Chapter 1 – To Fight
"Looking good Kagome," Koga winked as he strode past her into the hall.
She narrowed her eyes in his direction. How dare he!
"Koga," she called, her voice sugary sweet, "Could you practice with me today?" she blinked her big eyes at him.
Koga licked his lips, appraising her lean, toughened body. "Sure thing babe," he called, selecting a sparring rod from the rack. "I'll go easy on you."
Kagome also picked up a weapon, and stood facing her opponent. The two stared at each other, Koga with expectant confidence, Kagome with no expression.
Until she walked forwards and thrust the stick into his stomach, making him bend over as the air was forced from his body.
Kagome brought the heavy stick up and whacked it against his lower back. Koga let out a howl of pain and staggered forwards, his face scrunched with the sheer intensity of it.
Then, without warning, he brought up his own sparring rod and swept it down to her ankles.
She had expected this. With expert movements she leapt backwards, landing on one hand and flipping herself back onto her feet effortlessly. She brought her stick down on his shoulder. Hard.
And heard the bone crack.
Watching him emotionlessly, Kagome arced the rod down to his feet and yanked his ankles out from under him.
Koga landed hard on the floor, his breathing laboured and his face red, tears staining his icy blue eyes.
"Shit, Kagome," he panted. "You didn't have to fucking kill me! This was a practice session!"
She shrugged and turned to walk out. Going out the door, she paused, and dropped her sparring tool. Turning around, she walked to where Koga was on the ground, his body tensed in pain. She knelt beside him, and put her lips very close to his ear. So close he could smell her sweet breath, and the scent of it made the hairs raise on the back of his neck. The girl was trouble.
"And Koga," she whispered to him. "If you ever, ever, swear at me ever again, I will kill you. Consider it a warning. You got off lightly today."
Turning smoothly, she rose from her crouch and walked out of the hall.
…
She spent only a few minutes in the shower, soaping her body and washing her hair. She exited the glass cubicle, wrapping herself in a soft white towel.
She looked into the mirror. Big, dark eyes stared at her from a pale orb. Soft pink lips curled into a smirk. Her long hair was tousled around her shoulders.
She didn't like what she saw. This was the face of someone who deserved life. She had stolen it.
Kagome began to walk out of the bathroom, but a sound made her pause. There, in the bedroom. Someone was waiting for her.
Taking a shallow breath, she slowly picked up a tiny knife from where it lay by the door. You can never be careful enough.
And, in one swift movement, she had cranked open the bathroom door and threw the knife. It cartwheeled through the air with a deadly accuracy, moving closer and closer…
And hit the wall.
"You missed," a calm voice observed in a detached tone. "You need to work on your aim."
Kagome crossed her arms, fully aware she was only wearing a towel. "Don't you know it's impolite to enter a lady's room without permission?"
"I see no lady," Sesshomaru said, his eyes, two chips of golden ore, meeting her chocolate orbs.
"What do you want Sesshomaru?" she asked bluntly.
"Koga." He answered in one word, imitating her irritated tone.
She didn't bat an eyelid. "What about Koga?"
"You damn near crippled him! He's out of action until that shoulder heals!"
"So? I always thought he was a bit of an arse. He deserved it."
"What did he do?"
"He thought he could beat me. And he made inappropriate comments about my appearance."
"That's what people generally do, Kagome," Sesshomaru told her, his voice taking on a hint of exasperation. "It means he likes you."
"I don't want him to like me."
"Well, then turn him down when he asks you out. Don't half-murder him as a message."
"That's the way I chose to deal with the situation. You don't like it?"
"No, as a matter of fact I don't."
"Well, that's your problem."
"If it's my problem, it's your problem too," he said, and stood, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You are too reckless, Kagome! You beat up half the demons here without so much as turning a hair!"
"Well, excuse me if I'm better than everyone else!"
"You are not Kagome!" he roared. "You are like everyone else here! Only you are more irresponsible, thoughtless, cold-hearted and careless!"
She was unimpressed. "Cold-hearted? Coming from you, Sesshomaru?"
He took a step towards her, his dangerous eyes smoldering with power and anger. A dangerous combination.
"You are on your last warning, Kagome Higurashi," he threatened. "One more step in the wrong direction and I will fight you myself. That is not a battle you would win."
She huffed and crossed her arms, looking away childishly.
"Do not overestimate yourself, child," he said. "Just remember: if you have to leave here, you have nowhere else to go."
He swept majestically from the room.
Kagome waited until she was sure he had gone, then she took the towel from her body and hurled it at the door with a sound of disgust.
Arrogant demon! Just because she was not as strong as he was, just because she took matters into her own hands, did not mean that she was wrong.
Woodenly, she walked over and picked up the towel, and hung it on the back of the door.
…
"Must you?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice heavy with contempt.
The figure crossed its arms. "Keh."
"You do realise, of course, that I am in charge here?"
"Duh! Why d'you think I came running here instead of any other place?! As if I would willingly spend time under anyone else's rule! Thing is, even though you're an arrogant bastard, you're my brother, so you have to take me in, and I can just about trust you not to kill me."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. And we're half brothers."
"No, I'm pretty damn sure, Sesshomaru. We both need to be alive for this. And I don't have anywhere else to go."
Sesshomaru sighed and rubbed his temples. It was a good thing his hair was already grey.
"All right," he relented, "But on one condition."
"Yeah?"
"Stay out of trouble. I run a pretty neat little organisation here, and I don't want you getting in the way."
"Feh. For a revered and feared gang leader, you're amazingly OCD about the way things run."
"It's how I've avoided being caught all this time. Will you agree to accept me as your superior while you're here?"
"Hell no!"
"I didn't think so," Sesshomaru groaned. "That would have made this whole thing so much easier."
The man in red started for the door. "My old room?" he asked cheerfully, hand on the door handle.
Sesshomaru was snapped out of his musing. "No! That room is occupied. Take the one across from it."
"Who's in my room?"
"Your former accommodations," Sesshomaru corrected, "And I would very much prefer it if you would stay well away from her."
"Why?"
"I have enough problems with Kagome as it is," said the older demon delicately.
"Sounds like this wench needs her head screwing on right."
"There is nothing wrong with the way she is," said Sesshomaru irritably, "But her methods are far from what you would call… conventional."
"Keh."
"I'll see you at dinner," said Sesshomaru, clearly dismissing the other man.
He was just about to walk out the room, when he was stopped with his hand on the door handle.
"And little brother?" Sesshomaru called. "Please don't start any fights. I don't want to have to spend this whole time cleaning up after your mess again." He looked down at his desk, clearly dismissing the man in red.
"Arrogant bastard," Inuyasha muttered, flinging the door open and striding out of the room.