The day before the wedding was hectic. The village was abuzz with life and chaotic happiness. Everyone wanted to chip in and help out the shard hunting group, knowing a lot of their safety and their villages wealth actually depended on them. So if they could make the wedding day easier for Sango and Miroku, they were gladly going to do so. Some of the women spoke with Kagome and Kikyo, saying they would like to prepare the meals for the wedding night if that were alright.
"This is starting to sound festive." Kagome giggled.
The women of the village nodded. "It has been so long since we have had a wedding here." She thought back suddenly. "Before you came through the well, Lady Kagome."
"That is a long time." Kikyo agreed with a small nod of her head. At first, those who recalled Kikyo in the village were uncertain of her, but with some time and understanding, they welcomed her back with open arms. How fortunate were they to have the priestess who was chosen to cleanse the jewel and her reincarnation among them? The Gods, they realized, surely must have blessed them.
"So you will allow us?" One of the elder women asked, clear hope in her voice.
Kagome and Kikyo looked at one another, their eyes silently agreeing. Then they both turned their attention to the five women before them and nodded.
"And," Kagome said with a slightly devilish smirk for such a pure miko. "I think we could even…"
Akin and Inuyasha had agreed to stand outside the hut, just to make sure Sango and Miroku didn't over hear. The two were walking about the outskirts of the village and thankfully, as Kagome came up with more and more ideas, still were.
"Damn girl can talk." Inuyasha grumbled from where he stood against the hut.
Akin chuckled briefly, eyes flashing with mirth as he listened to her chatter inside. "She is happy for her friends." He murmured to the hanyou. "Of course she has ideas of grandeur."
Inuyasha snorted. "Mostly because of her era."
"One would not doubt it." Akin agreed, recalling the future in all of its strangeness.
Inuyasha's ears twitched, hearing Sango's laughter some distance away still, but growing closer. "So, she says her future self sealed off the well." He muttered to Akin, making sure she could not hear him. "Do you know why?"
The apricot eyes slanted in his direction, not as friendly as a moment before. "If I have any knowledge as to why the miko decided to seal the well, it is not mine to give." His tone was more frigid than Sesshoumaru's, something Inuyasha gave him credit for.
"Well, tell me this much, do you think the well being sealed off has made Kagome any stronger?" That was one reason Kagome told them all, that her future self said it would make her stronger.
Akin thought carefully about his answer. "It has given her drive to do well in her training, but I do not think it has necessarily made her stronger for what her future self spoke." His eyes grew darker, troubled by the looks of them. "I believe what was briefly spoken will be much more demanding of her. It will require not so much the physical strength, nor that of her spiritual powers, but of her emotions."
Inuyasha felt himself tense at that. "So you're saying that something darker's on the horizon?"
"I am saying that one should be prepared." And with that, Akin turned and moved into the hut. "My Lady?" Inuyasha listened as Kagome stopped speaking to the women, turning her attention to Akin. "The monk and demon slayer approach. If the women wish not to be seen nor heard, perhaps they should take leave."
"Oh, alright." Kagome sounded happy, Inuyasha realized. "Thanks Akin-kun!" The hanyou bit back the growl, but the dragon youkai did not miss the scowl on Inuyasha's face. He smirked in triumph, though he had no idea what it was he had to be triumphant about.
Inu no Tashio looked over the village from his rise atop a decent cliff, some distance away. All of this wedding buzz, it made him think of his Izayoi, how she often spoke of them. He had intended to marry her, for it was what her human heart desired, and anything she wished, he would provide. Yet she grew with child and insisted on waiting until her figure was once again less round.
He should have marked her during their first initial coming together, for it was all they had, the one night, but he had not wished to frighten her with his fangs or her blood. But there again, his injuries with Ryuukotsusei would have killed her as well. Looking down, his eyes catching the speck of red some distance off, he knew it was meant to be as it had been, but how he longed for her company. She'd been such an ease to be with, even when their ire got the better of them both. Inu no Tashio loved her so much that she'd became the piece of himself he'd never had and now that she was gone, he knew he'd never had it. The loss of it was more profound and painful.
