Hi again. Now I, KamiEye will present chapter 9. Please keep in mind that I don't do battle scenes very well. I'm still kinda new at this. (^_^')

It was early in the day and the sun had just began to rise. The sky beginning to illuminate and the stars were disappearing. In the Palace of the Moon there were servants already starting the day extremely busy. First thing was first of course, meaning that the visiting guests they had the previous day were leaving. The Lord of the West himself saw everyone off, including his fellow cardinal rulers. By the time everyone had left the sun had finally showed it's entire being to the creatures on the Earth. At this time the cooks and soldiers were rising and began to do their daily routine for the day.

The cooks reported to the huge kitchen area and began preparing the morning meal for all the people in the palace. While the soldiers were getting ready to report to the outside area of palace to meet up with the three generals, the said generals were walking with their lord after being there to bid the guests good bye and were now off to meet the units of the Western Army for training.

The dojo itself was a bit far from the main fortress. Yes there was the traditional indoor room where the army would train if mother nature had decided that the weather wouldn't be clear and sunny, but that wasn't the case today because there wasn't a visible cloud in the sky. On these days they would do their training out in the surrounding field with the doors of the dojo open. When the doors were open they pretty much got rid of the wall that was there so that the indoors would just be an extention of the field.

The 3 proud generals of the West exited the palace doors just to come face to face with the section of the army that wasn't currently on guard duty or were sent by Lord Sesshomaru to do a certain task for the lands. General Nobou called to them,

"MEN, ATTEEENTION!" the chattering came instantly to a halt as each soldier gave them a salute. General Katsu then began to speak.

"The battle with Naraku a few days ago finally brought peace to the lands. Even though the greatest threat to us and our families are gone we can't let our guards down."

"We ARE the Western Army. The most feared and admired military force in Japan. What do you say men? Shall we keep it that way?" Nobou asked and got many loud replies of 'yeah.'

The generals began leading the soldiers to the dojo, which was a 15 minute walk away from the palace for the reason of the intense blasts that could level the place around it in an instant.

"You know you both have to loosen up," said General Ryo with an easygoing expression. Yes he was the youngest of the 3 generals in the West but it couldn't be argued that his talent with the shadowy side of war was the best by far. Though he was a grey inuyoukai his lime green eyes held mischeif within them. His brown hair in was in a ponytail with its grey tips shining in the sun. Silver eyes belonging to Katsu looked at him for a swift second then returned to the path.

"Don't mind him Ryo. My brother can be rather uptight," said Nobou while looking at Katsu's long black locks swaying in the gentle breeze. It would have been a calming picture if Katsu's face wasn't scrunched up with concentration, for each dark blue mark on each cheek seemed a shade too dark.

"Ha! If I didn't know any better I'd say Katsu was your older brother dispite him being 240 years younger than you," said Ryo with a wide smile.

"I'd appriciate if you both didn't talk about me when I'm standing in hearing distance," said Katsu.

"Humph. Well it isn't like I could hold a conversation with you. I'd do most of the talking and you'd just somehow make irritated with your answers. And If that doesn't happen you just don't answer me."

"Then why don't you try talking about something interesting?"

"Why you..."

"Hey break it up. Naraku's gone and our lives just got easier. No more 3 day and 3 nights straight training with our lord," Nobou brought up trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh I remember that. It was so tiring that i fell asleep before my head hit my pillow," said Ryo remembering how he could barely walk to his room after training that time.

"That was quite the challenge," agreed Katsu as he remembered all the wounds that Lord Sesshomaru had delt him, "We all were in the infirmary for a few days."

"Yes, let's hope that never happens again. Well... at least for a long while," Nobou said thinking about all the bloody bandages.

"Agreed," both Ryo and Katsu said. They finally made it to the training field just to narrowly dodge a pair of throwing knives. The rest of the soldiers came to see what had the generals glued to their spots and were also shocked speachless.

Let's back track a little, shall we? With Kagome and Akiko.

Yes the two cousins were the best of friends. Akiko was a year older than Kagome but dispite that they were raised together. Once Kagome had turned 12 and Akiko 13 they were taken to different sides of Japan and continued their lives and their childhood training. Now that Kagome was 17 and Akiko 18 they had meet face to face for the first time in 5 years a few months ago. The day Kagome had displayed her powers to her friends was also the day that she had returned home to restock on supplies and of course to get away form a ranting complaining Inuyasha.

*Flashback*

Kagome had just jumped up to get out of the well mumbling about how Inuyasha wouldn't get the conscept of understanding even if she found and used a spell to turn him into a child and raised him herself. It was sunset when she finally got through the well into the modern era. She opened the door with the thoughts of a hot bath, a homemade dinner from her mom and a real bed for her to sleep in. Kagome's wandering mind almost didn't notice the sound of a blade sailing throught the air. Almost. Kagome on instinct tilted her head to the left quickly just to see a throwing knife land at her feet and felt a shallow cut now bleeding on her right cheek. Then she felt a gust of wind hit her back and felt something cold pressed to the back of her neck. Any normal person would have either began screaming or would have trurned around but Kagome let a smile slowly form on her face.

