Chapter Eleven

Kagome stormed down the corridor leading to the cafeteria located on the far side of the residential area. Her blue eyes were lit with the fires of determination and her fists were clenched to stave off the urge to hit something. Her mind kept thinking over the late night talk she had had with her newest friend. Her brown eyes had been downcast as she had grudgingly admitted that during training, Miroku had seemed to be ignoring her.

"Not that I care a lot about it! I mean, I need him to pay attention during the training! It could affect the reaction time during a combat exercise."

Kagome had thought that the desperate way Sango had tried to explain herself was rather adorable. However, the subject matter had been anything but cute. Kagome had explained that she had noticed the way Miroku had been acting strange too. Telling the girl about him avoiding her and when they did cross paths he would quickly flee with some excuse or another.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but if it's affecting his link then he needs to get over it."

Kagome had ended the conversation with that and promised Sango she would get to the bottom of this.

"Just leave it to me! I'll sort that pervert out!"

For some reason, Sango had seemed to droop when Kagome had said this and then had smiled sadly back at the confused psychic.

"Yeah. I'll leave it to you, Kagome-chan."

'I have no idea what would cause Sango to look like that, but I definitely won't allow it to continue. This ends now.' So with this thought in mind Kagome had woken early to match with Miroku's schedule. He should be having breakfast at this time, and unfortunately for Kagome, his residence was located on the opposite side from her own.

Getting dressed and ready to go in record time, she left her rooms and started her trek to the second cafeteria. The many who saw her coming quickly got out of her way, thanking any deity above that they weren't the targets for the anger swirling about the dark haired woman. Her eyes landed on the double sliding doors leading into the packed mess hall and she prayed, for Miroku's sake, that he was in there. If not, and she had to hunt him down in some other corner of the ship, there would be no mercy.

The doors opened and she began a quick scan of every male in the room. The people closest to the doors stared at her openly, startled at the way she had entered, as if on a mission. Her eyes locked onto her target and she narrowed them, setting her jaw and tilting her head down in preparation for the oncoming altercation.

Miroku settled into his seat, still slightly groggy from another night of tossing and turning. Though he had worked out the majority of his internal issues, it wasn't like he had solved the problem itself. Taking a bite of what he supposed was oatmeal, he reached for his mug containing life-giving caffeine. That's when he felt the largest ball of malevolent energy aimed at him since that one time he had hit on a battle-link's wife.

His body instinctively locked up and he found himself staring blankly at his coffee mug, just at the tips of his fingers. They won't notice you if you remain perfectly still, he thought in near hysteria. His ears flinched when he caught the unmistakable stomp of feet coming in his direction. Conversation in the cafeteria was steadily dying down in the wake of whoever it was that had stormed in.

Feeling a familiar spike of energy Miroku felt his eyes close on a silent curse. 'Oh damn, its-'

"Kagome! What a pleasant surprise seeing you so early this lovely morning!"

Miroku winced as his voice came out rather high-pitched but felt it was warranted by the look on his friend's face. Not stopping to respond to his greeting, Kagome marched the rest of the way to his table and slammed her hands down on the surface. Coffee spilled from the mug and his bowl of oatmeal tipped onto its' side, allowing the thick goop to leak onto the tray everything still sat on.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"


Keeping a serene continence about her, Midoriko turned to face the one she would be instructing for the day. "Yes, you will need to be submerged in the tank for today's exercise. There are multiple suits within the backroom for you to change into." Her gaze never wavered from Taisho's eyes as he glanced between the tank that held a light pink, almost beige, liquid and the psychic linking pod beside it.

Shifting slightly to make sure she had his attention, she quirked a brow when he met her gaze. "The suit needs to be skin tight, so the only thing you are permitted to wear underneath are the regulation underwear." She was secretly pleased when his eyes narrowed and his weight shifted slightly. While not blushing, as she hoped for, the young man was clearly discomfited.

She waved her hand airily towards the door at the back, in clear indication he was dismissed and caught the glare aimed her way when he begrudgingly headed off to change. Clearly he had issues with authority, or others having authority over him. And while, in the future, that would be perfectly fine, here and now it was not.

