Well, look at that, two updates in one month. Guess it goes to show how much I couldn't wait to write this chapter, which marks the beginning of the next (rather important) Arc. Though I have to admit, you should also all thank ksavvyx3 for my quick update, because she challenged me to a race about who could update first… and let's just say I'm not one to allow myself to lose, though. No worries, though, I didn't rush the chapter just so I could win and I'm satisfied with how it worked out – I would never give you anything less than the best I could get out of myself.

OK, enough of my talking. On with the chapter, though of course, only after I thanked you all for all the awesome reviews. They make my day. Please, keep them coming :3

ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:

InuGome: It would seem I'm on a row, I think that's the second or third chapter I uploaded as someone's 'birthday gift' LOL I mean the previous one, though this time it could also work, since my own birthday is only six days away. But anyway, Happy Birthday, even if that's a little late now :3 And yes, I know, but that was on purpose. The thing about Inuyasha shedding tears, I mean. I intend to keep the idea that Kagome taught him a few things, and shedding tears for others is still going to be one of those things. He'll teach her a few things in return, too, though. Overall, thank you for the awesome review, and please forgive me that I allowed myself to remove its duplicate. I hope this chapter will be to your liking as well.

CatchySayo: Well, I think that's one thing about Shippō that we all love. I intend to somehow get more instances like that one in this fic, but since I'm not very humor-oriented when I write, most of those scenes will probably be taken from the original, unless I end up creating something humorous on pure accident. Thank you for the kind review, I'm glad to hear you liked it and I hope you continue to enjoy :3 I know I enjoyed writing the chapter you're about to read :]

Tracks for this chapter:

Blood-C OST: Organization

UVERworld: Rush

Breakers:

XxX: change of scene

~ξ~: time-skip

乗: Beginning/End of Flashback

Ю: Beginning/End of a story told by one of the character (the parts in bold between the stars are what the present them are saying as a small narrative)

Ж: Change of POV (mostly used within a story told by several characters)

[T] and [/T]: Beginning/End of soundtrack

Reminder: 'Inuyasha' written normally refers to Inuyasha, while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) refers to Kagome, the "Gentle Dog Demon". 'Hanyō' written normally means "half-demon", while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) it means "half-breed".

Many thanks to Kanna37 for edits :D

Chapter 18 – The Man in the Baboon Pelt and the Enchanted Sword

The distinct sounds of weapons clashing and cutting through the air interrupted the peaceful evening. Having stopped a little earlier than usual, Kagome decided to use the left over time to train with Inuyasha a little more, while Shippō observed from the sidelines.

About three days had passed since hers and the little kit's talk in the tree, and although she could still smell some remnants of sadness, he was moving on and was rather close to what she believed was his normal self. It was one thing to be glad about.

Jumping forward, Kagome slashed at her trainee with her claws, which he blocked rather easily, but Kagome still scowled. Turning her claws, she swung again with the same hand, in the opposite direction from the previous attack, easily catching the down-side of Inuyasha's blade. With one quick movement, the sword went flying and embedded itself in the ground a few meters away from the sparring duo, while Kagome brought her free hand to Inuyasha's throat and stopped just about an inch away from actually killing him. With a sigh, she leapt backwards and crouched on the ground, pretending not to notice Inuyasha releasing a breath he probably didn't know he was holding.

"When an attack comes up front, don't be satisfied with just parrying. Push back, for God's sake," she lectured again, repeating the same thing for about the millionth time. Why was he once again ignoring what she was saying to him? He'd never progress at this rate. "And when it comes from an angle that you can only block with the down-side of the sword, don't resist with just your forearm or you'll be disarmed like I just did for the last five times at least. Either let your arm follow the attacker's movement and use the momentum for your own counter, or put enough force behind the block to actually block. If you do that, though, make sure to hold your sword tightly, or it'll go flying," she continued, then nodded towards his sword and stood up. "Again," she said simply, crouching in a fighting stance once more.

Scowling and muttering curses under his breath, Inuyasha gripped his sword again and ripped it from the ground before turning to Kagome and taking his own battle stance. He barely had the time to blink before Kagome jumped at him again, swinging her claws. Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha parried her blows, but their strength was forcing him to slowly retreat. Kagome scowled.

"Put more force behind it. Push me back, or try to counter," she growled at him as her claws once again glided on Seiryuu's blade, amazingly not leaving any marks. Eyes hardening into an annoyed glare, Inuyasha parried her next blow, then turned his blade and swung at her in a wide arc. The sword cut through the air in front of the half-demon, not even coming close to touching her and the second it passed, she leaned forward, one hand grabbing Inuyasha's wrist while the other extended, passing right next to his head, missing on purpose only by mere inches.

"What was that?" the hanyō-girl asked angrily as she released the priest, then turned her back on him and walked a couple of steps away. "If you want to make any progress, you have to fight me like you want to kill me. Aim for me like you want to cut me open," she growled, glaring at him over her shoulder. That attack just now wasn't just him misjudging the distance. He had purposefully missed, and while that showed he had better aim and better control of his movements than he used to, it could also turn against him if he did it too often. When one learns to purposefully miss, one can't bring oneself to actually hit the target when it really matters. It was something Inuyasha didn't seem to get.

"Maybe I would if you drew your own sword, ever thought of that?" Inuyasha fired back, now seriously pissed. Fight her like he wanted to kill her? Attack as if he were planning to cut her open? What if he accidentally did? Didn't she even think of that?

