Oh, I think I might have forgotten to mention, Tamashi no Uta is No Uta's OC! She's a good friend of mine, so I thought it would be fun if I added 'her' to my stories! Just in case you didn't know!


CH 8

Since that day, Kagome avoided Sesshomaru as much as possible, but unfortunately, that wasn't much, since she was his general and he her liege lord. They ate meals together and had to discuss battle tactics. And then there was the sparring.

From time to time, whenever their free times coincided, they usually fought each other. Kagome, though, had taken measures since their conversation in the garden to make sure that her free time was always during his busy hours. But she couldn't foresee everything.

When a war meeting was cancelled due to an attack on the border that called for several of the youkai who were scheduled to be in the meeting, Sesshomaru approached Kagome.

"General."

Kagome looked up from a map of the West and East she was looking at, dread filling her heart. She knew what he wanted. She normally enjoyed fighting him, but now it was just too awkward.

"Er, yes, my lord?"

"We have not trained together for quite some time. We should have a spar." He knew she was avoiding him, and he was sick of it. He had never realized how much the fights meant to him until they had stopped. His claws itched for someone worthy to fight.

She glanced at the map. "Um, Lord Sesshomaru, actually, I was—"

"General," Sesshomaru interrupted. "I demand a sparring session from you. I grow weary of paperwork, my fingers are stained with ink, the smell of which I detest, and I would like to cross blades with you."

Kagome gave up. "Yes, my lord." She always kept her katana with her, so she did not have an excuse to go to her rooms. She followed the taiyoukai to the training grounds, where some of the soldiers were drilling.

When the youkai saw the pair approaching, they hurriedly cleared the field. The fights between their General and Lord could get quite… intense. They had quite a reputation. Before long, a crowd of soldiers had gathered along the sidelines. They loved to watch the battles; they learned techniques, and let's admit it, everyone likes to see a fight.

Kagome and Sesshomaru walked to opposite sides of the field. Their eyes locked for the first time in days, blue and gold. She felt a dull pain in her chest at the depth of the citrine irises. And then she dismissed the pang. It was all over.

With a shout, Kagome slammed her foot down on the ground, focusing her powers as never before. She had read a phrase in an old scroll that had given her an idea for a new move. It required immense power and control.

"Ketsumatsu no shinseina-te!" Sacred hand of judgment

Her eyes screwed tightly shut, Kagome raised her right hand so that her forearm was directly perpendicular to the ground. She opened her hand wide, and focused all of her powers into the hand, yet not. There was an powerful tug in her gut, a huge sapping of her energy level. Her vision blurred for a second. She repeated the phrase in her head:

And so the miko passed a sacred hand of judgment over the youkai, purifying those with evil heart.

Sesshomaru was puzzled. What was his General doing? She had a look of immense concentration on her face. And then he felt it. A huge amount of reiki, forming… beneath his feet? He glanced down.

She was panting now. She fought to control her breath, and snarled, a purely animalistic sound, a sound of concentration.

The ground around Sesshomaru's feet erupted.

Five points of glowing pink energy emerged from the rubble and towered toward the sky, bringing up columns beneath them. He cast his gaze around, and as the columns rose, he realized that they were not columns, but fingers.

Kagome grimaced and contorted her hand. The huge hand of reiki mimicked every movement she made with her own. She raised her arm up a couple inches, and the sacred hand rose out of the earth a few more feet.

It had worked! It had actually worked! This was her first actual try, and it had worked. This was amazing… but tiring. Her reiki level was clanging down at an alarming rate. She had to end this fight as soon as possible. She could sense her soldiers' awe. Certainly, this had to be a spectacular display. How did he feel about all this?

Sesshomaru was impressed. He could tell this was a first try; if she had attempted to make this move beforehand, in a private training session, he would have sensed the large amount of reiki that it would have required. The General was full of tricks, and he was sure she had yet to reveal her ace. When she did, he would be ready to counter it. This was what he enjoyed so much about fighting Higurashi; every time she tried something new, and every time it got harder to force her into submission. But the harder it was, the sweeter the victory. He delighted in dominating his General. The stronger she was, the better it was when she submitted to him. There was no fun in weaklings submitting to him. It was when the strong bowed down to him that he truly enjoyed it.

White fangs glinting dangerously, Sesshomaru let his youki spill from his aura unrestrained. The hand of holy energy she was pressing down on him strained to close its fingers around him, but his youki pulsed against the pure pink palm.

Kagome scowled. She was trying to close her fist, but she couldn't. It was a very strange feeling. She knew perfectly well that there was nothing obstructing her from her goal, yet there was. In linking her actual hand to the hand of reiki, she had activated a bond between them. Gritting her teeth, Kagome tried harder, but she just couldn't. Her lord was simply too powerful.

Damn… I will win this battle, if only for my injured pride!

She drastically upped her level of reiki output. Her fingers got just a little bit closer together, and she allowed herself a strained smile. This workout was taking its toll on her. She was short on breath, and she was sweating in her military uniform.