The training they were about to commence was rigorous and dangerous on a normal schedule. His was shortened by half and jammed with other things he would also have to focus on. He would need all the luck and guidance he could get. Now if only he would realize that for himself…

Shrugging off her circular thoughts, Midoriko headed over to the pod hooked up to the large tank. She held up her screen to the large screen at the left of the pod and began manually imputing the data she could of the current test subject. Date of birth, name, sex, and ranking. His height, weight, neurological responses and energy pattern would fill in automatically when he entered the tank and they linked up.

Her musings were cut short as the door leading into the private training room opened. Only those with permitted access could enter and she was relieved to see it was the technician she had asked for to oversee the equipment while they were in training.

"Lydia! It's so good to see you again!" Midoriko greeted, smiling softly and hugging the older technician.

"God Lord, ya shoulda seen my reaction when they told me you were gonna be instructing the assassin class again!" Lydia exclaimed, looking over the psychic and seeing many worry lines that hadn't been there the last time they had seen each other.

Midoriko laughed. "Not a whole class. Just one in particular. The last one, hopefully."

Lydia snorted and shook her head. "Pft. Please. This is the military we're talking about. Those fools never let go of a good thing when they find it! Just keep it on a shelf until it's needed again." Both women grinned at the other, remembering the old times in that one statement. Glancing from the other woman's face, Lydia looked to the screen beside the pod and examined the picture of the one that was to go through the training.

"Is that his real coloring?!" She stage-whispered loud enough to echo and Midoriko stifled another giggle as the doors to the changing room opened and out walked a rather perturbed Sesshomaru.

Both women blinked at the sight of the tightly bound muscles walking their way. Blushing slightly, Midoriko coughed and turned back to the screen, verifying the data, needlessly, once again. Lydia cocked her hip and stared unabashedly at the nearly naked captain. The suit was so tight; it might as well have been painted on him. She smirked slightly and whistled lowly. She could practically see the lines from his underwear…

Midoriko bumped the other woman with her hip and gave her a mocking glare. Lydia's smile brightened, as if feigning innocence. "What? I'm married, not dead!" She stage-whispered again and Midoriko closed her eyes to hide her own embarrassment.

Picking up the electrodes that she would need to strap to Sesshomaru, Midoriko took a step forward, only for Lydia to snatch them out of her hands and approach the young captain herself.

"Oh no, dear. Please. Allow me." Lydia purred as she sauntered toward the wary soon-to-be assassin. Leaning forward slightly, she allowed her hand to caress his forearm before grasping his wrist and slowly wrapping the electrode strap tightly around the joint. She looked up into his narrowed eyes as she teasingly tugged the sleeve of the suit down to cover the electrode.

Before she could further paw at his person, Sesshomaru raised his opposite wrist for the next electrode, wishing he could do this himself. His weight shifted as far from the older female as he could, without taking a step back. Though he really wanted to back away from her, his pride demanded he stand his ground. Don't show weakness, don't show fear.

Midoriko shook her head at the over-the-top enthusiasm that Lydia was showering onto the unnerved trainee and hid the smile that was steadily stretching across her face. A laugh burst from her mouth before she converted it into a cough as she watched Lydia sexually harass the poor man as she strapped the last electrode to his ankle. She wasn't for sure, but from the way Lydia's arms were positioned, and the way the young man practically hightailed it over to the tank; she was sure Lydia had pinched the captain's butt.

Staring at the smirking technician with raised brows and hoping she wouldn't be pulled into a lawsuit later, Midoriko cleared her throat. She swung her gaze to the silver haired captain.

"There is an oxygen mask already up on the side of the tank. Put that on and test it out before you lower yourself into the tank. We'll begin the exercise once you've given the 'ok'."

Sesshomaru gave a terse nod and stiffly made his way up the small ladder. He stooped slightly as he reached the top, keeping his head from hitting the ceiling. Sitting at the platform built over lip of the tank, he allowed his feet into the strange liquid inside, slightly startled at how cold it felt. He slipped the mask over his face and adjusted the straps around the back of his head so they wouldn't pull at his hair uncomfortably. Taking a few test breaths, he slid into the thick, soup-like liquid and closed his eyes as his head went under.

