InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Guardians ❯ Begin Training ( Chapter 2 )

AN: Okay, um, it might seem confusing…So, to hopefully put it simply, Nicole, the character, lives in a real world, where InuYasha is an anime/manga, you know, like how we live right now. But what she doesn't know… well… let's just say that sometimes fantasy isn't at all what it seems….

The third night, I was both dreading it and looking forward to it at the same time. One, I was really hoping I wouldn't get my throat crushed again. Two, I wanted to meet new people, more specifically, the Inu-tachi. Sure enough, I got my wish.

This time around, I materialized in yet another forest-like place. Closer to where I stood, I spotted a light from what appeared to be a campfire. Curiosity killed the cat, they say. I walked closer and spotted the forms of the InuYasha gang. I realized that I was standing downwind, which was why the Hanyou hadn't yet smelt my scent. I stepped into the open and six pairs of eyes rested on me.

"Feh, stupid human! What do you think you're doing?" demanded the Hanyou, InuYasha.

"InuYasha! Be nice!" reprimanded Kagome from her place by him.

To me, she said, "Hello. I'm Kagome. What's your name?"

"Nicole."

"Nice to meet you, Nicole-san. You are… not of this time…" she trailed off, noticing my apparel, which consisted of a pair of sports pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. Would you mind if I traveled with you?" I asked.

"No, I'm sure InuYasha wouldn't mind, right InuYasha?" she said, looking at the Hanyou with pleading eyes.

He grunted.

"If you get killed, it's not my fault," he muttered.

"Hello, Miss Nicole-san," said a monk, "I am Miroku."

`Yeah, like I wouldn't have known,' I thought, feeling an unwelcome hand on my behind.

Without a word, I snatched the roaming hand, twisted, and shoved it behind the monk's back in a painful arm lock.

"Well, what do we have here? A perverted lech who just loves touching girls' behinds!" I growled.

The said monk gained a nervous look on his face.

"And here I was, thinking that Miss Taijiya here was your girl," I informed him, glancing at a furiously blushing Sango.

"What can I say? It isn't my fault she's attracted to me," said Miroku gloatingly.

For his pains, he received two huge sores on his stupid head. One from me and one from Sango.

"Itai," he moaned.

"Damare, Monk, if you know what's good for you," growled Sango, hoisting Hiraikotsu higher.

"I agree," I added, glaring at the poor unfortunate soul.

After a few more hours, after having greeted Shippou and Kirara, I found myself dematerializing.

"Nicole-san? Nicole-san, are you… disappearing?" asked Kagome noticing my almost transparent body.

"Yes, I will be back tomorrow night," I said right before I totally disappeared.

The next night, I returned and attempted to offer an explanation for my disappearance, but I was sure they didn't really believe me. Soon, though, they began to accept the fact that I was gone during the day and there at night. I traveled far and wide with them and learned a bit of archery by myself along with some staff training. Sango was rather pleased to find I could defend myself in hand to hand combat as a result of a black belt in martial arts, but took it upon herself to teach me more and soon, I could keep myself safe from the lower-class youkai we encountered.

Until the night came when one moon's cycle had come and gone. We sat together, me discussing various ways to fend off an oncoming spider youkai with Sango, Kagome reading a book, InuYasha staring off into the night looking grumpy as ever, Shippou and Kirara tussling together on the forest floor, and Miroku appearing to meditate. The monk and Hanyou noticed it first. Miroku's eyes shot open and his body tensed, while InuYasha's nose twitched and he growled, springing to his feet, one hand on Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it.

"InuYasha? What is it?" asked Kagome. Looking up from her book, she scanned the area with worried eyes and gasped.

"Kagome?" I asked softly.

"I feel a powerful youkai aura," she whispered.

"Sesshoumaru," growled InuYasha, fist clenching. "Come out, you coward! Come out and fight!"

The said Taiyoukai appeared on the edge of the clearing we were in walking towards us with a rather calm, cold air that probably could turn into a raging storm at a moment's notice.

Ignoring InuYasha, he spoke, "It is time."

"Huh? Time for what?" asked Kagome, looking confused.

I sighed and stood.

"I must go," I told them.

