Be there for me

Chapter 3.







The scythe came flying through the air, slicing through tree trunks and branches before claning into Tetsuiaga. The sword rattled with the impact as the cleaver was sent flying through the air, jerking to a stop as it's owner manipulated the chain that it was attached to. The weapon returned to it's owner as he landed on a tree branch. Inuyasha double back deeper into the forest, looking for an opening from which he could knock out the youth without hurting him too badly.



In the back of his mind he wondered what was going on with Kagome and the others. Surely Miroku and Sango would know something was wrong by now. Hopefully they would be out looking for Kagome, and hopefully they were all safe. The dog demon shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. There were an awful lot of 'if' in those statements, and he needed to do something to rectify that. He needed to end this confrontation, right now.



The winds began to swirl around his sword as he called upon it's power. Inuyasha could smell the boy Kohaku as he darted from branch to branch, seeking to find a safe spot from which he could launch his next attack.



"Wind Scar" exclaimed Inuyasha as he swung the sword in the boy's direction. A glowing spark of energy ignited into a forest clearing swath of destructive energy as the attack swept towards Kohaku. The boy jumped up and away, clearing it's path. But Inuyasha was already on the move again, sailing down towards the kid with his fist extended, ready to punch him out when he landed on the tree branch.



But then, the other end of the chain, the one containing the steel ball weight, came out of nowhere and crashed into Inuyasha, hitting his lower midsection, or more to the point, his groin with a jarring impact. Dropping to the ground, he was suddenly out of breath and gasping for air as sensitive pain coursed throughout his system. Outwardly he was insanely pissed off at that point, but inwardly he smiled as he imaged Kagome attending to that particular bump and bruise.



The scythe came back into action then, wrapping it's self around the sword that he was still holding. Perhaps suprising the kid, Inuyasha chose to wrap the sword around the chain even more, then plant it into the ground. He no longer had his sword, but the boy's chain and scythe was pinned in place, unable to move.



He could see Kohaku sitting in the branch above him, swirling the weight around his head as he prepared for another strike. The boy jumped up into the air, and sent the weight hurtling for his head. The half demon grabbed hold of the weight, and pulled on it, jerking Kohaku off balance as he flew through the air. Brining up his right fist, Inuyasha connected squarely with the kid's jaw. There was a sickening snapping sound, and the boy fell to the ground and lay still.



Landing on the tree branch, Inuyasha went to check on the kid. His mouth was bleeding, and there appeared to be a couple of missing teeth, but other than that, the kid appeared to be ok. He was knocked out though, and was un-moving. Grimacing, Inuyasha went to retrieve his sword.



Moments later, he was running through the forest. He thought he could smell Kagome, although the scent was also mixed in with something that smelled like it was burnt. Hoping that his charge was ok, he increased his pace.



* * *



"Wind Tunnel!" yelled Miroku as he extended his right hand. The air void went into life as it was unsealed, sucking in the numerous demons and saimyoshi insects. Sango looked at him in sudden worry and fright as his hand consumed everything it could. When he was done, Miroku collapsed to the ground, the bee poision already spreading throughout his system. Arriving at his side, Sango picked up his hand and cradled it in her own.



"Miroku, why did you do that?" asked Sango in a worried and angry voice. "We could have handled them the way we were going."



"Something tells me that we aren't the intended targets." ground out Miroku under the pain that he was feeling. "I'll be all right. Go now and find Inuyasha and Kagome. I don't know, but somehow I feel as if they are in danger. I think you know as well."



Sango nodded her head, and relunctantly leaving him behind, hopped aboard Kirara as she soared into the air and headed towards where they last saw Kagome and Inuyasha leave the camp. The monk smiled as they departed, they laid on the ground next to the smoldering fire. Shippou came by his side to administer aid in any form he could.



* * *



Sesshomaru glared at Hakidoshi as he prepared for his next offensive move. If the barrier wasn't present, he could cut the little shrimp down in an instant with his Tokijin. Instead, he would have to find some way to wear it down, or else make the kid lose the focus on maintaining. Fat chance of that though. The little boy seemed to hardly be paying any attention to the barrier, so he guessed Naraku had made it to where it just came naturally for him. Knowing Naraku as he did, the kid would also probably run for his life the moment the barrier came down.



