Disclaimer: All characters from Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Checkmate

"What's this one do?" asked Shippo. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and grunted. The kit was awfully full of questions today. It took all of his self control to not hop down and bop the little pest on the head.

Kagome smiled warmly as she was placing the pieces on the board. "That's the Bishop. You can tell by his pointy hat."

"Is that like a monk? Like Miroku?"

"Errr…." she hesitated, "Both are holy men I suppose…"

Shippo peered at the chess piece closely. "It doesn't look like Miroku."

"Maybe if it had a hand permanently attached to another pieces a…"

"INUYASHA!" Kagome scolded. The fire in her eyes promised a long series of painful s-i-t-s if the dog demon dared to finish that sentence.

"Keh," he said rudely from his perch in the tree.

"He's right though," said Sango as she whacked the monk soundly over the head.

Even though Miroku had yet to do something perverted that evening … at least since she last smacked him… he obviously decided not to complain about the unfairness of her attack. Inuyasha suspected that he was happy with any contact the slayer gave him, though he'd never say that out loud. Besides the fact that the demon slayer could be very scary when crossed, he was sure that Kagome would agree with his assessment and they would spend the next week or two dissecting the relationship between Miroku and Sango.

And the last thing he wanted to do was discuss relationships. Usually it was interesting to hear Kagome talk about their two friends being in love but not knowing how to show it. Often she said things that hit too close to home. Sometimes he got the feeling that when they were talking about relationships that they weren't really talking about Sango and Miroku, or even her brother and his girlfriend.

But not tonight. Tonight was too close to the new moon, and that meant being human. And THAT meant that his stupid sissy emotional human side was getting stronger and would be tempted to actually discuss THEIR relationship if it was too fresh in his mind. Inuyasha wasn't quite ready for that just yet.

"I'm so misunderstood," Miroku mumbled.

"No. We understand you just fine, you lecher," Sango said as she went back to polishing her weapon. Kirara meowed her agreement and the rest of the group nodded.

Shippo put his finger on top of the Bishop and tilted him back and forth a bit, drawing attention back to himself. "How does the bishop move?"

Inuyasha watched as Kagome took the other bishop and ran it across the board. "It moves diagonally. See? And remember that if it has been placed on a red square originally, then it can only move along the red squares in a straight line. Same with black. And they can go as many spaces as you like across the board as long as there isn't another piece in the way. If it lands on an opponent's piece it captures it."

A good question would be why Kagome was explaining how chess pieces move to a fox in the Feudal Ages. Quite simple really. Last week she had been talking about a local chess competition that her younger brother was thinking of entering. Miroku had expressed interest in learning the game. So naturally Kagome had to go and find a travel set that she could bring with her. She had been explaining the rules to Miroku, but Shippo had been just as interested in the chess pieces. Inuyasha couldn't help but pay attention to the conversation. It wasn't that he was interested, but she was so loud how could you do anything BUT listen?

"And the horse?"

"That's the Knight, Shippo."

"But it's a horse's head, not a knight's head."

"Yes I know, but it is just supposed to represent the knight's horse. Do you remember how the knight moves?"

Shippo proudly grinned. "Yes! It moves two spaces forward and one space to the side."

"Stupid. It can also move two sideways and one forward." Inuyasha almost cringed once the words were out of his mouth. He peeked through the corner of his eyes to see Kagome's eyes focused on him. He watched as her mouth turned from a surprised O to a smile, then to an outright grin. She isn't angry? Though he wasn't sure what made her so happy, he was just grateful not to be sat right out of the tree.

"Inuyasha is right, the knight has two ways of moving, but both start out two spaces then one. Even though it's not polite to call people names when correcting them."

Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, who gave the kit a threatening glare and a gesture that promised death once Kagome's head was turned away. The kit let out a squeal and turned his attention back to the chessboard.

"What is the castle thing called again?"

Kagome giggled as she set the last piece in place. She waved Miroku over to sit on his side of the chessboard. "It's called the Castle. Though some people also call it the Rook. It has two names. And how does the Castle move?"

"Sideways?"

"…and…?"

Shippo tapped his chin thoughtfully. Inuyasha was getting fed up with the brat. He knew the kit knew what the pieces did, he was just trying to hog all of Kagome's attention by pretending to be stupid and cutesy.

"UP AND DOWN!" he yelled.

Again he was surprised when Kagome gave him a heart stopping smile instead of punishing him for yelling at the kit. Even Shippo seemed a bit surprised.

"Yes, the Castle goes horizontal and vertical."

Inuyasha watched as Kagome finished setting up the chessboard and nodded to Miroku to begin. He noticed that Shippo's questions about the pieces seemed to die down after Kagome's second smile to the dog demon. He also noticed that she kept stealing glances at him and grinning to herself. What did I do to make her so happy?

From the tree up above, golden eyes watched the pieces move across the board. Inuyasha hated to admit it, but the monk was quick to pick up the game. Miroku was even beginning to think up strategies to conquer Kagome. It was irritating listening to them play. Kagome would gasp when one of her pieces were taken off the board. But she always smiled and congratulated the conniving monk (who the idiot must not have noticed was trying to defeat her) on a good move. What was most bothersome was just how HARD the monk was working to defeat her.

