Ambush

Almost a week had passed since the abrupt departure of Sesshomaru and his group. Kagome tried to ignore it, but she can't forget the sensation she felt just moments before the daiyoukai left. It seemed like... they were connected somehow. It must have been the camp fire doing tricks in her eyes, but she saw a glimmer of silver and pink light dancing between them. What was that about?

"What's wrong, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as he matched her walking pace. They've resumed the hunt for Naraku and—even if no one said it out loud—Kikyo. They just passed a village and was now traversing through paddy fields.

"Nothing. I was just thinking," she answered. She sensed Miroku and the rest of the group intentionally slacken their pace to give the two of them distance. Inuyasha must be up to something.

"I… well, ano…" the hanyou stammered, his body tense and rigid as he struggled to get the words out. "I noticed Sesshomaru hovering around you lately."

What? She backtracked. She did not expect this at all. "What are you talking about?"

Inuyasha kept his amber eyes straight ahead, his face expressionless. "He runs into us more often this days, ever since you cured that kid who follows him around."

Kagome sighed. "We're both hunting down Naraku. He's bound to run into us now and then." Clearly, his jealousy was acting up again. She understood his reaction towards Koga, but Sesshomaru? Why would he be jealous of his half-brother?

"You're still alive. He protects you. If I didn't know the bastard, I'd even say he's possessive of you."

"What do you mean I'm still alive?" Kagome asked indignantly.

"You've screamed at him. Lashed out at him. Commanded him. No human did all that and still lived. Except you."

"That's ridiculous!" Deep inside, though, she wondered the same thing. So many times, she wondered whether it would be the last breath she was going to take for annoying Sesshomaru with her emotional outbursts. When did the daiyoukai get so tolerant of humans?

…or could it be, he had become tolerant of her?

But that made no sense!

She realized Inuyasha was talking again. "…I'm worried that he's tryin' to get close to you to steal the Tetsusaiga. I don't trust the asshole, Kagome. It's better if you stay away from him."

"Don't be like that, Inuyasha." She was slowly getting pissed off at the way the hanyou talked about his half-brother. "What are you so mad about? Sesshomaru didn't even try to kill you for the past few weeks! Besides, did you even see him look at the Tetsusaiga once when he was camping with us?"

This made Inuyasha stop in his tracks. His face was livid now. "Are you defending him?"

Well, Kagome was not gonna have it either. "I'm not! I'm just saying, stop being so paranoid of your brother—"

"Half-brother!" Inuyasha corrected.

"—half-brother, because he's not even doing anything wrong!" In a softer tone, she added, "what is wrong with you?"

Before the hanyou could respond, a low growl issued from his throat and he stepped in front of her defensively, the Tetsusaiga drawn. Miroku and Sango hurried beside them, with Shippo perched on top of Kirara's neko youkai form.

"Can you tell who's coming?" Miroku asked, his Kazaana at the ready.

"Smells like Naraku," Inuyasha answered bitterly. As he took another whiff, he looked at Sango. "Kohaku's coming too."

Conflicting emotions flickered across the taijiya's face before she nodded grimly. After a few breathless moments, a youkai horde appeared in the sky, thousands upon thousands of them. When they neared, a dark shadow fell over the field and blocked the sun.

Kagome grabbed her quiver and strung an arrow, her mind and spiritual power focusing on the incoming attack. She could feel the tension emanating from her friends, but their faces gave no indication of fear. All at once, the multitude of demons dove towards them in full force.

The Tetsusaiga's Kaze no Kizu and Sango's Hiraikotsu made wide swaths, but they weren't enough to reduce the number of the enemy. Miroku couldn't use his wind tunnel because of the saimyosho flying around, and he settled for his staff and sutras instead. Kirara and Shippo fought side by side bravely, but even then, their combined efforts did little damage to the continued onslaught of the youkai horde.

"Damn it!" Kagome heard Inuyasha in the distance, frustration clear in his tone.

"It's an ambush!" Miroku shouted over the uproar. When Kagome looked over at Sango, the taijiya was battling it out with Kohaku. But the woman's movements were slack, her attacks were pulled back. Clearly, she didn't want to hurt her little brother despite the injuries he was causing her. Kagome wanted to run to her friend's side, but they were spread out. Each of them was on their own.

If only I'm as powerful as Kikyo! Kagome desperately thought as her arrows pierced through the cluster of bloodthirsty youkai in front of her. The pink light fused with her reiki, effectively eliminating the demons, but there were only few remaining arrows left in her quiver.

Before she could nock another one to her bow, a violent force hit her from behind. She was thrown to the ground, forcing the air out of her lungs. Gasping and sputtering, Kagome vaguely heard voices screaming her name. She tried to look around, but spots danced in front of her eyes and an agonizing throb inside her head caused her to fall back down.

My bow… where's my bow… Her hands frantically fumbled around, but a painful weight pressed against her right hand, and a low chuckle sounded above.

"Get away from her, witch!" Inuyasha roared somewhere, but Kagome realized with sinking comprehension that the voice was too far away.

Suddenly, she was airborne. Her mind vaguely registered Kagura and Kohaku holding her before collapsing into unconsciousness.