CHAPTER 5 – A Journey Begin

The night had been restless for Kagome. Her dreams went from painful memories to horrible nightmares. She could see the face Inu Yasha made when he saw his long love dead and professed his love to her. The despair in his voice. Never she heard him with such pain in his voice; even when she had been close to death. It was now obvious to her that she cared more about him than he ever cared about her. Her heart was in physical pain when she thought about him. Her nightmares were another kind of painful. She was getting eaten alive by demons as she tried in vain to purify them. So many were around her, she could hardly breath. The pain of having her limbs ripped from her body, the strain on her mind from the purification ritual, nothing from that night in the woods made her feel rested when morning came.

The daiyokai sitting only a few meters from the miko did not get to rest either. Watching over the young woman, questions and curiosity kept him awake. He spent his night looking at the miko's aura twirling in the night sky, fighting with her own yokai's power in an endless battle. Shades of pink and dark purple danced in front of his eyes; a spectacle that only he could see. She obviously did not control her powers; did not even realise the power she possessed.

Kagome reluctantly opened her eyes. The sun not up yet but she did not care, she did not want to go back to her nightmares. She sat up, missing dearly her friends. The sleepy voice of Shippo in the morning especially. Her adoptive son always slept in her sleeping bag with her. It had been that way for the last three years, she even had to buy a bigger sleeping bag as Shippo was getting too big to sleep with her in her old one. Sango always sung while she was getting her things in the morning; she usually was the first one to wake up and tore down their camp singing to herself while doing so. She never knew that Kagome made an effort to wake up earlier than everyone else just to hear her sing.

Sesshomaru got up without saying a word and started to walk; Kagome following him in silence.

After an hour of awkwardly walking in silence, Kagome's stomach started to make itself heard. She did not know how long she stayed unconscious in the grass and could not recall when was the last time she had something to eat. She said nothing and made a point not to looking at Sesshomaru. She had no clue why he agreed to escort her to Naraku's castle instead of beating her up to get the answer he was after and she was not going to anger him into doing just that. Her only hope to a meal was finding a village where she could earn her meal by doing some miko job. She was sure Sesshomaru heard her, but she acted as if the growling sound was coming from someone else.

Without stopping, Sesshomaru reached inside his sleeve and retrieved a small leather bag as big as an apple. He took some of its content out and tossed the bag to Kagome. Inside was some sort of dried meat.

- Eat. He said before taking a bit himself.

Grateful, Kagome took out a piece out of the container and bite it. The meat was hard and chewy but the flavor was excellent. Better than any steak she ever had.

- That's so good, what is it?

- Hnn? He replied not understanding her question. Dried rabbit.

- Well it might be the spices you used because I never had that good of a rabbit before.

Kagome took another piece of meat before returning the bag to Sesshomaru. Not wanting to eat all his supplies she made note to give him some of her once she gets her yellow backpack. Spices? What the heck is that? Sesshomaru thought while putting the leather bag where it came from. She continued walking behind him in silence, sucking on her meal, enjoying the flavor until the last bite. They walked in that manner for the rest of the day; she knew Sesshomaru was not a man of big words and tried as hard as she could, she did not find a subject of conversation that might remotely interest him.

Entering a meadow Sesshomaru informed her they would stop there for the night. She sighted in relief and started to look in the forest for firewood. After amassing enough wood to last most of the night she got comfortable against a tree and looked at Sesshomaru who sat in front of her. He was looking right at her, studying her, his face showing no emotions. He looked cold, as if what he saw was unpleasant.

- Are you not going to meditate? Ha asked

- Meditate? What do you mean?

He looked at her in disbelief, caught by surprise by her answer, he blinked a few times showing her his puzzlement. How come this miko never meditated? What kind of training she got from the monk with was traveling with her?

- Have you ever meditated before? You travel with a monk, he never told you to do so, nor did your teacher? he asked.

- Miroku-sama? No, he never asked me to do something like that, and I never had a teacher. Everyone are told I am Kikyo's reincarnation, so they don't bother with stuff like that. I asked Kaede but since I'm way more powerful than her she could not do much.

Sesshomaru thought about all those years where he got to taste her purification arrows and shivered unnoticedly. She was untrained and yet she was a force to be reckoned with.

- Well, you should; you could be more powerful. He said not wanting to continue the conversation further.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes, wanting to get some semi sleep. Resting his mind but still keeping his sense in alert in case a demon would come too close to them.

- Can you teach me? Kagome asked, feeling brave.

- Why would this Sesshomaru help you, miko? he replied. We are not allies.

- We are not enemies. She smiled, it was the first time someone took interest in her ability not because she was the reincarnation of a powerful miko but because she, herself had potential.

The daiyokai opened one eye, looking up and down at the young woman who was now kneeling close to him. Weighting the pros and cons he concluded that she was not a threat to himself. He did not think she would use the knowledge he'd teach her to attack him in his sleep.

- Am I very exigent, I will not tolerate any complaining, any whining, or any excuses of any sort. And this Sesshomaru will do as you ask on one condition. You will address this Sesshomaru with the respect he is due, you will call me Lord Sesshomaru or Sesshomaru-sama.

A even bigger smile bore Kagmone's lips. In her happiness she took Sesshomaru's hand and linked her little finger to his. He was confused of why she did that and why would she'd think it was acceptable to touch his person as such. She shook both their hands three times and let go of his hand as quickly as she grabbed it.

- It's a pinky promise, Sesshomaru-sama.

Emphasizing the "sama", Kagome went back to her tree, sat down and waited for Sesshomaru's instructions.