"Nicole-san! Why are you leaving with… HIM?!" cried Kagome.

I shook my head, but before I could reply, InuYasha had lunged for me, Tetsusaiga ready to shred me to bits. I yelled as I was blinded by the bright flash of the Kaze no Kizu. I opened my eyes, raising them slowly to see that familiar flash of flowing white cloth. Sesshoumaru stood in front of me, Tokijin out and had shielded me from the Wind Scar.

"Foolish Half-breed," he intoned, "You are not to harm her. Fate will not have it this way."

"NANI?!" he yelled, "She betrayed us! That's all there is to it Sesshoumaru! And I suppose you're just protecting her because she did your bidding, is that right?!"

This time I spoke up.

"Sorry, InuYasha, but that's not it. I only know that I must go with him. I do think he only saved me because he would have been in deep trouble with someone if he had allowed me to be killed by your stupidity," I said softly.

Without a word more, Sesshoumaru strode out of the clearing as I tried to keep up. In silence we followed, footsteps audible on the forest floor. Not realizing it, I found myself muttering things.

"Stupid Dog-Boy. Why would he think I worked for Sesshoumaru?! Psh, as if! Unless he were like blackmailing me or something! Kami, I'll get him back one of these days for the Wind Scar attack. Hmm. What was that one thing that Rochelle suggested? Oh yes. The EAR TWEAKING, yes, yes, that's good...," I trailed off, walking right smack into something very hard and falling to the ground.

"Ah, sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru-sama!" I exclaimed not daring to look up at the Taiyoukai I'd just run into.

There was no reply, save for the rush of wind in my ears. Eyes closed tight, I opened one a slit to see a spike of metal. A metal spike attached to a bit of chest armor, which belonged to a certain youkai who had only tried to kill me twice.

`Aw, crap. Please tell me I'm not being carried by him,' I thought despairingly.

Too bad. I was. Deciding on the best thing, I tensed up and squeezed my eyes shut for the remainder of the flight.

After what seemed like an eternity, I found myself dumped unceremoniously onto a hard surface. Getting up and rubbing my behind, I stared up in awe at the castle of Sesshoumaru.

"Come, human," he said, sounding bored as he walked through the open gates.

Without a word, I obediently followed into the great building.

"Saraiyn!" he barked out.

A female Inu Youkai with piercing amber eyes and black-silver hair hurried out from an open door. She curtsied and asked in a timid voice, "Hai, Milord?"

"Take the human to a spare guest chamber. Once she is settled, have Oronai take her to the bathing springs."

"Very good, Milord."

To me, she said, "Come with me, human."

Inwardly, I scowled. This whole calling me "human" thing was getting a bit old. I followed the servant youkai to a rather large room.

"Oronai will come for you in a few minutes," she informed me, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

I explored the room, which was about three times the size of the one I had at home, and after a while I heard a knock on the door. It opened to reveal another Inu Youkai. This one was male, with silver eyes and close-cropped black hair. For a moment, I thought I saw an odd tinge of crimson flash in those eyes, but I blinked and it disappeared, replaced with shining silver. I blinked again in confusion and dismissed it as a slip of my eyes.

"I am Oronai, human, and I have come to lead you to the bathing springs," he said, bowing.

I remained silent and he smiled a bit eerily, but walked out. I followed once more to a room with a spring inside it, steam rising from the water.

"You will find the necessary clothing in there," Oronai said, waving a clawed hand at what appeared to be a closet, "I will take my leave of you now. Good night."

With a bow, he left, the door snapping shut behind him. I scowled at the closed door, wishing they would stop calling me "human."

I bathed as ordered and opened the closet thing and pulled out a hakama and blouse, totally dismissing the offered pink and yellow, sakura printed, kimono folded neatly inside it. As soon as I dressed, I found myself disappearing yet again as the sun peeked over the horizon outside the castle.

~*~

The next night, I returned to Sesshoumaru's castle, this time, appearing in what looked to be a dojo. Weapons of all kinds adorned the walls, targets stood up for practice, and a sparring court took up three quarters of the space. Standing there, in the middle of the court was Sesshoumaru, without armor, in a plainer kimono than the one he usually wore when seen elsewhere.