"It's been 5 years now, hasn't it, my time traveling cousin?" a voice said from behind her.

"Akiko, didn't they ever teach you, the back of the blade is used by cowards." And with that Kagome dropped all her things ducked below the blade rolled away and drew Miyako. The cousins now stood facing away from one another with swords drawn.

"Hm, looks like you've improved."

"Seriously."

"Hm?"

"Fight me seriously Akiko." Kagome never got a response because after that Akiko turned and the fight began. The clashing of blades, the attacks, the dodges, the swinging of limbs, the swish of air with each movement and the sudden halt when an attack was deflected made this a reunioun to behold. Somehow the fight lasted 10 minutes till Akiko got Kagome to loose her footing slightly and with that tiny mistake Akiko was able to get behind her and swung her blade upward at Kagomes back, hard. Kagome was sent flying into the side of the well house. As Akiko resheathed her blade Kagome stood up and glared at her cousin while resheathing Youta.

"I told you to fight me seriously."

"Quit whining cuz," said Akiko turning her back and began walking over to Kagome's dropped things.

"You promised that we'd fight for real when we met again."

"That's true, but a large wound like that would make fightning Naraku rather difficult, Kagome," Akiko replied while picking up her cousins oversized yellow backpack.

"Ugh. I could have handled the wound."

"Right," said Akiko now walking towards the door to the house.

"I meant that!" Kagome said while following her cousin.

"Sure you did," she still didn't turn to look at her younger cousin.

"Akiko! I told you not to use the back of the blade."

"Shut up, and be glad you aren't bleeding," Akiko said as she turned to Kagome and flicked her in the center of her forehead with her free hand.

"Humph," Kagome said while crossing her arms.

"Kagome..." Akiko began and Kagome just turned her head away.*sigh* "Still the pouty brat I left 5 years ago I see."

"I wasn't a pouty brat!"

"Yeah you were," Akiko walked into house and into the kitchen before setting the bag down on the floor.

"Was not!" Kagome's mom just smiled at the two and said,

" Welcome back Kagome. Though I feel the need to comment that it's the first time you see each other in 5 years and you're already arguing."

"We aren't arguing," Akiko said calmly while taking a seat at the table.

"Oh, yes we are!" Kagome replied as she sat directly across from her cousin.

As the cousins kept throwing smart responses at one another, Kagome's mom, Kagome's grandpa and Souta just sat back and enjoyed the show. Eventually the rest of the family had to stop them after the smart responses became insults. They all laughed it off later though.

*End of Flashback*

Once Kagome and Akiko had returned they saw that the training field was enormous and were very impressed and decided to look inside the dojo. The two ended up trying various weapons and doing a bit of sparring. Both girls held the knowledge of how to use each weapon that was there and they were impressed at the wide variety of weapons that lined the walls of the dojo.

"Hey Kagome."

"Yeah?"

"Look what I found," Akiko said holding up a sythe. The design was pretty simple if you didn't count the detailed dragon that was engraved in the staff. The detail was perfect and the outline was made of jade while the dragon eye was a stunning ruby. Akiko went on to say, "This looks more like a room decoration than a weapon to be used on the battle field." Kagome just laughed and picked up a pair of sai and said,

"Wow, this pair actually seems kinda normal, well if you ignore all the gems in the handles."

"There really are a wide variety of weapons here."

"Yeah, but I perfer the ones I use now," Kagome said putting the sai back and fingering both Youta's and Miyako's hilts. The swords responded with a humming sound while a faint glow surrounded them for a second.

"Same here. Though the blades are crafted nicely there aren't any guns like mine," Akiko said turning to her cousin after putting everything back.

"Well people here don't really have the guns that you do Akiko. Besides shootiing isn't something that is usually done by the demonic race."

"I suppose you're right. Besides, where's the fun in killing your opponent before you can acctually cross blades with them?" Akiko fingered the katana strapped to her back its hilt was a dark green with grey diamonds while the sheath was black.

"Akiko want to practice some old fashioned had-to-hand combat?"

"Hell, why not? We got some time to kill before the army comes to their daily practice. We'll just make sure to be gone by the time they get here."

"Even if they do show up let's just keep sparring. Who knows we just might teach them a thing or two," Kagome said while smirking.

That's how the fight began. Hand-to-hand turned into a practice spar with weapons then escalated to the type of sparring that was done by professionals. The sun had arisen some time ago and Akiko and Kagome now each sported minor cuts. You could tell that the two weren't going all out because there was yet to be a sword drawn. Not that it matter though. The ground now sported indented areas and overturned soil along with many throwing knives and needles inbedded into it. Both participants were on opposing sides of the field and once again ran to clash against one another. That is when the generals and soldiers off duty arrived.

After nearly getting hit with flying blades the men and women looked upon the field and noticed there were two people currently sparring and tearing up the ground as they went. The army immediately recognized that the miko Kagome was one of the participants, yet her opponent was someone none of them had seen before. The girl was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck along with a pair of hakama and wristbands plus boots. Bound at her waist was a pair of shot guns that were held there by a sash. A katana blade sat comfortably against her back while her dark locks were held in a high ponytail. Her outfit consisted of only a single color: black. With her back turned they couldn't catch a view of her face.

