:: Riverdance ::

Kagome frowned in concentration, watching the play of light across the small paper dolls in front of her intently. Slowly, she could feel the power building, flowing along the proper channels…until it suddenly caught, and held fast, freezing into position across the rustling slips of paper.

She grinned as one of the paper dolls became a miniature copy of herself, springing up like a Jack in the box, and walking across the grass without a care in the world.

Kaede smiled at her efforts. "And that is how you do a proper shikikami. Your concentration needs to be stronger, and while you visualized the subject, you didn't quite get the right size…unless you wanted the results to be this small?"

"Ah…no…" Kagome winced.

"Well, work on those things then…but other than that, you have excellent technique. I'm impressed with the detail ye've managed, even if it is small."

Kaede peered at the tiny Kagome, currently fallen over in a clump of wiry weeds. The real Kagome grinned, and looked closer.

The miniature picked herself up, and waved merrily at the two larger people, smile visible even from a bare 15 centimeters of height. The larger Kagome grinned harder. She was rather proud of herself. It had taken her a long time to pick up on the visualization aspect.

Once she'd gotten it though, she'd taken off. This particular shikikami, if large enough, probably could have passed for her from a distance, maybe even on closer examination! Now, if she could make it large enough…it probably wouldn't take too long, since detail was more important that size, but she'd deal with that later…

Kagome sat back and grinned harder. "What happens if I used someone else as the basis for this? I mean, I was trying to call up something like myself, and I had a lock of my own hair folded into the paper, but what happens if I want to use something like this to scout, or to imitate someone?" She could remember coming across paper creations like these before. That dark miko had had one, and even Kikyou had had helpers. But they hadn't been based on a person, had they?

"To create a likeness, you need either the essence of that person…a lock of hair, a personal artifact, or simply a very strong image in your mind. It is easier with some part of that person as a basis, but more versatile with visualization, if you can do it. To create a shikikami servant, a scout in the field, or a helper not based on someone, like my sister once did, is similar, though more mentally draining. Visualize it, feed it the power, and it will be done. The intent is the most important part, and the focus to do it."

Kaede smiled. "Why don't you go practice on your own for a bit, or go have some free time? I've been working you pretty hard these past few weeks, and I think you've finally earned a break. I'm going to go check up on supper."

'Isn't that the truth…' Kaede had been almost as bad as her drill sergeant of a supervisor at the museum! The day she arrived back home, after that last supper at her family's shrine, she'd begun a rigorous round of training. She would never have suspected that the older woman had it in her to be this focused on training. For the past weeks…almost a month, she realized with jolt…Kaede had spent all her time not devoted to the duties of her station getting Kagome to practice, teaching the younger girl to first recognize and control her own power, and then to use it.

She now knew why her first attempts to make an illusionary necklace had managed to melt the plastic rosaries at home into the carpet. For a start, plastic wasn't designed to hold that much spiritual energy. She had been using a sledgehammer to kill a spider mite. Secondly, tying power onto something…that wasn't the concept of illusion at all. It was more simply feeding power to what you were making, and shaping it to your own will. A lot of miko power wasn't fighting with the spiritual energy to do what you wanted, but guiding it. Tying knots did other things.

On the other hand, she also knew that the necklace Sesshoumaru had on was extremely powerful, since she'd taken the 'sledgehammer on insect' approach. Which was good…she'd caught him using it to snoop around a few times. It would hold up under even the closest scrutiny. It had made her rather amused to know he was still using it, but she could see why. He was far too practical to allow pride to stand in the way of collecting pieces to the puzzle they were all embroiled in.

So far, they hadn't found much out. Sesshoumaru's original plan, which had been to assassinate Damia, hadn't really been feasible. After he'd given up on that approach, he'd said he was working on calling some sort of council, and contacting people down South, but that was all she knew. There hadn't been much time to sit down and talk, lately. He was always gone scouting, and she was always busy with practicing. Last week though, he'd said he was on to something.

Kagome intended to go with him to the south. A months worth of training wasn't going to make her into a miko genius, but she could still do something.

