Inuyasha 1. Chapter Zero, Kickoff!

**Title:** Fangs of Blood

**Summary/Plot:** Unnecessary to read, for it will be retold in the book, but here's the gist of it:

The unnaturally haired girl, Kagome, lives in the world that was saved by the hero from centuries ago, and it's not the only world out there. There is an alternate world, the one where the world wasn't saved, years ago in an epic battle. Years, centuries ago, the world was plagued by a powerful, evil demon that was destroying the world and raising lesser demons to destroy those in its way, leveling mountains, cities, towns, homes, anything that stood above him, even the humans that inhabited such structures.

Thus, Kagome reads the story in her class, one day at school. She lives in the world that was saved by the hero, and after school, as she leaves to go home, she is surprised when her copy of the book has a small dark green stone inside on the of the pages, the one where it says that the hero transports himself to the alternate world.

When she picks it up, she unknowingly taps into the power it holds, even if it is only a little, and is suddenly teleported to the alternate world, which to her, had only existed in the black text of her book, named Aviate.

And so, Kagome begins her task of saving the world with the help of her new friends...

**Genre:** Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romance, and Fiction.

**Rating:** M, just to be safe.

And so... Let us begin this epic adventure!

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Kickoff!_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

_Dead. She was dead, and it was his entire fault._

_If he hadn't been so confident, so full of himself, so sure that he would win a losing battle, he could have saved her. She could have lived and been by his side for the rest of their lives, but she was dead, and he had killed her, albeit it was indirectly, she was still dead because of it, and it was still his fault for letting it happen. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, wouldn't do anything except stare dumbly numb and frozen at the body in his slowly weakening arms, the body of who he had tried so desperately to save, but failed. She was dead._

_His head was lowered in shame, the shadows cast by his bangs shielding his closing eyes as he tried to breathe, tried to talk around the lump that had formed in his throat, tried to ignore the stinging in his eyes, the way it felt as though his heart was clenching painfully, the way his stomach felt like a large lump of ice had dropped down inside of it, and tried to speak. His mouth was open, his voice was working, but it felt as though he was being choked, strangled, by an invisible force called grief and regret._

_Through the silver white bangs cascading down in front of his golden amber eyes, he saw the form of the girl he loved, cold as ice, pale as the moon, her once pretty unblemished face marred by crimson blood and cuts and scratches from the attack she had taken, just to protect him, just for him, just... because it was the way she was thinking at the time. The only way she saw first and had taken it without exploring the other options she had. _

_She lay limp in his arms like a worn-out rag doll. What had he done? Why wasn't he there? And, the worst question that had formed in his slowly working mind: Why couldn't he cry? There was an empty, hollow feeling inside of him, and he wanted to cry, to shed tears for the girl who had died, because that was all he could do. Cry and hope his tears were worthy enough to bring her back._

_But he couldn't. His eyes stung, meaning he was about to cry, but they were as dry and empty as a bone-dry well, like he had already shed all the tears he could. But a single drop of water had yet to surface in his eyes and fall. Why wasn't he crying? Wasn't she even precious enough to him to allow him to shed the tears that were inside?_

_He blinked a few times, seeing if it would change anything, but his eyes remained traitorous, refusing to give him what he wanted. Years of experience had told him, crying was for the weak. Tears were hated. To be strong, not a single tear was to be shed for anything. And he supposed his body was obeying that rule, even though he so desperately wanted the opposite of it._

_Even though the blood on his fingers, on his hands and arms, and on his chest was warm from her body, it felt like ice water against him, drenching the whole front of his red haori in dark red liquid, chilling him to the bone. His bottom lip trembled with regret as he fought against the urge to scream and shout and throw a tantrum at the unfairness of it all, until the eyes of the girl in his arms opened and he told him to shut his face so she could sleep, but he couldn't make a sound. He couldn't even say her name, even though he so desperately wanted to whisper her name upon his lips._

_Then all of a sudden, he hated her. The feeling of hate overwhelmed him, and he directed it to her. Her and stupidity. The lump was clearing in his throat, as he fought it, willing himself to scream in frustration. He hated her. Hated, hated, and hated the fact she was stupid enough to risk her own welfare for his, to sacrifice her life for his, just stupid enough to die._

_Stupid, stupid, stupid girl that had loved him and taught him things he had never known before, and made him feel wanted, and made him feel things he had never known before... And then his hate broke and he hated himself. He could never hate her, for being herself and doing what he would have done if it was the other way._

_He hated, hated, and hated himself. He was stupid, rushing away from her that one moment, allowing this to happen. He hated and hated himself and everything around him except her, hated the trees for they were shifting happily in the breeze, leaves dancing in ignorant bliss, everything, even the sun that was shining above._

"_Why... did you die...?" he ground out through clenched teeth, and he vaguely realized he was gritting his teeth. Why couldn't he have saved her? A feeling of helplessness surfaced through the hate, followed closely by that of frustration. Why, why, why? He couldn't cry, couldn't avenge her, and couldn't do anything to help ease his grief, regret, or bring her back or anything._

_So what was he supposed to do? He felt so hollow, so drained, and he wanted to sleep, lie down and never get back up again. But she would have never wanted him to do that. His head sunk even lower at the thought of her and at the loss he was facing, from her death and what he was supposed to do now._

_He lowered himself to one knee, his right, and set the body back to the floor, her silky raven hair fanning out behind her body, her bangs separating to show her closed eyes and long lashes, back to the laying position it was in before he had picked her up, before he scooped up the crystals nearby that were laying at his feet, and spread them out on the palm of his right hand, before his brow knitted in determination and thought._

_Then he looked at the hilt of the blade that was protruding out of her stomach, and the blood still flowing out of it. He glanced at the face of his love, and his jaw tightened as he clenched his hand into a fist, the edges of the jewels feeling awkward and poking him in the flesh of his palm._

"_I will find you," he whispered shakily, grim determination setting his mouth into a fine life as he gritted out through clenched teeth, "and I will save you." He crushed the stones in his hand, turning them into dust as the ache settled in his heart, a ray of hope shining through his despair, grief, and regret. Before he soaked in it too along, he squashed the feeling, not allowing him to be too dependant on the new solution to his predicament._

_There were still some flaws in his plan, and he didn't want to get too hopeful once more only to have it thrown back in his face again. There was no turning back. He gave her a chaste kiss upon her lips, and in a flash of green, sparkling light that seemed to reach and branch out in all directions, he used what was left of the power, and having just barely enough to transport himself to the other world, he did, and went to the alternate world, where he would had a second chance to save his love from the clutches of-..._

"Kagome!" a voice interrupted her thoughts, calling out from the first floor of the two-story home. There was a second of pause before it continued, "Hurry up, Kagome! You'll be late for school!"

There was a pause of silence on the second floor, and the voice seemed to echo a moment before a head popped out of the bathroom, raven hair shining in the light, a confused look on her face as she contemplated what the voice just said while she folded the book she was reading closed.

Her eyes, a glowing neon color of grey and blue, darted to the old clock resting against the wall in the hallway. The hands ticked on silently except for the sound of tick-tock, and her eyes widened as she took in the time that it gave to her.

"Oh! I'm gonna be late!"

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Kickoff!_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

The loud tapping of her shoes hitting the pavement seemed to echo loudly in the streets she was currently racing through, her sneakers scraping along the cement sidewalk as her yellow backpack bounced up happily on her back as she darted across a street, deciding to take a shortcut through the Town Square. The huge Town Square was, quite literally, a squared-shaped area, where festivals were held and was one huge nature park.

Along the edge of the park was a path, outlining the square, and at each of the four sides, the path branched inwardly, running straight in and connecting at the center area. The paths that led to the fountain were made of neatly cut stone, polished and even, and in perfect condition most of the time. Since there were four paths to the large area where the fountain loomed, which meant the rest of the park, with the foliage and nature, of what was remaining, was divided into four parts.

From each of the stone paths, dirt paths leading into the forestry branched out, to allow the visitors to get a closer look at nature. In one of the areas, the northwestern part was a small river and a pond, where the stream flowed from and eventually made it back to the pond, making sure to stay in the area.

