Kikyo sprinted through the woods, her right shoulder was heavily bleeding with blood staining her miko robes. Panting heavily, Kikyo stopped, placing a hand on a tree to support herself. Kikyo knew that she had to rescue Kaede and hurry back to the village, she feared what would happen if she didn't make it back in time.

KIkyo had been cornered by a horde of yokais and it wasn't the normal grunt type of yokai that she usually faced, no, these yokai were far more stronger and intelligent. She had manage to deal with the majority of the demons but some of them slipped her grasp.

Kikyo failed to pay attention and because of her lack of attention, she paid dearly. She could almost hit herself in response to her stupidity. Kaede had been captured and used as bait for the shikon no tama. Kikyo quickly glanced back to see how many arrows she had left.

To her displeasure, Kikyo only had a handful of arrows left and her saigu-yumi was damaged. But Kikyo would make the tools that she had work for her. She knew of only one person that could have come up with this scheme, Naraku.

'A web to trap a fly for the spider to devour,' Kikyo thought while paying attention to her surroundings and the yokai that were coming at her.

A fourth yokai tried to attack Kikyo but was swiftly killed by said miko. Kikyo knew that if she didn't get back to village soon, her wound could prove to be fatal. 'Like in the anime,' Kikyo bitterly thought, she shock her head to get back on the task at hand. Drawing another sacred arrow from saigu-yumi to purify another Yokai. 'Perhaps this is fate but it doesn't mean I'm going to go quietly!'

"Kikyo-san," a deep male voice echoed through the forest, reaching Kikyo's ears. She glared at the newcomer, only to find a man in a white baboon skin. "That injury of yours must hurt."

"You-" Kikyo didn't have time to finished her sentence as she dodged the claws of a yokai. Using her saigu-yumi, she killed it with her reiatsu. "Is this your doing, yokai?" Naraku chuckled at the miko's glare. That only confirmed it.

"Perhaps but it was necessary to acquire what I desire, the shikon no tama," said Naraku. "Now what will you do Kikyo-san, now that your backed into a corner. Kaede-san is in my possession and your in no condition to continue on fighting."

"Do you really think that you can threaten me into giving you the shikon no tama?" Asked Kikyo. She was still worried for Kaede, Naraku's gave a nasty smile to the miko. Once Kikyo had finished slaying the last yokai but now her right arm started to go numb.

'I can't prolong this,' Kikyo thought, gritting through her teeth, she would need to kill him quickly and swiftly. 'His arrogance and greed will be his downfall.'

"You went to all this trouble for the shikon no tama," Kikyo pulled out the shikon no tama that was hidden behind her clothing, Naraku stared at the shikon no tama greedily. "Then come and take it from me." Kikyo ran further into the forest, she summoned her shikigami: one would get Kaede to safety while the other would offer assistance.

''Set up a barrier, Asuka,'' Kikyo told the shikigami who nodded and went off to do that. Naraku sent a tentacle to grab Kikyo but she moved out of its reach, using a sacred arrow to purify it. 'I've only got three left.'

"It's seems that you running out of arrows Kikyo-san," comment Naraku as he sent more tentacles towards the miko. "Time's running out, Kikyo-san."

An idea formed in Kikyo's head, she could use a sutra to hold Naraku in place since he was a yokai. However, if she was to do that, there was no guarantee that Kikyo would have enough reiatsu left to purify him with her sacred arrows. 'It might be the only way but if I fail I won't be able to see my imouto, Inuyasha-san or Sesshomaru-san... then I guess I can't allow myself to fail.'

With new found determination, Kikyo placed a sutra in her hand, in between her fingers. Naraku upon realising what Kikyo was going to do, rushed forward but found himself unable to move. For the first time in this battle, Naraku felt fear.

Kikyo could feel her reiatsu rapidly drain. 'Is now or never,' she thought. Kikyo choose at that moment to release her hold of Naraku and instead placed another sacred arrow into her saigu-yumi, shooting it straight for Naraku. "Hit the mark!''

