InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was.

A/N - Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I’m running a little short on time, so I can’t mention everyone individually. But suffice to say I appreciate your thoughts, concerns, and comments. Hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

Until next time,

A.A.

-

Teaching Rin

Chapter 20

Reconciliation

-

Kaida managed to get to her quarters inside the Southern palace and get changed into some normal clothes a few hours later before she felt the familiar aura of a very pissed Sesshomaru getting closer. She quickly checked in on Rin, who was sleeping in a room attached to her own, and found the girl sleeping soundly.

“We’ve got company coming.” Kaze said from his position on her floor near a small table. “And he’s pissed.”

“Thank you for stating such an obvious observation.” Kaida said sarcastically, causing Kaze to blink in surprise at her tone.

“What’s your problem?” he demanded. Kaida huffed in aggravation and crossed her arms. She did not feel like putting up with Sesshomaru right now.

“Sorry.” she amended. “I’m a little uptight.”

“Thank you for stating such an obvious observation.” he countered. “All jokes aside, Kaida, what’s your problem? You’ve been jumping at every little sound since we left the stage earlier.”

“My problem is a seven foot, white headed dog demon named Sesshomaru.” she bit out.

“And if the vibes running through these walls are any indication, he is not too happy with you right now.”

“Thanks for your unwavering vote of confidence.” she replied. “What’s he mad about anyway? I didn’t do anything, and Rin’s fine. Kentaro‘s even on the other side of the palace!”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Kaze asked, standing up as the pulsating aura of Sesshomaru grew closer. “He’s just acting normal. Dog demons like Sesshomaru are territorial.”

“Well I don’t see you getting all mad because of something as stupid as what we did.” she countered. “And you’re part dog.”

“True. But Sesshomaru doesn’t understand the situation between us.” he said. “What we did was just a joke, something to throw people off their sense of stability. We’ve done it hundreds of times when we were younger, and most everyone expects something to happen when we get together. But all Sesshomaru sees is some unknown male taking your attention away from where it should be.”

“My attention is not fixated on him!” she denied hotly.

“I meant Rin.” Kaze said calmly.

“Whatever.” she said with a frown. “He has no claim on me. His anger is completely misplaced!”

“He doesn’t see it that way.” Kaze pointed out. “Our kind doesn’t think like that. To him, I’m an intruder.”

“I don’t want to know how your breed thinks.” Kaida said. “And I personally don’t care for you to explain it.”

“Fair enough. But a crash course into a canine’s psyche might help you to understand Sesshomaru a little better.” he offered.

“I understand him well enough, thanks.” she said. “Just go, Kaze, please. I can deal with a pissed off Sesshomaru.”

“I left you to fend for yourself against Kiyoshi because I didn’t have a choice.” he said seriously, walking over to hold her shoulders. “What kind of friend would I be to leave you to deal with Sesshomaru on your own, especially when I’m the reason he’s mad right now?” Kaida took a deep breath and stepped back, nodding in understanding. She did feel a little better knowing she would have some back up in this argument.

“Thank you, Kaze.” she whispered.

“We’ll take care of it, love.” he said. Kaida nodded, and the two of them separated when they felt Sesshomaru’s pulsating aura at the beginning of the hallway leading to her quarters. A few moments later, the mat to her room was pushed aside, and Sesshomaru stepped in without so much as asking for permission.

“Yes? Did you need something, Sesshomaru?” Kaida asked, turning to the dog demon in quiet question.

“I demand an explanation.” he barked.

“An explanation for what?” she asked calmly.

“Your actions this evening.” he snarled. “You’re no better than some cheap human whore. I leave Rin in your care, and you do this.”

“Do what?” Kaze asked. “Kaida’s done nothing wrong.”

“She has subjected Rin to seeing her being publicly groped.” he clarified coldly, nodding to where Kaze was standing.

“Kaze didn‘t grope me.”

“What would you consider it?” he demanded.

“We were playing around with my father and Keiji.” she said defensively. “There was nothing to it.”

“What I saw was not ‘playing around’.” he said. “It was dishonorable and filthy.”

“Why?” she asked. “What’s so bad about me being with Kaze? It‘s none of your business what I do when I‘m not in the West.”

“You are to be mated.” he snarled.

