InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reincarnation ❯ Training? ( Chapter 4 )

Reincarnationby FireFalcon1414

 

Disclaimer: I do not own, in whole or in part, the Inuyasha series. All rights belong to Takahashi Rumiko. I do, however, own the plot to this fanfiction and I'm very proud of it!

 

 

Chapter 4: Training?

 

Kagome and Reikou emerged from the dark closet, the youkai's demonic eyes adjusting automatically to the increase in lighting, while the human had to blink several times to clear the spots from her gaze. They walked over to where Sesshoumaru stood, waiting patiently, and the wolf bowed low before her lord, the younger girl a beat behind, still unused to the formal customs of this era. The taiyoukai nodded silently, and the two rose, allowing him to observe their changed outfits.

 

He circled Kagome, and she couldn't quite suppress the shiver up her spine at the feeling of being the prey of this dog. How was she to know that he wouldn't… well… eat her? Like the demons in the stories did? This was an idea that hadn't previously occurred to her, and she found herself gnawing slightly on her lip.

 

When Sesshoumaru had made a full circuit and returned to his place in front of Kagome, he gave a curt nod, jolting her from her morbid thoughts. “These clothes will do for today. This Sesshoumaru will order a similar set to be made for you by tomorrow.” He turned, retrieving the sword he had selected previously from where she had leaned it against the wall upon his impromptu order to change. “This,” he said slowly and clearly, as though to a small child, holding the katana toward her with both hands on the leather sheath, “is a sword. This is the hilt-” He tapped said part with a sharp-looking claw. “-and this is the blade.” He drew the sword with one fluid motion, showing it to her before slipping it back and handing the weapon to her.

 

She took it with a huff, and a muttered “I knew that.” He moved on, taking a simple bamboo practice sword in an equally simple cloth sheath for himself.

 

“This is how you strap a sword on,” he continued, demonstrating on himself and watching as her clumsy hands tried to mimic his smooth motion, fumblingly fulfilling the necessity. “And you draw…” he said as he pulled the practice sword out slowly, watching her do the same. “Very good,” he patronized. “Now you know how to properly wear a sword. Congratulations.” Her face burned as the surrounding soldiers - Reikou included - laughed at her inadequacy.

 

Sesshoumaru sighed. He had more important things to do than teaching a human girl how to hold and use a dagger and staff, not to mention all the muscles she didn't have and did need…

 

Turning again, he put the practice sword away, motioning for Reikou to step forward again. “Enough,” he told Kagome, who was still standing there with her new katana in hand. She sheathed it clumsily, but at least she didn't drop it. “From today on, Reikou will teach you the uses of the various weapons we discussed earlier, training you in the mornings between dawn, when you will rise, and noon, when you will eat your midday meal. Afterwards, you will teach Shippou whatever it is you believe he must learn until sunset, when you will eat your supper. Once the sun is down, I don't particularly care what you do with your time. Once every sennight, I will meet with Reikou, who will brief me on your progress, and yourself, to evaluate said progress for myself. You will obey the rules of this house or receive due punishment; you will receive no special treatment. Remember your boundaries, and never leave the castle walls without expressed permission from myself. Throw yourself wholeheartedly into your training and learn all you can in the limited time we have.” Having delivered this explanation of her life from then until whenever she left, he promptly swept out of the room, returning to his study and paperwork.

 

Kagome stood where he had left her, still absorbing his words, when her view was suddenly filled with the face of her new instructor.

 

“Alright,” Reikou snapped. “I don't like you, and if you have an ounce of a brain in that little human head of yours, you shouldn't like me. I'm not training you because I want you to be able to defend yourself against Naraku. I'm training you because Sesshoumaru-sama does. Though I can't imagine why,” she added as an afterthought before ploughing ahead with her little pep-talk/warning. “Anyway, I'm in charge of you now, in the mornings at least, which basically means this: I say `Jump,' you say `How high?' I say `Go take a long walk off a short peninsula,' you say `How short?' Got it?” Kagome nodded mutely. “Good. Now let's get started. Draw your sword; we'll work with the staff tomorrow, the daggers the next day, the bow the next, then martial arts. Then we'll review and on the seventh day report to Sesshoumaru-sama. Any questions?” Kagome shook her head. “Good. Keep this silent thing up, and we just might get along.”

