Ice Chapter 1: The Lady and the Naginata, an inuyasha fanfic

I am a horrible person to post this story while others are waiting for me to finish ongoing fics, but as Navi-kun will swear I've had this fic in my document folders for almost 2 years now.

The Lady and the Naginata

Japanese lingo/names

Mareo: rare; uncommon

Meiko: bright

Inu-nishi: dogs of the west; western dogs

Jomei: spread light

Hoshikito: star of the north; north star

Jiro: second son

Renzo: third son

shugo: guard

Kaiya: forgiveness

Makoto: good; sincere

Akeno: in the morning; bright shining field

Hisa: long-lasting

Ichiro: first son

Goro: fifth son

00000

"They are hiding something! We should have dealt with Mareo at the first sign of resistance!" a masculine voice shrieked. Somewhere, a woman sighed.

"It means nothing. Mieko has not the brains to be planning something of a danger to us," an authoratative female scoffed. " We make the decisions. We will bend the circumstances to fit our outcome. They are pawns pretending to be princes."

00000

Kagome was not meant to be an upper-class youkai. At least not a female one. Still, it was better than being a useless noblewoman of the human race. A decoration. The thought brought a slight shudder to her shoulders. No, Kagome was meant to do great things, have great adventures...things befitting to her great spirit. She ran her hand along the black, scaly neck of the demon horse she rode.

She was meant for running and fighting, battles and bloodshed. Instead, her gender forced her to become the tool of her father. The only daughter of the Lord of the Northeastern Lands; the land of snow and frost. An inuyoukai with night black-hair, ice-blue eyes, and moon-pale skin. A navy blue Northern Star on her forehead, pale lilac stripes on her cheekbones and wrists, and black lining her eyes. It would be one more night until she was received at the House of the Westen Lands, coincidentally also inuyoukai. A present for the eldest son. Yet another female he could choose to breed with if he desired. A desire that would bring honor to her family's house. She looked to the stars, her breath apparent in the chill air.

"Jomei," She whispered to her only companion and the arctic kitsune was at her side immediately. His pale hair and complexion made his eyes look greener even in the moonlight. She pleaded with him one last time. " I do not want to be there."

"I will be at your side, my lady," he answered sympathetically, then added. "Besides, Sesshomaru is known for his arrogance. He may not choose you."

"May not?" a gravelly laugh escaped her. "Will not is more like it. I will see to that. My only worry is that he will wait another century to choose and the best hundred years of my life will be wasted!"

There was silence for a time. Then her voice came again, hesitant and soft.

"Jomei," he flicked a glance in her direction. "You will not leave me, will you?"

A half smile appeared on his face.

"Never, my Lady."

"Another? You cannot be serious," Sesshomaru said blandly. His father gave him a weary look.

"She is an ambassador for her house," Inutashio replied. "The Northeastern Clan has yet to replace the old one."

"Ahhh yes. And it just happens to be a female, coincidentally the same time the Council has decided to announce my eligibility for mating."

"Yes."

Sesshomaru just looked at the elder inuyoukai.

"You will find one. All you need is an heir and you can have nothing to do with her again. They have a reputation of breeding young and well."

"And disgrace her by taking a mistress or several concubines?" Sesshomaru asked.

"It will not be as though you are the first to do such a thing, as long as she is provided for. And it might not come to that if she is worthy enough" Inutashio answered.

"You take her for a mate then, and make yourself respectable again," the younger dog demon said. Inutashio gave him a pointed look and his only son spun on his heel and proceeded to exit the room.

Sesshomaru walked through the halls with many thoughts in his mind. He wouldn't be in this situation if his father's new human pet hadn't miscarried once again. The brat wasn't even full demon; how hard can a hanyou pregnancy be? It was the twelfth human his father had taken up with. The first one had been over four hundred years ago, when Sesshomaru had not even broken a century...Izayoi, or something of that sort. She had the name picked out from the time she found out she was with child. A stupid name as well.

Inuyasha.

A sneer nearly appeared on Sesshomaru's features just thinking the name.

The sun was just beginning to rise.

"We have arrived Lady Kagome," Jomei noted.

