Chapter Five

Burning.

Scorching.

Searing.

It hurt beyond all belief.

She wasn't able to breathe.

Her chest had constricted painfully, her lungs devoid of air.

Drowning.

She felt as though she was drowning, plummeting into the dark abyss that was hell - that was pain.

Cold.

Desolate.

Weak.

She was weaker than she had first imagined. Her vision had blurred, hot tears streaming down her face.

She still couldn't breathe.

A distant almost remote pain shot through her abdomen as she slumped forward, drowning in agony.

It wasn't supposed to hurt as much as it did. He was supposed to have been gentle, teaching her - but instead he had hurt her, knocked the wind out of her, and now she was in tears, crying in front of him again.

He was nothing more than a blur of red and white, but she knew that as soon as she stopped crying things would be clear again.

"Damn it wench, stop crying." His voice was strangely distant, hard and cold, as though he didn't care about her misfortune.

Her stomach continued to throb with a dull sense of pain, her lungs refilling with air as she took small painful breaths. Inuyasha merely watched her, his eyes unnaturally dark.

He was hiding his emotions.

Kagome knew it - he did not want to seem as though he were soft, otherwise it would reflect badly on him and she had to learn - whether it be from pain or not, she had to learn. Otherwise she would be defenseless. She could be killed; she knew that he did not want to risk that. No matter what their relationship was like in that very moment, he still had enough honor to know that sacrificing another's life was out of the question.

Protection.

He was protecting her.

In his own strange way he was protecting her by hurting her, and it did not seem to bother her, she would simply grow off of these lessons no matter how much pain she was in. She didn't want to seem weak, but it was apparent she was.

They had said that she was miko, that mikos are usually strong and rely on some sort of strange power - a pure power, so therefore they were not physically strong, but because of the fact that Inuyasha did not know how to train that power - she had to become stronger physically.

Kagome did not know if she would be able to do it.

After regaining her breath, Kagome stood up slowly, her legs wobbly beneath her. Inuyasha merely watched her with mild amusement before nodding his head slowly and sliding into a fighting.

She wanted to hit him.

Hard.

Stupid, idiotic, arrogant jerk, Kagome thought as she rubbed her aching arm. She did not know how long she had been training with Inuyasha, but she knew that her whole body would be aching as soon as she woke up the next morning.

"Are you ready?" Inuyasha asked quietly, his voice unnaturally cold - detached as he spoke to her, his claws extending briefly. Kagome eyed him warily for a moment before nodding slowly, clenching her fists at her side.

All she had to do was block - be able to defend herself without attacking her attacker, and once she did it properly she would be able to take a well-earned bath. She still had yet to block him.

Properly.

And each time she did block he still wasn't happy.

Kagome blamed it on him being a demon.

After all, everything had to be perfect, and if one simple move was not executed perfectly - it was wrong.

He merely scoffed at the notion telling her that she was a weak wench and that it shouldn't be so hard.

Inuyasha's eyes glittered menacingly as he stood completely still, watching as Kagome eyed him warily, as though trying to get some secret message across to him.

He blocked it out.

Silence was all that passed between the two, seconds slowly stretching into minutes as they stood opposite of each other, Kagome looking tired and in pain - Inuyasha looking as though he were about to pounce on his prey.

If Kagome had been in any other situation she might have been scared, but she wasn't.

"Inuyasha, can we stop now?" Kagome asked, suddenly rubbing her eyes sleepily. Inuyasha merely answered her question by narrowing his amber eyes and baring his fangs. His silver hair cascaded around his shoulders, his blood red haori hanging loosely from his lean albeit muscular figure.

Majestic.

Mesmerizing.

Beautiful.

Kagome blinked suddenly, allowing a whimper of surprise to escape past her throat as her body hit the solid ground, sending a shockwave of pain throughout each muscle and every joint.

Inuyasha had pounced.

Kagome blinked up at him, her eyes showing her surprise at his attack. She wasn't ready - she hadn't been expecting it. He had attacked her when she was most distant, allowing her eyes to sweep over his beautiful figure-

"Pay attention damn it!" Inuyasha snarled, heaving himself off her and sending her a wicked glare.

