Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be sitting here on this freaking dial-up, now would I? -eye twitch- I own nothing.

Sesshomaru and Kagome: A Dangerous Love

Chapter 12: Waging a War Against Myself

Kagome was standing at the window sill. She rested her elbows on it, allowing her chin to lie right in the palm of her hands which cupped around her cheeks. She stared down at the beautiful garden, trying to count the number of different kinds flowers there were, but found it impossible. She had dressed into her normal clothes by now. She closed her eyes dreamily and remembered the moment she and Sesshomaru had shared. Her first time, love-making. It was worth the pain. She cringed a little at the bite mark on the juncture of her neck. She ran a tongue across her top lip, trying to savor the taste of him. She didn't really know why she had called out Inuyasha's name. To be perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't even thinking of Inuyasha at that moment. She soon pulled out of her reverie and opened her eyes, only to be met by another pair. She let out a long and horrified scream as the figure climbed through the window, pushing her to the ground.

The figure quickly clamped a hand to her mouth and hushed her with a coo. "Don't be afraid my little duckling," said the husky voice. He had knees on either side of her and bent down so his mouth was to the side of her head by her ears. "Though I would love to hear your screams my little cherry, I can't have you disturbing the whole castle, now can I?"

Kagome shook in pure terror. This guy was nuts! He had a simply psychotic look in his eye. She was sure he had to be mentally unstable or something by the look he gave her.

He then reeled his head back in and looked at her shoulder, seeing two prick marks. His mouth twitched and he eyed Kagome. "Why! Why would you do this to me?! Don't you know I love you!" he called out and sniffled. "What would the kids say?"

Kagome's face now filled with confusion as her assumption was confirmed. She then decided to go along, in fear of her life. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," she stammered.

The male looked down at her with sincere eyes, tears welling up in them. "It's okay my little flower," he said and smashed his lips to hers. To his disappointment, she writhed beneath him and he pulled away, looking down at her with a look of betrayal.

Kagome wasn't quite sure what happened next, but all she felt was a pinch of sharp pain, like a bee sting, and then suddenly she couldn't feel anything. She tried to swallow, but there was too big of a knot in her throat. Her vision went white, and she wasn't quite sure what was going on. She couldn't hear a thing. Nor could she feel, smell, or taste. And then suddenly...she couldn't think.

Sesshomaru raced down the halls, almost instantly flashing from the beginning of one to the end of another. Damn these inferior halls! Why were there so many and why did they have to be so long? He soon reached the gold-plated door of his mate and ferociously slammed the door open. He looked down at the ground by the window and saw a strange man mounted atop Kagome in a way he did not like. But then something caught his attention. He smelt the blood of a rose. His rose. He looked carefully and saw a steady stream of red liquid coming out of a spot on her head.

"Oh, it is you. I am Yokio," he said in a sane voice, as if this were a casual scene. He bent his head down and pressed it against Kagome's chest hardly. "You killed by baby," he whispered loudly as he heard Kagome's heartbeat had greater amounts of time between each beat every time it thumped. He stared up and eyed Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru never once took his eyes off his mate. His jaw hung a little lower than normal, but it soon closed when his eyes narrowed to Yokio. His eyes had it written all over. Die. Die. Die. He quickly raced over to Yokio with his claws in attack position, but to his surprise, Yokio had moved and dodged it. He stood still and slanted his eyes to the side, seeing Yokio now standing with his mate in his arms. "Give me her," he warned.

"Never," Yokio hissed, gripping Kagome harder as he held her bridal style.

Sesshomaru's eyes seemed to send a shock of electricity as the room tensed up. He couldn't stand how Yokio was touching what was rightfully his.

Yokio blinked his eyes quickly and that was a huge mistake, for after he blinked he found himself pinned to the ground with nails being dug into his throat. He couldn't speak, so he just mouthed it with a smirk. "At least now neither of us can have her."

Sesshomaru stood up rather hurriedly and went to Kagome, crouching down beside her. The fool obviously didn't know this Sesshomaru too well, for he missed the part about the sword that could save a hundred lives in one swing. He stood to his full height and withdrew Tenseiga as it rattled in its sheath. He then stared closely at Kagome and saw the demons of the afterlife poking at her flesh. With one swipe, he sliced through them easily. He bent down once more after sheathing his inheritance and pulled Kagome onto his lap.

The first thing that came back to her was smell. She could smell the clean and fresh air of her room, then the stench of something dead. Then the rest of her senses came back in a frenzy and she felt something warm and fuzzy. She snuggled up to it with a smile before opening her eyes and realizing who her pillow was. "Sesshomaru?" she mumbled and started pushing herself off of him.

