InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Less Star, Book 1 ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

One Less Star

Chapter 5

by CinnamonGrrl

It hardly seemed possible, Miroku mused later on that afternoon, that what had happened with Kagura had actually occurred. Here he was, walking along in a perfectly mundane manner, as he had done hundreds if not thousands of times before. They were just a few dozen leagues from Edo now, and the pitted dirt road felt familiar beneath his sandaled feet.

And yet just a few hours ago, he'd experienced some of the strongest pleasure it had ever been his blessing to receive. And with Kagura, no less-their enemy, who had come close time and again to destroying them. It was bizarre. It was surreal. And it had been utterly amazing. Miroku found himself hoping the day would pass so tomorrow's meditation session arrived speedily...

"Miroku," Sango said, waking him from his silent contemplations. Her voice was pitched low so the others would not hear. "Have you noticed something… different about Inuyasha lately?" At the rear of their group, she carefully guided Kohaku around a protruding root in the dirt road heading north to Edo. Her brother, after nearly a week, still took no heed of his surroundings but at least was able to walk if set into initial motion.

"You mean, ever since he removed Kohaku's shard?" Miroku replied from beside her, staring at their friend's back as he led their little procession. Inuyasha was in the lead, with Kagome, Shippo and Kirara a few paces behind him, and Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku bringing up the rear. They were headed to Kaede's village to leave Kohaku in the elderly miko's care while they went searching for the elusive Naraku, set on destroying him once and for all.

"Yes," she said, expression troubled. "He's been even more quick-tempered than usual, more violent and sort of… irrational. Poor Shippo… as soon as one lump on his head goes down, Inuyasha gives him another."

"It's not just Shippo who's been suffering," said Miroku with a rueful rub of his own bumpy head. "Two days ago I was reaching for the salt-perfectly innocently, mind you-and he thought I was trying to grope you and socked me in the face."

"I remember that," Sango replied. "I wasn't even in the encampment at the time, was I?"

"No, you and Kagome had gone off for firewood."

She sighed. "And he's blaming Kagome for everything, even things that couldn't possibly be her doing. Yesterday, he said it was because of her that it rained."

He nodded absently. "She seems different, too. Ever since the last time she went back to her family and was gone almost a week. She's so quiet, and hardly argues with Inuyasha at all anymore. I can't remember the last time she smiled or laughed, and really meant it. And whatever's going on with Sesshoumaru…"

"I'm worried about her," Sango declared. "I think there's a lot she's not telling us, and it's obviously wearing her down. She needs to let us help her with her problems."

"And how do you propose to make her share it with us?" Miroku asked with a rather derisive half-smile. "Hold her down and tickle her until she relents?"

Sango looked like she was considering it for a moment. "No," she said at last. "She was very angry the last time we did that. I doubt she'd forgive us again."

"You're right." Kagome's clear voice rang out in the little silence than followed Sango's speech. "I wouldn't."

"I think she's part bat youkai," Sango grumbled. "She can hear almost as well as Inuyasha."

"Keh," said that gentleman from the front of the line.

"Did everyone hear this conversation?" Miroku asked the world at large.

"Pretty much," Shippo said. Kirara mewed her agreement.

"Fine," Sango said rebelliously. "Since everyone can hear no matter how softly I speak, I'll say it out loud. Inuyasha, you're even more of a jerk lately, and we want to know why. Kagome, you're overburdened by whatever secrets you're keeping, and it's only going to get worse if you don't share it with your friends. Miroku-" here, the monk looked alarmed "-get your hand off my backside. And Shippo…"

The kitsune squeaked in terror at her fierce expression. "What'd I do?"

"You're getting so big," Sango finished, looking sad and a little betrayed. "You're not a little boy anymore. You're almost as tall as Miroku." He wasn't, not remotely, but clearly Sango wasn't in the mood to be anything but exaggerative. Kagome joined her in the sad-betrayed look too, and together they surveyed him like mothers devastated that their babies were all grown up.

"I'm fourteen now, Sango," Shippo reminded her sullenly. "Did you expect me to stay small forever?"

"Yes!" wailed Kagome, reaching to give him a hug. He endured her embrace, then Sango's, stoically but exchanged a look of long-suffering over their shoulders at Inuyasha and Miroku. "Hey," he said, extricating himself from their arms, "don't forget… Inuyasha's a bigger jerk than usual, remember?"

