InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bleed and Breathe ❯ Sesshomaru Returns ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: aikidogirl 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.21.2006 | Updated On: 09.21.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 545 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.21.2006 | Updated On: 09.21.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 545 | Status: Work In Progress
I should do the disclaimer thing again just cuz. Alas, I do not own Inuyasha. It is sad and I weep for myself. Ahhhh…….
Sesshomaru’s Return
The entire castle had been expecting his return all morning. Kagome said he was close and should be arriving sometime today. Everyone was bustling around making sure everything was perfect for their master’s return. Kagome had taken most of the children to do their schooling and let them play while their parents worked. She was sitting with Nobuto when she looked up into the sky.
“He is here.” she said, though she knew Nobuto already knew it. She gathered all the kids and had them get ready for Sesshomaru’s arrival. She asked hat everyone be gathered to meet him when he got back. She thought he might like it for some reason though everyone knew he wouldn’t show it if he did. They were willing to do it only for the simple reason they liked and respected Kagome. If it made her happy they would do it. She went inside to go and get cleaned up while the cooks were preparing lunch for everyone.
Everyone was gathered in the main hall when Sesshomaru walked in. Even though no one could tell he’s was stunned when her walked in. No one had ever gathered to greet him and this was very different.
“Welcome back Lord Sesshomaru.” they all said as he walked past them. They all bowed low out of respect. Kagome was at the end of the line waiting to greet him.
“Welcome back Lord Sesshomaru.” She also bowed low out of respect before looking up at him smiling. He noticed the necklace around her neck, and also noticed how it was embedded into her skin. He said nothing about it, choosing to instead talk about it later.
“What is all this?”
“I thought you might like it if everyone was gathered to greet you at your return. They have all worked very hard to have the castle in top shape, though it always looks great.” She looked at everyone and smiled. Sesshomaru turned back to everyone and nodded his head. “The cooks are preparing lunch for everyone; I thought it might be nice for us to eat outside if you would like to join us.”
“I will be taking lunch in the study; there are things I must attend to.”
“Very well. I hope to see you later.” Kagome bowed once again as Sesshomaru walked to his study.
“Ronin, I need to see you.”
“Yes my Lord, I shall be up right away.”
After Sesshomaru had left Kagome turned to everyone. “Thank you all, I think he liked it even though he didn’t say much. Will you all join me outside for lunch?”
Everyone did join her for lunch outside. Of course all the children finished first so they went and played while the adults all talked together. Sesshomaru was looking out the balcony window watching it all. Kagome had known he was watching, and when she felt his eyes upon her for a time, she looked up and smiled at him, a shy sort of smile that made him step back for the window. Ronin walked in about that time.
“You wanted to see me my Lord?”
“Yes I sent someone to get Nobuto as well.” He walked over to his desk and stared at Ronin. “What has been going one here? They have never met me at the door, and now they are all eating outside.”
“It was Lady Kagome, she had asked everyone to meet when you came back. She also had everyone work extra hard to have the castle in perfect shape yesterday when she knew you were on your way back”
“How could she have possibly known that, not even you know when I come back sometimes.” Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him.
“She sensed your arrival. I am quite impressed with her. She has grown strong, especially for a human. It has been quite remarkable really.” Ronin was indeed proud of Kagome, and would let Sesshomaru know it.
“We shall see how strong she has become. Tell me of her training with you.” Sesshomaru sat at his desk and Ronin sat across from him.
“The first day she mastered basic combat moves. I would show her and she would mimic it perfectly. She learned a katta the first day too and it was perfect. We worked on more hand to hand skills for a week, almost anything I could think of, and she would master them in one try. The flips, the kicks, the punches, all mastered on the first try. It was unbelievable.
Then we worked on weapons training. Once again she mastered everything I taught her. The katana, the bo and the jo, and the shuriken. She has become skilled with the naginata, though her favorite weapons are the katana and her bow and arrows. She carries with her a tanto wrapped around her thigh. Lord Sesshomaru, she is a remarkable creature.”
“Yes you seem to care for her a great deal.” Ronin looked away from his master at that point. “Tell me Ronin, how do you really feel about her. After all you see her everyday.” Sesshomaru couldn’t help it, but he was kind of jealous though he didn’t know it. The emotionless prince was losing that hold, and he didn’t like it.
Ronin looked back at him. “I admire her and respect her. She has become a close friend, so yes I care about her.” He didn’t mean to, but there was a little attitude in his voice. Truth be told he really had grown very fond of her. He didn’t want to admit it but his feelings were growing stronger then that of friendship. Technically Kagome belonged to Sesshomaru, so if he ever wanted to take the chance to be with her he would have to ask his Lord’s permission. But that was for a later time.
Nobuto entered the room at that time, which was good because it was getting rather tense in there. The monk wondered but didn’t ask.
“Nobuto, what do you have to say about her. Ronin speaks very highly of her and how much she has learned in a short time.” Sesshomaru looked right at Nobuto; he had no desire in looking at Ronin right now.
“Well Lord Sesshomaru I would have to agree with Ronin. Kagome has excelled in every aspect of our training. She has even learned things that I was never able to. She has learned how to control her energy and aura. She can build it up and expel it from her to fight and protect herself. She can fly by focusing her energies underneath her. It is quite remarkable. Ronin, did you tell him about what happened when she was faced with some of the guards.”
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Flashback
Kagome had gone up against Ronin and at least ten different guards one on one after she had mastered what Ronin had to show her. The best part, she had defeated all of them in a matter of a couple of minutes. These were the most skilled demons in Sesshomaru’s army, and they were being beaten by a human woman. Ronin decided to make it a little more challenging for her.
“Kagome, since you have beaten all my best men as if they were little children I am going to make it a bit more difficult for you. You need to work on multiple attacks anyways so now is the time. You will face three of the men to start off with, and if I feel I need to add more, I will. I suggest you get ready.”
Kagome got into her fighting stance as he sent three men out to attack her. Each had a different weapon, and she had her two katanas. They surrounded her; she knew they had done this before. Suddenly the one behind her jumped into action, but she easily avoided his attempt. Then the other two jumped her at the same time, their weapons and her swords clashing together. The third came back into play from behind, and Kagome easily flipped out of the way. Ronin could see this was not going to be good for his men, so he sent in another one. Three of them were upon her when the fourth jumped in for a surprise attack from above. Kagome kicked it into high gear and moved out of the way as he landed in the middle of the others. Kagome had gained a great amount of speed using her new found physical and spiritual abilities. All four charged her at once. Her use of the katanas was fluent and like a dance. She was beautiful and graceful, not to mention she had no trouble fending all of them off.
Ronin sent in three more men, which made seven in all. Her aura started to flare, a natural instinct to protect herself. Kagome kept it in control so she wouldn’t purify them. She had learned to focus her energy into her weapons and create balls of energy through her hands and expel them at her enemies. She had first used the tactic against Ronin, making it powerful enough only to throw him back without purifying him. She was doing this now against all seven of them, throwing them back without really hurting them. Her swords began to glow with a bluish sort of light, proving that her purifying energies were not being used. Those energies glowed white and gold.