"Yes," she agreed. The Western Kingdom was the largest holding followed closely by the South and the richness showed in the home of the lord. It followed in the traditional style of Japanese housing, but on a much grander scale, with eight main buildings surrounded by numerous smaller ones. It was set on land that provided a tactical advantage; on a hill that rose with the sun. The main gates were on the eastern side and standing at them created the visual image of each section of the house slightly higher than the previous. The western and southern edges of the palace were protected by steep cliffs that ended in water. As one went through the compound, it became apparent that the architecture was modeled after the step-like pattern of rice paddies on a mountain, only less steep. Stone steps and roads wound like snakes up to the main hall and housing for the nobility. Kagome noticed the large dojo set off to the side, somewhat hidden from the main route and tucked the knowledge away.

Finally reaching the end, Kagome and Jomei were brought to the ambassador's chambers. He was shown a room across the hall, as it wasn't proper to be in a room next to an unwed lady. She shooed away the servants sent to help her and unpacked the clothes she had brought. Most of the kimonos she was supposed to be using were provided by the host, as was custom with potential brides. She knew the Inu-nishi were not stupid. They saw through her 'official' role as ambassador. Fortunately for her pride Kagome had plenty of her own.

She changed into a navy kimono with a pattern of origami cranes and what looked like ripples when a finger is dipped into still water. Both designs were white with the three under-kimonos in alternating layers of white and red. The obi was the same red. The demoness knocked softly on Jomei's door. He too was changed out of his traveling clothes and into a hakama and happi with her family's crest on the back and a smaller version over his heart.

Jomei couldn't help but notice how beautiful his lady was, even in plain clothing. He had been her sole protector since she reached one hundred and three winters, himself only a century and a half at the time. He had been given the prestigious position of protecting the only daughter of the Hoshikito Clan not only because of the fact that his family had served the Northeastern Lords for half a millennia, but also for his precocious ability with any weapon one could find. He had defeated fifty two of the greatest warriors available, including his elder brothers, Jiro and Renzo. Kagome joked from time to time that she would feel safe even if he had only a dead fish to defend her with.

"My Lady," Jomei bowed. Kagome stopped herself from grimacing and rolling her eyes. Jomei refused to call her just Kagome, even when they were alone.

"I want to tour the grounds a little before we have to bathe and eat dinner. Would you accompany me?" she asked politely.

"One moment, Lady," he disappeared into his quarters for a few minutes and returned with a katana and tanto on his person. She knew from experience that there were also shuriken spread liberally on his person, both the star-shaped and the needle-like kind.

"What do you wish to see first?" he inquired. Kagome thought a moment.

"Nothing in particular, I just want to get to know the grounds."

"Hmm, yes. Best not to go straight for the dojo on the first day. That would cause a stir."

"Jomei!" Kagome exclaimed. "You knew!"

His only response was a slight smile.

Kagome loved it when he teased her. He became less guarded, less formal.

"Well, I need to practice. It's not like I'm a frail human who can't protect herself."

"Ladies of your class learn how to use their own natural demonic abilities. They do not learn how to swing a naginata, or conceal a tanto, or throw a shuriken..." He was cut off.

"Ladies of my class, unfortunately, don't have the greatest warrior and teacher as one of their friends."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, then looked down. He hated what he would say next, but she had to be reminded of their relationship.

"I am a shugo, not a friend, Lady," Jomei said softly. This time, Kagome did not turn away with tears in her eyes. She looked up at him, almost pleading.

"There is nothing saying you can't be both." Her voice was startlingly hopeful.

"Lady Kagome!" a squawk from somewhere below kneecap level startled the two. "I have come to see if you have any questions."

He...It announced loudly and bowed.

"Can I ask your name, sir?" Kagome said, thrown Jomei a puzzled look.

"Jaken! Loyal Retainer to the Most Awesome and Powerful Lord Sesshomaru!" his arms and beak were waving wildly in the air and Kagome tried to smother her giggles in her sleeve.

"Ahhh...Jaken. No I do not have any questions at the moment. Me and Jo..." Jomei gave her a silencing look with eyes of jade. He had the uncanny ability to do so and practiced it on her often. She sighed in resignation. "My guard was to accompany me on a tour."

"Yes! We'll have a tour! I know these grounds like no other! If you would please follow me, Lady." The toad youkai waddled off, expecting the two to follow him as he began a lengthy monologue of the more useless bits of information about the estate.

"Can you please put Kaiya in my room right now before anyone notices and then catch up? She can go under my bed; no one will look there." The kitsune nodded, knowing he shouldn't leave her side, but not willing to tell her no on such a trivial thing.