The women rounded on the hanyou. Inuyasha's ears flattened, but his scowl was anything but submissive. "I'll get you for this later," he growled at Shippo as Kagome and Sango advanced on him.

"What's gotten into you lately, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, trying to keep her tone pleasant and curious instead of cranky and demanding, but it was hard. He really had been extra obnoxious since his half-brother had brought Kohaku to them and Inuyasha had removed the shard. "Are you still upset that I gave half the Shikon to Sesshoumaru for safekeeping?"

Inuyasha smirked. "You want to know what's gotten into me?" he asked with an unpleasant smirk. He turned his back on them and swept his silver-white hair aside to reveal the back of his neck, glowing faintly. "Kohaku's shard, that's what." Dropping the length of hair once more, he faced them and smiled with pure satisfaction. "I figured that if I couldn't have the whole thing yet, I'd at least use what I had to be more powerful, so we can defeat Naraku easier."

They all blinked at him in open-mouthed horror.

"C'mon, guys," he said, a little uncomfortable. "It's not the end of the world. I'm just stronger this way, and faster. The only reason Naraku was able to get away from me all those times was because of the power he was given by all the shards he had. Now he has none, and I have one in me. It tips the odds in our favour."

"But, Inuyasha," Kagome said, her voice shaking, "I didn't purify it first. It's still evil, tainted from Naraku's influence. It's going to taint you, too."

"Feh," was Inuyasha's response. "You worry too much. The shard's fine, I'm fine, everything's fine. So can we just forget about all of this and get back to Edo so we can drop off the kid with Kaede and then go find Naraku?" His question ended in a shout, and he wheeled away from them to stomp down the path, fairly quivering with agitation.

"This," Miroku said, "is bad."

"Very bad," Sango agreed.

"I think," commented Shippo, "I'm glad Kagome gave half of the jewel to Sesshoumaru."

Kagome's saddened gaze rested on the quickly-receding red-garbed figure in the distance. "I think I am too," she whispered.

* * *

Kagura sailed on a wind current, her feather-boat drifting quickly westwards. She was not entirely thrilled to be leaving Inuyasha's group, eager as she was to continue her extraordinary tutelage at the hands (and other body parts) of the monk, but the hanyou's announcement that he now bore a jewel shard was something in which she knew Sesshoumaru would take great interest.

Alighting at his home, she followed Jaken inside and sat where he indicated. "Sesshoumaru-sama will grace you with his presence if he deems you worthy," the toad youkai sniffed, and stumped from the room, banging his two-headed staff with more force on the floor than was perhaps strictly necessary.

She sat quietly, a small smile on her lips as she replayed the events of the day yet once more, and did not notice Sesshoumaru's silent arrival.

"With whom have you been rutting?" he asked by way of introduction, seating himself on the other side of the low table and nodding at Jaken to bring tea.

Kagura blinked as she drew her thoughts to the present, unsurprised that he'd been able to tell. Demonic noses were unsurpassed for detecting any variety of scents, after all. "Inconsequential," she replied briskly. "There is far more important news for you."

His face was expressionless when he said, "I, Sesshoumaru, shall decide what is of consequence." There was a stony note to his voice that told her he would not be swayed by any temptation of other information.

"The houshi," she said with a sigh. "He has been teaching me many things of late. This was just one of them."

Sesshoumaru was silent a moment, and then asked, "Was he any good?"

Kagura had to laugh. "I have nothing to compare him to, my lord. But I would venture to say yes, he was good."

He sighed, just a little. "A pity. I would have enjoyed the irony of a lecher who failed as a bed partner." Jaken bustled in with a tea tray, and Sesshoumaru poured them each a cup from the delicate pot painted with snow-covered pine boughs.

"Be of good cheer," she said wryly. "We have not done nearly all I intend, and it may well be that he is of mediocre talent from this point forward."

"One may hope," Sesshoumaru murmured over the rim of his tea cup, and took a sip. "Now, tell me what you have come to say."

Kagura straightened her shoulders, becoming businesslike. "Inuyasha has refused to give to Kagome the shard he pulled from Kohaku," she said carefully. "He now bears it in the back of his neck, and already his manner is more aggressive."

Sesshoumaru appeared utterly bored by her news; only the tiny quirk of his silvery left eyebrow indicated he was not on the verge of falling asleep. "Indeed."

She nodded. "I do not trust him," she announced. "His lust for the jewel has always been strong, and now with a shard inside him, his resistance to temptation will be even lower."