It wasn't really that he thought he would be able to kill her, but accidents happen. He would definitely feel better if she had something more than just her bare hands to block his blows while they trained (he conveniently forgot that her fire rat robe provided more than enough protection), especially since they trained with actual weapons – a fact Kagome didn't seem to care about.

The half-demon girl sighed and closed her eyes, then shook her head before staring at him again.

"So, you're holding back because I'm unarmed," she stated, her eyes never leaving his. He didn't answer her, but it didn't seem like she wanted him to. "In other words, you don't want to fight someone who you think can't defend himself," there was just a slight undertone of annoyance in her voice when she said that, but Inuyasha didn't seem to notice or care that Kagome definitely didn't like the idea of him possibly thinking such of her. "That's good. You're really honorable. But," she continued, narrowing her eyes at him again. "Don't confuse being honorable and being stupid."

"How am I being stupid?!" Inuyasha yelled angrily as Kagome turned her head, leaving her back wide open to attack… or at least that's what he thought. Suddenly, a tingling sensation made itself known in the forefront of his mind, but Kagome spoke up before he could try to concentrate enough to understand what it was.

"You wouldn't attack an unarmed person with your sword. That's honorable when you fight a human, because it means you won't strike down someone who cannot fight back. But when you apply the same rule to demons, you're just being stupid," the silver haired girl said. As soon as she was done talking, she spun back around and swung one of her claws in his direction. Before Inuyasha even understood what was happening, a few blood-red youki-blades flew right past him, exploding upon contact with a boulder right behind him. Surprise was evident on his face as he stared stunned at the hanyō before him, who glared back rather stoically.

"Just now, you must have felt the rise in my youki. Yet you did nothing to prepare for a potential attack. Was it because you thought I couldn't attack from a distance because I'm 'unarmed'?" Kagome finally asked after a few minutes of silence as she lowered her arm, only to raise it once again so that her claws were in front of her face, as she practically presented them to Inuyasha as if she thought he hadn't seen them before. Looking closely, he noticed that the tips of her nails, or rather claws, were stained red. She had probably clenched her fist extremely tightly to purposefully draw some blood. "Don't forget that these are my weapons as well. Don't be fooled by appearances, either. I may not use my sword, but that does not mean I cannot fight back. I simply choose not to, as I will be the one to choose when to draw my blade against you. You are not ready for that, yet."

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he stared at her, his surprise having worn off by then. 'Like Hell I'm not!' he thought angrily. He was more than ready, he knew that. So why was Kagome being so stubborn about not using Tessaiga when they trained? He could handle her, even with a sword, she just thought too highly of herself, or too lowly of him, or both. Well, he'd prove her wrong. He definitely would.

"Why don't you draw your sword then and we test that?" he growled angrily, but Kagome only snorted.

"I don't need to test it to know. You aren't ready yet," she replied calmly and folded her hands into her sleeves. "We're done for tonight," she added almost as an afterthought before walking towards Shippō and their campsite.

"Keh," Inuyasha 'said' angrily, sheathed his sword and then turned to walk away, muttering profanities under his breath all the while. Kagome sighed tiredly as she watched him go. 'He can be so exhausting sometimes…' she thought, though she couldn't help but smile lightly in the direction he was leaving in. Yes, he was exhausting, yes, he was getting riled up easily over what she considered the stupidest of things… but that's just what made Inuyasha who he was.

"Ano, Kagome," she was brought out of her thoughts by the voice of the little Kitsune that had joined them not so long ago. She looked towards him so that he knew he had her attention, but surprisingly, he wasn't looking at her, but in the direction the young priest had left in. "Do you think it's a really good idea to let that baka walk off on his own?"

"He needs to cool off," Kagome replied shrugging. "Besides, it's not like he can't fight at all. If something were to come his way, I'm sure he'd be able to handle it, at least until I got there. And besides, though he probably didn't notice it, he didn't really go alone. Myouga-jii-chan is with him."

"The flea? You really think he'd be of any help?" the little kit asked dubiously. Kagome shrugged again.

"At the very least, he'd come running here and we'd know something's up," the young hanyō replied, actually succeeding in making the little fox laugh before his eyes got the curious gleam in them again.

"But why was Inuyasha so angry that you didn't want to use your sword against him?" he asked innocently, to which Kagome sighed as she rested her chin on her palm, her elbow resting on her knee.

"Because he's about as arrogant as he's honorable, if not more," she replied sourly, although she couldn't help but think if there was maybe more to it. Maybe it wasn't all about his arrogance, although it definitely played a key role there. If she thought about it, pride could also come into the equation, and really, more likely than not, it did. She sighed. Someday, that arrogance of his could become his downfall, although she sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Being arrogant equals being stupid and that's why he's a baka," Shippō replied with a devious smile on his face before his eyes turned curious once more. He turned to look at her when he spoke again. "But when you said Inuyasha isn't ready to face you and Tessaiga… that was a lie, wasn't it? But why did you lie?" he asked and Kagome couldn't help but smile as she ruffled his hair.

"You certainly have a good nose," she commented. "Yeah, it was kind of a lie. Strength-wise, I think he could take me on. But again, it is his arrogance that gets in the way. If I agree with him now and fight him with my sword, he'll only think even higher of himself and that's the best route to overconfidence. And overconfidence leads to underestimating your opponent without fail."

"Which in turn leads to death," Shippō finished, his tone much too grave and serious for a child his age. But then again, he had his own experiences, too, and they were bound to leave some mark on him. "So you intend to anger him until he learns humility? How will that work?"

