This set of chapters have only been edited once. My beta and I are a little busy at the moment, so the usual two rounds have gone down to one. The edits on Dokuga might be a bit different than here, minor edits that I did as I uploaded.
I love reading the reviews and speculation! Please enjoy.
Chapter 15
Kagome let the arrow soar without a thought. She had started coming out to the shooting range at night to stay away from her crazy roommate. Hopefully she would be asleep by the time she got back.
"Your bow skills have become quite legendary." Kyo said. She felt his aura brush against hers before he announced his presence.
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.
"You are the best archer in this camp, and that includes the ones not in training." He complimented.
"There aren't very many miko here, otherwise I would be middle of the pack."
He chuckled, "Somehow I knew you would say that."
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Chapter 16
Kagome slipped back into her tent after leaving Kyo. Her eyes could barely stay open, so she was very happy to find Jena already asleep. Kagome pulled on her nightgown and crawled into bed.
"Fraternizing with soldiers is forbidden." Jena said. Damn, she was awake. Why couldn't she be asleep?
"I'll make sure I'll tell whoever is fraternizing." Kagome growled, rolling over.
"You were out late!" She hissed.
"And it's none of your business."
"It is if I get thrown out for your foolish behavior"
"Please, they won't throw you out if you don't know what I was even doing."
Chapter 17
This was her favorite part of the day. It made her entire body hurt afterward, but she was beginning to enjoy the feeling of sore muscles. Takeo's eyes were narrowed on her.
"Attack." Masa ordered all the trainees.
Kagome did with her sword.
Takeo quickly parried all her attacks.
"You are doing much better." Takeo complimented.
"Thanks—it's your hard work paying off on me." Kagome said, grinning.
"You don't protect your right side, you will be killed three minutes into battle." Jena told her with arrogance.
"Yeah, and you won't last five seconds in battle because I'll cut your throat, bitch." Another training soldier growled.
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Chapter 18
Kagome hissed as she unwrapped the cloth around her hands. The blisters underneath had burst and she needed to put more salve on them. The pain in her hands was making her rethink her life. She liked hanging out with Takeo and Kyo every once and awhile. And even sometimes she would speak with Masa.
But she missed her friends.
She wanted to speak with someone who knew her more than a few weeks.
Finally getting to her hands, she frowned as she put new salve on her wounds. They didn't look good, but they looked better than they had. She wrapped new cloth around her hands and hoped the pain would go away.
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Chapter 19
"You got this, Kagome. Let out a breath and let it fly" Kyo encouraged her.
"I'm never going to be as good as you are." Kagome said, still gripping the blade in her hand.
"Throw it, Kags." He demanded.
She let the blade fly.
She was a bit more than excited that it hit the target, blade first. Kagome cheered for herself, giving a high-five to Kyo.
"Much better" He said with a smile, "Maybe in about two hundred years, you will be as great as me."
Kagome laughed, "I hope so."
"Now throw another." Kyo encouraged.
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Chapter 20
Jena was looking a bit too happy when Kagome got back to her tent after yet another long day of training.
"I see you didn't get invited to hang out with all the trainees tonight" Jena said.
"Nope." Kagome answered lightly, sitting down on her bed and beginning to remove her shoes.
"If you would stop being so self righteous for knowing some of the soldiers, the trainees might want to hang out with you. Which will be good, you know, when you're in battle and someone needs to have your back."
"I'll keep that in mind." Kagome growled.
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Chapter 21
"You are not popular among the new recruits." Masa said as Kagome threw another blade at the target. Blade went in, not too bad of a shot.
"No." It wasn't a question but she confirmed it anyway.
"Why?" He asked, though she was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
"I like the trainers, and the trainees like talking shit about everyone who causes them pain." She shrugged, "No one has been outright mean to us."
"Someone will be in the future" He assured her.
She smiled, "I know, so I am saving all my sass for when that happens."
He was quiet for a moment, "Inuyasha requested to come see you. Would you like that?"
"Yes please!"
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Chapter 22
Kagome was standing with the other trainees waiting to be released when she saw a familiar fire rat. She tried to contain her glee, but a smile broke across her face as she watched him. He had his arms crossed and he was glaring at her, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
"You are dismissed." A trainer said to the group, and that's all it took for Kagome to break into a sprint.
She would have tackled him if he was human, but he was able to catch her quite easily.
"Damn it, wench!" He yelled, but his heart wasn't in it.
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Chapter 23
Her arms were wrapped around him tightly, but she moved one to pet his ears.
"I missed you," She said softly, knowing he would hear her.
