InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cloak and Dagger ❯ The First of Many ( Chapter 4 )

All in all, it had been a fun filled day. Kagome and Inuyasha weren't speaking, they had walked at painfully fast clip since dawn, and the entire group seemed to be cowering in anticipation of an explosion between miko and hanyou. Yep, good times all around.

Glaring at the fire, Inuyasha watched as Kagome bent over to gather her bow and quiver of arrows. There was no way that he was going to let her go off into the woods, alone, to practice. He hadn't really thought that she would be so serious about the whole thing. So she had missed hitting that crow demon, and yeah, he had yelled at her about it, but in all honesty, she was a lot better than she had been when they had first met. She just wasn't dependable yet. So, if she wanted to practice, he was fine with it, but she sure as hell wasn't going to do it alone.

Kagome began to march angrily into the trees, hoping that her practice session would help to alleviate some of her hanyou-induced stress. Lost in her homicidal thoughts, she almost walked face first into a red haori clad chest. Looking up, she met the narrowed eyes of Inuyasha.

“I'm going to go practice now” she told him while trying to step around him.

“I thought I told you last night that you're not going anywhere without me? I don't want to have to come running to save your ass again when you get in trouble.” Inuyasha side-stepped to block her progress.

“And I thought that I told you that you weren't invited!” Kagome yelled straight into his face.

“Keh. As if I'm gonna listen to you” the hanyou scoffed.

Ohhhhh..... Kagome was fuming. Near the fire, Miroku and Sango watched in trepidation, knowing what was coming next, and ready to come to Inuyasha's aid when the little miko used the subjugation spell.

“Inuyasha....”

Monk, taijiya, kit and hanyou all cringed at the deceptively sweet tone of voice.

“Move. Your. ASS!” Kagome yelled.

Four sets of jaws dropped at the curse.

Using the stunned silence to her advantage, Kagome quickly stepped around the hanyou and began a quick trot into the woods.

Coming back to himself, Inuyasha's mouth snapped shut before he uttered a confused “What the fuck?” Pouncing swiftly, he began to follow the miko.

The rest of the group only shook their heads as a resounding “OSUWARI!” rang out through the woods and birds scattered from the tree tops at the volume.

“Baka” Shippo muttered with a small shake of his head.

“OSUWARI!” yelled the female voice again before a pained yelp came from the hanyou in the distance.

“He certainly is that” stated the monk simply before beginning a fire for the evening meal.

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“Idiot” Kagome muttered while knocking an arrow. She set herself into the stance that Sesshomaru had previously shown her and aimed for another tree, this time imagining a certain set of koinu ears as her target. With a little growl of rage, she let the arrow fly and watched as it hit quite close to it's intended mark.

“Your stance has improved, but you still lack the proper technique.”

Kagome jumped at the sound of the cool baritone voice behind her.

“Your aim was slightly better, though one wonders if it is from passion rather than any form of talent.”

“Passion?” Kagome questioned the stoic youkai.

“You were angry were you not?”

Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly. “You can smell my anger?” This whole smelling her emotions thing was going to be a real pain, she just knew it.

“Indeed. But the fact that you were making feeble attempts to threaten the tree by growling was the primary evidence for this Sesshomaru's assumption.”

“Oh... hee, hee.” Kagome giggled nervously while blushing faintly. Jeeze. Was he always going to embarrass her?

“So, miko, tell this Sesshomaru what it was that you were aiming at.”

“The tree?” Kagome asked him questioningly. After all, didn't he notice that her arrow was currently lodged in the tree's trunk?

Sesshomaru merely quirked an elegant eyebrow at her before saying “The tree. Hn. Again we come to the issue of your strange loathing of flora.”

“Oh alright, I was thinking about Inuyasha” Kagome muttered grumpily. She was so busy staring at the ground while she said this that she missed the taiyoukai's quick smile at the remark.

Composing himself, Sesshomaru stated simply “The hanyou does tend to bring that out in others. You are not the first to entertain such ideas, and most assuredly will not be the last. But be that as it may, you must learn to harness your emotions while in battle. You may think that they are an advantage to you, but they are not, miko. You must be calm when facing down your enemy.”

Kagome was shocked. It was the most she had ever heard the taiyoukai say in one meeting. Perhaps it was more than she had ever heard him say, period. Her mouth gaping open, she stared at the towering demon before her.

“You will catch flies that way.”

“What?” Kagome spluttered. Was he being playful?

“Your mouth. Leaving it open in that manner will attract flies. It is also highly unbecoming.”

“Guess not. He's still an ass.” Kagome thought to herself.

“Enough banter. Come woman, we begin your lessons now” Sesshomaru told her.

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“Your endurance is also lacking. You are out of shape miko.”

“We've been at this for two hours! In case you didn't know, I've had to chase after Inuyasha all day! I can't help it if I'm tired! I haven't even had anything to eat yet!” Kagome was dripping in sweat, her thick dark bangs plastered to her forehead.

“Your excuses do not interest this Sesshomaru” he told her placidly. “We have only covered archery and have not even progressed to the use of swords or physical fighting. Yet you are already useless.”

Kagome spluttered. Useless? “Who said anything about swords and fighting? I thought that you were just going to show me how to be a decent shot?”

Sesshomaru snorted. “This Sesshomaru would not waste his time with teaching merely archery. You accepted my offer to train you, and you will learn all elements of battle. This includes sword-play and hand to hand combat. This Sesshomaru offered to make you into a warrior, miko, and you accepted did you not?”

Crap. She should have known better. Obviously it was too nice and easy to think that she would get away with just getting a few lessons in archery from the taiyoukai. Kagome groaned loudly before sinking to the ground. Still sweating heavily, legs splayed out in front of her, she looked up into his cool golden gaze.

Looking down at her, Sesshomaru could see that the little onna was tired, but it was part of a warrior's training to overcome fatigue. Deciding to goad her into action he muttered, “This Sesshomaru is disgusted by your feeble nature.”

What? Kagome jumped to her feet. “You know what Sesshomaru?”

The taiyoukai stared at her coolly and raised an eyebrow in wait.

“Stop calling me names! And while your at it, you can kiss my ass!”

Time stood still for a moment while the pair pondered what had just burst forth from the miko's mouth. For her part, Kagome looked utterly shocked that she had said something so uncouth, and slightly frightened at the fact that she had spoken the words to the most powerful demon in all of Japan.

Sesshomaru looked alternately bewildered and horrified. “Why would this Sesshomaru EVER wish to do such a thing?” He seemed absolutely shocked.

“I didn't mean it literally!” Kagome was blushing again.

Sesshomaru seemed to cringe at the thought before stating “The hanyou is influencing your verbal skills. This Sesshomaru hopes that he does not have such power over your combat abilities or you will be a lost cause.”

Kagome made another little growling sound in the back of her throat, and Sesshomaru was secretly amused at the sound. At least he had been right; she would be entertaining.

“Now that you seem to have rediscovered your energy ningen, we will begin your lessons in hand to hand combat.” Seshomaru was barely able to contain his smirk.

Kagome groaned. It was going to be a really long night.