A/N: To everyone who has read or is reading this story, thank you so much for taking the time to read it. I worked on stories a long time but normally give up easily but I've never put as much thought and effort into one that I am in this. I only want to improve my skills as a writer and for me (despite the many stories I have worked on in the past) this is the starting point for me.

So onwards to Chapter Two. I really hope you's like it.

XX

Chapter Two

Inuyasha ran towards where Kikyo was thrown. Panic stricken, he rushed as fast as his demon blood would allow him.

"Kikyo!" he yelled after her. He silently prayed she would be alright. He had promised her that he would never stop protecting her and he had already failed her too many times. It was some distance from the field when he found her, crumpled by the base of a tree littered with bloodless abrasions. Kikyo. His heart sank as he reached down to her and she opened her chestnut eyes weakly. Her ebony tendrils had been released from their binding and curtained down her figure to pool at the ground. Golden hues desperately searched her figure to inspect the damage. The sleeves of her hakui had been torn in areas and her hakama were stained with grazes of dirt and grass but otherwise there was little visible damage.

"Inuyasha." She whispered as he reached a clawed hand and placed it gently to her cheek. She wasn't cold but neither was she warm. How he missed her warm skin.

"Kikyo, are you alright?" his voice was strained and drenched with concern.

"I'll be fine." She assured him. She was dead after all. It would take more than that to end her lifeless existence. She smiled back at him and his heart melted. It wasn't a happy smile, yet neither was it sad. It wasn't genuine and yet neither was it fake.

"I'm sorry." He squeezed out huskily as he dropped his head in defeat. "I promised to protect you and I wasn't fast enough."

There was a short silence between them before Kikyo spoke. "What did Naraku want?"

"I'm not sure. He didn't really say. More or less just showed up and started attacking." He replied, sadness still laced in his voice.

"Hm." Kikyo looked up towards the lowering sun pensively. It was not like him indeed. She sifted through possible reasons to explain his brash attack. He was normally much more tactical than that. He never sent a puppet out purely for offensive purposes and it was a worry.

The soul collectors appeared from the trees clasping souls and lowering them into Kikyo for absorption. The only sustenance that kept her clinging to this world she no longer belonged in. Her strength regained steadily with each soul that entered her figure built of clay, bones and soil from her grave.

"Kikyo?" Inuyasha mumbled beneath his tilted down head. There was tremendous despair in his voice when he spoke her name.

Kikyo merely waited but shifted her gaze to him patiently.

"I will get revenge for what Naraku did. I promise." He promised her, sadness still evident but mixed with determination and hatred. Hatred for the demon that had killed her. The demon that had turned them against each other all those years ago in a cruel, woven web of deceit.

Kikyo merely stared at him sadly. Her hand reached up to his neck and their eyes met. Gold on brown. She gently drew him closer and he willingly leaned in further for the embrace. His head nestled on her shoulder and he lost himself in her silken hair. His arms had secured her waist and hers were wrapped attentively around his neck. They sat like that for a few minutes in solemn silence when something tugged in his mind. He was forgetting something. What was it? With almost a slap in the face, it hit him.

"Kagome!" he abruptly stood. He had left her in the field all alone. For the second time that day, he turned on his heels and sprinted back towards the field.

Kikyo groaned. Her reincarnation was quite bothersome. She despised that Kagome was alive. She despised that she had replaced her and she despised that she was here in this time. Despite the amount of times Kagome had saved her life, she couldn't help but to still feel resentment towards her. The reincarnation of herself had taken her place by Inuyasha's side. Kagome was so pure and selfless and Kikyo had never been that strong even in her living days. There was once a time Kagome had been given a choice. To save Kikyo's life or to let her die. Kagome chose to save her as if it wasn't a choice at all. Yet Kikyo suspected that if the roles had been reversed, that she would not have made the same choice. The revelation had made her uneasy. Had she really become so cold? Kikyo knew that Kagome could not be corrupted as easily as she had, and she hated that.

