Morning began to come through Kagome's window and the sunlight gently crept onto her bed. Kagome could tell that it was morning, so she slowly opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. She looked down at her stomach and saw that Shippou had curled up next to her in the middle of the night. She smiled and gently brushed his hair out of his face. She couldn't believe how much she was treating the little kit like her own pup, but she was loving every second of it. She then remembered what had happened between her and the demon lord. How could she have been so careless and let him see her mark? No one was allowed to know who she was or where she was from. She hadn't even told her human friends Sango and Miroku. Kagome then remembered the other thing that happened yesterday when she caught herself staring at Sesshoumaru's well toned, bare chest. She blushed at the thought, but then quickly pushed it away.
Kagome looked back down at Shippou and gently shook him. "Shippou, it is time to get up." He made a little grunting noise, but then cuddled closer to her. She then heard him mumble, "Five more minutes." Kagome sat up and watched Shippou roll to the side. He finally cracked his eyes opened and looked up at her. "It is about time you woke up, you sleepy head." Shippou smiled and then watched Kagome get off of the bed. Kagome opened her white wings and then stretched her arms up in the air. She then went to her dresser and grabbed her fighting kimono. Once she had it, she slipped behind the changing screen, removed her sleeping kimono, and changed into her fighting one. When she came out, she grabbed her armor and placed it on. Next, she picked up her katana and secured it to her hip. Finally she went to her vanity and picked up the brush. She began to brush her long raven hair and then she looked at Shippou. "What do you think, should I put my hair up or leave it down?" Shippou brought his hand to his chain and said, "Hm…I think you should leave it down." Kagome nodded and then finished with the brush. She then stood and went to Shippou and squatted down to his level. "Shippou, I have to go to the dojo to help train the soldiers. If you want to, you can come with me, but I am sure that you would get bored, or you can play in the gardens or head to the library and read. It is up to you." Shippou thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "I guess I'll go to the gardens." Kagome nodded and then stood up and said, "Then I will meet you for lunch at noon, alright?" Shippou nodded his head happily and then hopped off the bed and ran out to the gardens.
Kagome headed to the dojo and she wondered what she would have to do. She shrugged her shoulders and continued on. She reached the dojo and pushed opened the doors and saw that some of the soldiers were already beginning their training. She then spotted General Roku and Commander Kenji at one side of the dojo and went over to them. She nodded to both of them and said, "Good morning, General Roku and Commander Kenji." Kenji bowed to her and said, "Good morning Lieutenant Kagome." Kagome turned to face the soldiers that were sparring and watched their every move. As she watched them, she began to notice that not many of them were preparing themselves from an attack from behind. She then looked to Roku and said, "General Roku, may I be so bold to say what a lot of the soldiers are not doing?" He nodded and said, "You may. What do you see that they are not doing correctly?" Kagome looked back to the soldiers and said, "They are not anticipating their opponents' next move. I wish to correct this, if it is alright with you?" "I agree, so you may correct their mistake." Kagome bowed to him and then headed toward the soldiers.
She came up close to where the men were sparring and said, "Gentlemen, stop sparring and give me your attention." The soldiers stopped sparring and turned to face their lieutenant. Kagome walked to the center, which the soldiers made way, and then said, "I want to make sure you can all see and hear me. Now, as I was watching you all spar, I notice a common error that was being made." She looked at one soldier, who was a wolf youkai, and said, "You, can you come here please. I want to do a demonstration." The tall wolf youkai came out of the group and bowed to Kagome. Kagome looked at the other soldiers and said, "Could you all back up so I have room to show you what I need to?" All the men took a couple steps back and made the circle bigger. "Thank you. Now, what is your name, soldier?" The wolf bowed and said, "I am Seko, my lieutenant." Kagome nodded and then said, "Alright, I am going to turn my back to Seko. Now Seko, I want you to attack me with your katana."
Seko looked shocked that his lieutenant wanted to have him attack her when she had back turned, but she did; he watched her turned around and draw her katana. Seko looked to General Roku for reassurances and saw him nodded. He sighed and then stood quiet for a bit. He then silently ran to her for an attack. Kagome spread her senses out and she could tell when Seko was going to attack. Just before Seko brought his katana down, Kagome grabbed hers and then quickly turned and blocked his attack and pushed him back.
