I do not own either InuYasha or Avengers (Earth's Mightiest Heroes) characters

"Blades of Blood!" Crimson arcs flew through the air and embedded deeply in the dragon's long throat. The curved blades managed to cut deep enough to draw blood, but all they managed to do to the dragon was a throaty howl. Red-hot fire followed right after.

"Get down!" Sango shouted, pushing me harshly behind a large rock before diving after. Not even a second later fire poured around us, strangely resembling a river as the deadly flames parted around the rock.

I whimpered and tried to cuddle closer to the middle of the rock as the sides began to heat up dangerously.

Here I was, a month after being dropped off by Tony Stark and – which my brother had informed me – Captain America. I hadn't had much time to dwell overly much on what had happened for me to be sent to the future in such a fatal – drowning – way, or about the implications that Naraku was still alive in my time. With being dragged back to the past by either InuYasha or by me missing the others, and then searching for jewel shards, most of that didn't seem as important.

The unexpected time travel was a mystery, but it didn't seem all too serious. A horrible experience, since I had nearly drowned, but it hadn't caused anything other than dumping me in America. As such, I figured I could think about that at a later date.

Naraku was also something I didn't think too much about. Or tried to, since all we ever did in the past was either chasing after him or searching for the Jewel, which technically was the same thing when it all came down to it.

I had early on figured that as long as we managed to gather the whole Jewel, we would defeat Naraku. That or we would eventually kill him. Either way worked fine with me.

What got to me was that I thought about my new found friends over there in America. Especially about Thor, Tony and Janet – they had been the kindest to me throughout my stay over there.

So there I was, huddled behind a large stone with Sango, and slowly being steamed cooked. It wouldn't have been so bad – hah, look at me, being all positive about demons and such after years of battling them! – but this particular dragon had snagged a jewel shard which now was firmly embedded in its abdomen.

As such, it felt invincible and pretty much was.

Miroku let out a battle cry and charged forward. "I'll distract it! Get out of there!" He raised his staff and slammed it down on the dragon's snout. It closed with a snap and the dragon howled again, this time turning on Miroku.

Thank kami for every time he had been chased out of a village for flirting with the women; otherwise he would never have had the agility or stamina to jump out of the way in time.

"Come on!" Sango grabbed my arm and began sprinting before I had even gotten my feet under me. Together we half ran, half stumbled a fair distance away from the dragon. "Where's the jewel shard, Kagome?" She breathed as she grabbed for her Hiraikotsu.

My breath came out in small and fast puffs, but I dutifully took my bow and notched an arrow. "In its abdomen, under its heart."

Sango nodded and took a deep breath. It always amazed me how someone as petite as Sango could hurl such a large weapon as Hiraikotsu was. As she took a small step back and bent awkwardly I took aim at the dragon.

"Hah!" Hiraikotsu flew in a wide arc, fast and deadly, toward the large beast. With it being distracted by Miroku and InuYasha, it would have hit it right in the back, if it hadn't been for the dragon noticing it at the last second. With a roar it stood on its hindlegs and batted the large boomerang out of the way.

"Hit the mark," I whispered to – who? The bow? The arrow? Or me? – and let the arrow go.

It hit, perfectly, right on spot. The dragon had become too distracted and had acted instinctively. It had bared its stomach to Sango and me as it protected itself against Hiraikotsu, which had made it possible for my arrow to penetrate the soft skin and nick the shard out. With a surprisingly pathetic whimper it went down, sent a tremor through the ground from the impact and went still.

"Yatta! Great, Kagome!" Sango laughed and gave me a quick hug.

I returned it with a small smile. "I wouldn't have hit it if it weren't for you guys distracting it."

InuYasha landed in front of us, Tetsusaiga already returned to its rusty state and sheathed. "Keh – got that damn straight," he muttered with crossed arms, but I could see that glimmer in his eyes he always got out of a good win so I simply grinned at him.

As always, the Jewel Shard returned to its pure pink state as I gently picked it out of the dragon's flesh. We now had a third of the Shikon Jewel, and we encountered fewer and fewer every week that passed.

It could only mean that nearly all of the shards were collected. And that Naraku probably had most of them, not counting the ones in Kouga's legs. If so, the final battle was drawing closer. An unsettling feeling began squeezing my stomach painfully at the thought. In one way it felt as though it had been my abdomen which had been pierced by an arrow.

"What do you say about resting in that village we passed some time ago?" Miroku inquired as he serenely walked up to us, seeming completely at peace with the huge dead dragon lying on its side. "I'm sure there must be someone who needs a spirit vanquished from one of the homes."

Shippo bounded out of his hiding place in a small thicket of trees and clambered up to sit on my shoulder. "More like he's already found a rich house where he can easily lure the owners into feeding us," Shippo whispered into my ear cheekily. I giggled lightly.

"We don't have time for that," InuYasha protested, but not with much fight behind his words. The sun was setting and we were all tired after traveling for close to a month with nothing else but the things we could carry. Even he seemed positive to the idea of a roof over his head.