If there were anyway he could reverse it, he would. But Tenseiga had already revived her once before and it would be wrong to pull her soul from the afterlife. Closing his eyes so that his lashes rested against his cheeks, the Inu youkai tried forcing away the regret and the pain of not having his Izayoi any longer.
"My Lord," a very familiar voice murmured, a mocking tone to her usually all knowing one. Inu no Tashio had hoped she would not come find him, and in a sigh, realized hope was foolish. "How interesting that you walk amongst the living once more."
"Hn." He murmured, turning his eyes to the woman behind him. "And I had hoped you would have perished long ago." She offered him a laugh of cynicism.
"And you should have stayed so." She told him, her amber eyes harsh. A single stripe cross each cheek and a blue crescent rest upon her forehead. "I only came to find why you remain so near our son."
The dog demon regarded her coldly. "Ask him for yourself."
"Perhaps I shall. It has been long enough since he last came to me." Inu no Tashio shot her a look that asked who could blame the boy? "Come now, I am not so horrible, am I?"
"As you claimed before, I sought human company after a turn with you." He commented offhandedly.
There was a spark of fire at that. "Yes, I did."
"You were never a proper mother, even for a youkai." He promised, and to any who listened, you could hear the argument of old brewing beneath each other's voices.
"The boy had to learn to defend himself from even those closest to him." She growled, all joking and laughing aside.
Inu no Tashio scoffed. "You have never been capable of loving anything in all of your life. It is a shame for one so beautiful to be so wretched."
Her eyes flashed and he dared her. "Love is weakness. Such a weakness took your life, did it not?"
His answering reply was just as dangerous as her question. "It is one worth having."
Sesshoumaru's mother practically rolled her eyes. "Spare me the gruesome details of what brought you to such low levels."
"I had no intention of speaking to you of something so precious." He watched her twitch in response and with satisfaction knew she felt the slap of those words. There was no point in saying more, she had always known she was untouchable by any means, beyond physical. It was one of the things that ended them, because for some strange reason, Inu no Tashio had always wanted more than mating. He wanted companionship, love… He, blaming it on the warm Inu youkai blood flowing through his veins, wished to cherish and protect.
Syoa on the other hand was of a different nature, of ice blood.
"Has our son grown attached to his half brother?" She asked in a huff.
The dog demon smirked. "No."
He watched in pleasure as her eyes flickered, something dangerous just beneath the liquid frozen pools of yellow. "Then what is it that keeps him here?" She questioned slowly.
"I have told you before, speak to him yourself." With a smirk that revealed a bit of fang, he added triumphantly. "If you do not already assume, that is."
"If I assume correctly," her eyes were like daggers. "I will destroy it."
No longer did Inu no Tashio stand before her, but the dog general her father had pressured her to mate. The demon that fell hundreds of thousands of demons, that was sired from the greatest bloodlines, and in her opinion, one of the weakest, ruining any of his chances at true power.
"We will see." He told her, a warning deep in his throat. "Know that you, who can hide your presence so well as you do now, learned so from my sensei, Miren." His existence seemingly flared into nothingness. "And so I have learned."
She held a snide. "So you will stalk me?"
"Whilst you stalk your prey." He confirmed.
"Huh." The noise was so quiet, it was just a billow of breath. She bled into the environment with her many layers of white and blue and her previous mate watched her disappear.
"Let the hunt begin." He murmured.
Kagome stepped out of the hut to greet Sango with Kikyo, the women having left. "So, you two behave yourselves?" She asked with a wink.
Sango turned several shades of red while Miroku smiled upon her with a brotherly affection. "I am behaving, but barely." He smirked. "This cursed hand of mine itches with ill intentions."
He kissed Sango on the cheek gently and she trembled, her brown eyes flying up, moving form Kikyo's warm brown to Kagome's playful blue. "Miroku!" She smacked his shoulder and he laughed through the pain her ire could bring. "Stop doing silly things!"
