InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Birth Marks ❯ breakfast ( Chapter 22 )

People should be glad I'm doing this this week and not next week (because I have a school competition going on right now. Not really much else to say.

 

Disclaimer: I have no money, thus cannot own inuyasha-gumi or Raizen or Jin from Yu Yu Hakusho. And this is why I'm in the competition.

 

Chapter 22: breakfast

 

Last time: All intentions went out the proverbial window and Inuyasha stood behind Kagome, “with us staying here, they offered to train you in their `techniques'.”

 

“what?!”

 

this time: “what! I can't do that! Did you not notice them hitting on me during dinner?” Kagome started pacing the room, forgetting that her yukata wasn't that securely tied.

 

“'hitting on' I didn't see them strike you.” Inuyasha commented, slightly confused.

 

“Lemme put this how you would understand. They were trying to break us up and flirting with me. If I were to train with them, it would be a giant neon sign saying `look at me, I don't care if you flirt with me'!”

 

Inuyasha had taken up following behind Kagome in her tirade, “not if I'm there!”

 

“yeah, if you're there, I'll only get embarrassed! You can't come!”

 

“you can't not go! They're the only ones that can show you what you can do specifically! And I won't let you get `hit on' like you said they were doing.”

 

Kagome whirled in her path and Inuyasha nearly knocked her over because of the sudden stop. “oh, Inuyasha, that's so sweet of you!” she looked up his face, seeing udder confusion in his features because of her abrupt mood change.

 

“wait, weren't you just mad at me?” Inuyasha shook his head and stepped back to reestablish his personal bubble.

 

Kagome stepped forward, “yes, but you're so chivalrous!” Inuyasha stepped back again.

 

“eeto (umm)…?”

 

“okay, so you're always chivalrous, but its sweet that you always protect me!” Kagome stepped forward again and Inuyasha looked down to her face, accidentally letting his eyes travel a little too far.

 

“check your front” Kagome looked down and `eeped', her yukata had come loose slightly and was showing a fair amount of cleavage and the torso binding around it.

 

“sit! I'm going to bed,” Kagome about-faced and buried herself in the futon's sheets.

 

&&&&

“she's a feisty one. And they're arguing! She'll be a nice mate once I break her.” Reichou laughed as he sipped some of his warm sake. The brothers were on the complete opposite side of the castle and could hear their guests clearly.

 

“you're not talking about the horses, are you? With them arguing, it just makes it easier for them to… predominately separate and make her available.” Raizen agreed, pouring himself some of the drink.

 

“and females are so hard to come across. Especially with the same breed as me.”

 

&&&

 

Inuyasha peeled himself off of the floor and looked at the lump that was Kagome, “where am I supposed to sleep, `mate-to-be'?” he said slyly, practically seeing how red she was under the sheets.

 

“outside!” came the muffled reply and a bare hand pointing to the shoji screen.

 

Inuyasha grinned and sat down on his side of the double-futon. Leaning over where her head was, he whispered his come-back, “but its cold outside tonight, and you have all this room on the futon, so why can't I sleep inside?” he flopped down on top of Kagome and pretended to fall asleep.

 

Kagome pulled the covers down to her chin and looked at the `sleeping' hanyou. “cute. Real cute.” Kagome monotoned trying to get up from the futon to find that Inuyasha had pinned her to the mat via her waist. “fine. You win for tonight, just don't try anything” she huffed and turned away, missing the famous `I win' Inuyasha grin (hehe it rhymed!).

 

&&&

 

the sun burned through the shoji screen and through Kagome's eyelids, causing her to groan and roll over on something hard with an `oomph.' She cracked her eyes open slightly to see what she had run over and all she saw was red. “good morning, sleepyhead!” Inuyasha said from his prone position pinned under her. She looked down to his face and growled, even after over a year of dawn-break break-camp traveling, she was not a morning person at all.

