InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Power ❯ Riasha and The Test ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: Riasha and the Test

Kagome stared at the girl who had interrupted their conversation. She was about 5'7" and had pretty purplish eyes, a lot like her own, but darker. Her hair was a honey colored blonde with lighter highlights in it. It was very straight and came just below her shoulders. She wore a modern time dress that was classy and also conservative without being over decorative. The color of the mid-thigh dress matched her medium purple eyes perfectly. She had a nice body build and was wearing strappy high-heeled sandals to complete the outfit. All in all, the girl was quite beautiful, and Kagome was overwhelmed. Riasha gave Sesshou an annoyed look for waiting so long to introduce her and she didn't like the way the girl on the couch stared at her. Sesshou noticed the annoyed look on Riasha's face and stepped forward to make the introductions.

"Kagome, this is Lady Riasha. Lady Riasha, this is Higurashi Kagome. Lady Riasha is a… friend, of mine. Kagome is my mate-to-be." He smiled at each of them in turn and Riasha's gaze narrowed just a little bit when she heard the last part. Kagome thought she noticed but dismissed it as nothing. She quickly got up off the couch.

"You'll have to excuse my rudeness but I haven't seen a demon, or hanyou, in a very long time. I was more than a little off guard." She held out her hand to be shaken but the half-demon just looked at her coldly and turned to Sesshoumaru. Kagome put down her vacant hand, feeling foolish, and blushed.

"Sesshou, you said she was a powerful miko. I don't sense any such aura around her." She gave him a piercing look, but not before giving Kagome a disdainful one. Kagome shied away from it and looked at Sesshou questionably, wondering what the hell was going on. Sesshou sent a message to her that all would be explained soon and to not worry about Riasha, she was like that with everyone. Kagome didn't know why he was lying; she could tell that this Riasha woman did not like her, period. He turned back to the obviously annoyed Riasha.

"She is powerful. The jewel gives her extra powers besides her own and make her powers and the Shikon No Tama undetectable. I'm not sure why, but it does. If you would like, you can test her powers to see for yourself." He smiled at her and then Kagome who gave him an evil look. Sesshou winked at her, but she was too mad to notice at the moment.

"Well, do you agree to this?" Riasha asked Kagome. She nodded and Sesshou led them to a dome shaped place that was very apparently meant for fighting. There were some comfortable chairs for someone who wished to watch and the diameter was approximately 200 feet wide and 300ft long. The sides were all brick wall and the floor was a hard mat. The chairs were set up above the fighting area, which is where Shippou and Sesshoumaru went. Kagome stood off to one end of the dome and Riasha was at the other end. Kagome was nervous; she didn't want to disappoint Sesshou and she didn't know what she should do. She knew how to control her powers now so that didn't worry her, but she didn't know the extent of Riasha's powers, and that did unnerve her. The woman stood across from her and was standing loosely, unmoving, with her eyes down. Kagome wondered what was going on was about to get closer and ask when she heard her voice. It carried from the other side of the dome easily, like she was used to projecting her voice.

"This will be an exclusively Ki fight. You are only allowed to use your spiritual energy in the fight. No weapons or hand-to-hand combat is allowed." Riasha raised her eyes to look at Kagome who was looking at her curiously. Her face was just as impassive as Sesshoumaru's and Kagome was caught off guard. The next thing she knew, bright purple Ki balls were being fired at her and she watched them come closer and closer. This would be easy she smiled a little and concentrated. The world slowed its fast pace to one more suitable for her own needs. She alighted the Ki ball with her own energy and it disappeared, fading in her lighter purple light. The girl across the hall from her sent another, then more of them; each one came quicker than the last. Kagome handled them all easily. She was happy with her success and watched Riasha closely; waiting for what the next thing she would throw at her. She watched her raise her arm, then throw it down sharply. About a hundred little purple streaks shot at her, all at the same time. Kagome watched as they sped closer and closer. She never moved. The one at the front of the rest was only about 15 feet away when her arm lifted, but it only lifted a little. A purple barrier formed around her and when the streaks had closed another five feet, they were repelled and shot off in all directions. One exploded the wall next to Sesshoumaru's head but he never flinched.