"You are not wrong," he allowed, nodding. He drained his teacup and stood, indicating she was to do the same. "You will return to them," he told her.

"May I act?" Kagura inquired. Truth be told, she was itching for a little bloodshed. Things had been boring since Naraku's defeat and her subsequent demotion to Inuyasha's nanny. Experiences with Miroku aside, of course.

"You may," he replied, preceding her from the room into the corridor. "Protect the Shikon, and the miko."

"And the others?"

He turned back to her. His eyes were flat and blank, like two discs of gold waiting to be pressed into coins. "Inconsequential."

* * *

Kagome doubted she'd ever been so delighted to collapse into her sleeping bag. Inuyasha had been pushing them hard to return to Edo and leave Kohaku with Kaede so they could proceed, unhindered, after Naraku. They'd been traveling well over fifteen hours that day alone, the hanyou waking them before dawn and squawking at them to get a move on until they were willing to walk simply to shut him up.

With the familiar warmth of Sango in her bedroll to her side, and Shippo snuggled at her feet, Kagome felt warm and safe as she allowed her heavy eyelids to close, and she drifted off. Her dreams this night were not of chaos and mayhem, but of an infinitely more pleasant variety... oh, no, she thought with a sort of conflicted, happy dread. Not another sex memory.

But it would seem so. She dreamt of Sesshoumaru's arms around her, of his warm hand smoothing over her shoulder and breast, of his fingertips tracing delicate and ticklish whorls over the skin of her face and throat. She dreamt of pressing her face closer to him, of nuzzling his neck with her nose and lips, inhaling his scent and tasting his flavour on her tongue as she darted it out, flickering over his pulse.

"Kagome," he breathed at her actions, but the voice was different, wrong somehow. It was a rough tenor, not the smooth baritone she was used to hearing say her name in passion and need.

"Sesshoumaru?" she murmured groggily, trying to struggle free of arms that were suddenly a prison.

"No," snarled the voice, and her eyes flew open to find Inuyasha kneeling beside her sleeping bag. He had pulled her up into his embrace, and his hand was still stroking her throat, but it was caressing the golden chain around it rather than the flesh itself...

"I was going to ask you nicely," Inuyasha said, his handsome face twisted into a sneer, "but since even when you're asleep you're thinking of him, I don't think I'll bother." With a hard yank, he pulled the necklace from her.

"Inuyasha, no!" Kagome exclaimed, her tone plainly horrified, cold dread filling her. This was what Midoriko had warned her about: Inuyasha become overpowered by the taint of the shard he'd taken from Kohaku.

"What's going on?" Sango asked blearily as she slowly came awake. Shippo sat up and rubbed his eyes with his fists, and Miroku's hand reached slowly for his staff as his watchful gaze took in the scene before him.

"Please, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. Her stomach was roiling so badly she thought she might be sick. "Don't do this. It isn't you, it's the shard that's making you like this."

"Feh," he said, shoving her away, and leapt nimbly to his feet.

Without his strong arms as support, Kagome felt cold and alone and small, and very, very scared… "Please," she repeated desperately. "Take the shard out of your neck. I'll purify it, and you can put it back if you like. But it's tainted, and it's turning you evil."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped. His hair was even more rumpled and wild than usual, crackling with the nervous energy thrumming through his body. "Like I'm really that stupid, giving you my shard. Like I think you'll really return it to me."

"I would," Kagome protested, hurt. "You know I would."

"I don't know anything anymore," Inuyasha snapped. He stared steadily at her, the dying embers of the fire making his eyes glow red...

Kagome darted a glance toward the ring of stones that surrounded their little cookfire. It was cold, the ashes no more than grey dust on the ground. "Your eyes..." she said, inching away from him.

"What about them?" he asked carelessly. "Listen, I got things to do." He grinned suddenly, revealing fangs considerably longer than usual. "Thanks for this half of the jewel. Now all I have to do is kill Sesshoumaru, and I'll have the whole thing."

"You can't beat him," Kagome said softly, her heart sinking like a stone. "You'll only get yourself hurt or killed if you try, Inuyasha."

He let out of wordless roar of anger. "What is it with you lately, Kagome?" he demanded, stomping around as the others sat on the ground, unsure if they should stand or not. "You used to dislike Sesshoumaru. You used to fear him, tried to kill him how many times?" He wheeled around, pointing a lethally-clawed finger at her. "And now you're his personal admiration society. It doesn't make sense."