He returned to his chamber and retrieved the naginata that was wrapped first in cotton and then in heavy silk. It had been a secret present from him on the day she turned one hundred and twenty one. She had somehow conviced him that she needed to be knowledgeable in fighting with a weapon...

Who was he trying to fool? She had wanted to learn and since the day she became his charge, Kagome had gotten nearly whatever she wanted from him. So he brought her an array of weaponry to see in which her skills would lie. The naginata was the first she had picked up off of the tatami mat floor. It was nothing special; a worn practice blade. She ran her hands along the pitted and marked wooden shaft and spun it once, slowly. It weighed a considerable amount, even for a demon.

She learned other weapons. She was adept at some more than others, yet the naginata was her first love. She could even beat him now, about once for every three times they fought if he were using only that.

It had taken a long time for him to acquire her present. The staff was made of ebony, the black wood that could not float. The wood was covered with lacy metalwork in an abstract flower pattern to protect it from chipping when other blades fell against it in battle. It was topped with thirteen inches of blue steel, so sharp it would slice a hair in half should it choose to fall there. There was not another like it, to his knowledge.

He had it made with the power of Inutaisho's katanas in mind and he knew that should his lady be able to master it, the naginata could freeze one hundred of the enemy in one swing.

The look on her face when he presented it to her was in his mind, even now, more than a hundred years later...

(flashback)

"Jomei! It's incredible!" Kagome exclaimed.

"You must keep your voice down, my lady, else someone find us and see," he admonished gently. Said lady suddenly threw her arms around his neck in an embrace, her body pressed against his... Jomei hesitantly reached his arms around her.

"Oh Jomei, thank you! It is the best present anyone has ever given me!" she whispered.

(back to the present)

She had named the weapon Kaiya. Forgiveness. It puzzled him even now, though she had tried to explain. So she told him a story.

"There once was a miko. She was the keeper of the Shikon Jewel and fell in love with a demon whose mate had recently died in childbirth. He returned her love and promised to make her his wife. He went to the Council to ask permission to marry the miko but they refused, saying he was too high ranking and powerful to fall slave to the love of a human. The demon disobeyed them and took her for a wife secretly. She took care of the two children he had before she came along, and about ten years later she found her stomach growing swollen with a child of their own, odd, because she was one of the more powerful mikos of her time and the purity in her should have killed any demonic thing that tried to grow in her. The child was born, a son, and then the Council killed her."

Jomei had been startled at the ending, but didn't question his mistress as to how a weapon could bestow forgiveness. He let it go as something he would, and did, learn later on. His father had implied something like that when he and his brothers battled for the right to defend her.

Jomei appeared at her side abruptly. If Kagome had not been used to it, she would have been startled.

"I will find us a place to practice, my lady, away from the City," Jomei said. He had learned early on in his duties that it was best to go head on into a confrontation with Kagome less she decide not to include him in in her plans.

"Nonsense Jomei, this isn't home and I am allowed to practice in the dojo," she scoffed.

"Your father will discover I have been teaching you," he pointed out.

"No you haven't. Some nice, wealthy, powerful demon has been teaching me since I arrived here. I just happen to have a knack for it," she explained innocently. "And look someone sent a naginata to me but there was no name to tell me who it was from!"

Jomei rolled his eyes and continued to follow the toad. He wished he had the power to refuse Kagome something other than his admittance to a friendship with her.

"Jaken?"

"Yes, Lady Kagome!"

"Would it be too much trouble to have you show us the dojo? I would like my guard to know where it is."

"Of course, Lady Kagome! Follow me!"

It wasn't hard to get around the keep. Kanji and arrows telling you where to go were expertly engraved into stones on the ground and made to look as though it were natural to have a rock telling you 'go this way to the hot springs'.

They arrived at the dojo, larger even than the one at home, Jomei noted. Kagome didn't wait for Jaken but climbed up the few steps to the entrance doors and slid them open. The noise of wooden and metal weapons banging against each other was loud, but not overly so. Jaken began sputtering apologies for a lady to have to see something like this, but Kagome paid no mind. She ventured further into the large room with Jomei close by her side, taking in all of the unique fighting styles. Every demon in here was in their humanoid form and using their natural abilities along with the weapons. All except one. One using only an enourmous halberd, taking on three bear demons.