 

“shut up Inuyasha before I decide what to do to you for being this cheerful first thing in the morning.” Kagome rolled off, quickly re-adjusting her sleeping yukata before showing off too much skin. A knock came from the door and Kagome quickly went to open it.

 

it was Electra from last night with a new pile of clothes for the both of them. “I hope that you slept well lady Kagome, I have new clothes for you to wear for combat training after breakfast.” She spotted a shirtless Inuyasha prop himself up off the bed, “And some clothes for lord Inuyasha also!”

 

Kagome nodded thankfully and took the outfits from the servant. “arigato, Electra-chan.” The girl left and Kagome tossed Inuyasha the slightly larger and baggier set of clothes, leaving herself the more petite set, both a shade of crimson and maroon. “out on the patio, I'm getting dressed first.” She practically shoved Inuyasha out of the room.

 

A minute later, Kagome came out in her outfit to model briefly. Her hakama was maroon with crimson stars and the opposite for her haori. Inuyasha went in and changed into an identical outfit. “breakfast?” Kagome nodded in agreement and it only took them five wrong turns and tracking down Jin to find the breakfast room.

 

Once they entered, Reichou looked up and grinned slightly, “glad you finally decided to join us. I trust that you have been informed that my brother, nephew and I will be working with you for the next week. And may I say that you look lovely in that outfit?” he virtually buttered Kagome's toast with extra creamy.

 

Kagome took a piece of aforementioned toast and took a bite, “no you may not. And may I please ask who your nephew is?”

 

Jin looked up and grinned, “tha' wo' be me, lass. An' until da gets a demon with the same “fightin' spirit” as him, I'm the heir of these lands.” He grinned and took a sip of whatever was in his cup with a bluish color.

 

“sorry to say this, but in just under 500 years, you're going to be out of the job and onto another one. I know this because I know who, but I can't say who they are. Maybe in the future when we finally meet, then I will tell if you don't know already.” Kagome daintily sniffed the bluish liquid and took a sip. To her surprise, it tasted just like Gatorade (I don't own) and downed the entire thing.

 

“how you can drink that stuff, I don't know,” Inuyasha commented, trying to pass off what they called breakfast until he could snag something decent from the kitchens. The blue drink they were serving looked like that nasty water that Kagome insisted on drinking after battles.

 

“ I like it Inuyasha, it reminds me of an American drink that one of my friends brought back for the trip home. It was called Gatorade or something like that,” Kagome swirled the last of the drink in her cup before gulping the rest down.

 

“yes, it's a bit of a acquired taste. A specialty to these lands only actually.” Reichou commented, taking a sip of his own drink. Raizen bowed himself out quickly, this conversation was a little too sweet for his taste, and left to set up the training grounds for the day. “I guess in a few minutes we will start you off, Kags. I hope that you're ready for some fun,” he snickered a bit, covering it with a piece of egg.

 

“don't. call. Me. Kags. I have a name and it's ka-go-me, got it?” Kagome bit out and followed Raizen example to split. Inuyasha winced, remembering when Kagome had given the same treatment to himself before she got used to his unique form of endearment.

 

“use her full name if you don't want to be killed or seriously injured,” he suggested, hiding his own grimace behind a sip of the potent liquid.

 

“we'll see about that hanyou, we'll see.” With that, the other brother left, leaving an amused Jin and an insulted hanyou at the low table.

 

Inuyasha took his time with the last slice of toast and then looked up at Jin. They nodded in silent agreement and left without a word for the training grounds. When they arrived at the `training grounds,' they saw the brothers discussing what they should do first, while Kagome stretched out by doing some simple maneuvers on the balance beam.

 

As soon as Inuyasha and Jin exited the building, Kagome felt their presence and eyes watching her. She grinned to herself and did a handspring twist to dismount facing the boys. “I did gymnastics when I was younger because my mom made me. she said it was better for me to learn how to avoid a fight and not get hit than to learn to fight. Sometimes I still wonder why,” Kagome put her hand on her hip in a cocky posture.