"It's getting late," Inuyasha complained grouchily.

"I almost have her."

Inuyasha growled. "What?"

Miroku looked up with a wicked grin on his face. "My Queen, Bishop, and Knight are cornering Kagome's King. She'll be mine in only a few moves."

He doesn't mean it like that. He means the game. He wants Sango, not Kagome. He is a dead man. Before Inuyasha could slice the monk in half, Sango suggested that perhaps Miroku rephrase his statement, which he quickly amended.

"Why is the King so important?" asks a tired looking Shippo.

"Hmm?" Kagome looked up from the board. "Well, without the King the game is over. It may have fewer moves than the other pieces, but the whole point of the game is to protect the King."

Shippo grunted. "That's stupid. We should be protecting the Queen. The Queen is the most powerful after all. It should be the most important piece."

Miroku moved his Queen and put Kagome's King into check. She turned her attention back to the board. Inuyasha could see her eyes flitting about the board, looking for possibilities. She was nibbling on her bottom lip as she concentrated.

"The stronger one is supposed to protect. It doesn't need protection."

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Kagome's eyes moved from her King to him. Her head tilted a bit to the side and seemed to be studying him. Once again the miko was looking at him in a way that made him feel confused.

"The weak pieces are disposable," Miroku said as he gestured to the pieces of Kagome's laying off to the side of the board. "It makes more sense to place priority on the strong."

Inuyasha's eyes glowed amber and narrowed dangerously. He had to remind himself that the monk wasn't talking about Kagome being disposable. His claws dug deep gashes into the bark of the tree as he attempted to keep his temper.

"It just seems silly that all these stronger pieces have to work so hard to keep the King alive when it does so little. So far it looks like all it does is run and hide, letting the other pieces do all the fighting and take all the damage while it stays safely tucked away. Perhaps we could change the rules," suggested Sango.

"Yes," agreed Miroku. "We should make protecting one of the stronger pieces the object. Perhaps the Castle or the Bishop. We could just use the King like one of the Pawns, or even take it out of the game altogether."

"THERE IS NO POINT WITHOUT HER!" snarled Inuyasha.

Miroku turned to the dog demon. "You mean the Queen?"

"Keh, don't be stupid. I meant the King."

"You said 'her', not 'him', Inuyasha."

"Feh."

Miroku opened his mouth to make another comment when Kagome made her move with a flourish. Inuyasha was grateful that she took everyone's attention off of the little slip he made. The monk studied the board. With a grin he used his Bishop to sweep away Kagome's last Knight. Inuyasha was a little taken aback to hear the miko humming a happy tune under her breath with her eyes downcast.

Curious, Inuyasha hopped down from the branch and sat back on his heels to study the board as well. His ears twitched back and forth, listening to Kagome's faint humming and Miroku's not so subtle chuckling. The monk was certain that he was going to win.

Then Inuyasha noticed something important about the placement of the pieces. His eyes went from Miroku's King to Kagome's eyes. They were still downcast, but he could definitely make out that her lips were trying not to smile. Briefly she looked up, and he could see her eyes twinkling. He tried not the smile in return. He didn't want to give anything away. But he had the strangest feeling that she knew he knew what she was planning and it made her strangely happy. It gave him a funny feeling to know that they just had a shared conversation with no words. Not unpleasant though…

She moved her last pawn to the end of the board and asked for her Queen, the one Miroku had stolen from her several moves back. Inuyasha had expected questions from the curious little fox demon about how she was able to trade in a Pawn for the coveted Queen, but one glance towards the campfire let him know that he was already fast asleep on Kagome's sleeping bag.

Miroku's smile faded as he handed her the piece. His eyes moved from the Queen's placement to the locations of the other pieces on the board. Inuyasha was amused beyond words. He sat back and watched as Miroku began to panic.

"Bet you were wishing you had been paying more attention to protecting your King and less time attacking Kagome."

"Checkmate," the miko smiled sweetly.

"No," Miroku took his King and tried out several moves, but each was no use. "How is that possible?"

Inuyasha picked up the pawn that Kagome had used to get her Queen back on the board and tossed it up in the air, catching it in midair. "Maybe these 'disposable' and 'weak' pieces are more important than you think, monk."

Hopping back up into the tree Inuyasha watched as Miroku complained about his loss and went to Sango for comfort. Unfortunately for him the woman was already asleep with the fire cat curled up beside her. Then he watched as Kagome picked up the pieces and put them back neatly in the chessboard and folded it in half. It was interesting the way that the board was put together. When it was open it was a board, but when it was closed, it was a box that held the pieces. Kagome tucked it back into her backpack and got ready for bed.

"Good night, Inuyasha," she whispered. He grunted in reply.

He watched her as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. He watched until the fire had begun to burn itself out, leaving glowing embers that she sometimes says reminds her of his eyes. She may not be the most powerful one, but she will be protected at all costs.

After all, there really was no point without her.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Notes:

I have a fun time writing this particular story. Thanks for the reviews!

Rules for Chess:

Sooooo many rules for chess. I started writing them down then realized I'd be writing pages and pages of rules and still probably miss some. Basically, each piece has its own unique movements, and the goal is to protect the King. If you are sincerely interested in more rules, you can check out the rules online. There are several good sites online.