Chapter 3: A New Blade

The next morning, the gang minus Inuyasha plus Sakumo went off to Sango's village. It had been a while for Sango since she hadn't been there since she had to repair her weapon. It hurt her heart whenever she step into the village. After all, no one else lived here except her and Kirara. But she was here with Kohaku when she found him after Naraku was presumed 'dead'.

"So what is the name of Sango's village, again?" Sakumo asked, breaking Sango out of her thoughts.

"The Yōkai Taijiya village." Kagome said.

"Interesting." Sakumo said.

"Thank you, Sakumo-san." Sango said.

"You're welcome. By the way, you said that you make weapons out of demon bones, right?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, my weapon is also made from a demon's bones." Sango said, pointing to her weapon.

"Interesting." Sakumo said. It intrigued him to no end to see that another creature's remains would be made into a weapon. He was already excited to get a new weapon.

"They're very powerful weapons as well. Even if you're not a priestess or monk, it would be good to have them on hand." Miroku said.

"Do they could in particular sizes?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, but you can change the shape of it. Well, only a little bit though." Sango said.

"Can you make one in the shape of a sword?" Sakumo asked.

"I think we can." Sango said.

"That would be great, Sango-chan." Sakumo said. Then everyone stopped at a fort of some sort. It almost looked like a place where bandits would stay. They walked through a somewhat opened wooden gate. When they entered, he saw that there weren't any signs of life in this village. But there were some remains of a battle that took place here. He remembered that Kagome had told him that all of the demon slayers were killed by Naraku's henchmen. He couldn't help but feel pity for Sango.

"Here we are, my home village, the Yōkai Taijiya village." Sango said.

At Kaede's village:

It had been a few days after Inuyasha had visited Kikyō. It felt good to see her whenever she was around. Strangely enough, Kagome didn't seem to mind that he went to see her. But it bugged him to no end when she was spending most of her time training with his annoying half brother, Sesshomaru. Not to mention that he was joining them on their journey. Then he entered the hut where his pack resided in. Unfortunately, they weren't there. Only Kaede was the remainder of the hut.

"Hey Kaede, where is everyone?" Inuyasha asked.

"They all went to Sango's village." Kaede said, making a herb paste.

"What? What they go there for?" Inuyasha asked, confused. He didn't know why Sango would go to her old village. Well, she probably went there to go and fix her weapon.

"They went to get Sakumo-san a new weapon." Kaede said.

"Who's Sakumo-san?" Inuyasha asked, his brow arched.

"He's a man that Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara found at the Goshinboku." Kaede said.

"At the Goshinboku?" Inuyasha asked, interested. He wondered what the man was even doing there in the first place before Kagome found him.

"Hai, Kagome and the others decided to let him join the group." Kaede said.

"WHAT?! You just let a complete stranger join our group?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Sakumo-san wanted to help Kagome for taking care of him when he was unconscious. To my point of view, he seems quite the gentleman and a strong one at that. With a little bit of training, he should be back to his original strength. Maybe he might get even stronger." Kaede said.

Inuyasha didn't like this man. For all he knew, this Sakumo might fall in love with Kagome. He didn't seem worthy. Actually, no one was. But if he told Kagome that,...he would be sat straight to Hell. He shuddered at the thought of Kagome's angry face and saying 'osuwari' numerous times. He made sure to keep that comment to himself or he'll face the consequences. Deadly consequences. Without any further thought, Inuyasha left the hut and headed towards Sango's village.

At Sango's village:

"This looks really good, Sango-chan." Sakumo said, gazing at his new sword. It looked a katana almost. The blade was perfectly balance and the hilt had a good grip on it. The weight of the sword didn't seem heavy, but yet it was for some strange reason.

"Thank you, Sakumo-san." Sango said.

"Would you like to train with me, Sakumo-san?" Kagome asked.

"Are you sure, Kagome-chan? I don't want to go too hard on you." Sakumo said, worried for Kagome's safety. He didn't know how well she was with the sword.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." Kagome said, smiling.

"If you're sure, Kagome-chan." Sakumo said.

Kagome and Sakumo stood across from each other with their blades ready. A breeze blew their hair and leaves danced amongst them. Then Kagome and Sakumo headed straight towards each other and their swords clashed against each other. It was that way for about an hour until Sakumo's sword was wrenched out of his hand and landed a few feet away from him. Kagome's sword was pointed at his chin.

"I win." Kagome said with a smile. Sakumo sighed when she lowered her blade. He knew it would take a while in order to get the hang of his swordsmanship. Well, his skills had dropped when he was in depression. So it would make common sense.

"Don't worry, Sakumo-san. If you mastered swordsmanship once, you can master it once more." Kagome said. Then she walked over and grabbed Sakumo's sword.

"Thanks, Kagome." Sakumo said, smiling a little as Kagome handed him his new sword.

"Okay then, let's do it again." Kagome said.

"Hai." Sakumo said, nodded.

Inuyasha was almost to Sango's village. He couldn't let this 'Sakumo' join them. He was already suspicious of him even though he hadn't met him yet. But he was determined to not let this man get close to Kagome. Not on his watch. Then he reached the village gates and entered the village. It was mostly quiet except he could hear the clacking sounds of a hammer against a metal. He walked towards where the sounds were coming from and saw Sango working on her sword.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Sango asked, looking up from her work.

"You all weren't at the village, so I had to come here to find all of you." Inuyasha said in a huff with his hands in his sleeves.

"I see." Sango said as she resumed her work.