 

“good. You shouldn't be fighting when there are others to protect you,” Inuyasha affirmed, folding his hands in the haori in his own cocky position. Kagome puffed up in offence, then withered.

 

“you're not going to be able to protect me all of the time Inuyasha and you know that. And with me being… me, I can and will attract unwanted, and dangerous, people when you are not around. It's good that I can learn to fight so I don't have to depend on you constantly.” Kagome stopped there, seeing Inuyasha's posture become more unsecure by the second.

 

Inuyasha dropped his head like he was being scolded like an ignorant child. He turned and walked back inside, fully intended on leaving and never looking back, `she said she doesn't need me anymore, She said it herself. Then what am I doing here with her?' Inuyasha thought, going inside to see if he could track down his traveling clothes. `and she has the others to protect her. I always thought that she'd need me, but…'

 

A pair of dainty hands landed on his chest, stopping him lightly. Inuyasha looked up and into a pair of multi-colored eyes that shone mostly blue, reflecting her inner turmoil. “Inuyasha,” she looked into his moist molten eyes, “please don't leave. I still need you, and I will always need you.” She bent her arms and rested her forehead over his heart, listening to it beat with a `doku-doku' like sound. “ and if you think about it, all this `shard detector' can do is shoot an arrow and do a decent handspring. She still needs you.” Kagome smiled gently as she felt sturdy hands wrap around her back, as if to say that he would never leave her.

 

“Keh, you are just a shard detector,” Inuyasha said gently, placing his chin between her ears, “ but you're my shard detector.”

 

“and if you two are done with the mush moment, we have training to do!” Jin called, hand on his hip, trying not to sound immature. Kagome buried her head further into Inuyasha's haori and emitted a sound somewhere between a grown and a groan.

 

“and how did you convince me to train with them again?”

 

Inuyasha chuckled and pulled back to look at Kagome, “I embarrassed you into submission, remember?” Kagome glared at him and re-adjusted her haori `just in case' before going back out to the others.

 

Kagome's expression change from glare to grin once she hit sunlight, “so… what're we doing first?” she didn't know what hit her.

 

“sparring.” She saw stars and a bare chest with white fabric creating an `X' across it. she shook her head and swept her foot where Jin was standing previously.

 

“haha nice try lass! But I'm up here!” came his mirthful laugh from about 20 feet up in the air, Jin was `sitting' cross-legged looking down at his opponent. He didn't like fighting girls much, so he was going easy until he found out where her level was.

 

“that's not fair! I can't reach you up there!” Kagome called up, putting her hands on her hips playfully.

 

“ahh, a lass that doesn't mind playing on the field!” with that, Jin took a head-dive that would knock out a normal human. Kagome dived to the side at the last minute, looking behind her to see a crater where she was sitting.

 

Standing up, Kagome looked back at Inuyasha to see him struggling with his instincts to defend her from `danger,' “it's okay Inuyasha, this is what you wanted me to do in the first place!” she gave him a reassuring smile that seemed to lessen his internal struggle slightly. A second punch came in towards her side and she ducked down to punch him in the solar plexus, knocking his wind out.

 

“and that one I learned from one of my childhood friends.” She stood up straight while Jin caught his breath.

 

“not bad girl, if he was human. Now, do you know any non-physical attacks?” Reichou called from the sidelines, standing on either side of Inuyasha `just in case.' Kagome nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on Jin's aura instead of using her eyes so she could concentrate on putting her energy into her claws.

 

Inuyasha saw the tell-tale yellow glow on Kagome's claws and decided to get into a position that made it so he could easily dodge. Kagome lifted her hand towards a floating Jin and let go. The five `arrows' streaked through the air… completely missing the almost stationary red-headed target.

 

“oookay… first lesson is target practice.” Raizen grimaced, earning nods from all the boys.

 

Kagome bowed her head, “yeah, I usually can't hit a still target, but I almost always hit the moving ones.” Inuyasha verified this by nodding his head slowly. “and this attack is relatively new to me also!” Inuyasha nodded again slowly, seemingly in pain.

