Chapter Six

The moment the meeting ended Rin was dragging Kagome to the back door.

"Kagome!" an unfamiliar voice yelled to stop them. Kagome turned to be met with a young fox kitsune who looked barely old enough to order a legal drink. His red hair brushed his shoulders as it was held up in a high ponytail and the bushy tail swishing behind him gave away his youkai heritage.

Rin grunted in annoyance, "We almost got away too. Kagome, this is Shippo."

Kagome turned to shake the young man's hand but she noticed they were full, "I've heard a lot about you Shippo, you seem to run this house."

"Hah, don't let Inuyasha hear you say that." The kit mumbled. Kagome kept a face of indifference at the Captain's name. He was compartmentalized, just like every other damaging emotion she had ever felt.

"And what do you need with me Shippo?" Kagome asked.

"Think of it as your 'new hire' package." He started by handing her a manilla folder, "You're assigned to shift A so you'll be here for the next 48 hours, hope you packed some clothes. Here's your daily schedule and what to expect in the coming days." He handed her another paper, "These are the security measures we use around the house and on missions. Memorize them and then burn them." Shippo's voice was deadly serious. "Here's your new phone, already preloaded with your individual member information and all other members' contacts. It will prompt you to set up your fingerprint ID. It won't work until you do." Kagome took the black iPhone he handed over and put it in the back pocket of her jeans. "And these are the house rules. Please read them. I swear, one person in this house needs to." The young man sounded desperate now and he gave her a spiral bound packet.

"Shippo if you keep doing your job so well Inuyasha will never let you move into the field." Sango patted the younger man on the shoulder sympathetically.

Shippo's sighed, "Don't remind me." and then he was called away by another member.

"Here, I'll take these and your bag up to the room," Sango took hold of Kagome's paperwork, "And you head out back with Rin."


Kagome had been right in thinking the rest of the compound was hidden behind the main house. The training facilities were spread throughout the back of the property and it took two hours just to see it all. That may have been because Kagome never wanted to leave. The facilities had been something from her dreams. A gym, a fully stocked armory and gun range, a professional sparring ring, a medical wing with their own doctor. There was even a sports court with a fucking heated pool. Kagome was just itching to change her clothes and go back out there. But Rin, Ayame and Sango convinced her she would get her fill bright and early the next morning. So instead, the group had a late dinner and sat around the kitchen until one by one the vetern members headed up to bed. Sango and Kagome were the only ones left and Kagome could tell Sango was fading fast.

"I know you can't talk about it-"

"Sangooo." Kagome whined. For a week now Sango had been trying to pry information out of Kagome about her initiation. "You should know better than me we cannot talk about this."

"I know! I know, it's just, you know...tonight." Sango raised her eyebrows and tilted her head trying to convey the words she couldn't speak.

"Everything is fine. I promise. If it wasn't, I would tell you." Lie. Kagome gave Sango her most convincing smile hand squeeze combination.

"Ok. I'm sorry, I just- ok ok I'll drop it." Sango said in finality.

"Let's head up."

Rin and Ayame were already fast asleep when Sango and Kagome quietly opened their door. The pair grabbed what they needed and prepared for bed in the bathroom in silence. Rin had been right, the ensuite was plenty big for even all four of them to share it at once. Sango finished before Kagome and left her alone.

"It's just easier to have two sets of everything so we don't have to lug all of our stuff back and forth every couple of days."

Kagome would have to stock up on her beauty supplies and work out clothes so she could have spares here. When she exited the bathroom, Sango was silent on her bottom bunk. Kagome climbed the stairs and laid down on her temporary bed.


Kagome jolted awake as if she had fallen asleep by mistake. She never had done well when sleeping in a new place. She checked the iPhone Shippo had given her, wow she even managed to plug it in before she fell asleep. It read 4:33am. She would have to get up in an hour anyways and she was wide awake as it was. Kagome took inventory of her roommates: Ayame's youki was dormant and Sango and Rin were both breathing steadily. Silently, Kagome crept down from her bed, grabbed her training clothes from her bag and slipped into the bathroom. She moved around in the dark to brush her teeth and splash some water on her face. She found the hair tie she had left from the night before and threw her long hair up in a high ponytail. Kagome threw her sleep clothes in a pile in the corner of the bathroom and quickly dressed in her black leggings, sports bra and tank top.