When his feet touched the bottom of the tank, he opened his eyes and silently marveled over how clearly he could actually see inside the stuff. He looked to the two blurry figures outside the tank and held his thumb up, giving the signal that he was ready.

Midoriko turned to her pod, finishing up with putting on her own electrodes. Her eyes shot to Lydia, who was now looking over the data stored on the large screen between the tank and the pod. "We'll be running programs one through eight today." She said, taking in the raised brows of the technician.

"All…all eight at once? That's…"

"He is to be the partner of Kagome Higurashi." Midoriko cut in and was satisfied when Lydia's mouth snapped shut and all previous teasing humor drained away from her eyes, leaving them serious and focused. "If he cannot handle this level of training, then he is not fit to be her partner."

Lydia bowed her head slightly, acknowledging just how serious the situation actually was.

"Of course, Dr. Kitakawa. The programs will be run as you instruct."

Midoriko gave a short nod back and climbed into her pod, the top coming down and the stasis gel filling quickly. With a last sigh, before the gel came up over her face, Midoriko prayed the boy passed his training. For Kagome's sake.


The subject on the table was breathing laboriously. Perhaps due to the fact that five, psychic energy infused, bands constricted its body. Naraku thought it was mostly due, in large part, to the rather grievous wound located on the right side of its chest. His eyes swung from the bound Baasratu before him and focused on the civilian researcher in front of him.

The civilian stepped forward, holding a scalpel and slowly edging toward the growling alien. Twisted amusement sparked in Naraku's eyes as he watched the way the man jumped at each noise and thrashing motion the Baasratu made. Lifting his hand slowly, the researched picked up a piece of the strange black…cloth, that covered the Baasratu in an indiscernible pattern. Bringing the scalpel forward, it was clear the civilian wanted to take it as a sample.

The Baasratu let out a high-pitched howl and the researcher jumped, dropping the black strip and tripping backwards away from the now wildly thrashing subject on the table. With a sinister smirk curling along his face, Naraku walked forward and clamped his hands onto the man's shoulders, slowly pushing him forwards.

"What are you waiting for?" His voice oozed out in a pseudo-soothing tone. "Don't you need this sample?" The researcher was now shaking, his eyes taking in the saliva dripping from the large bared teeth of the bound being in front of him.

Naraku forced him forward another step, his inner delight increasing as the man in front of him let out a small whimper of distress. "Perhaps you should get a sample closer to its heart…?" He asked in mock-innocence, his sharp smile belying his words as he directed the shorter man another step towards the snarling mouth. Another sound of distress escaped the man and Naraku tightened his hold on the shaking shoulders.

The loud clearing of a throat behind them had Naraku dropping his hands and the researcher falling over himself to leave the room, dropping the scalpel to the floor. Disappointed that his amusement was over, Naraku lazily looked over his shoulder at the psychic that had entered the room.

Ginta stood against the far wall, gazing back with thinly veiled disgust. "Was that really necessary, Hadani?" He asked shortly, not really needing an answer but knew he'd get one anyway.

"They're just civilians. Not important." Naraku answered in a blasé tone, watching from the corner of his eye as his teammate stiffened and glared in his direction. It always made his day to know that the hotheaded psychic was so easily riled over such matters.

"Whatever. We are not getting into this right now." Ginta huffed, heading over to the large screen on the wall, showing different readings and graphs. Naraku washed all emotion from his face as he followed the other psychic to the screen, bringing his own screen up to compare notes.

"How long has the subject been conscious?" Ginta asked shortly, still trying to reign in his temper.

"About fifteen minutes now." Naraku answered, switching through multiple reports.

"And it hasn't been trying to get out of the bindings?" Ginta asked, looking away from the screen to watch as the Baasratu on the table lie docilely in place, only letting out low hissing noises periodically.

"Not like the previous subjects."

