When I woke up the next morning, all there was at the hill was a note and a blindfold. I read the note, "Here's your first test. If you can, remove your jewel shard and bury it here. Put on the blindfold and try to find me with your other senses. When my scent is the strongest, you may remove your blindfold. I will be unarmed."

I put a hand to my chest and my shard seeped out and into my hand. I dug a small hole and buried the shard. I had a feeling that he'd come back for it later, so I had to remember exactly where I buried it. I put on the blindfold and my hearing started to take over. I heard the wind blowing through the trees. I started sniffing the spot where we laid. I picked up Inuyasha's scent and my own. I followed his scent, my nose pressed to the ground as I steadily snuck along the ground. Then I picked up the scent of a fire and food that drove off my trail. I heard gasping as I wandered through the camp. A while past it, the fire diminished and I caught his trail again. It grew stronger as I followed it in a straight line. I came upon a tree and the scent went up.

I removed the blindfold and saw him sitting on the top branch with his back turned. I hid quickly behind the tree and started to steadily climb it, trying to be as quiet as possible. I was almost to the branch when a flash of red went past me. It automatically occurred to me that he went back to retrieve the jewel shard I left behind. I rushed through the grass and I pounced onto him as he was started digging in the ground. I pinned him to the ground with my claws and I growled. "I knew it! I knew you'd come back here!"

He laughed, "you think you know me so well, don't you?"

"Like hell I don't, you sneak!" I flexed the claws on my right hand and stretched them around his throat. "Hand it over..." I bared my teeth, growling. I looked as both of his hands were clamped shut. I sniffed to see which one had my scent on it and it was in his right hand. "Unhand it before I bite your hand off!"

He opened his hand and I quickly nabbed it with my teeth. I freed him from my grip and replaced it. I continued to bare my teeth at him as if I was a wild animal. He folded his arms, "Well, I guess you passed my first test."

"How'd I do?" I got back on both feet as he started walking away.

"Well, not bad for starters, but sometimes, you gotta be a lot quicker than that. I gotta say that your stealth act was good until you took the blindfold off... you need to maintain that strength even when you can see your target." He stopped, "as for just now, you're a lot braver than I gave you credit for. You dared to threaten me like a real demon, despite the fact you might have taken me to be your friend."

"Well, I figured that I had to put an a brave and strong face if I was dealing with you. You're pretty vicious."

"Yeah, but I'll get a lot worse further down the road... I went easy on you this time." He brushed it off. "After breakfast, I'll test how you deal with a fight one on one."

As we all ate together, it was silence all over. I kept seeing the events of the past half hour replay in my head over and over again. I wondered what would have happened if Inuyasha got nastier than he did. I also thought about what kind of sparring match this was going to be. Most likely, it would be like hand to hand combat, but I still wondered about the kind of move he was going to try on me. After finishing, I headed out to the center of the trees to wait for Inuyasha.

Miroku broke the silence, "So Inuyasha, what's your next move?"

"Well, I'm gonna try to see how she deals in a sparring match without any weapons but our claws and teeth. I think for a split second that I saw her eyes flash red when she was growling and seeming to be set on killing me for the jewel shard. Of course, I could have defended myself if I needed to."

"But Inuyasha, you know what it's like when your demonic nature is awakened? What's to say that doing so for her is wise? She could very well be a more vicious transformed demon than you are."

"Humph, I doubt it, but I think I could handle it if it comes to that." He cracked his knuckles, "It's been a long time since I last transformed, but its good that I at least know how to wield the Tetsusaiga and invoke its Wind Scar now." He smiled, "I'll be back…"

Kagome rushed past him and over to me. "Do you mind if I hold your jewel shard for a while?"

"Sure," I patted my chest and the shard returned to my hand. I put it in hers, "Just keep it separate from the other shards you've collected and do that little trick of yours to make sure Inuyasha doesn't get it."

"Sure." She smiled, "Sure thing." Inuyasha walked over, handing his sword over to Kagome. "Hold Tetsusaiga for me." He marked up to me, his expression solid with no smile whatsoever. He looked me straight in the eye and I just narrowed mine to make it look like I wasn't intimidated. I let my demon blood calm me down a bit and take control of the situation.

"All right," He took a step back, "I'll take 10 paces back and then I'll come at you." He turned around and walked ten steps back. He turned around, giving me his killer stare and rushed over to me. He swung his right arm back, "Iron reverse…" I quickly bent backwards. "Soul-stealer!" I leaned my left leg forward and swept his legs from under him. He screamed in surprise but instead of falling backwards, he did a back-flip and ended up back on his feet.

