Okay, I have something important to inform you guys of: this fanfic is taking place assuming that the second movie didn't happen (therefore, no Kaguya appearing at the battle scene today)...and this is basically just to avoid complications with my plotline.

I don't own Inuyasha or any of the other characters, places, or anything involved...

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Chapter 14: Heartbeat

"I'm winning!" shouted Koga as he punched another pathetic demon in the gut with as much strength as he could muster, his fist passing through the demon's stomach and coming out on the other side covered in blood.

"Not likely!" Inuyasha yelled back to the wolf from about ten yards away from where the demon stood. He hadn't even pulled Tetsusaiga out yet, and was merely using his claws to kill the lower class demons that made up this small army.

The dog and wolf demons had immediately become competitive as soon as they had started the battle, much to Kagome's annoyance, though she was at least glad that they seemed completely confident in themselves. She had initially been a little worried about fighting the demons, but that fear quickly faded as she realized that she was barely even needed in the battle. The demons were numerous, yes, but they lacked any real strength or strategy.

Sango was taking out all her anger and impatience on the demons as she hacked away at them with her Hiraikotsu, while Koga and his companions were beating up on every demon that challenged them.

After thirty minutes or so, the battle was still going strong, and everyone was becoming a little tired. None of the members of the group had gotten much sleep lately because of Naraku and various injuries, so they were grateful for the easy fight this was turning out to be. They all knew that it would be over soon.

Kagome was close to running out of arrows, so she lingered on the edge of the battlefield and only used her bow when a demon came to challenge her. When she had a break from the fight, she watched the battle from the base of the hill they had come down on, hardly feeling guilty about not being able to help much.

Inuyasha and Koga seem to actually be enjoying themselves...she thought, smiling as she watched the demons still arguing about who had the most kills. It's like watching Sota play a video game with one of his friends.

Next, Kagome turned to look at the demon slayer. She's probably just taking out all her anger about Miroku on these demons. Poor Sango...

Suddenly, the miko felt warmth on her back. She turned to see the sun peeking over the top of the hill she was standing at the base of and closed her eyes, loving the warmth it brought. Kagome stretched her arms out above her head and allowed her mind to temporarily stray from the battle. I hope Miroku and Kaede are okay, she thought as the sun enveloped her in warmth.

"Kagome!" someone shouted from down on the battlefield, and her eyes snapped open just in time for her to dodge the gigantic fist of a demon, over twice her size, that would have crushed her had she stayed put. She dove out of the way, dropping her bow in the process, and when the demon turned to face her again, she heard a snapping sound. One of his large red feet had crashed down on her bow.

The demon was now blocking off the battlefield, so Kagome scrambled to her feet and ran the opposite way--up the hill, not really aware of where she was headed. The only thing she knew was that the big red demon was following her wherever it was she was going...

"Inuyasha!" the miko screamed helplessly as she ran.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, breathing a small sigh of relief as she dove out of the way of the large demon's attack. What the hell is she doing? he thought as he desperately watched the girl, who was now running up a hill and away from the battle. He heard her scream his name as she ran, and his heart ached painfully at the sound.

An ugly purple demon took advantage of the hanyou's distraction and punched him hard in the stomach, causing Inuyasha to cough up a little bit of blood. "Out of my way, you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled at the demon, unsheathing his Tetsusaiga for the first time and slicing his opponent's head clean off. Before the head could even hit the ground, he had taken off towards the hill Kagome had disappeared behind.

But Inuyasha was on the opposite side of the valley from where she was. Damn it, he thought as he tried to run but failed because of the demons getting in his way. "Move!" he growled at a group of demons that stood in his way.

Not even waiting one second for the demons to respond, he sliced all of them in half with one big swing of his sword.

Inuyasha was vaguely aware of Koga shouting his name, but he ignored it and kept pushing his way through the battle. When he had gotten about halfway across the valley, he decided he was too impatient to keep progressing this slowly. Kagome could be hurt...he thought. She'd better not be hurt...

A severely pissed of hanyou raised his sword above his head. As wind started swirling around Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha swung the sword down and screamed, "WIND SCAR!" with more force than he ever had before. When the sword finished its arc towards the ground, half of the remaining demons were gone.

The hanyou then sprinted the remaining distance across the battlefield and started up the big hill. "Kagome!" he yelled as loud as he could, praying that she had managed to escape the giant demon that was pursuing her.

Damn it, Kagome, you'd better be okay...

Kagome ran through the trees that had started at the top of the hill, desperately searching for a place to hide from the demon that was chasing her. She could hear her pursuer stumbling through the trees somewhere behind her, grateful that he was well over twice her size and was having a difficult time following.

It was still managing to follow her, though, and she would have to find some place to hide...

Kagome gasped as she saw the perfect place. There was a hollow spot near the base of a tree that she was sure she could fit in. The miko sprinted over to the tree and hurriedly squeezed inside the hollow spot, backing as far into as she could.