"I don't intend to anger him. I intend to show him that he's too confident for his own good. But I guess angering him is a side effect that can't be avoided," Kagome replied with a sigh.

"Maybe you could anger him to a point where he had no anger left and then show him how stupid he's being?" Shippō suggested innocently before his face lit up. "Hey, I could even help you with that. I bet you don't know how much fun it is to get on Inuyasha's nerves," he continued with a smile. Kagome couldn't help but laugh. 'Yup, that's a mischievous, little kitsune-kit for you. As it should be,' she thought with mirth.

XxX

Meanwhile, quite a distance away from the camp, an angry kannushi was stomping through the grass. He didn't really have any destination in mind or even a specific direction. He just wanted to get away from the infuriating wench he'd been traveling with for a while.

'Stupid hanyō-wench,' Inuyasha thought angrily as he kicked a small pebble that happened to lie in his way. 'Thinking she's so high and mighty. Even if she used her sword, I know I could take her on. I'm not as weak as I was when I first came to this era, I'm not as weak as she thinks I am. Hell, I'm not weak at all anymore, why the fuck can't she see that?' his mind continued to run a mile a minute in his frustration. How was he supposed to protect her like he should, being the guy and all, if she didn't even think he was strong enough to protect himself? And how was he supposed to prove to her that she was wrong when she refused to give him the smallest chance to do so?

Of course, she'd probably change her mind if he actually defeated her at least once during one of their spars. But in order to do that, he had to fight for real, like he fought any other enemy. What if he accidentally hurt her? He didn't want that, so he held back. He just didn't want to hurt her. Never mind the fact that she wasn't human so no matter what he did, she probably either wouldn't be affected, or would be fast enough to block or dodge whatever he threw at her.

At first, when he hardly knew anything of using a sword, he hardly thought about whether to fight seriously or not. But the more he learned and the more he saw Kagome fight, the more he understood, really and truly understood, just how dangerous their little spars were. And the more he saw her hurt, the more he knew he didn't want to see her that way. He wanted to protect her.

It never occurred to him, however, that the sheer fact that he was scared of accidentally hurting her during a spar meant that, in reality, he just didn't trust himself not to hurt her – and a swordsman who doesn't trust himself not to cut what doesn't need to be cut is no swordsman at all. And there was also the fact that if he was scared of hurting her, it meant he didn't even trust her enough to believe she wouldn't get hurt. It was yet another thing he failed to notice. In his eyes, the only problem was the fact that she wouldn't let him spar with her 'on equal terms', sword against sword. That made him angry, and as Kagome feared, that anger, born out of arrogance, was about to become his downfall.

[T]

"Frustrating, is it not?" someone's voice suddenly spoke to his right. Abruptly ripped away from his train of thought, Inuyasha spun towards the one who talked, his hand on Seriyuu's hilt reflexively. His eyes narrowed as he saw the figure in front of him, one he was certain hadn't been there a few seconds ago and one he had not noticed approaching until it spoke. But then again, he had been lost in thought, so maybe he just missed it.

"Who the Hell are you?" Inuyasha asked warily, his eyes scanning the person's appearance. From his voice, he seemed to be a male and he was of average height. Whether he was demon or human, however, Inuyasha could not tell, for his face and most of his body was concealed by a long, thick, white baboon pelt – and even if it hadn't been, Inuyasha's chances of being able to tell whether it was a human or a demon from appearance alone were, unfortunately, still rather low. Had Inuyasha been trained at using his powers, he would have sensed the youki that surrounded the baboon-pelt-clad man, but as it was, he was not yet used enough to the feel of youki to recognize it as such when he felt it, especially not when it was being concealed.

"Just a wanderer who happened to pass by," the man replied calmly, the hollow eyes of the baboon-skull that covered his head never breaking contact with Inuyasha's eyes. "I happened to see your fight with that hanyō not long ago," he added, his voice gaining a weird edge to it that Inuyasha couldn't quite interpret. "It must be frustrating to be looked down on like this. Especially by a girl."

"Keh! Shut up. What the Hell would you know, anyway?" Inuyasha replied angrily, though he did straighten from his defensive stance by then and had released the hilt he had been so quick to grasp. If the man was planning to attack him, he would have done so already, so Inuyasha felt it safe to assume that he had no ill intentions, or at least didn't plan on attacking right now. That didn't mean he dropped his guard entirely, though, he wasn't stupid.

"You wish to prove her wrong, do you not? You wish to prove her that you are stronger than her. You wish to show her that she can rely on you, that you can protect her. You want her to see you as an equal… or am I wrong, young priest in training?" the man asked calmly, completely unfazed by Inuyasha's temper. His thoughts were spot on, too, but Inuyasha wouldn't admit that to anyone, much less a complete stranger.

"Keh," was all he replied as he turned to walk away, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Whatever."

"What if I told you I could help you with that?" the mysterious man asked before Inuyasha could walk too far, somehow managing to make him stop in his tracks. "I could make you strong enough to defeat her right here and now," he continued to tempt as Inuyasha slowly turned around to glare at him over his shoulder. Seeing how he had the teen's attention, the baboon-clad man reached into the depths of his pelt and pulled a long sword out of it. How it even fit there was beyond Inuyasha, but he wasn't given much time to wonder as the mysterious man spoke again.