Kagome didn't want to let him down, or fail. She wanted to prove she was worth all the time Kaede had spent on her training, and prove to herself she was strong enough. And... to prove to Sesshoumaru that humans weren't worthless, that she wasn't worthless. Of late, he'd taken to avoiding her, she suspected... and that would never do. Kagome needed to find him to tell him she was coming south, like it or not.

Hopefully, he'd be around later, and she could ask them. Kagome was pretty sure she knew where to find him this afternoon.

That decided, Kagome carefully knelt down in front of the tiny shikikami, and touched it with a fingertip, drawing the animating power back into herself, letting the paper fall to the ground devoid of life.

She grinned. She should show Sesshoumaru…she could even make a shikikami of him, and make Fluffy Junior do Riverdance or something! A whole army of tiny Sesshoumarus, doing a Celtic line dance in unison! Kagome laughed, and stood up. He might not appreciate the humor, but it would make for good practice!

And then, there was something else. She wanted to show him something she had made similar to his illusionary necklace, but different. She wondered if she'd made it well enough that it would make the wearer impervious to detection, even by him…

She frowned. He had been gone for the past week, and had only reappeared today, looking rather graver than usual. She didn't know why, since she had been busy. He had spoken to Sango and Miroku since, but she hadn't seen any of them after that, and had gotten involved in archery to the point of forgetting.

What had he found out? Over the past month, he'd disappeared while she worked on training in between rounds of youkai attacks. Those were becoming ever more pressing. Sango was nearly too far along in her pregnancy to be of much help, by this point. Kagome had asked her about learning some of the fighting techniques youkai exterminators used, but that wouldn't work till Sango was up to it, in a few months more time.

Sango still insisted she could defend the village, but it grew harder all the time to use her sword, or Hiraikotsu. At 8 months along, she was beginning to slow...

Kagome started walking in the direction of the tree Sesshoumaru tended to sleep in. Perhaps she would find him there.

11111111111

Sesshoumaru leaned back, thoughts churning. Everywhere, it seemed, he was blocked. Nobody could tell him what Damia was planning specifically, or when. All he'd managed to find out about was the current balance of power.

Sorai had ceased to be the spy mistress of the West, perhaps because Damia did not fully trust her. Sesshoumaru did not know for sure why that was, only the results.

Perhaps there was an edge to be gained if he could contact Sorai. Mesau had been given the title of spy mistress instead, and for a human to hold such a position—in a Purist camp, no less!—was a grave insult to Sorai.

Kyokei had been given a promotion as well, and was now apparently second in command only to Damia, and had been sent as an ambassador to the North, after his journey East had failed to give results.

Of the rest of his extended family, he had heard little, in many cases only news of a death, or that they still lived. Damia had spared the eldest member of the clan, Sonezaki. She had also left Tomoe and Ashikaga untouched because of their age, but others hadn't been so lucky. Mito had died, and Hotta. Many of the more prominent servants and retainers, some distantly related or distaff members of the family, had been killed, and over 50 soldiers had been put to death as well, for failing to believe or follow Damia. The youkai who gave him that information had told him about the recruitment going on though the whole Western lands for an ever larger army, to replace that loss. Rumors of a plan to wipe out the newcomers abounded, though he hadn't been able to find much concrete.

It was starting to make the neighbors nervous. The north was in an uproar because of the ambassador they had been sent—Kyokei's silver tongue had been urging the members of the Purist faction there to take control, with some success. If this continued, they would soon fall in behind Damia. Lady Ezo was barely managing to stay in command. Perhaps, they would go entirely beyond her control, and loot and ravage as they pleased. She was hard pressed to stop them, from all accounts.

In the far South of the island, he had heard one of the generals was dismissed because of Purist leanings. Lord Tosa and Lady Satsuma had drawn ranks, and were calling for everyone to stand down. He laughed quietly. He doubted even they believed such a request would be granted. It was Fellowship territory down there, and had been even before he was sealed away. Tosa and Satsuma were neutral, though sympathetic to the fellowship. Then, they had always been more open down there...

The lines had been drawn. So, how could he exploit them?

