Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. All rights are reserved for Rumiko Takahashi.

The mutt was digging his grave again. He let out a low growl of warning before he advanced to stand in front of Kagome. "Foolish little brother... I let you off the first time, but today you wont be so lucky."

"Whatever you jerk, just get away from Kagome!" He shouted as he placed a hand on his sword.

"Dishonorable half breed, I shall remind you of your place," he let the anger fill his voice as he spoke. He was about to attack when he felt someone's hand touch his shoulder. He turned in surprise to look down at the saddened miko behind him. "You cannot interfere this time. Never go back on your word."

"I wasn't going to." Honestly and trust shown in her eyes. "I was just going to tell you to be careful..."

"Your words are unnecessary, but welcomed. I wont be taken down by a filthy half breed as such," he said before turning to his opponent.

"Get ready to eat dirt, Sesshomaru, because you're going down!" Inuyasha had his sword drawn and was charging at him.

Their swords clashed and he clearly had the upper hand when it came to fighting Inuyasha. He now had a free hand to attack Inuyasha while their swords met. And he did exactly that. While Inuyasha was in close range, he reached beyond the swords and grabbed a fist full of his shirt and threw him back across the room where he entered.

"I see you got your arm back again." He grunted as he stood. "That's good 'cause I'm about to rip both of them clean off." He smirked and readied his tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha questioning whether or not he was really so stupid as to use the wind scar in his direction. Apparently so, Inuyasha let the wind scar rip a path through his sparring chamber. He was about to jump out of the way when he remembered Kagome was only a few feet behind him and would surely get hit by the wind scar.

He was upon her within seconds and, having already sheathed his sword, lifted her into his arms. He then moved her out of the way of the attack which, as it died down, revealed that it would have hit exactly where Kagome had been standing.

"You would aim the wind scar at me without considering the safety of your friend?" He made it a point to call her friend.

"Not like you wouldn't have saved her anyway," he retorted as he advanced towards them.

"This wont take long," he informed the girl in his arms as he set her lightly on her feet. He glared at Inuyasha as he unsheathed his sword once more. "Dragon strike." He kept his voice void of emotion as his attack raced towards his half brother.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku and Sango rushed to the wounded half demon's side. He was unconscious and bloody with a glazed over look in his eyes as he laid on the ground.

"He'll live..." He gave Kagome a sidelong glance and noticed she was just starring at Inuyasha. "Though I'm not sure I want him alive here."

"You can send him away. This is your castle after all," her voice was low and somber which was out of character for her.

"He can stay in the servants quarters until our business with Naraku."

I can't say my mood lightened much by the fact that Inuyasha was staying, it was more like the fact that Sesshomaru would allow it that was really something. I smiled halfheartedly at him as he came to stand in front of me. I reached up with both hands to cup his face. He placed a hand over mine and closed his eyes for a second. It looked like he was trying to calm down.

I stepped forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. He snapped his eyes open as the want returned to his eyes. His lips met mine again in a passionate and insanely amazing kiss. My hands were laced in his hair as we pulled each other closer. I broke away when I heard someone clear their throat. Apparently they had a death wish, because all that calm Sesshomaru had been collecting just dried up into annoyance.

"So the rumors were true Lady Kagome?" Miroku inquired with a sinful smile on his lips.

"K-Kagome?" Sango searched my eyes for answers.

"Take him to Suina, she'll take care of his wounds," Sesshomaru addressed the shocked group. "If you will excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

I sighed inwardly at his departure. I was hoping to spend more time with him, especially after a kiss like that. He had taken my friends with him to fond Suina, leaving me in the sparring room with a bunch of sweating demons. I decided to practice a little more on my fighting moves. I started with my punches and later moved one to kicking the air like I was fighting someone. I also did a few sit ups and push ups here and there. I kept this up for at least three hours to try and make myself stronger.

I was in the middle of doing another set of push ups when someone kicked me in the side, causing me to roll over in pain. I looked up to see the identity of my enemy and was shocked to find a familiar demon standing before me. I hadn't noticed before, but this person's hair was a wavy natural red color and they also had brilliant green eyes to match. Green eyes that now glared at me with disapproval mixed into her scowl. "Suina?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes, you little ingrate of a human. Now get up so I can kill you quickly. My lord shall be vexed by you no longer," she seethed.

"Vexed huh? You sure it wasn't just my wit and charm?" I asked while dodging another powerful kick.

She kept coming at me with fast attacks, but luckily slower than Sesshomaru's had been. A crowd of his soldiers appeared around the third fight of the day figuring it was merely practice. It was great practice sure until her hits started to draw blood. I really had little chance in winning this fight without weapons. Nevertheless I wasn't going to back down. I punched her in the face once or twice before she could place five identical scratches on my right cheek.

I could feel the blood dripping slowly down my cheek as our fight continued. I already knew this wasn't going to turn out well for me because I'd already used up most of my energy for the day. She came at me again and the last thing I saw before I hit the hard floor was a dark silhouette moving towards me and then my eyes closed.

He'd gotten there just in time to stop Suina, one of his main servants, from killing Kagome. He threw the demon woman across the room in one easy move before he rushed over to the bleeding miko on the floor. He watched her eyes close as he approached and noticed that she was panting with exhaustion. He cradled the worn out girl in his arms and proceeded to lift her from the ground. He would deal with Suina later, but for now he would focus on Kagome.

He brought her to his room and laid her on the bed carefully. He knew that Suina had always claimed to be in love with him, but he'd never expected this kind of behavior from her. The last thing he needed to deal with was a sneaking vixen like Suina starting a rivalry with his miko. He stopped his train of thought when he realized he'd called her his miko...

"My miko... I like the sound of that," he said while smiling to himself.

To be Continued...

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-Lala3

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