Why Me

Ch. 5 Fight to the Finish

Kagome woke up later than usual not feeling the need to get ready for travel or help out at whatever village she was staying at like she usually did though she still woke up pretty early by others standards. She spread out her senses searchingly towards the direction of Inutaisho's room and found Izaiyoi to still be asleep so she didn't have to start her duties just yet she thought as she stretched like feline. She next sought out Inutaisho's aura to let him know that she was awake even though he probably already knew that she was. He responded to her gentle prodding with a light nudge of his own in greeting. Satisfied she gently and quietly slipped out of the bed she and Shippo had been sharing to start her morning routine.

She went over to the armoire and choose a light green haori and hakama set and over that a slightly darker green kimono with no ornamentation on it at all after all she was a worrier not a princess and need not dress nicely unless in the presence of guests or at dinner. Once done she went over to her bag and took out the soap she had made herself that was the same as her own personal smell at least that's what Sesshomaru's mother had told her when she picked up another in a market they had gone to.

Flashback: They were going to the village outside the castle gates today for her lessons because Lady Inukimi was teaching her etiquette so she need to learn how to choose things best suited for herself that made her look even more beautiful than she already was. Accessories such as jewelry, hair ornaments and what colors suited her best and brought out her greatest features. She was oddly drawn to a perfume and soap shop and was looking at the soaps and sighing dreamily when Inukimi thrust a bar of soap into her hand and told her "this one suits you best because it is the closest to your natural scent".{ End Flashback}

After that day she either bought that kind of soap or she made it herself after having someone teach her how to make soap of course since she didn't after all she lived in the future where machines made almost everything.

She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts of the distant past before she skipped to the hot springs attacked to her room and stripped bare in moments she sat on a stool and pored a bucket of cold water over her head. She then proceeded to scrub down and climbed into the hot spring (she could do the cold water thing here because it was indoors so there was no risk of her catching cold from bathing like this). She soaked and swam off and on for her bath and was thoroughly enjoyed herself she hadn't had the chance to just soak in a hot spring in forever.

By the time she got out Shippo was up and rubbing the sleep out of his still sleep hazed eyes he immediately noticed her and offered her a sleepy smile and a faint "good morning oka-san". She just chuckled and have the still not quite awake boy a gentle hug and a good morning kiss before choosing out an outfit for the boy and ushering him gently towards the springs to wash up for breakfast which would be soon. As soon as her son was dressed they headed down to breakfast where Izaiyoi greeted them with a cheerful hello she had taken an immediate liking to the little miko.

The lady merely greeted her with a slight nod of her head while the lord gave her a small smile he was quite taken with the little miko as well, and the prince just ignored her as if she didn't exist. The atmosphere this morning was a little less strained like it was yesterday and she actually chatted quietly with Izaiyoi unlike yesterday where she just ate her meal quietly and nodded every now and then to show she was still listening.

Finally the meal was over and it was time for Izaiyoi's checkup she was led back to her room where she was asked lie down, Kagome them quickly cleared her mind and placed a glowing hand gently on Izaiyoi's stomach. She vaguely felt Inutaisho's presence hovering over Izaiyoi protectively looking for the slightest sign that she was hurting Izaiyoi she snorted inwardly like that was ever going to happen. Once finished she gave both Izaiyoi and her mate a gentle smile and informed them that the baby was doing fine and that she should give birth to the little one pretty soon. Both parents were overjoyed though a little anxious Izaiyoi because this was her first child and Inutaisho because things were getting dicey between the west and the north.

The west and the north had always been rivals now though they were enemies even though the Inu No Taisho and Ryuukotsusei had been friends since they were very young and then one day the dragon lord had declared them enemies. No one knew the reason why and though he didn't show it the Inu No Taisho had been deeply hurt by the dragon lord's declaration.

