Koga's finally returning! I'm excited! Let's get on into this then, shall we?
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Okami stood beside Kagome and Shippo and watched with a wide grin on her face as Inuyasha sniffed the ground. "The hell are you smilin' at, Mangy Wolf!" An irk mark appeared on her head.
"You, you Flea Bag!" She yelled back at him as they growled at each other from a distance. Kagome only sighed and asked Okami to at least try and help the guy out. Reluctantly she agreed and used her ears to try and pick up on any noise as well as sniffed about for any scent trails without getting on the ground like a dog would. 'That sound... It's coming quickly from behind us. There's also a familiar scent along with it. Could that be who I think it is?' Okami thought for a moment before getting interrupted by the exact one she had thought was coming. It was Koga and for some reason he was in the area, he had stepped on Inuyasha on the way in which made Okami snicker under her breath. The wolf demon quickly greeted Kagome first as usual which made Okami a little sad on the inside, but she could understand why given that he's in love with her and all.
After a couple of moments of flirting with Kagome, however, Koga noticed Okami was standing there and almost completely forgot about Kagome oddly enough. He grinned as he went over to Okami and picked her up before spinning her around. "Hey, you! How've you been?" He asked as he put her down. A little dazed by the sudden interest in her she blinked a couple times before replying.
"I'm doing just fine other than the fact that I was cursed the other day. How're you and the boys doing?" Okami said nonchalantly as if it were not a big deal.
"You were cursed!? Who did it? Point them out to me and I'll kill 'em, no problem!" Koga said in an angry and panicked state all of the sudden.
"We already killed the witch, don't worry about it. You know I can handle myself." She reassured him.
"Yeah, yeah... Anyway, to answer your question, my men and I are doing well." Koga smirked as Okami pulled her bag off of her shoulder and started searching through it.
"Good. I actually got something for you guys." Okami said as she started pulling something out.
"Is it some more of those snacks you gave us last time?" Koga asked as his eyes lit up with excitement, though he'd never admit to it.
"Yeah, actually. How'd you know?" She asked with a small smirk as he shrugged it off.
"Lucky guess. Did you get the good flavors?" He asked trying to hide his enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I got you the one you liked from last time and I also got you a new flavor you can try out." She said as she handed him two large bags of chips from her seemingly bottomless bag.
"Awesome! You're the best!" He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, taking her gifts under his other arm as she giggled lightly at his cute behavior.
"Thanks, I try my best, but remember that you have to actually share these with the guys. They need to have some too so don't hog them all to yourself." Okami warned him as he sighed and nodded before taking the snacks from her.
"Fine... Actually I uh- I got you something too the other day..." Koga said as he grew a little embarrassed.
"You did?" Okami asked in shock.
"Yeah, I got into a battle with a shark demon the other day and when I defeated 'em I knocked one of it's teeth out. It kind of reminded me of you because sharks are known to be strong creatures and all, so my men helped me make into a necklace for you. If you don't want it, that's okay, but I just thought I'd-" Koga rambled which made her blush faintly because he indirectly called her a strong person as well as admitting to hand making a gift for her, prompting Okami to smile and stop him.
"I want it. I think I'm actually gonna really like it. Can I see it?" She asked him.
"Oh, sure!" The guy said nervously as he used his free hand to pull the necklace out of his armor and off of his own neck. It seems he was hiding there that whole time. He gave it to her and she put it on carefully before fiddling around with the shark tooth.
"It's pretty. I love it. Thanks Koga-kun." Okami beamed at him as he scratched his red tinted cheek.
"Oh uh, you're welcome Okami-chan. I just wanted to give you a thank you present for all that you've done for me and my men. Of course that doesn't even begin to cover everything you've done for us, but for now it'll have to do... It suits you too." He said as he glanced away from her briefly as if not wanting to make eye contact when he said the last part.
"You mean that?" Okami asked him as he ruffled her hair playfully, his eyes moving back to meet hers.
"Course I do. You know I do..." He said sincerely as his expression softened and she nodded with a deep blush of her own on her face. The wolf demon's gaze then started shifting behind him as he found Inuyasha with his hands on Kagome, Koga instantly was trying to pull the guy off of him. Okami only sighed. 'And just like that he's back to Kagome-chan. It was nice while it lasted, I guess.' She thought as Koga then realized that now wasn't the time to be fighting and took his leave.