Seko looked at her completely stunned and then the two bowed to each other. All the soldiers looked at her with disbelieve. How could she have known when he was going to attack? She turned to the soldiers and said, "Now, I know you want to know how I was able to block his attack. It is simple, if you spread out your senses to your surrounding, you will be able to know exactly when your opponent is going to attack. I want you all to do this and you will be able to predict what your attacker is going to do. Now, continue with your sparring." Then all then said, "Hai, Madam." Kagome left the circle and went back over to Roku and Kenji. "Well done, Lieutenant." Kagome bowed to Roku and said, "Thank you." The three then watched as the soldiers continued sparring with one another while perfecting their senses.
Out in the gardens, Shippou sat by a tree and twirled a daisy between his fingers. He was a little bored, but he couldn't think of what to do. He stared at the flower and he didn't even notice the small girl of seven come up to him. She had shoulder length raven hair that was pulled into a half ponytail on the side of her head. She wore a cute orange and white checkered kimono with a yellow obi. "That is a pretty flower you have." Shippou screamed and jumped up. The little girl screamed a little in surprise and then watched the kitsune turn around to face her. "Who are you?" She laughed and said, "Rin's name is Rin. What is yours?" "I am Shippou." Rin smiled and then said, "Hey, you want to play tag?" Shippou nodded happily and then Rin came up to him and tagged him. "You're it!" She then ran off and Shippou began to chase her, but he ran at her pace to be fair.
Sesshoumaru had moved from his study to the library to look at more books. The only thing that he could find so far was in a book on myths and it talked about how there was a race of immortals that were called angels. The description of the race was similar to that of Kagome, but these creatures didn't exist. He also thought of the possibility that she had mixed youkai blood inside her. His guess was that it had to be two bird youkais breeds since she had the wings and all. She probably got her white wings from the peacefully dove youkai, but she had the body structure and strength of an eagle. But the thing that began to make him doubt that theory was the mark she had on her back. It was something he had never seen before and it intrigued his curiosity. It was that mark which kept him in the library and surrounded by a lot of books. He closed the book he was reading and began to rub his temples. This whole thing was very frustrating because he wasn't getting an answer, but possibilities. All he wanted was a straightforward answer, but that was becoming difficult to find. He stood from his chair and decided that he would head to the dinning hall.
Sesshoumaru reached the dinning hall and saw that Roku, Kenji, and Kagome were already there and were standing next to their seat waiting for him to sit down. Sesshoumaru sat at the head of the table like always. The seat to his left was empty and then next to that sat Roku. She sat between Roku and Kenji as she was supposed to. Just then, they all heard laughter coming down the hallway and the two small kids ran into the dinning room. Kagome noticed that Shippou was in front of a small human girl she had never seen. The little girl caught up to him and tagged him on the back. "You're it, Shippou!" Shippou was about to turn around to tag the girl, but her someone clear his throat. They both turned around to face Sesshoumaru and heard him say, "Rin, haven't you been told not to run inside the castle?" Rin nodded and said, "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama; but Shippou and Rin were going to be late for lunch and we were playing tag." "Rin, I do not want you running in the castle. Am I clear?" Rin nodded her head and said, "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin understands. Rin is sorry." Sesshoumaru turned his head back forward and said, "You are forgiven. Now, come sit at the table." Shippou and Rin climbed up into a chair and sat patiently as the food was being put onto the table. Rin looked to Sesshoumaru for the signal that she could begin. He slightly nodded his head and Rin and Shippou began to eat. Kagome also began to eat, but she could feel Sesshoumaru's eyes on her. Kagome looked up from her meal without moving her head and she saw that Sesshoumaru had his chin propped on his hand and his golden eyes were focused on her. She looked back at her meal and continued to eat. Roku could feel Kagome's uneasiness state and he glance over at her. He saw that her eyes were directed toward Sesshoumaru, who was watching her. He began to wonder why Sesshoumaru was so intrigued by her and he was going to find out. After lunch was over, Kagome took the children to the library and Sesshoumaru left for his study. Roku watched them go and then told himself that he would find out what was going on.