 

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. “No!” she yelled, and Reikou just stared at her, wondering what she was refusing. She specified: “No, I won't just accept that you don't like me, and I won't not like you just because you don't want me to! No, I don't know why Sesshoumaru wants me to be able to fight, nor, for that matter, do I know who this `Naraku' guy is! No, you're not in charge of me, and I'm not your little slave! No, when you say `Jump,' I won't say `How high?' I'll say `Why do you want me to?' and if you say `Go take a long walk off a small peninsula,' I won't say `How short?' I'll say `No!' And the saying is pier, you… you… argh!” She paused a moment to catch her breath before continuing her rant, still not giving Reikou room to answer. “And no, I won't keep quiet just to get along! If we don't get along, then that's that, but I'd appreciate it very much if you wouldn't discriminate against me for my species, nor insult my intelligence when I've had more education in the fifteen years of my life than you've probably had in however many decades of yours! And… and…” she finally trailed off, still huffing and bristling like a cat that's been stepped on.

 

Reikou took a step towards her, standing up straight to loom over the girl who was suddenly feeling very, very short. She held up a finger. “One: You'd better accept the fact that I don't like you, bitch, because it's a fact that isn't going to be changing anytime soon.” Another finger went up. “Two: You honestly don't know who Naraku is? Where've you been this last century, girl? He's the bastard who's been terrorizing all of Japan since before my father's time! And, quite frankly, I don't care why the lord is so interested in your health!” Another finger. “Three: You'd better learn how to take orders, wench, because from now on you are in my charge, whether either of us like it or not! And what is a pier? Some strange human thing? In that case, I don't really care about it, either!” And another… “Four: I've already told you why I hate your kind so much, and if that's not enough of a reason for you to understand, then I don't care about that, too! I'm really not caring about a lot you say, am I? Maybe because I don't care about you!” And finally, the whole hand stood flat. “And five…” A resounding slap lit the air, resonating between Kagome's ears and setting her cheek on fire with pain.

 

She reacted on instinct alone. Another slap was soon heard throughout the dojo, and the same fire set on Reikou's cheek. Before either girl could blink, let alone the spectating soldiers, the demon had flung herself atop the human, and a full-fledged “catfight” was on.

 

The clash didn't last long. A red blur quickly materialized between the fighters, throwing them away from each other and holding Kagome back with a hand on her arm. Both she and Reikou looked up to find a vaguely pissed off fox demon in their midst. Before he had a chance to scold them for their behavior, however, Kagome had tugged herself from his grip and glomped him. “Shippou!” she cried happily, hugging tightly as he patted her awkwardly on the back, receiving the brunt of the wolf demoness' harsh glare as she was standing up from the ground where he had thrown her.

 

“Shippou…” Reikou growled ferally, cooling her glare to one reminiscent of ice rather that fire. “Associating with a human… Hugging one…” Her eyes slid shut, even as her ramrod-straight posture slumped into one of defeat, turning her back on them. “I'm disappointed in you, Shippou-kun…” she whispered, nursing a split lip and bruising cheek that she knew would be healed by sunset.

 

“And I, you, Reikou-chan,” Shippou said quietly, turning with Kagome to leave the dojo only to find his way blocked by a crowd of onlookers. “Hey!” he barked, catching the attention of the soldiers with practiced ease. “This isn't some performance for your entertainment! I'm sure you have better things to do than watch a pair of females go at each other for no reason! Get back to work!” They bustled about obediently, recognizing the aura of someone of higher rank than themselves.

 

When they'd made it outside, he looked down at the girl still clinging to his arm. “Kagome-kaasan?” he asked gently, and continued when she glanced up at him. “Would you like to tell me what all that was about?” She shook her head, and he sighed and accepted that. He continued to walk with her back to the main building, more specifically to the dining hall, sure that she would be hungry.