“Do you honestly think that fact has stopped Kiyoshi from bedding countless females?” Kaze challenged angrily.

“So she would sink to his lack of morality?” he countered, rounding on the inu demon. “To be unfaithful?”

“In order to be unfaithful, you have to first be faithful to them.” she said. “Kiyoshi’s never been faithful to me.”

“A mere technicality.” Sesshomaru said. “Your situation with the neko was arranged according to traditions. You should honor it, not disregard it, as is proper.”

“Proper? The proper thing to do? Stop and listen to yourself, Sesshomaru! You’re no different from the rest of those domineering Council members you so despise.” she growled. “You blatantly disregard customs and traditions that you have no use for. And you have the nerve to condemn me for what I do?”

“Why the neko is so adamant about having you, I still do not understand.” Sesshomaru growled, obviously ignoring her. “A conquest is all you would be. You are not fit to stand at any noble’s side as a mate. Even one as deplorable as Kiyoshi.”

“Believe it or not, there are those who like being around Kaida.” Kaze pointed out angrily.

“I don’t see how.” he growled.

“Are you finished yet?” Kaida asked.

“What is going on in here?” demanded a female voice from the hallway. Sesshomaru and Kaida turned their attention to the hallway, only to find her two sisters standing there. Leiko and Kei were watching them with rapt interest, and there was no telling how long they had been standing there. Kaida rolled her eyes and then glared at her sisters as they came into the room.

“What have you done, you insolent half-breed?” Kei demanded, taking in the rips on her sister’s and Sesshomaru’s clothing. “You are arguing with Lord Sesshomaru?”

“The mongrel deserves it, so stay out of it, both of you.” Kaida snarled.

“Bite your tongue!” Leiko snarled. “How dare you be so rude to our guest!”

“You should listen to your siblings.” Sesshomaru said coldly, giving her an antagonistic look. “They seem to understand when respect should be given to one’s superiors.”

“Bite your own damn tongue!” Kaida challenged, ignoring Sesshomaru and glaring at her sisters, the fire in her eyes growing by leaps and bounds. “And bite his too while you’re at it since you two seem so determined to have him for your own ridiculous reasons. Just go ahead and kiss his ass some more. It only feeds his astronomical ego to even more outlandish proportions!”

She picked up her blades and strapped them to her sides. Kaze came to her side immediately, whispering something in her ear. Kaida just nodded and motioned for him to leave, which he did. She looked back to the three other demons in the room and shook her head.

“You have no justifiable reason to be angry with me.” she told Sesshomaru calmly. “Your only claim on me stems from my duty to Rin, and that’s not enough for you to try and regulate who I see while I am in my own home. And as for what I do with Kaze, or any other demon for that matter, it is none of your concern.”

“You are acting utterly ridiculous.” Sesshomaru said icily. “Your arguments are weak, and have no…”

“And if you’d have stayed away from here, like you said you were, we wouldn’t be arguing to begin with. You never would have seen something you couldn‘t possibly understand.”

“Lord Sesshomaru understands quite thoroughly what you are.” Kei said pompously. “We all do.”

“Yes. A filthy, derelict who does not know her place. A tarnishing embarrassment to our family.” Leiko said superiorly, tilting her nose up into the air, then glancing over to Sesshomaru. “Don’t you think so, my Lord?”

“I am in agreement.” Sesshomaru said, walking back until Leiko and Kei were on either side of him. “More so now.”

A punch in the gut would not have taken Kaida by surprise any more than hearing Sesshomaru agree with her sisters. The dragon demoness swallowed a few times to moisten her parch dry throat and then straightened up her shoulders.

“I’m not arguing with you three anymore.” Kaida said. “Trying to get you to see reason is like trying to make a rock float. Completely impossible.”

With that final admonishin, Kaida headed out of her quarters and towards the exit of the palace while Leiko and Kei apparently tried to gain the Western Lord‘s favor by apologizing profusely for Kaida‘s behavior.

She had to get away from Sesshomaru, her sisters, and everyone else before she flew off he deep end and done something stupid.

So much for her peaceful trip home.

-

The morning air on the beach was salty and cool, just the way she liked it. Kaida had left the Southern palace not long after Sesshomaru had left with Leiko and Kei, and had passed the night on a cliff ledge below the coastal village, watching and listening to the waves crash onto the shore while thinking long and hard about her confusion and reaction to seeing Sesshomaru at the festival. She was not angry at him for being there, or even for seeing her with Kaze. She was hurt by his words more than anything.