"With this sword, you'll defeat the half-demon without breaking a sweat. With this sword, you could defeat anyone. You would become undefeatable, the strongest man on this earth," he said as he presented the blade to Inuyasha, holding it horizontally in both of his hands. It didn't look like it was anything special, however. It had a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use, the horizontal part of it serving as the guard. The scabbard was also straight, without any ornaments to speak of. Just a plain, old-looking, deep-violet scabbard. It was apparent the stranger was offering him a long-sword, and probably a rather used one, too. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he stared at the weapon.

It wasn't really the fact that he was rather sure it was old that bugged him. If anyone asked for a reason, saying 'Tessaiga' would be enough. There was something else about the blade that had him scowling. But whatever that feeling was, and wherever it originated from, he pushed it aside in order to glare at the one who was offering it to him.

"I don't need it," he replied confidently as he dared the man to say otherwise. "I'll defeat her with my own strength, not with the strength some sword will give me. I'm not weak and I won't act like a weakling, taking something that will give me power instead of gaining it on my own."

If the man was surprised or otherwise affected by his response, he did not show it. He merely replied in that same, calm, almost monotone voice:

"Ah, but the sword will not give you any power you do not already have. It will merely bring to the surface the power slumbering deep within you. It is not the sword that would make you undefeatable, it would only help you reach the power within you that already marks you as such," he spoke calmly as he easily took the sword's hilt in his hand and pointed the blade towards the ground. Then, he simply stuck it into the earth in front of him. "But you shall do as you wish. I no longer need this sword. If you desire it, take it. If you do not need it, then leave it here and some other fortunate soul shall make use of it."

And with that, the man turned around and slowly started to walk away, not waiting for Inuyasha's response. Inuyasha glared after him for a while until he was gone before his eyes fell to the sword he left behind. It looked as innocent as a sword possibly could, but even as inexperienced as Inuyasha was, he could feel the power emanating from it. A power that served the sole purpose of drawing out the strength the wielder himself already possessed? Of that, Inuyasha wasn't quite sure. But then again, if it was a power the sword could grant to anyone to make them stronger, would anyone ever willingly discard the weapon? That didn't sound very likely. The only explanation then would be that this man had no more use for this sword, because he himself had no more strength it could draw out. Still, there was something suspicious about it, so Inuyasha decided it was better to leave it behind.

That's what he thought only at first, though. But the more he stared at it, the more he started to wonder, as if a tempting voice was speaking into his mind: why not? It wouldn't be cheating, he would still be using his own power, he'd only have a tool that would help him use it. That was all there was to it.

With that thought in mind, the black haired boy walked the few steps that separated him from the blade and resolutely grabbed the hilt, easily pulling the sword out of the earth. To any bystander, it wouldn't have looked like anything out of the ordinary, except maybe the teen's futuristic clothes. But to anyone looking straight into the teen's eyes, there would have been no doubt that this sword wasn't ordinary or harmless at all, for the longer the teen stared at it, the more lifeless his eyes became and the second his hand actually touched the hilt, all light vanished from them, almost as if the boy himself had died.

And also, in the very instant the doubt that hadn't been his overcame him and he grasped the hilt, Inuyasha knew only darkness.

[/T]

XxX

Kagome bit her lip as she observed Shippō. The young kit had quickly gotten bored with just waiting for Inuyasha, so he decided to pass time training his own kitsune tricks, showing them off to Kagome in the process. She had paid attention at first, but the more time passed, the more her thoughts strayed and her ears twitched on her head, trying to catch the sound of footsteps that weren't approaching. A frown formed on her face. 'Where the Hell did he go? This is taking way too long, he'd usually be back by now,' she thought worriedly as she scented the air again, but his scent wasn't getting stronger, either. It wasn't the first time she had angered him enough for him to stomp off angrily, but it was the first time it took him so long to come back. 'Did something happen?'

"Kagome-sama!" a deep voice she would have recognized anywhere called her from her shoulder and her head whipped around to stare at the source. Sure enough, Myouga was there and he looked frantic. Considering the fact that he didn't start the conversation with sucking some of her blood, Kagome knew it was something serious. That was all she needed to know.

"Where is he?" she asked courtly as she stood up.

"Inuyasha is heading back here," the flea responded, yet his voice sounded anything but calm. "At least, this Myouga is quite certain he does…" he corrected, implying he had left before he could make sure that was where Inuyasha was headed. It would also make sense, for otherwise, there was no way the flea could get back before the young ningen boy. Before Kagome could comment, though, Myouga continued talking. "This Myouga is quite certain Inuyasha is heading back here. But Kagome-sama, you must be extremely careful! Inuyasha is not…"

He was rudely interrupted as Kagome grabbed him into her fist to silence him, her ears twitching on her head again as she stared in the direction Inuyasha left in a while ago with narrowed eyes. Not even a second later, her eyes widened again and without thinking, Kagome grabbed Shippō, who had come towards her to ask what was wrong, and jumped back. It was a good thing she did, too, because not even a second later, in the very same spot she had been standing, Inuyasha landed in a very demon-like crouch, a sword in his hands. Had Kagome not jumped away, that sword would have split her head, and possibly the rest of her, too, in half. She heard Inuyasha chuckle.

"Well, at the very least you have good senses and reflexes. Maybe this won't be too boring after all," he said in a low tone as he straightened up, holding the sword in front of him in a position ready to attack.

"What in the world are you doing, Inuyasha? Do you want to kill us?!" an enraged and somewhat scared Shippō yelled from his spot in Kagome's grasp, while the half-demon narrowed her eyes in anger as she stared back at the black haired teen.