Sesshoumaru grimaced, and shook his head to clear it of fluff. So far he'd come up with a dozen ways to get rid of Damia on his own – and none would work. He'd found that out within the first week of his return. So, then, that left getting into a position where Damia could not deny a formal challenge, with witnesses. Assuming he was strong enough to pull her down, of course. He still didn't know how strong she would be in a face to face encounter. He might die in the attempt…not that that really mattered. Much.

So. Sesshoumaru had remembered a contact who could get him in touch with Tanuma. Through the southern spy, he could contact Tosa and Satsuma, and get them to help. He was sure they would be willing to listen at the very least. That was what he was going South to do, soon. The only problem lay in getting inside and talking to Lord Tosa and Lady Satsuma without Damia knowing. He knew she had eyes everywhere in the south.

He had not heard anything of Jaken since his return, but he doubted the toad had been killed. He was far too good at looking out for his own interests. But, he would be loyal. He had never wavered in that, and he would know who could be trusted. Yet, how to get to him? Non starter, there.

The whole thing was a bit of a dilemma, and the only possible solution that came to mind was of concealing himself as a far lesser youkai, and sneaking into places more inhabited. But to do that, he needed an illusion, a concealment. He had no way to access the few items his former spy mistress had used in the field to hide her agents when needed, leaving just Kagome and her arts.

He hadn't yet gotten the nerve to ask for something. He knew he had to, knew he couldn't keep avoiding Kagome forever, but... Sesshoumaru knew he couldn't hide from her forever. It was just... he was strangely wary of her, now, and he could hardly think of why. Sesshoumaru had expected her feeling of familiarity, and unnatural closeness, to fade once they arrived home. But it hadn't. For some reason, he remained attached to the little miko. And it scared him. He couldn't think of a way to leave her behind for good. He needed her help, and this place was a good base of operations, for the time being. Practicality dictated he stay here.

He had to ask for help, soon. There had to be a way to see if she would be willing to provide help without... without what? He didn't know. But he had to do it. He should have gotten a move on already, and it was far past time he did so. In fact…

Sesshoumaru paused. If he wasn't mistaken, there was Kagome coming over the hill right now. She waved and started coming over towards him, and he sat up straighter. Ii seemed she had a unnatural sense for finding him...

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere! I wanted to try something out…and show you something I think might be useful!" Kagome pulled out a string of polished onyx stones, and dangled them in front of his nose.

"Watch this!" She grinned, and wrapped them around her wrist, seeming to fade as she did so till he could not plainly see any trace of her.

While he was slightly impressed with the optical illusion (it was as though she was invisible…he couldn't see her anywhere, or, come to think of it, hear her moving) he had to sigh and shake his head. She might have remembered to take care of noise, and such, but she had forgotten something with smell.

Things wavered between a total loss of smell around her, even to the vegetation, which was slightly suspicious, and then bounced back to 'normal', with scent mapping her position in his mind. He wasn't sure why it was fluctuating like that, but it would give her away without fail in the face of a youkai who had the smallest bit of nasal ability.

He pretended to ignore her as she circled around behind him, and caught her arm easily as she made a mock attack.

Kagome winced as he let go of her. "I thought you wouldn't be able to see me…or even hear me! I even took care of the miko power too and tried to hide it…why didn't it work?"

"Because you forgot how good a nose I have. I might not be able to see you, but I didn't have to." If she would just fix that, it would be the most useful thing one could have! His lips turned up slightly at the corners. Kagome always amazed him with her strange, novel ideas. It was one of the more interesting things about her. She came at a problem with a totally different mindset than anyone he knew. He had never thought of making someone invisible or inaudible like that. His plan had been to conceal himself as a normal member of society. Kagome was a genius!

…not that he was going to mention that.

Of course, he still needed something to act as a mask. Making yourself invisible and inaudible was not conductive to performing an interrogation.

"If I had thought of that, I would have done it too! I can…it's just going to take time. It took forever to hide the miko power, and if I have to start over, I'll bet it takes longer to work the changes in. I'll do it some other time." Kagome sighed, and flopped down on the grass beside Sesshoumaru, careful not to step on the length of tail spread in a circle around him. "And here I thought I had the ideal spying thingy…"

Kagome grinned, and decided not to tell Sesshoumaru she'd gotten the brainwave while thinking about Souta playing James Bond with the cheats on, or the many sword-and-sorcery books she owned. Games had become useful at last! She'd just had to add in the cover-up for spiritual power.