She wasn't trying - hadn't been trying. She didn't care - she was in too much agony. She sat up slowly, rubbing her shoulder gingerly before looking at Inuyasha and giving an exasperated sigh.

"I was paying attention." Kagome replied nonchalantly, leaning up against the stone, moss covered wall of the citadel.

"What crap."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Kagome asked unintelligently attempting to stifle a yawn.

"You got that damned dazed look in your eyes again wench! Just what the hell are you thinking about that makes you act so incredibly stupid!"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha seethed.

"STOP DAYDREAMING!"

Oh. OH.

Kagome blushed vehemently, turning away so that Inuyasha couldn't see her face. It wasn't that she was daydreaming she was just - distracted.

After a moment of twisting her hands nervously in her obi, she glanced back at him, her face still flushed as she stammered to find the right words to say. But - no words came out. All she had managed to do was open and close her mouth a couple of times before realizing how completely ridiculous she looked, flushing more.

"Idiot wench." Inuyasha muttered before turning away from her and heading towards the entrance of the citadel.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kagome called out to him, running to catch up to him despite the pain in her legs.

"How stupid are you really?" Inuyasha asked turning around to face her, his eyes unnaturally dark, flecked with crimson. "How hard is it to block a damned attack?" He growled, his voiced laced with venom that she had not encountered before.

"I'm trying." Kagome whispered meekly, as she continued to gaze into his ember eyes.

Inuyasha, however, merely continued to glare at her before his fist went out and collided with her shoulder.

What in the hell? Kagome thought as a squeak made it's way out of her throat, her body hitting the ground roughly.

"You need to be prepared for even unexpected attacks." Inuyasha ground out before kneeling down next to her. Kagome met his dark gaze with a glare of her own before sitting up completely and brushing her kimono off. She did not want to deal with it - any of it.

Even though she had wanted to have the training in the first place - she did not know if her frail body would be able to take it any longer. She had continually gotten beaten up, thrown around, and bruised - she couldn't stand the abuse any longer.

"No more training." Kagome said evenly as she turned to go back inside the citadel. Inuyasha raised a level eyebrow at her, a scowl apparent on his features.

"You," he ground out evenly, "are not going anywhere until you are able to block one."

Kagome glared.

"If you haven't noticed, I have been blocking you the entire time. But you - just because it isn't perfect you throw a fit and beat me up some more! If you haven't noticed I'm human Inuyasha - human - I'm weak and frail and incapable of fighting! So just because I can't do things as fluidly as you can, does not mean that you have to hate me for it!"

Inuyasha look taken aback for a moment before his glare returned full force.

"That's right. You are human. But that doesn't mean you have to be so WEAK!"

Tears had already started to form in Kagome's eyes. Inuyasha had already cursed himself. And he knew - just knew that he wouldn't be able to do it.

Because no matter how much he tried to distant himself from her - he couldn't. It was as though there was already some sort of connection between the two, bonding them together.

He wanted to be cold and emotionless as though he did not care but -

It was too late.

He already could not stand to see a woman cry and every time a woman cried, he would just lose it.

"Damn it wench stop crying." He said, trying to alleviate the guilt that was continually building inside of him. But it seemed that the sound of his voice only made her cry harder.

Inuyasha's furry ears instinctively flattened against his skull as he took a cautionary step towards Kagome, unsure of what to do.

"Please?" Inuyasha asked uncertainty laced throughout his voice. And -

Kagome glanced at him with red puffy eyes before grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Inuyasha asked a rough edge to his voice.

"You said please." Kagome replied, wiping the large tear droplets from her eyes.

Inuyasha blinked.

And Kagome smiled.

A brief moment of silence passed between the two.

"Keh. I only said it to get you to stop crying."

Kagome looked enlightened.

Inuyasha was terrified.

"So," Kagome started, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "you don't like it when women cry then?"

And as Inuyasha gazed at her, he could have sworn that he saw a mischievous glint flicker behind her eyes.