"Inuyasha." Kikyo sighed to herself as if saying his name would reveal her sense of purpose as the soul collectors whisked her up and she was lifted to the air and drifted away.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled towards the field. But as he broke into the clearing where the pieces of Naraku's puppet lay scattered, she was nowhere to be seen. Kagome. The smell hit him. Hard.

Kagome's blood. He ran to where she was before he went after Kikyo and found the large pool of blood on the ground. Golden orbs expanded and his heart raced as it attempted to leap from his chest. There was so much blood. It had already begun to seep and sink into the earth. A dread formed unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Where was she? A multitude of scenarios assaulted his mind and his panic inhibited him from determining one from the next. He frantically started to search the surrounding areas, dread making his blood curdle and adrenaline giving him speed that he never thought he'd had. He couldn't lose her too.

…

Night had fallen and the moon was a thin line in the sky offering little light. If Inuyasha were fully human, he would not have been able to see let alone navigate the woods. But he was not fully human and the demon blood in him allowed him these perks. After searching for some time he had found himself back at the clearing. His heart rate had scarcely decreased, as if it were persisting to break free and find the Miko itself. An onslaught of curses were echoing in his mind as he brutally scolded himself in impressive self-degradation. 'What if's' inundated his thoughts and he was perplexed on what his next cause of action should be.

Minutes had passed and he soon sensed his other companions. He looked up and flying towards him was the transformed cat demon Kirara. Sango was riding on her back in her taijiya outfit and her hiraikotsu in place on her back. The little kitsune Shippo sat nestled in front of her and the Monk Miroku was running along beside them, impressively maintaining their pace and his staff in hand.

Sango started speaking as they had barely landed. "Hey! We got a little worried. You and Kagome have been gone for a while. Thought we'd come make sure everything is alright."

Inuyasha was unable to locate his voice. It burrowed somewhere deep down, afraid that if it revealed itself, it would break. His skin was a pale white, fear clearly visible for all to see. It was Miroku who had noticed first.

"Inuyasha?" he gently questioned quietly and carefully. Almost as if he feared to approach the hanyou in case something was broken. He looked around to question Kagome in regards to the half demons sanity and came up short. Then as if he'd been struck by lightning, he registered that not all was right.

"Inuyasha. Where is Kagome?" he pressed on more urgently, his own distress unveiling and indigo eyes piercing.

Sango and Shippo had both moved forward apprehensively.

"I don't know!" Inuyasha choked with strained husk. "Naraku had a puppet attack us and Kikyo was here and got hurt. I went to check on her and when I came back…Kagome was gone. I've been searching since before sundown but I can't seem to track her scent."

"What?" they all yelled out in unison.

"Inuyasha, won't you ever learn?" Sango accused, assuming this predicament was identical to all the others.

"You know Kagome. She probably walked off needing some space. She'll be back." Miroku offered with a sigh.

Inuyasha signalled towards the pool of blood on the ground and without having to say another word, the group understood. Sango gasped and reached a delicate hand to her pink lips. Tears began to well in Shippo's eyes and Miroku just stood stunned.

"Inuyasha. She's severely injured." Miroku said recovering from shock and attempting to keep his calm for the rest of the group.

"DON'T YOU THINK I -" Inuyasha choked on his sentence. Something dark had crept within him and it threatened to consume him.

"Don't you think I know that?" Inuyasha repeated, getting the rest of the sentence out sounding utterly defeated. If only she would just break through the trees and tell him to sit for being so negligent and running off. It would ease his worry at least. He would know that she was alright.

"Calm down. Yelling won't help us find Kagome." Miroku rationalized, albeit clearly just as worried as the others. Inuyasha growled again. He was beyond rationalisation.

"We need to find her. Maybe Kirara can spot her. I'll do a search from above." Sango had already leaped onto Kirara and was airborne before the others could even turn to look at her.