He gave back at me again in a run, but a few seconds before he got to his mark, I jumped above his head and kicked him in the chin. He was knocked backwards, but he leaned forward, putting one knee on the ground to stabilize himself. He wiped his mouth of what looked like blood. He nodded, but came at me once more. He reached his hand for his 'Iron Reverse Soul Stealer' attack, but this time, I grabbed him back by the wrist and flipped him on his back.

I put my left foot on his chest as he looked up, seeming to be out of breath. "Have enough yet!" I laughed until I felt him grab my ankle; he swept it and I ended up on my back too.

"Rule #1: Don't ever ask me if I've had enough. I've fought to the death several times and I wouldn't make an exception even for you." He stopped panting, "Tell me the truth. Are you pulling my leg? Are you really as weak as you claim to be? Because based on what I just saw you do… you've got a lot of fight in you. It's almost scary…"

"Really…"

"And I said almost!" I shrugged, "Ok, whatever." I panted, "So, I didn't break anything, did I?" He touched his mouth, "No, my fangs are still in good working order, but I think one of them might been jammed into my upper lip. I guess we can move things up a notch or two." He flipped himself back up and helped me back up. I sighed in relief, "I'm just glad I knew to use my left leg and not my right…"

"Yeah…" He exhaled, still seeming a little exhausted. "It's like your leg isn't slowing you down at all."

"Yeah and I keep forgetting that it was injured just the other day. It's like when I'm fighting, I just forget everything and just focus right on it." He folded his arms, sighing in thought as he shut his eyes.

"What's up?" He moved his hand in a shoeing motion, "It's nothing, just… get my sword from Kagome and get two large sturdy sticks so we can work on your swordplay."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I wandered closer to him. He then shouted with rage in his eyes, "Look, just do what I say! Don't argue with me on this!" I backed off, "Ok, ok…" I muttered as I walked away, "what's got him so worked up?"

Inuyasha started to pace around nervously. "This seems oddly familiar… I've been here before." He thought back to when he first transformed and he liked the idea of killing. The third time it happened, he didn't know what he was doing when he was going it. He then brushed it off, "Nah, paranoia never got me anywhere. Besides, the same isn't true for all half-demons." He cracked his knuckles, "Still, I was coming at her at the half speed I usually do and she was dodging me and reacting to me almost at the same speed as Sesshomaru or Koga. She might be more demon than she led me to believe."

When I got back, Inuyasha was still in deep thought. I put the sticks down on the ground and I drew the sword, Tetsusaiga. I took a few steps back and I snapped my right wrist as the sword transformed. He shouted, "Hey, be careful with that!" He stepped back as I swung it over my shoulder. I prepared to brace myself for the weight, but the weight had diminished quite a bit. I raised it up, "Well, it's not super heavy anymore, but I think the weight might have lessen a little bit." I handed it over to him, but he hastily took it and put it away, tossing it aside.

"You can't handle a sword like Tetsusaiga without first learning the basics of swordplay! Toss me a stick." I picked my own up and tossed him the other; he caught it with one hand, seeming to be a little annoyed. He swung the stick at me and I blocked it with my own. He swung again and I blocked it. For the next hour, we went back and forth, swiping and blocking. He did it with one hand while I used both of mine. As time went by, he progressed and started getting more aggressive. I had no choice but to maintain my cool and take the 'punches' as they came. He finally decided to give up a while later. He dropped his stick, putting his arms on his knees, panting.

A few moments later, he started laughing. "I don't know how you're doing it, but you're progressing better than I could have ever imagined." He picked up Tetsusaiga and tossed it to me. "Here, practice with this. I gotta go take a breather."

I started swinging the Tetsusaiga around and it had gotten so much lighter. I then started using it with one hand and it didn't make a difference. It was so easy to wield that it wasn't funny.

"Are you positive!" Inuyasha demanded of Kagome. She went into her pocket and held out the one jewel shard. "She handed it to me from the start, she's doing this on her own."

"Because there's no way she can get this good all ready! She can fence like she's been doing it her whole life. Either she's been lying or something weird is going on! She's dealing with the same level of calmness that Sesshomaru does… that's… that's not right…"

Sango joined in on the conversation. "You know, Inuyasha, I've been picking up a growing demonic aura right around here."

"Then why haven't I sensed anything!" He asked flat out. Miroku walked over with his arms crossed, calmly saying, "It's pretty obvious. You've been blinded to the truth, Inuyasha because you've insinuated yourself into this. You're too close to the matter."

"Miroku, I'd so love to hurt you right now!" Inuyasha barked. Kagome decided to head into the woods. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To return the jewel shard. You guys have had enough today."

"Kagome! We still have a few hours of daylight left!"

"Inuyasha, sit." He fell over. "Kagome…"

"It's obvious what's going on here. You're being a sore loser." She walked off. He slowly got off the ground, "I am not a sore loser!" He narrowed his eyes, "But something weird is going on."