A/N: Oooooooook……. Story getting closer to the end…. I have it written out, but I might make the epilogue suuuuuuper long or even 2 chapters… so yah… and if u didn't catch it, the comment about Sesshou'Kazu and Kyome in the last chapter is a sneak peak of the sequel. So yah
Disclaimer: DON'T OWN HIM!!!
Kyoko, Kagome's Twin
Chapter 8
Last Time:
"I love you…"
My eyes widen in shock, and tears of happiness well up in my eyes as I pull him into a tight hug.
"I love you too."
He moves to get up, but I grab his hand,
"Stay with me?"
He gives a tiny smile and nods, lying next to me. He puts his arm around my waist and pulls me into his chest. I smile and snuggle into him, falling asleep within moments.
Now:
I awaken to see Rin entering the room with a tray in her hands and a smile on her face. I look next to me and see Sesshoumaru looking at me, causing me to blush.
"Ohayo! I was… ummm… eavesdropping last night, and I heard all about your battle today, Kyo-san, so I made you brunch. There are two more hours before the lunch hour. Now if you'll excuse me…" she says putting the tray between me and Sesshoumaru and walking out of the room, leaving me with Sesshoumaru, beet red.
"You do know that it's your fault she can eavesdrop so well right? All the training you've been giving her."
"Hai, hai, I know… but I can't help but be proud of her…" I say beginning to eat.
Once me and Sesshoumaru finish eating, I ask him,
"Hey koi, do the other lord and lady know I'm human?"
"Iie, just Jin-sama, and most likely his mate, Jun-san, why?"
"Because I do not want them doubting me because I'm human so I'll be masking my scent and aura, alright?"
"It's up to you."
"Ok, do you have a female massage therapist?"
"Hai."
"Good, then can you send her down to my bathing chambers? I need to relieve the tension in my shoulders… I haven't had a decent fight in a while and I don't want to be rusty."
He nods and heads out of the room. I then get up, get a towel out of my bag, move a changing curtain in the corner of the room to reveal a flight of stairs. I head down them and enter a natural hot spring… it was somewhat like a sauna, for there were no windows and just the shoji door from which I'd entered. I strip down and step into the hot spring, my muscles starting to relax from the boiling hot water.
A few minutes later, a woman with dark red hair to her shoulders, pink eyes, and a pretty face entered the chamber. She was dressed in a servant's yukata.
"Lady Kyoko?"
"Hai, and call me Kyo, I don't like being called Kyoko. You're the massage lady right?"
"Hai, my name is ShiShi."
"Ohayo then ShiShi, just my shoulders and back, alright?"
"Hai milady."
"Arigato."
Line
About an hour later, Sesshoumaru walks into the room, looking as cold as ever.
"The other lord and lady have arrived. I want you to dress yourself in a kimono I have supplied for you and come downstairs to meet them. The kimono is on your bed." He says. Then he turns to the door, stops and says,
"Oh… and try to be nice."
"Yeah, yeah, now just go." I say without turning around.
I hear him walk out of the room. I roll my eyes and move away from Shi Shi.
"Thanks Shi shi. That's good, I feel great."
"Glad I could be of service milady." I scoff.
"Come on, I told you, it's Kyo."
She smiles, nods and exits the room. I grab a towel and head upstairs. On my bed is a kimono identical to Sesshoumaru's. I smile, change into it, and walk down stairs, gracefully. In the entrance hall, I see Sesshoumaru, the youkai from before, two other youkai and three yasha. I stand to the left of Sesshoumaru, one step behind him, as is required of a being of lesser status than another. He turns around and looks at me. Then he says,
"Ah, here she is. Ryuu, my best female fighter." I bow graciously.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances." I say politely.
"Stand straight, girl." One of the ladies says. I do as she says and stand straight up, allowing her to inspect me. She has brown hair to her waist, purple eyes, a gold star on her forehead, and two silver lightning bolts on her cheeks.
"She doesn't look all that strong to me, Sesshoumaru-sama. No offence meant of course." She says looking at him. I can see the annoyance in his eyes, although his face holds no emotions.
"Strength is not the only thing that matters in a fight, Shirumi-sama."
She raises an eyebrow then asks,
"Oh? Then what else is there?"
He looks at me,
"Ryuu?"
"There is also, the will to fight, agility, determination, stealth at time, speed, a plan formed in your mind, and enjoyment of what you're doing." I say. Sesshoumaru gives a slight nod.
"Well I say. She's very smart, Sesshoumaru Sama. She is a youkai is she not? I cannot smell either ningen or youkai on her and I cannot sense her aura either." Shirumi-sama says. Sesshoumaru turns to her, a mysterious look in his eyes that I'm sure only I can see.
"That is not my place to say. But if you wish to ask her, you will need to wait until after the fight at lunch."
She gives him a funny look, but nods nonetheless. He turns to me.
"Now, Ryuu, I'd like you to meet the rest of the lords and ladies. This…" he says motioning to a tall lean red haired neko youkai with whiskers and a cat tail. He also has a black diamond on his forehead and two red claw marks under each eye. "… is Hiroshi-sama, taiyoukai of the east. I see he has also brought along his brother, Hoshiro of the east." Hoshiro looks just like Hiroshi, except he doesn't have the markings on his face, signifying rule over the lands. "This…" Sesshoumaru says pointing to another tall man who's not as lean as the eastern lord and his brother, but still lean nonetheless, with midnight blue wings with white tips, a handsome face, black hair to his shoulders, icy blue eyes, just like mine, a dark blue full moon on his forehead and two black zigzag streaks on either cheek. He also had a long bird's tail that is, like his wings, dark blue with white tips. "…is Jin-sama of the North. He has brought along his mate, Jun Sama, as well as you can see." He says motioning to a woman standing next to Jin-sama. She has short raven black hair to the bottom of her chin, with a white ribbon used as a headband, raven black wings and tail and she held herself with grace, but there was also a kindness in her dark brown, almost black, eyes. Standing behind them, is a young girl who I can only assume is Sakura. "And, as I'm sure you can guess, the young lady behind them is Sakura."
