This was it! This was the moment everyone one was waiting for and now was the time for both Inu no Taisho and Kaede to see what the others group could do. The King, Queen, Lady Kaede and the children were seated to spectate the match, while the boys each stood at one end of the arena waiting for their opponents. The girls were not late, it was just that everyone was extra early, maybe it was the anticipation that was getting to them all. The doors to the arena opened and in walk each young women, dressed, armed and ready to go. When the guys saw the girls, they each just looked on like they were memorized, all but Sesshomaru however, he looked but he did not let it show on his face how he truly felt by the way Kagome was dressed. The young women came to stand in front of the young men and showed there respect by bowing to each other.
Inu no Taisho clapped his hands, signalling for the attention from both groups and from all the occupants "Each match will be a one on one match between one member of each group" Everyone nodded their heads understanding the terms. "Now how do we choose who will fight who?" Inu no Taisho pondered
"Simple my dear" Izayoi got up "Rin can you help me please" The little girl nodded as she followed the Queen over to the two groups. Izayoi presented to each group what looked like to be straws "Pick one each and the two pieces that match up would be the two to fight each other"
Each person took a piece of straw from Izayoi and when the picking was done, they each held out their hands, presenting their piece to be viewed. "Now Rin can you tell me for each person whose piece matches who?" Izayoi smiled at the small child.
Rin nodded with excitement to help and looked to each person's hand. Starting with Kikyo she began her observation "Kikyo and Inuyasha, Koga and Ayame, Sango and Miroku and that leave Sesshomaru and Kagome" Rin grabbed onto Kagome's hand who smiled at the child while telling her what a good job she had done.
Izayoi clapped her hands together smiling "Good" Izayoi took Rin's hand while leading her away from the two groups, but before they had gotten too far away, Rin pulled away from the Queen and ran over to Sesshomaru and pulled on his garments.
Sesshomaru stooped down eye level to the young child "I am sorry to tell you this, but Onee-san is going to kick your butt" She looked at the rest of the boys "Good luck to you all, you are going to need it" She smiled at them and then patted Sesshomaru's shoulder and ran from to the Queen's side.
Sesshomaru watched the child and then looked up to Kagome, who looked back at him with something in her eyes. 'Is that determination? Could it be that she was that strong, to think that she could last more than a minute in the arena with me?...Hmm…'. Sesshomaru stood up, while each of the boys faced their opponents. From Sesshomaru's observation the young miko seemed calmed, collected, like she had already won. Sesshomaru smirked, for some reason his interest was intrigued, like he had gotten a new toy and could not wait to play with it. His smirked of course did not go unnoticed by Kagome and she got a confused look on her face.
"The child thinks of you highly, I hope you don't disappoint"
Kagome smirked back at the eldest prince "Trust me, I never disappoint"
Sesshomaru was a bit surprise when the young miko answered him. He had expected her to blushed, but no, not the woman who was standing before right at this moment. It was like looking at someone different, confident, bold, to tell the truth Sesshomaru liked to see that in her.
"Now that your opponents have been decided, we would start with Kikyo and Inuyasha" Inu no Taisho announced and the others left the two opponents on the arena floor allow.
Kikyo and Inuyasha played their respect to each other and to the spectators, and then it began.
"So are you going to un-shaft your sword and show us it's true form" Kikyo crossed her arms
"How would you know of my sword's true form" Inuyasha was a bit taken back
Inu no Taisho looked at Kaede wondering if she told the girls, about the swords that he had passed to his two sons, but like reading his mind she said "I didn't"
"It is obvious to anyone who has spiritual powers could feel the power emitting from your sword, so stop wasting my time and let's get this show on the road"
"Ha…Fine" When the young prince drew his sword, it transformed which caught the attention of all the occupants who of course would have seen it for the first time. "Meet Tessaiga" The sword pulsed as if recognizing its name being called
Kikyo was no fool she could feel the power of the sword, so could all those with spiritual powers, but the sword let its power be known to all in the room when a gust of wind pick up inside the room, where no windows were opened. "Impressive I must say that, but then again all it looks like is a big tooth"
Inuyasha smirked "Make all the fun you want to make of my sword, but you won't be when you are staring up at the tip of it"
"We'll see" With that said the wind picked up and in swirled around Kikyo. The eldest priestess started to glow pink and with the forming of her hands she created a bow and arrow. With a quick pace, Kikyo began to fire arrow after arrow at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha jumped out of the way and just slashed through the others. The young prince wasted no time in getting close to Kikyo and charged right at her. Kikyo expected him to for it was her belief that Inuyasha could only use close range attacks and it was easier for her to use long range attacks to keep him at bay, exhaust him and then give him her final blow. Kikyo could not be so wrong. She was firing arrows at him and Inuyasha was defecting everyone. When he was close enough to her, he jump and slung his sword down on her but Kikyo being a quick thinker, put up a barrier up which bounce back Inuyasha and pushed Kikyo a ways back. Inuyasha landed on his feet and Kikyo landed kneeling down. Inuyasha took this opportunity to release his first strike, Wind Scar. When the youngest prince released his attack, it caught Kikyo off guard for she did not know he was capable of long range attacks, but Kikyo knew exactly how to counter. Kikyo stood and form what looked like whips that met Inuyasha's attack head on. When the two attack hit, they made a huge blast that made the arena un-see-able. The boys thought for sure that, that was it, when it came to their brother's Wind Scar, it got the job done.
