Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 10 – Resigned Commission.

"She had to ship them from the States and they only just arrived today." Kikyou enlightened the two brothers on the car ride over, Sango and Miroku having stayed behind since they felt they should keep out of the matter for the present. "It's why she has been a little short the past week, it's one of her two favorites outlets for relieving stress and she's been dying to have them back again." As Sesshoumaru's BMW approached the shrine the two brothers could hear the high-pitched purring of a motorcycle engine.

"Sounds like she's about ready to take off," Inuyasha pointed out.

"I'll try to catch her," Kikyou volunteered, but before she even had the car door all the way open the motorcycle's engine screamed as it appeared. As Kagome shot past them all Sesshoumaru had time to register was that the sport bike was black and its rider was wearing a black helmet and black leathers, each with some kind of red design on them. "Or not…" muttered Kikyou as Kagome took a turn so fast that her knee almost dragged the pavement from how far she had to lean the bike over.

Sesshoumaru considered simply taking off after the girl and bringing her back himself, but then decided that things might go more smoothly if he had a chance to talk to her mother first, and she had a chance for some of her energy to wear off. "Come," he said to the other two. "We should speak with Mrs. Higurashi before her return." Upon entering the house and announcing their presence the three new arrivals found Mia carrying a tea tray into the living room.

"I thought you might be making an appearance soon," she smiled placidly at the three. Upon seeing their looks of confusion she explained further. "Well when Kagome came literally leaping in through the window there and began racing around with previously unobserved inhuman speed I suspected that Sesshoumaru-sama would not be far behind." She handed all three a cup of tea and then sat politely across from her them. "Did something unusual happen at work today my dear?" the woman asked her eldest calmly.

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Four hours later when Sesshoumaru was very near hunting down Kagome the sound of her motorcycle approaching could be heard. "It's about damn time!" grumbled Inuyasha.

The four adults, with occasional interruptions from Shippou, had passed the time discussing the young miko to a degree that would have horrified her if she knew. Sesshoumaru had learned several things about the girl that he planned on implementing into their training, such as getting her over her fear of heights and ledges, and Inuyasha had found his future mother-in-law a veritable fount of information when it came to highly embarrassing stories he couldn't wait to throw in her face. Interestingly enough for every funny story her mother told the kitsune would leap in from no where, defend Kagome and share a story about how wonderful and kind she was. It was clear to the brothers that the kit worshipped and loved his adoptive mother.

After a further ten minutes when Kagome had still yet to appear the group got up to see what was delaying her return. They walked back to a garage type building and found Kagome laying forward on the bike she had been riding, her cheek against the gas tank and her arms lovingly reaching down to embrace it. She was so comfortable she looked as if she was about to fall asleep. Looking at her bike and jacket Sesshoumaru was now able to make out the designs on them. Large red wings that looked as if they came from an angle spread across the black leather on the front and back of her jacket, and similar, albeit larger, wings stretched back along the bike, one on each side. The bike itself was a BMW K 1200 RS, a heavy and powerful machine not meant for the unskilled. (A/N: This is the bike that I ride! I've got the last model year before they changed it to the current K 1200 S design…just so you know.) Just beyond it was another sport bike, a Honda CBR 1000 RR, a serious racing machine which he could tell had a lot of after market alterations done to it. That kind of bike could kill even an experienced rider if they didn't know exactly what they were doing. Unlike the BMW, the CBR had red, silver, white and black flames reaching across its otherwise dark grey metallic body. On the shelf where she had laid the helmet she was wearing he saw another that had been detailed to match the second bike. He also suspected she had another set of racing leathers to match it as well. This woman seemed to be a serious rider.

When she noticed everyone staring at her she merely stated in a content voice "Motorcycles are proof that Kami loves us and wants us to be happy." Sighing, she dismounted the bike, raised it onto its center-stand, tossed her gloves in her helmet and turned to face the group still staring silently at her. "I'm guessing I'm either in big trouble, or I'm about to at the very least hear something life altering." Sesshoumaru was intrigued by the contrast in her attitude. Previously she had been rash, abrasive and hyper. Now she seemed completely calm and relaxed.