Her sneakers gave a lovely screech as she skidded to a stop at the corner, waiting impatiently to get across the black colored road as her eyes darted to the stoplight above, taunting her with the lit up green circle. Her jaw tightened as it blinked red, and she sprinted across the road to the other side, not caring if cars were still racing across the pavement to beat the red light.

She whirled around a corner and entered the Town Square, making her way across the stone walkway to the center, where she would take a right to swerve around the giant fountain in the center and arrive at her school on the other side, just in time for class. Leaping across the white picket fence that surrounded the pathway, she landed and sprinted across the grass, tearing up the turf in her wake as she made her way to the center of the Town Square.

Once there, she was about to take off around the fountain, but she slowed down as her gaze caught the center of the area she had just arrived in, which stood an thoroughly designed fountain, composing of three different intricate layers, like a cake if you will. The first layer was a wide circle, with water settling down inside of the stone boundaries, blue crystal clear water, sprinkling down like a waterfall.

The second layer was like the first, only slightly smaller, with water shooting out of the wolves' mouths, which were perched along the edge of the second layer, their heads turned up to the moon, as if they were howling a loss, for water silently rolled out of each of the four wolves' eyes. In the center of that, there was the third layer, where two figures, very much human, were displayed.

One was a male, with the features obscured, for his spiky bangs were covering his face on his lowered head, shielding it from view. He was holding the other figure, which look to be lying on the ground until picked up from the waist up by the male. It was a female, with her features obscured as well, but she had long hair, that reached the small of her back, with long, jagged bangs that covered her closed eyes slightly, and her lips were slightly parted.

There were dark marks along her face, along her high cheekbones and across her slightly small nose, and near her neck and jawbone. There were dark marks along the hit of the blade that pierced her in the stomach, which had, seemingly killed her. Their faces were not far from each other, as if the male had given her a farewell kiss.

Kagome stopped in front of the fountain, her eyes trailing down over the features of the hero and his love. She suddenly felt mellow, in awe as well as sadness at the tragic scene before her, as she studied the two silently, the seconds ticking by as it seemed in slow motion as she realized something.

The girl actually, looked like her, and she shuddered slightly at the thought, not wanting to think of the horrible things she must've gone through... or the good things that she had seen during her journey. A sad smile graced her lips. At least it would've added a little spice to her life.

She spied the golden plague that was planted firmly against the side of the first layer of the fountain, and walking up slowly, she slowly began to read what was printed and engraved into the golden rectangle.

"Our hero is struck with grief as his love dies, forever to leave him, going to a place where he cannot follow, and he can do nothing about it. Our hero, who had saved the world at the cost of his love's life, is frozen with confusion and regret for not being able to save her and save the whole world at the same time when he thought he could. Our hero, who had saved the world for those he had hated, had saved them instead of his love, confident; he could save both and gambled the lives of all who were involved.

We could only be grateful that he saved us first and not his love. Our hero, we salute you, and honor you with this statue and fountain, however, we know it will never amount to the loss of your love. We can only hope you are happy where you have fled."

Kagome was unaware of the tears that had formed in her eyes, until the image of the golden plague blurred and she felt something wet on her cheeks, streaking down towards her chin. She quickly scrubbed the tears away, quietly laughing to herself in embarrassment, for she had always loved stories so tragic and romantic such as that, but she was humiliated because she always cried at the scenes like this.

She wiped the rest of the tears away, blinking a few times before a bell chimed high and faraway. Her head snapped up, and she glanced around quickly, searching for a source of time, but she realized it was the school's bell, and she sprinted down the rest of the way, leaving the looming fountain behind as she disappeared down the pathway.

Leaping over a few rocks that were nestled cozily on the sides of the walkway, she made her way to her school, crossing the street - which she had dodged the cars skillfully - and slipping into the crowd of kids that were piling through the front door to get to their classes.

She took a deep breath, regaining her composure as she turned and sauntered casually off to the first class of the day. It was Literature, or at least a type of Language Arts, and strutting through the door, she took her assigned seat and plopped down in it, setting her stuff by her feet and leaning back against the chair as she gave a yawn, stretching her arms behind her. The teacher was late again. What a surprise, she noted, until the teacher walked in, and Kagome glanced confusedly at the clock, realizing that the teacher was actually early.

She shrugged and pulled out her book, setting it gently against the surface of her desk, before taking out a pencil and watching her instructor carefully as the students copied her motion, getting ready for today's lesson. The teacher - Mrs. Kitharas, her mind supplied - took out her own copy of the book, the teacher's edition, and flipped to a page a few pages before Kagome had stopped earlier that morning.

"Today, we'll be reading over the ending of the battle that the hero and the demon fought, where he finds his love and tries to heal her with what was left of the ultimate element," Mrs. Kitharas announced, tapping the page as if to prove a point. There was a quiet shuffle as the students opened their own books, flipping to the page that their teacher was on. "Kagome, please start us off. Top of page six hundred and forty-four, first paragraph."

The said girl nodded and looked down at the page, found her place, and then began reading aloud the printed text. "The demon fell upon the final blow, white light purifying its form, sending it as ashes to the floor as the hero stood up victoriously, and turning upon his companion to tell her of his accomplishment, he watched, frozen, as his love collapsed on the ground, too weak to stand up any longer..."

And the story was on.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Author's Notes:** What'd you guys think? I've already written some more chapters for this story, and I'm hoping I won't get lazy and discontinue it. That seems to happen to _all_ of my stories and it sucks! Well… anyways, I hope you guys like this story! And I do accept flames, 'cause I just think of them as constructive criticism. But if you do decide to diss this story, please don't be too harsh! Thanks, and see you next time!

**Next Chapter Update:** Two or three days max, I promise.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**Begin!**_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

'_Human? You're not...'_ A thump ahead of her stopped her train of thought and she glued her eyes to the club that the ogre was wielding. For a few moments they lingered on the wooden weapon until she turned her head and glared at the boy perched way high up, and pointed. "Look, if you don't help me out, I'll die-!"

"-Like I care-" he mumbled, but Kagome continued anyway.

"-and I'll turn into a ghost because I won't rest until I feel like I've haunted you enough!" she finished with her wagging finger turning into a shaking fist, and the boy sighed, the hand supporting his head dropping to rest on his other arm. His eyes were slightly covered by his bangs, and the left was almost nearly invisible from her sight, but she saw them narrow.

"You're so obnoxious," he grumbled as if he was taking care of a little kid. Kagome practically flamed, but before she could send him a look that would send him six feet under, the ogre grunted and threw down his club. She screamed, pressing herself against the tree as if she was trying to burrow through it.

…

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**End!**_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

Until next time!

Fangs of Blood: Chapter One -->


	2. Chapter One

**Title:** Fangs of Blood

**Summary/Plot:** Please see the first installment, "Fangs of Blood: Kickoff!" to read the summary, for it is quite long and takes up space that the chapter should be filling up.

**Genre:** Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romance, and Fiction.

**Rating:** To start off with, M.

And so... Let us begin this epic adventure!

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Chapter One_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

Her eyes peered up at the clear blue sky, the sun's rays bathing her in a golden glow as she lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the bright light, casting a shadow over her bangs. The atmosphere was clear, a sea of crystal blue the ceiling of the world for today, and she let out a sigh as she lowered her hand. She was currently standing in front of her school, the red brick building behind her form, and she was about to leave for home, standing at the top of the steps and ready to descend.

She sighed again. Today had been rather uneventful; the only one worth mentioning was her Literature class, which they had discussed the part of the book as planned, and Kagome had noticed details she had yet to see before. And now that she thought of it, she was thinking more and more about the hidden meanings behind the book's words, for it couldn't be possible that the book was entirely correct on the events that had unfolded in the past.

Or maybe she was just thinking about it too much. Either way, she was ready to go home and finish up the book in den of her home, settling into the plush couch that was nestled in there, and reading cozily next to the fireplace and her favorite music playing in the air. She smiled wistfully and dug the book out of her backpack, before flipping to the page she was on this morning.

