Chapter 17: Practice
He flipped a perfectly browned pancake as he heard her enter the kitchen, taking her usual spot at the table where he had already placed a cup of coffee. He checked his watch, seeing that it was a little late for breakfast, and he was definitely late for work, but he didn't care. He liked the idea of making his pompous ass of a 'boss' wait on him for something so trivial as feeding Kagome.
"Somewhere you have to be?" she asked, noticing he'd checked the time more than once this morning. He replied with a soft 'hn.' but didn't explain, focusing on finishing the food. She let the warm mug of coffee sit in her hands, almost hot enough to burn, waiting for him to finish up. She knew well enough by now that he didn't like multi-tasking, even to talk to her, though she also knew it wasn't because he needed to concentrate. Making her wait on him made it so she was always the one begging for attention, jumping at every opportunity to have a second of his time. She felt a little spike of anger at the minor manipulation, feeling that way mostly because it always worked just the way he wanted.
He finally turned, presenting her with a plate of delicious smelling food. She didn't touch it right away, waiting for him. When he sat without a plate, only bringing his own cup of coffee she noticed a pattern that she'd wondered about before. "Do you eat?" She asked suddenly, looking at him again with wide eyed interest. He furrowed his brow at the silly question.
"Do I eat?" He asked, watching her nod as though it was an honest inquiry. "Of course I eat. I'm a living thing." He said dryly, sipping his coffee. She shrugged innocently, picking up her fork.
"I've never seen you eat anything… except coffee and tea." She cut into her food absently. "And maybe a lesser demon or two." She muttered. He smirked at her. As silly as the conversation was, she was elated to be off the heavier subject of the day. It was nice to let the elephant in the room go unnoticed for a moment.
"I eat." He insisted, feeling like it was an odd thing to have to defend. "The same as sleeping. Not as much as humans, but I still have to every now and then." She nodded as if to say 'if you say so,' scepticism showing on her features. He narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly considering a way to kill two birds with one stone. Keep her close and prove he ate, though that second part was more just an excuse.
"Come with me tonight and I'll prove it." He said, leaning back in his chair, offering a bit of a challenge to her bravery. He knew she was still unsure about being around him at all, which was something he needed to rectify at once. She finished her bite, holding a dainty hand to her lips.
"Come with you where?" She asked, planning already on making an excuse. She needed time away from him to think.
"It's a dinner, meeting a client downtown to hash out some details of a business venture. I was supposed to be meeting with him in about…" He glanced down at his watch again. "Fifteen minutes, but I plan to put it off." She looked a little worried.
"He won't be mad?" He scoffed, taking another sip of his coffee.
"What do I care? He's not my only client." His attitude was dismissive, which surprised Kagome, but at the same time didn't. She could never imagine him letting anyone boss him around for any reason, but this wasn't part of the rules of business she'd been aware of. It seemed odd, the touch of animosity he showed for his client. What could he have done to piss Sesshomaru off?
"You don't like this client?" She asked, doing her best to look disinterested as she went back to concentrating on her food.
"Is it that obvious?" His tone was hinting at sarcasm, making her smile.
"What did he do? Mishandle some priceless artifact?" She joked, hoping she was right. He looked a bit thrown off for a moment until realization hit.
"Ah-no… a different job." Kagome's head tilted questioningly as she continued to eat. "I have several. This one is a bit more exciting than antiques." He stated plainly, seeing the curiosity in her eyes returning. Just what he wanted.
"What is it?" She asked, again covering her lips. He smirked, watching her over the rim of his cup as he finished the coffee, returning to the sink without answering.
"You'll find out, if you come." he said, rinsing the cup before taking out his phone to text the client, sure he had her now. Her curiosity was a weakness, he was learning. As he was finishing the text her fork hit her empty plate.
"Fine." She said resolutely. "I'll go, if only to prove that you eat." She panned her little joke, flicking her eyes up to meet his. He nodded, typing something else into his phone.
"What's your dress size?" He asked plainly. She blinked.
"My- what?" She was thrown off before realizing he probably intended to dress her for the night out as well. "I have my own clothes!" She protested lightly. "If you just take me home I'll change into something-"
"Answer the question." He commanded. She hesitated stubbornly a moment before telling him, giving her shoe size as well, hating that he was going to do it.