"A lot of things don't make sense, but still are, Inuyasha," Kagome said sadly. She had a horrible feeling that he wasn't going to settle down, wasn't going to see reason. "Please, don't do this," she begged, ignoring the tears that coursed down her face. "I'm so afraid of what will happen if you do."

"Nothing's going to happen," he said smugly, "unless you try to stop me." His arms crossed over his chest, chin up, he was the very picture of determination.

She stood at last, her legs feeling wobbly and jello-like. "You know I have to."

His eyes, still red-tinged, searched hers for a long moment. "Don't make me fight you, Kagome. You won't win."

"Maybe not." She reached for her bow and slowly, deliberately, nocked and drew an arrow, aiming it him. "But I still have to try."

The red, barely banked, surged forward in his gaze and jagged stripes appeared on his face. "Then I'll have to kill you."

"You can try," Sango said coldly, and they both turned to see her with Hiraikotsu poised on her shoulder. Even in her sleeping yukata, she was a sobering sight. "But you'll have to get by me first." Kirara mewed and transformed into her larger, more dangerous form.

"And me," Shippo added quietly. He hadn't said a word since their voices had woken him, had only watched in silence, but there was nothing of the rambunctious kit about him now-he was calm and businesslike as he went to Kagome, who stood with steady arms still aiming a faintly glowing arrow at Inuyasha.

"And me," Miroku said finally, a world of sorrow in his deep voice as he took Kagome's other side. "I'm sorry, my friend," he told Inuyasha, and meant it. "But what you're doing is wrong. I can't allow it."

"I don't freaking believe this!" Inuyasha yelled. He threw his hands up in agitation, the red leaping in his eyes. "Nice loyalty you have, guys. I've only said my goal was to use the Shikon to make a wish for the past, oh, seven years. And now that it's almost able to be done, you want to kill me?"

"We don't want to kill you, Inuyasha," Kagome protested. "We just can't let you get the jewel."

He sighed, and almost reluctantly withdrew Tetsusaiga from its sheath with a hiss. "Fine," he said, and sounded immensely tired as the sword transformed into a glowing fang. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

He sprang straight up in preparation of launching himself at them, but Sango flung her boomerang at him. He sprung in mid-air as it whistled through the air at him, slashing at it with Tetsusaiga, but on the downstroke it unexpectedly transformed back into a ragged katana.

The boomerang, which would otherwise have been sliced in two by the sword, was unimpeded and caught Inuyasha right in the midsection, smashing him back into the trunk of a tree. "Oof," he grunted at the impact, then "oof" again when he slid down the trunk to slump at the base of it.

"Now," he growled at the exterminator, shoving a hank of hair out of his eyes, "I'm pissed off."

Sheathing Tetsusaiga, he jumped forward with arm cranked backwards for maximum impetus when he struck.

Kagome sucked in a lungful of air and shouted "Sit, boy!" As expected, Inuyasha crashed face-first into the ground, creating a him-shaped crater a foot deep and little puffs of dust rising all around him. The others sighed in relief and relaxed fractionally.

Slowly, deliberately, Inuyasha dragged himself to his feet, head downcast as he brushed himself off. Then he straightened, and they all gasped to see that the osuwari command hadn't driven back his demon-his eyes were still a livid blood-red, his stripes still jagged, his claws and fangs still unnaturally long.

"Do it again," he ground out, starting to run toward Sango, who was closest. "All it does is make me want to kill you more." Sango had to call on every last bit of her agility to leap out of the way, and she tumbled backwards over Kohaku's inert form to fall to the ground.

Inuyasha had no time to pursue his attack of her further, however, because Miroku was there with his staff, striking a stinging blow across the back of his shoulders that staggered him. "Back off, monk," he snarled. "You're no match for me."

"Be that as it may," Miroku replied calmly, and swung the top of the staff up, catching Inuyasha under the chin with an incongruously cheery jingle of golden rings. Sango had recovered by this time and held Hiraikotsu ready for another pass, once Miroku was clear.

Inuyasha raked his claws at Miroku, catching him on the arm in a long swipe despite the houshi's jumping back. Miroku stumbled as the pain and shock of it slammed into him, and fell to his knees. "Sorry about this," Inuyasha said, fangs bared in a vicious grin, about to slash him again, but an immense burst of blue light exploded, blinding him.

"Foxfire!" Shippo cried, dancing on agile feet between them to blow it up right in Inuyasha's face. He grabbed Miroku's arm and rolled them both out of the way, clearing a path for Sango to launch the boomerang once more.