"Telepathic communication?"

"Not in the way we perceive telepathy. However, the psychics on watch with the other subjects all reported sensing some sort of energy-like communication between those we had captured."

"So, Kagome-chan was right." Ginta murmured to himself and looked over to Naraku, glaring at the smirk stretching his lips.

"So it's Kagome-chan, now, is it?" Naraku asked teasingly and Ginta snorted, already pulling on a lab coat and a long pair of rubber-like gloves that tied off near his shoulder.

"Not getting into it with you, Hadani." He answered shortly once more and made his way over to the small tray situated beside the bound Baasratu. On the top of the tray were numerous sharp implements, and Ginta went for a long-handled scalpel, glancing in irritation at the one still sitting on the floor.

Ignoring the loud growling and light thrashing of the Baasratu, Ginta lifted up a strip of black and quickly sliced through the material, slightly grossed out at the feel of the pull of the blade. Like slicing through raw chicken. Grasping the cut strip in his hand, he headed over to the far counter that contained all of the specimen jars and tubes.

He was distracted on the way when he felt the black material…twitch. Pausing in his step, he glanced down at the bit in his hand, watching in muted horror as it again twitched almost spasmodically. He brought the strange material closer to his face, the scientist in him trying to figure out what was causing the movement. Severed nerves, perhaps? But then that would mean that the black strips on a Baasratu was more than what they thought it was.

He swiftly pulled his face away and his hand tightened reflexively when the thing began to undulate and flex uncontrollably. Keeping his eyes on the violently moving specimen, he practically ran the rest of the way to the jars and threw it into one of them, slamming and screwing the lid on as the thing continued to wriggle about frantically.

Naraku, observing the psychic's strange behavior from across the room raised an eyebrow and walked sedately over to the counter to peer, in fascination, at the previously thought clothing-like material. It bounced around in the small container furiously, knocking the jar across the countertop. Picking up the heavy instruction manual, for what he didn't know, lying on the corner of the counter and set on top of the jar.

Now that the ruckus made from the frantic…thing had been effectively silenced, Ginta was disconcerted to realize that it was rather too quiet in the small lab. He looked to Naraku to find the other psychic still staring at the black strip as if mesmerized. Feeling the small hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention, Ginta slowly turned around and was met with a rather disconcerting sight.

The Baasratu, bound on the table, was facing in their direction. Lips pulled back menacingly from elongated rows of teeth, silently bared. A long string of saliva hung from the corner of its mouth as it had lifted its head as high as it could without agitating the bands strapped over top its shoulders. Its claws were fully flexed and poised over the side of the table. Its breathing was deep and even, despite the deep gouge still bleeding over the table and onto the floor.

Above all, what really panicked Ginta, was the menacing energy sparking along the bands and causing cracks to appear in the metal reinforcing the thick bands. He let out a shuddered breath and realized his heart was pounding in instinctual fear. Ginta was sure he was facing death in its eye-less face.

Naraku, unwillingly pulled from his fascinated examination of the thing in the jar, was forced to look over at the other psychic when he realized he was standing stock-still in place. Noticing the fast paced heavy breathing and dilated pupils, he swung his gaze to the sight that had paralyzed the other man. The twisted smirk he usually favored slicked across his face and his eyes narrowed in calculation.

"Now isn't that interesting?" He murmured quietly, taking in the way the energy level around the Baasratu was steadily increasing. Turning his gaze to a small biometric scanner and screen located to his left, he calmly walked over. Placing his hand on the scanner while simultaneously entering the four-digit code he had memorized, especially over the last two weeks, he watched in wistful dismay as the current subject was terminated.

The five bands holding the Baasratu to the table glowed softly as they charged with the psychic energy kept within them. In a macabre guillotine effect, five energy blades shot down and through the being's body, severing it into six separate pieces. Ignoring the gore rapidly covering the floor he made his way back over to the specimen jar, disappointed to realize the black strip had stopped thrashing about. Moving the manual and picking up the jar, he shook it slightly and let out a sigh when it knocked about lifelessly.