Kagome watched in barely contained rapture as one worthy of the blade cut his way through his enemies' defenses. It was like a curious dance; slashing and blocking, whirling and stabbing. His eyes were moving faster than his hands, searching for openings as he blocked and looked and spun and cut and oh...

She knew. She knew the weight of the blade and the pull when you swung and how it was so beautiful you didn't breathe, and you didn't care if you couldn't breathe because it was just so right in that moment and nothing could touch you and you would remember to breathe later be cause now, now was what mattered and victory and...

"My lady," Jomei interrupted. "I would like you to meet..."

And in that moment the man fighting made a wild, full-circle swing above his head and Kagome almost yelled to him that he left his entire body unprotected, but then the bear demons' heads fell to the ground.

"Unexpected, Commander Bankotsu."

The demon, with long silver hair commended the fighter. Kagome knew him to be Sesshomaru; everyone knew Sesshomaru the instant they looked upon his countenance and emotionless amber eyes. Said demon walked towards Bankotsu with his sword drawn slashing a blue arc over the fallen bears that reattached their severed heads. They arose and shook themselves, like they were shaking off Death's touch. Kagome touched Jomei's arm in a silent query.

"Sesshomaru's sword, the Tenseiga, cuts only death. It may revive as many as one hundred fallen in one swing."

Kagome nodded mutely in amazement when Jaken's squawking broke her shock.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru! May I present Lady Kagome of the House of the North and her personal shugo, Jomei, son of Toshiro of the Arctic Kitsune tribe!"

All named bowed in turn, and by this time the warriors had noticed the presence of a woman and had stopped sparring. Consequently, the only sound was the clacking of the lapis lazuli beads attached to the ends of the chopsticks embedded in the two buns that made up Kagome's hairstyle as she made a small bow.

"Lady Kagome, may I inquire as to how your guard talk you into visiting the dojo?" Sesshomaru asked. Kagome could not tell if he was being humorous or derogatory, so she told the truth.

"He didn't my lord, I asked to see them." This announcement brought a quirk of an eyebrow.

"And why, pray tell, did you have the urge to visit the dojo? Ladies of your status do not belong here," he said, once again emotionless. That brought smirks of amuzement to a few of the soldiers' faces. Jomei let loose an inward sigh, but did nothing to stop the all-too-honest response that bubbled up from his mistress' lips.

"I was deciding if it was a suitable place for me to practice," Kagome said, unwavering. She knew that he was baiting her and didn't like it at all. There was a silence that greeted her words. For one of the very few times in his life Sesshomaru was stunned. But he quickly recovered.

"Really, Lady Kagome I was not joking..." she cut him off.

"Nor was I."

Both looked at each other for a moment, then Bankotsu spoke up.

"My lord, If I may..." Sesshomaru glanced his aquiescence and Bankotsu continued. "What is your weapon of choice?"

Jomei let loose a warning rumble deep in his throat and Bankotsu added quickly "Lady Kagome."

"The naginata," she answered evenly. A few guffaws turned into badly concealed coughs. Bankotsu had on a very wide smile.

"Oh really? That's a big weapon for a woman such as yourself. I should like to see you fight then."

"Last warning, warrior," Jomei growled. Bankotsu's grin furthered itself.

"Excuse me, Lady Kagome, would you be so kind as to pick one out of the racks behind you and give us an exhibition of your skills?"

Kagome looked at him as though he were a simpleton.

"Yes, then next you can demonstrate how easy a task it is to move wrapped in layers of silk."

This time, the smothered laughter was directed at their commander. His brow furrowed for a moment, wrinkling the purple cross on his forehead, but it passed as soon as it appeared.

"Of course, my Lady" he recovered smoothly. "We will have a chat with your guard here while you change into something...more suitable."

Before Jomei could voice his disapproval at being separated for Kagome, Sesshomaru added that he too, was interested in seeing Kagome fight and would send Jaken to accompany her, saying that the Staff of Heads was more than able to 'assist' in protecting the 'ambassador' as she seemed confident of being capable of defending herself.

After a few minutes had passed, an arguement broke out.

"So, Jomei," Bankotsu began. "Been playing teacher with the wench?"

So quick, Jomei had his tanto at Bankotsu's throat. He quivered with anger, scratching the dark haired warrior slightly.

"Do not force me to carve 'Lady Kagome' on your forehead commander," he said through gritted teeth.

