Chapter 5 – Control
Sesshomaru sat patiently in the kendo clubs assigned locker room, waiting for his team members to finish preparing for the tournament. It had been several weeks since his first date with Kagome and they had been on several more.
His chest filled with pleasurable warmth as he thought of his female, she had gradually become more open and less shy around him, her touches and requests becoming more confident. In the last two weeks, she had even taken to joining him for his personal practice on her clubs off days. She would sit and meditate, practicing the control of her reiki while he worked through his routine.
They would sit together afterward and talk, about everything and nothing at all, he had realized early on that she simply wanted to be near him. Those moments had become more and more intimate as the weeks went by. This left his beast in a constant state of alertness and arousal, the feeling had been unwanted at first, but it was the manifestation of his own desire and he had accepted it as normal.
However, this was his first experience with such things and though he was loathed to admit his inadequacy at anything, he was unsure how to move their relationship past the stage of gentle kissing and shy touches to something more, something he desperately craved.
Shaking his head lightly to clear his thoughts he focused back on the current task at hand, his kendo club was in the locker room of their first tournament. He had been following Kagome's tournament schedule as well and was pleased to find that hers was later today. If all of his members performed well, he would be free in time to catch the last of her first solo placement matches.
Sesshomaru surveyed the team members around him, some were nervous, but he noticed Inuyasha was oddly quiet, the obnoxious Hanyou rarely got worried over anything let alone nervous so his demeanor was unsettling. He decided to keep an eye on him today, his change of behavior was a cause for concern.
The team filed out of the locker room, and Sesshomaru exited behind them. As they stepped into the large auditorium, the chattering of contestants and officials ringing in the air, he steeled himself for the battles to come. He was determined to end them quickly, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he absolutely had to see Kagome's solo event today, and he was determined to follow that instinct.
"Gather round." He called to the men who would be his comrades today. "Today will be no different from our previous tournaments. We will be victorious." He stated the obvious in a declaration. And all of his team members nodded in turn, except for Inuyasha who seemed to be preoccupied with something.
He followed the Hanyou's line of sight into the spectators stands and saw Kikyo standing still amongst the moving crowd. She should be preparing for her own tournament today; her presence here made no sense to him. He ignored the foul woman and turned back to his team members, snapping in the Hanyou's direction. "You need to focus Inuyasha, do not let your lust distract you." He told him firmly, finally getting a normal reaction from his half-brother.
"Keh! Worry abou' yourself Sesshomaru!" The now irritated Hanyou replied before he walked off in the direction of a bench with their school name on it.
"The first round begins in twenty minutes. Make sure all of you are ready before then." He spoke calmly to the rest of the team. He looked back to the spectator stands, but Kikyo was nowhere to be found. He shrugged his shoulder but the nagging feeling that something was wrong just wouldn't leave him. He kept his senses open as he turned and followed his team members to their waiting area.
Kikyo paced in the Kendo tournaments hallway. Since the beginning of the new year, she had been plagued by a thorn in her side, Kagome. The girl was much too innocent and naive, then she even had the gal to start dating Sesshomaru.
The older brother of Inuyasha had been her target originally, she only settled for the younger brother when Sesshomaru had seemed clearly uninterested in any woman. She had tried for an entire year to get his attention, and it had only taken Kagome several weeks before they were already dating.
She knew what it would mean for herself if she could marry a Taisho, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru would be set for life if they followed in their father's footsteps. The only problem was that it was becoming clear Inuyasha was the less capable of the two siblings, she should have held out for Sesshomaru, clearly, he would have chosen her eventually if he was interested in Kagome now, she was basically a plump clone of Kikyo herself, with worse control of her reiki.
The girl didn't even realize what she had in Sesshomaru, and it was just as well, she didn't deserve him.
She bit into her cheek as she remembered seeing the way Sesshomaru looked at the wretched girl every time they passed in the athletics building hallway, that look was meant to be hers, and she had a plan to make it so. Sesshomaru would lose his interest if the girl was no longer around, and she was only able to attend Shikon University due to her scholarship, it was clear the girl had a poor background.
If she could prevent her from showing any results at this tournament it would send her packing back to her filthy home. She had noticed the girls' budding control of her reiki knew just how to foil any plan the girl had of doing well. All she had to do was get Inuyasha into their stadium before Kagome finished her solo competition.
