out a short exhale, a puff of breath next to her temple.

"You're okay," he mumbled, and she wasn't entirely sure if he was talking to her or himself. His breath hitched, and one of his hands cupped her neck, supporting her head as he shifted them, drawing her up as he sat, legs outstretched.

She was so tired. So, so tired.

She'd fought the good fight, done her good deeds, and it was with great reluctance that her body slumped and the dark consumed her once again.

Fucking Sango and her fucking boomerang. He hacked, taking in a rattling breath. Stupid fucking lung.

He pushed himself off the ground, and ran—slower than he'd ever run as a human—gripping the doorframe to support himself as he scanned the room.

"Kagome?!" He shouted, eyes finding her slumped against Miroku as his barrier fizzled out, and she turned to look at him. Smiling. It had been too long since he'd seen that on her face.

He was already crossing the floor towards them, dragging his body towards her, even though it was demanding rest and recovery. It could rest and recover in a minute.

"She's okay, Inuyasha." But Miroku had already moved to make room, and Inuyasha was glad that he didn't have to speak any more than necessary. She was coated in something that stained the yukata she wore, but that didn't stop him from pressing her against him. Just to feel the beat of her heart against his.

She was alive and whole and her, and he couldn't help himself.

He'd thought that he was going to lose her for a moment, and he should've known better, but that was a real fear he had all the time.

"You're okay," he whispered to himself, convincing everything in him that she was safe and whole and fine, when he was just coming down off his adrenaline-panic mode.

Her hands were fisted in his coat, pulling her up and dragging him down, but he didn't care.

It was over. It was over. It was over. It was over.

He shifted them, so that he could breathe easier, because he wasn't letting her go anytime soon. He didn't care what he was spreading all over his own skin and clothes, because that shit comes out in the wash—this? This he needed more than anything else—more than a bandaged gut—more than a functional lung—fuck, that was one of the single most terrifying things he'd experienced.

And then fucking Sango had to go and knock him out on his ass like that!

He thought that they were fucking friends.

Friends don't fucking dropkick each other like that!

Kagome went slack against him, and his internal panic felt like that machine he'd seen her mother use to chop nuts in a few seconds. All blades moving faster than he could deflect or keep up with shredding his insides to pieces. He pulled himself away to stare at her face, checking her for any other injuries that he might've missed or if something was trying to possess her again.

"She's used too much reiki," Kaede called to him from across the room. "She just needs some rest."

He would've made a number of displeased sounds at her, but that required more air than his lungs had at the moment, so he settled on glaring at her from where he sat, drawing Kagome more into his lap.

Kaede was looking at the knife wound on Sango's leg, while Miroku hovered behind her.

"It would seem a good omen to have left my medicine bag here earlier," she mused as she dug through it to find what she needed. "This is deep and will take a bit to heal. Miroku, perhaps fetching Shippo and Kirara would be most prudent in getting everyone back to the hut safely?"

"Right," he said with a nod before turning to Sango. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm okay for now."

He gave her another nod, and stood, making it up halfway before collapsing onto his back with a loud 'oof!'

"Miroku!" Sango shouted, twisting to check on him.

"I may have overdone it in that last attack." His words were slurred slightly, and he didn't make a move to get back up. "I think I will rest here for a moment." Sango patted his shoulder as Kaede worked to stitch up Sango's leg quickly, wrapping it in what bandages were left in her kit.

Inuyasha turned his focus back to Kagome, taking stock of her injuries. Her forearms were burned, and part of her hands, but it wasn't as bad as the acid burns from the stone oni. The cut on her bicep had already stopped bleeding for the most part, but she was covered in the residue from whatever the fuck that was. She would want a bath when she woke, and he was already trying to figure out how to make that possible without letting her out of his sight.

"Oi," Inuyasha called, "does anyone know what that was?"

Kaede sighed.

"I cannot say for certain. That was unlike anything that I have ever encountered."

"Good news, it was definitely not an Amanojaku," Miroku commented from his place on the floor, finger pointing straight up in the air.