"I just don't like listening to that damned whimpering," he stated. Then as an afterthought he added, "wench."

Kagome grinned like a maniac.

"So Inuyasha, if I were to cry, would you be nicer to me?"

"Not a chance in hell."

"Why not?"

"Because then you would be doing it to take advantage of me."

"So you really can't stand it when a woman cries," Kagome grinned, ignoring the look of momentary horror that spread across his usually scowling face.

And Kagome knew.

She had him.

She would win.

She would always win.

"That's what I thought." Kagome stated cheekily at Inuyasha's long lapse of silence.

And - Inuyasha wanted to kill her because -

Only his family members knew his weakness. And even if they did know, they would not use it against him. But this - evil, conniving, wicked, maniacal, blackmailing wench - she would use it against him and - he couldn't have that. So he did the only thing to show her that she couldn't win. That he would always win.

He tackled her.

Kagome gasped audibly, her face flushing as Inuyasha claws dug into her forearms.

"Now," Inuyasha ground out through gritted teeth, "you will forget everything that we just talked about, understand?"

Kagome nodded with wide eyes.

Inuyasha smirked.

He had won.

He was victorious.

He was the best.

"Well, now I know what you meant when you said you wished to train her, little brother."

Kagome grinned wickedly and Inuyasha flushed horribly before climbing off of her and adverting his gaze elsewhere.

And then Inuyasha realized that he wasn't the best.

And neither was Kagome but -

Damn it all to hell, Inuyasha thought as he crossed his arms sulkily.

"Hi," Kagome stated while bowing, attempting to ignore the faint blush that spread across her cheeks, "I don't believe we have met."

Inuyasha's brother barely spared her a glance before looking back towards Inuyasha.

"Father wishes to have a word with you."

"I'm training Kagome," Inuyasha bristled.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "Indeed."

"I am!" Inuyasha defended.

"No need to get defensive little brother. I was merely stating the obvious."

"But you didn't say anything," Kagome mumbled, confused at what was transpiring between the two. Sesshoumaru glanced at Kagome, amusement dancing behind his eyes before turning back towards Inuyasha.

"Father wants you to take a group out to the Northern Front to speak with the wolves and their leader."

Inuyasha fumed.

"No fucking way!"

Kagome felt insignificant. She wished that she knew what they were talking about - Northern Front? Wolves? - and yet, somehow it seemed oddly familiar. But why would Inuyasha get so angry about being dispatched to the Northern Lands? If her accusations were correct, then Inuyasha traveling to the Northern Lands had something to do with Naraku and -

Oh.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked meekly, tugging on the sleeve of his haori.

"What?" He asked shrugging his sleeve from her grasp.

"Are you going to have to make allies with the wolves?"

"I see that I am mistaken about you," Sesshoumaru spoke directly to Kagome, who looked a bit flustered, "you will be accompanying him."

"I'd love to!"

"No fucking way!"

Kagome blinked up at Inuyasha who was looking down at her with darkened amber eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because you haven't been trained properly. You could be killed and I don't feel like babysitting you all the damned time!"

Kagome's lip trembled furiously before she clamped down on it, attempting to keep herself from crying because - it just wasn't fair. Just because she was human did not mean that she was inferior in any way.

Sesshoumaru merely raised an eyebrow at the two before turning around to walk away.

"Then I suggest you train her Inuyasha. Father wishes for her to go with you." And with that Sesshoumaru turned and walked away, leaving Kagome and Inuyasha to them selves.

But Kagome - she felt absolutely elated.

Although she was being forced to endure weeks of training until she was satisfactory enough to even go out and fight along side of the Inu-Clan, she was still given the permission to be dispatched and -

No stuffy castle.

Crisp clear air.

Freedom.

They wouldn't be able to keep her locked up inside the castle forever - and although she would be carefully watched over while traveling - she would still be able to enjoy nature and not some plain stonewalls.

But then - Kagome finally realized that Inuyasha was eying her with a maniacal glint in his eyes and - she was afraid.