"Keh" Was his answer, but his hug tightened. She finally let go and stood on her own feet.
"How are Sango and Miroku?" She asked.
"Fine, same as when you left." He said.
"But Sango must look bigger! She should be a bit over six months."
"She is as big as a house and hates it." He replied, and she pulled him along to go talk.
"I'm coming, I have to ask Masa somethin' first." He said before darting off.
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Chapter 24
Kagome watched Inuyasha and Masa talk, but she couldn't hear them. Inuyasha looked angry by Masa's responses, but nodded before walking back to her. She brought him along to the archery range.
"Why are we here?" He asked.
"My roommate is crazy, so I try only to go there when I have to." She said.
He scoffed, "If you say she is crazy, she must be fuckin' whack."
"Inuyasha, that is a mean thing to say." She chastised.
"You called her crazy first." He argued.
She smiled. She missed this familiar banter. Without warning, she hugged him again.
"Come on, woman!" He growled.
"I just missed you." She said softly, "I miss talking to someone who knows me."
"Don't the people here know you?" He asked.
"They know me, but not like you do."
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Chapter 25
"Please, come on. You have to give me details. How is the village? How is Shippo? How many times has Sango threatened to kill Miroku?"
"The runt is doing great. Learning lots of shit cause you aren't around to baby him anymore." He said, but Kagome knew he was teasing her, "Sango has threatened to kill Miroku about a hundred times this week." He grinned, "You haven't missed anything"
"Good. I like to think everyone's life is on hold when I am not there." That is when Kagome saw a couple of the people she trained with walking up out of the corner of her eye, "Oh shit." She growled.
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Chapter 26
"Now look here, the outcast makes friends with a fellow outcast." A yokai in front called to her. She forgot his name, but Jena was standing behind him looking haughty. There were a few humans thrown in the group as well.
"Leave us alone" Kagome growled.
"Bitch." He growled, pulling out his sword.
"I have seen you swing that thing so lets not be overly confident." Kagome said with a taunting grin.
"I'll still be able to kill you," He snapped
"Keh, as if you would make it two steps in her direction" Inuyasha growled, patting his sword.
"Filthy hanyou—" He started
"Is there a problem here?" Masa asked as he approached.
"No sir, we were just leaving." The rude yokai said before walking away. Jena sent her a glare before following.
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Chapter 27
"Nice friends." Inuyasha grumbled.
"I'm sorry, Yasha. I didn't know they would be like that."
"I'm used to it." He said with a brave face and a caustic tone. She didn't want him to be used to it. She hated that he was. She leaned into his side and put her head on his shoulder.
"I wouldn't change you." She said emotionally, "Not a thing."
"And I wouldn't change a thing about you." He whispered back, like he didn't want it known he could be nice sometimes, "Come back with me." He pleaded.
"I won't." She said, removing herself from him.
"Why?"
"I know this is what I am meant to do."
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Chapter 28
"The runt gave me this to give to you." He said, pulling out a piece of paper from his fire rat. She opened it up and found a beautiful drawing of her and Shippo together. Well, a beautiful drawing for how old he was. Her eyes filled with tears before she could help it, "Don't cry, wench"
"Sorry" She said with a helpless laugh, wiping the corners of her eyes, "I just miss him."
"Yeah, the runt misses you too." He said gruffly, patting her awkwardly, "Come on, let's see how much you are improving" He motioned to her practice sword.
"Alright, but I still have a long way to go." She defended herself.
"Pick up the sword" He demanded, and so she did.
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Chapter 29
She was glad Inuyasha had come, but saying goodbye to him was horrible. She thought her heart was going to fall out, but for some reason it stayed in her chest.
"Come on, you know you have to do this." He encouraged.
"I know."
"One more month of training and then you will be assigned. Then the real fun begins." He swore.
"Thank you for visiting me."
"You are welcome."
"When will I see you next?"
"I dunno. Sango's gunna have the baby comin' soon. And after that—" He sighed and she knew her eyes were watering, "You will get leave" He said with a grin, "You won't serve the bastard forever."
"Don't call him that here!" She hissed.
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Chapter 30
In the end, seeing Inuyasha had actually given her strength to bring herself together and be more confident. She found herself volunteering more in training to be an example, or helping out whenever possible. Though she still didn't really have any friends in her class, Takeo and Kyo looked after her.
And Jena was impossibly mad at her for being friends with a hanyou. As if being friends with one could make Jena turn into one. It was positively ridiculous. Jena had moved her bed as close to the edge of the tent as possible, like Kagome had hanyou germs. Whatever, it wasn't Kagome's problem.
