Okay, so no one likes me. Oh well, I'm still typing away furiously. So, this story starts to focus less on the main characters, but please, the story's all right, please! Please, read this and make sure it is good! Please review to let me know just how good I am at writing.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, except for Rinoa. She's the only thing that's mine!
Sesshoumaru stood nervously on the mat, fixing his padding continually. The girl, Rinoa, smiled at him and handed a blunt fencing sword to him. "Rin will be fine, Sesshoumaru. Don't allow her to take over you, okay? If you want to, the best idea, is to simply back down when Inuyasha gets here and then go to her. You can do it with good honor, still. Just not fight him."

"I cannot do that," Sesshoumaru snapped. "But."

The entire clique silenced him with a few choice words. "Don't let your little brother tell you what to do!" Rinoa sighed and stepped away, letting the rest of the gang advise him in what he should do.

The doors flung open to the school's fencing arena and Inuyasha stood there, padded and ready to fight. "Let's go, Big Brother."

Half of the school was there, but the two cliques got the best view of the fight. Few people noticed that there was one missing, a very beautiful, small someone was missing from one clique. Sesshoumaru could feel his heart rip as he pulled his mask over his head. Rin would have been there to give him one last kiss before the fight began. He would have been fighting for her, but now, he was fighting to get to her. Winning would not get him to her fast enough. Losing would ruin his reputation.

Rinoa, the strangely pale girl, could see the dilemma her friend faced. Please, let him choose right.If not my mother, him.

The fight was started before long, due to Sesshoumaru's gruff orders. It was rather uneventful, because of two things. Because Sesshoumaru was mentally elsewhere, he had no ability to really attempt to win. In that sense, Inuyasha really did not have to do much before he had the upper hand.

Two minutes into the fast fight, Sesshoumaru tripped. Inuyasha moved over his fallen brother with a look of triumph. "Say I have the title."

Sesshoumaru pulled off his mask and glared at his brother. "Take it, you heartless whelp!" With that, he dashed off of the mats, fear covering his face. On the sidelines, Sesshoumaru's clique looked astonished as the people of Inuyasha's group shouted victoriously.

Slowly, Rinoa got to her feet and picked up the mask Sesshoumaru had discarded in his fearful retreat. Looking up, she glanced at a clock and sighed regretfully. He would not make it. She turned to face the group that was shouting loudly and anger took control of her. Rinoa walked up to them, a static expression covering her face.

"Ho, hey there!" Inuyasha called, gloating his victory. "What did you think of my besting of my brother?" Rinoa took a deep breath. He was too far away. "Just be careful, you said." Inuyasha swaggered up to her, his height creating a slight problem to her. A slight problem.

Striking faster than lightning, Rinoa bowled him over fast. He hit the ground with a satisfying thud and Inuyasha's gang stopped in horrified shock. Sitting up, Inuyasha shook his head to clear it and gave the girl a confused look.

"I bet you were too concerned about the fight to realize that Sesshoumaru's girlfriend did not show up for this," Rinoa started quietly. The crowds of people looked around, just noticing that fact for the first time. "Rin is in the hospital, about to have surgery. He could have easily beaten you if he hadn't been out of his mind with worry."

The crowds were stunned, and Inuyasha sat, still shocked. His hand was resting on the spot where Rinoa's well-aimed fist had connected, pain entirely forgotten. "I-I-I didn't know!" he cried, shock making his voice crack.

"You got your title back. And I'm willing to take you on to get it back for Sesshoumaru," Rinoa murmured, her voice just barely audible to those other than Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked into her surprisingly calm and yet angry eyes and nodded.

"Perfect. Tomorrow, same time. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes."

"If there is a reason why you cannot fight at your full power tomorrow, tell me. We can always reschedule."

Inuyasha nodded, fully intending to apologize to his brother when he got home. Rinoa smiled when she saw his look and took Inuyasha's hand and dragged him to his feet. "Now, go and rest. I expect a full fight from you, Top Fighter."