"Kagome dear why don't you come with us into the house us and have some tea? I'm sure you could use it," her mother said gently, relying on the ever calming benefits of the beverage for a second time that evening.

Before she could answer the sound of a rapidly approaching cry alerted everyone to the soon to be present Shippou. Kagome shifted her weight as if getting ready to fight and held her arms loosely in front of her.

"MUUUUUUUUUMMMMM!" the kit squealed as he flew into her chest, eliciting a slight "Oof!" from his mother. If she hadn't been prepared he would have knocked her flat on her back, and Sesshoumaru guessed that this must be a common occurrence if the two had their movements so coordinated.

"You young man," Kagome began trying to sound stern, "should have been in bed over and hour ago."

"Aww but Mum, I was! I've been very quietly lying in my bed since nine. When you left you said to make sure I got to bed on time, you never said anything about actually SLEEPING!" he defended himself.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Hando Shippou what am I going to do with you?"

"Love me forever like you know you want to?" he asked with an innocent air.

Kagome laughed as Shippou snuggled into her chest, hugging her tightly around the neck. "Cheater," she mumbled to him. Turning to the adults she added, "I'll meet you in the living room, just let me put this baka to bed." As she walked into the house they could hear distinct, childish pleas of "No! No not that! Anything but..." followed by thesound of a zerbert with attending shrieks of laughter from the kit.

Inwardly Sesshoumaru was forced to admit he was impressed with how close the two were.

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When everyone had gathered into the living room again Kagome noticed that they were all staring at her. She considered glaring back, but her ride had mellowed her considerably so she merely waited till someone decided to say something.

"Um," Mia began, "Did you have a nice ride dear?"

"Yes it was very pleasant, thank you. The only thing I could wish for would be for some of the roads to be in better repair." Kagome knew this wasn't what they really wanted to know, but as no one else seemed to be capable of broaching the subject after another few minutes of silence she finally decided to help things along. "I don't know why you are all holding back. Surely Sesshoumaru would not be here at this late hour to hear about my ride." Sesshoumaru noted that she had used his given name for the first time since she had come to work. After the initial weekend she had always called him Taisho-sama. Suddenly her eyes took on a wicked gleam that made more than one person present nervous. "But, since none of you seem to know where to start, I'll begin. Kikyou I think you'd like to know that although Inuyasha finds me half decent in the looks department, he really does prefer your taller and more lithe form, and how shall we say, your more graceful movements." Kagome's grin was so big it should have been illegal.

"What the…!" Inuyasha choked out as Kikyou's cheeks were tinged with pink. "How in the hell would you know that?" he yelled.

'How indeed?' thought Sesshoumaru.

"One of the side effects that can happen from my tapping your energy like I did is that I get glimpses into your mind." If possible even more mischief filled her eyes.

"You saw what I was thinking?" Inuyasha asked, paling.

"Mmm-hmmm," she replied. "I must say I would never have thought someone's mind could be occupied by such, uh, unrelated thoughts while fighting. Perhaps you should learn to focus more and then you won't be caught off guard as easily." Her tone was making the couple shrink into the couch they were sitting on, as if trying to make themselves smaller and harder to see.

"Keh," the embarrassed hanyou muttered. "I wouldn't have lost if you hadn't tried to suck the life out of me," he muttered petulantly.

"Yes you would have," she said. When he opened his mouth to argue back she cut him off. "Your entire strategy was based on the fact that you were trying take advantage of an apparent weakness. You hadn't even considered what you would do if your little stunt didn't work."

Unbidden a certain amount of respect and pride came over Sesshoumaru as he listened to the girl. She had seen right through their ploy, and beat them at their own game. Peters had warned him not to underestimate her, and he was beginning to see why. Now that she had touched on why they were all here he spoke up. "So you are aware then, Hando, of your ability to take the energy of others?"

"Yes," she simply stated.

"Why was this not known to me?" he asked coldly. Here again she had hidden something from him and he was not happy about it.

