Sorry this chapter took so very long to come out, but I decided to make a Glossary which I would appreciate that you read lol. I've had exams and had to revise and crap. Then I had a death in the family, and the funeral was just this Friday gone. Anyways here's the next chapter .


Chapter Seven: Training and Returns

After someone had come to clean up her sputum, and a small crowd of Kikyo followers had appeared to greet the somewhat distant priestess, Kagome was taken to be shown to her quarters and measured. She'd been given the normal garb of that of a miko from the Feudal Ages, the off white of the haori and blood red hakama pants and it burned to don them. The burn would fade, eventually. She'd show her worth to InuYasha, show what he had lost.

Training began within the next few days, along with her schooling. Her weeks consisted of ballet and gymnastics required to make her supple and lithe, lessons she would usually have in high school and meditation exercises to help her control her powers.

Kagome made an attempt to mingle and make friends for her long stay at the shrine, but she had been alienated as soon as the first day had gone by. This didn't stop her however; she plodded on day after day putting her social skills to the best of her use. After a month she finally gave up and submerged herself in work, sang to herself, and talked to wondering spirits should they wonder around her long enough. If she had withdrawal symptoms she kept them to herself.

Due to her isolation from miko society her powers grew faster than the average priestess and her elevation from beginner to standard vexed a lot of her alienators, Kikyo included. After graduating 'high school' within the next month she was shipped off to the Brotherhood to continue her training under the guidance of Shaolin monks and sword masters.

The Brotherhood was much the same as the Sisterhood, just only teaching males. The reasons were the same as those for single sexed high schools. But she was the exception due to her demands for hand to hand battle and weapon mastery. The Grand Priestess could only pull so many stings and none of those she could pull had teachers willing to leave their posts just for one student. So the shipping to Naze was unavoidable. The Brotherhood had a barrier and much the same spells to match that of the Sisterhoods. Whereas the power of Izanami is channelled through a high levelled priestess to maintain the barrier, the power of Izanagi is channelled through a high levelled priest.
She spent seventeen years at the Brotherhood, slowly coming out of her shell of solitude and slowly began to make friends so her time spent learning was somewhat more enjoyable. As she learned her confidence and ego grew to within acceptable standards of a constantly sort after girl. The teachers didn't pay much mind to her being a woman and treated her, much to her joy, like all the other students, shit. She left but after she had made an impact. She had been graced with a samurai blade set on her departure, which was odd, due to the fact she had brushed that part of the training, and many others, only learning the weapon dances and concentrating on the Chinese form of swordsmanship.

The ego and confidence building at the Brotherhood crumbled to rubble and dust within the first three days back at the Sisterhood. By all means she was not popular with the priestesses. They seemed to think she had influence over the Grand Priestess, making her do Kagome's bidding. It was a nice rumour she had to admit, but the Grand Priestess only paid sisters attention when they paid theirs to her.

She returned to her solitude, keeping up her own training and starting to study again for her degree in astronomy and gradually became buried in her work and training, again. She wasn't planning on spending much longer at the Sisterhood anyway. She had been away long enough. Upon her twenty-first year of training she told them, them being Nabiki, she would be leaving them soon, to return to her duties on the other side of the barrier.

"No," had been Nabiki's answer, "Your training is not yet complete," she added later when Kagome puffed up like a silver backed gorilla about to beat her hands on her chest and storm out the wall that Nabiki had her back too.

She decided that she would stay for another seven years making it a whole month that had gone by in the 'realer world' without her. Her routine changed slightly as the years went by. In the past the years had a routine of training and studies, now it was training, studies and training missions.

Most of these mock battles were made for building team work and finding out who could work well or break under pressure. Kikyo excelled in these situations. Most of the time taking the leading role in the groups hunting powerful and rather large level three demons called by high priestess back at the facility into the near by woods. If Kagome hadn't been one of the few to be cast out by her she would have held Kikyo in awe as much as her followers did, for her it was bitter indifference and a skid mark of envy.

One of these supposed training missions had turned into an actual real battle. One of the rather powerful and large level three demons that a high priestess happened to call into their realm was with child. Several in fact, close to a hundred, all extremely ugly, not that their mother was much of a looker and with long guts. In other words ugly, greedy little buggers.

Women from the Sisterhood had acted as support for the men from the Brotherhood, casting shields, healing, spirit armour castings, curse breakers, on the spot exorcisms and also acting as back up, guarding backs with purifying arrows. The Brotherhood were acting as cannon fodder and meat shields and Kagome was ordered or more pointedly forced by her group leader to join the ranks of cannon fodder on this mission.