Sesshomaru considered her a disgrace, not only because of her mixed blood, but because of the life she had chosen as a fighter. And somehow, that hurt her feelings more than anything else. She had thought that he, as a fighter, would understand her need to protect and preserve her homelands. But all he had done was call her names and ridicule her…just like the majority of the people she came into contact with.

Sure, he had called her a disgrace before now, a ridiculous mix-bred bitch who didn’t deserve to walk the Earth. But she had believed it to be his was of antagonizing her into fighting with him. Up until last night, she didn’t think he really, truly meant it as much as he had intended. She realized now exactly how wrong she was.

She had no doubt in her mind that the little bit of respect she had managed to garner out of him up until last night was now scattered to the four winds. And as much as it killed her to admit it, she wanted his respect. But she was not about to beg and plead to attain it. And seeing him side with Leiko and Kei only made her blood boil even more furiously.

She was who she was, and there was no way to change her.

Kaida hung her legs off the edge of the cliff and shook her head when the ocean spray left droplets of water on her face and in her hair. The salty smell was comforting, and the crashing of the waves mirrored her state of mind right now. Suddenly, she felt a very familiar aura on the edge of her senses. A few minutes later, she let out a groan and crossed her arms in aggravation.

The damned dog was coming again. Moments later, Sesshomaru was standing on the cliff above her, looking down to where she was sitting.

“What are you doing here?” she called, refusing to look up at him when she noticed he was not going to speak first. “You got your point across quite clearly last night. There is no need to repeat yourself.”

“I gathered supplemental intelligence concerning the neko and his whereabouts after leaving your quarters last night.” Sesshomaru answered calmly, dropping down beside her as if their argument the evening before had never occurred. “Ryu has a right to the information as it is gathered.”

“No.” she amended. “I meant what are you doing here? On the beach?”

“Is there a problem?”

“I assumed you would be gone back to border patrols by now.”

“You were incorrect in that assumption.”

“Obviously.” she said, looking towards the horizon where dawn’s rays were beginning to peak across the water’s surface.

She really didn’t understand this demon. One minute he was berating her for her ‘whorish’ actions, and the next minute he was acting just as calm and collected as if it had never happened. ‘I want someone to say females are moody.’ she thought. ‘I’ll make sure and introduce them to Sesshomaru after I tell them they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about!’

“You are uncharacteristically quiet this morning.” he commented idly a few minutes later.

“I don’t have anything to say to you that hasn’t already been said. So if you came out here to instigate a fight, leave.” she ordered. “I’m angry enough with you already.”

“And why is that?”

“Do you really want me to answer that, or is it a rhetorical question?” she asked. When he didn‘t answer, she sighed and leaned back against the rocks. “Suffice to say I’ll go back to being the half breed bitch you’re used to after Rin and I leave tomorrow since my real personality seems to throw you off a bit. You‘ll ignore me, I‘ll avoid you, and everything will be back to normal.”

“Things are never normal when you are concerned.”

“I told you, if you’re here to pick a fight, then leave.” she said coldly.

“I simply require an explanation.”

“About what?” she asked. Sesshomaru just gave her a bored expression, knowing she realized what he wanted to know. She just sighed and settled back against the rock face. “His name is Kaze, and he’s a good friend.” she said, realizing what Sesshomaru was digging for. “And no, he’s not my lover.”

“I did not ask that.”

“Technically, you didn’t ask anything.” she pointed out dryly. “But you were thinking it.”

“And your actions on the platform?”

“A prank. Something for everyone to get a laugh out of.” she said, shrugging. “There’s nothing more to our antics now that there was years ago. Even less, should the truth be told. Kaze likes to flirt with any female he comes across, and I’m no exception. The only difference is he knows where to draw the line with me.”

That was basically the same thing that Rin had told him as well when she’d woken up soon after Kaida had stomped out of her quarters. The human teenager had been woken by Leiko’s and Kei’s profuse apologies to him for Kaida’s behavior and complete lack of respect for him.

-

Sesshomaru had grown annoyed with the other two females pleading attempts at grabbing his attention, and dismissed them when Rin had shown her face in the doorway.