 

When they were about half-way there, she looked back up at him. “Shippou, how come Reikou acted so familiar toward you? And you toward her?” she asked innocently, and then grinned at the slight blush.

 

“We… um… grew up together, sort of. When her mother died, her father sent her here, to be trained by Sesshoumaru-sama. He could have kept her with him, but… personally, I think she reminded him too much of Ayame. His excuse, though, was that it was too dangerous out there in the wilds, hunting Naraku, especially since Naraku was hunting him and his pack back. When Naraku claimed the Eastern Lands, where her father ruled, for himself, he was forced to flee here, to the Western Lands, but…” He stopped, then restarted his sentence. “Reikou's been crabbier than usual lately, and I think it's because, even though we're sure her father's in the area, he hasn't come to visit her once. She's usually not like this; really!” He stopped his rambling altogether when he realized Kagome was laughing.

 

“That's okay, Shippou; you don't have to defend her to me. If you… er…” How did they phrase these things in the early seventeenth century? “If you… think of her so highly, you should tell her!” Alright, that sounded awkward, but she didn't think “crush” was common terminology yet. “Thinking highly” would just have to do.

 

Meanwhile, Shippou's blush intensified tenfold. “I… I can't do that! What would she… I mean, what would I… ugh!”

 

Kagome laughed again, and they entered the dining hall and they paused in the entryway for her to take in the scenery. The large room - I'd thought the dojo was big! - was full of hungry youkai soldiers and human servants, seated on the floor along the many low tables lining the area, sporting serving bowls and utensils. Directly across from where she and Shippou had come in was a slight dais, upon which Sesshoumaru sat at his own table upon silken cushions, Jaken scurrying back and forth, serving him his meal one plate at a time. To his left sat the old woman, Rin, talking incessantly to him and laughing, not even seeming to notice that he didn't appear to be paying the slightest attention to what she was saying. His eyes were locked firmly on the wall across from him. Consequently, said wall happened to contain a set of doors, and through those doors had just barged the girl and kitsune.

 

Her gaze on him was broken when she was unceremoniously pushed out of the way by several soldiers that she thought she may have remembered seeing in the dojo as they rushed past to get seats at the rapidly filling tables, closely followed by Shippou. When she made a move to follow him, however, she was stopped by a breeze brushing her back, closely followed by a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see the owner of the hand, and found it to be the taiyoukai who had previously been upon the dais. How'd he get here? she wondered. He was on the other side of this crowded room just a second ago… but she quickly cut off the thought, dismissing it as his inhuman speed.

 

“You will sit with this Sesshoumaru,” he said simply, and she couldn't do anything but nod blankly and follow him back to the piles of cushions to sit at his right.

 

Once they were seated, Iyashii came forward - Kagome supposed she had been assigned to the position of her private servant, or something - and served her some sweet-smelling tea, as well as a bowl of rice and a sauce that smelled like chicken. Taking a pair of chopsticks, Kagome began to eat enthusiastically, only to be stopped again by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and his cool fingers were gently probing the skin around her eye. Oh, I should've known that punch would bruise, she thought distractedly before he spoke.

 

“How did you get this?” he asked her, and she looked back down at her food, trying to hide the discoloration behind her hair and failing miserably.

 

“Um…” How do you tell someone that you'd gotten into a fight? She'd never had to before. How did they do it in movies again…? “You should've seen the other guy!” she finally said, plastering on a huge grin before taking a big bite of food, hopefully passing on the idea that she didn't want to talk about it.

 

He grunted, eyes scanning the crowd to snap to the main door as it opened again. “Reikou,” he stated, noticing the split lip despite the distance. Kagome's head lowering further to her rice and the scent of guilt coming off of her in waves let him know clearly that his assumption was true. “I will speak to her about harming you.”

 

Her head shot up at that, and her scent changed from one of guilt to of anger, fear, and pride. “No! Please don't! I can handle this myself, really,” she insisted, unconsciously grabbing his sleeve and tugging urgently on it.

 

He stared pointedly down at her hand on his person, waiting for her to sheepishly remove it before he explained. “I must remind her that you are human. Humans break easily,” he informed coldly, as though she were simply some delicate toy to be played with carefully until their use had expired.