Hakidoshi, in the meantime, was contemplating on what to do about Sesshomaru. Despite being an emotional attachment to Sango, and therefore a likely fact that Inuyasha wouldn't cut him down, Kohaku could only last so long. Depending on how suicidal or loyal the monk felt, the others may not be delayed that long either. At once Hakidoshi knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat Sesshomaru in enough time to kidnapp Kagome before the others arrived. He glowered as he absorbed this information. Damn that Sesshomaru. He wanted to do something to hurt the demon, to make him pay for interfering. But what could he do to the cold and heartless bastard?



In the meantime, Rin was still stroking Kagome's hair when the miko started to stir.



Kagome felt like, well, stang, she didn't know how she feeled like. Just that all of her nerves were standing on end and numb at the same time. Some feeling began to return to her body, and she was in pain, she could tell that much. Her skin was rough, dry, and it smelled like it was burnt in some places as well. As her physical feeling returned, so did her emotions and memories.



As she recalled her experiences, she looked around, and spotted Hakidoshi a short distance away, facing off against Sesshomaru. Wait, Sesshomaru?



Turning around, Kagome, expecting to see Sango and Shippou by her side, was suprised and shocked to see Rin and Jaken standing there instead.



The toad looked at her like he was dissapointed to see that she was alive. Rin, on the other hand, looked worried and relieved.



Smiling at the little girl, Kagome tried to sit up, but a jolt of pain ran down her spine, and she relunctantly laid back down on the ground, resting her head in Rin's lap.



"Th.....thanks for..help..helping me, Rin." said Kagome. Her voice croaked and her throat felt dry and parched, devoid of any water. Rin nodded in understanding and smiled, before tipping a canteen into Kagome's mouth. The cold water rushed over her inner skin and down into her stomach. As refreshing as it was, it was also very painful, leading Kagome to believe that she may have internal injuries from the electric attack. She would probably need to leave this time and head back into the future era for medical treatment.



"Not a problem, Ka-go-me. Rin is glad to help a friend in any way she can." the little girl nodded to Jaken, and the little toad offered his two cents as well, although it was a very mumbled reply. Kagome wasn't suprised. The little green imp had always showed animosity towards humans, and they had fought and skirmished in several of the brother versus brother battles. Speaking of brothers, just where was Inuyasha at, anyways?



The battle was joined. Sesshomaru leaped at Hakidoshi, and launched a shining blue balled energy attack at the little manservant. The energy ball hit the barrier and exploded outwards, levelling several nearby trees and throwing dust into everyone's face. Damn, so much for the water helping to sate her throat, as Kagome began to cough and hack.



Following up, Tokijin sliced into the barrier several times as the demon lord of the western lands tried to break through and attack the little kid within. Hakidoshi withdrew a distance and threw some kind of a gelatin emitting eletric sparks at Sesshomaru. It landed on him and noticeably slowed his movements down. Sesshomaru smiled just then, sending a chill down everyone's back when he did so. Then, his eyes glowed red as a swirling cloud of red smoke surrounded him. The cloud dissipated a moment later, revealing Sesshomaru standing where he was, with the gel having been dissipated by the outburst of demonic aura and power.



Hakidoshi was beginning to sweat. His tricks weren't working that well on Sesshomaru, and that last series of attacks had drained his barrier even further. He didn't feel confident that he could survive another direct assault. And yet he did not want to leave before exacting revenge upon him. Then, an idea struck him upside the head as he paid attention to the voices that he could hear.



Turning his head slightly, the little kid focused on the form of Kagome, now awake and aware of her surroundings. And standing next to her were Rin and Jaken, the retainer and accomplice of Sesshomaru. Smiling, Hakidoshi picked up his pike in his right hand.



"Sesshomaru, so you choose to interfere with my plans, do you? Fine, and in return, you shall suffer the consequences of doing so." said the kid-like figure in a cold and harsh voice. Then, acting so suddenly that even Sesshomaru was suprised, Hakidoshi threw the spear with dead on accuracy towards Rin.



Kagome saw him throw the spear, and acted purely on instinct. She shot up, ignoring the sudden pain that jolted down her spine, and with her left arm, shoved Rin and Jaken to the ground, throwing them out of the crosshairs of the long wooden shaft with the tipped metal point. A moment later, the pike impacted against Kagome's stomach, slicing through it as it lodged in her mid-section.



