One Month for Romance by Corisu Li, chapter 7, inu yasha fanfic

This work is complete. It's one of the greatest fanfics I've found on the Web. I'm posting it here with the permission of the author. I found it at http://www.geocities.com/inuyashakarma . Enjoy. Tim Seltzer

Disclaimer: Kagome: You know the usual: Corisu Li doesn't own us, nor does she claim to...
Ayako: Except me, so ask before you use me!
Kagome: !
Corisu Li: Hey! What are you doing here? No one gave you permission to hang out in the disclaimer!
Ayako: And what'll you do if I refuse to go back?
Corisu Li: I'll kill you...or worse, make you marry Fluffy-sama...
Ayako: Eek! I'm leaving! Whatever you say, master!!! *disappears*
Corisu Li: Now that that's over, new reviewers: badgerwolf, rP, Nemesis, Mercurial, and FanFicQueen, thanks very much!!! *huggles all around* Oh, and badgerwolf had a question:
badgerwolf: When Inuyasha broke open the pellet, wasn't he exposed to that powder too? Wouldn't that be making him change too?
Corisu Li: Verrrry good question! I can see we're paying attention! The Siaku Powder didn't affect Inuyasha because he's already hanyou. It's meant to turn humans into youkai. If the subject already has youkai blood, it'll be pretty much harmless! I luuuuuv questions, so keep asking them, you guys!! Now, on with the mission!

Chapter 7: The Calm before the Combat

Miroku seemed to snap out of his trance. "Eh? Oh, nothing, Sango-chan. I...am merely concerned for Kagome."

"Well, there's nothing to worry about! Kaede will prepare the antidote, and at the rate they're going..." She jerked her thumb toward the hanyous, "It will take no time to get there."

Miroku sighed. "Yes, I know. But I can't help but worry." 'You would worry too if you knew what I know,' he thought.

Sango sighed. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, the least you could do is perk up a little. Inuyasha and Kagome won't give up as easily as I have. Stop moping and shape up!" With that, she quickened her pace to catch up with Kirara, leaving Miroku alone once more.

Miroku raised his eyes to look at her retreating form. "Sango..." he whispered. 'She's right,' he thought. 'I have to stop this! Instead, I must do all I can for Kagome!' With a resolute look on his face, he hurried to catch up with the group.

Inuyasha glanced back at Kagome, who was keeping up with him fairly well. For a while now, he had begun to think that there was something different about her. Duh, besides the fact that she was hanyou. He just couldn't put his finger on it! That was, until she turned her head to look back at Sango and Miroku.

Eyes widening, he skidded to a halt, almost falling off of the tree branch that he had just jumped to. When Kagome noticed that he had stopped, she followed suit, pausing just a few trees behind. "What is it?" she asked.

Inuyasha dropped to the ground and beckoned for her to do the same. When the others had finally caught up with them, Miroku looked slightly dazed and Sango looked pissed. 'Oh, well,' Sango thought, dismounting. 'At least he's back to normal.' Aloud, she said, "Why have we stopped, Inuyasha?"

"Uh, wha-" She broke off as she remembered looking in the mirror at her house and seeing her hair...her nails....her eyes...but no bruise... Her musings were interrupted, however, when Inuyasha suddenly grabbed her and pressed his nose to the place where the bruise used to be. Kagome blushed. "Um, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha pulled back and snarled. "That damn shapeshifter! But when could she have..." he trailed off as he remembered:

*Inuyasha frowned in his half-asleep state. He didn't want to allow himself to give in fully to slumber, because he still had to keep an eye on Kagome. But what was it that had him feeling so uneasy? He pondered, and his eyes snapped fully open when his nose detected a faint whiff of a certain, disagreeable creature.

Inuyasha leapt from his chair and flung open the door. He didn't see the freakish shape-shifting youkai...*

"Dammit! She could've done...anything...." Anger flooded Inuyasha's features as he growled. 'I refuse to believe that I let that damn thing get close enough to cast some kind of spell on her. Stupid!!!' he thought. To her, he said, "Kagome, stay in one of our sights. Trust no one. That dipshit youkai is more cunning than we knew. She had the opening to kill you in that hospital!"

"Inuyasha, baka! Didn't we already discuss that she didn't want to kill me? Plus, I can take care of myself now!"

"Well, that doesn't stop me from w-" he cut off his sentence abruptly. "I mean, fine. Do whatever the hell you want. See if I care, bitch." He leapt back up into a tree and sat down. "Let's stay here for the night. The sun's going down."