 

Kagome huffed indignantly at the thought, crossing her arms. “Trust me,” she growled, “she knows I'm human.”

 

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru said thoughtfully. “So that's what this is about. You dislike her hatred of your kind.” She nodded sharply, not liking his wording either. “Well, you'd better get used to it. The weakness of humans is common knowledge to demons.”

 

“What?” she cried angrily, drawing away from him even as she turned to face him fully. “You think that too?”

 

“And why shouldn't I? You truly are inferior creatures. Your senses are weaker, your bodies are weaker, your abilities are weaker, even your mental strength is weaker. There are, of course, the precious few who manage to be strong - those with spiritual power, such as yourself and the monk you traveled with in your former incarnation, and those of that village of taijiya, as well as those few who manage to ally themselves with stronger demons, as Rin here has.” He nodded toward Rin, who was paying absolutely no attention to them and all her attention to Jaken, who she had managed to convince to bring her a small bouquet of flowers which she was now decoratively arranging on the table. “Other than these few, however, yours really is a weak race. It comes as a shock that you even manage to survive the five hundred years that you must have, since you are proof of that.”

 

By this time, her face was an angry red, and her glare was heated enough to melt the North Pole. Sadly, however, this demon was colder than any iceberg. “That's not true! Just because we're not as strong physically doesn't mean we don't deserve respect and kindness. We're all living things; can't we just live together? I know we've managed by my time, at least! There are no demons then, and if there are, they're all in hiding. So there!” And with that, she turned on her heel and left through the back doors, Iyashii following obediently, and he heard her stomping footsteps clattering upstairs to her room.

 

He sighed. “Come out, Shippou,” he addressed the pillow Kagome had been seated on, and it popped into the fox's more humane form, - though the tail remained - a small pout on his mouth.

 

“That wasn't very nice of you, Sesshoumaru-sama,” he scolded quietly, a privilege very few had. He had learned a long time ago that he could get away with quite a bit; much as he may wish to punish the kit, Sesshoumaru couldn't break his promise to his brother to protect him. “Now she won't even get to finish her dinner. She'll be hungry. Well, we shouldn't let the food go to waste!” he said, mouth watering, before grabbing the bowl from the table and beginning to stuff his face. Sesshoumaru moved delicately out of the way of the flying rice, leaning toward his elderly charge.

 

“It's true, though,” he said, addressing the kit's original argument. “She does have to get used to people not liking her because of her humanity. It's part of life.”

 

“You never made me get used to it, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Rin, the only other who could do so, chastised him as she gently poked and probed him back to his seat between them with her chopsticks. “You coddled me? I'm flattered.”

 

He grunted, returning to his food. “I did not coddle you.”

 

“You so coddled her,” said Shippou, his mouth still full of Kagome's meal.

 

He grunted again, and set about ignoring the unlikely team of human and demon as he again focused on the far wall.

 

 

She flopped back onto her futon, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh. Considering she'd slept past lunch, it had still been a very long day, and she had a lot to think about. Reikou… Her thoughts turned to the wolf demoness who seemed to hate her, yet had been placed in charge of her training. Her story… it sounds so familiar. Not so much the part about the death of her mother, but… the wolf lord, and the miko he chased around who had the same name as me… could she have been aunt Kagome? It is possible… Perhaps she, too, fell down that old well, and came to this time… That's what Shippou said, anyway… And that I'm her reincarnation… I don't know, though. It's all just so much to take in. And what she said about the miko - she must have been aunt Kagome - and that dog hanyou, she must have meant Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru's half-brother… But if he was anything like Sesshoumaru, who could love him? She huffed indignantly, rolling over onto her stomach. Sesshoumaru is just so… ugh. I mean, sure, he's gorgeous - here she blushed - but his personality, or lack thereof, is horrendous! I can't imagine spending the rest of my life here with him… Which reminds me, I have to get home! But how? Maybe that old well? I'll have to try it… But the question remains, how do I get away from Señor Icicle-Ass and his anti-human brigade? He said not to leave the castle grounds. But what's with this whole training thing? Why should I learn to fight? Why won't he just send me home? Who's this Naraku guy I keep hearing about?

