Chapter Thirty-Three
The New Girl
Disclaimer: I'm running out of ways to describe how I don't own InuYasha. I mean, it's beginning to get a little obvious, isn't it?
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Standing on the edge of the wall that separated the castle grounds and the surrounding forest, the early morning wind whipped her golden hair around her face. The rising sun made her hair shine like molten amber and illuminated her small figure. With a smirk that showed her fangs, she easily jumped from the castle walls, seeming to have disappeared.
Kagome stopped, looking at where the girl had just been standing, blinking a few times. It was still considerably early and the light could have been playing tricks on her eyes but she could have sworn she just saw a young girl with gold hair …
Shaking her head, she shifted her quiver of arrows, continuing to the training grounds where she was meeting her mate for what was beginning to be a regular training session for her to learn how to control her miko powers better and exert some of the excess in which she seemed to have plenty of.
"You're late." Was her curt and slightly irritated greeting from her powerful lord and mate. Kagome smiled apologetically as she reached him.
"Sorry. I thought I saw a little girl with gold hair standing on the castle wall." Sesshomaru arched a silver brow. Gold hair? He would have certainly heard about a child being born with such an odd colored hair in his lands. He tucked it away for further examination and turned to his mate.
"Let's get started then. Your first exercise will be perfecting your archery skills and then we will move onto your sword work." Kagome blinked, looking a little surprised.
"But … I've never even held a sword! Unless you count all those times when I had to retrieve Tetsaiga for InuYasha …" Sesshomaru sighed a little bit, walking up and putting a gentle finger underneath his mate's chin, gently commanding her to look up at him.
"Kagome, this is not only for your benefit but it is for the pup's safety." He then offered her an encouraging smile that nearly made Kagome faint. Even in all these years, she still hadn't gotten used to that particular smile. She nodded with a smile of her own.
"Yeah, you're right." She drew an arrow from her quiver and notched it.
"Alright, ready." Sesshomaru watched his mate's form with expert eyes, slowly walking an exaggerated circle around her.
"Raise your elbow slightly. Move your left foot back about an inch. Use both eyes, not just one." After a long ten minutes, Kagome let out an exasperated noise and Sesshomaru chuckled, putting a clawed hand on her shoulder.
"Now, summon your miko powers. Pour as much into the arrow as you can." Kagome closed her eyes and Sesshomaru tugged on her hair lightly.
"Do not close your eyes, even while focusing. It just gives your enemy an added chance for attack. Now … inhale … good, Kagome. Shoot." Kagome followed his orders and poured as much miko energy as the arrow would hold and she didn't even feel close to being tired. Letting go of the arrow, she watched as it sailed through the air, leaving a very pretty but long pink streak behind and make contact with the target, getting a perfect bulls eye. She squealed happily and Sesshomaru signaled for her to wait while he retrieved her arrow.
Just as he reached for the arrow, the delayed reaction of purifying miko powers promptly blew up the target, disintegrating it and sending the demon lord flying and landing painfully on his back.
Sitting up, he growled as his demon blood worked overtime to overpower the powerful purifying energy that was currently coursing through his body, feeling like he was burning from the inside out. Once the pain had passed, he looked at his hair frowning when he discovered that it was very much singed as well as the hem of his clothes.
Kagome's eyes went wide and she jogged over to her mate, kneeling down.
"Sesshomaru! Are you alright?" Sesshomaru sat up, looking at his mate carefully, studying her. He watched her face go from concern to confusion and then embarrassment. With a sigh, he stood up, brushing off his clothes.
"I'm fine."
"How did that happen? Did you blow it up?" He arched a brow at her question. Did she honestly believe that he would blow something up when he was so close to the objection in question?
"No, I did not blow it up. I'm not a fan of being half purified." Kagome blushed again, looking down at the ground.
"Gomen, Sesshomaru. I didn't mean to have it blow up." Sesshomaru looked to where the target had just previously been, his fine brows knitting together delicately.
"Just how much power did you put into the arrow?" Kagome looked at him suddenly but then her expression turned thought.
"Well, I think I filled the arrow up pretty much all the way. I didn't mean to overdue it." Sesshomaru shook his head slightly.