The house was eerily quiet as Kagome walked through it. The enormity of it made every small creek sound like a tree splitting. A few lights had been left on (no no number four of Shippo's house rules) so it helped in finding her way around. She opted for the kitchen staircase instead of the main one in the foyer. The summer night was warm with a refreshing breeze in the air. Kagome walked down the pavers to the training building that housed the boxing rings. She hadn't trained on a heavy bag since her and Miroku left the cabin and she could definitely get some aggression out tonight. As she approached the entrance she stopped. She sensed youki coming from inside. She had hoped to be alone at this hour. Kagome had two options: go to a different building to train or head in. She wanted to hit something, so she walked in.

"Oh! Kagome! Hi, uh...I was just leaving." It was obvious Kagome had taken Shippo by surprise when she entered the gym. It was also obvious he was not about to leave.

"Stick around Shippo, it's no fun to train by yourself." Kagome called back to him. He was near the far wall at one of the heavy bags. Kagome walked to the equipment wall to grab herself a roll of hand wrap and grappling gloves. She took them back to the bench near the boxing ring. Shippo went back to the punching bag he had been at previously but he wasn't hitting it nearly as hard as when she startled him.

Kagome waited a minute or two until she spoke, "You couldn't sleep either?" Kagome called.

Shippo stopped again and turned to her, "No, uh, I'm always here this early. It's the only time I can come without-" Shippo cut himself off looking embarrassed.

"Without?" Kagome probed.

"Without getting a hard time from the other members." He finished.

"And why do they do that?" Kagome had finished wrapping her hands but held her gloves under her arms.

"They see me as just a kid. Like I'm just the tag along little brother getting in their way." Shippo shrugged his shoulders trying to act indifferent.

"So you come while everyone is asleep so you can improve your skills in hopes of changing their opinion of you?"

"Sure, but the person I mainly care about is Inuyasha. He's the decision maker here and if he's impressed, it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks." Rin's words about Shippo going into the field rang through Kagome's mind.

"And if you impress him, you think he'll let you go on missions?" She kept her voice light.

"That's the plan. If I'm as strong and as skilled as the other guys then he won't have an excuse to keep me in the house anymore."

"Maybe he's trying to protect you."

"He's been doing that all my life and it's time that I stand up for myself." There was heat in Shippo's voice now. Clearly the men had a long history and Kagome's interest was piqued.

"Ok. Let's start with some sparring then." Kagome pulled the gloves onto her hands.

"What?" Shippo stared.

"What do you prefer? Boxing? Muay Thai? Jiu Jitsu?" Kagome jumped up to the ring and tested the ropes enclosing it.

"I guess my style is more aligned with Muay Thai." Shippo ventured closer.

"Great, and you're probably warmed up already? Just give me a second." Kagome ducked between the ropes to fully enter the ring. "I don't have my mouth guard with me so you'll have to go easy on my face."

"Oh, uh, ok."

Kagome jogged a few laps around the square to get her body moving. She would usually take far longer to warm up but she would make the exception this once. Shippo timidly made his way into the ring as well. Kagome could see his uneasiness and she second guessed if her help was actually wanted.

"Kagome, are you sure about this?" Shippo uncertainty was clear.

"You want to get better don't you? Kind of hard if you're just hitting a bag over and over again." Kagome stretched her arms and threw some practice punches.

Shippo grimaced, "I just- I don't want to hurt you."

Kagome couldn't hold back her laughter, "That's sweet Shippo, but I'm a big girl."