Naraku barely recovered himself from the miko's hold, a pure light engulfed his whole body, purifying his very  existence and leaving nothing behind. Kikyo fell to her knees, adrenaline wearing off. She was now feeling the full force of the pain from her wound. "All this caused because of this monkey paw of an object,'' Kikyo said as she gripped the shikon no tama.

"Onee-sama!" Screamed Kaede, running towards Kikyo with the rest of the villagers. "I'm so sorry, if I hadn't..."

"Kikyo-sama!" Exclaimed a villager. "Someone help me get Kikyo-sama back to the village!" The villager

"Everyone, please stay calm..." Kikyo said, fainting into the villagers arms.

"Onee-sama!" Kaede screamed again, at the sight of the unconscious miko.

****

Meanwhile Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had just successfully defeated the hyonekozou, using the tensaiga. Sesshomaru had deduced where the key to the whereabouts of Inutashio's graveyard. He found that he could use it to an extent but it seemed that Inuyasha could use it better than him, even if Sesshomaru was reluctant to say so.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Exclaimed Inuyash as he and Sesshomaru were making their way back to the village that Kikyo was at.

"It is no of your concern," replied Sesshomaru with a glare. Something was wrong and he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Well I tried," said Inuyasha. "Kikyo-san is always saying that you should be at least civil with a person even if you dislike them.''

"Kikyo-san..." muttered Sesshomaru. 'She better not have gotten herself into trouble,' he thought. Sesshomaru increased his speed to get to the village faster. 'You better not have died while I was away Kikyo-san. I don't know what I would do without your presence.'

"Hey! Wait for me!" Shouted Inuyasha.

****
Kikyo eyes slowly opened, she took in the familiar surrounding of her hut. "Am I dead?" She couldn't help but say that out loud, not noticing the daiyokai sitting near her.

"You are most certainly not," said Sesshomaru, causing Kikyo to look at him. His eyes glanced to tenseiga. "And even then you wouldn't stay dead for long. I would not allow for it." Kikyo attempted to get up but a rush of pain from her shoulder caused her to stop. "You need to rest Kikyo-san."

"Why are you here, Sesshomaru-san? I thought that you had to deal with the invading hyonekozou," told Kikyo.

"That is correct. The hyonekozou have all been defeated and the Western lands are again safe," replied Sesshomaru. "I heard that you went after Kaede with no clear plan, that was foolish of you Kikyo-san. It was a foolish move that Inuyasha would have made."

"But it all worked out in the end, did it not?" Hummed Kikyo and Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed.

"Only just," said Sesshomaru. "The stunt that you have pulled has made me very wary of leaving you on your own Kikyo-san. I'm afraid that you would pull something very Inuyasha like again."

"Your worried about me?" Stated Kikyo, a small smile placed on her lips.

"Someone has to be if you are not going to be worried about your own wellbeing. And I would rather see you alive than dead, Kikyo-san," replied Sesshomaru.

"Thank you for your concern," yawned Kikyo.

"You should rest more, Kikyo-san," said Sesshomaru. Seeing the cold Kikyo, he removed his white fur from his shoulder and wrapped it around Kikyo, being careful of her wound. "Are you warmer now?"

"Sesshomaru-san, you didn't have to do that," told Kikyo.

"You would have developed a cold on top of your injuries," replied Sesshomaru laid himself besides the miko, causing Kikyo to slightly blush.

"You really didn't have to-" Sesshomaru cut her off before she could finish speaking.

"Just rest, Kikyo-san,'' told Sesshomaru a he brought the miko closer. "If you don't rest you'll never get better.'' Kikyo let herself fall back to sleep while Sesshomaue did the same, breathing in her sent to make sure that she was still alive.

Kikyo was so frail when Sesshomaru first saw her, that was three days ago. She was slowly improving but not as fast as a yokai which bothered Sesshomaru. He didn't like seeing the miko in this state and he swore to never allow for this to happen again, and Kami-sama help the poor fools that would try and hurt his miko.