Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha, or any of the other characters.
Chapter Fourteen
Of Training
Finding her courage, Kagome lifted her head up high and stepped away from the safety of Sesshomaru's side.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Tahj; I hope to learn a lot from you." Kagome smiled if all but a bit nervously, unsure of how she was to act around this new demon. As friendly as he seemed, she was certain he could do a great deal of damage if angered.
"Good." Tahj replied, shifting his gaze to Sesshomaru, getting a characteristic nod in response. With out even giving Kagome the chance to blink Tahj unsheathed a dagger that was hidden in his kimono and attacked her. Sesshomaru restrained himself; knowing that Tahj was only testing Kagome's power.
Kagome gasped and out of instinct backed away throwing her hands out in front of her. Sesshomaru watched as Tahj's actions became sluggish, easily allowing Kagome to get out of the way. As soon as it had come, Tahj was back to normal just as quickly.
"Very good. We must now work on getting you to control that. Right now it is self defense taking over for you, and you probably don't really know how you are doing it…" Tahj stated.
"Yes, it just seems to happen when I need it to most." Kagome said with a light sigh.
"Do not be put out; time manipulation is a very hard skill to master…" Tahj replied, trying to keep his new charge from becoming too weary about her situation.
That was how the days began. Sesshomaru and Kagome stayed in the same building, finding many shadow demons still lurking around. Kagome would get up early and prepare for the day. Tahj would work on taking her by surprise to get her to used her power, and tell her to hold it out as long as possible.
Slowly Kagome came to be able to call upon the power at will, and was able to hold it over the person much longer with much more effectiveness.
"The next thing we will work on is Haste…" Tahj said. It had been almost a month since Kagome had first started learning. She found that she enjoyed Tahj's company and that he was always around to make her feel better when she couldn't quite do the task he asked of her. Sesshomaru was there of course, always silent support, giving her what he could.
They had grown much closer, and Kagome found that Sesshomaru did not talk very much even now, but was open to her in more ways than before. He stopped distancing himself even in the slightest, and though the talk wasn't very much from him, he always listened to her. From the little he did talk, she learned a lot about him.
The weeks continued on in such a manner. Tahj would work one skill until Kagome had it under control to keep working on her own, and introduce another. Everyday after training Sesshomaru would Wait for Kagome and eat with her.
The evenings were Kagome's to do with what she pleased and she found that she spent them all with Sesshomaru, even though they were staying in the same space, she could have avoided him if she really wanted.
Three months had passed and Kagome had learned every skill that she could, but with out practice.
"Now, we will work on mastering the skills you have learned. This is the hardest part, fine tuning everything you have learned…" Tahj told her, and they went about their ritual, sparing with nothing but time magic. Every time Tahj would slow her down Kagome would Haste herself and use another technique such as aging.
There would be no real physical change, but this spell would make her opponent feel weak and decrepit. The only way to really counter it was to cast a strengthening spell, and hope that your spell would hold out longer than your opponents.
Six months had passed, and Kagome found that she had almost mastered all of her skills, but now lacked experience. Thus came her first break in training. Tahj allowed Sesshomaru to take Kagome back to the castle to visit Rin. Jaken, lucky for him, had been taking good care of her.
That became the new routine, Kagome would spar with Tahj for weeks gaining experience and learning how to get herself out of the most ridiculous of situations, and after such a time being able to return home to visit Rin.
Kagome had not heard from her friends in all the time she had been training, but the pain of missing them was easily distracted by training or Sesshomaru.
It was here that Kagome found herself after one long day of training, sitting in front of the fire place by Sesshomaru. She leaned her head over onto his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
"How do you feel?" Sesshomaru asked quietly.
"Tired, but I am improving." Kagome replied, relishing in his touch as he put his arm around her.
"It has been almost a year…" Sesshomaru said using the same quiet voice. Kagome fingered the crescent moon necklace around her neck. She never took it off.
"I know…" Kagome sighed. She no longer stiffened up at his touch or show of affections, though sometimes almost pulled away out of habit. She hated the look of pain in his eyes every time she did it, but it would be hard to break. Pulling her tighter against him, Sesshomaru kissed her forehead and then just as lightly kissed her lips.
"I… Love you Kagome…" Sesshomaru said, nuzzling her hair. Kagome smiled a warm blush making her cheeks turn pink. All the times she looked into his eyes, she had known that some where along the line he had truly fallen in love with her, but it was nice to hear all the same.
"I love you too…" Kagome replied, wrapping her arms around his waist. Tahj had told her that after a year he would be able to teach her no more. Kagome was worried about her mentor; she had become quite attached to the fun loving demon. Over the past 10 months his condition seemed to deplete. Kagome couldn't tell if it was just her imagination or all the training, but it was with that dreading thought that she allowed herself to fall asleep against Sesshomaru.
Author's Note:
I am so, so, so very sorry! I know it's been such a long time since I have updated, but I just lost the will to write. I wasn't sure how I was going to get through Kagome's training, and had a bit of a block for this story. I know this is a little short, and I'm sorry for that as well, but in the next two chapters this story will end. I may do a sequel as I see fit, but first I'm going to tackle this and try to get ahead on the two other stories I started. Please review, and let me know what you think. I hope you all haven't given up on me just yet!