"It isn't something I can fully control," Kagome explained. "I cannot perform it at will, much like the other task we talked about. I don't even realize when I'm about to do it, though I can make myself stop once I've cought on that it's happening."

"It is unacceptable that you cannot understand your own abilities, Hando."

This last remark from Sesshoumaru caused Mia and Kikyou to wince. Attacking Kagome in this kind of manner could only have two consequences. One, she would be hurt and lose self esteem, or two, she would…

"Unacceptable?" she asked her tone mocking. "For heaven's sake, stop being unreasonable! I'm 21 for crying out loud and I only found out about this in the last year or so!"

…go on the defensive. Mia saw the potential for the situation to get nasty but she thought it best that Sesshoumaru learn for himself what her daughter's temper could be like, and Kagome losing it at home was a much better environment to do so than at work. She couldn't put his office building back togeher like she could her house.

"You are an adult, and as such you should be able to control your abilities. What's more you have spent four years in training already," the taiyoukai replied in a flat voice. "Surely by now you could have learned, even if it was under the tutelage of Peters."

"Don't you drag Micah into this!" Kagome shot back, surprising everyone by referring to her former commander in such informal ways. "How can you be so hypocritical?"

"Uh-oh," murmured Inuyasha and Kikyou together.

"You dare to call this Sesshoumaru a hypocrite?" he seethed.

"I'll call you what you are!" she spat. "Telling me I'm inferior for not mastering my skills by the age of 21 and trained for four years when you yourself began training at the age of four but could not use your acid whip in your non dominant hand with equal effectiveness till you were 17, and your acid from your claws did not reach full potency till you were over 200. If that's not a hypocrite then I dare you to tell me what is." Part of her 'sticking her finger in everyone else's pie' as Sesshoumaru had put it meant that Kagome had thoroughly researched the history of the Taisho brothers. She always knew who she worked for.

"The situations are different," he growled. "The timeline of my life is much longer than that of your pathetic one, human! The percentage of my life spent training is far less than the percentage of your…"

"Excuses, excuses you pompous cur!" Kagome retorted, her growling just as dangerous as Sesshoumaru's.

"Oh shit this is going to be bad!" Inuyasha gasped.

Kikyou looked horror struck at her mother and wondered why the woman was not intervening. Did she not want to prevent the premature death of her youngest daughter? She could see Kagome's eyes changing color and even detect the minty scent in the air as her miko powers built up, so she got up quickly to try and calm her down. "Kagome dearest please, this isn't a good time to get all worked up." She reached to make contact with Kagome in a hope to draw back her power but her sister merely batted her hands away.

"Insulting a superior of Taisho command is insubordination, Hando. The punishments for such treatment of this Sesshoumaru could be severe," the demon said, anger creeping into his voice. The flaring of Kagome's aura was starting to have an effect on him, and he felt his control beginning to slip.

"HA!" Kagome spat. "Empty threats! According to the command manual in section R paragraph nine I have the permission to speak freely outside of Taisho command center, its satellite offices, or other work, field or combat related scenarios. I'm off the clock and in my own home so I can say whatever I want! Any attempt on your part to stop me is a breach of faith on the part of Taisho Command!"

'The command manual,' thought Inuyasha, 'who on earth actualy takes the time to read that thing?'

Kagome had become distracted enough in her yelling to not notice Kikyou grabbing her wrist. As the younger woman's aura was pulled back she began to calm. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru was past the point of calming down. To the amazement of all his acid whip flashed across the room and struck Kagome in the face. It wasn't enough force to knock her over or do any serious damage, but it was enough to leave a cut across her left cheek. She gingerly raised her left hand to feel the damage.

"I may not be able to retaliate in my role as head of command," he said in a deadly voice, "but as the taiyoukai of the west I have a right to react when my honor is questioned." For the moment it seemed as if his actions had subdued Kagome, and calming down himself he decided to inform her of the decision he'd made. "Now, since it is obvious your powers have yet to be trained, and since they are beyond the normal scope, it is imperative that you learn to access and control them now. You cannot do this here at the shrine, it is not strong enough to withstand what you will put it through as you train."