Hmm…maybe she should go ask Souta about things like that…he'd probably give her ideas and to spare for creating a deadly arsenal of bespelled necklaces, weapons, charms and talismans. His mind was far too inventive in that area. She should go back to her own time for a visit, soon. It had almost been a month…she could ask him then. Perhaps, by that time, she might be skilled enough to actually make some of his ideas a reality.

…She'd just have to make sure he never got his hands on the things she did make. He might think it was a lark to be the next best thing to invisible, with such a strong 'don't notice me' necklace. Or maybe not…he wasn't that immature, after all. She could probably trust him. Maybe. It was a problem for later.

She sat up, and pulled a few pieces of paper out of her bag, standing the two dimensional mannequins in a row. If she couldn't fix her beads today, then she'd at least practice her shikikami skills. So far, she hadn't tried to make a copy of anyone but herself. Definitely not a youkai. She hadn't wanted to do anything with Shippo, for fear of a backlash. She'd singed her fingers once, and she wasn't going to hurt Shippo because she goofed up. Sesshoumaru shouldn't mind, much. She doubted he would be seriously hurt if she accidentally singed her 'guinea pig'.

"What are those?" Were they shikikami? Kagome had been telling him about learning how to make them last week, before he went to the South to test the political currents near Nagasaki. He enjoyed hearing about how far she'd come in only a few weeks. But she'd also said they were going badly…

"I finally figured out how to make shikikami. Or at least, mostly. I can do a lot of mini me's with no problem, but I can't do big ones well yet. And I haven't tried making one that looked like anyone else.

Kagome took one of the paper dolls between her fingers, and summoned the tiny Kagome from before. "See?"

Sesshoumaru had a faint ping of premonition…

"I was hoping I could practice on you, if you'll let me."

…He was right.

She was going to turn him into a test dummy again. Probably she'd make them with a piece of hair or something else to animate them. Dangerous, to give that power away. Who knew what she'd do?

But…

He trusted she wouldn't misuse that power. And, if he let her practice on him, he could perhaps propose a deal: make a scouting necklace to his specifications in exchange. If he did that, then he wasn't begging for help, was he? He was making a fair deal. Deep inside, Sesshoumaru knew it was just a sop thrown to his battered sense of pride, but he let himself think the worth exchanged was equal, for the moment.

"Perhaps. If you do something for me."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. What was he playing at? What could he possibly need from her? He'd made it plain over the past month how small her ability was, and that he did not want her help. "Such as…?"

"I need something that would make it easier to move casually among youkai, not simply the few I trust enough to get information from while wearing my normal appearance. Something that would even allow me to get back inside the castle without detection, such as this." Sesshoumaru briefly gestured to the talisman wound around Tenseiga's hilt, the first necklace from Kagome.

Kagome blinked. Well. That sounded simple enough. She'd become quite good at illusion, after all these weeks. She'd gotten nearly as practiced with those as with her bow and arrow. Perhaps that was why shikikami came so easily to her- they were, after all, a type of illusion.

On the other hand, she still had something of a block with barriers… She knew she could make them, since she'd sealed the well to the past, but she hadn't managed to duplicate that feat, aside from trapping herself in a weak ward by accident for a few hours…

"Like the human one?"

"Yes." He hoped it did not take nearly as much trial and error to produce the next 'mask' he wanted to wear.

"Do you want to do the visualization on this one, so you get what you want? I mean, like youkai things. Scents, and covering up youki and things like that. Seeing as you just finished pointing out I goofed up before."

First, that neatly avoided any problems like the…last time, and second, covered all the youkai senses, as she had suggested. Kagome might not think to shield him from the range of sight beyond red through indigo, as some youkai could see in those colors. She would not be able to make a false personal signature in scent, because humans had no concept of it, or of altering youki. She seemed to know this, and had thereby given him the choice. "Perhaps that is best."