"Spare your breath, Shippō-chan. That is not Inuyasha," she said seriously as she gently set the kit on the ground and motioned for him to go and hide somewhere. Surprisingly enough, he refused to listen, instead staring up at her with wide, confused eyes.

"What could you possibly mean, 'that is not Inuyasha'? If it's not him, then who else to you suppose he is?" he asked, his head turning this way and that to stare at the hanyō-girl, then at Inuyasha, then back at Kagome again. The half-demon replied without looking away from the future-born teen.

"The body is Inuyasha's, but it's not Inuyasha who's attacking us. He's being possessed by the sword he's holding,' she replied curtly, her tone grave as she crouched as well, readying herself for a fight. And she knew it would not be an easy one. "Stay back, Shippō-chan," she ordered in a no-nonsense tone, and this time, the kit obediently scurried away while Kagome observed her opponent and friend carefully.

To her, the situation was obvious. The fact that Inuyasha's eyes were as lifeless as they were, almost as if he were dead, could only mean that he was being possessed. The altered tone of his voice implied it was someone else who spoke through him – the person, or rather thing, that possessed him. And that could only be the weird sword he was holding, for she was sure it was not Seiryuu that he held in his hands. First of all, the priest-sword was still in its scabbard by his hip. And even if she hadn't noticed that, she knew well by now that Seiryuu was a straight katana, while the sword he held was one she had never seen before.

Had she been with Inuyasha when the baboon-clad man offered him the sword, she would have also noted with suspicion that the sword changed somewhat. The cruciform hilt was now a turquoise-blue and it had a few clear-blue gems embedded in it. A short, black string was attached to the tip of the hilt, flowing freely in the wind, the knot at its end almost seeming to grow larger and then smaller, as if pulsing in its own rhythm. There was no scabbard in sight, but had Kagome seen the sword before, she would have figured out that the deep-violet, double edged blade was actually what used to be the scabbard. It had transformed into the blade the moment Inuyasha pulled it out from the ground, as if by doing that, he had unsheathed it.

'A demonic sword,' Kagome thought to herself as Inuyasha lunged at her. She jumped to the side, avoiding his attack. He followed her. She avoided again. Thus the dance, or rather a game of dangerous tag, continued.

"Are you going to just run away? Too scared to hurt your precious friend to defend yourself?" the enchanted sword taunted through Inuyasha's mouth, but Kagome didn't allow herself to be provoked, instead continuing what she was doing. The sword possessing Inuyasha was wrong, however, she wasn't running away. She was merely observing.

'His movements aren't any different from Inuyasha's. His speed is the same as well. Is it that it can only control the body and use it to the extent it is able to be used… or is he just playing with me?' she couldn't help but wonder as she jumped and ducked this way and that, avoiding all his swings and thrusts with relative ease. So far, one could think this was nothing other than another one of their spars. Kagome narrowed her eyes as she dodged another attack. 'What really worries me though, is Inuyasha's lack of response,' she thought worriedly, ducking again before she jumped backwards in a somersault, putting a bit more distance between herself and the possessed teen. He was quick to move in with another attack, though, and she was forced to retreat again, as she refused to fight back until she had a decent plan in mind. 'Why did he let himself be possessed? He might not be able to use his powers, but in contact with evil such as the one emanating from this sword, they should have reacted anyway, like all the other times he accidentally used them. So why won't they? Why is he being controlled so easily?' she thought frantically as she leaned backwards to avoid the thrust aimed at her face. The blade passed above her without doing her any harm, and even allowing her to take a whiff of its scent as it passed. But before she could focus on that, her attention turned to the hilt that was now right before her eyes. Realization was quick to follow even as she expertly leaned back even more, so that one of her hands was on the ground, before she bent it and rapidly rolled to the side, just as Inuyasha forced the sword downward. It crashed into the ground as Kagome stood back up a few feet away from him. It was only thanks to her hanyō-speed that she managed to avoid that one.

'That hilt…' she thought with narrowed eyes as she raised one fist and opened it, letting the flea she trapped there move to her shoulder. The only reason why Myouga still hadn't fled was probably because she held him captive in her fist, too, but that was beside the point.

"Oi, Myouga-jii-chan," Kagome started before the flea could even think of fleeing, now that the chance was presenting itself. Shaking in fear, though it was not fear of Kagome in the least, the tiny yōkai turned to look at her.

"Yes, Kagome-sama?" he asked, his voice shaking. Kagome ignored the fear he was so openly showing, her eyes not leaving Inuyasha, who was once again preparing to strike. She had to find a way to wake him up, but so far, she didn't have any idea how to do that.

"How did Inuyasha come across that sword?" the young hanyō asked as she bent her knees in preparation, ready to leap away once again. She wasn't going to fight back. Not yet. Not before she had some sort of plan. "Did he find it by pure coincidence?"

"No, nothing of the sort, Kagome-sama. He met a man who offered it to him, though it looked different at the time. Inuyasha was wise enough to decline at first, but in the end…"

"The sword had captured him in its grasp," Kagome finished, her eyes narrowing even more. 'I had a feeling this couldn't be a coincidence," she thought to herself, her mind easily understanding the current situation now, or at least part of it.