…

Kagome was feeling tired. Apparently dying was an exhausting experience. She wondered if Inuyasha had noticed her absence yet. How long would he be distracted with Kikyo for? She shook her head. No time to think about that. That jerk can stew. Her anger flared beneath her skin.

"Miko, contain yourself." Came Sesshomaru's voice from in front.

Eh?

"Your reiki is bothersome." He elaborated.

"My what?" she thought she had thought this but apparently she had said it out loud. He ceased his steps and turned to face her.

"It is astounding that you are a Miko, and yet you seem to lack understanding of your own power and abilities. Your energy is emanating from you in high content and it is irritating. Cease it immediately or I will take your head." He said as though he were bored or simply informing her of some trivial matter. Kagome scowled. She knew what reiki was, she just hadn't realized she was expelling it.

How the hell could she stop something that she couldn't control? He was insane. Part of her was starting to regret joining him. He may be powerful but she wasn't going to be spoken to like that. Why was she nothing but a pawn in this era? Perhaps she should just go back home.

"Well I can't help it!" she snapped. "Why did you even want me to follow you in the first place if I bother you so much?" if she wasn't so head strong she might just have regretted her words immediately. She really did need to get a functional filter. Last time she challenged him in any manner, he had lunged at her going in for the kill. If it hadn't been for Inuyasha, he would have succeeded with ease. Her life was complicated enough without verbally challenging the powerful dog demon that had already attempted multiple times to take her life violently. A vision of the first time they had met flashed across her mind as she remembered being encased in his poison. If it hadn't been for Tetsusiega's protection, she would have suffered a very painful death. Yet here she was now, with a broken, angry heart because of Inuyasha and somehow travelling with the same demon that had attempted to kill her so many times before. All she wanted to do was go home and forget her trips to the past. Forget her duty to collect and restore the Shikon no tama.

Sesshomaru growled and flashed his fangs. They were larger than Inuyasha's and looked significantly sharper and much more dangerous. She closed her mouth and swallowed.

"Tenseiga wished me to resurrect you. I seek an explanation." His voice hinted slight agitation but otherwise he still harboured his usual bored tone. He took a few steps toward Kagome and she stiffened, fighting the urge to close her eyes. "What is it that makes you seemingly so coveted?"

Eh?Coveted? Kagome coveted? How was she supposed to know the intentions of a stupid sword?

"I am not coveted." As she said it, an image of Inuyasha appeared in her mind. Yes, definitely not coveted. She wasn't even good enough to even be more coveted than a dead girl. She let out a deep sigh. This seemed to intrigue Sesshomaru.

"What transpired between you and the half-breed? Why did he leave you for dead?" Sesshomaru asked carelessly, his voice as flat and bland as before. He may have just as well been asking her opinion on the weather instead of something personal. Were demons really this arrogant toward emotion? This annoyed her and Kagome started to feel doomed to be around emotionless dog demons. How was it any of his business anyway? However, would it be wise to express that to Sesshomaru? Finally it seemed her filter was awake. So she thought about the response to give him.

"Is that really any of your business?" She crossed her arms and glared, internally cursing her filter. That wasn't what she intended to say and do. Stupid filter needed repairs. It may have been awake, but it certainly wasn't working properly. She was supposed to implement what her filter well, um, filtered. Sesshomaru glared in return. Another growl rose threateningly from his chest. Kagome was oblivious to Jaken's shock at her attitude towards his master. Standing there with the staff of two heads in hand, jaw agape, disgusted in how this human thought she could speak to his master in such a manner. When Sesshomaru asked you a question, you answered it.

Rin on the other hand was picking flowers from the grass absentmindedly.

Sesshomaru was running out of tolerance. Within half a second he was standing in front of her. His face mere inches from hers and his eyes narrowed. She reacted with slight fear but otherwise he felt her Reiki surge involuntarily in defence and she returned the glare. She was gutsy for a human. He wouldn't admit it out loud but none the less, he gave her that much credit silently.