Riasha watched the reflection of her attack with indifference similar to Sesshoumaru's, but in reality she was seething. Now she knew why Sesshoumaru chose this human girl over her. Even with her hanyou powers to strengthen her own human miko powers, she and the girl were almost an even match. She had given the girl just about everything she had, and she had seemed to reflect or repel all of her attacks. But she still had one trick left up her sleeve. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, chanting words that would make little sense to anyone else. She felt herself lift up into the air and opened her eyes. They were a dark purple color, no white or pupil or iris showing. She saw the girl look up at her and smile. She watched the girl's eyes turn light purple and saw her rise into the air also, coming level with her. Riasha was angry, angry that this girl barely thought about it and was doing the same thing it had taken her years to learn. And she was the fastest dragon demon to ever learn to rise into this state of power. This stupid human girl did it so easily, no chanting, no official training, nothing. Suddenly, she felt herself sinking back to the ground. The girl made a motion with her hand and a strong wind was blowing her down! Not quickly of course, because she was fighting it, but still she headed down. When she touched down on the ground the wind disappeared and with it, much of her strength. She watched the Kagome glow brightly for a second before slowly descending back to the ground.

Kagome felt very satisfied and very energized. She smiled as soon as she was safely on the ground and said, "Who's up for round two?" She looked from Riasha to the other two on the side. She knew Riasha was tired and needed a rest. Something as hard as levitating was a large strain on her because she didn't have the power of the Shikon No Tama to help her. Kagome looked to Sesshou. "Why don't I have a match against you, Sesshou? I'd like to see what kind of competition I am for you now, compared to then when all I could do was shoot arrows." She smiled at him and he shruggingly obliged. She watched as he pulled out Toukijin and stood where Riasha had been standing a moment earlier. He schooled his face into the mask of indifference she was used to seeing and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm not going to go easy on you." He smiled at her and she returned the smile.

"I sure hope not!" She returned and he rushed at her, only to come within ten feet and be blasted back by the force of her barrier. He flipped and landed on his feet to rush at her again, but was stopped earlier this time. A wind once again tore through the dome and pushed him back, flying right into the wall. He had a look of surprise on his face that she would be willing to do that to him but when he looked at her face, it was just as impassive as his was. He wanted to laugh at the way her lively features were put into a position that wasn't natural for them, at least to him. But his never-failing mask refused to allow this and instead he rose from where he had fallen after hitting the wall. He stood with that stoic look on his face and pulled out a sword she hadn't noticed until just now. It was the Tetsusaiga! How did he… He shouldn't be able to hold it! Unless…

`You are correct.' His voice told her silently, `Because of you, I learned compassion for humans and therefore was able to use the Tetsusaiga. It has now accepted me.' She thought so! Now what was he going to do with it? She saw him pick it up to swing, all in slow motion. When he brought it down she saw how the blade glowed red and realized he was going to perform the Baryuuha. (A/N: I know, I spelled it wrong. *sigh* I will fix it ASAP, K?) Kagome watched the immense energy barrel at her. This attack would shatter her barrier, what would she do? Kagura's face slid into her mind. Okay, now what about Kagura would help her… Oh! Of course. Kagura controlled the wind, so the attack would be useless for her. Now with the Shikon No Tama, Kagome also could control the wind. She lifted her hand and saw the way wind converged around her, the wind from the Baryuuha intermingling with it. She sent the wind back at Sesshoumaru, except with double the force because he own strength was added to it. She watched his eyes grow slightly in surprise and he unsheathed Tenseiga, holding it in front of him to act as a shield. It purified the wind the way one of she could and she watched him stand up and bow to her. She inclined her head in acceptance of his offer of a truce and they proceeded towards each other, finally discarding their masks. Kagome had a proud smile on her face and Sesshoumaru had a slight look of perplexity on his.

"I didn't know the extent of your abilities." He said with an appeased look on his face.

"Neither did I." She replied, shaking her head. He gave her a strange look but his question was asked for him.

"That was the first time you have done that?" Riasha said, trying to keep her emotions from spilling out. She wanted so badly to wrench the girl's head off for beating her so easily. It never occurred to her that she was not quite of Sesshoumaru's strength, which was quite a feat for a hanyou such as herself, but that Kagome was an equal to Sesshoumaru in ability. She didn't realize that she would have to be more powerful than the great Dog-demon himself to beat the scrawny bitch.