"Speaking of which, Kagome-sama, this Myouga just remembered something important that I need to tell…" the flea cut himself off when he noticed the half-demon was no longer listening, concentrating instead of avoiding the next wave of attacks Inuyasha sent her way. "Maybe I shall just tell you when things settled down a bit. That will be far wiser," Myouga muttered under his breath as he hid in Kagome's hair, but the half-demon ignored him as her mind put facts together.

'It looked different at the time… meaning it changed its looks after Inuyasha took it. That would make some sense,' Kagome thought to herself. Inuyasha was once again trying to provoke her into doing something else rather than simply running away, but the hanyō-girl didn't even hear what he was saying. 'It's not that his powers aren't reacting to the sword. It's that they can't react properly,' Kagome noted as she took another look at the hilt. A hilt which, she now realized, had gems embedded in it that were the exact same color as Seiryuu's blade… which was supposed to reflect the 'color' of Inuyasha's aura. The hilt was drawing Inuyasha's priest powers and channeling them into the gems, which then easily released it into the air in just the right way to not allow them to accumulate too much, thus purifying the sword, but also just right for no one to notice any priest powers being released. 'It's as if the sword was devised specifically for the possession of a priest…' Kagome couldn't help but think as her eyes narrowed further as a deep sense of foreboding settled into her stomach. 'And in that case, I can't hope for Inuyasha's powers to free him from the possession. The only way to make him wake up is to force him to let go of the sword… that can't be too hard… I hope,' she thought worriedly.

"This is getting boring, don't you think, Ka-go-me?" the possessed priest suddenly asked, making sure to pronounce each syllable of her name clearly as he mocked her. In the next second, he seemingly disappeared and Kagome's golden eyes widened for a fracture of a second, before she swiftly turned around, her hand reaching for Tessaiga on reflex. Then, the distinct sound of steel meeting steel rang through the fields as blade clashed against blade.

"You really do have astounding reflexes," 'Inuyasha' noted as he put more strength behind his sword, as if hoping he could overcome Kagome with raw power. It proved to be futile as Kagome matched his strength. "But do you really think that old blade of yours will make any difference? I'll just cut right through it before I'll cut into you, half-breed!" he exclaimed with a laugh, causing Kagome to scowl at him, though she didn't seem too worried about the fact that Tessaiga hadn't transformed. That could easily be explained by the fact that she refused to let it transform, though. 'I may indeed need a sword in order to disarm Inuyasha at this point… but I refuse to use Tessaiga's real form in this battle. It's too risky,' the half-demon thought as her eyes slowly traveled to the violet blade Inuyasha wielded… or rather the blade that wielded Inuyasha. She was right, too, for while a demonic sword had complete control over the possessed body, it did not feel any pain from the wounds the body received, so it was quite possible the sword would use Inuyasha's very body as a shield against her attacks. And she absolutely refused to hurt him.

"You seem to like my blade. Want to get a taste of it, disgusting hanyō-wench? I assure you it would be the last thing you'll ever taste," the demonic weapon spoke again through Inuyasha, a sadistic smile twisting the teen's features. Realizing what the stench that she smelled from the blade was, and what exactly it was her eyes were seeing, Kagome didn't doubt he spoke the truth. Pushing back one more time, Kagome threw the possessed teen a few feet back and leapt away herself to increase the distance between them. Then, she took on a fighting pose. She bent her knees slightly and raised both of her hands above her hand, holding Tessaiga diagonally in front of herself with both hands. 'A hilt that can channel holy powers so that the sword isn't purified and a blade made of crystallized miasma. One cut from that and I won't be able to move for at least two days,' Kagome thought grimly, even as she grew more and more certain that the fact that Inuyasha found this sword and was possessed by it was no coincidence. This was not the time to ponder that, however, so she shoved those thoughts aside, cleared her mind and got ready. 'I have to disarm him. That's the only way to free him from the swords grasp that I can think of,' she thought, took another calming breath and then jumped forward.

[T]

The next few moments were a flurry of swings on both sides, followed often by the sound of steel clashing with steel. When the two swords crossed between them once again, Kagome didn't even try to push Inuyasha back, pulling back immediately instead in order to spin around and catch the enchanted blade with her untransformed one from the right side as she swung horizontally to the left. Normally, when two swords met in such a manner and the one defending wasn't prepared enough to put enough force into the forced block, disarmament was unavoidable. Kagome was in for a surprise, however, as Inuyasha allowed his arm to be swatted away by her swing, leaving himself wide open to any killing blow she could wish to deliver. But he did not let go of the sword.

Scowling, Kagome jumped into the air and swung the blade vertically towards the sword he was holding, but the possessed teen simply turned on his feet and she crashed into the ground in front of him. He tried to use it as he raised his sword and swung down towards her, but he underestimated her hanyō-speed. Turning on her heels, Kagome faced him with her sword held horizontally above her head, one hand still on the hilt while the other moved swiftly to support the tip of the blade as the blade made of poison fell on it.

Standing up and using all of the strength her demon blood gave to her, Kagome managed to throw the young priest back and was quick to follow him, taking her sword once again into both hands as she held it pointing to towards the ground by her hip. When she was close enough, she swung diagonally, their two swords clashing once again. But again, though in normal circumstances her opponent would have been disarmed (unless he was a demon himself, then the outcome wasn't as certain, but there was still a fair chance of that happening), Inuyasha did not release the weapon. Kagome growled as she realized that she had been a fool to think the enchanted, demonic weapon did nothing but control Inuyasha. Of course, it was allowing him to use strength he for some reason did not use when they spared, but it also made him stronger just by being demonic. And also, through not feeling the pain of the body it was possessing, it was forcing it to move when it shouldn't be able to, or do things it would be too painful to any human to do – like forcing him to hold on to the blade instead of releasing it when she tried to swat it away, when in any normal circumstances holding on to it should be impossible. 'So I was right. The only way to save Inuyasha is to disarm him… that seems to be harder than usual, however,' Kagome thought grimly as she turned her sword around, making it point to the ground instead of the heaven's as she blocked Inuyasha's diagonal down-cut-counter.

