Romancing the Enemy

Scroll Five: Teacher's Pet

By: MeldaVeanarSuure

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha!!! Don't sue me, for I am but a pooooooor freshman-soon-to-be-sophomore high school student!!!

Special Acknowledgement: Well, since this chapter focuses some on Kagome's hand-to-hand combat training, and there will be more mentions of it in future chapters, I had to learn a little. Thanks so much to samurai-san, who taught me the basics whether I wanted to actually learn them or not. (Even though I asked for you to show me, while I took notes on everything…)

"No, no, NO, you're getting it wrong AGAIN, Kagome." InuYasha squatted down, and fixed the girl's feet.

"Sorry…" Kagome apologized.

"Don't apologize, we've only been at this a week." He replied, staring intently at her feet, as if daring them to move back.

InuYasha stood up straight, and gave her a hard look. "Now, hold that for a minute, and DON'T move your feet. I don't care how much they want to move. Are you the one in charge, or are they?"

Kagome fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him. 'Wow, he sounded… so mature there… Wish he'd act like it more often.' She thought. InuYasha looked at her again, and she answered him wearily, "I am."

"Good, now let's keep it that way."

InuYasha fixed his hands into his haori sleeves, and watched Kagome hold the front stance for a few moments. "Okay, stop."

Kagome sighed, standing normally. "Why do I have to do this again? I thought I asked you to teach me combat, not seven million different ways to stand."

"This is part of it. You want to learn, you go through the basics. Take it or leave it, we've been through this before." InuYasha told her.

Miroku and Sango watched them from a distance, and sent smirks to each other from time to time. Neither dared to go and watch, for fear of a repetition of the last time they'd tried to go and watch. Shippo was busily playing with his top, and Kirara was busy napping.

"I'll bet InuYasha's going to break first." Sango declared, keeping her voice down so the half-demon in question wouldn't hear.

"Mmmmmm…" Miroku agreed. "Most likely. Though, I must admit that while Kagome does possess a great amount of will-power, InuYasha is also a very stubborn being."

"They'll both end up driving each other completely nuts and hate each other more." Shippo put in. "I mean, they're both so stubborn, what would you expect?"

Sango sighed. "Well, if things go the way we hope they will, they won't hate each other. Sure, they may have driven each other nuts, but they do that anyway."

"Indeed." Miroku mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, and eyeing Sango's bottom out of almost-closed eyes.

*~*~*Two Days Later*~*~*

"INUYASHA!! Can we STOP with the standing poses?! I'm not going for a modeling career, I'm going for self-defense!!!"

"Give it a few more days, you're still getting some things wrong!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"I DON'T WANT TO STAND IN THESE STUPID POSITIONS ANYMORE!!"

"WHEN I WANT YOUR OPINION, I'LL ASK FOR IT!"

"SIT!!!!!"

Miroku sighed as a cloud of dust rose from the area where InuYasha had fallen. "At last. My ears were starting to throb." He said in a low voice.

Sango sipped at her tea, her face emotionless. The two were sitting on Kaede's porch, watching InuYasha and Kagome have their daily argument over nonsense. Today's topic of 'discussion' was the fact that Kagome was sick of standing in whatever position InuYasha told her to stand in, and InuYasha was sick of her whining. "Oh, have they finished?" Sango asked, opening an eye and looking for the two.

"Yes."

"I couldn't hear over the ringing in my ears."

"I heard the 'sit' command, and that was the last of it… Maybe they're arguing more softly now, but my ears seem to be unable to detect that."

Shippo bounced out of the house. "They're finished, Kaede!" He called back.

"Thank ye, kitsune's child." Kaede replied, coming out of the hut slowly.

"InuYasha, ye need to learn not to test the patience of a young lady!" She called over to the bit of red and silver that poked out of a hole in the ground. She then looked around and saw Kagome standing huffily by the steps to the shrine. "Kagome, come here, child."

The schoolgirl stalked over, shooting evil glares at the hanyou embedded in the dirt, and stood in front of the others. "Yes, Kaede?"

"Ye have been working hard, haven't ye? And ye are upset with InuYasha because he hasn't shown ye something more advanced, which is what ye want. Is this old woman correct or not?" Kaede asked.

"You're right. Now, if you could explain that to InuYasha, I'd be happy." Kagome replied.

"Keh! You're not ready." InuYasha snarled, getting to his feet, the subduing spell gone at last.

"I am so! We've been doing this for over a week, I know how to stand!!" Kagome glared daggers at him.

InuYasha opened his mouth to reply, flames dancing in his eyes, but Kaede held up a hand for silence. "InuYasha, I don't see why ye can't go into something a little more advanced than lessons in standing. Try a few kicks, or I'll get a new rosary for ye, one that's a more painful than just a faceful of dirt."