"So, you want to come with me to the Northern Border?" Inuyasha asked casually, cracking his knuckles loudly. Kagome winced. Somehow she knew that she was not going to be going anywhere with Inuyasha - and Inuyasha would see to that. But then - why would Inuyasha not want her to go? He was training her for a reason after all and there would be no reason for her not to go if she was properly prepared.

"Yes, actually I do." Kagome's hands had found their way into her obi once again.

"But you need to be trained," Inuyasha replied smirking as his claws grew an extra inch.

Kagome fought down the urge to gulp; she wouldn't let him intimidate her.

"Of course. It would be ignorant to go out unprepared."

"And being prepared means that you need to be able to take hits of any kind, right?" Inuyasha asked maliciously.

Kagome paled.

Inuyasha grinned wickedly.

Screw going easy on her; he was going to be downright hellish.

After all, it was what he had first wanted, and if he wanted her to stay in the castle she was going to have to learn that not all battles could be easily won.

That and - even if he wasn't a full demon or the best - he was still strong because - he would be the best someday. Even if it took an eternity he would be the best, and he wouldn't let something as petty as having human blood stop him.

That damned wench had no idea what was coming.

"Um, Inuyasha?"

"Hmmm?"

"What are you thinking about? Because you have this homicidal look in your eyes and - oh."

Kagome bolted.

Inuyasha waited for a couple seconds, watching as she ran as fast as humanly possible from him before bolting after her. And he loved the chase.

Kagome squeaked as he pounced on her, catching her only after a moment, pinning her against the ground.

"Now Inuyasha," Kagome's eyes widened as he flexed his claws, "let's be civilized about this. You don't really want to kill me do you?"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, amusement clear on his features. Of course he didn't want to kill her, he was merely having fun with her. After all, if she was just a little too injured to walk - she couldn't come with him to the Northern Border and everyone would be safer.

"And if I do feel like ripping your bowels and shoving them down your throat?"

Kagome's face turned a putrid green for a brief moment before her eyes sparkled indignantly and she thrashed about under him, causing his claws to dig into her forearms.

"LET - ME - GO!" Kagome screeched, accenting each word. Inuyasha merely looked at her effortlessly before letting her go and jumping away from her.

"Keh. I'll give you five seconds to prepare for my attack. If you aren't ready than you are sleeping outside."

Kagome glowered. "You can't do that!"

"Listen wench, I am a commander of the Inu-Clan, I can do whatever I want."

"Your dad wouldn't let you." Kagome mumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

"Five."

"Besides, I'm a woman."

"Four."

"And, I am a miko."

"Three."

Kagome faltered.

"Two."

"A very very respectable miko!"

"One."

"That could kill you!"

"Zero."

"Wait Inuyasha –"

Kagome's eyes widened as Inuyasha's fist connected with her already bruised ribs. Her lungs burned as she sought to breathe, constricting painfully as hot blinding tears appeared in her eyes.

Inuyasha watched her, his eyebrow raised in mild interest as she clutched her bruised ribs, attempting to escape the pain and –

She wanted to kill him.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, however, all the pain seemed to leave her body and all that was left was an indescribable feeling of hate and malice – loathing. And yes – she wanted to kill him badly.

She wanted to be able to hear his bones crack, to feel his blood drip needlessly from her hands, to decimate him and to hear him scream in pain.

Her eyes glinted an odd red color.

And then, as though her wish came true a strange, thick crimson liquid began to pour from her hands, creating large blood red puddles against the earth and –

Kagome screamed.

Her body tensed as the waves of red started to pulsate, sending strong agonizing shockwaves of pain through her body.

Her knees buckled and she fell into the large pool of what appeared to blood only to have it turn into large white puddles of hot searing flames.

They licked at her body, burning and scorching her, blistering and scarring – growing larger, thicker, and deadlier.

The white flames rose into the air as more shockwaves of pain pulsated through Kagome's body and then –

The flames engulfed her.

Inuyasha lunged towards her attempting to free her from the white flames, ignoring the blinding light but then stopped because –

The flames disappeared and –

Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

It couldn't be, but it was.

Kagome was gone.