Chapter Two

Kagome had been walking towards the South for the past five days. Kaede-sama had told her that a powerful miko lived near the Southern boarders and may be able to help her wield her full powers. Kagome was not used to traveling alone in the feudal era, yet she seemed to have managed five days. Sango and Miroku had left to rebuild the taijiya clan and sent Shippou to help them. Inuyasha had left to find another village because he was constantly reminded of Kikyou if he stayed. With all her friends gone to start their new lives, Kagome was able to leave without telling her friends; all except Kaede-sama. Kagome's eyes wandered towards the floor with her shoulders slightly slumping down. Loneliness began to seep into her heart as she continued to walk towards the South.

SMACK

"Ouch!" Kagome cried as she walked smack into a branch; breaking her out of her thoughts. Rubbing the area around her nose, she felt something wet and sticky. Looking down at her hand, she saw blood.

"I got a nosebleed from a branch!?" She uttered disbelievingly. Smearing her hands under her nose, she tried to prevent the bleeding that could capture a demon's attention. However, Kagome felt no blood coming out from beneath her nose. Furrowing her brows she studied the branch she walked into. There she saw the branch splattered with blood. Curiosity filled her, making her follow the trail of blood that became visible to the eye.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Kagome" She muttered to herself in warning to ignore the blood. There was always a chance that the blood would lead her to danger. And she couldn't die before defeating Neikan. Still, Kagome found her curiosity leading her closer to the next patch of blood.

As the patches of blood became puddles, Kagome finally reached a clearing in the forest where the owner of the blood leaned against a tree. Scanning the owner of the blood, Kagome noticed it was a demon. The demon had black hair that was pulled up into a high pony tail. Along his cheekbones were magenta stripes, reminding her of Inuyasha's full demon markings. Under the left closed eye was a magenta full and crescent moon. The demon wore a silk black haori with violet patterns along the outer haori. What interested Kagome the most and caused her to move closer to the demon was the armor. Similar to the armor she had studied about in the medieval era, the demon wore steel armor that covered the torso. The steel armor was connected to the steel glove that reached the right shoulder to the fingertips.

'Western armor in Japan?' Kagome thought to herself. It wasn't until a sharp black knife was placed against her neck did she realize how close she had gotten to the demon.

'Grreeat, Kagome. I told you curiosity always, always kills the cat!' She lectured to herself, realizing the threat against her neck.

"Miko, what business do you have here?" said a voice that hasn't been used for a while. Kagome stared into the demon's silver eyes that held suspicion and threat.

"I saw blood, so I thought-" Kagome began to explain in hopes that the demon could be reasoned with.

"So you decided to kill a weakened demon?" snorted the demon in disgust.

"No-" Kagome began to exclaim only to be once again cut off.

"You picked the wrong prey, miko. I am not as weak as you think to be killed off by a human" the demon began to growl while pressing the black knife harder against Kagome's neck drawing blood.

Angered by the rude demon's behavior, Kagome forgot the weapon that could easily slice open her neck and began to yell "IF you would let me SPEAK, I would have told you that I was WORRIED about your WOUND. BUT, since you are acting all HIGH and MIGHTY, I'll just let you LICK your OWN WOUND!" With a huff, Kagome blew away her bangs.

A loud laugh resounded the clearing.

"Why are you laughing?" Kagome asked in annoyance. The demon continued to laugh, but soon ended with a cough and a painful groan.

"See, you are hurt. Let me heal them." Kagome huffed in annoyance to cover the worry that began to fill her at the amount of blood spilling out.

The demon finally ceased chuckling. "I have never seen a miko help a demon" the demon confessed, while looking over Kagome's weird attire.

"In fact, I have never seen any creature to lecture when their life is being threatened" He muttered quiet enough for Kagome not to hear.

"Well, you can say I'm not from around here, so I don't know about other miko's, but I befriend humans, hanyous, and demons." Kagome stated while missing her friends.

The demon narrowed his eyes in disbelief. But, after sensing no lies in her aura, the demon couldn't help but smile.

"Interesting, where are you from then?" the demon asked.

Kagome began to pull out her first aid kit while responding, "Tokyo."

"Hmmmm"

Kagome saw the demon hide his confusion at her response with a thoughtful expression as if knowing the place. She couldn't help but silently giggle to herself at this.

"I'm going to apply something that smells really bad and will sting a lot" Kagome warned the demon before opening the bottle of alcohol. Looking towards the demon she saw him huff at the thought of something hurting him. Opening the bottle Kagome applied the alcohol onto the biggest wound on the demon's side rib.

A loud growl erupted from the demon.

Kagome smirked and said, "I told you so."