No matter how much she sent them back they kept coming back and she was growing tired. Finally they backed her into a corner, above and around and she had nowhere to run. She began to panic as they closed in on her, their weapons ready to strike sown on her. Mentally she knew that they wouldn’t hurt her, but her spiritual instincts thought differently and they flared around her eventually exploding on the men. It sent them back twenty feet at least, and her aura spread over the crowd that had gathered. It only had hurt the men, no one in the crowd was affected, that was the control of her powers. Some of them were severely wounded, lost limbs and severe burning. The others only sustained minor injuries since they were further away, they would heal in a day or two. Kagome herself was unconscious; the use of so much energy exhausted her. The men were taken to the hospital wing and Kagome was taken to her room to rest. The crowd was in shock, how could someone so kind do that to people she knew?
Ronin turned to them all, “I know some of you are afraid. Please don’t be. Kagome hurt only the ones that had attacked her, even though her powers spread amongst all of you. She was protecting herself and the men knew the risks.”
Some nodded their head in understanding; others just turned and walked away.
End flashback
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Sesshomaru didn’t know what to say. He looked at Ronin like he was crazy.
“I saw it as well my Lord.” Nobuto cut in. “She had remarkable control, even when she lost it.”
“I do not see how a human has this kind of power, especially in a short amount of time. She flies, has great amount of speed, she has mastered numerous weapons as well as her spiritual powers as a miko. How is this possible?”
“I do not know my Lord, but it has happened. That is not even the most incredible of events. I mean, I put her up against the men again and she has not lost control since that day.” Ronin said. He was once again getting excited about telling Sesshomaru things that had been happening.
“Ronin, you will calm yourself and speak to me as the soldier that you are. You mean to tell me you put her up against the same men that she maimed in the previous fight?” Sesshomaru was getting frustrated with Ronin’s immaturity towards the matter.
“Yes, I did. In fact they wanted to.” Ronin composed himself and spoke in a more formal matter. “You see my Lord, after the event and after she had recovered herself, which was in a matter of hours, she went to the hospital wing and healed them all.”
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Flashback
Kagome awoke a few hours after she was taken to her room to rest. ‘What happened?’ Her head hurt and she felt kind of weak. And then she remembered. ‘Oh my god. There is no way that really happened.’ She got out of bed and walked out of her room. Ronin was walking towards her when he saw how worried and scared she was.
“Ronin, did it really happen, did I really do that to them? Oh god did I hurt them?”
Ronin grabbed her and hugged her. She was sobbing and shaking and he wanted nothing more than to help her calm down. He hated seeing her like this. “Kagome calm down please. Yes it really happened but it will be ok.” He had started calling her Kagome a couple of weeks ago when they were in private, and sometimes he would slip when other were around. It comforted her somewhat for him to be informal with her, to act like her friend instead of servant.
“How will it be ok? I couldn’t control my power and I hurt them. Did anyone else get hurt because of me?” She was really beating herself up.
“Kagome, they knew the risks just like it is when they fight each other. No one watching got hurt, your powers only worked on the ones you were fighting. That is control whether you believe it or not.” He couldn’t lie to her, but he could tell her gently. She looked at him, her eyes teary and red. He still held her but he hated looking at her like that.
“Did, did I…did I kill anyone.” Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her no, she just wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did.
“No Kagome, you didn’t kill anyone. Some of the men are in pretty bad shape, and the others are a little beat up, but they will all recover.” It hurt him to tell her that she had caused that damage to others, but she had a far away look on her face, as if she were thinking of something. “What is it?”
He heard her heart start beating; she was almost excited about something. “Ronin, ask the men that are out of the hospital to meet me there if they aren’t too mad at me. I know they are probably scared of me, but I need to talk to them if they will let me.”
“I will, but what is going on? What are you planning?” he looked at her with a slight confusion on his face. He trusted her and if she was planning something then he would do what he could for her, but damn it he wanted to know what it was.
“I can’t tell you right now, but you will see.” she stood on tip toe and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks Ronin. I will see you down there in an hour; I have some preparing to do.”
He blushed as she walked away towards the stairs. She had kissed him. ‘Stop it Ronin, she belongs to your master.’ his head screamed at him. ‘Yes, but she is not his mate.’ He shook the thoughts out of his head. This was not a matter to think about right now.
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Kagome ran outside to find Nobuto. She found him in the gazebo watching the kids run around. “Kagome child, are you alright? I can’t believe you recovered from that energy loss so quickly.”
“Yes Nobuto, I’m fine.” she said breathlessly. “Please I need your help. I need to build up my energy, and quickly.”
“Ok I think I can help you, but what is the matter?”
“I don’t think you’re going to believe this, but I think I can help the soldiers that I injured. Nobuto I think I can use my powers to heal them.” Yep, he thought she was crazy; the girl had plum lost her marbles.
“Kagome, these are demons, you will purify them.”
“No, Nobuto trust me, I know I can do it. Remember when I healed the deer in the forest. The pull that I felt then that led me to it, I feel that now towards the hospital wing. You are the one who told me to trust my instincts and I am; now I need you to trust me.” Nobuto hung his head in defeat. He knew she was right and he had told her that. There was no way he could go against his word now.
“Ok, let’s go.” They walked to their spot in the woods so he could help rebuild her energy before whatever it was she was going to do.
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Kagome and Nobuto walked to the hospital wing. When the servants realized where they were going they began to follow them to see what would happen. She was getting nervous. She walked into the hospital and Ronin closed the doors behind her so the others couldn’t get in. Luckily there were no windows on the door so no one could look in and be nosey. All of the men that were injured showed up. Kagome looked at them and smiled a sad smile.
“Thanks for coming all of you. I just… I am so sorry about what I did. I lost control and I hurt you. I…I…” she began to get teary eyed and hung her head in shame.
“Lady Kagome,” It was one of the men that had been severely hurt. She couldn’t look at him. “Please do not do this to yourself. We all fought you knowing there was a risk just like every time we face each other. Your skills are amazing, and if you didn’t have control we would be dead. None of us are mad at you, if anything we respect you more.”
She looked at him and all of the men. They all looked at her and smiled, and then they bowed. She was crying silently now.
“Thank you. The reason…” she took a deep breath. “I am here because I think I can heal you.” Kagome looked at all of them. She felt their emotions, frightened, confused, belief, and disbelief. “I know it sounds crazy, but I have done it before. I know you are demons and that my powers can purify you, but I am confident that I can do this. I just need you to trust me.”
The men looked at each other. Should they do it? Was it really possible? One of them walked up to her, “Lady Kagome, my name is Turan. My arms are both broken in several places and will take a few weeks to heal. If you would like to try I am willing.” He went and sat down on the bed and Kagome sat next to him. She could see the black in his aura swirling with green. His arms were healing already, but there was so much to heal that this was a good place for her to start.