A clattering and clinking sound at her feet stopped her in her advance towards the stairs, and she slowly turned back around, her eyes roving over the floor to see if she had dropped her keys or something else that was important. There, lying conspicuously on the cement was a small green shard, looking to be chipped off of something much larger. Bending to pick it up, she gazed at it intently, surmising it must've fallen out of the book.

In the many, small surfaces of the shard, she saw her reflection look back, and she tapped it to see if her image would distort or change in anyway, but her eyes widened when the crystal crumbled into pieces, like dust, and in her palm, lay a lump of green flakes. She gasped when her hair was suddenly pulled forward, like something was sucking her forward, but pushing her back at the same time. Wind whipped around her, like a hurricane as the dust flew from her hand, mixing with the tornado and turning it into a green whirlwind.

She held a tight grip onto the book and pressed both of her hands to her ears, the roaring of the wind too loud for her eardrums to handle, like heavy metal music was on full blast on one of those huge speakers right next to her ear. She screwed her eyes shut, praying she wouldn't be suddenly suspended in air and then thrown to the ground like a rock, killed on impact. Weaving her hands slightly in her hair while still pressing them against her ears, she was able to hold some of her innocent hair down from being violently whipped around.

And then it was silent, so quiet it felt as though a pin could be heard if it fell to the floor. Slowly, she cracked an eye open to see what was going on, and she snapped both of them open in surprise. Around her was complete and utter destruction, like hell had suddenly broken loose and trampled all in its way. Slowly her hands lowered from her head as she stepped back slightly, like the overwhelming situation at hand was a physical force and was pushing her back.

Ahead of her was indeed, the Town Square, like it had always been, except, it wasn't there. The whole park had been demolished, like a steamroller had gone over it, crushing everything down and leveling it with the rest of the ground. Everything was gray and unsteady looking, like if she touched it, it would immediately crumble into ashes. She took another step back and her foot hit something, and turning around, she expected it to be something fairly recognizable. And what she saw made her heart stop.

It was the half-eaten head of what looked to be her teacher from her Literature class. Her eyes shot open at the mangled face, widening more then ever, and then she screamed, screwing them shut and stumbling back frantically before tripping over some debris and falling to the ground on her back. Her fingers clasped the sides of her head, tangling themselves in her hair as she shook her head animatedly.

"No... No... No, no, no! That wasn't the head of your teacher and you know it! She was alive only moments ago!" she whispered quickly, and she slightly believed it, even though there was a heavy amount of evidence to the contrary. Slowly, her eyes cracked open, and she expected different results, but when she opened her eyes, she saw the same thing. She gave another scream just for good measure, before she calmed down, although she was panting enough to be classified as hyperventilating as she stared at the head that seemingly stared back.

She jumped when something crushed the head, causing the insides to fly out and land at her feet, sliding a few inches as she scrambled back, screaming. The foot of the offender slowly rose out of the muck and settled by its other foot, and as her eyes looked up, it led to two arms, a green built chest, and an ugly ogre face staring back at her own face. She blinked as it sized her up, licking its uneven and sharp teeth thoughtfully, before it slowly made its way forward. Kagome began screaming as it was the only thing she could do, scrambling backwards frantically as the ogre advanced on her.

A very annoyed, deep male voice called out to her, agitation ringing clear in his tone. "Eh, shut up, girl, you're giving me a headache with that shriek of yours." Kagome looked up towards the source of the voice to find a boy, looking no older than herself, standing casually and perched on the corner of a ruined building, arms folded across his chest and a bored look on his face.

From what she could see, he was wearing a red haori that was tied closed with a red obi, and a beige haori underneath, and then a red hakama that was slightly faded in some places. She gave him a confused look as the ogre stomped forward, seemingly unaware of the new presence in the area. Or perhaps he just frankly didn't care.

Kagome's confused look of questioning his actions turned to that of a glare. "Well, are you just gonna stand there and watch me get killed?" she ground out, keeping an eye on the ogre as she scooted backwards down the steps. The boy's head tilted slightly, as if questioning her actions, his long silver white hair shifting with the movement, before he crouched down, draping one arm across the top of his knees and propping up his right hand to rest his cheek on it. He gave her a bored look.

"Maybe." Kagome's glare turned to that of a full-blown glower as she stood up; gripping onto the rough bark of the tree she had run into before turning towards the boy who was watching her with mild interest as if he was watching a show on TV. Her teeth met each other as her jaw tightened.

"Well, you know you could be a nice guy and save a person. Like me, for instance. Although it's just a suggestion." This was completely ridiculous! She was arguing with a complete stranger who was doing nothing about saving her from being killed, which was the most obvious thing to do when someone was in trouble! She shot him a cross look. The boy merely sighed, as if it was a question and he needed time to think about it.

"I'm not a nice guy," he said bluntly, and Kagome almost shouted her agreement, but held her tongue as her eyes were immediately drawn to the ogre who was only a few feet away now. They widened as it snorted, taking in her scent before grunting and drawing its club above its head, which was being dragged across the ground before when it was walking. "And... I just plain don't like people. Of the human kind, I might add, since that refers to you."

_'Human? You're not...'_ A thump ahead of her stopped her train of thought and she glued her eyes to the club that the ogre was wielding. For a few moments they lingered on the wooden weapon until she turned her head and glared at the boy perched way high up, and pointed. "Look, if you don't help me out, I'll die-!"

"-Like I care-" he mumbled, but Kagome continued anyway.

"-and I'll turn into a ghost because I won't rest until I feel like I've haunted you enough!" she finished with her wagging finger turning into a shaking fist, and the boy sighed, the hand supporting his head dropping to rest on his other arm. His eyes were slightly covered by his bangs, and the left was almost nearly invisible from her sight, but she saw them narrow.

"You're so obnoxious," he grumbled as if he was taking care of a little kid. Kagome practically flamed, but before she could send him a look that would send him six feet under, the ogre grunted and threw down his club. She screamed, pressing herself against the tree as if she was trying to burrow through it.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the boy disappear in a flash of a red blur, and then he was in front of her, like magic, his hair - and silver triangular dog ears, she noted - shifting to the left at the remarkable speed he was going at, then settling back upon his head as he lifted up an arm and stopped the wooden club. His clothes settled back upon his body as his hair billowed back down behind him.

There was a huge thud, and Kagome watched in amazement as his arm bent slightly to dull the shock, but other then that, he stood perfectly straight albeit slouching slightly as if he were bored - or a back problem, her mind uncaringly spat - and the ogre gave a grunt of confusion when he saw it was stuck, and when he pulled at it, she watched as his fingers dug through the surface and held it there, preventing it from being picked up. And then he did something the raven haired girl didn't believe.

He yawned. An enormous, tongue curling yawn as he jammed his other hand into his pocket and slouched there, with the ogre pulling and tugging at the club that he held in his hand. Without her acknowledgement, her lips whispered a word of awe, "... Whoa..."

He glanced over his right shoulder, golden amber eye shifting to the corner of his eye to look right at her, and smirked, and then he gripped the club and tore it out of the ogre's hands, making the monster fall forward at the sudden pull, and then the silver haired boy whirled on the ball of his left foot before he lunged forward and struck the beast in the face, sending him flying through the air quite a ways before landing and crashing into the ruins of the city that was once Koyuki. He landed on the toes of his right foot before making a whirl on them and standing up straight, however he slouched after a moment, and then he looked up, peering over at the body of the ogre.

Kagome kept her eyes trained on the form of the freakishly strong boy as she slowly pushed off of the surface of the gnarled tree behind her, and walked with trepidation and caution as she scaled up the steps and stopped a few feet away from him, his back towards her. Her heart was beginning to slow down to its regular rhythm as her mind calmed down somewhat. She felt safe, somehow, just because... _'He was here?_' her mind supplied. She rolled her eyes. _'Yeah, that's so it.'_

He turned around to face her, just in time to see her roll her eyes. He blinked confusedly. Did he show off too much? He slouched and strolled forward until he was a few feet away from her, facing her as she lowered her eyes from the sky she was looking at. He bared his teeth and she blinked at him before he stepped forward menacingly, making her take a step back and scream. Satisfied, he straightened and jammed his hands back into his pockets. Kagome could feel her heart literally thumping in her ears as she breathed quickly, before he smirked and her mind slowly figured out what was going on.