However, he simply put an arm around her and pushed her to him again. Right now wasn't the time, though, to be cuddling. There was still an attack on the castle. He stood to his feet and pulled Kagome up with him, allowing her to lean on his side. "You'll come with me this time," he said coldly and walked out of the room. He stopped in front of the guard and shot him an 'I'll deal with you later' glare.

They had now reached his office and Akira, his assistant (who had brought him the news earlier), was awaiting his arrival. "Lord Sesshomaru! What are your intentions of battle?" he inquired while turning an eye to Kagome and seeing the blood on her forehead. He quickly called for a female servant. "Help clean her up would you?" he ordered. The female nodded and sat Kagome down on a chair right outside of the office.

"Where is Rin," Sesshomaru inquired.

"She's in her room, Master Jaken is with her." he then paused. "They have already blown past out first wave of defense. Their numbers are great. There's thousands of them my Lord!"

Sesshomaru let out a small "Hmm,". Even as great as he was, it would take a whole lot more fire power to wipe out a demon army of thousands. Even someone with the Tetsusaiga would be fighting for a while."Send in our second and third rank soldiers for battle and prepare the first ranks and officers."

Akira nodded and quickly left to give the command.

Kagome walked back into the office, her head now wrapped with a white bandage. "Why are we at war?" she asked.

Seemingly, that Yokio person was the leader of this attack since he signed the letter, but he didn't think someone he killed so easily would be a leader to thousands. Maybe this would be an easy battle.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome questioned, seeing him in deep thought.

"Are you still afraid," he inquired.

The feeling she had earlier when he asked her that question hadn't subsided, but strengthened. She didn't want to answer his question truthfully, but he could smell the fear on her.

Sesshomaru stood up from the desk he sat at and walked past her. He saw Akira rushing back and stopped.

"My Lord, I have done as you instructed and the second and third rank soldiers have now commenced in battle. The first ranks and officers are now organizing themselves and will be ready to attack when you give the order."

"How does it look out there,"

Akira looked distressed. His eyes had bags under them and his face looked simply strained. "There is much bloodshed from both sides,"

"Stay here in the office with her." he said and then glared at him in the eye. "Protect her at all costs," he warned. He turned to Kagome and gave her a look that told her he was going to fight.

Akira stood leaned against the door and looked to the fretting and nervous girl before him. "Please, calm yourself. Everything will be alright,"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Do you even know Sesshomaru? With him fighting, the word 'losing' is only comprehendable when referring to the intruders." he assured with a smile.

Sesshomaru sliced through many demons. Some were weak enough to only take one hit before going down, and some were strong enough to keep him at a steady battle for several minutes. He withdrew his Tokijin against one of the enemy and held it against his sword. "Tell me, who is leading this battle,"

The soldier scoffed and pushed his sword against Sesshomaru in an attempt to overpower him. Little did he know, Sesshomaru was going easy so he could find out information.

"Why would I tell you! You're about to die any-" he became decapitated and his head rolled onto the ground, followed by his body.

Sesshomaru instantly fought against another soldier and inquired the same thing.

"Master Yokio," the soldier responded as he could feel Sesshomaru's nails dig into his shoulder.

"I killed Yokio, now tell me who is leading this current army,"

"Impossible! You killed her?! You killed Master Yokio?!" the soldier sounded before being torn to shreds.

'Her?' he thought to himself as a sworded man flew at him. He grabbed him by the wrist. "Where is your leader?"

"S-S-She's b-by the entrance," the raspy voice replied.

"What are her intentions of this battle?"

"T-To k-kill a girl n-n-named Kagome, didn't you g-get the lett--letter?"

After killing him, Sesshomaru growled as confusion took a stroll into his mind. "But that fool said he was Yokio," he thought back to the man he had slain in Kagome's room. He grabbed a soldier who had dropped his sword in the process. "Do you have more than one Yokio in your army," he questioned.

"Y-Yes, all of our nicknames are Yokio,"

Sesshomaru sliced through him and silently cursed at himself. He then rewithrew his Tokijin (which he had sheathed obviously) and held it out in front of him. "Dragon Strike," he called out and blue energy emerged from the imitation sword, making a path for Sesshomaru as he quickly started to run in the direction of the entrance.

Kagome could hear the cries of men right outside the door and started to fear the worst. "We've got to go out there and help!" she said and made her way sternly to the door.

Akira narrowed his eyes sharply and stepped in between her and the door with his hands outstretched. "I cannot allow you to do that." he replied.