The only reason she could tell that, that was what Inutaisho was thinking about was because a) she had heard the story from Myoga in the future and b) she had spent enough time around his eldest to be able to read what he was thinking. Seeing the worry on his face she set out to relieve it and said "do not worry Inutaisho-sama I will not let any harm befall Izaiyoi-sama even if I must die to do so then so be it so long as she is safe!" For even greater effect she bowed low to both the western lord and his mate whom she had agreed to protect. The Inutaisho was looking at her gratefully while Izaiyoi was getting a little teary eyed "if you are going to make a promise like that them I will have another of you?" "Hai?" "Don't throw your life away recklessly or unless you believe there to be no other choice!" "Hai Inutaisho-sama!"

With those last words she excused herself from the lady and lords presence and headed towards the library planning on doing some relaxing reading before going to train in the dojo later in the afternoon. On her way she sought out her son's aura and as she figured he was busy playing pranks on the guards and castle staff honestly he was too mischievous for his own good sometimes she thought fondly.

She finally reached the library and proceeded to look for a scroll she wanted to read she spotted one on kitsune youkai and decided to read up more on them because really didn't know all that much about kitsune and it may give her some insight on how to raise Shippo. Taking the scroll to a comfy looking nook in the back of the library near a window where she could gaze out at the garden during the day and get a beautiful view of the sunset if she was here when the sun set. Curling up comfortably on the feather cushions she began to read and that was how the young prince found her.

Honestly she was expecting him to confront her at some point in time while she stayed here though she was hoping her would give her a few days to settle in but she had been hoping for too much with that she knew how impatient Sesshomaru could be when he wanted to. She sighed and looked up at the seething young prince with a pleasant smile "Is there something I can do for you prince Sesshomaru?" "I need nothing from a mortal such as yourself" he said in a biting tone "My father has fallen far first he mates with that weak and pathetic mortal hime and then he brings a miko with barely any power into the palace!" She knew he was trying to rile her but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction instead she was going to hit him where it hurts in his ego. If she knew one thing that got to someone especially if that someone especially a male someone it was jabbing at their pride.

"Oh if your father is so weak them why do you keep losing to him every time you challenge him?" She smirked at his shocked look "don't be surprised I've heard of you you're quite well known among both human and youkai kind" she was cut off by him swiping his claws at her. "Oh my I heard that you didn't like humans, but going so far as to attack one of your father's guests I had thought better of you than that my mistake." That only seemed to piss him off further than he abruptly halted himself mid-strike apparently figuring out that she was purposefully pushing his buttons to get him to react. "Hn you have a sharp tongue it's too bad you don't have the strength to match it" "really!" she said just as he was about to leave "well if you're so sure you can beat me why don't we test that theory of yours in a spar."

He smirked thinking that showing her his deadly fang combined with his now animalistic expression would scare her, but he had another thing coming this younger Sesshomaru was no were near as scary as his older self. She merely smiled and said "I'll meet you in the dojo in one hour" before walking past the youkai prince whom she had managed to stun twice in a short amount of time "Fine I accept your challenge mortal" he said over his shoulder "but it's your funeral I won't go easy on just because you are a weak human!"

Undenounced to them Kagome's maid who had come to check on her had heard her challenge and the young princes acceptance and was excited she had a feeling her little miko charge would teach the young prince a lesson he would never forget. She hurried to tell her lord of what she had heard knowing he would want to see it to see his son's reaction and to see how skilled the little miko was so he could rest easy leaving his mate in the care of the miko.

She burst into her lords' study in her haste to tell him the news luckily he wasn't preoccupied with any guests at the moment or he would have surely punished her.

He raised an eyebrow and waited for the maid he had assigned to the little miko to catch her breath so she could tell him why she had barged into his study. "My lord I am sorry to intrude, but I just heard the little miko you assigned me to challenge your son to a sparring match". "Really is that so when did she set this match for?" "one hour from now milord" "very well I shall watch this little match to make sure that no one gets seriously hurt knowing my son if she wins he will try and kill her and I cannot have that seeing as I just found her and she can take better care of Izaiyoi than most anyone else".