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"Later Kagome-chan! See you around, Okami-chan!" Koga said as he ran off, waving at her as he left and Okami was once again shocked by the fact that he had given her recognition as the boys and their wolves finally caught up with him and started running after him.
"Hey there, Big Sis!" They exclaimed in unison.
"Hey boys!" She said back with a small wave and smile.
"Nice necklace you've got there!" They shouted with a wink as Okami's blush darkened and she chuckled as they laughed and continued after their boss. She waved them off before Inuyasha cleared his throat behind her and she became tense.
"Seriously? What the hell happened between you and that Flea Brain? He almost outright forgot that Kagome-chan existed for a second!" Inuyasha asked her and Okami shrugged.
"It's nothing... I told you that already." Okami said with a disheartened tone as Kagome told Inuyasha to sit. Deep down the girl didn't want to really tell them what else happened between them because she knows it means nothing to him. He cares about her sure, but not like that. She sighed and carefully tucked her new necklace into her shirt to keep safe for the time being as Miroku finally changed the subject to what night of the month it is for Inuyasha and that the group couldn't pursue Naraku tonight due to that.
"Oh right, Inubaka-kun's man period is coming up soon~" She smirked widely at him as Kagome blushed and gently hit her shoulder.
"Okami-chan!" She exclaimed as her best friend shrugged in response.
"What? Am I wrong, Kagome-chan?" The girl asked as her friend fell silent.
"..."
"That's what I thought." Okami spoke smugly as the group set up camp for the night nearby. The raven haired girl laid on the roof of the building they were staying at and stared up into the night sky while playing with her necklace. It was her new favorite thing though she wouldn't say it aloud. It came from someone who meant a lot to her and she was determined to keep it close, it was like a good luck charm.
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Suddenly Okami's ears twitched as the familiar scent of wolves filled her nose. 'That's Koga-kun's men! From the smell of it they're without Koga-kun again, that can't be good...' Okami thought and stood up on the roof, watching as the boys came into view. "Big Sis!" They exclaimed as Kagome went to hide Inuyasha inside. Okami jumped down from the roof to stand before them, her tail swaying slowly back and forth.
"What'd he get himself into this time?" She asked as they both sighed and sat down beside her around their campfire, Miroku and Kagome joining them soon enough. Koga and Kagura were apparently fighting nearby and Koga was in great danger of losing right now. The boys were asking for their help and right before they could even agree to their terms, Inuyasha grew impatient and burst out of the hut he was hiding in and revealed his human form to the two. They both yelled and pointed at him, not knowing how to react just like it how they reacted back when Okami first transformed in front of their tribe. Inuyasha hit the two of them over the head and threatened them so they wouldn't tell anyone about his secret other side. Okami of course yelled at him for being so rough with them for no reason but he only scoffed at her and went on his way. She rolled her eyes, knowing now wasn't the time to argue when Koga was in terrible danger and needed to be saved quickly.
By the time they got there it was just in the nick of time because Kagura was about to kill off Koga. Okami sighed in relief when she saw he was still alive, but was sad to see his legs cut open and his jewel shards no longer sat within them. Kagura stole his shards of the jewel and got away with them before they could even try getting them back. Kagome and Okami ran up to Koga beside Ginta and Hakkaku with the necessary bandages and other materials to patch up his wounds in hand. The best friends sat on either side of Koga. "Thank goodness you're okay! Here, let Kagome-chan and I take a good look at you and your wounds so we can get you wrapped up nicely, okay?" She asked as she turned his head to look at a scratch on his cheek. 'Damn you, Koga-kun... You really had me worried there. Kagura-san is a dangerous opponent and she's far worse than Izumo-san was. You could've died and I... I wouldn't have been able to save you this time like I promised I would...' Okami thought with a sad look in her eyes as she examined Koga for injuries. He saw the look she was giving him and actually felt a little guilty because he could already guess what she was probably thinking about him right now and how worried she actually is for him even though she won't say it aloud in front of the others.