The demon turned his head away from Kagome and began to mutter curses on human kind.

"So, where did you get the wounds?" Kagome voiced the question that continued to bother since the beginning. She felt the demon tense at her question. "You don't have to tell me-"

"An unknown creature attacked my home" Kagome heard the demon voice with the slightest hint of pain. From the years of traveling in search for the Shikon shards, Kagome knew demon attacks were frequent. Yet, every time she encountered a village destroyed caused her heart to sink. Unconsciously, Kagome's expression looked pained.

"Why...why do you look sad?" the demon questioned in confusion at Kagome's change of expression. Kagome paused the process of wrapping the demon's wounds and stared straight into his silver eyes.

"Because you went through a painful experience" Kagome said sincerely. While Kagome continued to wrap the wounds, the demon's gaze followed her movements. Kagome's answer confused the demon even more. So used to receiving either pity or fake sympathy, the demon didn't know how to respond to warm and caring words. The demon remained in silent confusion, even as Kagome packed her first aid into her black bag.

"You will probably need to rest here for a few days" Kagome said.

"A day will be enough" the demon responded.

"Ah, right, you are a full demon. That's good" Kagome said in relief, "I'll stay with you until you are fully recovered then."

An expression of surprise flashed across the demon's face, but Kagome had not seen it for she was busy erecting a barrier. Pulling out a sleeping bag, Kagome offered it to the demon.

The demon snorted this time in disbelief, "You're underestimating me again?"

"Right, right, you're a demon. Blah Blah you don't need warmth" Kagome said to herself, reminding her of how Inuyasha hated looking weak. Kagome tucked herself into her warm sleeping bag and quickly dozed off into a deep sleep.

"Strange" the demon said, while studying the miko who was either naïve or stupid to make herself so vulnerable in front of a demon she had just met. But somehow, this had only made the demon admire the miko even more.

-Next Morning-

As the sunlight shined brightly and the sound of birds chirping rang, Kagome began to wake up. Opening her eyes she found the demon she healed gone from the clearing. Kagome didn't know if it was because the demon reminded her of Inuyasha or because she had been without company for so long, but she felt comfortable around the demon she had just met. She couldn't help but feel disappointed by the demon's disappearance. Slightly furrowing her brows, Kagome got up from the sleeping bag and began packing.

THUD

Looking towards the sound, Kagome saw the demon standing before four dead rabbits. With a smile of relief, Kagome said, "You're still here."

The demon held a confused expression that quickly turned into a cold stare.

"Were you expecting a reward? What do you wish for?" the demon stated coldly.

Kagome was getting really angry at the demon that kept misunderstanding her.

"Okay, I'll tell you what I wish for" Kagome said trying to control the anger that bubbled through her throat. As she saw the demon narrow his eyes further, she released her wrath.

"I WISH for YOU to STOP thinking that I WANT something from you! I don't want anything! YOU STUPID demon! Why do you KEEP thinking that I'm some kind of greedy, evil, sneaky MIKO!? I just want to heal a person that got hurt and move on with my journey! So can you STOP accusing me to be some kind of scheming person!? GEEZ, and I thought you were comfortable to be around with. You are SO ANNOYING!" Kagome's faced turned red by the time she vented her anger towards a speechless demon. Ignoring the dazed demon Kagome stomped over to the dead rabbits and began to skin them.

After a few minutes, the demon snapped out of his daze and turned towards Kagome who had her back towards him. The demon knew that this miko was different than any other. She was truly admirable.

"I apologize. I promise not to accuse you of anything else before allowing you to explain." The demon said in a polite and gentle voice.

Shocked that such a gentle voice came from the demon, she turned around towards the demon. Kagome sensed that his words were sincere and sent him a wide smile.

Sending back a small smile towards Kagome, the demon said "Please call me Takashi. I hope to at least escort you to the destination you have in mind."

"I'm Kagome. It would be great to finally have company, Takashi" Kagome voiced with excitement. "I'm actually looking for a miko to help me wield my powers. A friend of mine suggested going South to where a powerful miko lives."

"Ah, I know who you speak of. We shouldn't be far from her actually." Takashi stated.

After eating and packing up, both the demon and miko walked for a few hours before Takashi stated they were near the miko's hut. From a distance, Kagome saw a small cozy hut up on a hill. Finally at the hut, Kagome knocked on the door. As the door to the hut opened revealed an old lady dressed in a miko garb.

"Um, I was sent here on the advice that you could help me wield my miko powers?" Kagome said nervously as the old lady seemed to look straight through her soul.

"A miko and a demon side-by-side? Unheard of" The old lady muttered, while glaring at Takashi.