"Hey! Don't do that!" she yelled, jamming a finger in his face and he blinked at it before his eyes locked towards it automatically, making him go cross-eyed, and although she couldn't see his left eye very well, she could see its outline move closer towards the bridge of his nose. She gave a laugh as she withdrew her finger and he blinked for a moment before giving her a cross look, before folding his arms across his chest and, apparently, at least to Kagome, awaiting an answer.

'_An answer to what?_' she thought confusedly and her confusion must've shown on her face because he looked up for a moment, eying the darkening clouds interestedly before dropping them back down to her face, and still blinked at her expectantly. After a moment, Kagome felt annoyance crawling to the edges of her mind, and in order to ease it, she snapped, "What?"

"The ogre's dead," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, still looking at her expectantly. Kagome gave him a confused look that meant her she was still wondering what he wanted. He gave a sigh. "Aren't you going to thank me?"

'_What? Thank you?'_ her mind echoed flabbergasted, and her mouth slowly tried to work. "Uh... Thanks...?"

But he was already walking away, his back turned towards her as she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Whatever. Humans are so careless."

"W-What? Careless?" she called after him, her confusion turning to that of anger. "I had to practically threat you to save me! If anyone here is careless, it's you!"

He stopped, hands still jammed in his pockets as he glanced over his right shoulder, giving her a sidelong glance. "Whatever. Follow me," he demanded, gesturing over his shoulder with his right hand before stalking off again. The raven haired girl stood there dumbfounded, her mouth slightly open as she looked at him incredulously, like he had just asked her to go jump off a bridge. Giving a quick glance around her, she decided she didn't want to be out here all alone anyway.

"Okay, but it's not because you told me to!" She ran after him, her feet hitting the pavement as she caught up with him, descending down some stairs before she popped up right next to him, struggling to keep up with him as he walked with long strides, and since she was nowhere near as tall as him, her strides were shorter. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, golden amber eye studying her carefully. Clenching her teeth, she spat, "Don't stare at me! It's freaky!"

He blinked, but shrugged, and continued to stare at her. The subject of his interest huffed and turned to look right back at him, staring at him back. Her feet scraped over some pebbles as she kept eye contact with him, trying to stare him down as her own dark grey blue neon colored eyes noticed things she hadn't seen before. Like how his eyebrows disappeared underneath his bangs and his eyes were slightly covered by the tips of his wild spiky silver white bangs. He stared back.

Even though she seemed calm on the surface, millions of thoughts were swimming through her mind, starting to make her panic as her heart sped up slightly. She wondered where she was, if she was going to get back, and other things concerning her friends and family, and less important things like if she would ever hear rock music ever again. Her eyes widened when she realized her backpack still clung to her back, and the boy glanced curiously at her as a grin appeared on her face.

"Yes! I haven't lost everything!" she suddenly exclaimed, making him grow weary at her state of mind. "As long as I have this, I'll be fine!" She turned to grin as him, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously, as if she was about to pull out some freakishly huge weapon and shoot him. Kagome glanced at him confusedly, before realizing she had said that aloud. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to say it out loud."

"What exactly are you talking about?" he asked, no, more like demanded, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he lifted his face away from her, but his eyes stayed locked onto her face. She shook her head, her ebony bangs whipping to the left side of her face.

"Something." Her vague response left him curious, but he merely stared at her, waiting for her to give up and finally tell him what she was talking about. But to his dismay, she yawned and closed her eyes, balled fists rubbing the surface of them. He narrowed his visible eye, before he gave her a look, even though she couldn't see it. Her arms fell away from her eyes as she gave him a curious glance.

"Hey, what's your name?" she asked. He blinked.

"Why should I tell you?" he questioned back. Her hands rose in a gesture of defending herself.

"Geez, don't get so angry, I was just asking. And, where are we going?" she continued.

"What is this, an interroga-?"

"-Just answer the questions!"

The dog eared boy gave a sigh, before scratching the back of his head and giving her a withering look. "You're obnoxious," he muttered, before throwing back his head and raising his gaze to the sky. Beside him, Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but he abruptly caught her off before she could go on a fiery tirade. "One, I don't want to answer that one, so deal with it, and two, you'll see soon enough so stop asking questions."

The raven haired girl blinked, before closing her mouth, and then she abruptly looked away with a huff as she folded her arms across her chest. "Whatever, I think I know your name anyway." And then the story hit her, and she bit her lip in order from not spilling it to him in case she was wrong in her assumption of his alias. "Is it... Is your name-?"

"Hey! You're back! Finally! And I see you've found your charge!"

Her eyes whipped away from the boy next to her to a distorted figure in the distance, in front of a setting sun, the blazing circle of orange and yellow behind him, so she couldn't see him very well. She squinted against the light in an attempt of seeing better, but all she did was make the light imprint on her eyes much bigger. A big purple dot was obscuring whoever that was. _'And by the way,'_ her mind thought, _'what does he mean by charge?'_

"Cha-?" she started, but she was once again interrupted by the figure jogging towards them, a golden staff jingling in front of him and short black hair whipping in the wind. He stopped a few feet away from the two slowing down. Her eyes squinted at the gold line in front of him, but she couldn't see it through the purple dot, so she rubbed her eyes until she felt like she was mashing them inside her head. Beside her, a deep melancholy voice rumbled out beside her.

"Unfortunately," was the reply to what the figure had called out before. Without thinking, her left hand struck out, and she nailed him in the stomach, slightly above where his belly button would be. Her balled fist hit something rock hard, and she cracked open her left eye, thinking he had caught her hand or something of the sort, but her eyes shot open when she found her arm pressing against his abdomen, meaning she really had hit him in the stomach. She blinked up towards his face, trying to appear innocent when there was so much evidence to the contrary.

A very annoyed, very exasperated lean face stared down at her from over the edge of his right broad shoulder, and Kagome squeaked slightly, realizing that he had, quite literally, rock hard abdominal muscles. His visible eye closed as he lifted his face to the sky, running one of his hands through his silver white locks, making them stick up for a moment before they fell back in front of his eyes in feathery wisps before he opened his eye, narrowing it even more than possible, and giving her a glare.

"As much as a hand running across my stomach is appealing, take it off or I'll break it off," he said more calmly than Kagome thought he would have, and she realized he was grinding his teeth to dust in order not to kill her and leave her in a ditch somewhere to rot. Giving a sheepish grin, she removed her hand quietly, keeping her mouth shut as she averted her eyes to the person giving her an approving look. She blinked confusedly. Beside her, the boy gave a threatening growl, "Shut up, and don't encourage her."

The person gave a smile. "But I'm not talking," he replied, swooping around the loophole in the spiky silver haired boy's sentence. Immediately, Kagome liked the black haired boy. "And, she wasn't doing anything wrong. She was just putting you in your place."

"Shut up already." The silver haired boy's forehead found the palm of his right hand as he shook his head exasperatedly, his hair shifting about his head at the gesture. The black haired boy simply gave a grin and the only girl of the small group found herself smiling as well.

"Well," she began, deeming it safe enough to talk since the tension of the situation awhile ago had lessened. "What's your name?"

The black haired boy shifted in his completely purple and blue outfit. He was wearing a purple robe that hung loosely around his body, that ran all the way to the floor and was slightly too long for it touched the ground. In his right hand a golden stave was held, the chains jingling above. At least he looked normal like a human and didn't look like a freak. _'Like the boy standing next to me,'_ her mind cackled evilly.

"The name's Miroku!" he chirped happily, and Kagome returned the gesture, giving her own little happy tone.

"Ka-"

"Her name's Kagome and he's Miroku, so let's get a move on," the silver haired boy grouched next to her, brushing past the two and stalking down the chunks of rubble in on the ground, jumping over the large gaps when needed. The raven haired girl's mouth continued to hang open, like a dying fish gasping for air.