The hanyou growled deep in his throat, and stalked off. 'Here I am, thinking that I am the one who's supposed to be the teacher, but nooooooo… I have a bunch of nitwits trying to help and telling em what to teach…'

He slashed at a tree several times, smiling grimly at the deep scars he left in the bark as a thought hit him. 'Though…if we're working on kicks next…'

InuYasha turned almost as red as his haori as the thought finished itself. 'Stupid monk… I've been with him too long…'

*~*~*A Few Hours Later*~*~*

"Don't point your foot, you're gonna get your toes broken, stupid!" InuYasha yelled, grabbing Kagome's outstretched leg and forcing her foot into a non-pointed position.

Kagome blushed and started to lose her balance, but InuYasha let her leg go, and she stumbled back to stand straight. 'Good thing I'm not in my school uniform…' She thought, grateful for her yoga pants and torso-fitting tank top. "Right… I'll remember next time…" She muttered.

((AN: FYI, yoga pants are very comfortable and stretchy. Perfect for things like dance, and yoga… and hand-to-hand combat training!))

"Okay, now try that again, and don't point your foot, it's not a spear to be driven into some monster's intestines." InuYasha ordered, standing back.

Kagome almost turned green at that description. "Thanks for the mental image…"

"Well, if it keeps your foot straight." He shrugged.

Kagome tried the front kick again, imagining herself kicking InuYasha in the head. It must have worked somewhat, because InuYasha had a surprised look on his face. "T-That… that was g-good, Kagome…"

Kagome's own eyes widened. 'I-InuYasha?! Complementing me?!' She thought, smiling warmly. "Thanks, InuYasha."

'I need to be nicer… I love that smile of hers…' InuYasha thought, 'keh'ing and turning away before she could see him blushing. "Don't get used to it." He retorted. "You've still got a while to go."

Sango, hidden in a clump of bushes nearby, smiled to herself, and retreated quietly back to the village. "They're getting along… sort of." She informed the others.

"Well, it's better than listening to them bicker." Miroku replied.

*~*~*Four Weeks Later*~*~*

Kagome sank into the hot, soothing waters of the hot springs, sighing with relief. Her muscles felt like tightly wound coils, but now they were finally able to relax. "Feel better?" Sango asked, sliding in nearby.

"Much, thanks." Kagome replied, smiling.

Sango winked. "InuYasha's working you hard, you need a bit of rest and relaxation. You two started arm blocks and punches?"

"Yeah. He made me block against any attacks he threw at me. I know he did as best he could to hold back his strength, but my muscles still hurt, and I know I'm going to have bruises."

"When do you go back to your time?" Sango wondered. "You won't want to wear your summer uniform if you have all the bruises you have…"

The younger girl grimaced. "Your right, my mom could get in trouble for assumed child abuse… Darn it!! Now, about when I go back to my time. I went back for my last week before break… three weeks ago." Kagome said, thinking over the dates for her summer vacation. "I have this week off still for my summer break, then I'll go back for a few days. Why?"

Sango shrugged. "Just wondering… for a little experiment…"

Kagome's face changed from neutral to sheer horror. "Oh no, please no, I've gone through these past weeks of torture and learned that my body doesn't like to move like this, please don't say I have to go hang-gliding with him or anything!!"

"What's… hand-gliding?" Sango asked.

"Well, you hold onto this huge kite, and run off of a cliff- No!! I won't do it!!"

"Oh… well, you're not going to go jumping off any large cliffs. Unless you want to test how much InuYasha loves you, if he'd dive off of a cliff after you, then I'm sure we could arrange it."

"NO!"

"All right then, you're safe. It doesn't involve anything except you staying in your own time for as long as possible, to see how long it is before InuYasha comes after you." Sango told her before sliding under the water and swimming away.

Kagome's eyebrows snapped together. "Hey!" She cried, and then dove after her.

Sango resurfaced, and was soon followed by Kagome. "What's that supposed to mean, see how long before he comes after me?" The younger girl demanded.

"Well, just a little test to see how long he can stand not having you around. I'll get Miroku to make a bet with InuYasha; you know him, he'll want to win, so he'll withstand the urge to retrieve you from your own time for as long as possible." Sango explained.

"Oh…" Kagome suddenly smiled. "I like that idea. Maybe I can finally get some work done, without the threat of him coming all of a sudden and dragging me off to the well."

Sango smiled. "He'll probably end up sitting in the God Tree for weeks, waiting for you to come back… Hey, that's it!" She slapped the water. "Scare him a little bit, make him think you're not going to come back!"

"Oh, Sango, I couldn't do that-"

"You can and you will. Stay in your time for as long as you think you can stand it. Get some homework done, hang out with the friends you have in your time." The older girl said. "Just think of it as sweet revenge for all the times you've wished you could do more than 'sit' him into the dirt. Every time you want to, just think 'I can't go back, I won't!'"