She had given him an 'early two-year anniversary' present last week, a necklace of rosary beads. She had told him she wanted to see him wearing it at her first competition, for good luck. In reality, she had enchanted the beads herself so that Inuyasha would lose control of his youki. It wouldn't look suspicious since Inuyasha was Hanyou, and they were notorious for often losing control of their demon side. The overwhelming youki should cause Kagome's reiki to go out of control and disqualify her from the competition. If the girl caused a big enough scene, she may even be banned from all archery competitions in the future.
The best part was that once Kagome was out of the picture, she could dump Inuyasha and show Sesshomaru just what he was missing out on. Surely, he would be after her the moment she was single.
She smiled as she glanced at the clock on the wall of the hallway. It was still morning, her teams' bus wouldn't arrive until noon since their competition started in the early afternoon. There was plenty of time for her to walk to the building next door and begin 'preparing' their locker room and waiting area, which had been her excuse for leaving so early.
She walked lightly and happily as she finally left the kendo tournaments hallway, today was going to be a righteous day.
Kagome nervously checked her travel bags for the hundredth time. She was nervous about her first college tournament. Sango waved to her from their bus and she hurriedly grabbed her thing and joined the girl in the line that was forming in front of the vehicle's doors.
"Did you forget anything?" The brown-haired girl asked her and Kagome smiled sheepishly.
"I don't think so…" She replied before dropping the bag in her right hand and yanking the zipper open to make sure she had her uniform. "Ah... no, I've got it! Thank god!" She looked up and met Sango's bemused eyes with her own.
"You've got to relax Kagome." Sango told her in a soothing tone as she helped her to her feet. "You're going to do fine!" She added as the line of girls began to move forward and the bus revved to life.
They handed their bags to the drivers' attendant who loaded them in the storage cargo that opened on the outside of the bus before going up the few steps and into the high-class transportation that they would be trapped in for the next hour.
Sango gently pushed her to a row of seats at the very back of the bus and Kagome settled against the window and smiled as her friend slid into the seat next to her. They were quiet as the rest of the archery club loaded into the bus and it finally pulled out of the parking lot.
As the hum of female chatter rose around them Sango turned to Kagome once more. "You really should relax some." The brown-haired girl's smile widened. "You hit all five targets during the moving practice every time for the last week now!" Kagome winced slightly as Sango clapped her roughly on the shoulder. "All that private training with Sesshomaru is really paying off." Sango accentuated the words with a seductive drawl and Kagome huffed in slight annoyance at her friends' attitude.
"I really do practice with him! I meditate… and he helps me guide my reiki… and…" Sango was practically sitting on the edge of her seat waiting for Kagomes next words and she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. "… and the rest is none of your business." She finished and turned away as the redness on her cheeks bloomed a shade brighter.
They chatted lightly for the rest of the ride about this particular tournament. She learned that Sango had attended it last year in September as a Freshman in college just like she was now. It was common for freshmen to enter the solo competitions so she felt slightly less nervous about being the only young student there.
By the time that they reached the tournament halls' parking lot most of her nervousness had gone away, Kagome smiled at Sango. "Thank you, I do feel a little better."
Sango returned her smile and gave her a thumbs up. "You're gunna do great!" Her friend replied.
The chatter in the bus slowly died as the vehicle parked and everyone stood and began filing out, collecting their things as they gathered in the parking lot. Once everyone had disembarked Kaede drew their attention, she was the club's vice president although the brunette hardly ever spoke a word.
"Get your things together and head inside, the second floor is where our locker room is." The older girl spoke and everyone obeyed her command without hesitation.
Kagome fell in line next to Sango as the group made their way inside and into an elevator. As the elevator they were crammed into let the group out onto the second floor Kagome was finally able to see the wide archery area that was in the middle of the building.
The center area looked as if it was normally two large soccer fields, but it had been transformed for the archery tournament. On one half there were long rows set with individual targets at the end. Next to those rows, there was another set of rows with small versions of their moving target practice machine at the end of them. Past the rows was a large stage with a set of standing targets at varying distances as well as a very large moving target machine in the back of the range area.
All at once the pressure of her situation settled on Kagome's shoulders and her nervousness came back, she had to do well today to keep her scholarship. She swallowed down her nerves and pulled her determination from within her soul. Her scholarship meant more to her now than ever before, without it she would have to move back home, and away from Sesshomaru.
As she entered the locker room and began changing Kagome let her mind wander on the pleasant thoughts of her boyfriend. She hadn't actually asked Sesshomaru what they were yet but she considered him her boyfriend, they had been on several dates and he had made it very clear that he was only interested in her.