“Turan, I don’t know if this will hurt or not, if it does try not to move. If it gets too bad or you think something is wrong tell me and I will stop.” He nodded his head and Kagome closed her eyes. She inhaled deep and opened her eyes; they turned a light shade of green since she was channeling healing powers. She placed her hands right above his skin and sent her energy into him slowly, watching as the green overtook the black energy of his fractures. Turan closed his eyes. He could feel his bones mending. It was a painful process anyways and the increase in speed only caused more.
“Turan, are you ok?” Kagome was worried; she could feel he was hurting.
“Nothing is wrong; it is just a painful process.”
Kagome nodded her head and set her intent on healing and relieving his pain. Soon a blue color mixed in soothing his pain. Soon he could open his eyes and tolerate the stinging and burning. The bones in his arm were fusing together and in a matter of two minutes his right arm was healed. She pulled away from him and eyed him. He looked at his arm, poking it and rubbing it. He moved it around slowly and smiled at Kagome.
“You did it! It’s healed!” Everyone surrounded his and looked at Kagome. She was smiling fully at them, proud of herself for relying on her instincts and trying. Nobuto and Ronin just looked at each other in disbelief. She really had healed a demon. All the men surrounded her and watched as she mended his other arm. She healed them all, the lesser injuries first to the more severe since they would take longer. Burns, cuts, broken bones, internal injuries, even missing limbs; she healed them all. It took an hour and a half and Kagome was exhausted, but they were all able to walk out of the hospital. They all hugged her as they walked out among everyone that had waited to see what was going on. All the servants outside the door looked amazed as the used to be injured men walked out unscathed. Kagome looked at Ronin and Nobuto and gave them a tired smile.
“Told you I could do it.” she said to Nobuto. She got up to walk out but collapsed. She put everything she had into healing the men and her strength was gone. Luckily Ronin was fast enough to get to her before she hit the floor. He lifted her up bridal style and carried her out into the hallway. All the servants cleared a path and looked at her worriedly. Ronin reassured them that she would be ok and that she was just exhausted from everything. He took her to her room and tucked her in himself. He sat there with her for a while, looking at her peaceful face before smiling to himself and leaving her to sleep.
End flashback
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Sesshomaru sat through the entire story listening intently even though he was staring out the window. Of course Ronin didn’t tell him about the staying with her or anything. He wasn’t crazy. Sesshomaru was watching her play with the children. He didn’t really know what to say about the whole thing, there was much for him to think about. Finally he turned to Ronin.
“Is there anything else I need to know about?”
“That is all that has happened with her my Lord; however there have been a couple troublesome matters. There were a few guards that did not take to Lady Kagome as the rest of us have. They are respectful, but there was an incident with one of them. He approached her and proceeded to be demeaning to her and pushed her to the ground a couple of times. She just looked at him shook her head and walked away. She doesn’t like conflict if it can be avoided. I took care of the matter myself at the time, but I also had him locked up to await your punishment.”
Sesshomaru nodded his head. “I shall take care of the matter later. That will be all for now, go attend to your regular duties.”
“Yes my Lord.” Ronin got up and exited the room while Nobuto continued to stand by the desk.
“Is there something you need Nobuto?” Sesshomaru didn’t even look at him.
“Actually my Lord, I think there is something you should know about Kagome.”
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Ronin and Kagome met for their daily training session. They were talking and planning on what was going to happen, if they needed to expand into the forest and fight undercover. It was a great idea, but Sesshomaru would be pissed if they ruined it. Kagome had gotten rather good at wielding the katanas. They had actually become her weapon of choice, though she still carried her bow and arrows. She could now put her purification powers into the sword, slicing through the enemy and purifying him instantly.
The two began their game, and were only five minutes into it when Kagome stopped and looked straight through him. Ronin turned around to see Sesshomaru standing there watching.
“I thought your powers had increased miko, and yet you didn’t even know I was here till now. What if another enemy was to come upon you and attack and you didn’t know it because you were focused only on one target.” he said to her in a mocking tone. Her aura flared with her rising temper. All he had to do was say something to her in his uncaring and icy voice, and look at her with those cold and condescending eyes. Granted no matter how much he pissed her off she still thought him a beautiful creature, the sunlight always hit him perfectly. But now was not the time for thoughts such as these, he had just insulted her. Kagome closed her eyes calling her aura back to her and calming herself before she spoke.
She looked at him now with fierce eyes, determined eyes, which made him shiver on the inside when she looked at him like that. He liked that look, she was challenging him, and not many had the guts to do that. “I did know you were there LORD Sesshomaru. Your staring was annoying me, so I merely stopped to see what it is you wanted.”
He laughed to himself as he approached her. He made a slow circle around her, and she stood perfectly still, though he could sense her tensing under his gaze. “This was not the clothing and armor given to you. Where are they?” He was standing in front of her now awaiting her answer.
“It was big and bulky and I found it hard to move. How was I to defend myself if I can’t move? I had them put away and designed this. They made it for me.” It was true, the old armor was rather large and it did look ridiculous on her. She was clumsy and uncomfortable in it. Miko clothing with a large metal plate covering her torso, she had laughed at herself when she put it on.
“And how is this supposed to protect you?” He eyed her up and down, and he couldn’t help liking what he saw. He knew he was pushing her buttons, and he got a kick out of it. She blushed feeling his eyes upon her, knowing he was judging her and her appearance. She did deserve it though from him, her fighting apparel was not traditional. In fact it looked to be nothing more than a scandalous kimono. Dark blue with pale yellow sakura blossoms, it was beautiful. There were no sleeves and two slits in the skirt going all the way past mid-thigh. He took in all of this. She had already started to perspire and her face and arms gleamed. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and braided all the way down to stay out of her face. He was pulled out of his thoughts when she spoke.
Kagome was still blushing at him, almost seeming shy, but her eyes were fiery still. “It still has the armor, but it is between the material.” she said as she knocked on the metal on her stomach. “The blacksmiths have designed a new kind of metal. It bends and moves enough to be comfortable, but is still as strong as the thicker armor. I am merely testing it out. I had no armor for my legs and arms, and the miko garb just wasn’t working for me. I can move easily in this. Is it unacceptable to you?”
“I suppose it will do. After all, you are the one walking in it attracting who knows what to you with provocative clothing.” he said as he walked to the wall and grabbed one of the other swords. He inwardly smiled as he felt her temper flare once more. When he turned back to her she was glaring at him through slits for eyes, but she did not say a word. Sesshomaru looked at her holding up his sword, he wanted to fight her, to test her skills and see if she was as good as they said. Ronin was about to object until he saw Kagome get in her stance. She wasn’t afraid of him either, in fact he could sense her anticipation for it. She wasted to prove herself; she had been waiting for this moment.