"Come on InuYasa," I said, bumping his ribs with my elbow. "Let us just rest tonight, and we will be fit for fight tomorrow."

He snorted, but turned on his heel and glared at Miroku until the monk began leading the way. I couldn't quite contain my smile at that.

In no time at all we reached the timid village nestled between a large mountain and a dark green forest. In less time than it took for us to find it, Mirkou had fooled the seemingly richest man there into lending us rooms for the night. Sango grumbled about it, saying that we actually had money that we could buy our own rooms for. She quickly changed her mind though as soon as Miroku asked whether she would like to share one with him.

I didn't really care all that much; I was just happy to be under a real, man-made roof instead of the open sky. Winter was coming, and I didn't feel like gaining an actual cold when I could go back to school for a few days.

Shippo sneezed as I tucked him in for the night. I felt his forehead and drew a sharp breath. "Shippo, you have a fever!" Just as I'd worried about being sick myself.

He sniffled and burrowed down further in his bedding. "No, I'm just tired," he mumbled quietly.

That wasn't making it better since Shippo, after eating a few lollipops and an unknown number of candies, it should have been impossible to get the little fox to fall asleep, better yet to sit still.

I stroked his soft auburn hair away from his hot forehead and cupped his cheek. "Try to get some sleep then while I go get some sweet tea for you, okay?"

He mumbled something in response before curling into a ball under the covers. I sat there for a while, stroking his hair until his breathing had evened out, before I silently crept out of the room and gently closed the shoji door behind me.

Sango looked up from where she was cleaning Hiraikotsu from any remaining demon parts. Miroku was noticeably on the other end of the room, nursing a crimson handprint on his cheek. "Shippo has a fever?" she asked, worry creating thin lines by the corner of her eyes.

I nodded and sighed. "I'm going to make him some tea so he gets warm. Maybe he'll sweat the cold out if he gets warm enough."

"Yes, and perhaps we can ask the landlord about some medicine as well," Sango said. She nodded to her little pack of demon-slayer clothing. "I'm all out of mine too."

InuYasha tched from where he sat on guard by the door, causing both me and Sango to look over at him. He gave us a sour look. "Just let the little runt run a lap or two then, if it's sweat he needs. No need to get fussy over it."

"InuYasha!" I frowned at him and put my hands on my hips. His ears laid back a little, but he stared back at me defiantly. "He's just a little kid! Being up and about could make it worse, and running will definitely not make him well any faster."

He snorted and turned to look outside, demonstratively showing me his left cheek. "Whatever."

"I believe what InuYasha is trying to say is that he is somewhat jealous that you bestow such tender eyes and actions upon the young Shippo, and not on our grumpy friend here," Miroku said innocently.

I blushed a little, but didn't comment as InuYasha barked at Miroku who teased the hanyou. Soon Sango joined in the teasing, accompanied by the occasional meow of Kirara. The group reminded me of another that I had been with a month prior.

-ooo-

It was long after midnight when I suddenly woke up. It was a quiet and calm night, except for some long-lived insects that sang their last serenades before winter. Their song was like a lullaby that danced through the darkness, through the thin walls and into the room that I, Sango, Shippo and Kirara were sleeping in.

Yet something had me on edge.

Or maybe that was my bladder talking.

I sat up carefully, mindful of the feverish little kitsune sleeping by my side, and got up. Blearily I blinked against the darkness as I sought my way to the shoji door, when Kirara mewed after me.

"Shhh," I murmured, putting a finger to my lips. The feline's bright red eyes looked eerie in the darkness. "I'm just going to the bathroom – I'll be right back. Go back to sleep."

She blinked a couple of times at me, then gave a cute little yawn with a meow at the end as she laid her head to rest against her mistress arm. Yet she didn't close her eyes as I moved out and shut the door behind me.

I tiptoed the best I could across the room, and held my hand to the little jar of Shikon shards at my neck so they wouldn't tinkle. As I was about to go outside something tickled at my senses. Looking around I saw only Miroku in there, sleeping on his side using his arm as a pillow. InuYasha was nowhere to be seen.

'Oh, man...' InuYasha wasn't one to just leave us in the middle of the night. Probably his more canine senses deemed it important to keep guard on his little pack as often he could.

The only times he did leave though was either when he sensed an enemy; Naraku, one of his incarnations, Sesshomaru-sama, Kouga or just a random demon, perhaps a human thug or two.

Or it was because Kikyo was close.

A deft sliver of light outside, arching in a high arch before spinning around in a lope before heading toward the forest, only confirmed my assumptions of where InuYasha had gone. The soul-stealer leaved a faint trail of light behind it that dispersed the further away it got.

I had confirmed that I didn't love him like a man. I cared for him deeply and adored him like my best friend. Yet I couldn't help that my heart gave a painful wrench at the notion of him and Kikyo embracing each other somewhere out there in the darkness.