Kagome found herself drawn to him as well, he was gentle and kind, despite his stoic public front he was expressive when they were alone, and he had been a true companion and teacher in her search for control over her reiki. It was because of him that she had been able to learn how to coat her arrows in her pure power, using that power to guide them was still difficult but now if she even scraped one of the moving target discs with her power-infused arrow it would burst, making it that much easier to destroy them quickly.
She took several deep breaths as she finished tying her clothes into place. It was time to prove her worth to the University that was offering her a full education free of charge, she felt the very real responsibility of upholding her end of that gracious deal.
Grabbing her bow and empty quiver, Kagome waited for Sango at the locker room door. Her friend joined her quickly and they left the changing area and headed to their teams warm up bench down on the first floor. From there they could see most of the fixed targets and she noticed Kikyo was had joined the other club members at some point.
Kagome shrugged her shoulders, the captain probably came early to square away things before the tournament, nobody had been surprised when she wasn't at the university this morning and Kaede had quietly informed them she would meet the team here so it didn't seem unusual.
They turned towards the pre-filled barrels of arrows that lined their waiting bench and filled their quivers. "We've got time to warm up slowly." Sango said and Kagome nodded without speaking.
Kikyo's voice rang out and the two turned along with the rest of their club members to face their captain. "Solo events are up first, team events start at 3 pm. Make sure you check your number so you don't miss your turn." Kagome shivered as she felt the cold captains' eyes settle on her from afar. "Make sure you don't embarrass yourselves either." She added and Kagome lifted her face slightly at the subtle dig. She wasn't the same as when she first joined the club, she was confident she would at least do decently today.
Kikyo ended her speech with a wave of her hand and the club members slowly returned to what they had been doing. Sango clapped her lightly on the shoulder and Kagome turned as her friend spoke. "Don't worry about her, you're gunna do great."
Kagome smiled, she wasn't nearly as nervous anymore, she felt even more determination to do well now and she would prove Kikyos' assumptions were wrong. "You're right Sango, I'm going to do great!" They shouldered their full quivers and headed towards the practice range that was next to their waiting bench.
After half an hour of warming up, Sango waved to her to stop. "They've posted the line-up for the events. Let's go look!" Her friend called to her and Kagome nodded her head and set her equipment down on their clubs' warm-up bench
"So, the solo events are first?" Kagome asked as they walked into the tournament's hall.
"They start first since they take so long, the team event usually starts about halfway through the solo events." They reached the board in the hallway that was neatly lined with sheets of paper containing event information.
The crowd around the board prevented them from getting close enough to be able to read anything and they waited patiently for the crowd to clear. "I hope we're early in the solo events, they can drag on depending on how many new freshman entries there are from each college." The brown-haired girl finished as they were finally able to reach the front of the crowd and read the board.
Kagomes eyes scanned the board for her name and finally came across it, she was number 47 out of 106. She noticed that all of the other Shikon University students were in front of her, so she would be the last one to go from her school.
"Forty-three and forty-seven, not bad!" Sango exclaimed happily as she called out their numbers.
Kagome nodded her head. "Let's get back to the bench, I want to watch the contestants before us." She said, and the two of them turned and walked back down the hallway to the event field.
They made it back to the warm-up bench with a few minutes until the tournament would begin and Kagome settled onto the bench to study the contestants who went first, she wanted every advantage she could get.
Sesshomaru bowed as he accepted the first-place trophy on behalf of Shikon University's' kendo club, their team had won efficiently, even Inuyasha had taken his bouts seriously for once. The ceremony was quick and concise and he noticed that Inuyasha slipped away the moment they were free from the eyes of the spectators.
He followed his team members to the locker room and quickly changed as he checked the time. It was only 2 pm, if he hurried, he should be able to make it next door to watch Kagome's first tournament.
Inuyasha's strange behavior left his mind as thoughts of his female swirled in to replace them, he had resisted fantasizing about her for the last several hours but now his mind was free to wander.
He was anxious for her he realized, not just to be near her but for her tournament today. He wanted her to feel the pride and satisfaction of placing well today. He was confident that she had the ability to do so, he had seen it himself over the last few weeks. He gathered his things and stopped by his teams' bus in the parking lot to make sure his bags were safely stored aboard before he made his way to the tournament hall where Kagome was.
When he entered the building Sesshomaru began scenting the air, searching for Kagome. He continued to look for her as he ascended into the spectator stands. He circled the balcony lined with bleacher seats until he finally picked up her scent moments before his eyes found her beautiful form.
He breathed a sigh of relief; she was still at the waiting bench for her team so her turn had not come yet. He settled into one of the nearby open seats and watched her openly, he would greet her once her turn was over so as not to make her more nervous.