"W-Wait, how do you know?" she called after him, but he ignored her, continuing down the ruined pathway. The boy next to her, Miroku, gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry, he's a little, ya know, sour," he explained. "But-"

"-I heard that, ya know!" the said boy grunted from up ahead, landing on the toes of his feet after he hopped off a rather big chunk of concrete.

"So what?" Miroku called back and then turned back to Kagome who was standing clueless, glancing back and forth at the two of them, and feeling out of place like a puppy in a pack of wild dogs. "Yeah, as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, he knows you because he's your Guardian Angel, and as you know, Guardian Angels know everything about you, and yada-yada."

If Kagome had been drinking something, she would've spewed it all over him, but alas, not a beverage was in her hand, so she settled for choking on her spit. Coughing abruptly, she doubled over, clutching her throat as if she was really choking on something solid and large. Miroku gave her a blank look as the raven haired girl righted herself, swallowing before she cleared her throat as best as she could before she rasped, "You've got to be kidding me!"

But to her dismay, he shook his head. "Nope!" he replied almost cheerfully, and Kagome could only give him a dirty look. He gave one back, narrowing his eyes, before he started snickering. She bared her teeth, even though that really had no intimidation appeal, and stomped angrily away, where her so called Guardian Angel had gone.

"Agh! I can't believe I thought you were actually nice!" she hissed, jumping over a crack in the ground, landing on the bottom of the tall rock she had just leaped off.

"But I'm not lying!" he called after her, running after her before leaping over the large gap she had just crossed and landing beside her. He reached for her shoulder to stop her when she turned her head, giving him a withering glare, making him stop midway. "Seriously, he is!"

"And how would you know?" She glanced at him curiously, her eyes locking onto his plum colored ones. His bangs looked slightly long, but they weren't long enough to obscure his vision. He glanced back, before scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes to the sky. _'Just what's so interesting about the sky?'_ her mind questioned, noting that both Miroku and her Guardian Angel glanced up at the sky a lot.

"Well..." he started, and Kagome felt herself lean in, as if to hear better even though he was talking clearly. She blinked expectantly. "Uh, because I'm his friend?"

Her mouth was already moving. "That's a load of crap!" she muttered, and he gave her a withering look. She shrugged, turning to face him with her hands on her hips as she began her interrogation. "How can you be friends with that... dork? Besides, why - and if he actually is - is he my Guardian Angel? Or why is he even a Guardian Angel in the first place? He's weird and mean, and just... I don't know!"

She blinked at Miroku, who was subtly trying to tell her something. He was glancing over her shoulder, raising his eyebrows, fidgeting with his hands, just anything to tell her something. She furrowed her brow. Something was looming behind her, she could feel it, and could see the shadow splayed across the grass of the ground. Her eyes widened when she noticed the pointy triangles at the top of the shadow. She internally cringed. Something leaned over her shoulder.

"Let's see..." a warm, deep voice said next to her ear, making her shiver involuntarily, and she felt, at least what she thought it was, his chin rest on the surface of her right shoulder. "I was born that way, because Miroku is, and the other question..." He paused, and Kagome was getting anxious, her heart beating against the bones of its cage.

"Well, because I picked you."

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Author's Notes:** Well, seems like it's flowing so far. Hopefully, it'll stay like this! Yay! Anyway, let's continue on! If you all keep reviewing, then I'll keep updating! Yeah! Anyway, it won't always be freaky for little Kagome! She'll start figuring things out in this crazy world soon!

**Next Chapter Update:** A week or so.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

"Why, it's good to see you again... InuYasha." It sounded like he knew her Guardian Angel as his eyes locked onto the silver haired boy's form. Kagome slowly stood up, keeping her eyes trained on the figure, while InuYasha growled beside her.

"Who are you?" she asked as shuffling sounds behind her rang out, meaning both Miroku and Sango were straightening from the blow before. The figure who knew InuYasha blinked slowly before turning his steely gaze upon her, a smile twisting his lips.

"Ohhh, good. The one who thinks they're going to defeat me is here as well... It makes it all the easier," he said, and Kagome's face contorted to that of an understanding look. "And since I'm here, I thought I might as well get rid of the old bat before taking you two out."

…

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**End!**_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

Until next time!

Fangs of Blood: Chapter Two -->


	3. Chapter Two

**Title:** Fangs of Blood

**Summary:** Please see the first installment, "Fangs of Blood: Kickoff!" to read the summary, for it is quite long and takes up space that the chapter should be filling up.

**Genre:** Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romance, and Fiction.

**Rating:** To start off with, PG-13.

…

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Chapter Two_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

…

Kagome abruptly turned around and stepped back a few steps, gaining the full view of her Guardian Angel with his long baggy bright red hakama and loose red haori, smirking at her with his arms folded across his chest, the fabric of his red haori and white undershirt wrinkling under the movement. Her eyes were locked onto his face, widened and shocked. "A-Are you serious?"

His smirk widened. "Yes, I picked you... to make you suffer!" And then that was followed by loud sniggers and sharp laughs. Kagome stared for a moment before she realized just how screwed she was, because her Guardian Angel was probably going to do diddly-squat to save her and also how she was just played over. Her eyes narrowed.

"Ooh, shut up, you!" she growled, and his smirk widened even more if possible, one edge of his lips higher than the other.

"And I'm not weird and mean, I'm just... pleasantly challenged." He raised his eyebrows in a teasing way before turning around and walking off, his dog ears twitching victoriously and proudly above him. Kagome rolled her eyes, putting her hands back onto her hips, her black shirt with long white sleeves shirt stretching at the movement.

"More like adeptly challenged," she muttered under her breath before huffing and looking the other way. Something was muttered up ahead, and she glanced at his form, something like, "Gracefully challenged" and she shook her head at his retreating back before turning to Miroku who was laughing behind his hand. She glared. "Hey, shut up!"

His hand fisted in front of his mouth as he cleared his throat for a moment, regaining his composure. "Eh... What do you mean? I wasn't doing anything," he said back in a flat tone that made her almost believe him. She rolled her eyes at him and turned back towards where her Guardian Angel had gone.

Slowly hopping down the rocks in her way, she made it to the dirt path on which the silver haired boy was impatiently waiting. Miroku was following behind her silently, and they came up to him as he unfolded his arms that were crossed against his chest.

"Before you guys open your traps to question if we're there or not, shut it because our destination is just right over there, by that hill," the silver haired boy, who was the tallest of them, looked down at them with a raised brow. Miroku automatically shut his open mouth and Kagome openly glared at him, apparently still fuming about the strange argument before. He shrugged, giving her a bored look. "Quit it."

"Make me." The words flew out of her mouth before she thought about it. Her Guardian Angel narrowed his eyes down at her, looking over the surface of his nose as she glared up through her unevenly jaggedly cut ebony bangs that were dangling in front of her eyes.

"Alright," he replied and began to raise one of the arms by his side, clenching it into a fist. Kagome felt the nails of her fingers dig into the skin of her palms as she fisted her hands.

"You wanna start something?" she demanded, but before either of them could pull back their fists, Miroku was about to step in between them when a raspy voice called out to them.

"Ah, you're back! Finally, and you've even brought the child without harming her, boy!"

The said silver haired boy paused, lowered his arm, and huffed and looked away at the remark. "Hmph!"

Kagome leaned over slightly, startled at the voice, her eyes peering around the left bicep of the sulking boy to see an old lady hobbling towards them, a smile upon her face. Her gray, stringy hair wavered in the slight breeze from walking and the trio who had traveled to see her walked towards her to make her journey to them a little bit easier.

Meeting up with her in the middle of the dirt road, they stopped and the old woman panted slightly like an old dog as she brushed off the dust on her long plum colored skirt, her faded pink blazer shifting on her torso.

"It's... It's nice to see you again," she wheezed, and her slightly faded blue eyes locked upon Kagome's form. The raven haired girl blinked before answering back.