Kagome sighed slightly. "If I must…"

"Say it. You'll believe it for as long as you do. 'I'm not coming back.' You can stop saying it once you want to come back."

Kagome had to let out a chuckle. "Fine then. I'm not coming back!"

Little did the two girls know, InuYasha had been walking nearby, in patrol of demons that may have decided to go after the girls. He hadn't listened to them talking, until he'd come close enough to hear, "Fine then. I'm not coming back!"

The hanyou froze in his tracks, gold-amber eyes widen in shock, ears erect. He tried to listen for any other bits of conversation, but he only heard splashes: the girls had gone back to bathing. 'What?! Kagome… is going… back to her own time… and not coming back!?' InuYasha thought in horror.

'But… I thought… She… Kagome, how could you leave us… leave me?!!' He scowled, and stalked off back to the camp. 'She's probably going back so she can be with that Hobo kid, or whatever the hell his name is. Damn him, stealing MY woman… Oh great, now I'm turning into Koga!!'

Miroku looked at him oddly when InuYasha stalked into their camp and sat down roughly, glaring into the fire. "Why so dramatically troubled, InuYasha?"

"None of your business."

"I'm making it my business, since I'm detecting the source to be centered around Kagome. Now, tell me, what's troubling you?"

"Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because I may be able to help you fix whatever problem is making you grumpier than usual."

InuYasha snarled, digging his claws into the ground. "I… happened to overhear them talking… And Kagome said she wasn't going to come back. As in, she's going to her own time and not coming back here."

Miroku blinked. "I must have had a cricket buzz in my ear… I could have sworn you just said that Kagome will not be returning from her next trip home."

"Ain't any crickets in your ears, because you heard right…" InuYasha grumbled, looking down.

The young monk frowned thoughtfully. "I'm thinking you heard wrongly… Kagome wouldn't just leave us; she knows the danger that looms ahead, especially if Naraku gains possession of more shards than he already has. Did the two of you quarrel again, causing her to want to leave us?"

"No, we didn't fight today." InuYasha thought better of it, and amended, "Well, nothing really big, just a spat here and there…"

"I was just going to say, if you and Kagome went a day without fighting, then Shippo's my son…" Miroku muttered. "Listen, InuYasha, I doubt she meant it, especially when you didn't overhear the entire conversation."

An idea hit him, as InuYasha grumbled something to himself, probably something about how he didn't believe Miroku. 'Well, here's the perfect way to get him into the bet Sango and I discussed… I'm sure that she was the one who convinced Kagome into staying home for a while, so we could set this plan into motion; and here I thought she didn't like my idea…'

Miroku decided to go with it. "InuYasha, I'll make a deal with you. If Kagome doesn't return for two weeks, you can go and talk to her, find out why she's not coming back, and maybe convince her to come back. But you leave her alone until then, let her rest, or do whatever she's planning to do. How does that sound?"

InuYasha thought it over. 'Well… I have been working her hard, she could use a bit of a break… But if we're making a bet…' "What's in it for me?" He asked suspiciously.

"Ahh ha, want the stakes raised a bit, do you?" Miroku smiled slightly, and rubbed his hands together mischievously. "Well then, how's this: if you do go after Kagome before the two weeks are up, you have to tell her how you feel and ask her to be your mate, as that is what this entire happy experiment is trying to accomplish. And, if you abstain from retrieving her…" He thought a minute, trying to come up with something InuYasha would want.

"Wait a minute, I'm coming up with what happens if I don't go after her." InuYasha said, suddenly giving a vicious grin. "If I don't go and get the wench, you have to stop caressin' women's butts and fess up to Sango about your real feelings for her."

Miroku paled slightly. "Now, InuYasha, you should get something else for your pains of not going down the well, not just-"

"That's what I want. You don't realize how loud a slap is to my ears, and I'd really appreciate it if the source was stopped. Got it?"

Miroku sighed. "And here I thought you actually had a heart, and were trying to bind mine and Lady Sango's hands of fate together…"

"Keh! What the hell gave you that idea!"

Miroku rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to say something, but InuYasha suddenly held up his hand for silence. "They're coming back."

Kagome and Sango came back into the camp, and looked at the two males suspiciously. "Why're you two so quiet…?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes and propping her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, even you're being too quiet, Miroku." Sango leaned in his face, poking a finger into his chest.

"My dear Sango, you are jumping to conclusions…" Miroku's hand drifted up to her butt. 'Well, if InuYasha wins the bet, I need to get these in beforehand…' He thought, waiting for the slap.

Sango's face burned crimson, from a mixture of embarrassment, Miroku's hand where it was, and from the fact that it would make for a very, very awkward moment if she just happened to fall over from even the slightest pressure he put on her. She raised her hand, and-

InuYasha's ears flattened against his head at the intense noise. Even Kagome had covered her ears as she sat down next to him.