Kagome watched Sango as she stepped up to the range of still targets. She had been well prepared for the solo events. One set of still targets at varying ranges, the contestants were given two minutes to hit as many of the five targets as possible. Then the contestants moved to the moving target range and were given one chance to hit a set of five targets that were launched at the sound of a bell.
She had watched more than forty contestants go so far so she was familiar with the routine by now. Still, she felt nervous for her friend as the brown-haired girl began her turn.
But her nerves were unfounded and the girl finished her turn quickly and returned to the waiting bench. She had hit all of the still targets dead center and crushed four out of the five moving targets.
"That last one slipped by me!" She laughed to Kagome as she neared her side.
Kagome gave her friend a big hug and laughed excitedly. "You still did great Sango!" They separated and Sango nodded.
"You're gunna do just as well, maybe even better." Sango said seriously, giving her an earnest wide smile.
Kagome grinned. "We'll find out soon enough." They stood anxiously as the next member of their club got in position to take her turn.
The noise from the crowd rose slightly as the team events started to begin. Her clubs' team was second in the team events and she watched as the selected team members got in line to wait for their turn. She was grateful that Kikyo wouldn't be watching during her turn.
As the tournament continued and her turn came closer, Kagome felt the hair on her neck raise in alarm. Her reiki pulsed wildly under her skin and she began to panic slightly as she searched the crowd for any major disturbance.
She found none and tried to breathe deeply as her number was called and she was beckoned forward by an official. Her hands shook slightly as she faced the range and knocked her first arrow waiting for her signal to begin.
Kagomes reiki was fighting to break out and she could feel a swirling oppressive power circling around her. She struggled to concentrate but her buzzer to begin sounded and she let the first arrow fly, she worked through the literal pain as she desperately suppressed her own energy so that she could focus on simply hitting the targets in front of her.
The breath she was holding rushed out of her lips and her body trembled as the last arrow struck its target moments before the buzzer timed again. She moved in slow shaky steps towards the next platform, her vision swirled as she lost her balance and stumbled just before reaching the platform.
Her reiki burst forth in a light pulse around her as her control waivered and murmurs broke out in the crowd around her, barely discernable to her jumbled hearing. She picked herself up just as a loud snarl rang through the stadium, deafening silence following behind it.
Kagome sucked in a cool breath as the energy around her suddenly vanished and her reiki stopped rising in volume. She straightened herself and stepped onto the platform, nodding at the official.
The buzzer rang out and five discs shot into the air, one after the other. She raised her bow and arrow and fired two shots quickly before firing the next two, she focused on the last one and sent her swirling reiki that was still responsive under her skin to the tip of the projectile before letting it loose.
The fifth disc shattered like the four before it and Kagome smiled wide in pride. She turned and quickly left the platform to return to Sango who was looking at her with worried eyes.
"What was that?" Her friend spoke frantically as Kagome practically fell into her open arms, tired from her internal struggle moments earlier.
Kagome looked up at her and shook her head as she spoke. "I have no idea…" She replied.
Sango pointed into the stands to their left. "Something happened up there, I think their students from our school!"
Kagome followed to where she pointed and her blue eyes widened in disbelief. She could clearly make out Sesshomaru's form in the lower level of the stands. His silver hair fanning over his right side stood out against the spray of red that painted the background behind him, somebody was pinned underneath of him hidden from view. Her heart jumped into her throat as the stands cleared of spectators and security personnel filled the space, immediately going for Sesshomaru, the sound of his snarling clear through the police chattering.
"I have to get up there." The words left Kagomes mouth as her legs began to move.
Sango grabbed her arm and she whirled to face her. "Wait, what do you mean?" Sango looked anxious as she questioned her friend.
Kagome put her hand on Sangos that was gripping her arm and gently pried the girl off of her. "I have to go Sango, let me know how the scores come out later." She said much calmer than how she actually felt.
At Sangos uneasy nod she turned and ran for the exit doors that led to the closest staircase upwards.
Sesshomaru had been so focused on watching Kagome that he noticed immediately the moment her reiki rose. He had risen and fanned out his youki searching for any impending threat, and when he found it his beast had howled in rage.
His bastard half-brother was sitting on the opposite side of the stadium, his youki fanning out around him wildly as the Hanyou partially shifted in an irreversible loss of control.
"Bastard." The word had left his mouth as he jumped with all of his strength, destroying the spot where he had been standing. He zeroed in on his prey as he soared through the air, his eyes bled with red, his beast coming to the surface to hunt their prey together.
