93 reviews! O my googlie wooglies! idk what those are btw :) But thats a huge honor! I'm so sorry I havent updated in a while but school started and so did volleyball and I need sleep and the weekends are made for homework and so much other stuff has been going on! But enough of my excuses, please read this chapter and kindly tell me what you think at the end! IT's not my favorite chapter but it has to be done. I'll try my best to get the next chapter up by the weekend but I make no promises. especially since Rock The Universe is next weekend and Im going with a friend! YES! Anywayzz, read on!

Kagome growled softly to herself and Kyo looked over at her in surprise. How had someone as small as she made such an impressive noise? He hated to admit it, but he really was falling hard for the little priestess and it seemed as if every little thing she did set his nerves on end. In a good way, of course!

"Can't you ever leave me alone?" She growled at the two demons. "I don't want to kill you, but if you insist…" Kagome trailed off before smiling insanely. Who was she kidding? She loved fighting demons! It was a great stress reliever and allowed her to expand and test the limits of her power. The two demons just advanced slowly and spoke at the same time in harsh voices that sounded like tires squealing.

"Give us the jewel wench!"

"Is that all you demons can say? 'Give me the jewel'?" Kagome scoffed. "Well, I don't think so. I'll just have to destroy you right here. Come on, give me a reason. I beg you."

The two demons launched themselves at her and Kyo, and for all her big talk, Kagome wasn't sure if she could defend both her and the other boy. She immediately threw up a barrier around herself and Kyo and turned to him.

"Kyo, you need to get out of here! I can draw their attention then you need to run! Got that?"

"No way!" Kyo argued predictably. "I'm not leaving you here by yourself to fight these things! I want to help!"

"Really," Kagome pretended to think then asked scathingly, "Do you have spiritual powers that you never told me about?" Kyo looked mutinously at his shoes.

"That's what I thought. Now, on three, run." Kagome demanded. "One… Two… Three!" Kagome dropped the barrier and shot a huge stream of her reiki into the demon at the far end of the alley that led back to the Sohma estate before shoving Kyo in that direction. The demon instantly turned to dust, but that single attack had drained Kagome completely.

She weakly raised her hand to her necklace and pulled off the silver staff that Miroku had given her. He had trained her with his staff and at her dojo they had a weapons class where she learned how to fight with a Bo Staff, which was similar to hers, and wooden swords. She had yet to use the Tetsusaiga, but she wanted to know the basics of sword fighting anyway should it prove to come in handy one day.

She leaned on the staff as she tried to catch her breath and when the dust from the exploded demon cleared, Kagome saw that Kyo hadn't moved and inch. "You idiot!" She wheezed weakly. "Do you know what I just did to try and get you out of here? Do you even care?"

Kyo looked guilty but stared determinedly into her eyes. "I'm not leaving you," he declared.

Kagome smiled at him. He really was sweet, but he was stupid! "Fine, now we are both going to die. I hope you had a fulfilling life, Kyo-kun." Kagome sighed sarcastically. No way was she going down without a fight! There was only one demon now, but the problem with that was that he was pissed at his brother's death and Kagome was weak. Oh, and Kyo couldn't fight demons. That was an issue too.

Kagome took a deep breath and stepped in front of Kyo holding the staff threateningly at the slowly advancing demon. The wind blew and Kagome flinched back at the new power that seemed to flow from the demon.

"Hahahaha!" The demon chuckled evilly. "Thanks for that. My brother never really knew how to use his power, and now that he's dead, all of that wasted potential goes directly to me! So you see, you're less than weak Priestess and I'm twice as strong. And your little boyfriend here is useless! This will end quickly!"

Kagome straightened her back and glared defiantly into the glowing red eyes of the Bull Demon. "No. It won't," she amended. But it was all talk. As soon as she tried to take a step forward her knees trembled and buckled. Kyo caught her and tried to take the staff from her so he could fight instead but it glowed pink and shocked him. He let it go with a surprised hiss. The two gazed helplessly at the oncoming demon and prayed for help or a quick and painless end.

The demon advanced swiftly, ripping his horn off to use it as a stake, but he never got to the two humans huddled against the alley wall. A clawed hand was protruding from his chest and clutching his heart. The hand squeezed violently and the Bull Demon collapsed as blood squirted out of his now useless heart. He was dead.

Kagome looked up at the presence of someone new. The light from the streetlamp threw the stranger's features into shadow, but it outlined his physique beautifully. The figure had short hair cut just long enough so that he could pull it into a short ponytail if he wanted, but it was still short enough so that even if it wasn't in a ponytail it would just look shaggy. He was tall, about 6'2'', and very muscular, but not overly so. All in all, he was very attractive and even Kagome, who had Kyo, was blushing lightly when he extended his hand to help her stand.

"Can I help you Miss?" He asked in a suave tone. He couldn't have been much older that Kyo or herself!

Kagome shook her head politely and clutched her staff as she used her own willpower to get to her feet. Kyo quickly rose and placed a possessive hand on her shoulder. As happy as Kagome was to be out of immediate danger, the stranger made her keep her guard up. Not many humans could shove their hand through the heart of a demon and kill it. In fact, no human could, so it was very obvious that this person was not human.

"Thank you very much for your help," Kagome said cautiously as the group of three began to walk into the light.

"It was my pleasure, Momma."

Kagome's head whipped up so fast she could have sworn she gave herself whiplash. She hadn't heard that voice in so long. Immediately tears welled in her eyes and she looked hopefully into the greenest pair of eyes she had ever seen. "S-Shippou-chan?" She whispered. He looked over at her and a soft, lopsided grin grew on his gorgeous face. One fang poked out over his bottom lip.

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome shrieked as she found hidden strength in her and leaped at the now grown fox demon. He opened his arms and caught his mother as she fell into his hold crying profusely. "Shippou-chan, I've missed you so much!" She wailed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to leave! And I never even said good bye! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She repeated.

"Kaa-chan, it's okay. I've missed you too, but I'm here now. So," his smirk grew teasing. "Who's your boyfriend? InuYasha sure as hell won't be pleased."

Kagome looked up at Shippou in shock. "InuYasha's still alive? And where did you get such a bad mouth Shippou? I'm gonna sit him so many times when I see him!" Kyo crashed to the ground and moaned painfully.

"Kyo-kun! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!" She ran over to the boy and helped him stand. Then she realized that she hadn't formally introduced Shippou and Kyo. "Kyo, this is Shippou, my son. Shippou, this is Kyo, my…" She trailed off as she realized she didn't know how to describe Kyo. Sure, she knew she thought he was cute and interesting, and they had kissed, but how did she really feel? Did she really want a relationship with him? One thing was for sure though, seeing InuYasha again would definitely help her make her mind up.

Okaay! Left a bit of a cliffy... kind of... no not really but a girl can dream cant she? Please Review nicely, Thanks!