There's always that thin line between light sleep and consciousness; with a twitch Kagome crossed it. A shuffling noise nearby reached her awareness and she stirred slightly.

"It's about time you woke up, wench. Did you already forget what I told you yesterday?"

Kagome's eyes blinked open slowly before she stretched out her stiff body. Her gaze eventually focused on Inuyasha, who stood with arms crossed in the doorway.

"What are you talking about, Inuyasha? What's the hurry?"

"I told you. We're training today, remember?"

"Training?" Kagome repeated, her eyebrows drawn together in seemingly intense thought.

Inuyasha insultingly sounded it out for her, "Yes, stupid. Train-ing."

Kagome sleepily rubbed her eyes and stretched again, wincing as her aching body moved. "Ah…too sore. Maybe tomorrow."

"Sore? What the hell do you have to be sore about?"

"I dunno. What do you care anyway?"

"Keh…I guess the change must have been rough on your body." Kagome's eyes widened in remembrance as she ran her hands over the points of her ears. "What, don't tell me you forgot already? Stupid woman," Inuyasha chastised lightly.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction. "Well, it's not everyday someone suddenly becomes a half-demon, Inuyasha. It's going to take a bit of getting used to."

"I don't care how sore you are, I don't wanna wait on your training. Eat something so we can get started."

"Fine, fine," Kagome muttered. She crawled over to her big yellow backpack—which she realized was probably a rather comical thing for a hanyou to be carrying—and dug out a couple of granola bars. She ate them speedily even though she wasn't exactly hungry. She looked up at Inuyasha expectantly.

"What?" he grunted defensively.

"Leave already. I need to get dressed. I thought you were in this huge hurry to get training and now you're dawdling about."

"Keh."

Kagome waited just a moment to make sure the coast was clear before going to look through the clothes she was now forced to wear since her transformation. She flipped through many kimonos but couldn't find a single thing suitable for rigorous training. In her hurry to leave yesterday she'd left the clothes she picked out on her bed; she would need to return home soon to retrieve them. Ah, the fire rat. She went to find it amongst the gifts her friends had given her, only to find that it had been so properly tailored, it wouldn't work with her transformed body. While it still fit, it would be too snug to move around in comfortably. "What am I supposed to do now?" she wondered out loud to herself. She looked about the hut for a minute before an idea struck her. She poked her head outside the shelter and looked around for Kaede. When she spotted her she shouted out, "Kaede-sama, can I speak to you for a minute?" The old woman nodded before walking over to her hut. Kagome stepped to the side so she could enter.

"What is it, child?" Kaede asked, clearly concerned.

"Well…I was wondering if I could borrow some robes temporarily. I looked through the villagers gifts but there was nothing I could train in. Inuyasha wants to get started right away, so I don't know what else to do."

Kaede understood how Kagome felt about the miko robes, so she knew she must be really desperate. "Of course you may. I'll go fetch some." She disappeared into the back room for a minute and returned with a red and white pile of clothing. "Here you are."

"Thank you, Kaede-sama." Kagome smiled slightly as she took the robes.

"You are very welcome, Kagome." The old miko then left Kagome to change.

Kagome quickly donned the clothes and even went so far as to tie her hair back with the ribbon, though she put it in a high pony-tail much like Sango's. She wasn't keen on the idea of wearing the clothes that made her look that much more like Kikyo, but she figured her newly changed appearance would be enough to counteract it. The irony of a half-demon wearing miko robes was not lost on her. She looked between her father's sword and her bow and arrows, unsure which she should take. Then she recalled Inuyasha had mentioned teaching her the basics, which she was sure did not include weaponry. She opted to leave both in the hut, assuring herself that she would be with Inuyasha if any trouble arose and she could easily return for them later if they got that far in her training.

Inuyasha was waiting for her in the closest tree to the hut. She smiled at him before calling out, "I'm ready!"

He leapt down from the tree and, while striding over to her, threw back, "Bout time wench. I thought I'd be waiting around all morning."

"This was your idea so if you're making me do this, don't be complaining so much!"

"Whatever. You'll thank me for this later." He turned his back to her and headed off into the trees. "Let's go."

Kagome trudged after him silently seething to herself. Despite the closeness her transformation had brought them the day before they were right back to their old pointlessly fighting selves. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, this ought to be good enough," Inuyasha decided out loud while stopping in a clearing. "Today we'll just get you used to your new senses and abilities. Nothin' too special."