The demon had noticed she had stopped running and was looking for her, though Kagome couldn't see him yet. She could hear him pushing aside tree branches and stumbling over logs, each step that he took a small earthquake to the human girl. A giant red leg came into Kagome's view mere inches in front of her hiding spot, and she gasped.

The small intake of breath was barely audible to her own ears, but the large demon's enhanced senses had no trouble picking up the sound. Kagome immediately shoved her hands over her mouth and stopped breathing, hoping the demon would move on. She had no such luck, though, as the demon swiped his huge arm around his body.

Kagome could feel the top half of the tree being ripped away, and dared to take a quick breath as she was showered with little splinters of the tree bark and leaves. It was obvious the demon knew she was crouching down in what was left of the trunk, and she heard him growl triumphantly before she chanced a glance up.

The demon's ugly red face was contorted into what looked like a smile, and he pulled back his arm to take another swipe at what was remaining of the tree. Kagome scrambled out of the trunk and in between his huge legs just as she heard the snapping of roots from behind her. The demon seemed intent on keeping her from running this time, though.

A giant red hand swiped at Kagome before she had time to move further away, and she could feel something warm trickling down her back where claws had penetrated her skin. Crying out, she fell to the ground on her hands and knees.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed desperately. She could hear the demon chuckle behind her, and knew that it would be over soon.

Making one last attempt to get away, Kagome crawled forward as fast as she could, ignoring the pain shooting through her body from her cut back. Her progress halted as soon as a huge foot stomped down hard on her body, crushing her into the forest floor. The foot continued to press down on her, squeezing the breath out of her frail human body.

This reminds me of another time, Kagome thought idly, remembering the day she was attacked in her own era, as she felt blackness crawling across her vision. Except Inuyasha was there to save me that time...

The pressure on her back was released, and she rolled over with the last bit of her strength, half expecting to see a red-clad hanyou killing the demon that had attacked her. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized that Inuyasha wasn't there, and that she was going to die now.

The last thing Kagome saw before her vision went black was the huge red demon pulling his arm back and releasing his fist on her body. She could have sworn she heard a familiar hanyou call her name before she blacked out, but decided that it must have just been in her head.

Inuyasha...I love you...

Inuyasha raced through the trees, following the scent of Kagome and the demon that had been following her.

Kagome...

Another familiar scent filled the hanyou's nostrils, causing his heart to beat painfully and faster in his chest. Kagome's blood...

He picked up his pace, tears threatening to escape his eyes as he ran. After dodging bushes and tree branches for at least a minute, Inuyasha came upon a scene that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He screamed the Kagome's name just as she was knocked over by a huge red demon.

The girl crumpled to the ground, lying in a pool of her own blood, her eyes closed. Straining his ears, Inuyasha desperately searched through the sounds in the surprisingly quiet woods for the faintest heartbeat, but was distracted as Kagome's attacker turned and faced him.

The demon growled at Inuyasha, but the hanyou couldn't have cared less. He easily sliced the red demon in half with his sword, and then staggered over to Kagome's body.

Tetsusaiga fell uselessly to the forest floor next to him as he sank to his knees and stared at the woman who meant more to him than anything else in the world. "Ka...go...me..." he said, choking on the words as tears poured endlessly out of his golden eyes.

He pulled the girl gently into his arms, wincing when he saw the huge claw marks crossing her back. Pressing his head to her chest, he desperately listened for a heartbeat coming from the girl. He gasped when he heard the faintest beat of her heart, and immediately stood up, grabbing Tetsusaiga and sheathing it before running through the trees.

As he ran, Inuyasha continued to listen to her frail heartbeat. It was growing slower and weaker by the second. "No, Kagome," he murmured. "Stay with me."

Inuyasha heard his name being called as he walked out of the last trees and looked up to see Sango, Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku waiting for him at the top of the hill. They were all smiling, but each one of their faces was wiped clean of the smiles as they saw who Inuyasha had in his arms.

Inuyasha watched them all run towards him, barely even registering their blood-covered bodies. He, too, was covered in blood...but it wasn't his own. He looked down at the girl still being held by his own arms and buried his face in her chest, sobbing as he sank to his knees again.

"Inu...yasha..." a weak voice whispered, barely audible above his sobs.

The hanyou gasped, immediately pulling back to look into the now open eyes of the girl who had spoken. "Kagome."

The miko smiled weakly and used the last bit of her strength to place her hand on her love's cheek. "I...love you..." she whispered. Inuyasha bit his tongue to keep from crying out as he watched the girl's eyes slowly close.

"No...Kagome..." he muttered, grabbing the hand that had now gone limp and fallen back down onto her lap. "Kagome!" the hanyou said, his voice considerably louder now as he shook his head over and over again. "This can't be happening!"

Tears continued to stream down Inuyasha's face as he sat on the ground, helplessly clutching Kagome in his arms. It was then that Inuyasha realized something was missing from her body.

Kagome's heart had stopped beating.

That chapter was stressful to write. Probably because I don't have any experience writing battle/chase scenes, so I'm sorry if it completely sucked.

Hmmmm...I don't have anything else to say. Review!!