Moving on at last
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Kagome let a soft sigh escape her lips. It had finally happened. Inuyasha had told Kagome that he was leaving to be with Kikyo. After months of running off in the middle of the night almost every night he finally said it. Kagome felt slightly insulted that Inuyasha didn't think she had figured it out long ago. If that hadn't given it away the way Kikyo's scent clung to him and the marks she left on him after every encounter would have been a dead give away. Kagome had thought it would hurt more but over the few months of watching him sneak away every night only to return at dawn had left her numb to the world.
'I just wish he had come to this decision last year.' Kagome thought to herself as she leaned against Keade's hut. A year previous they had confronted Naraku and won. After that Inuyasha asked her to stay and someday be his mate. Kagome had been stupid and when he said that he loved her she had agreed. Permanently loosing her chance to return home. Looking back Kagome should have known something was wrong since he didn't ask her to be his mate right then. The news spread that they were engaged. Not long after hearing the news Kouga realized he would never have Kagome and asked Ayame to be his mate. Now they had three energetic pups running around and they both seemed really happy. A few weeks after killing Naraku Miroku and Sango had announced that they were leaving for her home village. Kagome felt like she should be happy for all of them but now Kagome was alone and couldn't find it in herself.
"Child." Kaede said as she came out of her hut and looked at Kagome. "It will be alright you'll see. I'm sure it hurts now but it'll get better." She said placing a wrinkled hand on Kagome's head. "Why don't you practice your archery? That always seems to cheer you up." Kagome had become increasingly better over the last year. Though in the past few weeks after Inuyasha had told her the truth and left she had thrown her all into it. Everyday she would spend hours practicing and if it wasn't for the gloves Kaede now forced on her Kagome's hands would surely be raw after every session. Kaede had never seen a better archer in her life.
Kagome nodded and let out another sigh. "It might help." She stood up and retrieved her bow which she never strayed from these days. Kaede watched her walk away towards where she liked to practice. The well. Kagome would spend hours just shooting arrow after arrow at the old bone eaters well only pausing to retrieve them.
Elsewhere
"Lord Sesshomaru I think I hear something." Rin said as she looked around. It was a rhythmic thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. "What is it?" She asked looking up at the man.
"It's arrows." He said looking off towards where the sound originated. He sniffed the air then without a word started walking in the direction.
"My lord! Where are you going?" Squawked Jaken indignantly as he hurried after.
"This way obviously." Rin said with a laugh as she bounced along beside Sesshomaru. Jaken glared at Rin in response but had learned the hard way what happens if he speaks nastily towards her.
After a few minutes they came upon a clearing and saw Kagome standing there fully focusing on shooting at the well. They stood there in silence as they watched her strike the same spot over and over again. Kagome let another arrow go then as she drew her next one swiveled to face them.
"What do you want?" She asked as she pulled back the arrow and readied to let it fly.
"Wow! How can you do that blindfolded?" Rin asked unperturbed by the arrow aimed at them. Hearing Rin's voice Kagome let the arrow go slack and pulled the blindfold off.
"Practice." She said as the girl ran over to her and gave her a hug that she gingerly returned. Over time she had grown to love the easy going always cheerful girl but in Kagome's numb state she felt no joy at seeing the girl.
"Can you teach me?" Rin asked as she plucked one of the arrows from the well. She had to give it her all to pull it out since it was stuck a good inch into the wood. Once the arrow was free she walked back over to Kagome as she marveled over the arrow in her hands.
"I'm not a good teacher." Kagome said as she walked over to gather the other arrows. "Also the decision if you learned or not would be that of your guardian not me." Kagome said once she righted herself and turned back to them.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin screeched happily as she ran over to him. "Please can I learn? Please? Please? Please?" After he didn't immediately say yes she gave him the puppy eyes which always made Sesshomaru bend to her every wish. The problem is she knew it too.
"I will allow you to learn." He said as he looked Kagome over thoughtfully. Something was different about the miko. She seemed lackluster and it seemed like she was missing something important. Rin was already cheering and saying thank you next to him with Jaken trying to get her to shut up when he held up a hand to silence her. "There is a condition." He said as he looked Kagome in the eye. "You have to convince Kagome to teach you." Rin looked between Sesshomaru and Kagome noticing how the two gave each other cold looks. She was ecstatic at the idea of having Kagome teach her but Kagome didn't seem as pleased.
"I said I would not teach her." Kagome said as she matched Sesshomaru's characteristic icy tone.
"You said you're not a good teacher. You never said you wouldn't teach her." Sesshomaru said back feeling slightly smug at the indignant look that quickly crossed Kagome's face before she hid it behind her new icy mask.
"I'm saying it now. I. Will. Not. Teach. Her." Kagome said saying every word succinctly.
"You say that now." Sesshomaru said almost smiling. Without another word he walked over to a nearby tree and gracefully sat down. Kagome watched him cautiously. What she should have been worrying about was the attack from the side she received that sent her falling on her ass as she turned to grab an arrow. When she noticed it was Rin she paused and forced herself to release the arrow. Rin had snuck up beside Kagome while she was watching Sesshomaru cautiously and had tackled her.
"Please Kagome." Rin pleaded giving her her best puppy eyes. Kagome just looked at her unmoved by the fake tears.
"Rin." Kagome said as she looked at the child. "The puppy eyes don't work on me. Hell they were my trademark when I was a child." Kagome said gently removing the child from where she sat on Kagome.
Rin lost the puppy eyes in the blink of an eye as a slightly annoyed look crossed her face. No one had ever been able to say no to the puppy eyes. "Kagome please teach me? I just want the chance to maybe someday be as good as you are." Rin said resorting to flattery. "It's like magic to watch you. You're so graceful and sure with your movements."
"Nice try kid." Kagome said as she readied another arrow.
Sesshomaru was now intrigued. At first he had thought it would just be amusing to watch Kagome bend under the child's pleas but now he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. "What has caused this change in you girl?" He asked as he watched her try to avoid shooting Rin as she bounced around in front of her. "Rin. Come." He ordered when he noticed that Kagome needed all of her concentration to not shoot the girl. Rin pouted but did as she was told and made her way over to him and flopped down on the grass next to him. Kagome let out a small sigh. "Well?" He asked as he watched Kagome quickly and efficiently send one arrow after the next flying.
"Nothing happened." Kagome said with no real emotion as she sent her last arrow flying.
Sesshomaru took a shot in the dark. "Where's Inuyasha? I do not smell even his lingering scent here." That had been the first thing Sesshomaru had noticed. His brother's scent normally permeated the place so badly that Sesshomaru couldn't even stand to be in the area. The twitch he saw when he mentioned Inuyasha's name told him he was on the right track. "So?" He asked raising a brow when Kagome didn't respond.
"He left." She said with an icy tone that could make Sesshomaru look like a ray of sunshine. "What else is there to say? As you can obviously smell he isn't here and hasn't been here for a long time." While Kagome had been speaking she had been gathering her arrows again and now that she was done speaking she let one fly and land with a thunk. Rin looked at Kagome wide eyed. Kagome had in one motion spun around and before fully stopping had let an arrow fly and land in the tree mere millimeters from Sesshomaru's neck. "Now if you'll excuse me." She said walking away from the pair.
Once she was gone Sesshomaru let out a chuckle. The little innocent miko he had known had grown into a very intriguing woman that he couldn't help but want to figure out.
~So here's chapter one. I thought of this story line randomly and decided that I had to write it. I hope you all like it.
So until next time please Read and Review and I'll work on getting the second chapter of this out *cough* while working on my other two ongoing projects *sweat drop*