"Hey, where's this Sakumo guy?" Inuyasha asked, looking all around himself.

"Training with Kagome." Sango said.

"WHAT?! Why are you letting her train with him?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"I assume you must of heard of Sakumo-sama from Kaede." Miroku said as he walked in to check on Sango.

"Yeah, I heard about him and I say that we should just dumped him off at the village and continue on our way to find the jewel shards!" Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, you know that we need all the help we can get in order to defeat Naraku. Sakumo-sama is a welcomed addition to our cause. He already agreed to help us." Miroku said.

"But we don't know anything about him!" Inuyasha said.

"He suffered from a traumatic event in his life. So he's joining us in return for taking care of him when he was unconscious." Miroku said.

"I don't trust him." Inuyasha said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looked away.

"How about you meet him first before you judge him?" Miroku asked, brow arched. He had a slight feeling that Inuyasha didn't want another male in the group because there was a likely chance that Kagome might gain feelings from that person.

"No! I can already tell that he's not a trustworthy person! He might trick Kagome into giving him the jewel shards!" Inuyasha said.

"I don't see Sakumo-sama as someone who's interested in the jewel shards. To my point of view, he seemed to be an honest soul who's trying to make up for his past mistake." Miroku said.

"Whatever! I'm going to stop them now!" Inuyasha said before he took off in the direction where Kagome and Sakumo were training.

"Inuyasha! Come back here! Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled. Then he sighed.

"He'll never listen to anything that anyone says." Sango said, "I have a feeling that this isn't going to end well."

"I agree with you, Sango." Miroku said.

Inuyasha rushed towards where Kagome and Sakumo were training. He could hear the sounds of swords clashing against one another. When he got there, he saw Kagome fighting against a man. He looked a little bit older than Miroku. He had long silver white spiky hair that was tied back in a low ponytail. From where he could see, the man had coal colored eyes with deep lines underneath them. There was another thing that Inuyasha had noticed: the sword. From what he could smell, the weapon was made from the bones of a demon. Which mean that Sango had made that weapon for him. As he watched Kagome and Sakumo fight, he had to admit that Sakumo had some skills. Although he hated to admit it, Sesshomaru was a lot stronger than this Sakumo guy.

"I win once more, Sakumo-sama." Kagome said, pointing her sword at Sakumo's chin. This was the third time she had beaten him at sword play. Sakumo sighed again once Kagome lowered her blade.

"I admit that you're very skilled with a sword, Kagome." Sakumo said, retrieving his sword.

"Thank you, Sakumo-sama." Kagome said.

"Call me Sakumo, Kagome." Sakumo said, sheathing his sword.

"Sakumo." Kagome said. Sakumo smiled at that.

"So Kagome, where did you learn to fight so well?" Sakumo asked.

"Lord Sesshomaru." Kagome said.

"Inuyasha's half brother, right?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, he's not so bad once you get to know him." Kagome said.

"I hope so, Kagome." Sakumo said.

"Yeah right!"

Kagome turned towards the direction of the voice. She recognized that voice. It was Inuyasha. Then he walked out of the forest and stood in front of Kagome and Sakumo.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha? I thought that you were spending time with Kikyō." Kagome said.

"I arrived at the village and found out that you came here to give this guy a weapon." Inuyasha said.

"Hai, Sakumo is the welcomed addition to our team. He needed a new sword since he lost his old one." Kagome said.

"Well, unwelcome him. I don't want him in our pack!" Inuyasha said, scowling.

"Inuyasha, we need all the help that we can get in the upcoming battle with Naraku. I believe that Sakumo is a very capable warrior who is able to hold his own." Kagome said with her hands on her hips, "He's quite the gentleman as well."

"I'm a gentleman!" Inuyasha said, narrowing his amber colored eyes at Kagome.

"No, you're not. You don't like helping any villagers when they're trouble. You treat us like slaves. You always insult people as well. Shall I go on?" Kagome asked, brow arched.

"Fine! But I don't see why you're training with him anyway. Besides, you'll never be strong as Kikyō." Inuyasha huffed as he turned away with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Then there was a silence between the three. Not liking the silence, Inuyasha slowly turned his head towards Kagome. Her bangs covered her eyes and she was quiet which made his hair stand on end. To be most precise, it made him unsettled.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said.

"H-Hai?" Inuyasha asked, nervously. He didn't like the tone of her voice.

"OSUWARI!" Kagome shouted. Then Inuyasha went face first into the ground. He groaned at the pain of hitting into the ground. He should have known that would have happened to him sooner or later.

"Osuwari?" Sakumo asked, brow arched.

"The word of subjugation." Kagome said.

"Subjugation?" Sakumo asked.

"The beads that Inuyasha wears around his neck are the beads of subjugation. Whenever I say that word, Inuyasha always goes head first into the ground. He has to obey it no matter what." Kagome said.

"Interesting." Sakumo said as he rubbed his chin, "But why 'osuwari'?"

"Oh, well I thought the word suited him since he's an inu hanyō." Kagome said, smiling.

"I think it suits him as well." Sakumo said with a closed eye smile.

"Hey!" Inuyasha said when he lifted his head off the ground.

"Well, we'll train again tomorrow. Is that alright, Sakumo?" Kagome asked.

"Sure, I would like that, Kagome." Sakumo said, smiling softly at Kagome. For some strange reason, Kagome felt her cheeks warm up when she saw Sakumo smiling at her. The way he said her name was soothing as the ocean's breeze lightly brushing against her cheeks. What is this feeling she felt inside of her chest?