'Oh Kami, the pain....' thought Kagome. 'The electrocution had been bad enough, but this, this felt ten times worse...' As the blood began to rush out of the miko and pool on the forest below, Rin and Jaken recovered and ran to Kagome's side as the miko collapsed onto the ground. Sesshomaru looked at first shocked, and then utterly pissed off as he turned back to Hakidoshi.



The kid though wasn't paying attention to Sesshomaru. He had watched his spear's path, and had watched it hit Kagome instead of Rin. He was shocked, and at once regretted throwing the spear. He should have known what Kagome would have done, but had suspected that the girl was still immobile from the effects of his shock attack.



'How dare she. We need her to find the sacred jewel shards. How dare she throw away her life like that?'



Hakidoshi turned away from the scene just in time to witness a hail storm of adamantium projectiles coming out of the forest to his right impact against his barrier, shattering it.



"KAGOME!" yelled Inuyasha as he leapt into the forest clearing, the Tetsuiaga at his hand as he looked for his beloved friend. He spotted her lying wounded on the other side of the clearing, Rin and Jaken tending to her, with a nasty looking spear protruding from her mid-section. The hanyou turned his attention in a fit of madness from the scene to the opponent that he had attacked with his adamant barrage.



"He's mine, little brother." said Sesshomaru as he brought Tokijin up to a level angle with the forest floor below. Blue electricity snaked along the length of the sword as an aura surrounded the dog demon. The image of a white dragon leapt up from nowhere to surround Sesshomaru as he launched the most devastating attack that he had in his arsenal.



"Dragon Strike." said Sesshomaru. A moment later, blue columns of energy leapt out from the sword and headed in Hakidoshi's direction. The kid looked startled and fearful as he realised that his barrier no longer protected him. He tried warding off the blow with a powerful energy attack, but the vertical columns of destructive energy were too many in number, and the kid was engulfed in a burning towering inferno of light.



Hakidoshi's salvation came in the form of a figure jumped into the inferno to save his master. A moment later the strike dissipated, leaving Kohaku standing there, battered and burnt, the boy on his knees, panting wildly. He cradled in his hands the head of the demon, who smiled at the two brothers before disappearing into nothingness. Kohaku collapsed then, and curled up into a fetal ball before going out like a shattered light.



"I will not be denied a kill." said Sesshomaru as he began advancing on the form of Kohaku lying there. He was at the boy and had raised Tokijin for the killing blow when a boomerang came crashing through the trees, knocking the sword from his hand. Looking up with a snarl, he saw the demonslayer come down from the firecat and rush to her brother's side, cradling him in his arms.



'How dare this insolent bitch deny me my kill. She has sealed her fate.' thought the dog demon of the western lands as his right hand glowed green with his deadly poision. A tugging feeling from his pants leg distracted him though. He looked down to see Rin there, a pleading look in her eyes.



"Please, Lord Sesshomaru. Don't do it, she didn't mean anything. He didn't mean it." said the little girl.



"She's right, you know. The boy was under Naraku's spell, and Sango was just trying to protect her brother. We may be able to save him yet." said the familiar voice of his brother, coming from behind.



Sesshomaru turned around to see him holding the limp form of Kagome in his arms, the pike having disappeared. The girl was out and appeared very weak and frail. He could sense that she had lost a lot of blood, and would probably die from her injuries. Making a decision, Sesshomaru lowered his arm.



"Fine, have it your way. However, I will not tolerate her doing that again, under any circumstances." stated Sesshomaru in a "I'm not fucking around but am dead serious" tone of voice. Walking over to the ground nearby, he withdrew Tokijin and put it back into his sash.



"We will head back to the village, and wait there for a while. Is that what you want Rin?" asked Sesshomaru. He could see that, with the danger of his killing rampage avoided, Rin was now looking at Kagome with a sad look in her eyes. Rin nodded in response, and even Jaken nodded his ascent as well, grateful to the human girl for saving his charge. The dog demon glanced downwards, looking upon Tensiega, which hung upon his sash. One way or another, Kagome would not die this day. He, Sesshomaru, owed her that much at least.