A/N: Hey everyone, long time no see…umm…I'm very sorry for it being so long since my last update. Seriously I was going through a really hard time with college and going to court so my little sister wouldn't be adopted off and sadly it was to no avail. So I haven't been writing because I didn't want my life to affect the mood of the story. So to make it up to you I WILL be posting a chapter every day until Friday and then it will be once a week on Fridays. Ok so enough of this, on to the story.

Also I didn't mean to have Sesshomaru jump off the balcony yet just so you know.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. If I did life would be much different.

Ch. 12 Setting a Plan

Lady Miyuki knocked on the door again, this time grinning widely before her next taunt.

"Sesshomaru-sama cannot keep you in there all day to himself. He will tire you out like that!"

Kagome then opened the door smiling back.

"Well I can assure you that if my lord had been here I would tire him out first."

Kumiko laughed as she imagined an exhausted Sesshomaru and Lady Miyuki continued to smile.

"Indeed, after that demonstration of your powers I would not doubt it."

"I am sorry again for all that. You have to understand my position in the matter."

"And I do. All is forgiven, but I won't allow you to best me so quickly in the dojo."

"Oh!" Kagome then turned to Kumiko, "I forgot we are supposed to be training! Here I will change real quickly into something more appropriate and we can go."

Miyuki then asked, "And what will you be training in?"

Kumiko answered though as Kagome turned back to the room, "I am training Lady Kagome in sword and she will be helping me with my archery. Together we were planning on working on hand to hand and defense."

"If you would like I can assist with sword, knives, and your hand to hand. I am a skilled pugilist after all."

Kumiko smiled relieved that they would have someone who could train with them.

Kagome then came the doorway again, "You can come in to wait if you want as I change." She said before turning back and was followed by Kumiko who was accompanied by Miyuki who closed the door.

~*~*~*~

Sesshomaru smiled as he listened to Kagome and her discussion with the other two women. It also made him relieved to know that Kazuki's mate had agreed to help teach her how to fight.

'She will be fine in the battle and I will have less to worry about.'

He didn't like to admit it but he found himself worrying about the miko but now he felt he could focus. As he heard them enter the room he leaped from the balcony.

"Now what are you doing jumping out of a young women's room?"

Sesshomaru inwardly sighed turning to meet the gazes of Lord Arisugawa and Kazuki.

"If I recall that room is also mine as long as you do not have room elsewhere."

Arisugawa laughed, "Oh my, did I forget to have a servant tell you that there was a room prepared the other morning for you? I thought that perhaps you preferred it with Lady Kagome."

"Well you must have."

Kazuki laughed and the other lords looked at him.

"It is quite funny how the two of you interact I was just thinking."

Arisugawa laughed and then pat Sesshomaru on the shoulder, "How about we show you to your new quarters then Lord Sesshomaru? I am sorry for the delay."

Sesshomaru moved from Arisugawa's touched and towards the castle.

Kazuki then reminded, "You didn't tell us what prompted your exit of the room from the window though."

"It was necessary for me to have an advantage."

The lords didn't understand what he meant but they knew he would provide no further explanation so they did not ask for one.

Upon entering the castle Kazuki excused himself to go to check on his mate and promised to meet up with them again soon to discuss the next plan of action. Then he left leaving Sesshomaru and Arisugawa together.

"Sesshomaru, how do you feel about Lady Kagome?" Arisugawa asked bluntly.

Sesshomaru continued to walk unfazed, "She is a strong and reliable ally."

Arisugawa stopped, "I mean as a woman, how do you feel about her?"

Sesshomaru also stopped, "What is your point cat?"

Arisugawa smiled, "For one thing she is a beautiful strong woman who would make any man proud and who seems to have quite a few admirers. Also if I were you and I had any fondness for the woman I would let her know before going into a battle where one of you may not come back from."

He then continued to walk.

Sesshomaru then asked, "I doubt you told my father the same thing when he chose a human."

"Your father made a bad choice yes, but it wasn't that he chose a human."

Sesshomaru walked towards Arisugawa quickly catching up, "There is no gain to that union and so there is no point in discussing it further."