They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, never once leaving the others eyes. Sesshomaru made the first move jumping at her at full speed. He was surprised however when she ended up behind him, her speed almost as fast as his. He turned and looked at her. She was still in her fighting stance waiting for another attack. He nodded at her and came at her again but this time she didn’t move. Swords clashed against each other and Kagome matched him move for move. Their battle was like a beautiful dance; circling, jumping, twisting and twirling. Finally Sesshomaru got the upper hand when he knocked one of the swords away from her. She ran to get it but he was faster and he kicked her into the wall just behind her. The kick knocked the wind out of her, but she knew it wasn’t a hard one. Unfortunately the collision with the wall caused her to abandon her other sword and now she was defenseless. He was upon her in an instant, the swords tip a few inches from her throat. She looked up at him breathing hard.
“This is all you can do? Not as impressive as I was made to believe.” he raised an eyebrow at her when she grinned at him.
“Oh my Lord, this is not yet over.” In a split second her hand held some of her energy and she swiped her hand at the sword knocking from his hand. At almost the same time she returned the kick that he had given her and knocked him back a few feet from her. She knew she didn’t even faze him; a demon of his caliber would not be harmed so easily. She did however see the slight glint of surprise in his eyes before it vanished behind his emotionless mask.
‘Ok,’ he thought. ’time for a different tactic.’ He charged at her with no weapons. They were going to battle hand to hand, and again she matched him. Everyone knew he wasn’t going full force on her; he was testing her abilities and how far she could go. In a flash he produced his poison whip and she barely dodged it. In fact she caught the scent of fried hair and looked at the end of her ponytail.
She looked at him and grinned, “I needed a trim anyways.” she tossed her hair back behind her and gathered her energy. She formed it into a whip as well and the ends of her lips rose to see his eyebrow rise. She cracked it to her side letting him know that he could attack anytime. He shot it straight at her but her energy whip cut right into his, and they twirled together until they were knotted into each other. Sesshomaru let his dissipate as did she, and they stood there waiting for the next move.
“This has been interesting miko, but now it will end.” in a flash of his true speed he was upon her and behind her. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and his claws at her neck. She felt her skin break and knew that if she moved he was dead. The thing that got to him the most was the fact that he sensed no fear on her person, just surprise and then surrender. Though he could not feel her energy when she expelled it, he could still feel her emotions and it confused him. When he felt her surrender he let her go and merely walked away from her, not even bothering to look back.
Ronin ran to her as she placed her hand on her neck where he had pierced her skin. It was enough to draw a few droplets of blood, but she had already healed by the time Ronin got to her.
“Kagome are you ok?” She turned and smiled at him as she nodded her head. “You know he was not going full force on you right?”
“I know Ronin, but he was using some effort. That fact in itself shows me how much I have learned. I wasn’t easily defeated even though I could have been. He is a powerful youkai and I put up a fight.” He knew what she meant. She had proven to herself that she could take care of herself, she had gotten to where she wanted to be. She felt strong and was proud of herself, confidence beaming off of her. Again she looked at him, “I am going to go clean up, will you tell Nobuto it is rather late for us tonight and we could do it tomorrow?”
“Of course my Lady.”
Now that Sesshomaru was back there would be no more using his hot spring unless she could find a way to sneak into it. He was not at dinner which somewhat disappointed her. There was much she wanted to talk about with him, not to mention she hadn’t seen him in a long while. Yes, she admitted it to herself; she did like to look at him. Who wouldn’t? He was a very fine specimen; his eyes and nose and lips, god those lips. Kagome shook herself out of her thoughts. She should be thinking these things, there was no way she liked him like that, she respected and admired him and that was all. Yea right. She needed to walk. There were many nights now where she didn’t sleep, her energy giving her strength to miss a couple nights of rest. Not wanting to disturb the rest of the house she opened her balcony doors. She jumped down silently to the gardens using her energy to keep her from hurting herself when she landed. She walked over to one of the benches and laid on it. If there was one thing that she could never get enough of here it was the night sky. Her time didn’t allow such beautiful sights from the city lights, but here they were crystal clear.
She let her mind drift off again. She wondered how her friends were doing without her. She wondered how they were handling Kikyo and if she had hurt them. The thought made her mad that that bitch would hurt her friends, but she knew they could handle themselves. The she wondered if they were mad at Inuyasha. All of her thoughts and feeling swirled around her and a certain youkai caught parts of them. He walked to his balcony windows and look out at the girl laying on one of the benches. He couldn’t help but stare. She had rather impressed him today with her show of skill. She had even managed to kick him, no human had been able to do that, ever. But Kagome was no ordinary human. Sesshomaru pondered on what the monk had told him earlier that day and if it were true. He knew that it was as he looked at her. Then he noticed something, she was looking directly at him and he hadn’t even noticed. She smiled when he realized she was staring at him. Slowly she sat up while looking at him still before she began to walk into the woods. When he knew she was gone he leapt out the door to follow her, keeping his youkai as repressed as possible.
Kagome walked through the forest slowly. ‘How long had he been watching me? What was he thinking of. It seemed as if he were looking straight through me.’ She pondered these questions for a bit before remembering what he had looked like in the moonlight. His hair seemingly glowed and shined with the light of the full moon. His pale skin glimmered and the crescent moon was defined by its darkness. His eyes seemed to twinkle with the light even though they seemed far away. And then his body, wow. He had changed out of his normal apparel into a black kimono. She couldn’t help but wonder what was under there and felt her face get hot along with the rest of her body. She had to stop and get the thoughts out of her head. When she did stop however she noticed a presence behind her and wondered how long he had been there.
He had been watching her from a distance, watching her form seemingly glide across the path. He couldn’t help but stare at the way the silk nightgown slid over her body when she moved. He saw how her leg muscles tightened as she walked and he hair blow in the slight breeze. For an instant he thought her a ghost until he caught the scent of her slight arousal. Just as quickly as it came however it was gone and he was left to wonder what the hell she was thinking about. Then she turned her head slightly to the side, not really looking at him but knowing he was there. Her profile was illuminated by the moon and he was amazed at her beauty in this light. And then she spoke. That voice that could annoy him so much but at the same time he wished to hear it.
“If you are going to follow me, you might as well walk with me.” She waited there for a minute to see what he would do, and was pleasantly surprised when he took her invitation. They walked on not speaking to each other. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable however it didn’t last long. Kagome couldn’t stand it anymore though, she had to know. “I know you will always find me weak since I am human. Be honest with me though, do you think I could fight now with the others that I wouldn’t just get in the way?” Her voice was unsteady and unsure. She hoped to god that he would say yes.
“Your skills have improved enough for you to fight a lesser demon I suppose. I don’t know about you not getting in the way however, that seems to be a knack for you from what I hear.”
“Are you always so cold and uncaring?” She knew he wouldn’t answer and just walked ahead of him. She didn’t even see him tense at her words. She was hurt and she said it through her words. No words were spoken the rest of the walk, and before they reached the castle again he called out to her.