“What’s going on?” Rin asked sleepily. “My Lord, when did you arrive here? And where is Kaida?”

“She went out for a walk.” he said simply. Apparently she had not believed his words, and was quick to pick out the reason for his aggravation.

“What happened?” Rin asked. “Is this about Kaze?”

“Who?”

“Kaida’s friend Kaze, the other demon that was in here earlier.” she clarified. Sesshomaru said nothing, but Rin continued on. “He’s a friend of hers. Really nice guy, but he likes to flirt a lot.”

“I’m sure he is.” Sesshomaru said distractedly. He quickly realized with a sinking sensation that he was completely out of line with Kaida. Had he stopped and realized the situation before hand, he would have known that Kaida was not the type of noblewoman to take a casual lover in the first place.

“Are you staying here tonight?” Rin asked, yawning.

“Possibly.” he answered, turning to leave the room. “I will see to you in the morning, Rin.”

“Goodnight, my Lord.”

-

Sesshomaru watched Kaida out of the corner of his eye while she continued to stare straight ahead, into the crashing waves and eastern horizon. She was obviously in no mood to deal with him, and he was partly surprised that she had not already physically lashed out at him in retaliation for what he had done.

“Was there anything else you wanted?” she demanded, her words cutting through the din of the waves.

“No.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“We agreed to train in the morning hours, did we not?” he asked, causing her to finally look over at him. He could read the lingering disbelief in her expression, and knew she was probably about to turn down the request.

“Yes, we did.” she answered. “But I wasn’t expecting you to hold me to that while I was away from the West.”

“You mean while you were away from me.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Are you going to withdraw from our agreement?” he asked, looking over at her.

“I guess not.” she said with a shrug. “It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do this morning. And I could use it to work of some energy.”

“Well then,” Sesshomaru said, unsheathing his sword as Kaida rolled to her position “let us begin.”

-

They sparred until the sun was fully over the horizon, finally stopping when they were locked in a stalemate, each other’s blades at their opponent’s throats. They had sparred hard, almost throwing each other off the seaside cliff a number of times, and slicing a few of the twisted trees into pieces with their energy attacks.

“You’re speed is improving.” Sesshomaru said, wiping away a few beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead.

“You’re not doing so bad yourself.” Kaida admitted grudgingly. “You’re picking up on the grappling techniques quicker than anyone else I’ve ever taught them to.”

“They are…unique.” he consented.

Kaida simply nodded, knowing that there was not much more to say between the two of them. It seemed as though the Western Lord was no longer angry with her, for whatever reason, which was good. Of course, it had seemed earlier in their training that he was still a little mad at her, but it had passed after he managed to toss her into half a dozen trees.

Now he was rarely speaking, and acting cool and distant. And she was back to guessing his moods and thoughts.

Yep, things were back to normal.

-

Sesshomaru hadn’t known what had possessed him to seek out Kaida’s presence earlier that morning. But whatever it was, he was perversely grateful for it. He’d seen Kaida and the other demon leave right behind each other the night before, and had suspected they had left the castle together. But, when he’d found her this morning on the seaside cliff, the only smell he could pick up of the other dog was faint, proving that they had split apart not long after she had stormed out of the castle, and had not spent the night together.

For some odd reason, the thought of Kaida in prolonged exposure to the other demon seemed to bother him. He couldn’t exactly pin down why, but something internally primitive was telling him to keep her away from the flirtatious merchant at all costs.

Their sparring this morning had been more of a stress relief than anything else for him, and from the looks of it, for Kaida as well. She was less tense, and not snapping at him now that they’d finished their training. Sesshomaru watched out of the corner of his eye as Kaida used a small cloth to wipe the perspiration off of her neck and forehead. He idly noticed that the sweat she had worked up had caused her training gi to stick to her body, molding the thin fabric to the once hidden curves of her body.

‘She’s gained weight.’ he realized suddenly. A closer, although inconspicuous look later, and Sesshomaru was convinced that Kaida’s body had underwent some small changes since she had left her homeland. ‘Her body is filling out since she is not training day and night with her father’s troops. The forced dormancy is allowing her natural shape to come out.’ He could tell that her lean, fighter’s body was slowly giving way to that of a more curvy figure. Sesshomaru had no doubt that Kaida had noticed the change as well, but she seemed not to care about it all that much if her reaction was anything to judge by.