"That was the first time I have attained such power as to levitate since I killed Naraku." She looked from Riasha to Sesshoumaru. "And that was the first time I was able to turn someone's attack back at them." She looked contrite. "I could have seriously hurt you Sesshou-chan." She looked at him with glazed eyes. "What if you hadn't had the Tenseiga? I could have killed you!" She took a step back from him while her eyes began to tear up.

"Kagome I told you, no holding back. The attack with Tetsusaiga I hurled at you could have seriously hurt you." He said worriedly as a tear slipped down her cheek. She gave him an incrediculous look.

"What? That attack? It only would have destroyed my barrier. It wasn't strong enough to do more than that. You made sure of it." He was about to object but closed his mouth as he realized she hadn't known that through guessing, she had known that through him. "By the way, don't bother lying anymore." She said this before walking out, leaving him standing there astounded. Now she was mad at him? God, she changed pace too fast.

"Kagome, I request you wait so we may discuss this in my chambers." She stopped and whirled around.

"I have nothing to say to you at the moment." She had an expressionless face he still was not used to and watched her walk out of the Dome. Riasha came to stand next to him.

"She knows." Was all she said. Sesshou shot her a dark, questioning look.

"What do you mean?" he asked the beautiful hanyou beside him. She gave him a sideways look.

"You haven't figured it out?" She watched him shake his head slowly. "Her powers psychic powers heighten when she in such a state of concentration. She knew everything that happened between us when I fought her. She called you out to confirm it." Riasha gave him a look that was serious, without a hint of immorality. "I'm sorry Sesshou. I ruined your happiness with her. She is much more worthy of you than I." Regret shone in her eyes. As much as she hated the woman, it was only because she knew she could never have Sesshoumaru, and she tried to blame it on Kagome. But kagome held his heart long before she had ever come, and she realized it now. Though she doubted she would ever be a close friend to her, she did not hate her now. The fight between them had caused her to respect the girl and respect was something that was hard earned from Riasha. It took a lot for her to respect a person and Kagome had accomplished this in a short period of time. She felt a horrible pain in her heart as she watched Sesshou stride after his love in an attempt to explain thing to her. If the girl loved him as much as she thought he did, he would succeed. She turned away and noticed Shippou still in the stands, trying to look inconspicuous. "You heard that?" She questioned tonelessly. He nodded.

"You and Uncle Sess…" He trailed off and she nodded. He shook his head disgusted and walked to the entrance of the Dome. "I thought you cared about him, but I guess you didn't care that much if you were willing to hurt him and Kagome like that." She frowned up at him. How did the kitsune know what she had done? She never got to ask because he walked out before she could even open her mouth. Dammit! Why did this have to happen? Why did this always happen to her?

. . . . . . .

Kagome angrily wiped at the tears that cursed down her cheeks. She stopped and put a hand on the wall and the other over her rapidly beating heart. She took in a few deep calming breaths as she had learned to do before to keep from destroying the world through the hurricanes and tsunamis and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Who knew what else. She straightened up and squared her shoulders, a blank, cold look in her eyes as something told her Sesshou was coming. She continued walking with stiff steps toward the door that lead to the exit of the mansion and her pain. Sesshou called out to her and she cringed inside but her steps never faltered. She reached for the door handle but a strong hand stopped her.

"Let go of me." She said in low, dry, emotionless tones. He stared back at her but didn't let go, even when he felt his hand begin to burn.

"Burn me if you have to, but I have to tell you something first." He said in her ear, his voice just as emotionless as hers. She opened her eyes in shock at what she had just done and whirled around.

"NO! Even if you have killed me, I refuse to hurt you!" She looked up into his eyes, the only thing that ever held any emotion. He saw one tear after another run down her still stoic face. There was no emotion there, even in her beautiful eyes. Her now vacant purple tinged blue-gray eyes. His heart squeezed with the intensity of emotions, not just his, but hers too. He gripped her shoulders and still she looked up at him with nothing there.