"It's... the same for... me...?" she replied, although it sounded more like a question. A smile formed on her face, making wrinkles spread across her cheeks and forehead, laugh lines appearing at the edges of her eyes. Her yellow crooked teeth shown upon the grin.

"Ah yes, you probably don't remember me." Her smile faded slightly, but nonetheless, it remained. "I am Kaede. I was your caretaker when you were but a youngster." Kaede turned and started hobbling back to the small cottage settled upon the base of the hill. Miroku and her Guardian Angel straightened and followed her, but Kagome lingered back for a moment. Her mind questioned confusedly, _'My caretaker? When I was... young?'_

Wanting to have some answers to the new questions swimming around in her head, she straightened and trailed after the two boys and the old lady who were walking to the small wooden hut.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Chapter Two_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

The door creaked loudly as it shut. Leaning away from the door, she turned and treaded softly down the wooden steps, down to the small area where the others she knew were sitting. Her Guardian Angel was situated upon the surface of a banister that circled the area, his legs bent and pressed against the wood, and his arms folded across his chest.

His dog ears twitched slightly. Miroku was laying upon one of the old couches, his arms bent under his head with it pillowed in the space in between, and his legs hanging off of one of the arms of the couch.

The old lady - _'Kaede,'_ her mind reminded her - was sitting upon one of the wooden chairs at the table, creaking softly as she rocked back and forth on the legs. An empty chair was pulled out beside her, and the raven haired girl took her seat as the old woman poured her something warm into a cup that was sitting in front of her on the withered table.

The silver haired boy had refused his offer and Miroku had already licked his clean, and it was lying on the plate that was on the table. She took it carefully in her hands, blowing softly at the steam rising from the brown liquid. Hot cocoa. Her favorite.

"Ah yes, young child, I am truly, flesh and bone, your caretaker when you were small. Time has passed since then and now I am old and withered, as you can see for yourself." Her nanny took a sip of her own drink. "In fact, this very house was the same one you used to run around in your youth."

Kagome glanced around the small cottage. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't small. There was a small pit, which they were in right now, and steps up to a higher ground, where the front door was. Two pathways circled around the pit, and at the other side was a door to the backyard. In the pit there was a bed in one of the sides, where, Kagome surmised, the old lady slept at night. Up on the higher level was the kitchen and bathroom. The raven haired girl nodded.

"So you're telling me, that I in fact, was born in this... world?" she asked, and the old lady nodded her head, looking like a bobber in water.

"Yes that is correct, my dear. When you were around four or so years, your real parents shoved you to your family in the other world to save you from the evil that was plaguing this one as you can see," Kaede explained, and then she took another sip. Kagome brought the cup to her lips and swallowed some of the hot chocolate. "In fact, why you are here is also because of the evil here."

Ignoring the evil part for now, Kagome looked up at the woman. "Tell me, what were my parents like? If they are not alive I mean. And since my real parents are here in this world, does that mean my family on the other side is not my real family?"

"Ah yes, the Higurashis. They were valiant. Fighting until the last of their breaths. I'm sorry, child, they are long gone. But they didn't give up and roll over to die, like some other people of this world, they were strong and courageous." She paused to catch her breath. "And yes, that means your other family isn't your real family."

The raven haired girl nodded, beginning to feel like she was understanding everything that had happened so far, before taking another swig of her hot cocoa. Kaede gave a smile before glancing at the dog boy, who opened one eye to give her a glare. Ignoring it, the old woman turned back to Kagome.

"And you know, when I was taking care of you, I was also taking care of these two youngsters and another girl, just your age," she began, gesturing to the two boys in the room. Miroku abruptly shot up in his place on the couch, surprised that she would bring that up while the silver haired boy's visible eye narrowed an ample amount. Kagome's eyes flew to the two.

"You guys?" she asked, and the old woman beside her nodded. Suddenly, an image of her Guardian Angel as a miniature version of himself appeared in her mind, and she could see him running around with a giant smile on his face while trying to catch a butterfly, and then Miroku's little person chasing after him yelling not to harm the insect.

A giggle surfaced and she covered her mouth with a hand, trying to stifle it. Her Guardian Angel turned his glare to her, and she gave a sheepish grin in return.

Miroku was smiling as well as the old woman stood up from her seat. Kagome looked up at her questioningly. Kaede smiled. "Let's go outside. Perhaps you might want to meet the other girl?"

The raven haired girl swallowed the last of her hot cocoa before rising to follow. She gave the old woman a nod, and began to walk after her as she hobbled towards the wooden door at the back.

Her Guardian Angel's dog ears twitched and he watched them for a moment before grabbing the banister he had been sitting on and hopping off. He landed with a thud as Miroku stretched from his position like a cat before following the silver haired boy out.

The wooden door creaked slightly on its hinges as it moved to reveal a large grassy area, with trees surrounding the area, their naked branches shaking in the wind, sending the last of the leaves to the ground.

The sun was still setting behind the huge hill in the middle of the grassy field, casting a glow of orange and yellow to the world as the colors mixed in with purple up above. A form was crouched next to a bed of flowers that were blooming prettily in the orange glow.

"Kagome, this is Sango." Kaede nodded at the form that straightened and turned to face the two as the boys of the group arrived at the spot where the old lady and the raven haired girl had stopped.

The girl called Sango ran a hand through her brown locks, before a smile appeared on her slightly tanned face. Kagome's own flesh was slightly lighter than the girl's; about the same as her Guardian Angel, and Miroku was the palest. Her clothes wrinkled as the caramel haired girl stretched her arms above her head.

"Hi." Her dark, caramel eyes locked with Kagome's blue ones. "So I guess you're the one who's going to save us?"

'_Save...?'_ "Save…? You keep saying that," she voiced, furrowing her brow. The girl turned to Kaede.

"You haven't told her?" she asked, and then looked at the raven haired girl's Guardian Angel and the black haired boy. "You neither?"

They shook their heads in a negative while the girl in question stood there confused. "Told me what?"

Sango turned back to her to answer. "What you're here for," she replied, and Kagome blinked. "You're here for a purpose, you know. That's the whole reason you were sent here." The raven haired girl shook her head.

"But I picked up that thing - the thing that sent me here - on accident...?" she trailed off, seeing the girl shake her head in a negative.

"No, that was supposed to happen. Everything's happened for a reason. It's all part of destiny. Yours is already set." Sango turned to watch the sunset, before looking at the old woman. "You explain it, Kaede."

The wrinkled woman nodded. "What she says is correct. Your path has already been chosen, Kagome." She looked directly into the raven haired girl's eyes. "You're here to get rid of the demon that's plaguing this world."

As the sun disappeared behind the hill, darkness cast about the scenery, enveloping them and turning them into shadowed figures. Kaede turned to head back to the house, the only source of light in the area. The others began to follow as Kagome's mind was filled with questions and thoughts that swam in her head.

Something rustled in the distance, and her Guardian Angel tensed, his dog ears swiveling to locate the source of the sound. Miroku beside him was looking around cautiously as he also tried to pinpoint the sound.

Sango and Kagome were oblivious to what was going on around them since they didn't have as good as hearing as the two boys. Although the caramel haired girl was trained in order to sense these kinds of things, her keen probing of the area with her magical force couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

Kagome on the other hand, was nothing special, or at least she thought, and was only a human like the old lady trailing in front of her. The rustling stopped after a moment, and was gone. Her Guardian Angel sniffed the air slightly; he was trying to pick up a scent but nothing other than trees, grass and things like that were there.

As the old lady hobbled through the doorway, the four followed her in, and took seats inside the house like once before. Kaede stopped Kagome from sitting as the other three situated themselves in the small cottage.

Leading her away from the others, they stepped inside a room Kagome hadn't seen during her observation before. The raven haired girl looked at the old lady questioningly as she shut the door.

"As you know, you are here to save this world. And in order to do that, you will need to complete a quest to do so. The journey is quite perilous and I wish for your safety," the old lady explained, and Kagome found herself nodding, unable to speak or say anything to exclude her from this so called journey. "And so I've thought ahead of what you might need and prepared some things for you."