"You didn't overdue it. It is actually a good result since the targets you were just shooting at require a considerable amount of magical power to even damage it in the slightest. The fact that you were able to turn it to ashes with just one arrow gives a starting point to calculating exactly how much miko energy you currently possess." Kagome took his words into consideration and then beamed at him.
"So then I'm really super strong." Sesshomaru smirked at her words.
"If you want to put it that way, then yes. Your priestess powers may even be equal to my own power." Kagome's eyes went like huge saucers as she stared at him.
"Really? Wow!!" Sesshomaru just nodded, walking away and went to the weapons rack, picking out a katana for her. Returning, he handed her the sword, watching as the girl held it awkwardly.
"Hold it like this." He instructed softly, gently placing one of her hands the handle. Kagome nodded as she slowly began getting accustomed to the hard leather in her hand that made her arm heavy and tired.
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InuYasha wandered the corridors of the castle, stretching his muscles. He'd spent the last day with his two sick twins clinging to him. Every movement he made seemed to be the wrong one and so he ended up putting cotton in his sensitive ears to shield them from all the crying.
Sighing, he stopped and looked out one of the large windows, smirking when he saw his brother and Kagome, obviously training. It looked like Sesshomaru was a little singed, probably from Kagome over doing the purification. He chuckled and took a step to continue on his walk when something sent his ears twitching and an uneasy feeling in his gut.
Placing his hands on the windowsill, he leaned against it, facing the hallway and took a large whiff of the air. Something didn't smell right …
Closing his eyes for a minute, he tried to feel it out but got nothing. Frowning, he opened his eyes just in time to catch a flash of gold. He blinked, rubbing his eyes and looking around again though everything looked normal.
Frowning deeper he took a careful step and then spun around, catching the intruder off guard.
He had to blink a few times to fully comprehend what he was holding.
"Ohayo, Uncle InuYasha!" Katsu said cheerily. He stopped and looked at the squirming mass in his uncle hand. Muffled demands were coming from what looked like a bundle of clothes with limbs. Finally, an angry golden head popped out and claws swung at nothing but air.
Not only did she have gold hair but … a tail of the same color to his astonishment.
"Oi! Put me down, damn it! Lemme go!!" Katsu blinked, walking closer and examining the girl.
"What are you doing with a girl, Uncle InuYasha?" InuYasha frowned, looking at the girl.
"I found her sneaking around the castle. Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?" He demanded with annoyance. The girl only growled and swung at InuYasha with claws only to miss and end up spinning around while being held up by the back of her kimono. She was probably only half a foot shorter than Katsu so she really shouldn't have so much trouble getting down but InuYasha's grip was like steel.
"That's none of your damn business! Now lemme go!!" InuYasha smirked.
"Yeah right! Like I'd do that! You're not going anywhere until you answer some of my damn questions." The little girl growled at InuYasha, glaring at him, her lips formed into a pout that Katsu found quite cute. A strange scent wafted to his nose and he closed his eyes, following his nose as it unknowingly lead him right to the strange girl with the golden hair.
Her eyes went wide and she shrieked so loud that it bounced off every surface in the entire castle and even reached Kagome's ears out on the far end of the training ground.
"PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Suddenly, Katsu found himself on the floor, his eyes wide and a throbbing huge red hand print on his cheek. He was so shocked that he didn't even know how to respond. No one had ever hit him before, not even when he got caught snooping in his sister's diary.
"Oi!! SHUT UP!!" InuYasha shouted, wincing against the sound of her high-pitched voice as she shrieked at his nephew. It was so painful, he didn't care what he had to do to shut the girl up but something had to be done so he did the only think he could think of; he bonked her over the head and none to gently.
InuYasha sighed at the relief before the salty scent of tears filled his nose and he looked down at the girl who had her hands clenched into fists at her chest. Her chin trembled a little bit and InuYasha panicked.
"Don't cry! Please! Anything else but that!" His words were futile because, just seconds later, a very loud wailing could be heard, vibrating off the castle walls, directly into the sensitive ears of every youkai and hanyou within ten miles. If he thought that her yelling was bad then this was going to make his ears bleed.
InuYasha, torn between dropping the brat and covering his ears, held her out as far as his arm could extend, covering one ear, wincing greatly.
"What's going on?!" He heard Kagome ask. He didn't even think, he just shoved the kid against Kagome's chest and covered his ears.