Inuyasha's sensitive eyes were still seeing spots from Shippo's foxfire when Hiraikotsu caught him in the gut once more. This time the crunch of bone was audible throughout the clearing, and they all winced.

"Please, Inuyasha," Kagome pleaded, frantic to have him back the way he used to be. "Don't do this. Give the jewel back to me, and we can forget it ever happened."

But he was thoroughly incensed by this point, his eyes blazing with fury. "Screw that," he bit off. "Now, I won't be happy until I've tasted your blood."

"Happiness comes from within, Inuyasha," Miroku intoned even as he aimed a hefty blow at the hanyou's head. It connected with a solid thunk, but had no impact on Inuyasha whatsoever. He grabbed it from the monk and swung it, first connecting with Miroku's midsection before swinging backwards to smack Sango hard in the head. She went down like a sack of rocks.

"Sango!" shouted Shippo in alarm, and darted toward her. The staff whirled at him, and he was knocked away from Sango, off his feet and far across the clearing into the shadows between the trees in the distance.

"No," Kagome moaned, paralyzed by distress. It was like a nightmare had come true, and yet she couldn't seem to make herself release the arrow that would purify him to death, even as he tried to kill her other friends, even as he advanced upon her with murder in his eyes.

And still Miroku managed to stagger to his feet, one hand clutching his heavily bleeding arm, and placed himself once more between Kagome and Inuyasha. Whatever else he might be-lecher, shyster, outright crook-he was a loyal friend and a brave man.

Then, amazingly, Kagura was there. She leapt with alacrity from her feather-boat and drew her deadly fan, waving it almost lazily at Inuyasha and sending blades of wind in his direction. Kagome simply gaped at this, and then gaped a bit more when she thought she heard Miroku grumble, "Took you long enough."

Kagura watched with displeasure as Inuyasha rolled out of the way of her attack, pausing only to sniff daintily at the monk. "I had to get permission," she informed him.

Kagome shook her head as if to clear it. "Why? What?" she asked disjointedly, then decided not to bother. Things were weird enough. Inuyasha appeared as if he were gearing up for a formidable attack, Miroku was ready to pass out, Sango and Shippo were passed out, and Kagura looked positively bloodthirsty.

Kirara left Sango to bound to their side, and she, Miroku, and Kagura all charged Inuyasha at the same time. He unleashed his Claws of Steel on them, and they scarcely managed to dodge without getting killed. Kagome heard Miroku's shout of pain as his wound was opened even more, and Kirara let out a sound that was half-snarl, half-scream as Inuyasha's claws raked her down the middle.

Kagura tsked, glancing at the long slash down her formerly-elegant kimono. "Do you know," she demanded through gritted teeth, "how difficult it is to find acanthus leaves embroidered in bronze silk?"

Inuyasha's face, which had gone feral with rage, seemed to puzzle over that impenetrable mystery a moment, just long enough for Kagura to launch another attach-this time, her wind blades caught Inuyasha across the front, slicing open his haori across the chest and down one leg of his hakama and rending the flesh beneath. He was thrown back by the force of it, falling on top of Sango where she lay slumped over Kohaku.

And just when Kagome thought it couldn't get weirder, Sesshoumaru arrived. He drifted down into the clearing on the back of his two-headed dragon and slid from its back in a leisurely fashion, eyes taking in the situation placidly.

"Again I find you in an undignified position, brother," he murmured, but his voice still carried clearly through the trees.

Inuyasha was instantly back on his feet. "Oh, good," he said, one side of his mouth lifting in a cold smile. "I hope you have your half of the Shikon with you, Sesshoumaru. Tonight's the night I join them and become a full demon."

Kagome almost sagged to her knees as a wave of relief crashed over her. "Thank god you're here," she whispered. He'll fix everything. It was a response conditioned entirely by the memories of all those other Kagomes, and she knew there was no basis for it in her dimension where he'd tried time and again to kill her. But still she couldn't choke back the glad little cry at the sight of him, tall and solid and strong. He sauntered toward Kagome, looking as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Kagome closed her eyes as Midoriko's words came back to her. "If he is able to obtain his wish and become youkai entirely, there will follow an era of rage and ruin," she said aloud, and opened her eyes again to find Sesshoumaru directly before her. "Where I falter, you will endure."