Well, He consoled himself slightly, at least he had somewhat confirmed that the material was somehow connected to its host…and seemed to die when the main subject died. Taking down his notes on his screen, Naraku bypassed the still frozen form of Ginta and headed for the door leading out of the lab. He was met with three armed guards rushing to get into the lab.

"Hmph. You are two minutes too late to have been able to save anyone in this room, including yourselves. If this had been a true emergency, we would have been fucked." Naraku hissed scathingly by way of greeting as he walked out of the lab, his shoes squelching on the floor and leaving thick orange puddles in his wake. "And get someone to come and clean up this mess."

He headed over to the shower rooms located down the hall from the small cluster of labs, never looking back at the chaos behind him. Nothing back there interested him anymore, anyway.


Kagome calmly took a sip of the beverage that had been placed before her, savoring the taste of real, non-synthetic, coffee. The smell alone permeated throughout the small and independently owned café, inviting its patrons to breathe deep and relax in the rather comfy chairs scattered throughout. Looking up from the rich brew in her hands, Kagome stared at the man across from her.

After she had stormed into the rather packed cafeteria, throwing her angry words at him; Miroku had tried to placate her long enough to see what a debacle she was making of herself and him. Flushing in embarrassment and freezing at all the stares pointed in their direction, let alone the fact that you could have heard a pin drop within the sudden silence, Miroku had laughed skittishly and shot to his feet. Grabbing the mortified girl by the hand, he had dragged her from the hall and down the corridor, heading towards the lift to the commerce sector.

Which lead them to where they were now. Calmly sitting in the only real café on the whole ship, sipping perfectly brewed tea and coffee, respectively.

Miroku, for his part, stared down into his tea, contemplating life's many intricacies, as one was wont to do in such circumstances. Exactly how was he supposed to navigate through this quagmire, anyway?

"So? What's your excuse?" Kagome asked, taking another sip and watching the nuances on the other psychics face. "What reason do you possibly have for completely avoiding me for the last couple of days?" She kept all emotion out of her tone, reserving judgement and upheaval for after she had finished her coffee.

Miroku gulped quietly and smoothed his sweaty palms down his synthetic-cotton pants. Glancing up with a sheepish expression, he tried to keep things light, considering the heavy atmosphere coming off of Kagome.

"Ah, well…it was a personal reason. Didn't want to get you involved…" He figured being vague would be his best bet in gauging his friend. After all it wasn't a lie.

Kagome felt her brows scrunch and her eyes narrow as she watched the nervous way Miroku seemed to fidget about. His hands came up and clamped around the large tea cup, lifting it for a sip then setting it gently back on its matching saucer, his fingers tracing the vine and leaf design lacing the rim. A flash of insight hit her and her eyes widened incredulously.

"Oh god." She murmured. "You slept with a married woman again, didn't you?!"

Miroku's mind blanked and his hands stilled their fidgeting as the accusation registered with him.

"Miroku!" Kagome hissed out, taking his overwhelmed silence as confirmation. "After the 'Michelle Incident', you swore you would never do anything like this again!"

Her mind went back to a year ago and the ridiculous events that had taken place. "And poor Brian…court marshalled all because you couldn't keep it in-"

"Yes! Kagome! We all remember that travesty!" Miroku hissed out, moving forward with a raised hand, as if to cover her mouth, as he frantically looked about the deserted café. Humor twinkled in Kagome's eyes at remembering the blonde psycho that Miroku had "easily charmed" into bed with him, only for her to think that he was "cheating" on her with Kagome, while she herself was married.

It's a good thing Brian had divorced her ass, because she was crazy, Kagome thought with a wistful sigh as she let her memories fade and focused on the issue before her.

Miroku, in the meantime, decided that running with this excuse was probably his best course. "Sorry, Kagome." He let the shame he truly felt shine through his words as he again turned his eyes to his tea.

Kagome studied the slumped shoulders and bent head before her, not ready just yet to forgive him. "You know, being avoided and ignored hurts, Miroku." Her voice was low and her tone somber.