"You're just going to let--" she paused when the cries of men ceased and all was silent. The silence was more nerve-wracking then the noise.

Akira put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to keep quiet. He slid three daggers out of his pure white kimono and rested each one between his knuckles.

The office door crashed down and Akira jumped back, flinging the daggers to the female warrior that stood on the fallen door. She seemed to easily dodge them and jumped toward Akira with a sword outstretched. She dug it into his body and twisted it before pulling out.

Kagome didn't dare look down to the now corpse of Akira. She knew taking her eyes off of the female would be her demise. "Who are you?" she asked shakily, trying to keep her courage up for any possible intimidating she could do. Though, we all know Kagome wasn't the best intimidator.

"My name is Yokio," she said sweetly and bowed. She sheathed her sword.

"B-But Yokio was the man--"

"Jeeze, what an idiot. You'll have to excuse my mental brother, the most stupid being on Earth. I swear, I hope he dies."

A sweat drop trickled down Kagome's forehead, which ceased its stroll once it met the bandage on Kagome's head.

Yokio walked closer to Kagome and placed the back of her hand on Kagome's forehead.

"W-what do you want?" Kagome asked, getting weirded out by the way Yokio was touching her.

"You. Alas, I see you've been marked," she responded with a sigh. Just then, her head jerked around as she caught Sesshomaru's Tokijin in her hand.

Sesshomaru quickly jerked his arm back so he was the only one touching Tokijin.

"Ah, Lord Sesshomaru. It's nice to finally meet you, I was just discussing things with dear Kagome. I'm afraid I can't allow anyone in this castle to live," she said and turned her face back to Kagome. "And I'm sorry to say that doesn't exclude you," she added with a mental sigh.

Sesshomaru saw his opening and slashed his sword at Yokio, while keeping the same manner of grace he usually does. His face remained calm and still, his body flowing with the movement of the sword, yet his heart beated just a little faster.

Kagome was lost in deep thought. She tried to concentrate on this feeling she had. This supposedly bad feeling that she had been feeling for a while now. As she looked at her lover fighting with such grace, she came to the realization that everything would be okay. She suddenly jerked back to reality and looked around for a possible weapon. She ran over to Akira's dead body and dug through his clothes. "Please forgive me," she whispered and pulled out some daggers. She held two in each hand and looked at them for a second. She could only hope for the best and closed her eyes while flinging them toward Yokio.

Yokio, being an alert warrior, quickly jerked around and shielded herself with her arm which had a plate of small armor on the sleeve.

However, she did not have time to block the sword that was being thrusted into her stomach and cringed at the blood seeping from her wound. She stared down and fell to her knees in shock before looking back at Kagome and smiling. All life left her body and she faded away into the depths of nothing.

"I can't even thank you enough Lord Sesshomaru for bringing me back to life!" Akira said without even trying to mask the joy painted in his voice. He looked to Kagome and winked at her, knowing she must've been the person that influenced him to do so.

"Let's go," Sesshomaru said to Kagome.

"To where?" she asked.

"A walk."

Kagome walked alongside of Sesshomaru as they walked down the long halls of the castle. She knew he must've been thinking about when she said Inuyasha's name.

"I am going to make you stronger,"

Kagome was shaken from her thoughts by his words and looked up at him questionably.

"You will learn how to make basic attacks and defend yourself. Even though you may be a pitiful human, I believe you have the potential to protect yourself from weaker beings," he said and before she could even say it, he added, "without your arrows." Oh God how he hated those things! He remembered when she still traveled with his half-ling brother and her arrow broke through his armor. He had to admit, she had good archery skills, but that wouldn't suffice.

"So, you're going to train me?"

Kagome stood straight. She was in a plain room with no items in it. The only thing residing in it were herself, Sesshomaru, the walls, floor, and ceiling.

"Get in a defensive position."

Kagome did as told and put her arms awkwardly in front of her in a somewhat protective matter.

Sesshomaru was facing her, standing about twenty feet away. He, without further notice, raced toward her and stopped until he was only a millimeter from touching her. His elbow was up and back, his two fingers pointed in a 'I'll poke your eyes out' way.

Kagome stared at his two fingers which were only mere inches away from her face.

"Never leave your face open." he said sternly and repositioned her arms so that one was in front of her face and one was in front of her chest. He went back to his earlier position about twenty feet away and commanded, "Come at me."

Kagome looked shocked. "What?"

"Attack."