Kagome watched him carefully. Did he almost say that he was worried about her? A scream and a slap from Sango shook her from her thoughts, and she sighed as she took out her sleeping bag. 'I'm fully aware that we kissed twice,' she thought, 'But both times, we never really talked about it. Is he just responding to me because I look like Kikyou, or is he truly interested?' She huffed in disgust as she settled down to sleep. 'Will he ever actually be over her?'

Shippou crept into the space under Kagome's chin and curled up with his tail over his nose. Kagome smiled and shifted to make room for him before falling into a deep slumber.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, wasn't so content. He had been watching the setting sun, and was racked with a sudden draining feeling as the sun disappeared and the moon took its place...except there was no moon. "Shit!" he hissed, trying to slide out of the tree before he lost all of his hanyou abilities. He landed normally, but his legs still quivered when he hit the ground. Sitting at the foot of the tree, he watched as the transformation completed itself. Human again. "Shit!" he whispered again, knowing that he would get no sleep that night. Oh, how right he was.

Yellow eyes blinked and faded into the distance, a faint howl going unheard by Inuyasha's human ears.

Kouga blinked in wonder, then laughed. "Ningen? He's ningen? Tonight, of all nights! Hmm, that calls for a change in plan. Forget waiting for morning! We attack now!"

The wolf lowered his eyes, knowing that he would truly regret his next statement. "Kouga-sama, you would truly attack Inuyasha when he is defenseless? Have you no honor?"

Kouga stopped laughing and turned chilly eyes on the wolf, who turned as if to run. Too late. The surrounding wolves shut their eyes tight at the howl that emanated from their poor brother just before he was decapitated. "Do any more of you wish to question my judgment?" Kouga asked, flicking blood from his claws as he spoke.

"Good. Remember, the girl is not to be harmed. Bring her here, and await my arrival. Remember, no one..." He kicked the body of the dead wolf into the underbrush. "NO ONE is to question me. And no one is to kill the dog-shit." He grinned a smile full of malice. "I will do that myself..."

Kouga began to laugh and the wolves joined in, their laughter merging and forming one single, howling sound. This howl erupted over the trees and birds awoke and fled their homes, frightened. The sound encompassed several miles, and did not go unnoticed by a certain person...

Kagome couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was as if her entire body had frozen up at the sight of Inuyasha. They were back in yesterday, and that guy still had a gun pointed directly at Inuyasha's skull. For a moment, Kagome panicked, but then she remembered that she could just subdue him like she did before. She tried to scream the word, only remembering too late that she had been stricken dumb. She could only look on in horror as the gun fired and Inuyasha's cry of rage was cut short as he fell to the ground, unmoving.

All of a sudden, Kagome's spell broke and she rushed forward. "Inuyasha!" she yelled, her grief putting her in physical pain. Slowly she raised her eyes to his killer. "Why? WHY?"

The groper began to chuckle, and as she watched, he took on a much more familiar form...

"Kouga?" she whispered in disbelief. The wolf youkai only smiled before tossing her over his shoulder and zooming off, a howl escaping his lips as they left Inuyasha's dead body on the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Kagome shrieked, throwing herself forward so quickly that she catapulted Shippou about 20 feet away. Everyone's eyes flew open (except Inuyasha's, his had been open the whole time) and they sat up, concern all over their faces.

Before Kagome could answer him, she felt bile rising in her throat. She pulled herself from her sleeping bag and stumbled over to the bushes, where she proceeded to be violently sick.

Sango rushed over immediately and put a hand on the shaking girl's shoulder. "Kagome-chan?"

Kagome didn't reply. She just continued to shake and gasp, horrified at what her own dream had shown her. After a long while, she finally managed to stand and shakily say, "It's okay, everyone, it was just a bad dream..."

"Yeah? Well if a dream could scare you that much, I'm surprised you don't go running away every time we get into a battle," Inuyasha sneered from the shadows.

"Erk!" was the only sound that escaped his lips before the rock collided with his head in a storm of black hair. Wait...black?

Inuyasha shook his head to clear his eyes of swirly lines before replying. "Hmph. You make it seem like a big deal or something. I'll be okay in the morning and then we can pick up this qu...What?"

Kagome had turned her head to face a certain area of the forest and her features radiated anger. She had heard the collective howl. "Kouga's back!" she spat.

Inuyasha instantly jumped to his feet. "Where? I'll kill the yarou, I swear I will!"