Miroku flinched at the inflection and again felt he had trouble swallowing. Keeping his eyes downcast, he tried to shore up his courage to look her in the eye. "I know. I'm sorry." Taking a deep breath, he looked up. "I swear it won't happen again." His voice was serious with his underlying conviction. No matter what the future held, he swore he would never again attempt to shut the girl out. Even if she learned of his duplicity and turned from him instead.

Letting a small smile curve her lips, Kagome drank down the last bit of coffee, enjoying the sweet rush of sugar that had settled at the bottom. "Good!" She stood from her seat, pulling Miroku up with her as he finished his tea in his relief at being forgiven. "Now come on! Both of us are slotted for instructional training in twenty minutes."

Looping her arm through his, she guided him out of the café and toward the lifts at the far end. Just before they reached the circular platform, a thought struck her and she paused in their forward motion. Looking up into Miroku's questioning face, Kagome allowed her brows to scrunch.

"Ah. Miroku?" She began hesitantly. "It would probably be in your best interest if you didn't tell Sango about your, uh…problem."

Miroku jerked back slightly. He had forgotten that Sango had mentioned that she was in communication with Kagome.

"She was really worried about you, and I don't think you'd survive if she found out the reason you were acting weird was due to girl problems." In fact, she was sure the soldier would fly to their ship and kill him.

Miroku felt the beginnings of a grin stretching his face. "She…was worried about me?" He asked softly and Kagome blinked. The glow forming on her friend's face had her mouth dropping open slightly in shock. The fool wasn't just attracted to his partner; he was in love with her. A devious smirk unconsciously formed on her pretty face as she realized she had the perfect bargaining chip to hold over the pragmatic psychic.

"Sorry, Miroku." Kagome began, her tone lilting. "What is discussed between girls, stays between girls!" Her laughter echoed over his badgering questions as the both of them got on the lift.


Pain arched through his body once again, and even though he couldn't vocalize it, he screamed long and loud, if only mentally. He felt his limbs twitching to the hellfire snapping over his nerve endings, not entirely sure when one wave began or ended. He was gasping and his heart was fit to burst, but he knew he had to push on. It wouldn't end until he accomplished what he had too.

All throughout his torture, her voice cut in and out in his head. Like a broken transmission. '…fight…going! Don't…p! …you!'

Not his partner's voice, no. Not Higurashi's. His mind stuttered over the woman he was linked to, fighting off the swarm of disjointed thoughts, feelings and malicious energy. Who…why was he doing this? Trying to regulate his breathing and bring some order back into the chaos his mind had been cast in, Sesshomaru clung to the only thought that centered him.

He needed to do this. It was important. To keep Higurashi safe.

As he focused on this line of thinking, he felt the brief waning of energy. Grasping at the control he had over his own energy, that even now lay in tattered and frayed bits, Sesshomaru forced the onslaught of crippling pain back and outwards. The feeling of pushing on elastic, like a balloon ready to burst, registered to his senses and he set his teeth and pushed harder. A strange feeling of relief, like when your ears popped, settled over him just as he felt he had succeeded in driving the energy out and away. The continuous wave of pain abruptly ceased and his body sagged, boneless, in the tank. His breathing was harsh and he was suddenly aware of Kitakawa's presence in his head.

'That was damned close, Taisho.' She murmured, not unkindly, knowing there was no way for her to alleviate the pain the captain was currently in. 'Once you can move, come on up and out of the tank.'

He felt the link close as the older psychic pulled away and suddenly he was left adrift to take stock of his quaking limbs.

The training had started out innocuously enough. Before the actual program had started, Kitakawa had set about explaining what was about to happen and why.

'The reason we have a need for a class like the one you are about to join is rather simple; just as we have evolved to find a way to combat our enemy, they in turn have evolved to combat us. There is a kind of Baasratu that can, and do, disrupt the link between a psychic and their soldier counterpart.'

Sesshomaru had listened intently, confused over why this wasn't taught in basic training. He had never heard of a Baasratu able to disrupt a link between partners. The ramifications behind such a thing…and if it were to happen in the middle of battle! Humanity would be utterly eviscerated.