"What's it for?" She asked, as though she didn't already know. She was more curious about whether he was going to go out and find something himself, the image making her smile a little.
"I'm having my assistant bring something by." He said, returning his phone to his pocket.
"Assistant?" Kagome watched as he gathered her dishes and went back to the sink, tidying everything up quickly.
"Rose. She does whatever I ask without question, and she is very good at her job. I pay her enough to be." Kagome felt an odd little twitch of her heart at that. The western name made her immediately picture a woman from an old movie. An actress that was popular overseas. She couldn't bring up a name.
"What do you ask her to do?" She ventured, feeling a little bold. He huffed in amusement, his back still turned to her.
"This and that. Shopping, appointments, hiding the bodies." Kagome giggled softly, liking this more relaxed Sesshomaru.
"Until then, what should we do?" She immediately regretted the question, seeing him turn his head with a suggestive little quirk of his brow. He let it go quickly, much to her delight. He finished the dishes, turning and leaning on the sink while he dried his hands, considering the options.
"I believe you're behind on school work." He said, giving her a look like it was somehow her fault he'd kept her here instead of letting her go to school. Another flash of anger rose before she could stop it.
"Whose fault it that?" She said heatedly. She reigned it in at once, cursing how hard it was to control at times. She cleared her throat before continuing. "It's fine, I'm used to catching up fast." She was an absolute expert, actually, thanks to her time as the Shikon Jewel detector.
"In that case, we could resume our lesson, if your hand is feeling better." She looked down at her palm, still wrapped, but feeling well enough that she didn't even notice it. She looked past the hand to the pants she was wearing and decided it wasn't going to work.
"I'll trip if I try to swing a sword in these." She said, tugging at the loose fabric. He nodded, thinking she would probably trip anyway.
"You could take them off." He offered cooly. She blushed at his forwardness.
"I'll… go put on my skirt." She said evenly, getting better at staying calm under pressure. She got up from the table and walked back to the room, quickly finding her skirt and putting it on, tucking his shirt into the waist. She thought the combination was actually kind of attractive, turning back and forth in the mirror before heading back out to find him again. He was in his back garden, waiting patiently. She smiled at making him wait for once, but didn't drag it out, grabbing her practice sword to join him. He was slowly moving the blade, appearing to be in deep thought. Suddenly he moved with lightning speed, the dull blade making a sharp swoosh with every fluid movement. He stopped as quickly as he'd began, looking over at her with a little hint of annoyance.
She closed her mouth, stifling her blatant awe-struck look. She'd seen him fight plenty, but seeing it at such a close distance nearly knocked her off her feet. He was faster than what should have been possible, and every move was carried out with razor precision. She thought quickly of something to say to distract him from her momentary lapse in composure.
"Getting back into the groove?" She asked, laughing lightly. She figured he didn't have much reason to practice in this day and age. He nodded, offering a 'Hn.' before looking at the blade in his hands. It was bulky, but it was supposed to be. It had been a long time since he used one, but he wasn't at any risk of forgetting how to fight.
"I'm thinking about how I would even begin." He said absently, sounding annoyed at the task. "I don't usually think about it, so I'm not sure how to explain it."
"You've never taught anyone before?" She asked, a little surprised, but then again, he wasn't an especially patient man, though he did seem to make an exception for her.
"Never. Not how to fight, anyway. I taught Inuyasha to use Tenseiga, but that is all." Kagome nodded, wanting to know more, but deciding to avoid talking about Inuyasha with him if she could. He sighed, eyeing her carefully. "I suppose I can begin with showing you how to move it at all, and that would be an improvement." He said dismissively. Kagome frowned, a little hurt by his dig.
"Maybe I should find a real teacher." She snapped back without thinking. He shot her an icy glare. She bowed her head in silent apology, letting him continue with his method.
"Stance." He said, moving his legs and holding out the sword in a proper stance for her to copy. She ran around his side and did her best to mimic him, holding her practice blade out in front of her and looking to him for guidance. He dropped his stance to circle her, using his blade to tap lightly on areas that needed to be straightened. Once he was satisfied he rounded back to her front, looking at her with determination.
