Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha - they belong to their respective owners.

Chapter Two

SEPARATION

He paused when he heard the arrow slot into the bow. He wondered if Kagome was aiming for his head, his torso or his heart.

"What are you waiting for?" He growled, genuinely curious about her actions. He could usual work out what his opponent was planning, but the girl was a strange blind spot in his logic, "Shoot. Kill me,"

His eyes trailed to the floor, unable to deal with the irritating quivering of Shippo's body. Disemboweling the fox would not please Kagome, and whilst he couldn't care less about a human's emotions, he didn't want to unnecessarily upset her. He really didn't want to see the wench crying.

"Well? I haven't got all day!" He snapped, getting annoyed by her stalemate action. If she was going to do something, then she should bloody well do it!

Inuyasha turned his head, finally tempted to lay eyes on the girl. He felt like laughing at the sight of her arrow back in her quiver; her bow lowered to her side. He thought that she'd have more of a backbone than that. Talk about a let-down.

"Step away from him, Inuyasha," She ordered, calmly. Without a raised weapon, she had the audacity to try and command him? She was stupider than he realized!

He couldn't hold in his chuckle, "Point that arrow at me - then we'll talk. Otherwise, I'd think twice before trying to make another demand,"

She swallowed, clearly intimidated. He had absolutely no idea what was going through her mind: she clearly feared for her life, yet she tried to boss him about? It was either extreme bravery or pitiful stupidity.

"Arrows aren't your only weakness," Kagome's eyes had been lingering on his face, with an emotion which was unclear to Inuyasha, but she lowered her gaze to his neck. The demon smirked as his claws picked at the beaded necklace.

"The Beads of Subjugation? Clever girl, Kagome," He purred her name, enjoying the blush that blossomed upon her cheeks, "So, for how long are you going to tell me to 'sit'? Or do you intend to 'sit' me to death?"

She was unable to answer, clearly out of her depth. An irritating knot formed in his throat, as he stared at her. He couldn't quite describe how he felt: of course, he didn't feel guilty but he didn't feel powerful, either.

He had a horrible feeling that he might not be entirely in control.

Her silence was annoying him. He had grown used to her sassy attitude; she had never appeared nervous around him, until now. He should have viewed this as a compliment - he had finally broken the one person who did not fear him - but Inuyasha gained little pleasure out of it.

"I don't understand - if you don't need me, why haven't you killed me?" Kagome frowned at him, appearing very stubborn but confused at the same time. It intrigued him, "Why?"

"Just as you said, you can stop me with the bea-"

"It's not about the beads!" She snapped, squeezing the bow in her hand, as a way of releasing her anger, "You know, just as well as I do, that those beads are not enough to permanently stop you!"

Damn, she figured it out, he inwardly seethed.

"What IS stopping you?"

"Nothing. Nothing is stopping me,"

"Then why aren't yo-"

"Are you TRYING to get yourself killed?" She truly bewildered him, to the point that he lost the ability to remain stoic, "Do you have a death wish?!"

Kagome blinked, surprised by his response, "Uh...no, of course not..."

He was aware that he didn't sound very omnipotent, but the girl changed him. It didn't make sense and neither did she, "Are you trying to provoke me? Is that your plan!? If so, you're making a fatal mistake!"

"Inuyasha!" She used a tone that could only be described as condescending. He'd heard that before, "I don't have a plan!"

She was regaining her confidence; he was losing his power. She didn't seem as frightened of him. She must have believed that he was reverting back to his half-human form. Wishful thinking.

But he needed to kill her or get away from her. Otherwise, his human side might start to resurface and he couldn't risk that.

Shippo had gone horribly quiet, which would arouse suspicion from anyone. Inuyasha glanced back to where the fox should have been; a growl escaped when Shippo was nowhere in sight.

"That bastard..." How careless had he become!? He should have known that the fox would have decided to do something stupid, "He's dead!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome's eyes widened, as she leapt towards him. His lip curled in confusion, but she threw her arms around his torso before he could stop her. The sensation of her body pressed against his was strange, but not abhorrent. He fought the urge to place his own arms around her shoulders.

He knew that she was trying to calm him down and coax his human side to the surface. He felt an indescribable rage, even a sense of betrayal - but her embrace managed to silence him.

Until there was a horribly familiar sensation in his gut. His blood, his human blood, was fighting back.

He had to get away from her, before all hopes of his plan shattered. He would not allow his inner-demon to be shoved away again; all because of some girl.

"No!" He pushed her away, ignoring the look of hurt in her eyes. His breathing increased as he tried to maintain his demonic state.

He couldn't kill her. He just couldn't.

It was the same as the others. They'd put up a good fight - he couldn't deny it. The demon slayer's weapon was stronger than he realized and the monk was stubborn. The cat was worse - demons were always harder to dispose of, compared to humans.

But that hadn't stopped him. If anything, it should have spurred him on to fight harder. He'd tried - god, he'd enjoyed it - and he'd injured them. Badly. But he had originally intended to kill them. And something had stopped him.

It was the same with Kagome. Only the feeling was stronger.

"Inuyasha, please. Listen..."

"Stay back!" He snapped, throwing a hand in her direction. Mercifully, she didn't move. His heart rate decreased as fear reappeared in her eyes. The situation was precarious; one wrong move and he would lose control on his human blood. He would not allow that to happen. Never.

His ears twitched.

Footsteps. Lots of them.

Inuyasha glanced back, before clenching his fists. Villagers. What the hell were they doing here? They were in an abandoned temple; it was hardly the location for a leisurely stroll!

The yokai grinned. They were carrying weapons. This should be entertaining.

"Kagome!" The fear-stricken voice belonged to Shippo. He was dashing alongside the crowd of villagers, as quickly as his stubby legs could carry him. Inuyasha managed to resist the urge to tear the traitor apart. Just.

"Shippo..." Kagome didn't sound happy. He could practically smell her fear. Strange, human emotions...

Why was she scared? Surely, her saviors had arrived...?

"Let the girl go!" Once the mob had halted, an elder fighter stepped forward, emitting his authority. Inuyasha didn't bother to hide his grin.

"And if I don't?"

In response, all of the weapons were lowered and pointed in his direction.

"Interesting..." Inuyasha muttered, pondering why the crowd looked familiar. He racked his brain, recalling the previous couple of days. He remembered being asked to slay a local demon - as payment, his group must have stayed in the village, for the night - before his demon power had awoken. Before his precious Tessaiga had...

Right. That would explain how Shippo had gotten them to arrive, so quickly. And why they were so keen to rescue Kagome.

"Last chance!" Another villager yelled, when Inuyasha didn't surrender, despite practically quaking in his boots.

"Keh," The demon scoffed, "Pathetic,"

This was pointless. A waste of his time. He had better things to do. And he didn't want to spend any more time around Kagome, until he had figured out what was happening to him. Then, he would kill her.

He gave her one last look; one last analysis. She shook her head at him, as if she knew what he was about to do.

With a small smirk, Inuyasha pounced past her, before leaping up and fleeing over the rooftops. Kagome's protest was faint, and yet, his gut weighed him down as her voice entered his ears. He escaped, putting more and more distance between them, finally being able to relax.

They were separated. His worries could subside, for the time being.

Still, why should he worry? Once he'd established control, a simple human would be no threat to him. He was much too powerful for that.

But he would still need to dispose of her.

And quickly.

A/N Thank you so much to Guest, mayo and maryanna.pink! I appreciate your support, massively, and it means the world to me. Reviews equate to speedier updates, guys! ;) I'd love to hear what you think! ~B.O.I