Miroku laughed a little, his eyes so bright they could have been a sky. "Showing my affection for you is silly?" He asked.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, moving away from the hut with a grunt of disgust. Both Kikyo and Kagome watched after him, Kikyo's eyes remaining on the hanyou longer than Kagome's. "You two hungry?" Kagome asked.
"No," Sango smiled. "But we should probably start dinner anyway. It's getting late in the day."
Kikyo, as planned, excused herself and went to find the women of the village so they could prepare the surprise preparations early. Kagome helped Sango prepare the fire wood and pot, speaking lightly with Keade once she returned from talking to the new father in the village. "Ye are nervous." Keade commented to Sango after Miroku left to do some guy bonding with Inuyasha, Shippo tagging along when he and Rin returned from playing with the village children.
Rin was helping out with the herbs for the fish soup. "It's getting so close." Sango admitted. "Tomorrow I will be a married woman, with a wife's responsibilities to her husband." The blush grew much darker.
Kagome, being from the future, didn't like how it sounded like she had no choice, but deep down, Kagome knew this is what Sango wanted to have. She just wished that every woman wished to do for their husbands what was usually demanded of them. But, even in her era if she were honest, it wasn't always so. Such a cruel life was less frequent, yes, but it was still there.
"Do not over think it child. Ye are ready for this." Keade promised with a gentle smile as she sat still in her usual seat, watching the women, and child, in the hut with a warm eye.
"I know I am." Sango said, taking a deep breath. "I just, I worry…" She sighed, her eyes darker.
Kagome tensed. "Is this about Naraku again?"
Everyone else tensed too, even Rin, as though saying his name would draw him. Sango swallowed. "Yes." She admitted.
"The wedding will be fine, I can feel it." Kagome promised. "Nothing's going to ruin your day with Miroku." She coughed a little, the sound still not quite well, and everyone watched her in silence as she rubbed her throat. "Too bad we can't put some tea on right now." Kagome sighed.
Rin watched Kagome with worried brown eyes, placing a hand on her thigh as she scooted closer. "Kagome-sa…" She trailed off at Kagome's stern glance. "Kagome-chan," the woman's eyes grew softer. "Are you sure you're well?"
Kagome's answering smile to the question was gentle and warm, what a child could expect of her. "I'm fine. Just a little raspy is all. Nothing to worry about. Now, do you want to help with the potatoes?" She asked, trying to get Rin's mind off of her illness.
"Yes, please!" Rin agreed, nodding.
"Alright, be careful though." She didn't want the girl to cut herself.
Sango watched Kagome, sharing a brief, agreeing look with Keade. Some things just couldn't be undone, could they? Whatever Naraku had done to Kagome still lingered, and more than once during training, Inu no Tashio mentioned Kagome's breathlessness, yet stubbornness to Akin and Inuyasha. She was sure Sesshoumaru noticed, but he never mentioned it to Kagome, so when her friends did, she didn't heed it. Closing her eyes for a moment, Sango worried that if there were a true battle, Kagome may be overcome.
No matter how brutal Sesshoumaru's training appeared to be, he wouldn't kill the girl. Naraku on the other hand wouldn't even pause to consider it. He'd just do it and there would be no saving her if she wasn't strong enough and if they weren't either.
"You want to pass us those carrots, Sango?" Kagome asked with a gentle smile.
"Of course." The demon slayer stood, grabbing the wrap of them and moved to Kagome. "Mind if I help?"
"Of course I don't." Kagome told her. "We're going to put some turnips in it too. Want to chop them up while I show Rin how to slice the leeks?"
"Mm-hm." Sango began working with both the turnips and the carrots.
It wasn't long until the hut smelt of food and just before Kagome considered having a bite here with Sango, Sesshoumaru's aura beckoned her. Laughing almost silently to herself for a brief moment, Kagome stood, dusting off her knees and shins. Everyone looked up at her curiously, but Keade said it first. "Ye have been summoned by the demon lord." She didn't even question it.
"Yup. I'll be back later." Bowing to Keade a little, she patted Rin's head and moved from the hut.
The little girl smiled after her, the same gentle expression having passed from Kagome at some point during the month and a half, and onto the child's face. "Kagome-sama is very special." She said.