"Good enough." He said. She huffed, defeated by his critical attitude already. Before she could make any comment he was holding his blade, ready to strike her. "I'm going to show you how to counter some basic attacks. I'll go slow." She nodded with new readiness. "Move like you're going to hit me." She did as she was told, moving forward and striking her sword straight down at him. He deflected the blow, swiveling to her side and tapping his sword on her back. She straightened up, to look at how he had done it, even his slowest movements a little quick for a complete beginner.
He explained what he did, showing her the movement and encouraging her to copy, which she did badly at first, but improved quickly. He was pleased with how fast she learned as he ran through a few more simple moves that would be handy if she ever actually came to blows with someone, as unlikely as that scenario was. After a while he stopped explaining and simply moved through the motions, attacking and letting her counter until he was once again happy with the progress then switching gears, showing her how to best go on the offense. She picked that up faster than defense, as she'd already been watching him closely.
"Kagome, I want to see something." He said, lowering his sword as they finished a set.
"Hm? What is it?" She asked, feeling good about how natural her movements were starting to feel.
"I want you to try purifying the blade. I want to see if you can." He didn't seem to be asking for anything more than curiosity, and she hadn't tried yet herself, so she agreed, falling back into the first stance. She closed her eyes, concentrating on letting her powers rise like she did with the bow and arrow. He watched intently as a soft pinkish glow enveloped the blade. Her eyes fluttered open to see the aura of purification, smiling triumphantly. "Keep it that way." He said, catching her eyes to make sure she'd heard him.
He stepped forward, letting his fingers hover over the dull metal, feeling the odd sensation of purifying light on his hand. It was like electricity. A little zip that trailed up his arm, even at a short distance. He grazed it, testing its strength and finding it was painful, but not too much to bare as he let his hand rest fully on the metal. He thought for a moment about whether it could kill him if she got in a decent hit, a priestess being the best weapon against a demon, deciding it was not yet strong enough.
"Is that the most you can do?" He asked, looking from the blade to her face, which was showing her anxiety at having him so close to her dangerous power. She shook her head hesitantly. "You're holding back?" He asked, a bit surprised. She didn't answer, only looking to his eyes like a silent request to stop.
"I… don't think that's a good idea…" She said pleadingly. He smirked dangerously at her.
"Don't be so sure of yourself, Kagome." He snapped angrily, glaring like he was ready to kill her. Her powers spiked without her control, responding to her heart instead of her head. It sparked up his arm and in an instant went dead as she dropped the sword, gasping in surprise. His hand snapped back from the blade in a fist, like he'd touched something hot, but other than that he didn't move. They looked at each other in silent disbelief for a long moment. Kagome stood with her hands over her mouth, the blade at her feet, shaking lightly, heart pounding.
He looked at her with a new respect, not having realized until then how powerful she really was. After the fight with Naraku he'd never seen her use her powers to fight, only heal. He reasoned it probably took more to repair than destroy as he looked at his hand. It held a new stripe, the color of blood across four of his fingers, stinging lightly. "Well…" He said in wonderment.
"I'm sorry!" She squeaked through her fingers, still glued in place as she watched him.
"No, that was good." he said, looking at her with a soft expression to show he wasn't angry about it. He'd purposefully snapped at her to get a reaction, though he hadn't anticipated it would be quite so severe. He was sure now that if she managed to cut him, she could theoretically kill him. "Very impressive." He mused, staring her down as the cut began to heal itself.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered again. He quirked a brow at her. Was she really that worried? She'd been there when his arm was cut from his body, and yet this worried her?
"It's fine, Kagome. Look." He offered her his hand for inspection. She walked forward, letting one hand drop from her lips to touch his palm with a feather lightness. She sighed, letting out a long shaking breath, seeing it was really almost nothing. She looked up at him with her mantra of 'I'm sorry' still written on her face. Just as he was about to insist he was fine once more she pushed herself between his arm and chest, hugging him tightly. The move took him by surprise, and while he wasn't much of a hugger, it wasn't unwelcome. That was when the scent hit him. Fear, which was among his favorites, but it was a new kind. Fear for his safety, instead of the kind he'd usually inspired in her. He put his hand on her back, unable to do anything else, stunned more by this new development than the actual injury. They were only interrupted when the doorbell rang.