“Miko,” she stopped and looked at him, “we leave in three days.” She knew what he was talking about and she nodded her head before leaping into the air and onto her balcony. She would see her friends again in three days, and save them all from the clay priestess.
Sesshomaru’s Return
The entire castle had been expecting his return all morning. Kagome said he was close and should be arriving sometime today. Everyone was bustling around making sure everything was perfect for their master’s return. Kagome had taken most of the children to do their schooling and let them play while their parents worked. She was sitting with Nobuto when she looked up into the sky.
“He is here.” she said, though she knew Nobuto already knew it. She gathered all the kids and had them get ready for Sesshomaru’s arrival. She asked hat everyone be gathered to meet him when he got back. She thought he might like it for some reason though everyone knew he wouldn’t show it if he did. They were willing to do it only for the simple reason they liked and respected Kagome. If it made her happy they would do it. She went inside to go and get cleaned up while the cooks were preparing lunch for everyone.
Everyone was gathered in the main hall when Sesshomaru walked in. Even though no one could tell he’s was stunned when her walked in. No one had ever gathered to greet him and this was very different.
“Welcome back Lord Sesshomaru.” they all said as he walked past them. They all bowed low out of respect. Kagome was at the end of the line waiting to greet him.
“Welcome back Lord Sesshomaru.” She also bowed low out of respect before looking up at him smiling. He noticed the necklace around her neck, and also noticed how it was embedded into her skin. He said nothing about it, choosing to instead talk about it later.
“What is all this?”
“I thought you might like it if everyone was gathered to greet you at your return. They have all worked very hard to have the castle in top shape, though it always looks great.” She looked at everyone and smiled. Sesshomaru turned back to everyone and nodded his head. “The cooks are preparing lunch for everyone; I thought it might be nice for us to eat outside if you would like to join us.”
“I will be taking lunch in the study; there are things I must attend to.”
“Very well. I hope to see you later.” Kagome bowed once again as Sesshomaru walked to his study.
“Ronin, I need to see you.”
“Yes my Lord, I shall be up right away.”
After Sesshomaru had left Kagome turned to everyone. “Thank you all, I think he liked it even though he didn’t say much. Will you all join me outside for lunch?”
Everyone did join her for lunch outside. Of course all the children finished first so they went and played while the adults all talked together. Sesshomaru was looking out the balcony window watching it all. Kagome had known he was watching, and when she felt his eyes upon her for a time, she looked up and smiled at him, a shy sort of smile that made him step back for the window. Ronin walked in about that time.
“You wanted to see me my Lord?”
“Yes I sent someone to get Nobuto as well.” He walked over to his desk and stared at Ronin. “What has been going one here? They have never met me at the door, and now they are all eating outside.”
“It was Lady Kagome, she had asked everyone to meet when you came back. She also had everyone work extra hard to have the castle in perfect shape yesterday when she knew you were on your way back”
“How could she have possibly known that, not even you know when I come back sometimes.” Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him.
“She sensed your arrival. I am quite impressed with her. She has grown strong, especially for a human. It has been quite remarkable really.” Ronin was indeed proud of Kagome, and would let Sesshomaru know it.
“We shall see how strong she has become. Tell me of her training with you.” Sesshomaru sat at his desk and Ronin sat across from him.
“The first day she mastered basic combat moves. I would show her and she would mimic it perfectly. She learned a katta the first day too and it was perfect. We worked on more hand to hand skills for a week, almost anything I could think of, and she would master them in one try. The flips, the kicks, the punches, all mastered on the first try. It was unbelievable.
Then we worked on weapons training. Once again she mastered everything I taught her. The katana, the bo and the jo, and the shuriken. She has become skilled with the naginata, though her favorite weapons are the katana and her bow and arrows. She carries with her a tanto wrapped around her thigh. Lord Sesshomaru, she is a remarkable creature.”
“Yes you seem to care for her a great deal.” Ronin looked away from his master at that point. “Tell me Ronin, how do you really feel about her. After all you see her everyday.” Sesshomaru couldn’t help it, but he was kind of jealous though he didn’t know it. The emotionless prince was losing that hold, and he didn’t like it.
Ronin looked back at him. “I admire her and respect her. She has become a close friend, so yes I care about her.” He didn’t mean to, but there was a little attitude in his voice. Truth be told he really had grown very fond of her. He didn’t want to admit it but his feelings were growing stronger then that of friendship. Technically Kagome belonged to Sesshomaru, so if he ever wanted to take the chance to be with her he would have to ask his Lord’s permission. But that was for a later time.
Nobuto entered the room at that time, which was good because it was getting rather tense in there. The monk wondered but didn’t ask.
“Nobuto, what do you have to say about her. Ronin speaks very highly of her and how much she has learned in a short time.” Sesshomaru looked right at Nobuto; he had no desire in looking at Ronin right now.
“Well Lord Sesshomaru I would have to agree with Ronin. Kagome has excelled in every aspect of our training. She has even learned things that I was never able to. She has learned how to control her energy and aura. She can build it up and expel it from her to fight and protect herself. She can fly by focusing her energies underneath her. It is quite remarkable. Ronin, did you tell him about what happened when she was faced with some of the guards.”
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Flashback
Kagome had gone up against Ronin and at least ten different guards one on one after she had mastered what Ronin had to show her. The best part, she had defeated all of them in a matter of a couple of minutes. These were the most skilled demons in Sesshomaru’s army, and they were being beaten by a human woman. Ronin decided to make it a little more challenging for her.
“Kagome, since you have beaten all my best men as if they were little children I am going to make it a bit more difficult for you. You need to work on multiple attacks anyways so now is the time. You will face three of the men to start off with, and if I feel I need to add more, I will. I suggest you get ready.”
Kagome got into her fighting stance as he sent three men out to attack her. Each had a different weapon, and she had her two katanas. They surrounded her; she knew they had done this before. Suddenly the one behind her jumped into action, but she easily avoided his attempt. Then the other two jumped her at the same time, their weapons and her swords clashing together. The third came back into play from behind, and Kagome easily flipped out of the way. Ronin could see this was not going to be good for his men, so he sent in another one. Three of them were upon her when the fourth jumped in for a surprise attack from above. Kagome kicked it into high gear and moved out of the way as he landed in the middle of the others. Kagome had gained a great amount of speed using her new found physical and spiritual abilities. All four charged her at once. Her use of the katanas was fluent and like a dance. She was beautiful and graceful, not to mention she had no trouble fending all of them off.
Ronin sent in three more men, which made seven in all. Her aura started to flare, a natural instinct to protect herself. Kagome kept it in control so she wouldn’t purify them. She had learned to focus her energy into her weapons and create balls of energy through her hands and expel them at her enemies. She had first used the tactic against Ronin, making it powerful enough only to throw him back without purifying him. She was doing this now against all seven of them, throwing them back without really hurting them. Her swords began to glow with a bluish sort of light, proving that her purifying energies were not being used. Those energies glowed white and gold.