The sweet calming scent of the person she was currently being held by helped calm her so that it was so loud. Kagome just blinked but went about soothing the child, not really sure what to do but she did know that if she wanted any information then she would need to calm her down.
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Later, Sesshomaru had sent up breakfast with Katsu for Kagome and the odd girl whom InuYasha had discovered. He had only been able to get information out of InuYasha and he had only described what he had felt. It sounded like what Shippo had done to infiltrate Takimaru's castle and retrieve Kagome though, by the information he'd received and comparing it to information he'd managed to get from Shippo about his ability, it was most likely the same but not as advanced or refined. Though his adopted son's words kept ringing in his head.
"It's a really hard technique to master completely and since she looks pretty young, she must have gone through really hard training for her to be able to use it to get inside."
Sighing, he sat back in the old oak and leather chair in his study, massaging his temples. He had been pouring over his father's scrolls since shortly after the incident and even speaking his father hadn't helped. It seemed that no one knew who the child was or even what possessed her to come here. It didn't help matters that whenever he went near the child she would scream or cry and then bury herself in her mate's kimono.
The first time she saw him, to his knowledge at least, she looked up at him and shrieked, calling him a murderer.
Growling with frustration, he leaned forward at his desk and with another growl, shoved everything off his desk. He placed his head in his hands with yet another sigh, closing his eyes and trying to relax.
"Come in, InuYasha." He said, trying to hide the frustration he was feeling. His brother slid in the door, closing it after him and walking over in his usual manner.
"You're going to drive yourself crazy." Sesshomaru glared at his half brother who just shrugged.
"You shouldn't worry too much about it. She's just a kid and, if you wanna get information out of her, let kids be kids." Sesshomaru straightened at the statement, somewhat understanding. Since when did his brother come up with clever ideas?
"What are you talking about, InuYasha?" The hanyou shrugged again.
"What I'm saying is that if you can't get near the brat without her screaming or crying, try a different approach, she may feel more comfortable talking to someone closer to her own age range." Sesshomaru eyed InuYasha for a moment before fully understanding.
"You want me to use my youngest son to weasel some information out of that strange girl?" InuYasha shrugged, yet again.
"Your words, not mine." Sesshomaru sat back again, considering it before dismissing it.
"Kagome would never allow it." InuYasha arched a brow at his brother and grinned.
"And since when has that stopped you? But hey, it's just an idea and it seems to be the only way because, by the way everything is on the floor and not your desk, you haven't found anything out by this ridiculous stuff." InuYasha ignored his brother's glare and turned, opening the door.
"The kid isn't talking to Kagome either." He said before walking out, leaving the door open. Sesshomaru glared at the open door for a few minutes before going to close it. As he rested a hand on the handle, he sighed suddenly. He hated it when his brother was right.
Later, Sesshomaru was standing at the window in his study when he heard the sound of the door opening.
"Dad? Kasei said you wanted to talk to me." Sesshomaru turned towards his youngest son and nodded, motioning for him to come in. Katsu closed the door and jogged over beside his father, looking out the window.
"I have something very important to ask of you but you have to promise not to tell your mother about it."
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A/N: Haha … my first cliffy in a long while!! What will Kagome think once she finds out that Sesshy and InuYasha went and plotted to use her son as a pawn in some game to find out more information about the mystery girl. Yes, I realize that I haven't revealed her name yet, which is quite a first for me, hehe!
I hope you all enjoyed the training scene . Someone pointed out a very important thing to me that I didn't even realize so … sorry if the fact that Kagome is still pregnant in this chapter is confusing to anyone.
Moving on to my thank-you's and replies! By the way … I can't believe that I only got 2 reviews for the last 2 chapters that I put up!! Where did all my fans go? Cries
Replies
miroku's girlfriend – Well, Mulan is one of my favourite movies and I really wasn't even thinking when I was writing that little part, I was just kind of going with the flow and imagining it then when you pointed it out I was like, "Wow! She's right!"
Inuforlyf – I realize that this is quite a usually long pregnancy so I apologize! GOMEN NASAI!!! Things got a little difficult because I had so much material that I had to like … somehow make work into the new chapters that I was working on! It's a little difficult, coming up with new material that flow with the rest of the story but somehow, I always seem to do it.
I hope that I'll get more reviews with this chapter!!
I'm so excited to write the next one and … I assure you that the mystery girl is quite adorable!!!! I love her!