Kagome was hesitant. How was she supposed to inflict an attack on Sesshomaru? His chest was eye level so his face was out of the question. He had armor on his chest, so that was out of the question. His legs? His arm? What was his weak spot? She was clueless. Not knowing what she planned to do, she ran toward him and kicked him in the shin. The smiled rather pridefully until she noticed he wasn't bouncing on one foot going "Owwie owwie owwie!"

"Try again."

Kagome huffed a long sigh and walked backward so she had running distance. Hmm, a weakness is what she needed. What would hurt a guy no matter what? Light bulb! She ran up to him and kicked between the knees, hoping to at least get a whimper from him.

Sesshomaru looked down once more. He couldn't deny the small twinge of pain residing between his legs, but demons were't affected there nearly as much as humans. "The stomach is the place for target." he explained and realized that Kagome wasn't the type to be an attacker. No, she was too sweet and pure to attack someone with her bare hands. Maybe that's why she used arrows; then she wouldn't need to technically inflict pain with her own hands. So, defensive positions it will be. He grabbed her lightly by the throat and held her up above the ground, granting her plenty of comfort; at least enough to breathe. "How do you get out of this," he said rather smartly.

Kagome thought for a moment. She needed a distraction. After pondering for a moment, she came up with a half-decent idea. She reached down and slipped off her right shoe, flinging it behind Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru's gaze quickly adverted to see what she threw, and as he looked back, he met a rather powerful (for a human) punch to the face. His hand released her and he jumped back. Now things were getting started. 'But you can't always use just brains miko,' he thought, knowing that was her best attribute in fighting. She needed more of where that punch came form. He quickly darted and appeared behind her, then swung his hand (decreasing his speed since she was human) and was shocked to see her hit the deck.

Kagome noticed Sesshomaru had left her sight and knew he must be coming from behind. She freaked out a bit in her mind, but dropped to the floor in attempt to avoid a 'whooshing' sound.

This went on four about another hour. Kagome was getting tired, but she couldn't give Sesshomaru the satisfaction of saying 'I quit' so she just pushed herself.

'Stubborn girl.' he thought as he continued his relentless fake assaults on her. He was rather glad she wasn't whining like he knew she wanted to. That meant it was working. "Time to eat." he said, and smirked ever-so-slightly at her large sigh of relief.

A drunken Kagome? No, it can't be. This was just absurd!

"Oh, Sesshomaru, was is this pretty...um...stuff?" Kagome asked, her eyes wandering without her consent.

"Sake." Sesshomaru said, keeping an eye on her. He was rather amused, as he could tell this was her first time drinking. Why did humans act so funny after drinking sake? It never affected him. Yet another weakness.

"Oh it's," she hiccuped and continued," lovoooly! Bring me more sock ay!"

And she had another glass. And another glass. And another. And another, until she fell out of her chair. That's when Sesshomaru cut her off. "Time for sleep," Sesshomaru said and picked her up.

Kagome's nose wrinkled. "No! You're...You're just jealous---cause I saw him said name." Wait, that didn't come out how she wanted it to. She tried her best to order the sentence right, but her mind just wouldn't rest on one subject. "Oh!"

Sesshomaru looked down at her as she rambled on, carrying her to her room.

Kagome laughed at nothing. "You've got one arm," she giggled.

Servants stood by idly in awe as they watched this so-called icy Lord carry a drunken girl. No one ever insulted Sesshomaru without being killed instantly. Why was she an exception?

"99 bottles of sock ay on the...On the, um, the..." she slowly started drifting off to sleep. Her eyelids became heavy and when they closed, it felt like she was spinning uncontrollably. It was making her nauseous.

Sesshomaru opened her door and realized the corpse from earlier was still there. So, turning on the heel, he made his way out, only this time, faster. He was growing tired himself and awaited the comfort of his bed.

Once at his room, which seemed to be the largest room in the house, he opened the door and set Kagome down on the bed. He stared down at her. He slowly lifted up her shirt, stared down at her stomach, and wondered if there was a baby growing inside.

Note: Fun fact: Yokio means "gets what he wants". It is a male name, and I used it on a girl; sue me. I'd like to thank everyone for the kind reviews! The positive comments (and a threatening pm...-gulp-) have convinced me to further the story just a little. Also, so so sorry it took me FOREVER to update!

NOTE! This chapter was almost PURE filler. I'm so sorry. The Yokio thing really had no relevance, though the training did some. And the drunkenness...All filler xD But if you give me feedback, I'll make the next chapter more...Plottier!

Haha, I have midterms all this week so I'll be studying hard! Good news is that I have half days and also next Monday off.