“I should be getting back.” Kaida said absently, looking over the cliff to the position of the sun along the horizon. “I promised Rin I would take her around the festival grounds today. And my father is probably wondering where I got off to last night.” She turned to face and jerked her head inland. “You going back to border patrols or coming to the festival?”

“I will accompany you back to the Southern castle.” he said simply. “There is one last matter I wish to discuss with Ryu before I depart back to my patrols.”

“Fine by me.” Kaida shrugged, sending out a shrill whistle that pierced through his overly sensitive ears. A few seconds later, the flapping of wings could be heard, and Ishika appeared along the cliff, hovering in midair while Kaida vaulted over the drop off and onto her back. “You walking? Or do you want to ride?” she called out.

“Ah-Uh is at my disposal.” he said, walking towards the woods away from the cliff where he had let the two headed beast graze that morning.

“Suit yourself then.” she said, giving Ishika the command to take her inland.

“Well, if that isn’t a sight in itself.” Ryu commented idly, watching the two rapidly approaching figures in the sky. Rin looked up into the morning sky and held back a small grin at what she saw.

Kaida was mounted on Ishika, and Sesshomaru on Ah-Uh, flying wing tip to wing tip in a leisurely pace. It was quite a sight to behold, a Southern Lady and The Western Lord flying together in close quarters, silhouetted by the rising morning sun along the Eastern horizon.

Rin had to admit that the pair of them radiated poise, power, and above all else, unity. Despite their constant fights and arguments, Rin knew that the two stubborn nobles had somehow found a middle ground of compromise simply by their body language, and unusually close proximity to each other in the sky.

“I thought they were mad at each other?” Keiji asked, turning to Rin for some sort of verification of the mess he had heard the night before.

“They do this all the time.” Rin said, a grin on her face at the confused expressions being worn by the father and son. “They argue, then they fight, then they spar, and then everything goes back to normal. Until one does something to make the other one mad again. It’s a complicated relationship.”

“I’ll say.” Kaze muttered, coming to stand beside Keiji when Sesshomaru and Kaida landed inside the courtyard. They quickly dismounted and walked side by side up the steps towards Rin and the others. It didn’t take long for them to see that Sesshomaru and Kaida had been fighting again.

“I’m glad to see you found her, Sesshomaru.” Ryu said, nodding in the Western Lord’s direction as they walked up.

“It’s not like I was hiding.” Kaida muttered.

“If I smelled like you, I’d hide too.” Kaze said, waving his hand in front of his face. “You stink, love.”

“We were training.” Sesshomaru said coldly, his unflinching gaze on the demon merchant his more primitive was telling him to disembowel.

“At the break of dawn?” Kaze asked.

“Is there a problem with that?” Sesshomaru challenged.

“Of course not.” the merchant said pointedly, turning his full attention towards the Western Lord. “But I figured Kaida would want to take a break from training during the festival. Especially after last night.”

“We took care of that.” Kaida said firmly, trying to get Kaze off the subject. “Everything’s fine. Right, Lord Sesshomaru?”

“Agreed.” he said coldly, regarding Kaze like he was the scum of the Earth. Kaida just shook her head as the two dogs faced off in a silent battle of wills, then turned to Rin and Kentaro.

“Give me a couple minutes to wash off and I’ll finish showing you around the rest of the grounds, Rin. I got word last night that there were a few new vendors coming in today that you may be interested in.” Kaida said. “Besides, I believe Lord Sesshomaru wishes to speak with my father before his departure.”

“I’ll go help you.” Rin said, following the dragon demoness as she walked towards the Southern castle. The two women disappeared into the castle doors, leaving Ryu, Kentaro and Keiji to deal with the rapidly growing tension between Kaze and Sesshomaru. The two dog demons were still holding a silent staring battle, neither one saying anything.

Keiji quickly stepped in and hauled Kentaro and Kaze off towards the end of the grounds under the guise of inspecting a new shipment of weapons, and Sesshomaru and Ryu were left alone.

“I assume you will be heading back to your border patrol today?” Ryu asked as they walked away. Sesshomaru just shook his head. He wasn’t exactly too sure what he was going to do now. They continued to speak of pressing matters until they reached the second floor of the castle.