Everyone sweatdropped for a second before Sango stated the obvious. "Not as a ningen, you won't."

"Inuyasha," Miroku began, gathering Shippou from the ground and placing him on Kirara, who was now in battle mode, "You know that it would be foolish for you to pick a fight with him now. I think you should get on Kirara and retreat. At least you'll have your life."

"But not my PRIDE!" Inuyasha hollered back, holding Tetsusaiga at the ready. "There's no way I'm gonna run from that wimpy wolf!"

Kagome opened her mouth to voice her opinion, but never got the chance as about two dozen wolves burst from the brush.

Sango immediately leapt into action. "Hiraikotsu!" she yelled, hitting four of them and sending them flying. Miroku followed her lead and was soon amid the fracas, alternating between dodging attacks and whacking wolves with his staff.

Shippou sat up, took in the situation, and thought furiously. What could he do?!!?!? Racking his brain, he finally remembered what he had done the last time he was faced with lots of wolves. "Multiply!" he yelled, tossing a handful of leaves into the air.

Now, the battle was complicated. Inuyasha just watched with a surprised look on his face as the others worked frantically, not allowing a single wolf to get close enough to attack Inuyasha, let alone close enough for him to attack. All he could do was watch as a wolf bit into a fake Shippou that disappeared, leaving Kagome free to take him out while he was disoriented. Miroku sucked up a few with his kazaana before closing it quickly, allowing Sango safety when she jumped back to take yet another swing with her boomerang. Kirara zoomed here and there, biting or clawing a wolf before leaping off into the sky, out of reach, until she saw an opening to attack again.

It was mainly Kagome that he watched, however. She moved like liquid, her strikes so graceful and yet so powerful that a wolf never regained his feet after a confrontation with her. Soon, all of the wolves were down, and they all returned to where they had left Inuyasha, at the foot of the tree.

Kagome, Shippou, and Kirara were unscathed, but Miroku had a nasty cut above his left eyebrow and Sango had a thin, narrow slice on her arm. Both were smiling, however, and this relieved everyone. Everyone, that is, except Inuyasha. "It's not over...I can feel it..." He turned again to the patch of forest where the wolves had come from. "And don't you dare try to keep me from fighting this time!" he yelled.

Everyone flinched back, except for Kagome. Setting her jaw, she stepped forward. "Hey, you baka! Do you WANT to get hurt? You know that it's best for you to avoid conflict when you're ningen! Why are you so stubborn?"

"I can't let him get the best of me, Kagome. He has to die, and die by my hands!"

At his words, about four times as many wolves than before flooded out of the woods. Inuyasha took a fighting stance, but again, no wolves were close enough to attack him. "What the hell?" Inuyasha asked aloud...and he got an answer.

"I told them not to attack you, Inuyasha. In order to properly claim my mate, I must kill you myself."

Kouga had finally appeared, and the wolves parted, still fighting, to admit him. Looking around, Inuyasha realized that the wolves formed a kind of circle around himself and Kouga, directly around the perimeter of the clearing. He also noticed that for each wolf that was struck down, another appeared instantly to take its place.

Kouga traced Inuyasha's gaze. "Your friends will be of no help to you, half- breed. We'll settle this like men!"

Inuyasha laughed scornfully. "Do you think attacking me when you know I can't fight nearly as well as I normally can is 'manly', wolf? Personally, I think you're showing yourself to be quite a bitch inside."

Kouga glowered. "You take what fate gives you, dog-shit. Now, prepare yourself for death!"

Inuyasha and Kouga stood facing each other, about 20 feet apart. Each took a stance and readied themselves for the fight. Kagome, accidentally stepping on a faux kitsune, smelled the heated emotions floating from the center of the battlefield. Turning her head to look, Kagome gasped. "Inuyasha! DON'T!"

Everyone: *grows to menacing size while Corisu Li shrinks* TELL US WHAT HAPPENS!!!

Corisu Li: Kyaaaaaaa! Okay, Okay! *makes a magical door appear out of nowhere* Step into my office!

*Everyone enters and Corisu Li shuts the door. Screaming can be heard from the other side.*

Corisu Li: Suckers. They are now subject to my bottomless pit forever!!!! Well, okay, until the next chapter. *chuckles* They didn't really think I was going to tell them, did they? Ha! They'll just have to wait...like you do! Mwahahahaha!!!! Oh, yeah, R&R!!!

One Month for Romance by Corisu Li

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One Month for Romance

Chapter Seven: The Calm before the Combat

Chapter 7: The Calm before the Combat