Sango and Keade smiled. "Yes she is." Sango agreed, and silently prayed. "I just hope he figures it out too." And as an afterthought, she vehemently added. "Inu baka."
Kagome walked silently through the forest, for the most part, thanks to Akin's training and Sesshoumaru's reiteration of it. He blue eyes would watch her feet every once in a while, but for the most part, she was looking ahead of her, ears and aura trained to everything around her. He'd probably let her follow his aura for so long and then mask it. Knowing Sesshoumaru well enough, she wasn't surprised when it immediately dispersed, as though thinking it made it vanish. She would have laughed, but she was listening, and noise from herself could distract her from a small, significant noise.
By this time, the moon was high in the sky and Kagome found herself looking upon the crescent of it in exact replica of Sesshoumaru's. Of course it wasn't blue, but it was the same shape, the same angle and it's points focused in the same direction.
"You should take care, miko." Sesshoumaru called from her left, allowing his aura to flare as he spoke, making her jump. A playfulness rest in his eyes. "There walk demons in the woods."
Kagome flushed a little, her heart rate heightening at his jesting. She was sure if they weren't alone, he'd never, not in a million years, let someone see him this way. "I was hoping on finding one particular demon." She told him as she moved toward him and he toward her.
"Oh?" He raised a brow, feigning innocence.
"He's rather distinguished. Handsome, tall, regal with flowing hair spun from the moon and eyes of the sun." She explained.
"Hn. I have seen no such male." Kagome laughed like a chime and his eyes softened without her notice. "Until I do, I thought to traipse the forest with you."
"Are you flirting with me, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome asked, still grinning.
He became more serious. "Not in the least." He was used to her terminology by now.
"Oh, okay. So you're just trying to make me laugh?" She asked.
"Hn." He didn't deny it, nor did he admit to it.
She took his arm and wrapped hers around it, something he paused at, but did not remove her for. "What will we have tonight?" She asked, truly curious. Wild rabbit the night before, but she had an instinct he wouldn't play the same again.
"Whatever I deem appropriate." He murmured.
Kagome laughed a little. "So, is that saying you don't know?"
He snorted a little. "Do not assume so much from my answer."
"I'll assume a lot from that one." She told him, and giggled when he cast her a sidelong glance of annoyance. "What's your favorite meal?" She asked.
"I was unaware I was to participate in an interrogation." He said, watching ahead of him. Kagome simply smiled, continuing to walk an easy gate with the demon lord. "A question and an answer on my behalf, and a question and answer on your own?"
Kagome nodded. "Alright. I'm game."
He smirked a little, more with his eyes than anything. "All that is raw." Kagome made a face at that. "Why do you cling to me so?"
She flushed. "Honestly?" Kagome gulped, afraid of sounding silly. "I'm kind of cold…"
Had he not the self control Sesshoumaru had been taught, he would have laughed. "I see." He said instead, his tail slowly snaking around her. Kagome gasped and her heart rate seemed to explode for a moment. "It has its uses." He commented.
"I guess so." She murmured, still holding to his arm. "Does it bother you to do this?" She gestured toward his tail being about her.
"Not entirely." He admitted. "If it is of use, then so be it." They were walking some distance away from the village, surprising Kagome. "Midoriko did not train you last night?" He wondered.
Kagome shook her head. "No. I think because you let me off the hook for Sango's wedding, she did as well." Kagome smiled happily. "I have to admit, being able to rest fully for a night was amazing."
"Hn."
Kagome walked quietly beside him, thinking to herself. He didn't mind it, no, the demon lord simply listened to her silence and what he heard in it. Comfort at being near him, an easiness and even a trust.
He was not so conflicted with Kagome when he didn't think about it, but if he did, Sesshoumaru didn't know how to feel toward the girl. So unlike before, he ignored the thoughts before they could turn things sour. Instead, he simply let the moment wash over him, something he didn't often do. Kagome closed her eyes as a seemingly warm feeling of ease spread over her, from Sesshoumaru no less. How strange, but welcome.