"Shocked me too" Takashi muttered jokingly at Kagome. With a smirk Kagome lightly shoved her arm against Takashi's left shoulder and stuck out her tongue.

"I can sense your miko powers are great, little one," The old lady stated staring straight into Kagome's eyes, "But I have nothing to teach you." Kagome saw the old lady about the slam the door shut.

"Wait," Kagome exclaimed as she reached to hold the door open, "What do you mean you can't teach me anything!?" Kagome began to worry that if this miko couldn't teach her then how was she supposed to learn?

"You know the basics of how to harness your powers, correct?" The old lady voiced harshly.

"Well, yes…" Kagome answered with confusion.

"Your powers will appear when the desire to protect others is strong" The old lady answered honestly.

"But-" before Kagome could further question the old lady, Takashi had pulled her away using demon speed. Within a split second later, the old lady's house exploded. Kagome glanced past Takashi's hold and saw the old lady's house in pieces and no evidence of the old lady's body. Kagome stared in shock at the burnt remains of the house with confusion at what had just occurred.

"Ah, no fun" Kagome heard a deep voice say dripping with boredom. "I thought the last powerful miko would be more of a challenge. Now there is no miko to seal me again."

Looking towards the person that caused this, she saw a treacherous looking creature. The figure was dressed in all black with a hood that created a shadow on its face. Kagome saw that the figure wore a mask that covered the upper part of the face. The only feature visible of the face was the lips that stretched wide across. As the black figure smirked at its destruction, Kagome saw sharply shaped teeth.

"You," Kagome heard Takashi sneer in disgust towards the black figure. The black figure slowly turned its head towards Takashi.

"Oh, the runaway inu" the black figure stated with indifference.

A growl erupted from Takashi before Kagome saw him attack the black figure using a black sword that appeared from a mist formed by his right hand. The black figure swiftly blocked the attack with a left wrist reaper and used his right wrist reaper to tear at Takashi's wound that Kagome had just healed.

"Neikan's power is similar to the 'grim reaper'"

Staring at the black figure that held similar features as the grim reaper, Kagome stood paralyzed at the realization of the enemy she had to defeat. Fear began to creep into her heart as she helplessly witnessed Takashi being easily cut by the wrist reapers.

Slice

A deep wound began to bleed through Takashi's left arm that was not armored

Cut

Another wound seeped through the ripped haori on his leg

Drip

Takashi's blood began to form into a large puddle

Fear trembled through Kagome's veins.

Kagome couldn't move an inch while witnessing the fight.

He was too powerful.

Midoriko was wrong.

Kagome couldn't defeat him.

Thud

Kagome refocused her gaze at the scene before her. Takashi was kneeling on one knee in his own pile of blood now. The black figure was not even sweating or tired.

It was only smirking.

No, don't smirk

The figure raised its wrist reaper high above the air for the final blow

No, don't cause any deaths

"No fun, runaway inu" the black figure said with glee

"The desire to protect others will make your powers appear"

"You must defeat Neikan."

'I will not run away. I won't let Takashi die!' Kagome promised herself.

Kagome spat out the name of her enemy, "Neikan…"

The black figure pause its final blow and slowly lifted its masked face to stare at Kagome.

Turning its head to tilt to the side, it assessed Kagome.

"I will NOT allow you to hurt ANYONE!" Kagome yelled with determination burning.

"Ah, a miko?" Neikan whispered in a sick delight, "Your next." Looking towards Takashi, Neikan said, "First goes the runaway inu."

Kagome saw that Neikan had raised its wrist reaper once again to kill Takashi, who was on the verge of unconsciousness. A rush of urgency flowed through Kagome's body at the realization of what Neikan was about to do. She was the cause of Neikan to become unsealed. She would not stand still and watch Takashi who had become a dear friend be killed by her mistake.

As Kagome ran towards Neikan and try to stop him, she saw Neikan swing his reaper. She knew it was impossible to reach Takashi in time to stop the final blow for she was too far. Kagome had been so used to her friends always there to help her. Yet, it was because she was so weak that would now cause Takashi to die.

"NO!" Kagome screamed in agony at the thought of failing to protect someone precious to her.

Kagome's blood boiled in anger at her weakness,

Sorrow at the pain Takashi was going through,

And regret for wishing upon the Shikon no Tama.

Suddenly, Kagome felt an electric sensation course from her chest down to her hands. A burst of power exploded the clearing, causing a bright light and dust to fill her vision. Blinking her eyes open, Kagome was surprised to see Takashi looking back at her with the same amount of surprise and Neikan covered in burns with parts of his clothes torn off. Kagome couldn't tell what Neikan was thinking as he looked at the burn marks along his arm. Turning his masked face to stare at her, he stood up.