"Pleased to meet you all." I say bowing once more. I stand straight to see Sakura scowling and glaring at me.
"Now…" Sesshoumaru says, causing all the lords and ladies faces to turn towards him. Sakura's gaze, however, is locked on me. I meet her glare with one of my own, then drop my glare, smirk cockily at her and mouth,
"You are so goin down."
She growls quietly, then composes herself and looks at Sesshoumaru.
"…Ryuu, I want you to prepare. You two are not allowed to kill each other, got it?"
"Hai Milord." I say bowing.
"Good, you are excused Ryuu."
I nod and head upstairs. I then change into a pair of black leather shorts, a black halter top and my dragon-skin gloves and bands. I then put my swords on my hips. I take out many shuriken and small daggers. I strap the daggers in various places on my body and put the shuriken on my waist. I put the Sais on my back, in case they're needed, put my hair into a high ponytail, and put my fire rat cloth dyed black on my face, so that only my ice blue eyes can be seen. I then sit on my mat and wait for Sesshoumaru to fetch me for the fight. I wait for only five minutes before he comes.
"Koi."
I look at him and he motions for us to go. I stand and follow him back downstairs.
"Do not be worried over anything. Sakura is stronger than the rest of Jin's females by far, but his females are weak. Fighting her will be a challenge for you, but I know you can beat her. She fights like Inuyasha… she relies solely on her long range attacks and brute strength to defeat her enemies. You shouldn't have to much trouble with her."
"Hai…" I say quietly.
We make it outside and Hiroshi Sama is walking towards us.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Should there be boundaries or not?"
"No boundaries. Just let them go. The one who gets in a position to where they'd be killed is the loser."
I nod and I turn to Sakura, who is standing about fifty yards away from me.
"San…" begins Shirumi-sama.
"…ni…" says Sesshoumaru.
"…iki…" says Hoshiro-sama.
"Iku!" cry out Jin-sama and Jun-sama.
Sakura spreads her large wings and flies up into the air. She then starts forming dark purple fire-balls at me. I dodge them all, remembering what my future self had said,
Flashback:
"…and if you take out her wings, you should have no problems, without her long range attacks, she's weak. And you'll understand what I mean soon enough…"
End Flashback.
'Take out her wings huh? We'll see…'
I then jump up and go to hit her, but she spins around and lands a weak kick to my stomach. I back flip, removing the Sais from my back. I then throw them at her, hitting her one in each wing. She screams and falls to the ground in a heap. She gets up slowly, removes both sais and tosses them to the side, retracting her wings with a painful look on her face. She then draws the sword on her hip with a look of pure anger. I just smirk at her, get into a fighting stance, and motion for her to come, and yell out,
"Bring it on!"
She runs at me and yells back,
"It's been brought!"
She swings the sword at me and I do the matrix and then back flip, kicking her in the chin, making her falter. I back flip three more times to move away from her. Then I unsheathe my swords in one fluent moment. By the time I get both of them out, she is upon me. I kneel down on one knee and hold my swords in an 'x' shape above my head to block her swing. A minute later, she pulls back and I go down on both knees, foreseeing her attack. She swings horizontally at me and I lean back so that my back is on the ground, barely missing the blade. Then I unfold one of my knees, stick my swords in the ground and push to my left, spinning in a 360 degree angle and tripping her. I then stand up quickly, kick the sword out of her hand, and put my sword to her throat.
"It's over, Sakura." I say to her, panting. Sesshoumaru hadn't been kidding, and without that tip off from my future self, I wasn't sure that I could've pulled it off. There is applause from behind us and I sheath my swords. I hold my hand out for her, just to seem like a good sport, and she takes it, trying to crush my hand. I pull her sharply to her feet, resisting the urge to laugh as she stumbles. I then turn around swiftly and head back to Sesshoumaru, my head held high. He pats me on the back, his face still as emotionless as ever, but his eyes held the smile that he wanted to show.
"You did well, Ryuu, now walk with me, I need to speak with you." He whispers to me. He then turns to the lords, ladies and Sakura, and says, "You all may retire to your rooms for a while. Me and Ryuu need to talk." He says. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jin-sama and Jun-sama exchange glances, and then grin. Then they turn and walk towards the castle, the rest of the lords and lady and Sakura in tow. Sesshoumaru then turns to walk the other direction, me in tow.
After a few minutes of silent walking, he pulls me into a hug.
"I love you Kyoko."
I hug him back, tightly.
"I love you too, Sesshou."
"Kyo… do you want to… I mean, that is, if you'd like… would you…"
"Are you nervous Fluffy-sama? Here, maybe this'll help…" I hold my hands over his stub of a left arm and say,
"In this time and in this hour
I call upon the ancient powers
Return what was stolen from the one I adore
Allow me to open this door."
His arm grows back in a moment, good as new. He examines it, then pulls me into a tight hug.
"Kyoko Higurashi, would you do this Sesshoumaru the honor of being his mate?"
EOC