"You do realise I could have you dead again before you could blink if I so pleased?"

Kagome merely stood her ground and he felt her aura spike in reaction to his. He could feel it clashing with his own youki like two forces competing against each other. It seemed she took this as a challenge. Her own cerulean hues narrowed in response, her ebony locks hung loosely over her shoulders and pooled slightly atop her still folded arms. Such a foolish human. Perhaps she was also mentally impaired? Ugh.Trust Sesshomaru to allow himself to accompany the mentally challenged human.

"Perhaps." She shrugged. "I'm still curious myself though, as to why you brought me back?"

Sesshomaru growled low in his chest. This human was insufferable. Why wasn't he clawing her head off immediately? How dare she question his actions in such an ungrateful manner! She should count herself lucky he had even bothered to begin with.

"I do not repeat myself, human. Tell me what I wish to know."

"Oh, because your sword asked you to. They say I have screws loose and yet you interact with a sword." She retorted ignoring his persistence of invading her personal life. She was hurt and angry that Inuyasha had left her for dead and she was in no mood to tolerate his arrogance and indelicate invasion.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened considerably. Did she just imply he was insane? The insolence! He slapped a clawed hand across her face. For him it was merely a gentle swipe but to her, the force was heavy. She made an 'eeping'noise and moved her hand to cup the cheek that had just been assaulted in an attempt to dull the sting.

'I, Sesshomaru, reduced to SLAPPING a human? She should be dead! If not for my yearning to know why Tenseiga wanted me to save her, I would make it so.' He thought angrily.

The slap had the opposite effect of what he had intended. Instead of it putting the girl in her place, it only seemed to aggravate her further. Initially there was a shocked expression on her face and she just stared for a very brief moment with wide eyes, but now that shock was forgotten and there was fire in her now glaring eyes. Sesshomaru could taste the rage that rolled off her in waves and her reiki acted accordingly.

"Argh!" she exclaimed thrusting her fisted hands to the sides of her body, glaring daggers at him. If Sesshomaru was a lesser demon, her reiki would have been almost unbearable now at such a close proximity. It did however tingle at the edge of his own demonic aura.

"You know what?" she snapped. "You can figure out yourself why that stupid sword wanted me alive! I'm leaving." She turned on her heals and headed in the opposite direction. Not even sure where the hell she was or where she would go at this time of night.

Sesshomaru however, was not done and acted uncharacteristically. He was going to prevent the human from leaving his company. The thought of her leaving prior to him learning Tenseiga's reasons for her resurrection seemed to bother him. Not to mention the fact he would not tolerate a human disrespecting him. He forbid her to be the one to leave before he told her to. Before Kagome even made three steps away from him, he was in front of her.

"I did not permit you to leave, Miko."

"My name is not 'Miko'! It is Kagome! Ka-go-me!" she yelled at him. It reminded her of her first interaction with Inuyasha.

"You look pretty stupid down there, Kikyo. Why don't you just kill it, like you did me?" Inuyasha baited from the sacred tree. Pinned down by an arrow in his chest and vines grown up his person.

"I'm not Kikyo! Whoever Kikyo is! My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me!"

The memory only served to anger her more. Were all these stupid dog demons the same?

This human is incredibly deluded if she thinks she can speak to my lord in such a manner. Cut her through and through Milord. Jaken thought.

Rin had become aware of the confrontation that was occurring and stopped with a bundle of flowers in her hands to watch apprehensively.

Kagome had barely ended her sentence when she felt a clawed hand wrap around her throat and she was thrust hard up against a nearby tree causing a heavy exhale of air. Sesshomaru pinned her tightly. His fangs were bared and his eyes had adorned a tinge of red where there was previously white. The bored expression was discarded and replaced with one of danger and anger.