"You…are the miko" Neikan stated with a growing smirk, "This will be fun." Within seconds, Neikan disappeared from the clearing.

Kagome breathed out in relief that Neikan was gone. Running towards Takashi she checked for any wounds, but she saw them all healed.

"What happened to your wounds?" Kagome asked. Staring at Takashi she finally saw that he was looking at her with awe.

"What?" Kagome questioned with confusion written across her face.

"What? That's all you ask? What!? Did you see what you just did?" Takashi began to yell in both excitement and amazement. "Your blast of power not only saved me, but healed all my wounds!"

"Oh… now I just need to know how to do that again" Kagome muttered to herself, while tapping her finger against her chin. Suddenly, Kagome felt a large aura of demons coming fast towards their direction. Before Kagome could call out to Takashi, she saw herself surrounded by demons wearing soldier uniforms and swords pointed towards her.

"Lower your swords" Kagome heard Takashi's voice boom with authority. Rolling her eyes, Kagome said with sarcasm, "If only a command works on every attacking demon, Takashi." However, to Kagome's surprise the swords that were pointed at her were at once lowered. Takashi began chuckling at Kagome's confused expression.

"My Lord, forgive us from taking so long to find you. It wasn't until we felt an immense power along with the scent of your blood" Said one of the soldiers that wore a uniform that looked more expensive compared to the others.

"That's fine, General." Takashi stated in assurance.

"Lord? General? What is going on Takashi?" Kagome interrupted with her brows furrowed in confusion.

"That's Lord Takashi, human" Kagome heard the General sneer in disgust. About to give the General a piece of her mind, Kagome placed her hands on her hips.

"She has every right to call me by name, General. She is a… friend" Takashi said cutting Kagome's rant off. Kagome's anger evaporated and turned to Takashi with a warm smile for being considered his friend.

Looking towards Kagome, he asked, "I thought you would recognize that I was Lord of the South by my marking's Kagome."

"….You are…the Lord…of the Southern…Lands?" Kagome said painfully slow to grasp who she was standing before. Trying to keep her mouth from gaping open in shock, Kagome remained silent. Remembering all the rude things she said to Lord Takashi made her squeeze her eyes shut hoping it was all a dream.

A soft chuckle made Kagome peak open one eye once again. "You really didn't know?" Takashi asked her.

"I wouldn't have been screaming and venting my anger at you then, would I?" Kagome muttered in regret as she looked down.

Takashi was amazed at Kagome's kind heart. She not only healed and saved him; she did it without knowing his status as Lord.

"Admirable," Takashi finally confessed to Kagome with a small smile "I hope we can continue to remain the same."

With a look of disbelief, Kagome unconsciously nodded her head in acceptance.

Takashi returned his attention towards the General and nodded, indicating for updated information. The General noticed the signal and snapped out of the shock of what he had seen between his Lord and the miko.

"The castle has taken refuge in the West. Regrettably, the only soldiers able to fight at the moment are the ones here. Your sister is currently being healed by the best healers in the Western Castle. And, as you know the Lord and Lady of the South…has passed away" The General finished lowering his head in respect.

A gasp slipped through Kagome's voice as she quickly looked towards Takashi in worry. Though Takashi's hardened expression remained without a flinch, Kagome knew Takashi must be suffering the most from the news.

"We shall head to the West then" Takashi commanded. Turning towards Kagome he asked, "Will you be an ally against the enemies of the South and West?"

"Neika- I mean the figure we just fought was…the one who destroyed your home?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"Yes" Takashi replied.

"So he was the one who caused your wounds when I found you" Kagome stated trying to connect the dots.

Takashi nodded.

Dread filled Kagome's heart. She couldn't believe Neikan had already destroyed an entire castle after being unsealed a few days. She had to defeat him soon before causing more deaths.

"I am your faithful ally and friend, Takashi" Kagome said with absolute truth. She then continued with a growl "And I'll make sure we defeat the enemy for calling you a 'runaway'" Kagome knew Takashi would never run away from his home when it was under attack. Kagome was so deep in thought that she had not seen Takashi's eyes soften towards her.

"To the Western Castle then" Takashi called out orders to the soldiers, while wrapping an arm around Kagome's waist and hoisted onto a black cloud.

'Western Castle….I'm sure I heard of that place before' Kagome thought.

'The Western Castle….Lord of the West…wait…Sesshomaru is the Lord of the Western Lands!' Kagome's face paled white.

What did she get herself into?

Meaning behind Japanese Names

Neikan- "treacherous", "wicked"

Takashi- "noble", "feared", "highly praised"

Thank you for reading,

Your reviews are cherished.