Before it had actually turned into a real battle the mock mission was going as well as all the others she had been on, the only thing that was different was the odd feel of unease. The reason for her unease was made apparent when one of the cannon fodder went in for the kill and preformed an emergency C-section on the mother to be. As soon as the babies were out they devoured their mother and turned on each other. The Brothers saw this as an opportunity and attacked the writhing mass slicing the worm like creatures into smaller worm like creatures. This didn't help the situation; instead it made it easier for the others to eat. They ate each other faster than InuYasha could physically inhale a pot of ramen, leaving two over weight, human sized worms that were in serious need of lips, if only to keep back the over flow of drool that was turning the ground into a mud wrestling ring.

The Sisters saw this as another failing of the cannon fodder and Kagome was also held responsible. Taking responsibility for her group, Kagome erected a barrier around one of the cannibal worms. It smashed against the barrier trying to get to its sister or brother so they could either hug or eat each other, probably the latter due to the lack of limbs.

Kagome pulled on her power and shifted the barrier into a sphere moving the barrier off the ground so that the worm couldn't burrow to escape. She steadily made the sphere smaller crushing and purifying the inhabitant in the process. It was taking longer than it should have due to her having to keep a barrier around herself and her fellow fodder whilst cannibal worm number two rammed against it.

The squeals of number one were only fuelling number two to double its efforts in drooling on the barrier which now had small hole that were growing larger with each new vibration it receive. As the last death squeal left number one, number two smashed through the barrier, three lines of fodder and made a mouth-long rush towards an unprepared Kagome.

Before the last defence between her faeces and underwear gave out, Kagome was launched out of harms way and thrown into the under-bush lining the clearing. Righting herself in the air and with mental effort clenched that sphincter close, landed on a crouch leaning on her previous 'dog mauled' arm which was now punctured with small holes that were bleeding freely.

She scrambled back to the clearing, just in time to see a white wolf, no lager than Kirara in her battle form, urinate and kick dirt on a now dead cannibal worm number two.
A month. A whole month had gone by without Lady Kagome and Miroku was feeling it. The most he'd managed to get out of InuYasha had been, "Piss off," and, "Leave me alone." InuYasha hadn't provided any information on why Lady Kagome had left only that she did and probably for good. He didn't like the 'for good' part. The 'for good' part had turn Sango sour over night like a pile of washing that hadn't been hung up quick enough. If he even looked in her direction she'd hurt him, and although he didn't like the length of his life span he'd prefer it to be short and miserable, than shorter and miserable.

InuYasha had been relentless in searching for the Jewel shards, trying to prove that he didn't need Lady Kagome's help. He would send off both him and Sango on Kirara and tell them to come back and if the rumours proved fruitful InuYasha would join them. Whilst they were gone InuYasha did something he deemed useful.

'Why couldn't he go with Sango?' he thought acrimoniously as her pony tail smacked him in the face on his place behind her on Kirara. They were returning from a neighbouring village and their visit had not proved fruitful.

There had been a rumour floating about that village, a cunning demon that attacked their village during the night and kidnapped their children from their beds only to later find their bones in the near by woods. It sounded like a Jewel shard so off they went.

It happened to be a mad man that lived in their village who was trying to summon something so he would have unmatched power and take the position as the new village head. Even though they had been there he'd kidnapped another child and killed him before they could stop him. The mad man was executed in public for the benefit of the families he destroyed, his body burnt to ash and his head sent rolling down a hill into a near by gully where some animal, no doubt, took pity and buried it.

The reason the trip had turned sour was that the child that had been kidnapped and ceremoniously sacrificed had reminded Sango of her little brother.

Sango had blamed this on InuYasha, "If he'd of been here, he'd have smelt the blood on the bastard. And! If he hadn't run off Kagome she would have sensed if there was a shard there or not then we would have found him before he killed the boy!" She'd said, well yelled.

He thought more along the lines of, 'If Lady Kagome was here we wouldn't have known about this village's problem. We would be off somewhere else looking for a real shard,' though he kept these thoughts to himself. She didn't talk to him anymore and she ground her teeth a lot more often. When she did talk to him she snapped at him because InuYasha wasn't there to be snapped at.

At last their journey had come to an end as they landed outside the hut they called home. They hopped off and froze as a bitter wind hit them and Kirara's hackles rose. A figure was coming into sight at the end of the road, slowly. Miroku, Sango and Kirara twitched into their battle stances as the figures drew closer. The strangers drew up slowly and stopped at a non-threatening distance away the shard group.

Sango relaxed and made to approach the two her eyes locked on whom she thought to be Kikyo. Miroku stopped her with his staff and shock his head halting her protests returning his attention to the Kikyo look a like. She resembled the distant priestess a great deal except the few small differences.