"And what about love? Do you really need more power, wealth, or status? Sesshomaru if you love her then that is the ultimate gain especially since I believe she loves you too."

Sesshomaru stopped this time, "Love is a weakness and foolish emotion. If anyone should know that it would be you."

"And to pass up a woman like that for such a stupid reason should be obvious to you." He then motioned towards the door before him, "This is your new quarters, so that you no longer have to put up with her."

Sesshomaru nodded before reaching for the handle.

Arisugawa then said before leaving, "Just think about it Sesshomaru. You deserve to be happy. I will see you at the meeting."

And with that the cat lord left.

~*~*~*~

Kagome was breathing heavily and looking from her left to right waiting for the next attack. Suddenly both the other women came at her and there was a flurry of punches. Some she successfully blocked and others she felt as they hit her torso and arms. She then managed to trip Kumiko into Miyuki and that gave her another chance to catch her breath. Miyuki pushed Kumiko to the floor and then ran at Kagome for her next assault.

"You are able to take much more than what I would have expected but the point of defense is to not get hit." She said as she landed another hit.

Kagome tried to concentrate on where the fists where targeting to try and avoid more blows but she only managed to get hit more.

"This isn't the most important part of the training anyways Miyuki, I won't be in this situation at all."

"This is the most important part! You have to defend yourself no matter what the weapon Kagome. That isn't true either. You may find yourself in such a position and not be prepared otherwise so that is why we train!"

She then landed a finishing blow on Kagome and that was it. Kagome fell to the ground holding her stomach as she tried to regain her wind.

Miyuki then helped her up and helped her over to where Kumiko sat drinking some water.

"We only have a week to train for the battle then we will have to apply all that we learned." Kumiko said as the other two women sat down.

"Don't worry. You both are very skilled and will probably not see nearly as much battle time as you are preparing for but it is still important to be prepared." Miyuki reaffirmed.

Kagome then lay on her back and moved her hands glowing with her power over her sore areas and over a few ribs she felt that were broken repairing them almost instantly. "All I know is that there is going to be a lot of fighting and I need to be able to protect myself so that no one else has to."

"Well it is a good thing that for the most part, as I understand, you three will be together at the medicine area during the battle." Lord Kazuki said as he entered the Dojo.

"Since when? I want to help and fight alongside you thought!" Miyuki said getting up.

"Now dear you must not go into battle, you're lucky I will let you be on the battle field at all since you are carrying our child."

Miyuki huffed and glared at her mate clearly angry that he was using her state against her.

Kagome then turned to Miyuki, "You let us fight you and you knew you were pregnant? What about your baby, we could have hurt the both of you!"

Miyuki laughed and Kazuki shook his head as she explained, "For a dragon youkai, when carrying a child, it is surrounded by a thick protective layer as strong as any metal to protect me from it and it from my foolishness."

"So then you feel that the baby is going to be ok no matter what?"

"Basically, why should I be treated differently just because I am carrying a child?"

"Because it is my child and as my mate and the lady of the north it is your obligation to protect it in the case that I die and he or she is to become my heir."

"Fine then, I will do as you say but I will not stand aside if there is an attack nearby."

"And that is fine but I will not have anything happen to you." Kazuki then turned to Kagome, "So you are the miko Kagome. I know we met on bad circumstances before but let me properly introduce myself. I am Lord Kazuki of the North. I have heard a lot about you from your friends."

"It is fine, and I am sorry for my previous actions. I hope you didn't hear anything bad."

Kazuki laughed, "To the contrary actually. I am particularly taken with your past before you traveled with Sesshomaru's younger brother."

"Well there isn't anything interesting, everything was normal for me."

"So I have heard but that doesn't tell me anything. Where were you born?"

"I was born in a village near Inuyasha's forest."

"Which one?"

"It is called Tokyo."

"Interesting I haven't heard of it."

"It is very small not much more than a few families live there."

"I see. And why do you help Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Because I feel that he was wronged."

"And what other feelings do you have towards the Lord?"

Kagome stopped for a second evaluating her answer, "I have too many to describe all of them currently."

He laughed at her answer, "Well I know for sure that if your attacks were as sharp as your wit then you enemies would run from you in fear."

"Then they should begin to run, for you mate here is training me well."