"So you really don't know what you're hunting for?" She asked after a moment.
"It has been done." He told her softly. "I have already fed."
"Oh." She huffed. "You could have told me, then I'd have just gotten some soup from Keade."
He quirked a brow. "You shall still feed." He told her. "I am not inconsiderate to your needs."
Kagome sighed. "And what if one day I need-" She stopped, biting her lip. A bitter pain stung her heart surprising her. Kagome didn't ever mean to be that way, but with the wedding and Inuyasha having Kikyo, Kagome was starting to feel lonely. It was stupid and selfish, so she squashed it away, taking her arm from Sesshoumaru and politely shrugging out of his fur. "I'm sorry." She told him, wrapping her arms around herself as she increased the distance between them.
The dog demon regarded her with a calculating eye, allowing his eyes to roam over her entire frame. The miko garb certainly did complement her and he wondered whether all the layers of a kimono would as well. There again, the elder, future self didn't look terrible in royal garb…
And that was something he had not meant to study her for. He had meant to assess her emotions so he could find what was wrong with the girl. Of course he was certain he knew, but that wasn't the point. Sesshoumaru enjoyed the act of study, so if he had the opportunity, he would do so.
"Sometimes," Kagome began softly, admitting to her inner most thoughts. "I'm afraid I'll never have someone to be with for all of my life, that I'll just be the one to sit out on everything. There are days where I think I'll never be a mother and I get so…" She stopped, thinking. "It like I'm angry and hateful at once, and that's not how a miko should be."
"Miko's are human, are they not?" Sesshoumaru asked. Kagome looked at him, confused, but nodded in agreement. "Humans are often afflicted with abundant emotions, so one would assume those of the holy blood would be as well."
She sighed. "But I'm usually not one to be that way. I don't like it when my thoughts sound like they're from a different person." She sighed. "I don't want to say something that will make you hate me either."
He huffed. "You are a frustration, Kagome." Her name shocked her, and at the pounding of her heart, he realized he'd said it. "Unending and unyielding in your annoyance, but to hate would be a strong emotion." His words had brought some of her agitation up, but his next words extinguished it. "I may have been angry with you before, and may still become so again, but to hate you is an unfortunate impossibility."
Realizing just how exhausted this thought made him, Kagome laughed. "Unfortunate?" She giggled more quietly. "You make not being able to hate me sound like a bad thing."
He said nothing, because in truth for Sesshoumaru, not being able to hate her was a bad thing indeed. She loved him, he knew this, and she wanted him. Her human body was alluring and her drive to learn and improve was drawing him to her. But there was something beyond that power of hers that drew him close enough for her to see him softening just enough to jest with her and consider her a being of importance, one he would surely mourn the loss of if something should befall her. This, if nothing else was worrisome for the demon lord had never truly cared for anything to this degree in his life, not even his mother.
After a few moments of silent walking, Kagome began to smell something interesting. "So you already cooked?" She asked, surprised.
"Hn."
"Wait a minute…" She could smell something very distinct about this food. "You can make a stew?" She asked, flabbergasted.
"Rin mentioned earlier this day that vegetables are of importance for human sustenance." Kagome found herself a tad speechless.
It took her a few moments to even be able to think of what to say. "So… You're doing this just for me?" She asked softly.
"Hn." He didn't deny it.
Kagome vaguely wondered if this may be the beginnings of courtship. "How do demon kind express interest in someone?" She wondered.
She saw his jaw clench and held the smile in check, but barely. "Provision."
Her smile slipped. "So that's step one?"
"Do not bother me if you wish it to move onto the next." He almost grumbled and Kagome's grin widened as she wrapped her arm around his again. Sesshoumaru came very close to pulling his own away.
"Have you ever been in love before, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome asked him, truly curious. If he had been, she wouldn't be upset. She had been before too and it was certainly over now.
"No, with no living being." He said.
Kagome was perplexed by that. "Then with what?" She asked.
He smirked. "An idea."
Both raven brows rose. "Oh?"
"Hn."
She rolled her eyes. "Can I know about it?"