No matter how much she sent them back they kept coming back and she was growing tired. Finally they backed her into a corner, above and around and she had nowhere to run. She began to panic as they closed in on her, their weapons ready to strike sown on her. Mentally she knew that they wouldn’t hurt her, but her spiritual instincts thought differently and they flared around her eventually exploding on the men. It sent them back twenty feet at least, and her aura spread over the crowd that had gathered. It only had hurt the men, no one in the crowd was affected, that was the control of her powers. Some of them were severely wounded, lost limbs and severe burning. The others only sustained minor injuries since they were further away, they would heal in a day or two. Kagome herself was unconscious; the use of so much energy exhausted her. The men were taken to the hospital wing and Kagome was taken to her room to rest. The crowd was in shock, how could someone so kind do that to people she knew?
Ronin turned to them all, “I know some of you are afraid. Please don’t be. Kagome hurt only the ones that had attacked her, even though her powers spread amongst all of you. She was protecting herself and the men knew the risks.”
Some nodded their head in understanding; others just turned and walked away.
End flashback
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Sesshomaru didn’t know what to say. He looked at Ronin like he was crazy.
“I saw it as well my Lord.” Nobuto cut in. “She had remarkable control, even when she lost it.”
“I do not see how a human has this kind of power, especially in a short amount of time. She flies, has great amount of speed, she has mastered numerous weapons as well as her spiritual powers as a miko. How is this possible?”
“I do not know my Lord, but it has happened. That is not even the most incredible of events. I mean, I put her up against the men again and she has not lost control since that day.” Ronin said. He was once again getting excited about telling Sesshomaru things that had been happening.
“Ronin, you will calm yourself and speak to me as the soldier that you are. You mean to tell me you put her up against the same men that she maimed in the previous fight?” Sesshomaru was getting frustrated with Ronin’s immaturity towards the matter.
“Yes, I did. In fact they wanted to.” Ronin composed himself and spoke in a more formal matter. “You see my Lord, after the event and after she had recovered herself, which was in a matter of hours, she went to the hospital wing and healed them all.”
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Flashback
Kagome awoke a few hours after she was taken to her room to rest. ‘What happened?’ Her head hurt and she felt kind of weak. And then she remembered. ‘Oh my god. There is no way that really happened.’ She got out of bed and walked out of her room. Ronin was walking towards her when he saw how worried and scared she was.
“Ronin, did it really happen, did I really do that to them? Oh god did I hurt them?”
Ronin grabbed her and hugged her. She was sobbing and shaking and he wanted nothing more than to help her calm down. He hated seeing her like this. “Kagome calm down please. Yes it really happened but it will be ok.” He had started calling her Kagome a couple of weeks ago when they were in private, and sometimes he would slip when other were around. It comforted her somewhat for him to be informal with her, to act like her friend instead of servant.
“How will it be ok? I couldn’t control my power and I hurt them. Did anyone else get hurt because of me?” She was really beating herself up.
“Kagome, they knew the risks just like it is when they fight each other. No one watching got hurt, your powers only worked on the ones you were fighting. That is control whether you believe it or not.” He couldn’t lie to her, but he could tell her gently. She looked at him, her eyes teary and red. He still held her but he hated looking at her like that.
“Did, did I…did I kill anyone.” Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her no, she just wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did.
“No Kagome, you didn’t kill anyone. Some of the men are in pretty bad shape, and the others are a little beat up, but they will all recover.” It hurt him to tell her that she had caused that damage to others, but she had a far away look on her face, as if she were thinking of something. “What is it?”
He heard her heart start beating; she was almost excited about something. “Ronin, ask the men that are out of the hospital to meet me there if they aren’t too mad at me. I know they are probably scared of me, but I need to talk to them if they will let me.”
“I will, but what is going on? What are you planning?” he looked at her with a slight confusion on his face. He trusted her and if she was planning something then he would do what he could for her, but damn it he wanted to know what it was.
“I can’t tell you right now, but you will see.” she stood on tip toe and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks Ronin. I will see you down there in an hour; I have some preparing to do.”
He blushed as she walked away towards the stairs. She had kissed him. ‘Stop it Ronin, she belongs to your master.’ his head screamed at him. ‘Yes, but she is not his mate.’ He shook the thoughts out of his head. This was not a matter to think about right now.
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Kagome ran outside to find Nobuto. She found him in the gazebo watching the kids run around. “Kagome child, are you alright? I can’t believe you recovered from that energy loss so quickly.”
“Yes Nobuto, I’m fine.” she said breathlessly. “Please I need your help. I need to build up my energy, and quickly.”
“Ok I think I can help you, but what is the matter?”
“I don’t think you’re going to believe this, but I think I can help the soldiers that I injured. Nobuto I think I can use my powers to heal them.” Yep, he thought she was crazy; the girl had plum lost her marbles.
“Kagome, these are demons, you will purify them.”
“No, Nobuto trust me, I know I can do it. Remember when I healed the deer in the forest. The pull that I felt then that led me to it, I feel that now towards the hospital wing. You are the one who told me to trust my instincts and I am; now I need you to trust me.” Nobuto hung his head in defeat. He knew she was right and he had told her that. There was no way he could go against his word now.
“Ok, let’s go.” They walked to their spot in the woods so he could help rebuild her energy before whatever it was she was going to do.
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Kagome and Nobuto walked to the hospital wing. When the servants realized where they were going they began to follow them to see what would happen. She was getting nervous. She walked into the hospital and Ronin closed the doors behind her so the others couldn’t get in. Luckily there were no windows on the door so no one could look in and be nosey. All of the men that were injured showed up. Kagome looked at them and smiled a sad smile.
“Thanks for coming all of you. I just… I am so sorry about what I did. I lost control and I hurt you. I…I…” she began to get teary eyed and hung her head in shame.
“Lady Kagome,” It was one of the men that had been severely hurt. She couldn’t look at him. “Please do not do this to yourself. We all fought you knowing there was a risk just like every time we face each other. Your skills are amazing, and if you didn’t have control we would be dead. None of us are mad at you, if anything we respect you more.”
She looked at him and all of the men. They all looked at her and smiled, and then they bowed. She was crying silently now.
“Thank you. The reason…” she took a deep breath. “I am here because I think I can heal you.” Kagome looked at all of them. She felt their emotions, frightened, confused, belief, and disbelief. “I know it sounds crazy, but I have done it before. I know you are demons and that my powers can purify you, but I am confident that I can do this. I just need you to trust me.”
The men looked at each other. Should they do it? Was it really possible? One of them walked up to her, “Lady Kagome, my name is Turan. My arms are both broken in several places and will take a few weeks to heal. If you would like to try I am willing.” He went and sat down on the bed and Kagome sat next to him. She could see the black in his aura swirling with green. His arms were healing already, but there was so much to heal that this was a good place for her to start.