"What are you saying?" Kagome asked. Though her voice was quiet it was in no way submissive, and Mia alone seemed to see the danger that Sesshoumaru was putting himself in. The girl's mother didn't know whether to laugh, to comfort Kagome as she knew what was coming would hurt an old wound that had never healed, or warn Sesshoumaru it would be best if he stopped here and now. Before she could make up her mind though the matter was taken out of her hands with the demon's reply.

"You will leave the shrine and stay in my home where I will personally oversee your training," he replied as he took a lordly stance, clasping his hands behind his back and glaring down at Kagome with a condescending manner. "When I feel you are ready you may return here, and then I shall direct your talents to a proper use."

Inuyasha was floored. His brother had never invited a human other than Rin to stay at his home before, no matter how powerful they were. He began to wonder if Sesshoumaru had any other motives when his attention was caught by Kagome's left hand. The scar on her ring finger burned brightly, and shoving Kikyou aside her aura once again flared.

"NEVER!" the enraged miko screeched and she flew at Sesshoumaru, sending them both crashing through the front window to where they hit the ground outside. Her unexpected and audacious move had caught him off guard, leaving insufficient time to react and dodge the attack. When they made contact with the ground however he broke away and both stood, taking on a defensive posture to face each other. "No one orders me around like that! Never again will I allow someone to take that kind of control of my life!" she snarled in a deadly tone, her energy crackling around her. "I resign my commission from Taisho Command."

"What?" Sesshoumaru asked, trying his best to keep shock from showing in his face. Never had anyone resigned from his company. Plenty had been forced to leave or demoted, but no one had ever chosen to leave.

"I resign," she stated coldly, and although her fists were balled he could still see the glowing scar on her left ring finger. "I find myself incompatible with the leadership of Taisho Command and therefore invoke my right to resign as stated in my contract. That being said, I ask that you now leave my home." With that Kagome used her miko powers to launch Sesshoumaru all the way out into the street, searing his chest where her energy made contact, and then erected a barrier around the entirety of the shrine grounds, one strong enough that even he could not break through it. The air was overpowered by the smell of mint and trees.

The barrier was unnecessary, as Sesshoumaru had far too much pride to try and enter the shrine grounds just after having been unceremoniously thrown out. He did however rise into the air to get a vantage point where he could see what was going on. Mia, Kikyou and Inuyasha all came from the house towards Kagome who was using her miko powers to restore the front window. As she finished she turned to the others and he could see she was crying. The two older women hugged the younger and tried to comfort her while his brother merely looked on uncomfortably. After a minute or two Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and seemed to ask for his comfort as well because in a moment he saw his hanyou brother encircle the group of women in his arms as Kagome continued to cry. Anger, and dare I say a slight twinge of jealousy, rose up within Sesshoumaru as he watched how his brother had been worked into the Higurashi family. He especially did not understand the necessity of, nor appreciate, his brother touching Hando in that manner. He wondered why he should even care, but then answered himself by saying it was probably due to the fact that he had just lost, and most likely irrevocably so, the opportunity to train what could become the most influential weapon of this age. His eyes narrowed as he watched the four below him reenter the house.

Hando had convinced him beyond doubt as to her true nature. She was something he had been on the lookout for for over five hundred years now, and there was no way in all of creation that he was going to let her slip from his grasp. He would be the one to train her. He would be the one to guide her as she discovered who she was and what she was capable of. Yes, he would let her be resistant and willful for now, but in the end, she would bend to his will. There was no on else who could do the job, even Peters had said as much. 'Peters,' he thought. 'He is not going to be happy I am sure. The girl referred to him by his nickname, they must have been close. Odd that he didn't mention this fact, but then again he neglected to mention so many. I shall have to ask him the next time he calls.' Little did he know that he would have the chance to ask the question much sooner than he anticipated.

Growling he made his way home, making plans as to how he would get Hando back under his control while at the same time wincing from the burn she'd given him.

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A/N: Gaaaah! Readers/reviewers know that I love you! No time for witty alliterations or even final editing. I can hear Bruce coming up the stairs to my apartment and if he catches me I'm in trouble (grrr, the shark!). TTFN!