Sesshomaru excused himself and walked out onto a small balcony that overlooked the interior of the courtyard when one of Ryu‘s advisors came to the dragon lord with an apparently urgent message.. It was near noon by then, and the large area below him was crawling with villagers dressed in their finest attire. He quickly found Kaida milling around in the crowd, along with Rin and the kitsune siblings. He watched as Rin interacted with many of the other humans surrounding her, none of which he recognized. Kaida was at her back, watching carefully while Rin talked away with another young girl who looked to be about her own age. Kentaro was at her side at all times, but kept his hands to himself, which kept Sesshomaru’s temper in check.

Off to the side, a few of the village musicians were tuning up some instruments. A few chords were strummed, and the occupants of the yard began to pair up. He watched as the kitsune grinned at Rin and lead her into the courtyard’s center after receiving a curt nod from Kaida as permission. The young pair began to circle with the rest of the partnered villagers, turning in time to the up beat music. Rin’s laughter filtered up through the sounds as they continued to dance, and as she was handed off to another partner for a few moments before someone else took the place, eventually making her way back into Kentaro’s welcoming arms.

Kaida, who had changed into a simple kimono as opposed to her training clothes, had taken a position off to the side, watching as her student was passed from one partner to the next. Sesshomaru figured she didn’t want to dance, but was not surprised when a certain dog demon pulled her out into the courtyard halfway through the fourth song. The Western Lord watched as Kaida’s usually tense, stern expression turned into one of pure happiness, much the same way Rin’s had done.

Seeing her smile was still a bit disconcerting for him, since he was more accustomed to seeing her scowl. And he had to admit that the demon who was leading her around the courtyard was keeping that smile on her face the entire time they were together. The longer he watched them together, the more he saw exactly what she had meant when she’d told him he had seen something he would never understand. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Sesshomaru would never had thought Kaida even capable of laughing or smiling like he’d seen her do so many times since his arrival the day before.

He quickly glanced back over to where Rin was waltzing around the courtyard, arm in arm with the kitsune, then back to where Kaida was. His eyes met a cold violet glare all the way across the way when Kaze’s eyes locked with his own. They continued to glare at each other until Kaze gave a sudden half smirk and pulled Kaida off to the side, whispering something in her ear that caused her to nod once before following behind him without question.

Sesshomaru growled and clenched a fist at his side. His instincts were still screaming to get Kaida away from the dog merchant, but he couldn’t understand exactly why, and it was confusing him. Her familiarity with the other dog was grating on his nerves as well, and that only added to his aggravation.

A few moments later, Kaida reappeared in the throng of villagers with Kaze. She walked over to Rin and Kentaro, telling them something that seemed to cause Rin some concern if the frown on her face was any indication of such. The four of them left the courtyard soon afterwards, going through the gates and out into the larger courtyard that was still teaming with human villagers, disappearing from the Western Lord’s line of sight.

-

Later on that evening, after the villagers had stopped the majority of their celebrating for the night, and she had settled Rin down into her guest room for the evening, Kaida headed off towards the kitchens of her home, intent on finding something to eat since she’d missed lunch earlier that day. Then she planned on hunting down her older brother Ryuji for a talk. She turned the corner leading into the dining hall, and found quite a humorous sight.

Her two elder sisters had apparently attached themselves to Sesshomaru, who looked like he was doing his utmost best to keep from taking the two females heads off. His fists were clenched at his side, and the muscle above his left eye was twitching slightly, both clearly apparent signs that he was getting angry, as if the icy glares were not already enough.

‘Don’t they realize what idiots they’re making out of themselves, trying to impress him like that?’ she thought wryly. ‘I’d leave him to the two vultures if I had any sense. But I guess I’ll help him out, even though it would be funny to watch Leiko and Kei be put in their places by Sesshomaru.’ She cleared her throat, which caused her sisters’ incessant ramblings to stop long enough for her to enter the room.

“Good evening, Lord Sesshomaru.” she said, nodding politely. “Leiko. Kei.”

“What are you doing here?” Leiko demanded, her glare cold and condemning. “I thought you had retired with the rest of the humans.”

“Well, you were wrong, obviously.” Kaida answered casually. “And to answer your question, I’m getting something to eat before heading out to find Ryuji.”