Inuyasha then walked over to them and Koga was shocked at his new appearance. He of course had no idea that Inuyasha was only a mere half-demon as well so when he figured it out it was no wonder he'd be surprised. Inuyasha already started threatening to fight and kill him, and Koga took the bait as he tried to stand up before falling to his knees. "Koga-kun! Please just relax for a moment. Inuyasha-kun won't hurt you, but don't hurt yourself by trying to fight him. Sit down and let us help you recover first." Okami said as she grabbed his hand and held it tightly to stop him from moving forward from where he knelt. He blushed as he looked at their hands before nodding and apologizing to her for his rash behavior as Inuyasha yelled at him.
"Why're you only saying you're sorry to her!? You should be sorry to all of us for dragging our asses out here in the middle of the night to save you!" He exclaimed as Okami huffed and ignored him, Kagome scoffing and giving him a sit command to shut him up.
"Don't be sorry. It's over now and you're still alive. That's all that matters to me." She said as she let go of his hand and tried to work on his wounds before he took her hand back into his. Okami gasped and blushed as she asked him what he was doing.
"I'm sorry... It's just that- Holding your hand makes me feel calmer and it's helping me right now to get through the pain." He explained as Okami looked at Kagome who nodded and started to patch him up by herself, understanding that Koga needed her right now.
"Okay then, I'll hold your hand just like this then until it's over. Just squeeze me if it hurts, I don't care how hard. I can take a bit of pain to ensure that you'll be okay in the end." Okami smiles at him and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles as he nodded and smiled gently back at her.
"Thank you, for doing this for me. You never have to help me and yet you always do. For that I'm grateful to you, Okami-chan." The man with the high ponytail smiled genuinely at her, which didn't happen very often, it made his men smile knowing that their intuition about her was proving to be correct. She might just be the only person to be able to bring out these sides of him, at least thus far.
"I promised you I'd be there when you need me and I'm upholding my end of the bargain, aren't I? Just holding your hand is the least I could do for you."After Koga has finally been all bandaged up, he was already trying to fight with Inuyasha once again. Okami sighed as she stood up and watched them argue.
"Is this really what Inuyasha-kun and I look like when we fight?" She asked as Kagome nodded and they both shook their heads at the two idiots fighting each other.
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They all soon set off after Kagura to try and steal the jewel shards back from her. Kagome surprisingly told them that the shards were moving farther away from Naraku's castle as they spoke, meaning that Kagura was working of her own accord while her master's powers are weakened. Okami ran beside Kirara to keep a careful watch over Koga's condition and after getting close enough to Kagura's scent, Koga jumped off of Kirara's back and ran up ahead.
"Koga-kun, hold on a minute! Your wounds are still healing and you couldn't take her on your own before! What makes you think you can do it alone now? Let us help you!" Okami tried to tell him as he reassured her that he'd be just fine and could handle himself before running on ahead. 'He says he can handle himself, but even when he had two jewel shards in his legs he couldn't do it. Now he's without them and all on his own again. He'll definitely die if he fights her like this...' The female trailed off in her head as Miroku concluded that neither Okami nor Kagome could get through to him now. Sango volunteered to help and go after him, forcing Kirara to drop Inuyasha so that he wouldn't be seen. Okami laughed as she noticed some poisonous insects in the sky.
'So Naraku-san finally noticed his puppet was missing.' She thought before taking in a deep breath of fresh air. "Take this!" The raven haired girl exclaimed as she breathed fire onto the insects and burnt many of them to a crisp so that they wouldn't be able to see Inuyasha in such a state and then readily report it back to their boss. That's when the group that went after Koga, including Okami, caught up to him and Kagura. Sango used her Hiraikotsu to knock her out of the sky much to the sorceress' annoyance. Okami stood a couple feet behind Koga as Sango flew above them. The amber eyed female was about to step in to fight beside him but was stopped when Koga turned around and told the ones who followed him not to interfere with his battles. This made Okami a little angry, but she decided to listen and sit back, waiting it out for a bit to see if he could really handle himself as he said because she truly wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and not upset him.