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Chapter 31
"You're a demon lover." A human accused her as she sharpened her blade outside of the training area.
"Yup." Kagome said nonchalantly as she continued to sharpen with little regard to him.
"You don't care?" He asked, disgusted.
"Nope." She replied equally as uncaring.
"Demon lover!" Another human yelled, tossing food at her. She flinched as it landed on her face and she casually flipped it off of her. Sticky rice. Now her face was sticky. Gross.
A roar had the humans freezing.
"Get away if you know what is good for you." Takeo growled with brilliant red eyes.
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Chapter 32
Kagome relaxed as Takeo approached. The red eyes made the humans scream and run away, but she did not fear him. When he dropped down in front of her, his eyes still red, she did not flinch away. When he licked her face clean, she relaxed.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes back to their normal brown color.
"Yes." She said evenly.
"Why did you lie to them?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Demon lover is referring to one who has taken a demon in bed. I asked the demon slayer, you had not taken Inuyasha."
She was quiet, not sure of her response.
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Chapter 33
"It doesn't matter if I have never actually taken a demon lover." She decided not to point out that she had never taken a lover, "I would if I loved him. And I support all humans who take demon lovers—if they do so out of love." She shrugged, "Where I grew up, there wasn't this tension between one another."
"Then what do you argue about?" He asked, teasing.
She laughed, "You find other things to argue about." She confessed with a sad smile, "There is always something."
"Like what?"
"Usually wealth is an easy one." She said with a laugh, "Or gender"
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Chapter 34
"You should not speak such sentiments, Kagome. You will not be met with kind words."
"I don't do things to receive kind words." Kagome retorted with a frown, "I do things because I believe in them."
"But you could be hurt."
"I don't mind hurting for things I believe in."
"You must hurt very often."
"Often enough to be sick of it, not too often where I am exhausted." She said, but she knew her smile looked tired.
"Why do you fight?" His tone was exasperated, like just thinking it tired him.
"Because someone has to." She smiled at him brightly, "Did you clean off all the rice?" She asked.
"I did."
"Thank you." She said kindly.
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Chapter 35
Kagome stood at the archery range with the rest of the trainees. She watched as the same bastard who made fun of her, started to make fun of someone else. He was a male yokai this time. He used the same technique she did—ignore everything they said. He walked to get an arrow when a reiki filled arrow shot at him.
Kagome growled with him as it grazed his leg.
He fell to the ground in pain as on lookers laughed. Kagome ran up with the trainers.
"What have you done? You shot one of your brothers!" A trainer yelled.
"That is no brother!" The man yelled.
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Chapter 36
Kagome waited for a healer to approach, but when none did, she sprung into action. She had been a healer too long to do anything else. Sliding to a stop, she dropped down next to the male yokai.
"How are you feeling?" She asked him as she looked at his leg. The arrow had grazed his thigh.
"Do you know what you're doing, human?" He asked.
"I do." She said with a twinkle in her eye.
"Then you know I am yokai, so I will heal fast."
"Not with a reiki wound, let me help." She said
He nodded so she used her blade to tear up his pants a bit more to get at the wound. It was seeping blood.
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Chapter 37
"What is your name?" Kagome asked.
"Riku" He said, his voice betraying how much pain he was in.
The wound was bleeding too freely.
"Kagome?" Masa asked.
"I need a med kit, the one near by will do." She ordered him; it was by her side in seconds. As Kagome began working, she bit her lip. Even Inuyasha would have showed some clotting by now.
"What's wrong?" Masa asked.
"He isn't clotting." Kagome replied, "The arrow must have been poisoned" She growled.
"Is it lethal?"
"It is if we can't get this to stop bleeding." Kagome said, starting to put the steps together.
Riku was really not going to like it.
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Chapter 38
Kagome could vaguely hear a person yelling that they didn't know it would be this bad.
"Put the blade in the fire, and get me something he can bite down on." Kagome ordered Masa. She took water and cleaned out the wound as best as she could as she waited for Masa to get back, "And some liquor!" She yelled out.
"What are you going to do?" Riku asked.
"I'm going to have to cauterize the wound." She told him, "It won't be fun, but I promise you will have an excellent scar to tell the ladies."
"Kami, I hope so." He said with a laugh, despite the pain. Masa handed her a blade and a bottle of liquor. She opened it and poured some into his wound. Riku screamed in pain, his eyes flashing red.
"I'm helping." Kagome told the beast within, showing no fear.