All of them laughed then at the thought of soldiers running from Kagome.

~*~*~*~

The time for the next meeting to begin deciding the battle strategies was close at hand and Kagome was waiting in the dinning chamber for everyone else to arrive. Since they had so many different people to plan with they had decided that it would best be done here and it was convenient if they should feed everyone as they discussed the plans.

Kagome sat where she had the last time and waited for someone anyone to show up. Then the door opened and she straightened up to see who it was. Sesshomaru then entered and upon surveying the room realized he was now alone with Kagome.

'I should have waited to come. Now I cannot leave and I have yet to decide what I will do in regards to her.'

He looked at her taking in her appearance. She had changed back into the lavender colored kimono with white cherry blossoms on branches decorating it from before and had put her hair up in a loose bun which was held together with the purple scarf. She smiled at him almost knowingly as if she realized he remembered the scarf from before.

Sesshomaru walked over to her and sat at her side watching as she turned her body towards him. He reached up and touched her check and she grew red as she looked into her lap. His fingers combed through her looser hair, before he pulled at the scarf in one graceful movement removing it instantly.

"I told you that your victory was merely temporary."

"Well you cheated just now."

He leaned forward and said close to her ear, "And how did I do that?"

He felt her shiver under his touch as his words caressed her ear.

She leaned into his touch and looked up at him through her eye lashes, "How? How do you think you did that Sesshomaru?"

He looked down into her face and felt an overwhelming feeling to capture her lips there with his own and then carry her to their room and take her.

'How is it I can feel these things for a human on top of that?'

She continued to look at him waiting for whatever his next move would be.

'I cannot allow this to continue. But…no, she is a human and a miko. I will not follow in my father's footsteps.'

"We have separate chambers now so you will no longer have to worry about my little games."

Kagome snapped out of the trance he had put her in and looked at him incredulously, "Really?"

He took it the wrong way and thought her to be happy to be rid of him and he stood saying as he walked to the other end of the table, "Does this Sesshomaru lie?"

Kagome looked down realizing how she must have came off, "No my lord."

Then the doors to the hall opened and in came her friends, Inuyasha, and Koga.

Shippo immediately ran over to her and hugged her telling her how much she was missed and how lord Kazuki had come to ask about her. Then she was told about how things had been since they had arrived in the East. Sesshomaru sat at the other end and was soon accompanied by the other lords and Miyuki who waved to Kagome as she entered the room.

It wasn't long after that everyone had eaten and they finally felt it was time to discuss the plan for the upcoming battles.

Lord Kazuki of course decided he would be the one to coordinate things.

"We have many allies and will be able to lead a successful campaign against the Southern Lord and his ally Naraku. From my understanding the majority of you know of this hanu and have encountered him before I will be asking that you tell me all that you can so we can better prepare for the battle. As for the Southern lord he has few allies including a bear demon tribe and a tribe of bat demons."

"The bat demons won't fight against us." Kagome interrupted.

"Why not?" Kazuki asked.

"We, that is, Inuyasha and my friends and I helped them not too long ago and they wouldn't fight against us."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then that leaves him with just the bear demons and any low level demons the hanu influences. Also I have heard that he has also gained the help of a warlord in the south who believes he will gain land from helping him. With this knowledge of our enemy I believe we can form a solid plan of attack."

Lord Arisugawa then spoke, "I agree with Lord Kazuki and at this time think the only thing left for a more detailed plan is the knowledge of the hanu Naraku. So if you have information we ask that you wait behind now to tell me and the other lords about it."

Kagome looked to Sango and Miroku who continued to sit, "So you are going to tell them your stories?"

"Yes" The couple said in unison.

Kagome nodded and picked up Shippo, "Well I am going to go to my chambers then. Shippo is probably going to stay with me tonight so I will see you in the morning."

Sango got up to hug Kagome before she left but not without one last look towards Sesshomaru who was adamantly ignoring her now.

~*~*~*~

A/N: Well there is chapter 12! I hope you enjoyed it. I added a bit of Kagome Sesshomaru fluff even though he went cold turkey on her so I hopped you enjoyed that too. Well until tomorrow, I hope you read and please review.

-Vamp