He snorted deftly. "Conquest."
"Oh." She remembered it then. "Aren't you still?"
"I have grown surprisingly sedate in my age." He admitted. "Fairly recently."
When he glanced down at her, she squeaked. "My fault?"
"Hn."
She huffed. "Well, 'hn' to you too."
The demon lord smirked, his eyes dancing with light. "You are a difficult personality." He commented offhandedly.
She laughed. "Ha! You think I'm difficult? Mr. Perfection, I think you take the cake on that by a mile." She shot out one arm, showing a great expanse with her movements. He watched it, not turning his head, but flicking his eyes to her gesture before looking ahead once more.
"Humans are incapable of such, in where I see how you came up with such a title."
Kagome blinked. "Huh?"
He chuckled. "Perfect."
She blinked again, thinking about that. "Oh wait, you think you really are perfect?" He glanced down at her and she could figure out if it were a joke or not. "Um… You're being funny?"
"Hn." Kagome huffed.
Naraku paced his chambers, thinking to himself. Kagome had foiled every plan to end her life thus far. Not only did she survive, but Sesshoumaru had the sword of Ocraseous and he gave his father the scroll of Ugai. Beyond what he had inherited from Hiso's destruction, Naraku didn't have much on his side and that posed a problem.
His only solution was to kill Kagome, and that would come swiftly. Tomorrow was the wedding, perhaps-
"No," Kana called softly. "Look."
He turned to the mirror, seeing Salvera's mate, Arconen, reflected, speaking with Sesshoumaru just outside of the village. Sending her then would prove most foolish, because the love for her mate and seeing him would break the tainted jewel's hold on her and she would no longer serve him.
"Then the day after." He said. The mirror remained black, much to his agitation. "Can you not see what will happen?"
"No, she is stopping it." Kana said.
The half breed frowned. "Who is keeping you from seeing?"
An image of Midoriko sifted into the mirror, a barrier around her as the demon, fueled by Naraku's dark heart, tried getting through it to defeat her. Sweat beaded her brow as she defended Kagome's future and her breaths were labored.
"Damn her." He growled out, slicing his skin and allowing the blood to soak the jewel. He smirked when Midoriko cried out, but then, out of no where, a pulse shot through the barrier and made it grow stronger.
Midoriko opened her eyes and she laughed at him, looking out of the mirror. "Naraku," she called in a voice he'd only heard her use against her enemies. It chilled him to the bone. "I take this viewing from you as a reminder that I am still strong. You will never call me weak." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Not ever."
Kana blinked a little slowly, her eyes widening as her heart stopped and her body was wrapped around by miko light. This presence was warm and kind to the child and Kana realized this was how she was to end all along. It was gentle and soothing, and it taught her many things, or truly many emotions. And she decided that they weren't so bad.
Naraku's fury rose into the endless sky, destroying the mansion he found himself in. All the while, he could feel Midoriko's pride through the jewel and just before everything crashed around him, he thought he heard her laugh from within the mirror, its broken pieces echoing across the once spotless floor.
She took Kana form him, but Naraku would not let her take his final, most important pawn. Kagura, ha, she was nothing. But this other, she had to remain.
"Salvera." He called roughly. "In two days time, kill the girl."
She shuddered against his power and fought, but with all of his anger and all of his rage, Salvera could not defeat his will. "Say you will!" He raged.
"I," she panted, her eyes in and out of focus. "I-I will."
"And Salvera," he pulled her close, his face centimeters apart from her own. "Do. No. Miss." He ground slowly from clenched teeth as he shoved her bow and arrows against her chest.
"It smells delicious. What's in it?" Kagome asked softly as she inspected the stew.
"Food." Sesshoumaru commented, not one for compliments. He usually kicked Jaken in the head, but he was pretty sure Kagome wouldn't deal with such treatment so well.
"I'm going to go get some water." Kagome said as she pulled out a water skin she just so happened to bring with her. "There's a stream not far off, so I'll be back."
"Hn." Kagome smiled as she moved through the forest.
