First of all, allow me to apologise for the long wait. I have been quite absorbed in my new job, as well as my harry potter fanfiction ad the revival of my website with a new domain name ( I will soon be bus re-modelling and organising another website (Unknown Brushes), so the next chapter will take a while to punch out. For more steady udpates, you might want to check out the Gaia Online community ( as I update there far faster, even if the chapters are shorter. You're sure to catch a chapter there before here, most times.

Also, on another note, I am very sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors. I have gone over this chapter bit by bt as I wrote it, stopping to fix any errors that I found, but I have no beta -- on the off-chance that I did get a beta, they would dissappear after the first couple of chapters -- sometimes they didn't even stick around long enough to beta one chapter! So, i've pretty much given up on the though/idea of having a beta. Hope that this doesn't piss anybody off too much - if anybody wants to volunteer, I would more than love to have a beta -- don't volunteer unless you can actually do this for future chapters, though!

But, onward with the story!

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Kouga jerked in surprise, glancing up from his hunting to stare off in to the distance, ears perked. Kagome?

Crouching down low on all fours, Kouga sniffed at the ground, before jerking his head up and taking off at full speed, once again thanking the gods above for the jewel shards embedded within his legs, gifting him with unnatural speed -- even for a demon.

It didn't take him long to reach the source of Kagome's cry -- he had been following her and the rest of her band for some time now, accompanied by several of his most trusted comrades -- Hikaku and Gina among them. They would just have to live without fresh meat tonight, however -- Kagome was far more important.

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Inuyasha growled softly as Kagome's scream rang in his ear, jerking his claws out of her arms to grip her neck painfully, her scream dieing in her throat with a halting gurgle. He smirked slightly at her pained expression, before bodily picking her up by her throat, thrilling in the expression of intense pain that had come over her face -- mixing with the blind fear of a person who knew that their death was upon them.

Slipping his free hand down low, Inuyasha lay his clawed hand against her thigh smirking at the way her eyes widened in surprise. Under normal circumstances, Kagome would have instantly begun screaming at the halfdemon for taking such liberties with her. This time, however, she simply shrank back as far as she could against the ground, swallowing painfully against the tightness in her throat, aided in part by the hand gripping her throat painfully.

Tearss treamed fully down her face now, and Inuyasha only grinned wider, fangs now showing as he snarled at her.

She had never truly seen Inuyasha as scary before -- not really. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had known that he had once been just as bad as, if not worse then, his brother and perhaps even Naraku. But she had never been able to truly make herself believe it. Now she could. She coulld understand all too well.

Inuyasha moved his hand from her thigh, to run his fingers through her hair, silky soft to his touch. An almost ... gentle look cameover his features now, as he murmured softly, "You look so much like her."

Kagome closed her eyes against the new flood of tears that threatened to overwhelm her now, only to snap them open once again as the pressure on her throat was suddenly released, to find Inuyasha sprawled out on his back several yards away, and Mirouku kneeling down beside her, a concerned look on his face.

"Lady Kagome, are you alright?" At her shaky nod, Mirouku once again rose to his feet, turning toward the half-demon who was only now rising to his feet, face twisted in to an angry snarl. Mirouku straightened his body, hand moving over to grip at the beads decorating one of his hands, watching his friend warily.

Inuyasha glanced between Kagome and Mirouku, slowly beginning to pace, never turning his back on the dark-haired monk. Mirouku simply held his ground, watching his friend's every movement.

He never, in his wildest imagings, would have imaged himself in a position quite like this. Sango and Kirara out of commission, Shippou nowhere to be seen, and Kagome greivously wounded by none other than Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smirked at the Monk's lack of movement, flexing his claws slightly -- the only warning of his impending attack. Mirouku barely escaped being immpaled on the sharp talons, instead comming out of the encounter with only a badly scratched arm, blood darkneing his robes. He was now out of the way, however, leaving Kagome unprotected.

Inuyasha once again knelt beside the fallen miko, sirking at the way she shrank away from him in fear. "You're finially learning, bitch, aren't you? Finially learning fear ..." Inuyasha trained one claw along her cheek, before standing fullyto his feet and turning toward the now-wounded monk standing behind him.

In a flash, he was beside the monk, twisting one of his arms behind his back, lest the wind tunnel be unleashed. "You and I need to have a little talk, Monk." He snarled, before yanking viciously on the monk's arm, the bone breaking easily, and forcing a cry from Mirouku's lips.