"Shouldn't we be helping her?" asked Natsumi in a concerned tone she had come for training.

"No," Katsu replied with an even tone, though his silver eyes were taking in the movements of the two people on the field.

"Excuse me? But why not?" someone from the army asked."

"Use your noses can't you smell it?" said Ryo. General Nobou descreetly sniffed and said,

"Their scents are somewhat similar, therefore they're related in some way. We shouldn't disturb them. Let's just see how this fight turns out."

The girls had noticed when the Western army arrived and saw that they had every intention of watching them spar. both girls jumped high in the air only to collide and exchanged a series of punches and kicks while somehow managing a little conversation as the ground grew nearer.

"Looks like we have some spectators," Akiko said.

"Then why don't we give them a show worth remembering," Kagome said while smirking.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Remember what we agreed to before this started though Aki-chan."

"Ha! Like I'd forget." The two had landed on the ground and automatically jumped apart. This thought was thought by both opponents as they stared one another down,

'A spar of pure skill with limited weapons. You may only use your body and small weapons that are supposed to be thrown'

The cousins were on a collision course. Now shurikens were added to the mix of needles and knives that sailed noiselessly through the air. Kagome successfully dodged all weapons that were thrown at her while Akiko had one of Kagome's shuriken lodged in her right forearm that she chose to ignore. Kagome threw a punch aimed at Akiko's stomach who used one hand to redirect the punch and aimed one of her own at Kagome's jaw. In response Kagome swung her leg out and ducked then brought it around to sweep Akiko's legs away. Akiko knew that was coming and jumped up into the air intent on landing a downwards kick to her cousin's soulder. Kagome smirked because she knew that this was, and had always been Akiko's favorite move. As Kagome stood up once again she jumped up to meet Akiko in midair and blocked the kick with her forearm and she swung her body upside down to kick out her own foot to make sure Akiko woulnd't use her other foot to attack and used her unoccupied hand to aim a punch at her cousins face. As expected Akiko crossed her arms together in front of her face and Kagome's punch got blocked. Though in the process of blocking her cousin's punch the shuriken from earlier was pushed farther in her arm and dragged all the way to her elbow then was yanked out by Kagome herself. The two then flew apart and the bloody shuriken in Kagome's hand was dicarded. Kagome had made sure that she landed on the ground first then noticed that at the angle that Akiko was falling at would mean that she wouldn't be able to land on her feet. Kagome drew out a throwning knife and ran towards the spot that Akiko would land on. Kagome's predictions were correct, Akiko didn't land on her feet, but on one foot, a knee and her left arm balanced her so that she was kneeling. Akiko's head was bent down and just as she was about to stand she felt the cool touch of metal to the back of her neck. Kagome had came up behind her cousin and pressed one of her throwing knives at the base of her neck. Akiko smiled and said clearly,

"I give." The blade was tossed to the ground and one of Kagome's hands was offered. Akiko smirked and took a hold of Kagome's hand and stood to face her cousin who at the moment was smiling from ear to ear.

"I got you," said Kagome.

"Yeah finally," Akiko said while deciding to disregard the blood dripping slowly from her right arm.

"We've only fought twice."

"No I meant 'finally' as in you actually landed a hit good enough to actually give me a wound I need to bandage," Akiko said them winked at an annoyed looking Kagome.

"Pompous know it all," Kagome whispered under her breath. Akiko just laughed and said,

"Nice match Kagome." Kagome smiled and said,

"Thank you. You really should start with that rather than being sarcastic."

"Yeah that'll happen when Inuyasha changes the color of his fire rat robe to hot pink with purple glittering butterflies and skips around a field of flowers singing 'Mary had a Little Lamb' with flowers braided in his hair and ballet slippers on," whispered to Kagome so the youkai wouldn't hear.

"Pffffft!" Kagome started trying to hold in a laugh that managed to get out and Akiko joined in. The thought was hilarious.

'AS IF!' Kagome thought as she imagined the scene that Akiko had just described.

The laughter was cut short when they heard an applause from the edge of the field. The generals were clapping along with most of the soldiers because the ones that weren't clapping were so stunned that they froze. Natsuki had a face that pretty much said that she had been awed. Akiko and Kagome were somewhat embarrassed at the attention. The army walked over to them with Natsuki running ahead.

"Wow. That was in a word, aweinspiring. But I have to wonder Kagome who's that?" Nasuki asked pointing towards Akiko with a look of suspicion because of the mask she wore and the unfamiliar marking on her right shoulder. Akiko chuckled at the question and was glad that the mask made sure that they couldn't see the smile while Kagome sighed and mumbled to herself,

"And so, my stressful day begins."

Readers keep in mind a few things for me. How will people react to a girl who is strong willed like Kagome, but who has sarcasim and a creepy way of knowing stuff about people she's never met added to the mix? And how will a certain dog eared person react to someone who's been gone for over 50 years? Tell me what you think! Please REVIEW! I want to know what my readers are thinking and if they like the story. Well until next time! Ja ne!