The raven haired girl finally snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, that's not necessary," she replied, but the old woman shook her head, and bent down to pick up something out of a wooden box. Out came a bag of everything she might ever need. She outstretched her hand with the bag as she looked into the box once more.

Taking it from her, Kagome peered into the opening as the old lady sifted through the things once more. Inside the leathery bag were food, money, clothes, and a white box with a red ribbon tied around it to keep it shut.

Kagome glanced up as the woman called her attention, holding something in her hands. "This is for you as well. It's a lucky charm that you may use if you want."

Taking the small item from her wrinkled hand, Kagome peered at it curiously. It was a beaded necklace, with what looked like tiger teeth or something in between a few brown beads and on the back of the tooth in the front had the letters that formed loyalty. Raising her gaze to the old woman, she asked confusedly, "How do I... 'use' it?"

"If you wear it, it is believed that the wearer will never have enough ambition to leave the one who gave it to them," she explained and Kagome nodded. And then the raven haired girl reached inside the bag and pulled out the white box. Before she could ask a question about it, Kaede beat her to it. "And this is something that shouldn't be used unless needed. Do not ever use it unless you cannot do anything else. It is your last resort. When you cannot do anything else, open it."

Stuffing the box inside the bag once more and holding onto the charm with her right hand, Kagome nodded in response. The old woman turned and opened the wooden door before walking back into the den of her cottage where the others waited.

Glancing around once more, Kagome exited the small room and closed the door behind her. Arriving at the spot where Kaede had stopped, she realized the old woman was speaking to everyone.

"Miroku and Sango, I need you to come with me for a moment to talk. Let us go outside," she announced, and the two people in question rose to follow her out. Kagome watched them go as she and her Guardian Angel were the only ones left in the cottage.

He stood slightly beside her as his dog ears twitched, trying to hear them talk, but as soon as the door closed, he couldn't hear a thing, and Kagome was oblivious to them anyway as she gripped the charm in her right hand.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

As soon as they all stepped out in the dewy grass, Kaede shut the door behind her and then turned to the two glancing at her questioningly. She cleared her throat.

"As you know, you must travel with Kagome to ensure her safety as she goes on her journey. She holds something very special inside her, and you must protect that from anything. And as you know, you hold something vital as well," she began and the two nodded at the parts where she was addressing them. "You have to stick with each other for the whole thing. If even one of you is apart at the final moment, all of this will be for naught and everything will perish."

The two nodded once more, and the old lady smiled. "At least you two understand. InuYasha doesn't do anything I ask of him."

Miroku smiled upon hearing that. "I understand completely. We will protect them both."

Sango beside him nodded in agreement. "Well, you know InuYasha, always thinking he can do it his own way."

The three shared a laugh.

**_Xxxx-xxxX_**

Kagome was left alone with her Guardian Angel. Turning towards him and determining to break the silence that had followed after the other three had gone outside to talk amongst themselves, she said, "You know, you never told me your name."

His golden amber eyes turned to look at her lazily as he folded his arms across his chest. "Oh really?" he said dryly, and gave her a bored look. She nodded.

"Yeah, so what is it?" She blinked at him curiously. He raised a brow at her antics.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked right back. She shrugged.

"Because you know mine and I want to know yours."

"I guess it won't hurt, although you'll be saying my name now and that'll probably lead to my ears bleeding."

She narrowed her eyes. "That's not true."

He shrugged and gave her a bored look. "It's InuYasha."

"Alright, InuYasha," she repeated, testing the word on her tongue. She outstretched the hand that held the necklace within its grasp. "Do you want this, InuYasha?"

He glanced at the object in question after she uncurled her hand to reveal the necklace Kaede had given her just moments before. He raised a brow at it.

"A necklace?"

"Yeah, Kaede gave it to me, but I'm not a big fan of necklaces," she explained, and InuYasha gave her a cross look.

"What makes you think that _I_ am?" he asked, taking a step backwards. The girl shrugged, still holding the necklace towards him.

"Well, you want it or not?"

"No."

"Fine," she replied, bringing the necklace back towards her side. A few moments passed as they waited for the others to come back in from their little meeting before she raised her arm and threw the necklace at him. "Just have it!"

He caught it before it hit him and scowled, throwing it back at her. "I don't want it!"

She barely moved out of the way as it went flying past her, before she dove and caught it before it crashed into the wall behind her. Straightening back up, she turned around and threw it at him. "I don't care!"

"I don't want it!" he repeated, grabbing it out of the air and tossing it back at her form. Kagome scowled and caught the necklace before stuffing it in her jean pocket.

"Fine, fine! You don't want it, I get it!" She huffed and looked away, putting her hands on her hips. InuYasha sighed.

"Took you long enough," he spat, and she turned her head and glared at him, opening her mouth to speak when he stopped her, raising a hand. "Shh, wait. Wait a moment."

The raven haired girl blinked confusedly as he gave the air a sniff, his dog ears twitching upon his head. His brow furrowed slightly as he tried to recognize the scent, and a million thoughts on who it could be flew through his mind as he stepped forward towards the door.

A scream resonated through the door and Kagome's head flew up at the sound. In a few moments the door flew open and out they leaped, only to find both Miroku and Sango's forms flying towards them.

They crashed into the pair that had come through the door and slammed against a wall of the cottage. Kagome gave a groan, feeling like her bones had just broke as she blinked the dust from her eyelashes and lifted her head off of the grass on the ground.

She was the unfortunate one. Everyone else was piled on top of her, and as they recovered from the attack and leaped up to attack the offender, she felt the nasty bruise throb with a stinging pain that was sure to form later.

InuYasha growled as he looked around to see Kaede slouched on the floor, a dark puddle beneath her and a black form behind it. A ghoulish laugh sounded out as the others rose from their positions on the ground. A gasp sounded out from Sango.

"Kaede!" she called, taking a step forward. Before she could get to the old woman, the form raced forward and stopped her, throwing her back against Miroku. The two flew across the ground for a few moments, almost in slow motion before gravity brought them down and they scraped across the dirt, leaving a dust trail in their wake.

Kagome turned abruptly to go help them when InuYasha shoved her over, making her fall against the ground on her back. The form was just following through a strike with its sword right where she just was, and then it leaped back in a flip and landed next to Kaede's slumped form.

InuYasha balled his hands into fists as he gritted his teeth at the form currently laughing by the old woman's form. As the pale white moon appeared in the sky, it cast a luminous white glow on the world below, and in it, he could make the details of the figure's face and body.

It turned out to be a man, with long black wavy hair flowing behind his back and luminous dark red eyes that stuck out like flashlights in the slight darkness. A wicked grin formed on his face.

"Why, it's good to see you again... InuYasha." It sounded like he knew her Guardian Angel as his eyes locked onto his form. Kagome slowly stood up, keeping her eyes trained on the figure, while InuYasha growled beside her.

"Who are you?" she asked as shuffling sounds behind her rang out, meaning both Miroku and Sango were straightening from the blow before. The figure who knew InuYasha blinked slowly before turning his steely gaze upon her, a smile twisting his lips.

"Ohhh, good. The one who thinks they're going to defeat me is here as well... It makes it all the easier," he said, and Kagome's face contorted to that of an understanding look. "And since I'm here, I thought I might as well get rid of the old bat before taking you two out."

'_Two?_' "You mean... me and InuYasha?" Her eyes involuntarily switched their gaze from the figure to InuYasha who was standing beside her, tensed and his fangs bared slightly, his eyebrows drawn into a V shape. If he wasn't human and was a dog or something, she would've sworn he was a rabid animal. _'Although,'_ her mind said, _'he might be a dog.'_

"Yes, that's correct. So... Actually, I think killing InuYasha would be a waste. He'd be much more helpful on my side," he announced, before raising his right hand and snapping. The ears on InuYasha's head twitched as the figure pulled out a flute after catching the dog boy's attention.

Blowing softly on it, a melody began to float across the air, and it became a physical force, black sparkles flying towards him and wrapping around her Guardian Angel's arms and hands, ending up at the wrist. Kagome stood there frozen, unsure of what to do as her eyes followed the trail of darkness as it circled around his wrists.

