Chapter Two:

Indescribable Pain

She knew that today would be a bad day. From the moment she woke up, she felt the proverbial black cloud of doom hanging around. And, when Sesshoumaru, whom had joined their group a little over a year ago, left to check on his lands, a feeling of dread then settled in her stomach. She silently wanted her older brother type figure to wait a couple of days, but at the same point, he had put so much effort into training her, that she could defend herself, right? So she ignored it. Besides InuYasha, who had been getting along with his brother finally, was still with them; and he had the Tessaiga. And she had her naginata, Seishou, so no need to worry, right? Okay so perhaps those two getting along was too strong of a description. But they were tolerating each other, without putting holes into their stomachs, or cutting off any limbs. But still the feeling didn't go away, and only grew as the day progressed.

And then InuYasha disappeared once he spotted Kikyo's shinidamachu. She had made peace with the dead miko, but with the way the feeling of dread grew, she wished this had been one of the few times Kikyo had joined up with them for awhile. This time, it seems Miroku, and Sango shared the ill feelings. They shared a look, and readied themselves for battle. Something in the pit of their stomachs told them they needed to be ready, and outside of the village. Thankfully Shippo listened for once, and he stayed with Kaede. Of course it could have had something to do with the fact that Sesshoumaru had left Rin and Jaken there as well. Jaken, who had calmed down towards the children and the group considerably, promised to keep the kids within the village. From the look on his face, she was pretty sure he was sharing the same misgivings.

For the sake of the village they went into the forest to hopefully direct attacks away from it, while at the same time staying close enough if that tactic failed. It didn't however, as within a few hours of InuYasha's departure, Naraku struck fairly close to the well. She simply couldn't remember a time when she had seen this many demons coming after them. They battled for hours, and all were hurt, and bleeding. But they could not give up. They had to win, and they had to live. At one point she spotted Naraku, and attacked him with Seishou. Predictably, it had been a puppet. Even now, with the two biggest threats gone, he was still a coward. He refused to face them personally.

Help eventually arrived in the form of Kouga, Ayame, Ginta and Hakkaku. She couldn't be more thankful, either. Right before they arrived, Miroku had been thrown into a tree, as not only the saimyoushou prevented him from using his wind tunnel, but the sheer numbers of demons were too great. Sango, Kirara, were sporting various wounds; and she was rather cut up herself. Her arrows had quickly run out, and she had only her naginata left for up close and personal fighting. While the three of them were better prepared thanks to Sesshoumaru, they were only human, and had been fighting non-stop for several hours. It had been late afternoon when the attack began; it was now early morning; the next day. With their help, the fight was finally going in their favor. It was then that InuYasha finally decided to make an appearance.

While on some level she was happy he did finally show up, she knew he had to have heard, and smell, what had been going on. He was only on the other side of the village. And yet he had stayed with Kikyo. Kagome truly no longer begrudged him that, she had made peace with the fact that they would never be together, as he would never fully be able to separate Kikyo from herself, the fact that he would leave them to battle alone, appalled her. His senses had to have picked up the scent of Naraku's puppet as well as all of the demons. She planned to have a long talk with Kikyo about it later on. InuYasha knew they had made peace with each other, but he didn't realize that they had become something of friends. Kagome had planned to find some way to give Kikyo a second chance at life without causing herself to die, when all was said and done.

With the use of the Tessaiga, and the help of the wolves, the rest of the demons were finally slain; the battle had finally ended. And she couldn't be more relieved. She was covered in both her blood, and the black blood of various demons. She needed to tend to both hers, and her friends' injuries. InuYasha however apparently had other plans.

It seems at some point during the day, he had decided he wanted the Kikyo he knew back; with her full soul. And apparently while Kagome no longer harbored any romantic feelings for him, she was also wrong to think she could trust him as a friend.

"Keh, I see you actually survived, bitch." He growled at her, as she made her way over to Sango and Miroku. They looked as perplexed as she felt.

"Where the fuck were you, InuYasha? I know you had to have heard, and smelled the attack!" She almost screamed back at him. She was not a happy miko. "It started yesterday!"

"I was busy!" He growled menacingly. "And I was hoping that you would be finished off!" Her movement stilled at that statement. "I hate you, bitch. You broke the Shikon; you stole Kikyo's face, powers, and most of all her soul!"

"One can not help what soul they are born with, and if you opened your eyes you would see that she and I look almost nothing alike, you bastard!" She was near tears, she actually thought of him as one of her best friends, and he had hoped that she had been killed.

"I don't care you still stole it! Now give it back to her, you whore!" With a speed faster than she was able to dodge in her weakened state, he attacked by raking his claws along her back. The wolves immediately jumped him.

Surprisingly it was Ayame that was doing the most damage. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised however. Kouga had finally understood that he was no more than a good friend to Kagome, and Ayame had in turn, gotten to know Kagome to the point she loved her like a sister. They planned to finally mate once Naraku was dead. And to attack someone she viewed as pack was unforgivable.

That being said InuYasha was no ordinary hanyou. He was still able to make another attack on her, but this time she was able to counter it with her naginata. Still he wasn't giving up. He wanted her dead, and he knew the only real chance he could have, was before his brother returned. But then an arrow put a wrench in his plans. Kikyo had fired at him.

Confused as to her attack, he actually stopped his own. Looking at the one he viewed as his mate, he just couldn't understand why she would defend her reincarnation

"Kikyo, why are you stopping me? I'm doing this for you!"

"I will not allow you to kill her."

"But she has your soul, I'm just getting it back for you;" he nearly whined at her.

"You're a food, InuYasha. The soul is hers. When reincarnated souls change; ours may have a connection, but my former soul, and hers are different. And you have no right trying to take it from her." She readied another arrow at him. When it was obvious she wouldn't stop, he left.

All she could hear at that point was her heart beat. She was in exceedingly bad shape, and yet she stayed standing. She hurt in a way that was more than physical. Someone who she loved almost as a brother betrayed her. The pain was so great, she couldn't think of any words to describe it. It hurt more than the physical wounds did.

She had a feeling Kikyo was telling her she'd help heal and protect he others, but she still couldn't hear anything but the beat of her heart. But still, she knew she could trust Kikyo to help them. Then Ayame and Kouga picked her up and dumped her into the well. Her injuries needed more care than could be provided in the feudal era.

She wasn't sure how she climbed out of the well, Seishou in hand. Everything at that point was blurred. She just knew that she did. But at least her weapon was useful in helping her keep upright. If it wasn't for it, and pure adrenaline, she never would have made it to her door. It was thankfully unlocked, and as it opened she saw several unfamiliar people inside.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she wanted to snicker at the looks on their faces. It wasn't everyday you saw someone drenched in blood, after all. She barely registered the look of horror on her Mother's face, when she felt herself falling forward. As she blacked out she felt a pair of warm arms catch her before she hit the ground.