His grin now turning feral, Inuyasha wrapped his other hand around the monk's throat, squeezing viciously to cut off the air supply of his victim. Mirouku gasped softly, frantically trying to draw in some much needed air, but to no avail.His free hand clawed at the arm now clutching his throat, trying frantically to find some way to break the hold Inuyasha now had on his throat.

Inuyasha merely smirked, eyes narrowing as he ithgtened his hold on the monk's fragile throat ...

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Inuyasha jerked awake wit a s small gasp, hands flying to his throat in a vain attempt to slow his rapid heartbeat. nHis breath came in grat, shallow gasps, his entire body shaking like a leaf.

Sumbling from his bed, he barely stopped himself from rushing in to Sesshomaru's bed chambers, silently cursing himself for showing so much weakness as of late. He was better th ant his -- he could handle more than he had been showing to his older brother.

This was why he had left in the first place -- to show the world, and most importantly his older brother, that he could stand on his own two feet, that he didn't need to be coddled and kept safe all the days of his life. And he had succeeded, if only for a little while.

Collasping back on to the soft plushness of his bed, Inuyasha let out a heavy sight, fingering the rumpled coverlet beneath him.

It was odd, how quickly he had gotten used to this once again, being surrounded by somuch finery. He had thought that it would take him some time, after living so long off the land, forced to catch his own food, mend his own clothes ... or just steal from defenseless villiagers. He'd done plenty of that, in the years before meeting Kikyou, and then Kagome.

Wincing slightly as his thoughts once again came around full circle to the petite girl from the future, Inuyasha pushed himself back up into a sitting position, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he stared blankly at the wall as the moments ticked by.

Why, exactly, was he acting like this? Like he was some sort of invalid who couldn't take care of himself, let alone protect the ones he loved? This wasn't like him, wasn't like the man he ahd become ... But it was like the boy he had once been, the boy Sesshomaru had known him as.

Heaving a heavy sigh of frustration, Inuyasha forced himself once again to climb to his feet, wandering over to one of the high, fanficul windows that adorned his room, floor length with lacy curtains doing nothing to hide the view of the outside world.

Several corridors away, through many layers of solid wood and enchantments, Sesshomaru awoke with a start, eyes flying open as he listened for what coul dhave possibly awoken him.

He could hear, even from this distance, Inuyasha's restless footsteps, the heavy sigh that fell from the half-demon's lips every now and again. Sesshomaru, himself, heaved a frustrated sigh, as he rolled over on to his side, a look of consternation crossing his chisled features.

He was never going to get any sleep, if Inuyasha kept up at this rate.

He was at the door before he ven realised he had made the decision to move, striding purposefully in the direction of Inuyasha's room. He forced his footsteps to slow to a halt, however, leaning heavily against the wall to his left as he stared down the dark corridor. Should he really go running every time something seemed wrong with Inuyasha? It was what he had always done in the past, but ...

Decision made, Sesshomaru forced himself to turn on his heel, heading back to his own room and activating the enchantments that had lain dormaint in his room for some time now. This wasn't the last time his half-brother had stayed awake well into the night time hours, after all, through all the years they had lived under the same roof -- and he had made sure to take precuations against losing sleep himself, all those years ago. It had simply been a long time since he'd had need of those enchantments.

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Kagome kicked at a rock on the side of the road, scowling darkly down at the cast that now held her broken arm in place, lips pressed firmly togeather.

The bone hadn't been set properly at first, and the hospital staff had had a hell of a time trying to get it to heal properly, muttering all the while about makeshift casts being the end of them. You'd think it was the end of the world, they way they kept going on and on about it.

But no, it wasn't the cast itself that was bothering her at the moment, or even the fact that her arm was broken in several places. It was the events that had led up to this injury that truly angered her. Truly made her want to break something. Preferably a certain white-haired half-demon's neck.

Naraiku had screwed with their lives before, and Kagome had known that there was a chance that it was him, not Inuyasha, that had attacked her. Certaintly it hadn't been Inuyasha in one of his full-demon phases -- after all, his eyes had not been red, nor had he acted like some kind of wild animal, out for any blood he could get his hands on. No, her attacker had been fully aware of what they were doing, and had had the presense of mind to realise that it was wrong, that it was evil, bad, whatever adjective you wanted to use for it.

But she hadn't truly believed that it was Inuyasha, especially when his rosary necklace seemed to be missing. After all, she was the only one who would remove th at, wasn't she?