“Turan, I don’t know if this will hurt or not, if it does try not to move. If it gets too bad or you think something is wrong tell me and I will stop.” He nodded his head and Kagome closed her eyes. She inhaled deep and opened her eyes; they turned a light shade of green since she was channeling healing powers. She placed her hands right above his skin and sent her energy into him slowly, watching as the green overtook the black energy of his fractures. Turan closed his eyes. He could feel his bones mending. It was a painful process anyways and the increase in speed only caused more.
“Turan, are you ok?” Kagome was worried; she could feel he was hurting.
“Nothing is wrong; it is just a painful process.”
Kagome nodded her head and set her intent on healing and relieving his pain. Soon a blue color mixed in soothing his pain. Soon he could open his eyes and tolerate the stinging and burning. The bones in his arm were fusing together and in a matter of two minutes his right arm was healed. She pulled away from him and eyed him. He looked at his arm, poking it and rubbing it. He moved it around slowly and smiled at Kagome.
“You did it! It’s healed!” Everyone surrounded his and looked at Kagome. She was smiling fully at them, proud of herself for relying on her instincts and trying. Nobuto and Ronin just looked at each other in disbelief. She really had healed a demon. All the men surrounded her and watched as she mended his other arm. She healed them all, the lesser injuries first to the more severe since they would take longer. Burns, cuts, broken bones, internal injuries, even missing limbs; she healed them all. It took an hour and a half and Kagome was exhausted, but they were all able to walk out of the hospital. They all hugged her as they walked out among everyone that had waited to see what was going on. All the servants outside the door looked amazed as the used to be injured men walked out unscathed. Kagome looked at Ronin and Nobuto and gave them a tired smile.
“Told you I could do it.” she said to Nobuto. She got up to walk out but collapsed. She put everything she had into healing the men and her strength was gone. Luckily Ronin was fast enough to get to her before she hit the floor. He lifted her up bridal style and carried her out into the hallway. All the servants cleared a path and looked at her worriedly. Ronin reassured them that she would be ok and that she was just exhausted from everything. He took her to her room and tucked her in himself. He sat there with her for a while, looking at her peaceful face before smiling to himself and leaving her to sleep.
End flashback
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Sesshomaru sat through the entire story listening intently even though he was staring out the window. Of course Ronin didn’t tell him about the staying with her or anything. He wasn’t crazy. Sesshomaru was watching her play with the children. He didn’t really know what to say about the whole thing, there was much for him to think about. Finally he turned to Ronin.
“Is there anything else I need to know about?”
“That is all that has happened with her my Lord; however there have been a couple troublesome matters. There were a few guards that did not take to Lady Kagome as the rest of us have. They are respectful, but there was an incident with one of them. He approached her and proceeded to be demeaning to her and pushed her to the ground a couple of times. She just looked at him shook her head and walked away. She doesn’t like conflict if it can be avoided. I took care of the matter myself at the time, but I also had him locked up to await your punishment.”
Sesshomaru nodded his head. “I shall take care of the matter later. That will be all for now, go attend to your regular duties.”
“Yes my Lord.” Ronin got up and exited the room while Nobuto continued to stand by the desk.
“Is there something you need Nobuto?” Sesshomaru didn’t even look at him.
“Actually my Lord, I think there is something you should know about Kagome.”
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Ronin and Kagome met for their daily training session. They were talking and planning on what was going to happen, if they needed to expand into the forest and fight undercover. It was a great idea, but Sesshomaru would be pissed if they ruined it. Kagome had gotten rather good at wielding the katanas. They had actually become her weapon of choice, though she still carried her bow and arrows. She could now put her purification powers into the sword, slicing through the enemy and purifying him instantly.
The two began their game, and were only five minutes into it when Kagome stopped and looked straight through him. Ronin turned around to see Sesshomaru standing there watching.
“I thought your powers had increased miko, and yet you didn’t even know I was here till now. What if another enemy was to come upon you and attack and you didn’t know it because you were focused only on one target.” he said to her in a mocking tone. Her aura flared with her rising temper. All he had to do was say something to her in his uncaring and icy voice, and look at her with those cold and condescending eyes. Granted no matter how much he pissed her off she still thought him a beautiful creature, the sunlight always hit him perfectly. But now was not the time for thoughts such as these, he had just insulted her. Kagome closed her eyes calling her aura back to her and calming herself before she spoke.
She looked at him now with fierce eyes, determined eyes, which made him shiver on the inside when she looked at him like that. He liked that look, she was challenging him, and not many had the guts to do that. “I did know you were there LORD Sesshomaru. Your staring was annoying me, so I merely stopped to see what it is you wanted.”
He laughed to himself as he approached her. He made a slow circle around her, and she stood perfectly still, though he could sense her tensing under his gaze. “This was not the clothing and armor given to you. Where are they?” He was standing in front of her now awaiting her answer.
“It was big and bulky and I found it hard to move. How was I to defend myself if I can’t move? I had them put away and designed this. They made it for me.” It was true, the old armor was rather large and it did look ridiculous on her. She was clumsy and uncomfortable in it. Miko clothing with a large metal plate covering her torso, she had laughed at herself when she put it on.
“And how is this supposed to protect you?” He eyed her up and down, and he couldn’t help liking what he saw. He knew he was pushing her buttons, and he got a kick out of it. She blushed feeling his eyes upon her, knowing he was judging her and her appearance. She did deserve it though from him, her fighting apparel was not traditional. In fact it looked to be nothing more than a scandalous kimono. Dark blue with pale yellow sakura blossoms, it was beautiful. There were no sleeves and two slits in the skirt going all the way past mid-thigh. He took in all of this. She had already started to perspire and her face and arms gleamed. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and braided all the way down to stay out of her face. He was pulled out of his thoughts when she spoke.
Kagome was still blushing at him, almost seeming shy, but her eyes were fiery still. “It still has the armor, but it is between the material.” she said as she knocked on the metal on her stomach. “The blacksmiths have designed a new kind of metal. It bends and moves enough to be comfortable, but is still as strong as the thicker armor. I am merely testing it out. I had no armor for my legs and arms, and the miko garb just wasn’t working for me. I can move easily in this. Is it unacceptable to you?”
“I suppose it will do. After all, you are the one walking in it attracting who knows what to you with provocative clothing.” he said as he walked to the wall and grabbed one of the other swords. He inwardly smiled as he felt her temper flare once more. When he turned back to her she was glaring at him through slits for eyes, but she did not say a word. Sesshomaru looked at her holding up his sword, he wanted to fight her, to test her skills and see if she was as good as they said. Ronin was about to object until he saw Kagome get in her stance. She wasn’t afraid of him either, in fact he could sense her anticipation for it. She wasted to prove herself; she had been waiting for this moment.