Kagome snapped her knuckles together twice and then held one glove out for Shippo to tap, signalling they were ready to start. Shippo still had the obvious air of nervousness as they began circling each other. He was never going to make the first move, so Kagome struck first. She stepped forward and threw two quick jabs to his stomach area. When his hands lowered to block her, Kagome crossed him with her left fist, striking him in the chest. Kagome stepped back to give him a second to recover and hopefully see that she wasn't babying him. His bright green eyes moved quickly following her movements and then he threw a three punch combo at her and finished him a straight kick. Kagome easily blocked the punches but missed the kick. It landed on her right thigh but barely made her stutter.

"Come on Shippo, I know you can hit harder than that." Kagome's voice held no hint of teasing.

Shippo moved his feet quicker and then threw a wide hook. Kagome saw it coming a mile away so she ducked and hit him twice in the ribs before his fist even made it over her head. Not to be outdone, Shippo shifted his weight and tried to land a roundhouse kick to Kagome's head. His movements were obvious and sloppy.

"Stay compact, don't drift." Kagome coached. She bluffed with a few jabs, trying to coax him into hitting her again. Shippo took advantage and connected a low kick to Kagome's leg and then followed it with a jab and a cross to her core. Shippo was still pulling his punches and Kagome was sick of it.

"Fine, but I gave you a chance." Kagome's voice was annoyed. She waited for Shippo to step closer to her then she jabbed with her right fist, hooked with her left, stepped across her body with her front foot, spun and landed a devastating wheel kick to Shippo's jaw. He went down like a ton of bricks. He didn't lose consciousness but he didn't get up off the mat either. Kagome stood over him and took her gloves off.

"You need confidence Shippo. If we're going to keep training together I don't want any of this half ass bullshit. Prove to me you want this."

Shippo stared up at Kagome and for the first time she saw a spark in his eyes, "Ok."

For the next forty-five minutes Kagome wore a pair of punch mitts and coached Shippo through different hits.

"Elbows in."

"Don't turn your front foot so much."

"Yes! Now harder!"

"Power is in your hips."

"Quick! Quick!"

Shippo collapsed on the ring floor, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Sweat was pouring down his face and most of his auburn hair was matted. Kagome remained standing to remove the mitts, her shoulders a little tense from catching his countless punches and kicks. She walked to the ropes and hoped down to sanitize the equipment before returning it to the wall.

"I should head out before everyone else gets here." Shippo slowly got down from the ring, walking to his gym bag.

"Get a good stretch in. Maybe even some recovery in the pool. Tomorrow we'll throw some knives."

Shippo's eyes lit up, "Same time tomorrow?"

"I'll be here at 4:30."


It was a quarter to six when Inuyasha made his way into the gym. And his noise was instantly assaulted by Kagome's scent. It permeated the large space but it was mixed with...Shippo's? Inuyasha was aware the young kit came in early everyday to train but he hadn't expected their mingling scents to be congregated in the ring. Logic told him they had sparred, but there was an unfamiliar emotion running through his chest. Not wanting to think on it, Inuyasha looked around the gym for the organization's newest member. She was on the far wall with one of the hanging bags. It was swinging in front of her, clearly having just been hit. He stood and watched her. She was in a black sports bra and leggings with sweat sheening on her chest and stomach. Her form was relaxed as she bounced on the balls on her feet, fists in front of her face. And then she moved. Jab, cross, roundhouse. The movements were clean and precise, her shin driving through the bag with practiced ease. Kagome repeated the combination five more times before Inuyasha moved. When he finally came to his senses, he realized what a creep he must have looked like. But he was unsure how to navigate this interaction.

"Good morning." He called to announce his presence.

Kagome pretended like she was noticing him for the first time, even though she was painfully aware of his eyes on her since the moment he walked in. "Good morning sir."

Inuyasha never hated a word more than in that second. Her voice sounded different too, like she was guarding herself. Well that was understandable. But fuck, he never wanted her to call him sir again.

"Getting an early start today?" He pressed. She had given up on her training and was sliding her tank top back over her head. The simple act was sending vision flashing into his mind. And he instantly felt guilty. Inuyasha turned away from her to set his bag in one of the wooden cubbies by the door.

"Something about an early bird and a worm I guess." She walked towards the ring but she still kept her distance from him.