"You have come. It is time to begin your training."

I stared at him. Training?! No one said anything about training!

"First we shall see how knowledgeable in hand to hand combat you are. Defend yourself."

As soon as those two words were spoken, I only barely had enough time to register a blur coming at me so fast, I just got out of the way by throwing myself off to the side and slapping the ground in a fall-break, to keep myself from breaking a bone or two. A flash of white at the corner of my left eye caught my attention and I swung my foot up in a turning roundhouse, using the momentum from my swing to add more power to my strike. Then, it all happened so fast. A split second later, I found myself flying head over heels and landing on my back hard.

"Ow…" I groaned.

"Hn, not bad for a human, but you still have much to learn."

I staggered to my feet, arching my back to stretch it out. Hearing it crack, I grimaced, but stood ready for another round as I predicted the relentless youkai would make me suffer through lots of pain.

Sesshoumaru pushed me on through the night, exhausting me and paining me, but nonetheless, I did learn much in one whole night. Taiyoukai were so impatient. Every single time I did something wrong or didn't do as I was told, he'd punch me in the gut lightly, by youkai standards, so I wasn't killed, but enough to make me feel as though I had a gaping hole through my abdomen. But, I did learn more ways to attack most types of opponents.

Mentally, I also decided that if I didn't want to die anytime soon, I'd have to improve my strength, stamina, and speed. As of the present, I had respectable strength for a human of that time, average enough speed, but my stamina was really pathetic. So it all began. Every weekend, in the morning, I would run exactly two miles no matter how much time it took. After that, in the afternoon, I'd go practice basketball for another two hours as the local school. It took a while, but it helped improve my training sessions during the night in dream, for some odd reason. Pretty soon, I could run faster than most of the guys in my fourth period Phys. Ed. Class at school, which was a lot of boys. They outnumbered girls at least 3 to 1. My stamina also improved and I was able to run or jog, mostly, almost two miles without stopping more than once. Of course, with that, also came a little weight training to help my upper body strength, to give me more of an advantage, since I mostly used my kicks to help me through.

Overall, I thought I really did come through with that whole dedication thing, but perhaps it wasn't enough. One night, after about four months of training, cuts, bruises, one sprained ankle, and a load of weapons training, Sesshoumaru, instead of beginning with hand to hand combat like we usually did, spoke.

"Human," he began.

Now, up until this point, I'd been just barely tolerant of the fact that every single youkai member of this place called me, "Human." But now? Frankly, I'd grown sick of it. So, I snapped.

"Look, Sesshoumaru-sama, if you really want to talk to me, I have a NAME. Got that? You know what it is, so use it. MY name is not, "Human", "Girl", "Wench", "Stupid Human", or anything that you and your youkai servants call me! My name is NICOLE, and I prefer it to be used! Okay?!"

Whoops, maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut. My mom once told me I was sometimes a little too blunt, which, coupled with a sarcastic, slightly morbid, rather violent, and independent personality, could be dangerous. And that just had to come into play right about now.

So, for the second time in approximately four months, I found myself dangling in the air, my air supply cut off, at the mercy of a rather annoyed Taiyoukai.

"So, it did not penetrate that useless human mind of yours now did it? But it will be said again. This Sesshoumaru is the Taiyoukai of these lands and will not be spoken to in an insolent manner! You should deserve to die, but this time, the Fates have other plans for you. Do you hear me??" he growled, shaking me.

And of course, it felt like I was being thrown about in a raging squall as a little rag doll. That was how it felt. Not to mention the fact that I was going to have pretty colors all over my neck again the next morning.

Then, he dropped me on the floor. Striding out, he paused in the doorway.

"Perhaps the Fates were incorrect for the first time in millennia. Perhaps you are not the one," he said softly.

He was gone. I stared at the doorway where the youkai had just been. Me?! Not the ONE?! What was this about the Fates?! What was all this even about?! I resolved to find out, one way or the other.

AN: You know, honestly, I think it rather sucks, but that's just me. If you're confused, then don't go any further. I'm pitifully attempting to straighten things out from here on, but… it's coming along. Hopefully it's not too bad, um, ja, everybody.