It wasn't long until she found herself at a nearby waterway, just a small, gentle moving brook that was clear and fresh. It would be cool for a while in the skin since the winter was coming. "That should do it." She said triumphantly.
"Should it?"
Kagome jumped, her eyes wild and a barrier automatically shielded her. "Who are you?" She asked after she whirled, finding a beautiful demon woman staring at her. The crescent moon was unmistakable, and foolishly, she allowed her barrier to fall. "Are you Sesshoumaru-sama's mother?"
She smirked something more malevolent than Sesshoumaru's. "Yes, I am." With a twitch of her head, like she almost cocked it to one side. "And you are Kagome, the current protector, of sorts, for the Shikon no Tama."
"Uh, yeah, but it's not that big of a deal." Kagome commented, blushing a little.
"Oh yes, I know." She said in a scoff.
Feeling the malice coming off of her in subtle waves, Kagome felt her aura rising again. "Do you have a problem?" She asked her.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Her venomous whip answered Kagome's next question.
She was the problem.
"Ah!" Kagome barely dodged, bringing up a barrier.
"Hiding behind your power?" She laughed, five more strikes in less than two seconds.
This woman was stronger than Sesshoumaru, she thought. "Why are fighting me?" Kagome asked, confused and surprisingly hurt.
"My son," her eyes narrowed dangerously and she used her energy to separate Kagome's barrier. "Will love no human!" She was before Kagome in an instant, hissing. "Especially a miko."
Kagome barely blocked her poisonous fingers and shoved her away with her power. It flared like a neon light in the night, and so they began battling. She was moving as fast as she could, hands colliding with hands and knees in quick succession, every blow rocketing through her bone. Kagome didn't know how much longer she could take this.
"So weak?" She asked in a mocking manner.
"Shut up!" Kagome's power slammed out of her like a battering ram and slammed Sesshoumaru's mother back who brought out her whip again. Kagome ducked and rolled as it swooped for her head, the down to slice in her through her middle. Envisioning a bow and arrow, she shot it at Sesshoumaru's mother and was about to cry out in victory when she avoided it.
"Surprised?" Kagome heard the demon behind her and went to turn when Sesshoumaru's father came before her.
"Are you?" He growled, venom spraying toward his once mate.
She was away from Kagome, who shuddered in relief. "You will not interfere with this, Inu no Tahsio."
A whip came from no where and sliced her cheek, shredding some of her hair away. She snarled, looking toward the tree line from where Sesshoumaru powered toward her, his eyes deadly and void of any emotion. "Mother." He regarded as he struck his whip once more and pulled Tokijen from his side, attacking his mother viciously.
"You defend her like some pining dog!" She snapped.
He huffed. "And you attack as a wild, frightened animal."
She hissed and their fighting grew so rapid that Kagome could not watch it. She trembled and Inu no Tashio placed a hand at her back. "Do not fear for him child. He is stronger than his mother."
"But she was so difficult to fight." Kagome said, shaken.
The demon's father laughed a little. "My girl, didn't you know? The boy was afraid of braking you."
Kagome looked into his eyes, shocked. Sesshoumaru had been holding back during their training? That meant he was afraid of hurting her, which meant all along he just didn't see what he was feeling… Or maybe he didn't want to admit to it.
Sesshoumaru could feel Inuyasha's approach, even Akin's who he was sure recognized the aura around him now. With the two approaching, and the feel of the undead priestess not far behind, he was sure Sango and Miroku also rushed to the scene.
Syoa caught his sword between her fingers, smirking and snapping the sword in two. "What a pathetic trinket." She brought her claws up and barely nicked his chin. "Almost as pathetic as your infatuation."
The demon lord's eyes grew much more fierce and he drew the sword of Ocraseous. The power thrummed through him, sending a vibration into his very demonic nature. His mother's eyes widened as he pulled the sword back, smirking as he struck.
Ok, for the record, Sesshoumaru's mother has no official name and I had given her one in a fanfiction a while ago... So... I did so again. Just for reference purposes. I hope you enjoyed, thank you for all of your reviews, especially my special qouters! :D I absolutely love those! Please review and thank you always for your words.