“He’s in the dojo with Ryuichi.” Kei said dismissively, apparently trying to get rid of her in a hurry.

“They’re training?” Kaida asked. “At this time of night?”

“What else would they be doing in there?” Leiko asked curtly. “Of course they’re training. Now if you’ll excuse us, little sister, we were in the middle of an important conversation with Lord Sesshomaru.”

“Really?” Kaida asked easily.

“Yes. Now go away.” Kei barked.

“That’s too bad.” Kaida said with a shrug, watching Sesshomaru closely for a sign that he was about to decapitate her sisters. “I was going to ask Lord Sesshomaru if he’d feel like sparring with me this evening since Ryuji and Ryuichi are in the dojo as well. You are welcome to join me, my Lord, after your conversation is finished?”

“I will join you now.” he said curtly, walking away from Leiko and Kei without a backwards glance. Kaida watched with quite a bit of amusement as her sister’s faces went from calm and serene to raging mad.

Kaida knew that both of them were hoping to snag the Western Lord as a mate, and it only made her happier knowing that Sesshomaru apparently couldn’t stand to be in either of their presences for long periods of time without getting the urge to remove them from the face of the Earth.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse us, sisters.” Kaida said, nodding slightly to them. “We’ll be off.” She headed across the room and towards the doors that opened into the back courtyard, grabbing a handful of cherries off the low table along the way. Sesshomaru walked with her, completely silent.

“My brothers usually train a little at this time of night. We can spar with them if you want to.” she said once the doors were shut behind them. “But I figured you might want to get away from those two before I became the only daughter of this family.”

“That is an accurate assumption.” he said coldly. “They are a pair of screeching harpies.”

“Yes, well, now you realize why I try to avoid them at all costs.” Kaida said grimly. The metallic clang of swords hitting together rang through the stillness, and Kaida made a headline for the dojo. “Sounds like my brothers are at work.” Kaida pushed the mat open that led into the dojo just in time to see her eldest brother be thrown halfway across the room by Ryuichi. He fell to the mat with a dull thud, coming up rubbing his head.

“I’ll bet that hurts.” Kaida commented idly, causing the two brothers to turn their attention to the dojo’s entrance. “You going to let him throw you around like that, Ryuji?”

“Keep talking little sister, and I’ll start tossing you around next.” Ryuichi said with a grin, walking over and bowing to Sesshomaru. “Lord Sesshomaru, sir.”

“I figured you’d be sleeping by now, little sister.” Ryuji commented idly.

“Hardly.” Kaida commented. “Pent up energy I need to get rid of. Want to spar? You two against Lord Sesshomaru and I?” The two brothers shrugged with indifference, turning to Sesshomaru.

“Lord Sesshomaru?” Ryuji asked.

“I am in agreement.” he said simply.

“Well, let’s get to work then.” Kaida said, grinning at her elder brothers. “I’ve got some new tricks to show you two.”

“We’ll take it easy on you, little sister.” Ryuji teased as he squared off against her and Sesshomaru took Ryuichi.

“Keep talking like that and you’re going to find yourself up close and personal with that wall again, Ryuji.” Kaida muttered.

“She sounds serious.” Ryuichi commented idly. “You’d better watch out, Ryuji.”

Sesshomaru listened to the light hearted banter between the siblings, only half aware of what his own opponent was doing. He heard Ryuji count to three, and was forced to focus his attention on the Southern noble who was currently attacking him.

‘At least fighting with the brothers is considerably more appealing that listening to the harpies.’ he thought dryly.

-

Kaze and Keiji were exiting his father’s conference room when a grumbling Leiko and Kei waltzed past them, muttering about ‘stupid half-breed bitches’, ‘dojo training’ and ‘ridiculous sparring‘.

“What was that about?” Kaze asked, looking to the other noble for some sort of answer.

“I would guess it has something to do with Kaida.” Keiji said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest as his father came out. “And more than likely Sesshomaru.”

“They mentioned sparring. You don’t think Kaida and Sesshomaru are fighting again, do you?” Kaze asked, apparently somewhat concerned.

“It wouldn’t hurt to check.” Lord Ryu said, heading towards the dojo in a hurry. “I don’t want half my home destroyed because they wind up making each other mad again. It‘ll be easier to stop them before it gets ridiculously out of hand.”