"W-What... is that?" She stepped forward, trying to see what it was, but she stopped when the darkness disappeared, and in its place were black bands wound tightly around the flesh of InuYasha's wrists. They had white, steel spikes sticking out from the leather of it, and slowly InuYasha glanced down to see what they were.

The figure paused a moment, lowering the flute from his lips slightly. "Those are his bonds. He belongs to me now. By playing this flute, he'll hear it as well as feel it. If he doesn't obey me... Let's just say, he won't," he explained, before bringing the stark white instrument back to his mouth and blowing on it once more.

The melody floated across the distance once more, and entered his dog ears, making him suddenly jerk at the sensation. Kagome suddenly acted, her fingers moving to her jean pocket where the lucky charm necklace resided. Grasping it within her hand, she closed her eyes and wished for good luck before she sprinted towards InuYasha to try and help him.

He was shaking as he tried to fight off the melody that was trying to make his mind unusable, and if it succeeded he could nothing about it until the melody allowed him to awaken to take control of his body back. But as the seconds ticked by as he resisted it, the bands on his wrists were giving him dull sensations through his nerves, getting stronger as the minutes passed by.

At the rate it was going, he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer, at least five more minutes, before either his body collapsed from exhaustion and strain or he gave in to it. It felt like fire was crawling up inside his skin and itching its way through and he couldn't stop it.

She was going to have to get the necklace on him to save him from going to the other side. Behind her she could hear both Miroku and Sango pushing off to follow her. Before she could get three steps in, the figure darted forward and ran towards her.

Keeping her hand inside her pocket and grasping the necklace as if it would somehow help her, she braced herself for the attack when the figure changed its attack from a frontal assault to tripping her.

It crouched down and swept her legs out from under her, making her trip forward and give a startled gasp as she flung both her hands out to save her from the blunt of the blow. The necklace flew from her grasp, and in seemingly slow motion, the necklace crossed the distance towards InuYasha's form.

Continuing with his attack, he skidded across the ground before leaping up over the two forms of Miroku and Sango before flinging himself down and bringing the two to the floor. They landed with a loud thwack as he pushed off their backs and darted to a dead tree nearby before taking hold of one of the branches and swinging in a full circle, flung himself back over to behind Kaede's slumped form.

And in seemingly slow motion, he looked up to see the chain of beads flying towards his subject. His eyes widened, realizing that if it fell upon InuYasha's head and wrung itself around his neck, it would cancel out his melody that had activated the bonds around his servant's wrists. He pushed off the ground towards it.

Kagome's front met the ground as she skidded forward an inch or two, before abruptly bringing up her head. As her eyes locked onto the necklace once more, time seemed to move forward again as it rushed towards InuYasha's head and she cheered that it would make it to wring itself around his neck.

For some reason, she just thought that the necklace would somehow help him; either by giving him good luck or making that the belief that the wearer would never have enough ambition to leave the giver come true. At least if it was the latter, he would have a little more help in disobeying the demon's orders.

But her support of the string of beads was cut short when she saw her enemy racing forward towards it. Silently she prayed that he wouldn't make it in time as he looked as if he was moving through water and her eyes widened as he made it in time, rushing in at the last moment.

He captured the necklet just mere inches away from reaching its target. The smile disappeared from her face as he landed a few inches left of InuYasha's silhouette, grasping the necklace in his right hand, a small smirk on his face.

Her eyes widened when he was about to throw it away into the forest. 'No!' her mind suddenly shouted, and then as if on cue, a bright glow crackled from the chain links and seared into the flesh of his right hand's palm.

He gave a startled grunt, suddenly whipping it away, and then to his dismay as he raised his gaze away from his burnt palm, he watched as the necklace smacked into the back of InuYasha, bowling him over in surprise and sending him to the ground with a thud, face first as he gave out a grunt. Kagome's eyes widened even more as the necklace glowed brighter on InuYasha's back as she thought it was burning into his flesh too.

But to her relief, the glowing light was only battling the dark black glow of the bonds on his wrists, and as the black darkness faded away from his wrists, she couldn't help but give out a whoosh of breath she had been holding during the tension of the situation. InuYasha's eyes closed in sheer exhaustion and in a few moments he was unconscious.

Kagome made the move to get up when the offender rushed past her, darting towards the forestry at the failure of his plans as she landed back against the ground from the wind rushing after him.

Just moments before he reached the edge of the trees, he turned to look directly at her as the other two of the group, Miroku and Sango, slowly made their way up from the ground from the blow before.

"You'll be seeing more of me soon, Kagome," he spat, his voice dripping with a venomous tone of danger, as he turned back to the trees behind him. "I won't allow another one of you _heroes_ to try and stop me like before."

And then, as if he had melted into the shadows, he disappeared.

"..." Kagome stared at the spot he just was before he had made his escape. In truth, she was competely shocked that he would made such a threat, but also his bold declaration of that he'd be around more often. Weren't enemies supposed to use the element of surprise in their attacks?

Maybe he was the kind to show off a lot during battles. Either way, the raven haired girl had a Guardian Angel to look after, and crawling over to him, she found Miroku already there, inspecting the damage from the bonds on the silver haired boy's wrists. "What's the damage?"

Miroku looked up from the back of the unconscious boy to her as she stopped next to the side of InuYasha's right thigh. "The necklace didn't harm him at all. It's the bonds that we need to worry about."

Sango was over at Kaede's body, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at the mangled corpse of her caretaker. There was a large slash around the old woman's throat, and several cuts on the body. "Kaede..." she whispered, before turning to Miroku and Kagome by InuYasha's slumped form. "How's that boy doing?"

"He's fine. He should be waking up soon." The raven haired girl turned back to the wrists of her Guardian Angel. Picking one up, she moved the shackle a little to see the extent of the injuries, but as soon as she stopped applying force to move it, it slid back to its place above the burns. It seemed the bands had melted into the skin, connecting with the nerves of his body like the demon had said. She looked up from her inspection. "Looks like the things aren't coming off."

The black haired boy, who had been examining the necklace that lay on InuYasha's back, looked up to see her demonstrate it again. He nodded. "I guess so. I suppose we'll have to find that demon and see what we can do about it," he suggested, and looked over at the caramel haired girl crouched by Kaede's silhouette. She looked over her shoulder at the two and shook her head in a negative.

The old woman was dead, gone from this world and to the next.

…

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Author's Notes:** Oh no! Kaede died! Wah! But anyway, if any of you were actually paying attention, you probably know who that was. But anyway, onto the next chapter! Oh, by the way, if anyone knows what the beige colored thingie InuYasha wears underneath his red haori and could tell me in one of their reviews, I'd be grateful! Thanks!

**Next Chapter Update:** A week or so.

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

"I'll be with Kagome," he said, and then the said girl was pulled forward by her left leg. Sango was sitting happily on the recliner, holding onto her leg.

"Kagome's with me! Besides, it's girls and boys," she explained, eying both InuYasha and Miroku, and pointing at the two boys. Suddenly, the raven haired girl felt a strong jerk to her right and she found her face mashed into the chest of a silver haired boy.

"What are you guys thinking?" he growled, glaring at the two others who were blinking at him. She raised her head up slightly, peering up at his throat, watching it slightly vibrate as he growled, before turning to her other friends.

"As much as this is flattering, I don't think my body is gonna hold out any longer. Ow, that really hurts, InuYasha, soften up a bit," she mumbled softly, and she felt a slight pull the other way before she was whipped back towards InuYasha, being swung around him and then suddenly mashed into his back, between his shoulder blades. "Ow..."

"No!" he barked at the two looking at him, moving to stand in front of her. With her face mashed into his back, she couldn't say anything so he continued, "I'm going with her 'cause I'm her Guardian Angel and that's how it should be!"

…

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

**Fangs of Blood**

_Preview!_

_**End!**_

_**Xxxx-xxxX**_

Until next time!

Fangs of Blood: Chapter Three -->


End file.