"Enough," Sesshomaru said, looking pointedly at Jomei. "You will release my warrior. And Bankotsu, you will not be so improper in addressing dignitaries."

A male light demon with lavender hair spoke up from his seat by the wall. Like Sesshomaru, he was in full dress instead of battle clothes and Jomei knew he must be one of the tactical commanders.

"If she has been taught by anyone with even a drop of Toshiro's blood, the wait will be worth it."

Jomai turned toward him and bowed.

"You honor my family."

The demon inclined his head.

"It is an honor they deserve."

The shoji door slid open and Jomei almost groaned. That worthless youkai exterminator.

(Flashback)

"Lady Kagome, I know I can never really do anything to show my appreciation for saving my sister, but I hope you will take this as a token of my gratitude...and apology for attacking you," a dark haired girl said with her eyes looking at her feet as she handed the youkai a package. Jomei watched her mistrustfully.

"Oh Sango, thank you. I'm just glad I came in time! Tell Suki to get well soon for me. And tell Sango I said hello," Kagome let out a smile of amusement. "At least it's been easy to keep all of the women of your family straight! It's the oldest who is always named Sango?"

"Yes, after my great, great, great, great, great...well, you know, grandmother who defeated the hanyou Naraku after he tricked her brother into killing their father and the rest of the village's extermination team."

"Ah, I remember. Thank you for the present Sango!" Kagome said with a wave of farewell.

(End Flashback)

And here his lady stood, hair in a braid long enough to brush against her upper thighs, with a navy and white demon exterminator outfit on, looking as though an artist had painted it upon her. He watched as the many low-bred youkai stared at her with undisguised lust. Even Bankotsu and Sesshomaru threw appraising eyes at her figure. She carried Kaiya and it looked as though Jaken and a few others had not gotten over the shock of seeing a woman with such a formidable weapon.

"Well Commander Bankotsu, are you ready?" she asked as she swung the long plait of her midnight hair over her shoulder. He looked stunned still but recovered at the sound of her voice.

"Oh no, Lady Kagome," he threw Jomei a look. "I wouldn't want you to injure yourself fighting someone beyond your skills. You will fight..."

He glanced around the room until he found a face.

"Makoto!"

A young, rather quiet crane youkai stumbled out of the masses into the clearing. He blushed and looked at his feet, uncomfortable and gangly. Kagome felt bad for the boy but it didn't assuage the anger that bubble up in her at Bankotsu's words. She wanted to make sure he would taste steel today.

"All right, but if I defeat him you will give me a better challenge." Bankotsu smiled at her.

"'If', Lady Kagome," he agreed. She turned to Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru-sama, will you please revive anyone I kill?" He nodded agreement and went to take a seat next to the light demon that had spoken for Jomei. The rest of the warriors retreated to the walls to give the combatants more space.

Kagome could see that Makoto was shaking and decided she would just unarm him. She danced away from his sloppy thrusts until she could see an opening. Kagome came from underneath and knocked the glaive into the air. She caught it before it hit the ground and gave the crane youkai a small smile and bow. He smiled back and blushed as he retrieved the weapon from her.

The next was a lizard youkai with a katana who she also disamed with a similar trick. Then Bankotsu chose was a boar youkai. He grumbled when his name was called.

"All she ken do is fancee tricks," and then looking straight at her, "Killin's a dif'rent matter girlie."

With a downward chop Kagome broke his glaive then thrust hers into his stomach and twisted while shoving him backwards. She turned to face Bankotsu, a few drops of blood spattered across the bridge of her nose like freckles and the tinge of red draining from her eyes.

"You're next, no more games."

Jomei's heart thudded twice. He wished he was as confident in his teaching ability as she was.

Sesshomaru rose and revived the dead youkai, who bowed his thank you and retreated to the masses who jeered at him as they did Kagome's last two opponents.

Bankotsu and Kagome stood in the middle of the room, facing off. Bankotsu made the first move, running straight at her and thrusting his halberd toward her. Kagome used the staff part of her glaive to slam the point into the ground and used her momentum to forward flip over his head. She landed in a crouch facing the other way and swung the glaive around with her right arm. Bankotsu had already moved out of the way and was coming, once again, straight at her. She rose and twirled the staff in a horizontal figure eight pattern blocking every attempt to penetrate her defenses. But he was pushing her back, and that wasn't good, so she switched to a vertical firgure eight and viciously cut a lock of his hair off. He back flipped away from her breathing heavily. Kagome re-assumed her stance and watched her opponent with cold eyes. He smiled at her.