But I didn't go after him this time. I trudged around the large manor looking for the bathroom instead, just as I had intended to all this time. I had to tiptoe around sleepy guards so as not to cause a false alarm, but it wasn't easy getting around when I couldn't see anything.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I saw a smaller cottage at the edge of the house, with steam escaping through the opened windows. Sighing with relief I bounded over as I remembered the tour the landlord had given us prior to showing us to our rooms.

After being done with my business and feeling rather relaxed with myself, I began my trek back to the others. The stars shone brilliantly above me, so different from how they looked like in my time. Feeling quite awake and not sleepy at all, I sat down underneath a large tree and hugged my knees to my chest as I admired the blinking orbs from outer space.

Why couldn't InuYasha see that Kikyo's love for him had died over fifty years ago? The questions that had once made my heart wince in jealousy and sadness came to the surface as I watched the stars flirt mercilessly with all who watched them. Why couldn't he see her as what she really was; a body made out of clay, grave soil and young women's souls?

Obligation for something that wasn't his fault? That was what he blamed it to be, that he felt responsible for her death and thus had to make it up to her. Then shouldn't she, if she really loved him, have forgiven him already and resigned from taking him to hell with her?

All this nonsense of love, death and hell InuYasha had between themselves was grating on me.

She laughed, showing me through first. "Every man is foolish when it comes to love. You will do well to remember that," Janet murmured behind me.

I closed my eyes and sighed. It was because he was foolish enough to still have feelings for Kikyo. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

A cloud drifted over the sky, blocking out the stars as the wind began to blow. My hair whipped around my face and got into my eyes and mouth. It wouldn't have been any problem, if the gust of wind hadn't been too sudden to be natural.

Instinct screamed at me as I threw myself to the ground. Not two seconds later twin arcs of manipulated air passed over my head, cleaving into the tree's trunk behind me. I managed to knock the air out of me and coughed as I attempted to get some back.

Someone chuckled. A feminine laugh, that was far to familiar for my liking. "Poor little girl. Lost air, did you? Don't worry – I can give you some more."

"Kagura," I managed to get out as I quickly gathered my wits about me. The wind demoness looked the perfect picture of smug, even with her fan hiding most of her face. It occurred to me that all that had changed about the Kagura I had seen in my time and this one was their clothing and hair. "What are you doing here?"

"What else would I be here for?" Kagura's red lips tilted upwards, like butterfly wings preparing for flight. "The Shikon shards, of course. Now, where are they?"

"Not with me", I said. Too fast, as her eyes narrowed dangerously. The butterfly wings tilted even further.

"Oh, aren't they? What a pity. I'll just have to search the whole estate now, won't I?" Before she had finished speaking an invincible force had began playing with both of our clothes and hair.

My heart fell and then lodged itself in my throat as I thought of the landlord and his servants resting inside. Of my friends, lying asleep and unknowing of what was going on.

Of InuYasha.

"I won't let you," I growled, but my tone wavered.

Kagura scoffed. "You can't do anything to me, girl. Just give up, and I may leave your precious – friends – in peace."

I clenched my hands hard enough to draw blood. Kagura's nostrils flared as she scented my blood. "As I said," I repeated and extended my hands to my side, as though I was waiting for her to embrace me. What a weird scene that would be. "I won't let you."

Uncertainty gleamed in her eyes for a second before her red orbs narrowed and the wind grew harsher around us – me. "Foolish girl."

It felt as though someone had kicked me in the chest. Not a human kick, more like a horse or perhaps an elephant was seriously pissed at me. I flew through the air, my back slamming harshly against a tree-trunk. The back of my head cracked as it snapped back, but I didn't let the pain get to me. As fast as I could with the suddenly wavering world I got back to my feet.

"Stronger," Kagura murmured, loud over the roar of the wind. "That would certainly have killed a normal human."

I shook my head in a vain attempt to get my bearings back. A mistake, as pain lashed through my neck. In fact, everything inside me hurt. Even so, I extended my hands again. She could do whatever she wanted with me – but the shards, my friends and the innocent sleeping only some twenty meters away...

I felt a little like Gandalf, protecting Frodo and co.

Kagura shook her head, bewilderment and cruelty playing over her features. "You are a real fool – you won't survive that twice. Just give me the Shikon shards, and your death will be swift."

I shivered. Whether from her words or from my own pain – who knows? I simply shook my head in defiance, glaring at her. 'Like hell I will, you-'

Kagura shook her head, as though disappointed with a disobedient child. She raised her fan. With only a flick of her wrist it could all be over. Or my spine would be severed and I had to lie on the ground, motionless but fully aware, as she took the shards and killed-

I closed my eyes.

And then-

Yatta! *falls over dead* I did it! Yesterday I made a wholly new chapter for another of my fanfics - Made of Iron - and today I finally got my stupid muse - the twotiming little... ugh - to give me some inspiration! I hope you enjoy, because I'm planning to make some tearwiping chapters later on. Hopefully.