Sango's shouting was the first thing she heard as they neared the arena. The words came to her in broken parts, like a ripped up parchment holding a love confession that hasn't found all the pieces to. She had enough to get the gist of the message. Sango was doubting her strength.
In Sango's mind, ever since Kagome took the "healer" role primarily over demon-fighting, her battle skills were exactly as it was when she first appeared. Slow, weak; Kagome needed protection.
Forget the fact that she had basically been travelling to different villages in the East and West to do healing by herself for weeks at a time. Sango thought that she was escorted safely to wherever she needed to go within those lands. While it was true to some extent, it was a gross misrepresentation of what was actually happening.
In the East (which is where Edo is), she travelled with little to no interference from the wolf pack. Even though she was a part of the pack, they never spoiled her with protection; she earned her place in the pack because of her power in battle. They might only step in if they are around her at the time or she was overwhelmed by her opponent.
In the West, although Sesshomaru escorted her almost everywhere she had to go, he never stepped in. Not once. "You are not a damsel in distress; why must this Sesshomaru treat you like one?" She tried to explain this to Sango in the early years but she never took it seriously (delicate flower kagome was firmly in her mind) and Kagome gave up.
"Kagome is more than capable of taking care of herself. Thus, she has to fight as part of our traditions" The tired voice of Yasuhiro easily came to her ears the closer she came.
"Fuck your traditions! She should not be fighting you wickedly strong demons in close combat with a bow. Kagome is only a healer. Don't you call her 'The Midnight Bloom'? A flower?" Sango railed.
Kagome and Sesshomaru had just rounded the corner and witnessed the slayers rant. It was just her and Yasuhiro in the doorway leading to the arena arguing. Yasuhiro acknowledged their presence, but Sango seemed not to notice.
"Sango, please. You are worrying over nothing-"
"Nothing? You only know how to use a bow and they want you in close combat with these demons. Honey, let me do it for you. Don't let these demons take advantage of you."
The patronising tone Sango used had Kagome sputtering. She felt as though she was some stupid teenager who could not even begin to fathom the dangers of the world and Sango was the benevolent older sister who is tirelessly trying to realign her misguided heart. And Kagome hated it (nor did she miss her double meaning). Where was Miroku?
"Do you have so little faith in your friend, slayer, that you believe that you must trample over her honour?" Sesshomaru asked as he moved past the woman who now could not speak.
"Go back to your group and observe why she is known as "The Midnight Bloom of the West"," he ended and continued to the arena, Sango following behind sheepishly.
Yasuhiro only sighed at their retreating figures before turning to Kagome. He looked her over for a moment, finding little flaw in what she had on her person. he pointedly ignored the moment that just happened with the slayer and Kagome knew it was a bad sign (Yasuhiro can be quite petty and there was little Kagome could do about it).
"What's your weapon for the sparring matches?" Yasuhiro asked
"Who am I going up against?" Kagome asked instead.
"Kenta, two soldiers from the wolf pack, the personal guard of the Lady of the North and Takashi. First blood; one at a time; at least 4 out of the 5 should go down," he answered. "What is your weapon?"
"Hmmm. I was only planning on using my tanto dagger but I might have to change tactics... did you say Takashi?" she finally caught on that Takashi volunteered himself (most likely for sexual reasons). For that reason alone, she had to change her weapon. Something that makes him hurt. "I need my tessen and my tekkō."
"Aren't you being brutal? I love it." He snapped his fingers and the fan and brass knuckles dropped on the ground next to her and she bent and attached them to her waist. "Let's get this over with. I want to get this day over with so I won't have to be in Inuyasha's presence."
"I do have to ask you about that at some point"
"Let's just say that he's an unmitigated arsehole," he said as he ushered her off to the arena.
Three hours or so later found her with her chest heaving after finally drawing first blood on the cat. The first two hours had bent spent showing off her skill with a bow without moving from her spot. Targets were placed far and high. Some were in hard to reach places where she had to resort to acrobatics. A good bit of the targets were moving. Whatever they could make her do with archery, they made her do.
The two wolves had gone first. The first with a dagger and the second with an axe. The first she drew blood as she disarmed him and the second thought the knives on her fan had missed him but a slice on his upper bicep proved otherwise.
Her previous opponent was a quick-on-his feet spear user. He was just as flexible as her and kept her relatively at a distance with his double-ended spear. To deal with that she broke his spear in half with a well-placed brass-knuckled punch to its centre. He changed tactics and easily began dual-wielding the broken halves. He came close to drawing blood on several occasions until Kagome finally tripped him and pressed the blade to his throat and a single drop of blood fell.
"Let's get this over with Kenta," Kagome said as she stretched her muscles to limber up.
The guard sighed, asking her not to go for his face and to stop playing.
She responded that she would try on both accounts.
