Clint and Kagome were standing side by side looking at the archery range. Clint had his usual bow, the one he uses for all of his missions. Kagome was holding her red bow from Mount Azusa. The air had a slight heaviness to it from the upcoming challenge. Plus, Kagome was still rather ticked with her dad. This would be a good stress reliever. In the back of her mind though she knew she wouldn't be able to win. Well technically she could if she wanted to, and she did kind of want to. The correct phrase was she shouldn't win this challenge. She wanted to keep her priestess status on the down low for a while yet. She wasn't exactly sure if she trusted anyone here yet, heroes or not. She wore a bracelet she charmed at all times; it hid her Miko-ki, especially from Thor. She could still use it, just nobody would be able to sense her power.
Clint looked at Kagome's bow and was rather surprised. It was a long-bow, almost as tall as she was. It wasn't a newer aluminum bow either. No it was an old fashioned wooden bow dyed a deep red. In all it was a beautiful bow. If he wasn't so content with his current bow he might have been a bit jealous.
"Alright then, shall we get started?" Clint asked happily. He was just as happy to have someone to shoot with, not many agents practiced with the bow. Even the ones that did were too scared of him for him to practice with.
Kagome sent him a smile "Sounds good."
Before they could start though somebody walked through the door. They both turned to see who had entered. Kagome was ready to kick her dad out of the room she was pleasantly surprised when she saw Natasha standing there.
"Nat? When did you get back?" Clint asked. She was supposed to be gone for a few more days.
"Just got back, my mission was a lot easier than they thought it was going to be. So I asked Jarvis where you were. To my surprise the answer was you were having an archery competition with Tony's daughter." Natasha said.
"Hey she's the one that challenged me." Clint defended.
Natasha gave a shrug, then smirked "So don't let the teenager beat you then Clint."
Clint narrowed his eyes slightly "Ha. Ha. Very funny." Then he turned to Kagome "We'll go with five different targets. I'll go first to show you the target then it's your turn. How's that sound?"
Kagome nodded "That sounds fine. Now let's do this. I'm super excited."
Clint gave a nod, drew an arrow, loaded it, and shot. It soared through the air, with a twang it hit the center of the bullseye.
Kagome eyed the target, the one he chose was child's play for her. Then again she was used to shooting deadly demons that were coming after her to kill her. She nocked her arrow and told herself a small mantra 'No powers and miss the bullseye.' She took a breath, moved the tip of her arrow just a bit to the right, and then let go. It hit exactly where she wanted it too. Very close to the middle, just a few centimeters from Clint's. She figured that was close enough to the center of the target that her boasting of skills wouldn't be weird.
Clint gave a low whistle "Wow not bad Kags. Alright then let's try something a bit harder then."
And they did. Each time got a bit more difficult, but Kagome shot just a few centimeters from his each time. The first three shots Kagome was hiding a smirk. If Clint was impressed with her skills now, he would probably lose his cool if she was shooting at her best. Her last two shots however she was hiding a scowl. She didn't' realize how annoying it was to purposely miss a shot. It was getting on her nerves, she really wanted to use her full abilities!
After the five shots each they lowered their bows and stepped back. Clint had one the challenge, but only because Kagome had let him. Kagome looked at the ten wooden shafts around the room and let her scowl show. His abilities were good, she would give him that, but she so could have beat him.
Clint chuckled "Don't let it get you down Kags. They were difficult targets. In hindsight you did really well. You have a lot of potential. Hey maybe we can talk Stark into letting you be my apprentice."
Kagome had to stop an eye roll 'Apprentice? Why would I wanna be your apprentice? I'm better than you are!' Kagome thought. A small smile appeared on her face "Thanks Clint. That could be cool." Then she looked around "So, um, how do we get the arrows down?" All of the arrows were well out of reach.
"Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure Tony made a robot that collects the arrows." Clint told her.
Kagome raised an eyebrow "Pretty sure?"
Clint shrugged "I don't stick around to find out. All I know is when I come in the next time there are arrows back in the bins and none on the targets." Then Clint's phone beeped "Right I have to get going or I'll be late for a meeting. We should do this again. I'll even give you some pointers."
Kagome forced a smile on her face "Sounds like fun." She watched Clint leave the room. Natasha gave her a calculated look before following after him. Kagome turned to face the targets. Well if Clint didn't take care of the arrows himself she could do something about her missed shots. A grin appeared on her face. Yes, something had to be done. Kagome raised her bow back up and loaded an arrow. With a smirk on her face she let the arrow fly.
Natasha and Clint got about halfway down the hallway when Natasha spoke up "She let you win." She commented.
Clint stopped dead and glared at Natasha "She did not." He argued.
Natasha raised an eyebrow and gave him a serious look "Yes she did." Natasha said then continued walking down the hall.
Clint looked back to the room, there was no way. He saw Kagome leave the room, she didn't notice that he was still there. Kagome looked back into the room, gave a contented sigh, and said "There I feel better now."
Clint's eyes went wide as Kagome walked away. There was no way! As soon as she turned the corner Clint raced back down the hall and turned into the room. His jaw dropped as he stared at the targets in shock. Each and every one of his arrows had been split down the middle by one of Kagome's.
She really had let him win. Anger appeared in his eyes "What the hell?" he exclaimed.