"Alright. I'll do it, right after this. All I need from you is some tail fluff, or hair or something, to make the shikikami."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and carefully cut a long few strands of hair for her with a claw. He watched as she fussed over the plain paper dolls, wondering what would happen. He glanced at the tiny copy of Kagome balanced on a pebble, and noted how detailed, how exact a duplicate. Kagome had done well.

One by one, Kagome touched the paper dolls, animating them so that first one, then more, small figures appeared. For now, she did not try to make them to scale. They would suit practicing control over many, shikikami of another person as they were now.

"Oh, hey! It worked! I wonder if…" She'd been able to manipulate some of her shikikami like puppets, before. Not at first. Her initial efforts hadn't created anything complex enough to be directed. She hadn't yet gotten to the stage where her illusions were truly autonomous, with some small amount of vocation on their own. She had to monitor them consciously. So, how about…

Sesshoumaru watched in fascination as the shikikami changed, and took on his appearance, paper filling out to become flesh and blood, if only in seeming, not reality. One of them started waving a miniature Toukijin around, and another grew a small cloud and rose up to around eye level. The third glared distantly, till Kagome paused, and grinned down at all three. It worked!

And now, to make things interesting…

Kagome wondered briefly if Sesshoumaru, while in her time, had ever seen the 'Idol' shows that were popping up everywhere. She smiled brightly. Life had been so boring, this past month. Well, not boring, but…focused. Up at dawn, train till dusk, fall into bed when the day was done. The only interruptions were marauding youkai, and the occasional strategy meeting between her, Sango, Miroku and Sesshoumaru. She felt she was due a bit of fun.

Like creating reality TV in medieval Japan.

Well, if Sesshoumaru hadn't heard of 'Idol' by now, he was going to soon…

Carefully, she brought the three shikikami down to a flat rock, and set up the small shikikami of herself up behind the pebble as the judges panel. The real Sesshoumaru watched with narrowed eyes as she set up a rough stage.

"And now, ladies and gents, time for tonight's show! Who will win the title of…Warring States Era Idol!!" Kagome grinned from ear to ear, and her miniature counterpart did a small bow.

"And, first up…um….Mini Sess Number One, singing…" Kagome thought hard. Songs, artists, what song…?

"…Alice Cooper!! Song title, 'Lost in America!!'"

Wha…?

What the hell was she doing?

Sesshoumaru blinked, watching with a mixture of fascination and horror as the shikikami dubbed 'Mini Sess Number One' took center stage, and proceeded to start singing with a high, small voice, jumping freely around the stage, gesturing with a tail, holding an invisible mike with his good arm.

Distantly, he felt his jaws part a little in bemusement, not sure what to do or think. What, in the names of the gods, was going on?

Kagome watched his face with glee, noting that he was so surprised, he'd momentarily dropped the mask. But only for a moment. Immediately, his mouth snapped shut and his pale, delicate features took on an icy tinge. She smiled wider, pleased she'd managed to get though to him. Now, if that was a good thing or not, she wasn't sure…

Kagome laughed, and watched as the song wound to a close. "And the judges say…?"

"8 out of ten!" Squeaked the small Kagome, holding up an invisible card.

"Just 8!?" demanded the small Sesshoumaru imperiously.

"What are you doing?" Sesshoumaru stared hard as the next small figure came forwards, locked arms, somewhat awkwardly, with the other two, and they all launched into some sort of line dance, singing along to something in a foreign tongue.

"It's the Japanese rip off of 'American Idol,' Sesshoumaru. A bunch of people compete for the title of best singer."

Sesshoumaru stared. And stared.

What the hell were the three 'Sesshoumarus' doing? He would never act like that…

On one hand, it was faintly amusing. And appropriate. He was a singer, in a way, and he had to admit, seeing himself doing such a…lively…act, even in miniature was…interesting.

On the other hand, it was completely ludicrous. Sesshoumaru, even a copy of him, jumping around like a common madman…?

He quickly came to the conclusion that Kagome had a very warped sense of humor, and might possibly be borderline insane.

He was just about to inform her of that, when the alarm bells began ringing in his head.