 

“Naraku?” asked Iyashii. Kagome hadn't realized she had said that last question out loud, or even that the other woman had entered. Her eyes turned to the matronly servant, who was viciously folding a kimono and stuffing it with the others in a chest at the foot of the bed. “Oh, he's just horrible!” she growled angrily, and Kagome was surprised that the calm, petite woman could speak with such vehemence and hatred. “That spider demon who killed my son was sent by that… that… bastard!” The word burst from her lips as if she was spitting on the man's grave. Now Kagome understood why she hated him so much; a mother's love for her child could turn to the worst hatred at said child's death. Love and hate are, after all, two sides of the same coin.

 

“Yes,” came a new voice from the doorway, and Kagome turned to face Shippou, who came in and sat beside her on the futon. “He is, beyond a doubt, evil. Every member of our group, back then, had had something done to them by him. Sango's-” Iyashii looked up sharply at her daughter's name. “-village of demon exterminators was completely destroyed by his minions, the only survivors being her and her younger brother, Kohaku, who was not truly alive but merely Naraku's puppet to be pitted against her. He cursed Miroku's grandfather to bear a growing kazaana in his right hand, to be passed upon each generation, to slowly destroy them until the day of Naraku's death. Inuyasha he pitted against Kikyou, his lover, in an attempt to blacken the Shikon no Tama with their hatred. He tortured even his own children, creating them only to steal their hearts and enslave them against their wishes. In what we thought at the time would be the `final battle', he killed off all of our companions save you and Inuyasha, as well as his children, and you, Kagome, cast a spell with the last of your life, promising to be the one to kill him and giving all those who had died to kill him a second life and incarnation.”

 

Finally, things were beginning to make sense. “So… Sesshoumaru is keeping me here and training me so that I'll be able to defeat this Naraku?”

 

“Probably, though it's hard to tell with him. Oh, and before I forget, I don't think the Ice Prince meant what he said to you at dinner. He's just trying to `harden you to the world', and whatnot. He did the same to Inuyasha, convincing him that he didn't belong with humans or demons, since he was a mix of both. But, in the end, he really did care about his brother. Took care of him while he was dying, and fulfilled - is fulfilling - his last wishes. He's really not as mean and heartless as he puts on; I mean, he raised Rin, and me, too, sort of, so he can't be all bad, right?” Kagome sighed, but nodded in agreement, and Shippou stood. “Anyway, I've got to get going to bed - long day tomorrow, have to get enough sleep or I'll be tired, you should follow my example soon, too, okay?” he babbled as he backed out the door. “Anyway, goodnight!” and he zipped around the corner before Kagome could return the pleasantry.

 

 

Kagome awoke the next morning to the unpleasant sensation of being vigorously shaken by what appeared to be a very distressed Iyashii. Through the cloud of sleep that had descended overnight to reside within her head like cotton balls, she could make out the older woman telling her to get up.

 

“Dawn is in under ten minutes! You'll be late for training if you don't hurry!” she finally understood, and leapt out of bed faster than she'd thought was possible.

 

“Okay! I'm going, I'm going! What to wear, what to wear…” she repeated to herself, finding that the repetition did a good job of getting whatever she was babbling efficiently planted into her mind. She turned, frantically searching for clothes, to find Iyashii standing before her with a training outfit in her arms, chuckling at her mistress' morning insanity. Kagome grabbed the top from her, at the same time divesting herself of her sleeping garb. Once she was sufficiently dressed, she glanced at herself in the mirror while hastily tying her hair up in a sloppy bun. The outfit was much the same as the one she had borrowed from Reikou the day before, though of a finer material, and better fitted to her form. How did Sesshoumaru know what size I am? she wondered absently as she dashed down the stairs to run into the dojo as though a fire was at her heels.