In the back of her mind, she found it was slightly unreasonable to put Kenta in the ring and not someone else from the garrison to spar with her. She knew all his weak spots. She knew exactly where all his pressure points were on his unique body. She knew exactly the right amount of pressure to put on each spot. Yasuhiro taught her how to do this on her bigger opponents and used a graph of Kenta's body (not that Kenta knew that fact). He was almost exclusively her sparring partner so she had a lot of practice.
Roughly fifteen minutes and several bruises to each of them the fight was over with a slash to his thigh. Kenta always proved prey under close contact. A broadsword was a great weapon but fell short on precision against her fan.
The fight gave her some time to think. On Sesshomaru. On Inuyasha. On her life. And in those 15 minutes a resolution weighed heavily on her mind.
The crowd roared at her victory.
"Higurashi Kagome has proven her strength to the court," an elder began, "She must now prove her skill."
Damnit.
"Hold on. Let me just heal everyone," she said while her powers seeked out her opponents and healed their cuts and bruises. It didn't escape her notice that some of the audience marvelled at the act (it's not every day they encounter a Miko who is willing to heal demons with her powers).
Kagome couldn't help but pout. She wouldn't get to fight the hedon. Yasuhiro did tell her she only needed to win 4 out of 5. She should have let Kenta win just now. Now she was missing the once of a lifetime opportunity to break Takashi's nose (it was her sole reason for having the brass knuckles.
The approach of her group of friends brought her out of her thoughts. Inuyasha and her friends clearly wore looks of abject shock on their faces, except Miroku and Shippo. Ichiro was fighting in Ichika's arms to run to her.
"Inuyasha, you told me she couldn't fight well. Were you just pulling my leg?" Kaori asked with a little laugh. "She's a great warrior miko," She added sincerely.
"Thank you. Its part of the reason why they call me "The Midnight Bloom of the West." Its their rarest and most deadly plant but it does have healing properties." 'Kagome said through a farce of a smile.
After a few compliments from her group, Kagome excused herself to prepare for the second half of the day. Not before a long bath and a power nap, of course. Upon awakening Kagome dressed in the ceremonial kimono for the evening. It was several layers and was the exact replica of Sesshomaru's own kimono with his crescent on her back and a yellow and blue obi. The collar of her kimono dipped slightly to show off the back of her neck for sex appeal. Her hair she decided to tie in a simple ponytail with a red ribbon, leaving some tendrils to frame her face.
Finding no fault with what she wore she turned to leave the room only to find a poem waiting for her. This one spoke of courage, and finding enough courage to admit the feelings of the heart. And in that moment, Kagome's heart knew what had to be done soon and made her way to the throne room where she would perform.
The last person she expected to see outside the throne room waiting for her was Inuyasha. She happened upon him pacing the width of the corridor in anxious fashion. He stopped dead in his tracks once he noticed her.
"You look beautiful."
"I don't want to listen to you, Inuyasha. You betrayed my heart and my trust."
"Please Kagome, listen. You're misunderstanding everything"
"What is there to misunderstand? You have been unfaithful to me for years and the proof is in that room carrying your seed."
"I thought you were infertile so I thought that it would be best to get someone else to do it."
"That makes no sense. Don't try to bullshit me. Tell me the truth-"
"You weren't having sex with me alright. It started up as a way for me to relieve all that pent up stress. I didn't mean to fall in love with her all those years ago."
"All those years... And you kept me thinking that I had a chance when you loved someone else? So what was that talk about mating me huh? Why say it? Why couldn't you just say that we were over? Why promise a mating before I was 25 and ignorant of the tradition? An ignorance you facilitated. Why? We're you really planning on making me your concubine and hoping I couldn't tell the difference?"
"What? No! I would never make you a concubine, Kagome. It's just that you're Kikyo and I can't just let you go."
"Kikyo?! Ten years to the day you met me and you cant get it into your head that we aren't the same person? Really Inuyasha?
"I LOVE...d you," the "d" sound came out softly and was barely heard by the other occupant in the room, far less any passing ears. With those 3 words she felt the atmosphere shift in an indescribable way.
"You can't have us both Inuyasha. Now i suggest you head in and sit with the mother of your unborn child. I need to perform."
And perform she did. Every ounce of feeling flowed through her fingers into her koto. This was how she drained herself of it. 6 years ago when the fires of her romance had begun to show the warning signs of sizzling out, Sesshomaru found a way in her heart. It was a quiet moment of stories that made her realize that she began to love. She choose to ignore it. She knew that their paths could never converge romantically, he would never see her in that way. And besides, Kagome was in love with Inuyasha and they would eventually get through this rough patch. A friendship with the Demon Lord was enough.
She wondered idly, if Sesshomaru would have not Hanahaki Disease if she had not been so adamant about Inuyasha. If her interest could have prevented his bout of deadly unreturned love.
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