Youkai were coming. A great many of them…

"Kagome…"

She looked up. "Yes, I know, you don't like it…oh well…" It had been good while it lasted, at least. Not many people could claim to have seen even a copy of Sesshoumaru rocking out to 'Alice Cooper', with stage lighting provided by a whip of light! Or doing a knockoff of 'Riverdance', or…

"No. Youkai."

"What?" Youkai? Kagome snapped to attention. Another attack, so soon after the last one? "How many, do you think?" Now that she was looking for them, she became aware of the youkai converging in the distance. Mentally, she cursed. Constant vigilance! She should be aware at all times, after all the attacks and training, but somehow, she'd missed the incoming swarm.

It felt like a lot of youkai.

"I'm not sure of their number."

Seconds later, the signal to defend the east palisade rang out.

111111111111111111

Miroku cursed roundly as he cut through another flying menace with his staff. "Sango, get out of here!"

Sango wasn't listening…she stood in the center of the wall, a queen of battle with the enemy dead piled at her feet. Her sword flashed in the sun, making shadows across her face and highlighting the crimson on the blade. With a grunt, she retrieved her Hiraikotsu, and sent the massive weapon flying out again.

Miroku admired the picture, but was quite keenly aware of the one thing wrong…Sango's rather vulnerable looking midline. He fought his way over, till he was nearly back to back with her.

Sango nodded as he came, and shifted so that they could fight together, back to back. A team. She watched the villagers to either side with approval. A few months of training hadn't turned them into the most skilled of samurai, but they at least knew which end of a weapon to point at an enemy.

"Sango, please…don't push yourself so much!" Miroku whispered, in the brief lull.

Sango smiled, and diagonally slashed apart a flying, ugly maw that might have been a head. "Miroku, I will protect this town. I will not let it fall."

'And I will not let you fall.' Miroku's face grew tight. "Maybe so, but the fact is…" Speeding scraps of paper flew out, burning a circle of ash in the ranks of youkai, "…that… I don't want you hurt, not you, not our child…"

'Oh, Miroku…I know, I know. But I cannot stand by and watch you fight for our survival alone. As long as I can, I will fight for the future. I will not lose those I love again. I will not lose another home, another family. I will not lose you.' The renewed vigor in her sweeping sword spoke for itself. "I know. But I can't just watch and do nothing."

Miroku sighed, and nearly closed his eyes in dull dismay, and acceptance. He knew why she fought so hard for their new home, and that he could not dissuade her. Every time, it was like this. He would just have to protect Sango as best he could, and pray it was enough…

An arrow sped over the wall, faintly glowing. He followed the line of flight back to where it had come, to where Kaede stood guard over the strongest house in the village, where some of the most vulnerable sheltered out the storm. "I don't see Kagome. Or Sesshoumaru."

Sango laughed, and turned to keep her opponent in view, making the two of them spin together, flesh on flesh, a circle of death. "You know he only steps in if we need it. He's trying to stay hidden, and having some stupid youkai see him fighting isn't going to help. I don't know about Kagome though…" Where was her friend? She hadn't been close when the alarm was sounded, or she'd be here by now, surely…

As soon as her words were left to hang in the air, another arrow appeared, much stronger than the first. It tore across the ranks of enemies, disintegrating the youkai around it with a burning intensity. Kagome had arrived, summoned, it seemed, by their words.

Sango sighed. "She's here. Every little bit will help." Behind her, Miroku nodded, and then shouted, blocking a strike and giving one in return, leaving a red, slimy thing yowling, with the impression of a staff burned into its oily hide.

Kagome ran across to the wall, pausing as a scaled, misshapen creature reared up in front of her. Sesshoumaru was right behind her, she knew, putting on the necklace as he went. It wouldn't do for even one youkai to learn of his presence here. Kagome eyed it warily. It was too close to tag with an arrow, and too far for the small knife she'd taken to carrying around on her belt, and…her eyes widened as it charged.

Too late.

With a cry, she brought up her bow as a shield, and light flared out. The creature before her vanished, beaten down before her power. Kagome drew a shaky breath, eyes slightly wide. She didn't think she'd ever quite get used to seeing something charge blindly at her, wanting to kill her.