"Well I hope you haven't worn yourself out yet. Kouga tells me you're quite the fighter." He smirked at her over his shoulder as he tied his long hair into a messy ponytail.

Was he flirting with her? Kagome's eyebrow twerked. Ok so maybe this didn't have to be awkward between them. He was her Captain and if she couldn't aptly communicate with him it would make her job a lot harder. Ok, she could do this.

"Their mistake was giving me a knife. If it was strictly hand to hand, Ayame could have taken me."

"I'll remember that." His amber eyes seemed to glow.

"For when we fight?" Kagome cautiously teased.

Inuyasha laughed and Kagome couldn't help but smile too, "Getting a little ahead of yourself on your first day?"

"What can I say? I'm enthusiastic." Kagome enunciated the last word and suddenly she felt like she wasn't talking about sparring anymore. And by the flash in Inuyasha's eyes, he didn't think so either.

Before their conversation could continue, Kouga and two other wolf demons walked into the gym. "Boss man. New chick." greeted the one of with the mohawk. Kouga rolled his eyes, "Hakkaku, Ginta. Kagome." He waved his hand back and forth in introduction.

Kagome snickered, "Hi there."

"Get on a treadmill." All casualness was gone from Inuyasha's voice. "Start with a mile. You three run five." Inuyasha pointedly stared at the wolf youkai. Ginta and Hakkaku groaned.

The rest of shift A filtered in as Kagome finished up her mile. She was plenty warm from her morning with Shippo and the hanging bag but running always helped loosen everything up. When all of shift A was warmed up Kagome counted twenty-two members altogether, including her. Eleven youkai, nine humans and one hanyou. Two if she counted Inuyasha.

The group moved into the weight room and Inuyasha turned over control to a human named Bankotsu. He was a confident looking guy with a long dark braid and an interesting blue cross on his forehead. Bankotsu lead them through dynamic stretches and then an Olympic lift with the barbells. Kagome and Sango shared a bar and she was glad Mushin had included these types of work out in her training as a teenager. Bankotsu wanted everyone at seventy percent of their one rep max weight. "Focus on being explosive. Be fast under the bar." He walked around the room, correcting form and encouraging everyone.

After twenty minutes, they cleaned up their weights and Bankotsu explained the metabolic conditioning that was coming next. They were doing a twenty-five minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible):
21 burpee box jumps
15 wall balls
9 pulls ups

When everyone had their own equipment in their own space, Bankotsu started the timer and blasted the music. The clock gave a ten second countdown and then beeped loudly for them to start. Kagome tried not to focus on the youkais around her. She knew they would move faster than her no matter how much weight they added to their exercises. So she tried to pace herself against Sango and Rin to gauge where she stood. Rin was quick on the burpee box jumps but Sango was able to do all her wall balls and pull ups unbroken which gave her the advantage. Kagome pushed herself but she also knew this was a longer work out and she didn't want to burn out before the timer was up. She only made it six minutes before she was shedding her tank top again. There were fans in the weight room but the summer sun was warming the entire building and removing the light fabric did little to cool her down.

Kagome hated that she noticed Inuyasha had also taken off his shirt. She was on her fifth round of burpee box jumps and she was no longer watching her feet land on the wood box. He was straight across from her, with his weighted ball in his hands, squatting and then throwing it up to the target on the wall. He moved so fluidly and she couldn't help but admire his curving back muscles with each throw. He finished his fifteen reps quickly and then moved to the metal rig. Inuyasha took a moment to chalk his hands and then jumped up to the bar. He was facing Kagome now and she had no idea how she was still moving without falling on her face. His biceps and triceps looked to be straining against his skin while his abdomals flexed and relaxed with each ragged breath he took.

That's exactly how he had breathed when she was on top of him, his chest sticky with perspiration as she grinded up and-

Inuyasha's eyes suddenly shot to hers and Kagome realized why.

Fuck fuck fuck. Fucking dog demons.

Kagome abruptly ended her box jumps, unaware how many she actually completed, and then turned around to face the wall. Lock it up Kagome. Lock it up and focus on why you're here.

She didn't look at him again for the rest of the work out.