The young half-demon gritted her teeth as she resisted Inuyasha's growing strength as he tried to push her to her knees. Slowly, not moving her sword an inch, she started to slowly walk around it. Her progress was slow enough for Inuyasha not to notice at first, and when he did, it was already too late. In two quick movements, Kagome stood beside him and moved Tessaiga in a circular motion, ending up trapping the cursed, shouki-made sword against the ground with her own blade. Try as he might, Inuyasha couldn't pull free.

"Give it up, you won't free your blade from my hold now," Kagome growled warningly. "Now, release your sword, Inuyasha," she ordered in a no-nonsense tone, hoping that somewhere in there, the young kannushi could hear her and would respond – or at the very least try to. But the teen only laughed.

"It is you who should give up, half-breed," he sneered as he leaned towards her. Normally, maybe she wouldn't have been bothered by it, but considering this wasn't really Inuyasha, Kagome had to fight herself to not lean back in disgust, for if she did, she would allow him not only to free his sword, but also to strike her down. And a wound such as one he would inflict in that case, and with a blade bade of crystallized poison nonetheless, could even be enough to kill her. Especially since unlike the miasma of the poisonous flower that became the nymph that had come through the well to Inuyasha's time in search of the Jewel, that one was much stronger and much more deadly. Whatever yōkai was at its origins, even if it wasn't overly strong, it was not someone who could be considered a weakling.

"The priest can't hear you," the sword continued to speak with the teen's distorted voice. "And I know of you, Inuyasha. You cannot harm humans, can you? If you could, you could have already cut me down. After all, I am wide open," he taunted, leaning back again as if to invite her to strike at him with her claws. Kagome glared at him, but did not move, nor loosen her hold on Tessaiga as she continued to hold the cursed blade in place. "I, however, have no such problems," the possessed teen continued before kicking her in the stomach. Surprised, Kagome took a few steps back, but did not keel over as a ningen would. Yes, the attack had actually been strong enough to hurt, but not nearly enough to cause her enough pain for it to show in any way.

The few steps she had taken backwards, however, were enough to force her to loosen the strength of her block and Inuyasha finally released his sword. He didn't waste any time to swing at her, either. She ducked to avoid the poisoned blade's edge, then jumped back as he came at her with a horizontal swing, following it up with another flurry of swings and thrusts, forcing her to retreat even further. He was moving at an amazing speed, but Kagome knew well it wasn't only the capacity of Inuyasha's body, but also the additional strength the youki-filled sword had given him.

She ducked to avoid yet another blow and remained in her crouch, moving Tessaiga swiftly, holding the hilt by her head with the old, rusted blade pointing towards the ground once more as she blocked his returning blade, finally stopping the one-sided dance she had been forced into. She took a deep breath and released it in order to calm her racing heart. As he was now, Inuyasha was really giving her a run for her money. This did not bode well. 'At this rate, the only way to disarm him would be…' she started to think as she swung her blade upwards from the block, effectively forcing his into the air, though Inuyasha still didn't release it. Instead, he quickly swung it back down towards her head, which she side-stepped, allowing the cursed blade to cut the ground by her feet. Then, she swiftly released Tessaiga with one hand and used it to grab his wrist, while her blade moved towards his throat menacingly.

"Release the sword," she warned again, but the possessed teen only laughed at her, though there was no mirth or laughter in his lifeless eyes.

"And if I don't, what will you do? Kill this body?" he taunted as a sadistic smirk overtook his features. "We both know you're unable to do that. Unlike me," he continued as his free fist came towards her once again. Releasing his wrist, Kagome quickly placed it on his shoulder instead as she jumped head-first over him to avoid the hit. She landed on her feet right behind him and turned around immediately, only to somersault backwards as he stood up and swung at her horizontally while turning around. She landed a few feet away from him in a crouch, a sorrowful scowl on her face as one thing became apparent to her. 'I don't have a choice… It's either that or kill him and that's something I definitely won't be able to do,' she realized as she forced the sorrow out of her expression before her opponent could notice it. Her eyes narrowed into a hard glare as she slowly sheathed Tessaiga. Her claws would be enough, for even if the cursed blade gave Inuyasha additional power, it could not teach him new moves. Whether it realized it or not, it was only using moves Inuyasha himself had used, so she knew just the right way to go about it. Baring her fangs, Kagome bended her knees as she prepared for the final clash of power between her and the demonic sword. 'Inuyasha… please, forgive me,' she found herself thinking as she jumped forward.

"Using your claws now, are you? Are you sure this is wise?" the possessed teen questioned as he jumped back to avoid the slash aimed at him… or rather, at his weapon. Kagome was still avoiding Inuyasha himself. "Or are you just wishing for a swift death?" the young priest continued to talk as he sent a thrust her way, which she side stepped, before jumping upwards as he slashed diagonally at her legs. As soon as she landed, her claws flew at him in a horizontal slash, gliding across the violet, double-edged blade as he blocked her attack with a smile on his face. "You seem to forget I'm not your dear friend. That will not work on me," he thought as he prepared to parry her returning strike as she turned her hand and slashed again in the opposite direction, like she had earlier that evening to disarm Inuyasha. What the possessing sword didn't expect was for her claw to miss the prepared blade and instead cut deeply into Inuyasha's forearm, dealing a deep wound from his wrist almost all the way to his elbow.