The woman's face was softer and knew what it was to smile, her hair was longer than that of Kikyo's, reaching to her calves and styled in a loose braid. She was garb in the traditional red hakama pants and a strange top that didn't meet her sleeves and instead of the trademark weapon of a shrine priestess she sported a full samurai sword set that looked used. Among the small differences, which befell all others, was the child. Looking no older than seven or eight, he held onto the first two fingers of the woman's hand.

It looked like any other normal rich child would, dressed in a garb matching that of InuYasha's except in white, the under shirt a pale grey and he wore slippers. They only things that weren't normal were his hair, white and rebellious, the mark of an eclipse on his forehead, the demonic aura and last but not least his eyes. Which he locked Miroku with, his ice burger blue hues chilling the monks mind numb. He shook himself and scowled at the child causing him to hide himself partially behind the Kikyo look a like.

'Could Buddha be smiling upon me?' was his thought as he suddenly found himself receiving a hug from the stranger. His hands wondered to the lower half of the woman taking a good one and a half handfuls of her rear. The reaction he was expecting was a smack. Hopefully a playful one, 'She did make the first move'. When her hug increased to an embrace he'd thought he'd died and gone to Nirvana. Not one woman he'd encountered had been this encouraging of his bad habits. He was further surprised when she pulled back and pecked him on the cheek.

Suffice to say Sango was furious. Not only had the backwards monk fondled another woman in front of her, but, 'That hussy,' was encouraging him. She was just about to give the hussy a piece of her bone boomerang when she turned on her, hugging her and bouncing up and down and waffling on about, "How long it's been," leaving Miroku looking rather lonely. Again.

The now branded 'Perfect, Not-All-There, Hussy' became suddenly stiff, as something very dead and sounding like the hut door was smacked aside. The 'Perfect, Not-All-There, Hussy' label disappeared and was replaced with a 'Respect My Detached Authority' label, much like the one Kikyo wore.

"InuYasha," came the curt acknowledgement.

The half-dog demons nostrils flared as he sniffed in the immediate vicinity. His eyes widened as he picked out a familiar scent even though it was swamped with the smell of a wolf. He replied in much the same tone with an added breeziness.

"Kagome."

End of Chapter Seven

Hmm, you know how they have those sorts of filler episodes for anime that aren't really needed? Well this is a filler chapter that is needed. I'm not happy with the lack of, well, anything really happening, but it had to be done sorry. Hopefully the next chapter will be out shortly.

Reply to Reviews

syrinxsong: Hullo lovie, glad you liked the young version of Hopposai, not to sure that how you spell his name but whatever! :P Here is the next chapter, and keep your story rolling hun, it kicks butt!

Ray-sama: Read my Glossary, and thing I'm proud of, and you'll know why I spell it as Tessaiga.

Lady Deathfire: :) Kag is back in the past scene now. Enjoy :)

likita: Thank you! I don't really know about her killing Kikyo yet, but if it happens you'll be happy :).
Fire Mistress: Thanks! ::hugs you till you can't breath:: such kind words!

waterdragonmaster: Sorry for the length but some have to stop in certain places for me, so that the story has... there's a word but I can't think or it right now, no wait, wait... PACE! That's it! ::grumbles:: though it hit my 2,500 word limit.

ra: I ask for addies coz then I can post you with updates so you don't check for new chapters. And I'll keep going :)

kdemongrl: The lovy dovy between Kag&Sess will get there hun, if I start writing crap just to rush it I won't be happy and neither will you and the other readers. Please bear with the pace I'm setting, coz I really don't want to rust things. Unless I have to lol. If you review a next time hun remeber to leave your E-mail addy so i can send you updates k.

Nikcc2003: Thanks! Kag is back and that question about Sess will be answered quiet a bit later in the story.

inukagonly: The coupling will get there I promise, and thank you for reading and you're welcome hun :)

Sakura Tenvaiga: :D thanks for all those reviws in one go lol. Though I would have been well chuffed if you just revied only one, but you did em all! :D Thanks! You knocked up my review number! xD. And the sword thing read my Glossary :)

Tigeris: Glad you liked it and yes I totally agree, Sess is one cool hunk of sexyness. You almost had it right but it's only one day for a year to pass, and I totally ripped DBZ, I'll have to put a disclaimer for that next chapter.

Crimson Colored Cloaked Figure: Updated one month and six days after your post, I'd say that's pretty good, though I have the feeling you won't :P

forest-fires: Nope there is only the one reincarnation of Kikyo and is Kikyo of the future that's got that on her shoulders. Our cute Kag isn't burdened with that crap anymore :)

Sesshomaru'sElement: Have done :P. Glad you like it :) and here is the chapter as demanded.

inuyasha1990: I can post you updates if you'd like, though you can use the author alert it sends you an email or when I post a new chapter :) all you have to do is put me on it :P

Kay Out