"So that's it then" Koga said "I thought it would be a bit longer"
"It's far from over" Sango smirked
The dust in the arena started to settle and the silhouette of Inuyasha could be seen but then as everyone looked to his opponent a small glow could also be seen. In a blink of an eye, multiple wipes sprung front from where Kikyo was still standing and lashed out at Inuyasha. The young prince dodged as best as he could. When the dust had settle around Kikyo, there she told untouched, with spiritual energy whips around her just hitting the ground. The King, Queen and the boys were all surprised that after the Wind Scar she was still standing.
"Amazing" Inu no Taisho looked at Kaede who just smirked
"I must say I am impressed, people normally don't stand after my Wind Scar, but here you are standing without a scratch even" Inuyasha smiled
"Well I must say I underestimated you. I thought you would only be able to do close range combat, I also thought you would be a weak opponent, but I stand corrected" Kikyo smiled also
"Is that your white flag I see waving" Pointing his sword at the miko, Inuyasha stood ready to continued
"Oh come on, I wouldn't want to disappoint you" Kikyo launched one of her many whips at the young prince, continuing their battle
"Look at him, he is actually enjoying himself" Miroku made his observation known
"Yeah he is, and I don't blame him, I am too and it isn't even me in the arena" Koga smirked "I think from watching this first battle we're all going to have a tougher time beating these ladies than we expected"
Sesshomaru took in what his brothers said out loud and looked over to Kagome. 'If she is half as strong as her friend, then this fight would be entertaining, however I never loss to anyone, so I have nothing to worry about'
The battle between Inuyasha and Kikyo continued and the young prince was fighting off whip after whip. Kikyo was not given him any opportunity to use his sword for attacks, only for defence. Inuyasha knew this, and decided the only way he could get her, is to attack him is head on. He had to be fast and quick. He calculated which whip came after the other and when the last one made its strike, he made his move. Kikyo realized he was heading right for her again and tried to stop him but anticipating where he was going to appear next, seemed to be a challenge. He was closing in and Kikyo knew she had no time left, when he was upon her she formed a shield and sword. The Tessaiga hit the shield and Kikyo pushed Inuyasha away from her. They then began to fight head on, Kikyo proving to be very skilled with a sword.
"You have sword skills" Sesshomaru meant it as a statement but Kagome answered him anyway
"Yes amount other fighting skills"
"Hmm" Sesshomaru kept his eyes on the two opponents.
As the sword play went on for a while, Inuyasha decided he had enough, and thought it was time to end things, for of course he was not the only one who had an opponent to fight. The young prince swung at Kikyo and when she went to block, Inuyasha jumped back catching her off guard and opened for another attack. "Got ya!". Inuyasha released his Backlash Wave and as it headed towards the priestess, Kikyo stood her ground. This made Inu no Taisho and Izayoi stand for they could not believe that Inuyasha would use Backlash Wave in the arena, for what could be a meaningless fight.
Miroku, Koga and even Sesshomaru could not believe that Kikyo was standing there. 'Is she really going to take that head on' Each of them thought
Kikyo raised her barrier and the attack made contract, blasting away all that was around it and to most of the occupants the person who it was attempting to hit.
"INUYASHA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" The Queen was extremely worried but that was soon gone.
The ground started to shake and when everyone looked at the dust that immediately dispersed, there stood Kikyo again, no damage or so it may seem. She was now emitting with spiritual energy all around her. She formed one wipe and coursing with power she swung at Inuyasha, hoping he would go on the defence and block. So he did. The young prince used the sword to defend himself and when he blocked with the sword, it turned, looking like an old rusty sword. This shocked everyone, for Kikyo had not only, withstand another attack but also turned the sword to its worthless self.
"She purified it, rendering it useless, now the match will end" Kagome spoke, not realizing she said it out loud. The three brother just side glance the young miko.
Kikyo strike Inuyasha on the hand licking the sword away from him. Kikyo then with a bit more power gave Inuyasha a lash sending him flying back, she then released two arrows pinning the sleeves of his shirt to the wall. "Given up?"
"Hell no" Inuyasha reach for one of the arrows but it burned his hand
"Just give up"
"NO!"
"Fine" With that said Kikyo started to use her purification powers to make Inuyasha's skin burn
The prince screamed in pain, and the Queen seeing her youngest son in pain was about to say something when Kaede intervened "Enough!"
Kikyo stopped her attack, the arrows disappeared and Inuyasha dropped to the ground. Kikyo went over to the young prince and healed him of all his injuries, and when Inuyasha had awaken, Kikyo smiled at him "You fought well"
Inuyasha was a sore loser but he would admit this one time when he was bested "You did too"
Inuyasha got up and gave his hand to Kikyo to take, so he could assist her in standing, but when she did, she collapsed right in his arms. All the girls ran over to her and Kagome was about to heal her when Kaede told her to stop and save her strength for her fight. Kaede then instructed Inuyasha to bring Kikyo over to a bench where she would tend to her.
"What's wrong with her" Inuyasha looked on in concern.
"She exhausted herself. By taking your attack head on, not once but twice, plus using her power to purify your sword and still have enough left to fight you, then healing you, she was at her limit. Truth is if I did not stop her, and if I thought you could on hold out on her attack, you would of won" Kaede said in a matter-of-fact voice
"So why did you interfere you old hag"
Kaede hit Inuyasha long side his head "No manners, just like your father! If I let her continued, she would of boiled the skin right off your bones"
That made Inuyasha swallowed in despair.
"Will she be alright Lady Kaede?" The worry in Izayoi was like a mother asking of her child.
"She will be fine, just a little healing and some rest, and she will be alright" Kaede smiled
"So I guess it is fear to say Kikyo is the winner" Inu no Taisho stated much to his son's objection "Next match Koga and Ayame"