 

Jin floated down and put a hand on her shoulder in a seemingly reassuring gesture. Kagome tensed and flipped him hard over her back without realizing who it was, all the while black electricity coming out from her shoulder. Kagome looked down at a semi-flattened Jin, trying to recover from the full-on spine-hitting-hard-rock move.

 

“sorry Jin-san, but I have a thing about that shoulder and guys touching it. the last time someone touched my shoulder, I got really mad and I ended up scorching both of his legs as torture. I really don't want to do that to you.” Kagome touched her `birth mark' lightly and bowed, hiding a wince of pain.

 

Inuyasha stepped forward, carefully putting his hand on her other shoulder, “are you okay?” he whispered, careful not to let the others hear.

 

Kagome nodded and gave a re-assuring smile, “it's just the mark, that's all. but it didn't hurt this much last time though.” Kagome gave one last rub and straightened up.

 

“if you're sure. I don't want you hurt, Kagome.” Inuyasha breathed over Kagome's ear to reassure her. A shiver ran down her spine as she flicked her ear away from the tantalizing breath.

 

“ if you two are done, we should see how the girl is with weapons,” Raizen offered, not wanting his son to get seriously hurt by a girl, pointing to a relatively large storage room attached to a dojo.

 

Kagome looked toward Inuyasha and back to the storage room, wondering about how much should she really show him about herself. She took a step to the room before looking back, “ Inuyasha, there are more things that I know about you and your past than you know about me and my past.” Kagome sounded eerily like Sesshomaru then and Inuyasha shivered.

 

“right. You don't have much of a lock on your secrets at all, Kagome,” Inuyasha offered, stepping up to walk beside her.

 

“that's because it's only on a you-found-out-on-your-own knowledge. Mom's just a blabbermouth,” they reached the storage and Kagome yanked the door open and stopped.

 

“Ahh? Kagome?” Inuyasha waved his hand in front of her stunned face and when that didn't work, turned to look at what had grabbed her attention. In the room were dozens of weapons lining the entire room. Kagome closed her eyes and hummed in pleasure. She hadn't seen close to this many arsenals since she watched that war movie in history class.

 

Kagome to a step into the room hesitantly, as if it was holy ground, and inspected each weapon carefully. There was everything to Katanas to Tessens to Sais. Once Kagome went around once (which took a good half hour of her being deaf to the complaining hanyou boy) with comments from either Raizen or Reichou, she finally picked a baton with spear-points on both ends.

 

“'bout time wench!” Inuyasha huffed, going outside and jumping into the nearest tree that would hold his weight. Kagome rolled her eyes and took further inspection of the weapon. She eyed it for straightness and aerodynamics. Taking a swipe, she heard the note that it produced and nodded approval.

 

“whoever made this, knew how to do it. this is the only weapon that I was allowed to handle when I was younger, and only because mom thought it was a toy. Right now this is the only thing that I'm comfortable around… except for the bow and that's only been in the past year.” Kagome said, not exactly to anyone except for herself.

 

“then we'll have to find a better weapon for you. Bow is only long-range and a baton doesn't do very much damage usually,” Reichou commented, taking on the complete `sensei' role. Kagome gave a milliseconds worth of a warning-smile before spinning the baton and bringing it within hairs of going through the neck.

 

“usually. But it only depends if you know how to use it or not. My cousin and I… never mind.” Kagome looked away and let the baton swing at her side from her hand. She had almost given away what she had promised to keep a secret no matter what because of the time differences.

 

Reichou shook off her hesitation and thumped her back, “now lets see how you with that stick,” he took five paces away from her, “you have to try to hit me and draw at least some blood, and I'm going to try to avoid it. go!”

 

With that, Kagome held the stick high to fake a down cut, while he blocked that, she twisted it around her wrist to come up to a undefended chest. She could have easily dived it into his heart, but just left a bloody-red `X' instead. It wasn't deep, but it was angled just right to have it bleeding profusely.