Now, it was true that the wound wouldn't bother the sword itself – it did not feel the pain and could force the body to move as it wished even when a demon wouldn't be able to move anymore. But muscles that were torn through could not respond to its will nearly as well as unharmed ones, no matter if the mind realized the pain or not. And that was what Kagome had been waiting for as her other hand reached for Tessaiga, ripped it once again from its sheath without allowing it to transform and swung diagonally, her father's fang hitting the cursed blade from below.

No matter how much strength the blade gave Inuyasha, cut muscles could never be used as they should, and so, whether the sword liked it or not, Inuyasha's hold on the hilt had slackened, which allowed the blade to fly away. Kagome stopped her turn forcefully instead of completing it as she normally would as soon as the sword went flying, lest she'd catch the future-born teen on her blade. Rusted and old as it was, with the momentum, it could have hurt him and she wasn't about to allow that.

"Inuyasha!" she called as she jumped forward to catch the falling teen. She had seen a glimpse of light in his eyes the second the cursed sword was out of his hands, but before she could be happy about it, his eyes had closed and he had fallen forward as his knees buckled under him.

[/T]

'He's fine, just unconscious,' the young half-demon noted with relief, her ears twitching as she heard two voices calling her.

"Kagome!"

"Kagome-sama!" Shippō and Myouga called at the same time, the young kit scurrying over to her as soon as he noticed the fight was over, the flea using him as his ride as he had long since moved to a location he considered safe... or at least safer than the middle of battle, where Kagome was.

"You are unhurt, Kagome, are you not?" Shippō asked worriedly as he gazed at her. Kagome smiled at him reassuringly and shook her head.

"Keigo," she repeated again, making the young kit grin sheepishly. Her eyes then wandered to Inuyasha's injured arm – the arm she had injured – and she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. It might be true that she did it to protect him and that there was no other way to do it, but that didn't change the fact that she had drawn his blood. "Shippō-chan, could you bring his bag over here?" she asked without looking at the young fox. She didn't see him nod, but she heard him run on all fours through the grass the few steps towards their already prepared camp-site where Inuyasha's backpack lay, housing the first-aid kit somewhere within its depths.

"Kagome-sama, there is something of utmost importance that I have to inform you of," Myouga spoke urgently as he hopped onto Kagome's arm once she had crouched down, lowering the unconscious priest gently to the ground as she did so and lying him in the grass on his back. "Kagome-sama?" the flea inquired when he received no response.

"Is it so urgent that it can't wait another moment?" Kagome asked quietly without looking at the flea, her gaze never leaving Inuyasha's face. Her eyes narrowed as she observed him. He didn't seem to be hurt, aside from the wound she herself had dealt (it was going to be a real hassle to get the sickening stench of his blood off of her claws, she just knew it) and it didn't look like the sword's poison had any way to get to him. Overall, he seemed to be just severely exhausted. It didn't take Kagome long to figure out why. 'The sword didn't give him any additional power after all. It just controlled the body and forced it to go way too far beyond its limits, forcing every ounce of strength out of it. Add to that the fact that it's not like the possession itself doesn't take a toll on the vessel, and you have the explanation why he passed out,' Kagome thought as she gently ran her hand through his hair, like she remembered her mother did for her sometimes when she didn't feel too well and pretended to be asleep just to feel that soothing motion. 'If it had taken longer, Inuyasha's life would have been in danger,' she noted worriedly, though she also knew that any other human probably wouldn't have lasted this long. Not when he was already worn out from all days' travel and swordsman training, then had to live through being possessed while still being forced to fight. No, any other human, except for an exceptionally strong and well-trained spiritualist, would in these circumstances be biting the dust right now. 'You're really strong, Inuyasha…' Kagome thought fondly. Too bad he didn't realize how strong he was already, as he was too focused on his physical strength to acknowledge other kinds of strength – and fighting wasn't all strength was about. She'd have to teach him that. If he let her of course. After what happened today… well, anything was possible.

"You are right, Kagome-sama. You have more important things to attend to at this moment," Myouga agreed after a moment of contemplation, bringing Kagome out of her thoughts. She nodded, finally directing her gaze at the flea.

"Whatever that important information is, you can tell me once everything else is taken care of, if it is something that can wait," she said seriously as Shippō returned with Inuyasha's bag and she started to look through it, careful not to break anything as she searched for the first-aid kit. Somehow she knew that whatever it was that Myouga needed to tell her, this time, it was not something she could brush of. But now was really not the moment. She had to take care of other things first.

For the curious ones: the long-sword is actually a European blade, used mostly during late medieval and renaissance periods. I think that one way or another, Inuyasha would have known that (from school or wherever), so that was pretty much why he was… let's say put off by the blade (didn't stop him from taking it in the end, though…)

Alright, that's about it. Come on, I'm sure you all know who the guy in the baboon-pelt was, ne? You have to figure out at least this much :3 For those who waited for the plot advancing, I guess I made you happy, huh.

Well, hope you enjoyed. Please, leave a review if you feel like it or have anything to comment on. I'll gladly read and respond to them. See you in the next chapter everyone :]