A fierce snarl flew from his lips as he neared the Hanyou, wild eyes meeting his own seconds before he crashed into Inuyasha's crazed form. His hand gripped the weaker males throat and acid seeped into his claws as he spoke past the growing fangs in his mouth.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked in a rage strangled tone.
Inuyasha only snarled and clawed at the arm pinning him to the ground and Sesshomaru growled back. He decided instead to use his own massive youki to wrap up Inuyasha's and attempt to force it back into his struggling body.
It began to work for a moment before the Hanyou's wild youki spilled out once again and his struggles intensified, his claws ripping the flesh from Sesshomarus arm.
Through the wild attacks, Sesshomaru was able to pinpoint the area where the Hanyou's youki was leaking out. A strange rosary with large beads was draped around his neck, the necklace was forcefully drawing the Hanyou's youki out of him.
Sesshomaru raised his left hand and timed his strike perfectly to slash the necklace to pieces. What he didn't expect was the slicing blade of energy that whipped out from the point of contact as the Hanyou's youki was sucked violently back into his body, he barely shifted in time to avoid taking the wave of energy head-on.
The sting in his left shoulder came moments before the spray of blood that showered from his side as his arm fell to the floor, completely severed. His beast rose fully to the surface, blocking the pain and subduing the threat in front of him, his claws on his hand still wrapped around the Hanyou's throat ripped into the flesh underneath them and everything around him dulled. The sounds of people gathering around him fell on deaf ears as he sought to kill his prey.
He snarled as he felt hands encase his form and pull him away from the still form of his prey. He fought to return and finish his kill but the lack of an arm made his efforts less efficient. It wasn't until the soft scent of jasmine filled his senses that some of his rational thought returned and he realized the people holding him were police.
Sesshomaru stopped his struggling and instead focused on finding the source of the jasmine scent. It had to be Kagome. His eyes were still scarlet, his one remaining arm covered in blood as the stump of his shoulder smoldered as his youki worked to stop the bleeding of the massive wound, but when his eyes landed on her frame as she pushed past the line of officers surrounding him his heart swelled with emotion.
Deep blue eyes locked with his and he growled at the people around him as he pushed forward and out of their grasping arms. He reached Kagome in several long strides and pulled her against his chest, not caring about his injuries or that he was covering her in blood. He inhaled deeply and as her scent filled his nose, he closed his eyes, he barely felt the world shift as he slipped into unconsciousness, the severity of his wounds finally catching up with him.
Kagome froze with shock the moment she pushed through the security and police surrounding Sesshomaru. He stood covered in blood, his left sleeve was torn at the shoulder and blood and smoke bubbled on the stump that once held his arm. Tears filled her eyes and the words she had wanted to speak caught horribly in her throat.
Her eyes darted around and took in Inuyasha's mangled form lying a few feet away before centering back on Sesshomaru who was now coming towards her. Despite the terror she should be feeling at that moment her heart bled for his injured form and she held her arms open as he pulled her form against his.
She closed her eyes to savor the feeling for a moment before a new terror consumed her as Sesshomaru's form went limp against her. She struggled under his weight for a moment before a nearby police officer helped her out from under him.
"Sesshomaru!" She finally found her voice and called frantically.
The officer set his unconscious form on the ground as gently as he could and waved over one of the E.M.T.'s that were arriving at the scene. "This one needs to go too." The officer said gruffly.
Kagome followed the team of emergency personnel into the hallway and one of them, a rabbit youkai, stopped her for a moment. "Ma'am, are you related to these young men?" The medical technician eyed her suspiciously as he spoke.
Kagome shoved down her nervousness for a moment and rose to her full height, staring the demon down with as much intimidation she could muster at that moment. "I am riding to the hospital with him." She tilted her head towards Sesshomaru's unconscious form being carried away and her reiki crackled under her skin in anger.
He cowered and moved aside to let her follow the rest of the team down the hall. "Yes, ma'am." He squeaked quietly.
Kagome jogged to catch up with the team carrying Sesshomaru and she watched his unconscious face with worry, he had to wake up, she didn't even understand what had happened. As she climbed into the ambulance and waited for it to start moving, she reached out to touch Sesshomaru's remaining hand, she already cared so much for this man, this demon, she would be broken if he didn't make it through this.
*** Thank you for reading! So, I gave you a taste of action this chapter, next comes so much great plot building. I'm already working on Chapter 6 so stay tuned. As always, all reviews are appreciated!