She'd learned to work through it. She'd had to. She didn't want to die just yet.

Kagome grinned suddenly. Here she was, standing and watching as her friends held the wall. Hadn't they been the ones to defeat Naraku? Even if…even if Inuyasha was gone, and Shippo was within the shelter, a last ditch defense, they still had some serious firepower between the three of them!

"Aeiah!!" Kagome shouted her defiance, and drew an arrow. She had work to do! She swiftly sent three more arrows after the first, proud at the long way she had come since the first time she'd held a bow.

She looked back briefly at Sesshoumaru, standing with the necklace around his neck, watching her, hiding. "Are you going to help out this time, or not?"

Kagome didn't wait for a reply, but headed off at a steady pace, sending arrows of destruction as she went.

1111111111111111

Sesshoumaru did not answer. He watched the melee below, loath to join in. He had only defended this village once, and then only …hidden… inside this spell of human secrecy.

He did not want to fight in the defense of humans. Besides, they looked to be doing well enough. The only time he had stepped in was when it looked as though Kagome had bitten off more than she could chew. He'd killed the youkai creeping up behind her unseen, and then gone back to watching. Sesshoumaru watched as she made her way towards the wall. Kagome was getting better at fighting, far better than she had ever been at the side of Inuyasha, but he still kept an eye on her.

Bad enough that he was reduced to looking like a human, without battling side by side with a village full of them. Having to hide was torture enough. For this wasn't Tokyo, where the talisman around his throat was necessary…here, it could arguably be thrown away, and he could forget he had ever heard of it. But no. He had kept it. The idea of how low he had sunk revolted him.

His gold-behind-brown eyes narrowed, and he watched Kagome roughly shoving her way through the mass of enemies. She had improved a great deal, he noted. Over the years she had gotten much better, and now that she was a miko-in-training, Kagome was learning at an exponential rate. (Except when it came to barriers, apparently…)

Perhaps, just perhaps, she could help him…but he didn't want her help. No need to put her though what might come, if she remained close to him, or dig himself further down into debt in the process. He still hadn't managed to pay back much of what he already owed for freeing him, much less for taking care of him, opening the well, new clothing…the list went on and on, and he fully intended to give it all back. He couldn't allow her to have a hold over him. She was too close... too close...

He sighed, and watched as the battle ground on, leaving the dead in its wake. There were few casualties among the villagers, he noted. Sango had told him of how they had had to learn to fight. They had gotten better at staying alive, with the constant tempering in the crucible fate had dealt.

He watched as Kagome fought her way to where her friends were, and as the tide of battle turned, and the invaders, what was left of them, retreated.

Soon…he had to do something soon. The mob of youkai attacking this place had been growing in number. On his journeys, he had passed human villages razed to the ground. That didn't particularly concern him, until he had discovered the same thing had happened to a youkai town near the Nakasendou road. Traces of bandits with guns, and westerners, had been left behind when he stopped to look. That was worrisome.

It had been only a few people, gathered in a loose community at a crossroads, too small to really be marked on any map, but the fact that the violence had spread that far was terrifying. Before long, it would be more than that.

Much more.

Kagome paused, and wiped her sweat bangs out of her eyes. Something had caught her attention, but it was gone now. She wasn't sure it had even been real. She glanced back up the field and saw Sesshoumaru watching the battle, cloaked in the illusion of humanity, and then cast her eyes over the lines of dirty, blood-smeared villagers lining the palisade. Kaede was there, unharmed, and beyond her Shippo guarded the door to the children's shelter, removed from combat. Her eyes picked out Sango and Miroku easily, and she hurried towards them.

It must have been nothing…

Far above the battle, a flock of crows cackled amongst themselves, eyes scanning the retreat of the youkai and the humans faint cheers of victory before they winged to the north-west, unnoticed.

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Excuses for making Sess an idol? None. Lol. I just wanted something light and entertaining before we plunge into the next round of angst, starting in the next chapter. Mwahahaha.

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Adieu, and see you next Thursday. (big grin)