"And here I thought the uses of a female didn't extend past the bedroom," he said musingly. Jomei's eyes reddened in anger, a half a second away from beheading the impudent Bankotsu until Kagome's voice stopped him.

"And here I thought I would have an opponent with some skills, instead of a weakling who resorts to insults to goad me into blind anger," she answered calmly.

This time the charge forward was mutual. They met in the middle, staff against staff to separate them, each straining to push the other to the floor.

"Go home, little girl and stop pretending to..." he was cut off by her laugh.

"For pretending, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of defeating you!" She broke the stalemate and whirled away, forcing him to move quick to avoid the flashing blue blade. Her braided hair followed her like a live snake, twining and curling about her.

"You..." he was interrupted again.

"Stop talking, boy, and fight me!" Her voice was taunting and confident.

Bankotsu's face reddened and he came at her with sharp jabs, faster than he had before, and Kagome had to grudgingly admit to herself that he had been holding back as she concentrated on blocking. Suddenly it came to her...literally. As the blade of his halberd thrust toward her, she grabbed it with her gloved hand, pushed it to the right and delivered a neck-snapping left kick to the side of his head. He recovered unreasonably fast and Kagome was forced to retreat backwards with him following. But suddenly she changed directions, pushing off the wood floor, and came straight at him. Bankotsu moved to the side, but she anticipated him and swung her blade around to behead him. He forced his upper body to bend back and then she was past him, on one knee with her blade outstretched to the side of her about 25 feet away. He smirked at her as she rose and turned.

Then, a line of blood appeared on his jawbone and dropped a tear of red.

"First blood," Jomei said quietly, but all heard him. Kagome smiled at Bankotsu and gave him a warrior's bow.

"Commander," she murmured. And then she turned to Sesshomaru and the demon next to him and bowed. "My lord."

"Well done," he said, his face impassive.

"I had an excellent teacher," was her response with a huge grin. Jomei came from the crowd, bowed to Lord Sesshomaru, and took Kagome's elbow.

"If you will excuse us, Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Kagome has other engagements she must attend to, and I fear this...incident has made her slightly tardy for them."

Sesshomaru nodded and Kagome let Jomei lead her out of the room, obedient, but clearly confused. The demon with lavender hair spoke.

"She is impressive." Sesshomaru looked at him.

"She has been spoiled by those around her, Akeno."

"So you will not let her use the dojo?"

"She may, as she is a visiting dignitary, but my father must be mad if he believes I would ever mate with a demoness that doesn't conduct herself properly."

Akeno smiled.

"A nice change from layers of kimonos, don't you think?"

Sesshomaru knew he was being teased about a mere glance at the woman's figure. It wasn't as if he could help it with the outfit she had on.

The light demon was used to these one-sided conversations.

"Did you notice...?"

Sesshomaru cut him off.

"It was nothing."

Akeno smiled slyly and continued with a different line of questioning.

"The one that accompanies her, he is the fifth son of Toshiro."

Sesshomaru stayed silent, but Akeno ventured another.

"How is it that the Hoshikito Clan ended up with Toshiro and his sons instead of the Inu-nishi?"

Sesshomaru glared at him and walked out of the dojo. Akeno was still grinning.

Jomei was silent for most of the walk back to the main building. Kagome was hesitant to ask him about the fight.

"You did well," he said abruptly. She answered him with a gleeful smile.

"But you must hurry and bathe; we must take lunch in an hour with the rest of the ambassadors," he continued.

"An hour is plenty of time," Kagome said breezily, twirling Kaiya. As they turned a corner, the pair was met by two female youkai, who squealed at the sight of a whirling blade so close to them. Jomei rolled his eyes in annoyance at the obviously sheltered and spoiled ladies. When they passed, Kagome's look of disgust fell and she ventured a question.

"When are you going to bring out Kurobashi and give me a real challenge?" Kagome had named her naginata after hearing that it was a tradition in his family's household after receiving a weapon as a gift. Jomei had told her what the name of his glaive was along with an explanation.

(Flashback)

"Kurobashi. It means black bridge. Father used to threaten to send us across the 'black bridge of death' when me or my brothers misbehaved."

Kagome found it quite funny.

(End Flashback)

Sesshomaru knelt at a low table in his room. His thoughts were on the young Hoshikito demoness.