"You may go now" "and Hitomiko?" "Hai milord?" "I would appreciate it if you spoke of this to no one I do not want this to become a spectacle, having Sesshomaru challenge me constantly is bad enough without this added on to it." "Hai milord" then she turned around and resisted the urge to tell everyone she saw about what she had whitness being a bird youkai she was naturally chatty, but she would withhold the urge to talk for her lord.

Lunch came and went and the time of the challenge drew near surprisingly the little miko was the first to arrive and she went over to the wall to choose a weapon for the fight and the Inutaisho watched her keenly as she ran her hand over the many weapons he had available. She surveyed the weapons as keenly as the Inutaisho surveyed her and she knew without a doubt that these weapons were the same as she had seen in this dojo when she was training with the future Sesshomaru. She skipped over the swords, the axes, the bow and arrows and quite a few other weapons that most people would choose and came to the scythes. Now that was an odd choice not many people chose scythes as a weapon mainly because it was so hard to use it in battle.

This would be a most interesting fight to be sure and just as that thought finished his eldest walked into the room wielding tenseiga his son was rather overconfident then if he was using tenseiga. Kagome had already stripped to her haori and hakama for this match so she got into a ready stance as Sesshomaru did on the other side of the dojo. "I hope you are prepared to lose mortal" "I'm not the one that will be losing, but thank you for worrying about me" she said pleasantly while he growled quietly. Oh so the little miko had a sharp tongue this would be an even more interesting match then he had first thought.

He brought his focus back in just in time to see his son charge at the little miko who surprisingly blocked his sons thrust effortlessly with the blade of her scythe, so she knew how to use it her master must have been skilled not many had the skill to use a scythe much less train someone else to use one.

He could see his son was getting frustrated with how this fight was going he had not expected her to be even remotely this good in all honesty he had not either, but she was and she wasn't even using her powers yet. He could see the finely defined muscles in her legs, arms and abdomen bunching and releasing as they fought in a wonderful display of strength. This fight went on for three hours straight with neither giving an inch by this time sweat was pouring off of both of them and the Inutaisho knew this fight would soon be over. They both were tiring especially Kagome because although she was extremely well trained she was still only human and humans could only take so much especially with opponents who had centuries of practice and skill like his son.

He zeroed back in on the fight he did not want to miss the outcome of this fight. Suddenly without warning Kagome threw her scythe to the side and caught Sesshomaru's blade with both hands and before Sesshomaru could react she had brought her foot up enhanced with her miko powers and sent him flying across the dojo and into the wall were it took him a moment to get up from the impact. He could tell that this fight was over for his son because Kagome now had a completely serious face on up until this point she had been smiling as if she were just having a fun session of sparring but now her lips were drawn in thin line and her face was hard.

And when his son came back for the finishing blow she was ready bending back so far he thought she would break in half from trying to dodge the blow and pulled his son's feet right from out under him and sent him to the floor, with tenseiga in her hand pressed with lethal pressure against his son's throat her eyes daring him to continue the match. He glared for a moment before finally submitting and she got up off of him before handing his sword back to him and giving him a cheeky smirk.

Oh yes this was definitely a beating his son would never forget not if he had anything to say about it anyway. He would make sure that his son would never underestimate his opponent by appearances alone, and take every opponent seriously from the beginning. Though he had to wonder who in the world the miko's teacher was whoever they were was really good throughout the match he could barely see any weaknesses in her defense or her attack.

She attacked ruthlessly without holding a single thing back it was almost like watching a sharper more sophisticated version of his son. He shook that thought off though as far as he was aware the two had never met before today do that was impossible.

|End Chapter|

Author's Notes: Few another chapter done anyway next chapter the Inu No Taisho goes off to battle and is given a special gift by Kagome, and Izaiyoi goes into labor! OH NO what happens next read to find out! Thanks!

Ja Ne!

Purplerose97