'Naturally, it isn't allowed to be public knowledge. The amount of fear and panic would be…unfathomable. Hope for victory in battle would plummet and we would, again, sink into despair. The good news is, encountering said Baasratu is rare. Their energy signatures vary greatly from a run-of-the-mill foot soldier, so we are able to pick up their location if they get too close to our fleets.'

Sensing he had stepped into something bigger than just a promotion with extra training, Sesshomaru had found himself clenching his teeth together as Kitakawa had explained.

'After repeated encounters with this stronger enemy, a psychic researcher came up with how their abilities influenced our link.'

'How?'

'…they experienced it for themselves. Losing their partner in the battle, but "saved" by their pod.'

The way Kitakawa had answered kept him from asking after it anymore.

'Taking this research and recreating the effect, we began experimenting with ways to combat the energy attack.' She had paused here and Sesshomaru had allowed her the chance to order her thoughts. 'Though fighting it off indefinitely is impossible, it is possible to delay the effects until someone fast enough can take the enemy out. The attack itself doesn't target anyone specifically, it affects an area as a whole. We thought, at first, that training a group as a collective to go in teams would be a good idea. We quickly discovered that only certain psychic/soldier links are able to survive the training, let alone a real attack from the enemy itself.'

Sesshomaru had frowned, thinking on exactly what this was leading to.

'Going into enemy territory, surrounded by who knows how many Baasratu is suicide.'

Kitakawa had conceded to his statement.

'Yes. However, it seems the Baasratu suffer negative effects from this attack as well.' She paused again, sensing Taisho's impatient curiosity. 'The foot soldiers can't come within thirty feet of the Baasratu's energy attack. While the attack itself stretches out for a good bit, the inner circle is too much for its brethren to withstand.'

Comprehension dawned.

'So your saying, it is the job of the "assassin" to get passed the numerous enemies surrounding the lone attacker, get into that "inner circle" and take it out.'

'And stay alive long enough for the rest of your team to take out the rest.'

Sesshomaru had contemplated this for a bit, absently noting the way his link to Kitakawa felt…empty.

'Why aren't Higurashi and I in this training together?' He had questioned, immediately wishing he hadn't.

Kitakawa had sighed. 'This training isn't for Kagome. She will have her hands full dealing with other things. It is yourjob to fight off the attack and protect your link. It will be yourjob to protect the attack aimed at your psychic.'

It was all that was said. The program had started off more irritating than painful, gradually climbing the scale until it had gotten to where he was sure his skin was being peeled from his bones and his mind was being massaged by a cheese grater.

Feeling that he could use his muscles once more, Sesshomaru opened his eyes in the tank and slowly kicked up to the surface. Moving his arms to grab a hold of the rim of the tank was harder than he thought it would be, now that he wasn't being helped along by the thick liquid he had been marinating in. His hands shook, but his arms supported his weight as he dragged himself out and onto the small platform at the top.

He haphazardly removed the oxygen mask, ignoring the pull on his hair from the straps, and felt it clatter to the left of his shoulder.

"How ya doing, big guy?"

The technician's subdued inquiry had him turning his head to see the older women watching him quietly, both wearing varying degrees of concern on their faces. Snorting softly in answer, he turned his face away to again stare at the ceiling.

"Hn."

"Well, despite my thoughts, you've successfully completed today's training." Midoriko admitted, catching and matching the captain's narrow-eyed stare. "But, only just barely." Her lips lifted in a rueful grin. "When you can finally move, go hit the showers, soldier. Your hair looks pink."

She made her way to the shower room herself, ignoring the snarl coming from the young man she had been teasing. It had been a while since she had last felt the stasis gel coating her body, and she could admit she didn't miss it a bit.

xXx

A quick note to those that have asked: Yes of course, Sesshomaru and Kagome are gonna meet face to face! What kind of sess/kag fan would I be if they didn't?! This story isn't a tragedy! However, the plot and concept of the story was planned a while ago and I refuse to rush. Thank you very much for reading and please review!