 

Reichou looked down at his ripped and bloody shirt and grinned, so she knew how to cut at least. He would have to do better with keeping his guard up with this weapon.

 

Kagome then came in to cut his left side and he blocked, she dove it in the right instead with another `X'. by now, Reichou had learned her pattern of faking. She went for one side, and then actually did the opposite side instead. Very sneaky… but not anymore.

 

Kagome tried another fake to the top part of his body, and Reichou instead covered his lower half, trying to fake the fake. Kagome smiled and quickly drew a comma across his collarbone where she was aiming the first time.

 

“fair time?” Kagome asked, using a nearly-invisible hook to tie the baton to her waist-sash. All three marks had taken less than ten seconds and Reichou's shirt was no more either.

 

“fair.” He agreed, looking down to the scraps of shirt hanging out from his waste. Kagome stepped up close to inspect her handy-work that didn't look like it would stop bleeding soon.

 

“I did a fair job on the cuts, some of my acquaintances would be proud.” Kagome resisted the urge to say `father' because that would be just awkward, “let me heal those up for you before it gets your pants dirty also.” Reichou nodded and touched the `X' over his heart gently, not wanting to provoke the healing already taking place.

 

Kagome brushed her hand over the wound to set the skin in place. Then she concentrated on separating her healing powers from her purifying powers so she wouldn't kill her future father. She used just enough to seal the skin back onto the muscle to allow it to heal naturally. She did the same to the comma on the collarbone and the other `X' on his side (though she made sure that the comma would scar visibly permanently).

 

Inuyasha hopped down from the tree and inspected the still-bloody area. “hey, why didn't you ever do that to me?” he yelled at Kagome.

 

“because if I did, it would just be all in vain. You get injured so often that it would be a waste of my energy… and besides, I'd never get you to sit still otherwise!” Kagome waved off Inuyasha's shocked expression and laughed. “and if you're wondering, Kaede taught me a while ago.”

 

“you know that the mark on his collarbone won't heal correctly, don't you?” Inuyasha whispered.

 

Kagome nodded, “yeah, that is where he was hiding a jewel shard. He had it hidden pretty well except for this morning during breakfast. Don't worry, he didn't notice.” She whispered back, gaining a good grip on her baton for another round with her `sensei' since she could see him getting ready out of the corner of her eye.

 

“trying to get me off guard?” Kagome asked, holding the baton to parry his katana away from Inuyasha's arm. The vibration from the hit caused Kagome's hand to cramp in protest. “Oww!” she whimpered, shaking her normal carrying hand and defending with her left. He had pulled his katana from a hidden saya(scabbard) under his pants tied to his leg.

 

Kagome jumped away from Inuyasha to test whether Reichou was still testing her, or attacking Inuyasha. Reichou shoved Inuyasha out of the way and went to Kagome, appearing to fully intend to cut her down. Kagome gripped either end of the baton and used the center to block the swings away from her body.

 

Kagome blocked nearly every swing, except for a shallow cut on her forearm to her elbow. Reichou switched his blade to face upward and swung up, effectively disarming her and knocking her down. Kagome looked up at the point of the katana, hoping that it would stop in time to not cut her jugular vein.

 

Laughing was heard from up above as she felt the cold, dull side of the katana slide across her throat. Kagome looked up when she felt the blade recede and heard it being carefully inserted back into its saya. “not bad for your first time, girl, but you still need a better weapon than a sharp stick.” Reichou offered his hand and hoisted Kagome up.

 

&&&&

 

well, I said to myself that I'd get this out on Sunday, and I did. Sorry if Kags seems a little ooc in this chapter, but you will find out eventually why she's like this. It has something to do with her cousin - wink, wink -

talk to y'all later! Dark (btw, I lost the competition and didn't even make the final cut. Wearing a formal for nothing! Wahh!)