"Don't you realize how much I died inside watching you turn from my sweet, cheerful, fun woman to a cold emotionless one? You are killing me right now just be the look you send at me. You are never happy anymore, you never are allowed to show any emotions at all because of that cursed jewel." He looked into her eyes and watched her waiting for a reaction to what he was doing.

She felt herself slowly being filled with so much pain and suffering and love she was starting to be overwhelmed. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and felt herself slowly fall to the floor, sliding right through his arms. He didn't know why and grabbed at her, trying to stop it. He failed and she slumped to the floor, sprawled out at all angles.

"Oh, god, what's wrong with her, what's going on?" He looked frantically around him and stopped to listen to her heartbeat. It was slow and getting slower every minute.

"RIASHA!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, knowing she would hear him. She was there in a matter of seconds, and leaned down next to the girl to see what the problem was without him telling her. She looked up at him in surprise.

"You'll have to give her some of your blood!" She said and unbuckled a knife hidden at her thigh. She made a cut on his wrist and did the same to hers and was pressing their wrists together before Sesshou could ask what for. She had decided that moment she would have to fix this problem she caused, she did not want to see them hurt anymore. When she had known Sesshoumaru, for the last 200 years actually, she had known him as completely unemotional. The few times she had caught him showing any kind of emotion was when he thought about Kagome, and it was always deep sadness and longing and love. When he had tried to explain about them before she guessed he had accidentally transferred his emotions to her. Being human, they had overwhelmed her and would eventually kill her. She explained that to Sesshoumaru as she held their wrist together.

"I am giving her your blood and you hers just like at a mating ceremony. It will give her your strength to be able to handle those kind of emotions." She narrowed her eyes, wondering. "How did she act when you started transferring your emotions to her?" She asked him, curious. She should have yelled and screamed for a moment and been like someone hallucinating before fainting. But she knew this girl was a lot stronger than most, and she hadn't heard anything before Sesshou yelled.

"She turned to me with same expression as before, with absolutely no emotion showing in her eyes. They were vacant, and cold. The only thing that showed she was feeling something was the tears that came down her cheeks. Then she seemed to liquefy and I couldn't hold onto her. She fell to the ground and I couldn't stop it." He told her, a minute trace of emotion showing in his golden orbs. She looked up at him confused.

"She didn't show anything? No love, pain, anything?" She couldn't believe it. No human could do that. Even Sesshoumaru couldn't have accomplished that if he was human.

"She looked so blank. She always has, ever since that day she realized the powers the Shikon gave her. She has always tried to be in control all the time to keep from making earthquakes and other natural disasters." He looked sad. "It's all because of that fucking Shikon Jewel. Now I know why Kikyou always had such a coldness and distantness about her." Riasha gave him a questioning look and he explained. "Do you remember, I told you of the priestess that dragged Inuyasha to hell? She was the one who had the Shikon No Tama before?" She nodded.

"I remember now. She shot Inuyasha to the tree and was reborn by the witch Urusue. She brought it to hell with her and it was reincarnated into Kagome." She looked up at him. "I think she is waking." Sesshou started and crawled closer to peer intently into her face while Riasha backed off. Kagome opened her eyes weakly before smiling and shutting them again, falling into a deep sleep. A crescent moon was forming on her forehead but no stripes darkened her cheeks or wrists. He looked at Riasha in question again. "The moon is you fathers symbol, the one your mate would get." She swallowed, wishing her forehead held the arch of his family. "The striped will come later after you mark her." She finished. She started up the stairs. "You should take her up to her room to sleep for a while. I would like to talk to her when she awakens." She said this over her shoulder before gliding up the stairs to disappear into her room.

Sesshoumaru gathered up the sleeping girl into his arms, glad he could hold her once again. He started up the stairs to the West wing and wondered what she would think of the moon on her forehead and the blood they now shared. He was aware of the dream she was in. It was like all the others, everyone dying around her and she ended up all alone. He opened the door to his room and set her down on the bed, studying her. He hoped she would find forgiveness in her heart for him and wondered what Riasha would speak to her about. Perhaps he would be able to find out after. He lay down next to the woman he loved, the only person he had ever really loved, and watched her deep breathing.

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