They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, never once leaving the others eyes. Sesshomaru made the first move jumping at her at full speed. He was surprised however when she ended up behind him, her speed almost as fast as his. He turned and looked at her. She was still in her fighting stance waiting for another attack. He nodded at her and came at her again but this time she didn’t move. Swords clashed against each other and Kagome matched him move for move. Their battle was like a beautiful dance; circling, jumping, twisting and twirling. Finally Sesshomaru got the upper hand when he knocked one of the swords away from her. She ran to get it but he was faster and he kicked her into the wall just behind her. The kick knocked the wind out of her, but she knew it wasn’t a hard one. Unfortunately the collision with the wall caused her to abandon her other sword and now she was defenseless. He was upon her in an instant, the swords tip a few inches from her throat. She looked up at him breathing hard.
“This is all you can do? Not as impressive as I was made to believe.” he raised an eyebrow at her when she grinned at him.
“Oh my Lord, this is not yet over.” In a split second her hand held some of her energy and she swiped her hand at the sword knocking from his hand. At almost the same time she returned the kick that he had given her and knocked him back a few feet from her. She knew she didn’t even faze him; a demon of his caliber would not be harmed so easily. She did however see the slight glint of surprise in his eyes before it vanished behind his emotionless mask.
‘Ok,’ he thought. ’time for a different tactic.’ He charged at her with no weapons. They were going to battle hand to hand, and again she matched him. Everyone knew he wasn’t going full force on her; he was testing her abilities and how far she could go. In a flash he produced his poison whip and she barely dodged it. In fact she caught the scent of fried hair and looked at the end of her ponytail.
She looked at him and grinned, “I needed a trim anyways.” she tossed her hair back behind her and gathered her energy. She formed it into a whip as well and the ends of her lips rose to see his eyebrow rise. She cracked it to her side letting him know that he could attack anytime. He shot it straight at her but her energy whip cut right into his, and they twirled together until they were knotted into each other. Sesshomaru let his dissipate as did she, and they stood there waiting for the next move.
“This has been interesting miko, but now it will end.” in a flash of his true speed he was upon her and behind her. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and his claws at her neck. She felt her skin break and knew that if she moved he was dead. The thing that got to him the most was the fact that he sensed no fear on her person, just surprise and then surrender. Though he could not feel her energy when she expelled it, he could still feel her emotions and it confused him. When he felt her surrender he let her go and merely walked away from her, not even bothering to look back.
Ronin ran to her as she placed her hand on her neck where he had pierced her skin. It was enough to draw a few droplets of blood, but she had already healed by the time Ronin got to her.
“Kagome are you ok?” She turned and smiled at him as she nodded her head. “You know he was not going full force on you right?”
“I know Ronin, but he was using some effort. That fact in itself shows me how much I have learned. I wasn’t easily defeated even though I could have been. He is a powerful youkai and I put up a fight.” He knew what she meant. She had proven to herself that she could take care of herself, she had gotten to where she wanted to be. She felt strong and was proud of herself, confidence beaming off of her. Again she looked at him, “I am going to go clean up, will you tell Nobuto it is rather late for us tonight and we could do it tomorrow?”
“Of course my Lady.”
Now that Sesshomaru was back there would be no more using his hot spring unless she could find a way to sneak into it. He was not at dinner which somewhat disappointed her. There was much she wanted to talk about with him, not to mention she hadn’t seen him in a long while. Yes, she admitted it to herself; she did like to look at him. Who wouldn’t? He was a very fine specimen; his eyes and nose and lips, god those lips. Kagome shook herself out of her thoughts. She should be thinking these things, there was no way she liked him like that, she respected and admired him and that was all. Yea right. She needed to walk. There were many nights now where she didn’t sleep, her energy giving her strength to miss a couple nights of rest. Not wanting to disturb the rest of the house she opened her balcony doors. She jumped down silently to the gardens using her energy to keep her from hurting herself when she landed. She walked over to one of the benches and laid on it. If there was one thing that she could never get enough of here it was the night sky. Her time didn’t allow such beautiful sights from the city lights, but here they were crystal clear.
She let her mind drift off again. She wondered how her friends were doing without her. She wondered how they were handling Kikyo and if she had hurt them. The thought made her mad that that bitch would hurt her friends, but she knew they could handle themselves. The she wondered if they were mad at Inuyasha. All of her thoughts and feeling swirled around her and a certain youkai caught parts of them. He walked to his balcony windows and look out at the girl laying on one of the benches. He couldn’t help but stare. She had rather impressed him today with her show of skill. She had even managed to kick him, no human had been able to do that, ever. But Kagome was no ordinary human. Sesshomaru pondered on what the monk had told him earlier that day and if it were true. He knew that it was as he looked at her. Then he noticed something, she was looking directly at him and he hadn’t even noticed. She smiled when he realized she was staring at him. Slowly she sat up while looking at him still before she began to walk into the woods. When he knew she was gone he leapt out the door to follow her, keeping his youkai as repressed as possible.
Kagome walked through the forest slowly. ‘How long had he been watching me? What was he thinking of. It seemed as if he were looking straight through me.’ She pondered these questions for a bit before remembering what he had looked like in the moonlight. His hair seemingly glowed and shined with the light of the full moon. His pale skin glimmered and the crescent moon was defined by its darkness. His eyes seemed to twinkle with the light even though they seemed far away. And then his body, wow. He had changed out of his normal apparel into a black kimono. She couldn’t help but wonder what was under there and felt her face get hot along with the rest of her body. She had to stop and get the thoughts out of her head. When she did stop however she noticed a presence behind her and wondered how long he had been there.
He had been watching her from a distance, watching her form seemingly glide across the path. He couldn’t help but stare at the way the silk nightgown slid over her body when she moved. He saw how her leg muscles tightened as she walked and he hair blow in the slight breeze. For an instant he thought her a ghost until he caught the scent of her slight arousal. Just as quickly as it came however it was gone and he was left to wonder what the hell she was thinking about. Then she turned her head slightly to the side, not really looking at him but knowing he was there. Her profile was illuminated by the moon and he was amazed at her beauty in this light. And then she spoke. That voice that could annoy him so much but at the same time he wished to hear it.
“If you are going to follow me, you might as well walk with me.” She waited there for a minute to see what he would do, and was pleasantly surprised when he took her invitation. They walked on not speaking to each other. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable however it didn’t last long. Kagome couldn’t stand it anymore though, she had to know. “I know you will always find me weak since I am human. Be honest with me though, do you think I could fight now with the others that I wouldn’t just get in the way?” Her voice was unsteady and unsure. She hoped to god that he would say yes.
“Your skills have improved enough for you to fight a lesser demon I suppose. I don’t know about you not getting in the way however, that seems to be a knack for you from what I hear.”
“Are you always so cold and uncaring?” She knew he wouldn’t answer and just walked ahead of him. She didn’t even see him tense at her words. She was hurt and she said it through her words. No words were spoken the rest of the walk, and before they reached the castle again he called out to her.
“Miko,” she stopped and looked at him, “we leave in three days.” She knew what he was talking about and she nodded her head before leaping into the air and onto her balcony. She would see her friends again in three days, and save them all from the clay priestess.