"So the whole exorcism idea was a waste," Inuyasha growled. He'd only gone along with it because of what Kaede had argued.

"Not necessarily, Inuyasha. It was probably what spurred the creature into action. Perhaps the exorcism, even it was for the wrong demon, would have been enough to break its tie to Kagome," Kaede stated, packing up her things back into her kit. "I'm afraid that I have nothing in this basket for Kagome," she stood with a small grunt, "I will go fetch young Shippo and Kirara."

"No, I can—" Miroku rolled over onto his side, but made no further movements.

"Miroku?" Sango asked after a minute.

"Hmm?" He hummed after a long pause, before rolling onto his back to look up at Sango.

"'Tis better that I go instead. The young monk appears to need his rest." She turned to look at the group. "Rest here. I will be back shortly and with reinforcements."

Inuyasha grunted.

You know who he didn't want to see at the moment?

Everyone.

He could barely smell her with all the gunk covering her, but he used his sleeve to wipe her face clean of the stuff. Just so he could check on her, not because he wanted to stare at her face or anything.

Whatever it was, it was gone.

They were safe—she was safe.

That was the only thing that mattered.

He stifled a yawn, looking back at the spot on the floor.

Fucking hell, he wanted to sleep for a week. His body was practically craving it, between the exertion and the exhaustion he'd been battling the past couple of weeks started to pull at his body.

That didn't even count the injuries he'd accrued in this little spat.

"Hey," he called, and he saw them swivel. "No one says a word about what happened to her."

"She's going to want to know," Sango said, tilting her head at his statement. "She has a right to know what happened when she was possessed."

He shook his head, taking a deeper breath.

"No, she didn't hurt any of us," he repeated. "Get it?"

"I'm not going to lie to her—"

"It ain't lying. That bullshit wasn't her."

Sango sighed slowly.

He blinked, forcing himself to stay awake until Kaede returned. He could sleep later; he wanted to make sure she was settled and fine before he passed out.

Kirara's roar sounded outside, and he mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of Shippo.

But there was nothing except Kaede walking through the doorway.

"Everyone still lives, aye?" She joked, and Inuyasha glowered at her for it.

"Still alive, although some of us more than others."

At this, his own battered lung decided to hack up more blood and he only just managed to turn his head away to avoid spitting up on Kagome.

"Inuyasha?" Kaede asked, shuffling towards him.

"Fine," he coughed out. "I'm fine."

His hand had already healed, so it was a matter of time before his lung did, but shit, the little bastard was taking its time.

Kaede set her basket down beside Inuyasha before turning back towards Sango.

"Where's Shippo?" Inuyasha asked.

"I assumed that ye would not want him here, and gave him some chores to do. He is fetching water and laying out the bedding for when we return."

Huh, smart.

Turns out the old woman had some good ideas now and then.

"Miroku," Kaede said, shaking him, rather violently, awake. Miroku groaned and moaned at the onslaught of consciousness before he finally pushed himself upright. "Miroku, I need ye to assist me with Sango."

"Huh?" He blinked a few times, shaking his head. "Oh, of course." He rose unsteadily to his feet, using his staff to help him balance before he hauled Sango to her own feet. They both teetered for a moment before they managed to get their balance and stumble out towards Kirara.

"I feel it would be best to accompany them back. I will return shortly."

"Go. We'll be fine." He waved her on, and she paused momentarily to look at him before leaving out the door.

That was okay. He could manage. He'd be fine.

He should go with them, follow them, but to be honest, it was all he could do to breathe and keep them both upright. He'd wait for them to get back, and he was fine with that.

Kagome slept, completely oblivious to everything.

A/N: Well, here it is! I hope that this was worth the wait! I've tentatively scheduled this story for updates on the second Saturday of every month. Work is getting to be a lot and a once a month posting actually relieves me of some of the stress I was feeling about not updating as quickly as I wanted to (especially since I tend to leave you guys on cliffhangers - sorry-also not sorry?).