 

Reikou and the few other soldiers who bothered to get up this early looked up, startled, as the front doors were barged open to reveal a slightly more than bedraggled Kagome, face flushed and panting, stagger in to sit on a mat by the door. Reikou stepped forward to loom over her maliciously. “You,” she stated, glancing through the window at the sun sitting happily atop the horizon, “are late.”

 

And so began the “training” of Kagome.

 

 

Reikou finally let Kagome go when the sun was nearly directly overhead, bearing harshly down on them despite the small obstacle of the giant roof being in the way. They tiredly stumbled their way to lunch - or, rather, Kagome stumbled; Reikou just walked - and Kagome made her way slowly to the main dais, where she sat silently, refusing to talk to the taiyoukai who seemed to be trying very hard to ignore her, and ate ravenously. If training did one thing - other than making her want to fall asleep right on the table - it made her hungry.

 

Once she had finally eaten her fill, she folded her arms on the tabletop, using them as a cushion for her head, and did just as she as she had wished - fell asleep right on the table. Before she could really drift off, though, her rest was interrupted by an overly-cheerful kitsune, ready for his first lesson.

 

“Do we have to?” she whined at him when he insisted they go to the library and begin studying. “Can't we just… you know… take a nice nap, or something?”

 

“Kagome,” he said sternly, “you're the one who wanted to teach me.”

 

And she couldn't argue with that.

 

 

After dinner had ended and Kagome had taken a nice, long, luxurious bath, she flopped bonelessly onto her futon with a groan, letting Iyashii go for the day. Teaching Shippou had been… tiring. Not physically, as the morning's training had been, but mentally. The first question she had asked was whether he could already read and write. He had responded with a shrug, “A little.”

 

She certainly had her work cut out for her.

 

That afternoon had been dedicated to teaching him various characters and the sounds they made. He caught on quickly, but how quickly would he be able to learn them all? There were hundreds, including kanji, and she wasn't sure if she was willing to tackle romanji…

 

Which brought her to the subject of how long, exactly, would she be in this era? She had to get home eventually, but teaching Shippou to write alone would take months, if not a full year or two, and she wanted to teach him more than just that. Not to mention her own training, and the impending battle with Naraku that would come at the end. But to master all of these weapons, as it was clear Sesshoumaru and Reikou wanted her to before said battle, would most certainly take more than a year or two.

 

What would her family think, if she didn't come home for years? Would they think her dead, and move away? If - When, she insisted to herself - When she returned, would a completely different family be living in the shrine? Anything could happen in several years' time… Something could happen to one of her parents, or `Baachan could die; she was getting pretty old now.

 

Forcefully turning her mind from such morbid thoughts, Kagome decided to just turn her brain off for the night. So she did. And went to sleep.

 

 

Author's Note: Yay! Another chapter! And everyone, you should go thank Torie-san for this one - nearly 5,000 words! Verbal smitage of the Writer's Block! w00t! Keeeeell it deeeeeeaaaad. Mwahahahaha. Reviews really are the best cure for the 3v!1n3$$. Especially continuing reviews. They make me happy. As does email correspondence with readers. Remember, I can't write what you want unless you tell me what you want! Want teasers? I can do that! Want me to send email alerts when I update? I can do that, too! Just review/email/IM (all contact info is available on my profile). I like making new friends! … Alright, I'll stop fishing for reviews now. The next chapter should be out pretty soon (more frequent than this was, definitely), so look forward to it!

~FireFalcon1414

Edit, 9/12/05: Sorry for the delay, folks... I've just been having a great deal of trouble writing lately, and between that and school I really don't have the time to just sit down and try to get inspired. I haven't even read a fanfiction in months, which is a great clue that I'm out of the whole fanfiction thing, for now at least. Simplified, this all means that I probably won't be working on Reincarnation for a while, if ever. Think of this as hiatus or as dropping the story completely, to be honest even I'm not sure what I'm doing with it... I may suddenly have the urge to write something, be it that or one of my many other ideas... If it's decent, I may even post it. What I'm saying here is that I make to promises of updating. I'll post this on my profile as well, so that everyone gets the message... I hope this lack of interest on my part is just temporary.

 

Page 8 of 8