“You heard about that, did you?” Keiji asked, tamping down a grin at his sister‘s antics. “Kaida and Sesshomaru destroying his dojo?”

“Kentaro mentioned it in passing earlier.” Ryu said. “Rin told him that they were on the verge of killing each other, but didn’t because of blood loss on both sides.”

The three demons quickly traversed the castle hallways and the back courtyard, coming up to the dojo in a hurry. They could hear the clang of metal on metal, and hurriedly pushed the entrance mat aside, walking in.

“Well, it appears we were concerned about nothing.” Kaze said, internally heaving a sigh of relief to find Ryuji and Ryuichi fighting with Kaida and Sesshomaru. “The dojo and surrounding area is still satisfactorily intact.”

“I’m not sure for how much longer, though.” Keiji muttered, watching his brothers fight against Sesshomaru and his twin. “Look at them.”

Kaida and Sesshomaru had been forced back to back, and were lashing out at the demon brothers with attack after attack. Ryuji was fighting with Sesshomaru while Ryuichi was dancing out of Kaida’s immediate reach, but not leaving the close proximity around the Western Lord.

“Why won’t she just go after him?” Keiji asked, not used to seeing Kaida curb her attacks like she was doing.

“It would leave Sesshomaru’s back exposed, that’s why.” Lord Ryu said critically. “Look carefully. Both of their shirts are slashed in the back, but he‘s taken the most hits so far. I’ll bet Ryuji and Ryuichi managed to separate them once already, and focus on Sesshomaru instead of Kaida. She’s covering his back now and not letting them get nearer. They’re working together.”

It seemed like Lord Ryu was accurate in his observations the longer the three demons watched the sparring group. The brothers would continually try to cause some sort of diversion to drag Kaida away from the Western Lord long enough for Ryuji to get a decent hit in on the dog demon, but Kaida managed to thwart all the attempts, quickly sending her eldest brother scurrying away.

“It’s almost like they’re dancing together.” Kaze commented idly after a while. “Sesshomaru knows her movements so thoroughly he can anticipate what she is going to do next. And she‘s the same way. She knows exactly what he is going to do.”

“This is almost scary to watch.” Keiji commented, shaking his head in disbelief. “They’re playing with them. There’s no way Ryuichi and Ryuji are going to win this spar.”

“They’ve been training together.” Ryu said. “That much is obvious.” About that time, Ryuji and Ryuichi both attacked headlong at the same time. Ryu and the others watched as Kaida and Sesshomaru dropped down to one knee, swept the brother’s feet out from under them, then grabbed the front of their haoiris, sending them flying in opposite directions across the dojo. Ryuji managed to twist and land in a roll, coming quickly to his feet. But Ryuichi hit the wall and slid down, landing on the floor with a dull ‘thud’.

“She’s taught him my moves.” Kaze commented lazily. “I’m hurt.”

Sesshomaru quickly wound his energy whip around a slightly woozy Ryuichi, and placed Toukijin’s blade at the noble’s throat. Kaida on the other hand, was still fighting with Ryuji. The older demon rushed Kaida, causing her to side step. She knocked him in the back of the head with the hilt of one of her scimitars, making him stumble. Before Ryuji could regain his composure, Kaida had vaulted over him, swept his feet out from under him, and had his neck between her blades.

“Now I’m worried.” Keiji muttered. “She’s never been able to do that before!”

“I understand your concern, son.” Ryu said gravely, although impressed with his youngest child‘s new skills. “They move perfectly in sync with each other. It’s almost impossible to believe.”

“Well, they just did it.” Kaze said, shaking his head in quiet contemplation, a frown on his face as Kaida and Sesshomaru were proclaimed the victors of the spar. “And I’m beginning to think there is more to this relationship we’re being told. Because no two creatures on this Earth can fight that well together if they really do hate each other as much as Kaida and Sesshomaru claim to!”

-

A/N - Hey, everyone! What’s going on? Hope you are all doing well, and no one who happens to be living along the U.S. Gulf Coast is in any trouble from Hurricane Dennis. Tropical storm Cindy knocked me off line for a few days, and it will be a few weeks before I get back on track writing, since the storms have decided to ruin the area where I live.

Until next time,

A.A.

P.S. And please remember to review. I want to know what you think.