______________________

Inuyasha stood silently by a wall, leaning against it, one foot twitching irritably. It was a horrible day so far. In the morning, his brother had awoken and promptly got mad at him for not cleaning the dishes the day before, and refused to speak to him. Sesshoumaru was not even in school today. Another fight and his brother wouldn't even see his stand-in get beaten.

That was just his morning. At school, he was promptly dismissed from Kikyo's presence because she had heard rumors that Kagome had a crush on him, Inuyasha, and she would not go out with him then. Miroku had plagued him all day about the fight, talking about how it would feel to fight a girl. Sango had been comforting a distraught Kagome because her other friends had shunned her for some reason or another. Shippou was being just plain annoying.

Worst of all, Rinoa was continually around him, appearing beside him wherever he went. Maybe it was fate, chance, or some other weird fortune, but it was creeping him out. The only place he got respite from her was at lunch, and then he had the others to deal with.

Finally, the last bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Students raced out of their classrooms and down to the fencing arena, intent on getting good views of the fight to come. Inuyasha walked there, his feet dragging. For some reason, he was not at all excited about this fight. Maybe it was because Kikyo was going to be there- with her new boyfriend.

Inuyasha snarled. He had always hated Naraku. Now, he had one more reason to hate him: stealing his girlfriend. Well.He had wanted Kikyo to be his girlfriend, but now, Naraku had Kikyo.

"Hey, Inuyasha," a soft voice started. Inuyasha looked up and nearly jumped. Kagome stood really near to him, a concerned look on her face. "You okay?"

Inuyasha smiled. Just looking at Kagome could make anyone happy. "Yeah. I'll be fine."

Kagome smiled her winning smile and trotted ahead to catch up with the rest of the students. Maybe it wasn't that bad. His friends would be there.

With that thought, he picked up his heels and marched bravely into the arena. Rinoa stood on the mat, padded up, her mask under one arm and her sword over her shoulder like a hobo's stick. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, never once showing her teeth.

"Come, Little One. Let's begin this already so I may work on my homework."

"We can always reschedule," Inuyasha said smoothly, mockingly. When no answer came to him, he smiled. "Shall we fight?"

"Get padded up. I don't want to be responsible for what I'm about to do."

"I think you are the only one who will need to be padded. I will be fine," Inuyasha snapped, a smirk covering his face. Rinoa grinned grimly, still not showing her teeth.

"Just get padded, Kid," Rinoa murmured, her voice a deadly whisper. Inuyasha smiled smugly as he received help from Miroku in putting on the pads. Without the pads, one could be seriously hurt in fencing. Even with pads, the swords hurt a lot.

Standing before the Bodyguard, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She was intimidating in every way. The paleness of her skin made her look unearthly and dangerous. She was long and lithe, but definitely strong. She didn't hold her arms loosely at her side like a weakling would. They were held in a relaxed position, but still ready to be used. Even though she was shorter than him, she seemed to tower over him as she held her sword expertly and slipped her mask over her head in a way that suggested experience.

As he clumsily pulled the mask over his head, he realized that this fight might be hard. Slowly, Rinoa pulled the sword to a ready position and waited, her weight on the balls of her feet.

"Come, Puppy," she crooned, her voice taunting. Inuyasha glanced at the crowds for a moment and found himself staring at two faces that looked alike. Rinoa's eyes glanced at them and she chuckled. "Who are you fighting for, Little one? Your former love interest or your new one?"
Okay, so last chapter, I didn't put up an ending note. So what? Please, review this and tell me what you think! Flames are perfectly acceptable.

I'm going to use space and tell you about two wonderfully written stories that you should read! One is called Broken. It's so beautiful! It is all about what would happen if the rosary was broken. It's wonderful! I forget who wrote it, but it is spelt with a capital! Another is A Demon Should Act Like A Demon, or something like that. It's really good as well. If I try to summarize it, I'll throw away the surprise, so just read this one! If you don't like either of them, flame me in complaint, not them.

Okay, thanks so much your continuing support! (Even if I don't get any from any readers.)