Sesshomaru frowned as his youki was pushed in by the General's holy fist. I will not lose to her. I refuse to! He decided to end this particular struggle. He moved with inhuman speed, and slipped out through the fingers of holy energy. It closed into a tight fist, and Sesshomaru smirked. This fight was his.

Realizing the Sesshomaru had escaped her trap, Kagome extinguished her holy fist with some relief. With a growl, she saw him speeding directly for her. In an instant, her katana were drawn. She braced herself for an impact, and was lucky she did.

Sesshomaru's blade Tokijin collided with her crossed katana with such force that her braced feet were forced back several feet, leaving drag marks in the dirt. For a split second, their eyes met over their blades. An electric spark tingled down Kagome's spine, but she dismissed it and pushed herself away from the struggle, landing lightly on her feet. Sesshomaru sprang back and landed with perfect poise. He regarded her intently.

"Just where did you learn that trick, General? It is most impressive."

Kagome shrugged with false nonchalance. "Oh, just picked it up somewhere. But you really shouldn't be concerned about where I learned it… You should be more concerned about how I intend to use it!"

She slipped her katana back into their sheaths on her back, and in a reckless move, maneuvered both her hands into the position. Lips drawn back in a snarl, she summoned up her reiki again.

Sesshomaru wasn't about to be caught a second time. As the two hands exploded out of the earth, he leapt clear just as they clapped together.

Kagome was gasping for breath now. Ugh… I can't finish this quickly enough! She abandoned her sacred hands and drew her katana again. She raced toward Sesshomaru, blades held out at her side. Dammit, I won't let you win! Not this time! Not ever!

Sesshomaru let her come, Tokijin raised invitingly. When she drew close, he lashed out toward her, jagged volts of energy bursting out from his sword. Kagome barely put up a reiki shield in time It was feeble at best, the majority of her power having gone to fuel her sacred hands, and it flashed weakly as the bolts of youki collided with it.

No!

Kagome let it down and attacked Sesshomaru with her katana, trying to distract him from his youki. She probably couldn't withstand another energy attack.

Sesshomaru was very well aware of the General's condition. He knew her weakness, and he intended to exploit it.

As the three blades clashed together once more, he sent out a massive charge of youki along the length of Tokijin. The metal acted as an excellent conductor, and Kagome hissed in pain as she struggled to bring forth the energy to battle his. She gave up and sprang backwards, her sides heaving. She had a very bad feeling that she was going to lose. Again.

Sesshomaru was now certain of his victory. To be truthful, his reservoir of youki was running rather low as well. He had expended a lot of it as he battled the sacred hand. But low as it was, he still had more than the General.

Much, much more.

Kagome snarled and stretched out her hand toward Sesshomaru. Flying from her palm came a flock of small, graceful birds, composed of pure reiki.

He slashed Tokijin down in a long arc, and watched in satisfaction as the jagged bolts of energy flashed toward Higurashi. They ripped through her birds, and they shattered into tiny bits of reiki. His youki continued toward her. In her weakness, she could only stop the first couple of bolts, and succumbed to his youki.

Kagome fought back a cry of pain as his youki wrapped around her, sending spikes of pain through her body.

I won't be weak. I won't!

She saw, through narrowed eyes, a blur of white growing rapidly larger. Have…to get…away… She stumbled back, but he brought her crashing to the ground, her face crushed into the dirt. She couldn't breathe.

Sesshomaru leaned in close, his breath tickling her ear. "Submit, General. You fought well, but I won in the end. As I always will."

"Screw off," snarled Kagome through a mouthful of earth. "I won't submit!" She bucked weakly, trying to dislodge him, but failed miserably.

He smirked and dragged her up. He grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back in the most painful manner he knew. She gasped in pain and arched her back, trying to relieve the tension, but he forced her to be still. If she made the slightest movement, agony would lance up her arms.

Kagome glared at the ground. It always ended like this. Always. Without fail, each and every one of their training sessions came to a close with Sesshomaru forcing her into a painful position, demanding her to submit. She held her tongue, pushing down the pain the best she could.

Sesshomaru increased the pressure on her arms, knowing her pain would increase drastically. "Submit," he whispered. His blood was pounding, and his excitement level was skyrocketing up.

Kagome shut her eyes. The agony was excruciating. Damn Sesshomaru, he knew how to inflict pain. It was getting more and more intense by the second. Her arms felt like they were being wrenched out of their sockets. Technically, they were. She gritted her teeth.

"I...submit…" she ground out, face burning with anger and humiliation. He released her abruptly, sending her crashing to the dirt.

His smirk in danger of growing into a full-on smile, Sesshomaru said smoothly, "I accept your submission."

He turned on his heel and moved fluidly away from the training field. Damn, that had felt good. He did not look forward to the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

Kagome slowly picked herself up, feeling the sympathetic gazes of the soldiers on her body. "What are you waiting for?" she yelled. "Get back to your posts!" Face on fire, she stomped off to another section of the training field to hack at a couple of innocent dummies.