It was odd. When she was fighting it seemed as thought there was a hint of...purity in her. Not enough to kill a demon, not even enough so that one could outright sense it, but the tiniest thread woven into her tapestry. A fluttering. A breath. An almost.

But that was impossible. Demonic nature dictated that anything with human purity was either killed or the cause of death.

He would have Jaken research this further. If the toad had one use, it was that he was ridiculously knowledgeable on the history and genealogy of the six High Families.

His lady came down in one of the fashions of the Northeast that were the rage at home. One color, chosen to flatter the wearer, but different shades. Kagome, of course, wore blue. The kimonos were made of silk so fine it was sheer. The kimono layer that was closest to the body was white, followed by a dark, but bright blue and then a cerulean that sparkled with glass beads in the pattern of fish and flowers. Her slippers and obi were both white and embroidered with silver waves.

Jomei wondered why all women couldn't dress as beautifully. They just didn't understand the motto 'Less is more'...or at least that's why Kagome said. She argued with her father Meiko constantly about the 'plainness' of her kimonos.

Especially the kimono she would wear when she first met Sesshomaru and Inutashio officially. Kagome's choice was the one she had on currently; Meiko's had been this ridiculously overwrought...thing complete with cloth-of-gold bedecked in precious jems, silver embroidered kanji and six under-kimono layers of alternating reds and purples. Jomei thought maybe she had given the thing to Sango's family. Had Kagome not been such a caring demon to humans, more than likely Sango would have surmised she was buying off the gravedigger.

Jomei had been given an invitation to join the luncheon. His status as Kagome's shugo would have put him standing guard nearby but his status as Toshiro's son put him in a seat next to her. Kagome was seated next to Inutaisho and across from Sesshomaru. Kohana, Inutaisho's mistress, was still bedridden from her miscarriage. Akeno was also there, and a few demons that Kagome did not personally know.

"Lady Kagome, I hear from my son that you are skilled with the naginata," Inutaisho began. Kagome had the modesty to blush slightly.

"Yes, Lord Inutaisho, I fear that my pigheadedness as a child caused me to order my guard to instruct me in defending myself with weapons."

"Don't be ashamed of it," he snorted. "Lady Hisa of the East has all three of her children trained how to handle a sword along with their demonic powers and her oldest is female."

"Really? I had not known that," Kagome mused, then continued more assertively. "And I am not ashamed of anything, merely surprised that Sesshomaru-sama metioned it to you."

"When a woman comes in and defeats your training commander in less than a quarter of an hour, it is something one mentions to the head of the household," Sesshomaru said dryly.

Kagome nearly shrugged but caught herself in time and just lowered her eyes for a moment before speaking.

"His fighting style is..." she searched for the right word. "Repetitive. It is, I think, from the mnemonic methods he uses to train the army."

Jomei smiled inwardly at how easily his lady impressed the company. She was well-educated, had an extremely good grasp on everything around her, was beautiful, deadly, funny, caring, innocent...

"Son of Toshiro, you defeated your older brothers to obtain this post?"

(Flashback)

(Toshiro talking to Jiro, Renzo, and Jomei)

"Kagome-sama is the only daughter left to bear children of Mareo's line. She carries in her, hope. Know that if you are lucky enough to obtain this assignment, it will be a life-long pact. It is more important than guarding anyone else in their family, anyone else in all of Japan."

They answered in unison.

"Yes, Father."

(End Flashback)

"Only Jiro and Renzo. Ichiro had an important assignment to complete and Goro had yet to take and pass Father's final test for him."

"Why go through so much for Kagome-sama, no insult intended Lady," Kagome nodded as Inutaisho turned his eyes toward her.

"She is the only daughter of Meiko. It was his wish. We owe him a great debt."

"Yes, a blood debt if I remember the story correctly. Your Great Grandfather, Jomei?"

"Yes, Grandpa Shippo."

This story...its unlike all of my others. I wrote the plot, researched it, figured out families and the quirks that make them so...everything. Its my piece de resistance, my epic, my tour de force, my magnum opus, and a bunch of other foreign words. Its...my baby. So enjoy or hate, but respect the thought and planning that went into it.

After I have finished this, I will undertake the revision of all my other works, because most of them were written with half-assed ideas and plots. Then perhaps I will finish the stories that are currently not posted, but neglected in my WIP folder with only three or four chapters written.