Kagura sent attacks flying one after the other at Koga and he just narrowly avoided most of them, proving that his speed and stamina has truly decreased after his previous fight with the woman. After a while of fighting Naraku sent swarms of demons to attack them, and that gave Koga an opening to strike. Kagura luckily dropped the jewel shards and Koga went to get them back, only for her to use her Dance of the Dragon technique on him. Okami couldn't just sit by and let this happen anymore and summoned her sword before jumping in front of him. "Claws of Chaos!" She exclaimed as a wall of structures surrounded the two to protect them from the hazardous winds. Right before the wall finished shielding them, however, one of the whirlpools of wind struck Okami's dominant arm that she used to wield her sword and made a deep gash in it. She cried out in pain as she was forced to drop her sword and her arm became immobile from that point on. She used her left hand that was still movable to hold onto her sword and allow it to disappear since she couldn't use it properly now.
"Okami-chan, I thought I told you to stay back!" The half-demon then turned to Koga and started to respond to him.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Koga-kun, but I wasn't going to break my promise to protect you. I know how you're feeling right now, you're a leader and leaders should be able to show others who's boss and prove to others that they know what to do, and that they know how to do it right. Your pride makes you want to refuse help, but the harsh reality of it all is that everyone needs help at one point or another, including you." Koga gasped at her statements as she continued.
"You wanna know how I know this? Because I had to learn the same thing first hand. Years ago I used to think the same way you did, that I had to uphold this image of strength and resilience, but then Kagome-chan appeared and helped me realize the truth. Without her help I would never have made friends, and I would never have fallen down that well, meaning I would've never met you or gotten to know you. Think about it, I am injured to the point I can't move my arm right now, and who do you think I rely on to help get me out of these scary situations? My friends. We rely on each other not because we're weak, but because we work better as a team and we understand that sometimes whether we like it or not we need help. Even Naraku-san needs help, he can't slay us all at once by himself. He needs to send swarms of demons, poisonous insects and incarnations of himself to do that work for him. So no matter who you are or what you are, whether you're the most formidable foe, or the strongest hero around- You'll need help one day or another... and you need to understand that or else you'll end up getting yourself killed and our promise to each other would be broken." Okami said in a stern tone without her eyes leaving him for a second. She was seriously angry with him and he had nothing he could even think of saying back, because in the end she was kind of right.
"I- I'm sorry, Okami-chan. You're right... I can't promise you that I'll change my way of thinking this very moment because things like that take time to change, but I'll definitely work on it and I'll try to get better so that we don't have to go through this again... I hate seeing you hurting like this over me, and it hurts me to see that you had to get hurt because of my hot-headed behavior... Just don't tell anyone else I said that." He said quietly and she smiled before nodding.
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"Your secret is safe with me." She spoke before they both noticed the whirlpools were breaking through her walls and would soon get through to them. Once they did the whirlpools dispersed and they were left sitting in front of Kagura on the ground, defenseless. The woman sent another whirlpool down on them from above and neither of them could move in time to stop themselves from getting hurt and killed. Luckily Miroku and Inuyasha came to their rescue, Inuyasha officially transformed back into a half-demon and Miroku holding the two wolves up as Inuyasha pulled out his Tetsusaiga. Kagura used her Dance of the Dragon and Inuyasha used his Wind Scar to counter it. The Wind Scar cut through the whirlwinds and almost killed Kagura, but Naraku's demons ended up shielding her from the blast in the end so she could escape with her life once again. Koga didn't waste a moment of time getting his shards of the sacred jewel back and putting them where the previously were in his legs to Inuyasha's disappointment.
Meanwhile at Naraku's castle, Naraku wasn't very happy with Kagura as she begged for him to spare her. She promised him she wouldn't try to defy him again which gave the man an idea. "How about this? If you really wish to prove your allegiance to me. I want you to take this." The half-demon smirked and placed something into her hands. She opened her hands and gasped softly at what she found.
"Now take good care of that. It's a gift for an old friend, and I want it especially hand delivered to her, even if it has to be forcefully given. Do you think you can handle that, Kagura?" The dark haired male said with a sinister grin on his face.
"... Yes, Naraku-san. Tell me exactly what I must do and I shall carry out the order whenever you please..." The sorceress begrudgingly agreed to his terms, once again just wishing she could be free.
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Hope you enjoyed and are prepared for the next chapters I'm getting ready to write out. I've been planning these ones for a while now so I'm all excited about them. Anyway I'll cya next chapter!