But her hopes and dreams had been smashed so easily, that night ...

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Kouga gaped open-mouthed at the scene that met his eyes, widening slightly as he saw the broken body of his lady love on the ground, wimpering softly in pain. The smell of heat and pain filled his nostrils, of Kagome's fear and Inuyasha's excitement, and he did the only thing he could think of. He attacked.

Really, there was nothing else he could have done, even if he had been thinking rationally. The damn half-breed had dared to touch HIS Kagome. This called for viiolence.

What shocked him most of all, however, as he loosed a gutteral scream of rage and charged at the half-demon, was the way Inuyasha didn't even turn toward him, didn't react to his presense at all. It was almost as if the half-demon hadn't heard him, didn't have ny idea that he was even there.

It was only as his claws sunk in to the half-demon's arms that Inuyasha finially seemed to notice his presense, roaring in pain as he made a mad swipe at the wolf-demon. Kouga easily dodged the attack, however, noticing for the first time the lack of Inuyasha's sword, either on his person or anywhere in the general vicinity.

And then the smell hit him -- the heat, and the blood, and the underlying enchantment, faint as it was. As a demon, Kouga could smell things that normal humans could not -- fear, anger, nearly every other emotion imaginable. And he could detect even the smallest of changes to a person's scent, especially if that person had human blood pumping through their veings. And he most definately smelt something different about Inuyasha. Something was ... off.

However, as much as he seemed to be oblivious to his surroundings, he seemed accutely aware of Kagome's every move, as he snarled angrily in her direction as she attempted to shirt back, farther away from him in a vain attempt to escape. That sound, however, stopped her in tracks with a soft gasp, and she stilled where she was, a frightened whimper escaping her lips.

Kouga could only growl softly at such a weak sound comming the woman he loved -- a woman who was usually so strong, so though, even for a demon. It was her strength that had drawn him to her, and that strength was quickly becomming oblitterated by the half-demon who had dared to touch her in anger.

Flexing his claws in anticipation, Kouga watched in confusion as Inuyasha turned back to the monk he held captive, seeming to have completely forgotten about the other demon's presense. Cautiously taking a step closer, Kouga sniffed experimentally at the air around the half-demon, once again comming away feeling slightly dizzy and hot, as if a great wave of heat had suddenly passed over him.

What the hell?

Kouga warily circle the half-demon, his confusion growing as Inuyasha made no reaction to hs movements, even when he was directly in front of his rival.

In the background, Kagome swallowed, throat burning with unshed tears as she stared at the white-haire Hanyou she had called friend, wishing fervantly that she could believe this to be sme ploy of Naraku's. Wishing with all her might that this was another disguise of Naraku's, meant to pit her and the others against the white-haired hanyou.

But this wasn't Naraku -- her Milo powers, faint as they were compared to Kikyou -- told her that much. This was really and truly Inuyasha.

Struggling to her feet from whee she had fallen to the ground, Kagome took another hesitant step away from the half-demon, only to stop stone cold as the growl that was now emnating frm Inuyasha' chest, watching as his shoulders tensed and his body made a sort of half-turn toward her, but without taking his eyes off of Mirouku.

Kagome instantly stilled, her eyes moving over to where Kouga had stilled his wanderings, and was not staring at Inuyasha in confusion. She could understand -- the half-demon's actions were confusing to her, as well. It was almost as if he didn't know that Kouga was there.

But that was impossible, wan't it? Kouga had already tried attacking him once, a d he had certiantly reacted to that attack. But it was as if Koug awere invisible to him, as long as the other demon didn't touch him.

Throat burning, Kagome slowly allowed herself to sink dwn to the ground, hand reaching out behind her to the backpack that she knew to be very close by, now -- Inuyasha had been careless with where he allowed her to rest, soclose to her only real weaon -- her bow.

Inuyasha made no move to stop her hand seemingly oblivious to the threat her weaon could produce, even to afully-fledge demon. w\With her bow and arrow, she had even posed a threat to Sesshomaru, the formidable demon that he was. She could certaintly deal some damage to his weaker half-brother.

She didn't feel guilty, thiking of Inuyasha as weaker than their opponents. Not anymore. Before, she had always felt so guilty thinking something like that, especially since Inuyasha put so much stock in physical strength, in being stronger than those around him ... in provinghimself.

Now Inuyasha could burl in Hell for all she cared.

Eyes burning with unshed tears, Kagome drew back the bow, and fired.