She stared up at him pleadingly. "This isn't his fault," she told him.. "Please don't hurt him more than you have to."

"Such devotion," he commented, but she couldn't tell whether he meant it as an insult or not. But knowing him, it was probably not a compliment.

"I'm tired of waiting," Inuyasha announced from across the clearing. Tensing his legs, he launched himself at his half-brother with arms and claws fully extended.

Sesshoumaru dodged Inuyasha's attack seemingly without effort, drawing his half-brother further and further away from Kagome so skillfully Inuyasha didn't even realize he'd been isolated until it was almost too late.

And then Sesshoumaru was coming at him, Toukijin extended, so quickly he was merely a blur of white and red. Kagome cried out at the same time as Inuyasha when the sword found a home in his belly.

"Sesshoumaru," she called out, hating the begging tone of her voice. "Don't kill him."

Sesshoumaru did not look her way, but twisted the sword in Inuyasha as he leant forward, gaze locked with his brother's, studying him. Then, "He will not concede. There is no other choice."

Kagome ran toward them, her bow and arrow discarded on the ground beside where Miroku had finally slumped over. "Please, please don't."

"I shall not give in to your pleading," Sesshoumaru informed her coldly as Inuyasha shoved away from him and staggered back to get his bearings. "There is no room for mercy if I am to protect the Shikon. As you say: where you falter, I shall endure." He flicked a glance at Kagura. "Restrain her."

Kagome felt a hand grip her arm, and then she was hauled onto the feather-boat. It rose to the level of the treetops quicker than she could scramble out of it again, and the distance to the ground was too far to jump. She was trapped with Kagura on the damned feather, and could only watch as Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru battled.

Inuyasha in his wrath was clumsy and careless, making mistakes that cost him dearly. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, did not have a mark on him and indeed, his face was so bored he looked like he was mere seconds from slumber. "Honestly," he said to Inuyasha, "It really is impossibly offensive that you are related to me."

The words seemed to burrow into Inuyasha and finally sent the other into a towering frenzy, as they had been meant to do. Inuyasha seemed to actually swell with rage, and Kagome could see his fists clench so hard the claws drew blood from his palms.

For one interminable moment, there was silence, broken only by the drip, drip of Inuyasha's blood on the fallen leaves at his feet. Then, so suddenly Kagome gasped, he raced toward Sesshoumaru with an indignant scream that echoed around them.

She was struck by how unhinged, how utterly insane he appeared at that moment. Tears came to her eyes at how very low the tainted shard had brought her friend. "Oh, Inuyasha," she said with great sorrow.

Kagura looked at her oddly. "Save your pity," she commented, "for those who both need and deserve it." She motioned to the ground.

Kagome wiped her eyes and peered down at the scene below. Awake again, Miroku clutched his arm and lurched to his feet, using his staff to remain upright. Across the clearing, Shippo was pushing himself to hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it of the cobwebs that seemed to have settled in it and crying out in pain when his weight settled on a damaged limb. Kirara lay in a huge pool of blood.

Sesshoumaru had, of course, avoided injury once more but actually seemed to be breathing harder from the effort of holding Inuyasha off. Inuyasha sprang away, leaping over to where Sango and Kohaku lay slumped on the ground.

Sesshoumaru advanced upon Inuyasha once more, but he snatched Sango's unconscious form off the ground and held her in front of him, using her as a shield. "Don't," he growled. "You'll kill her, too."

"This dissuades me how?" Sesshoumaru inquired politely, Toukijin already drawing back for a strike.

"Inuyasha," shouted Miroku, horrified. His eyes were huge and anguished in his pale face.

"Inuyasha, no! Please, don't!" Kagome cried. She felt sick, sick and dizzy and frightened and almost hysterical from disbelief at what was happening. This was like the worst nightmare she'd ever had, exactly what she'd feared would happened when Midoriko had warned her about Inuyasha, and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't be responsible for Inuyasha's death, she just couldn't be!

Weeping, Kagome reached out to him across the space that separated them. "Inuyasha," she called to him. "Please."

He looked at her then, looked at her with those foreign red eyes, looking so alien with the livid stripes on his face and elongated fangs that he was like a stranger, someone she hadn't spent the past seven years helping and scolding and protecting and fighting. "Kagome," he replied, and for a moment she felt a tiny shaft of hope zip through her.

She strained toward him, leaning so far from the feather-boat that she lost her balance and fell out. Her scream, as she tumbled toward the ground, echoed through the surrounding forest.