"Say Inuyasha? Why are you so willing to take time off from our hunt for the jewel shards? You're usually so eager to get going by now."

He looked at her for a moment before answering. "Keh, what are you stupid? I'm not about to take you anywhere near demons until you can handle yourself better. We'll be leaving in a day or two though so you better work hard."

"Aye, aye, mon-capitaine," Kagome mock saluted Inuyasha.

"What the fuck are you going on about?" He never would get used to her and the weird-ass things people in her era said.

Kagome sighed in return as her sarcastic reply flew right over his head. "Forget it. Let's just get started."

"You'll be able to move a lot faster now, but you're gonna have to get used to it. It'll be harder to watch out for trees and stuff. So, first off, race me to the river and try not to hurt yourself." Inuyasha dashed off into the forest leaving Kagome gawking after him.

"Inuyasha! Get back here!" She could no longer see him, so she figured if she was going to have any chance finding the river she'd better get going so she could try and follow him.

At first the dense trees scared her, so she wouldn't push herself much faster than she ran when she was human. However, she knew Inuyasha would be way ahead of her if she didn't pick up the pace. Plus, wasn't the point of the exercise to help her learn how to maneuver? Besides she was interested to see just how fast she could run now. She slowly increased her speed doing her best to avoid the trees that rapidly sprung up in her path. She bumped her shoulder into several, but was able to keep going without stopping. Then she ran smack into one, falling down to the ground. It didn't hurt as much as she had expected. Mostly she just couldn't believe that she'd actually done that.

Suddenly Inuyasha flitted in beside her. "What'd I tell you about not hurting yourself?" he asked as his eyes combed her for injuries. He smirked, "Ya know, you're really slow." Then he dashed off again.

Kagome growled; she was mildly surprised by the fact that it was an actual growl. She took off after him, still watching for trees but worrying about them less. Right then all she cared about was catching up to Inuyasha's cocky ass. How he provoked her sometimes!

The trees surrounding her were a blur, but she couldn't bring herself to be as worried about that fact as she should have been. She couldn't see Inuyasha, but she could smell him…or at least she thought she could. If not then she was following the wrong scent; she suspected she wasn't though because she was beginning to smell water and the twinge of fish. As she ran further, she began to hear the sound of the river. She smiled to herself. Inuyasha wasn't a half-bad trainer.

Suddenly she broke through the trees and found herself at the water's edge. She looked around, but couldn't spot Inuyasha anywhere. His scent didn't lead anywhere else, so she couldn't imagine where he could have gone. She bent down to cup some water up to her mouth to drink. Despite her newfound canine features, she wasn't about to stoop so low as to lap it up like a dog, nor could she recall ever seeing Inuyasha do anything of the sort. An he was about as uncouth as it got.

She was just bending down for another drink when something shoved her from behind, throwing her off balance. Arms flailing wildly, she fell into the river and was completely soaked. She emerged gasping, drenched, and beyond pissed to find Inuyasha sitting smugly on his haunches just behind where she'd been previously perched.

"Inuyasha, what on earth did you do that for?"

"Quit your bitching, woman. Had to teach you never to let your guard down, didn't I."

"Ooh, Inuyasha, the things you do sometimes…" Her bitter scowl slowly evolved into a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest. Inuyasha would have found it comical since she was still standing thigh-deep in water and dripping profusely, save for the anxious feeling it gave him; just what was she up to? "Of course I suppose since it was for my training I can't be too angry with you can I?" she asked a little too innocently. "It did teach me a very important lesson…" She mentally added to herself, '…and now I'm going to teach you one.'

Inuyasha didn't quite know what happened. One minute Kagome was saying odd things while still standing in the water, the next minute everything made a lot more sense as she knocked him to the ground sufficiently soaking him in return. Forgetting to even blush at the fact that her body momentarily covered his, Inuyasha flipped them over, picked up Kagome, and proceeded to jump into the river, again dunking her into the water. What he wasn't expecting was when Kagome pulled him under with her. He was going to have to start watching out for that newfound strength of hers. It wasn't until they'd disentangled themselves in the shallows of the river that he noticed a very interesting fact. She was wearing a white haori, which had become rather translucent during their escapades. At least he had the courtesy to blush.

Alright, so there's the end of the re-write. New chapter up shortly!