Time for Kagome to start her training! Woohoo! Hope you like this chappie! If anyone hasn't noticed: I changed my username to Sesshomaruloveralways!

Ch. 5

I took a deep breath as I heard Nyata state that my training had now begun. I wasn't going to lie, I was nervous as hell. It wasn't like I knew what I was getting myself into. The knowledge that I was going to have so much power…was frightening.

Nyata must have noticed my hesitance, as she was quick to reassure me. "Do not worry, Kagome. After tonight, things should run a lot more smoothly. I know you're nervous, and you have every right to be. But know this; as long as you are here, you are safe. There is nothing to fear."

I nodded and smiled wide at her confidence in me. "I'm ready to learn sensei," I said, bowing.

Nyata smiled, "Good. Let us begin. Come." She turned and walked to a wide Sakura tree that stood tall and very obvious in the field. Its blossoms blew sweetly in the breeze. When we reached the tree, Nyata ordered me to sit. "Alright Kagome, first I'm going to explain exactly what we're going to be doing on this first training session. Since you will be getting about twelve hours of sleep each night, we could train for exactly thirty days in here before you wake up. Now, for the first ten days, I want to work on honing in on your senses. For example, you sense of smell. That will definitely come in handy later. Next will be sight, touch, hearing and what not. You will have mastered it by then trust me.

Then the next ten days, we will work on teaching you all you need to know about other beings. Inuyasha would be and example. You will learn all about the dog demon culture and traditions, ways of mating, and all that, only by the end of the twentieth day, you will know about all the creatures you need to know of at that time.

The last ten days will be learning how to heal injuries, illnesses, diseases, amputations, and any other kind. That will conclude your first night of training. So basically, it's like having a month's worth of training in only one night. But, considering some nights you will sleep shorter than others, the time will vary."

I laughed stiffly, "That's a lot to learn."

"Yes it is, but don't worry Kagome."

I was just in shock over how much I had to learn in only my first night here. But, she did say I would have thirty days to learn it all, so maybe it won't be so bad. I looked to Nyata and with a determined look, spoke, "Well then, I better get started."

"Alrighty!" Nyata clapped, "Now to sharpen your sense of smell I've set up a small…game if you will."

She snapped her fingers and many cups appeared in front of me. "In each of these cups is a different object that gives off a specific scent. If you can identify each one correctly without looking at what's underneath, then you pass the first step. Now, this first stage is going to be a bit simple, but it'll get harder as we continue."

I nodded, "Got to start somewhere."

"Right."

There were about twenty different cups to identify. "May I ask a question Nyata-sensei?"

"Yes."

"Are the objects something I'll be able to identify in the first place?"

Nyata smiled, "Yes. All of the objects are human foods this time. As time progressed I will introduce different scents to you, such as blood of different beings, plants, smoke…things of that nature. But, for now, we stay with the basics. Now begin."

I grinned and moved to the first cup. I bent my nose down to the cup and sniffed. At first, I couldn't smell anything, but then a delicate, sweet scent hit my nose. It was familiar. "This one is a strawberry!"

"Alright, lift the cup Kagome," Nyata instructed.

I lifted the cup slowly, "Yes I got it!"

"Excellent Kagome! Now here's something else you need to know. Some scents are stronger than others. It will be harder to detect what they smell like. That's where honing in you sense of smell comes in. If you focus a small amount of your power into your nose, you will be able smell at a more precise degree. However, applying the right amount of power to your nose is going to be the complicated part. If you don't apply the right amount, and then slowly increase it, then you won't get anywhere. Now, you may continue."

"Thanks," I said, taking in everything she had told me. Maybe this wasn't going to be as simple as I thought. I moved to the second cup and lowered my nose to the cup. This one had a much stronger scent than the last. It was spicy, kind of repulsive, but not entirely.

"Pepperoni!" I lifted the cup and… "Yes!"

I sniffed the third one. "Um…hmmm…" This one was difficult. It was familiar, but I couldn't quite place the name. I closed my eyes and thought on the name of the food.

"Mmmm…this is a…peanut!" I finally had it. Salty, yet sweet and nutty.

This continued for quite some time. As I continued down the line, the foods got harder and harder to identify. Some of them weren't even native to Japan. It was harder than I thought. But as the twentieth cup came around, I gained a boost of confidence.

I took a sniff at the cup and… "Bubble gum!"

I lifted it and found that I was exactly right. I looked over to Nyata and shouted, "I'm finished Nyata-sensei. How did I do?"

"Wonderful for the first stage Kagome. Not even a single one wrong. Now it's going to get a bit harder. It's the same principle: Identify the object, but this time some of the objects aren't food, so you're going to have to tap into your senses to identify them."

I nodded and twenty more cups appeared. It continued on like this for the next few hours; me identifying different objects with my nose. Most of them I knew. I had missed only a total of three so far. Just as I had finished the fifth round of this, Nyata made and announcement.

"That's enough of this Kagome. Now you haven't had to tap into your powers yet, this is kind of a shock to me as some of those objects have very little scent to the human nose. I suspect it's because of being in the Feudal Era for so long. In that time you have to have better senses. So, to make this move along a bit faster, I'm going to completely block your sense of smell with a spell. To break the spell, you have to unleash your powers and thrust the exact amount of power into you nose. If you don't do it right, nothing will happen. The longer it takes you to break the spell, the stronger the spell will get."

"I understand," I said. I was a bit scared now. It was going to be very strange not having a sense of smell.

"Good. Now prepare yourself!" Nyata quickly muttered a few words and immediately, I felt my nose becoming useless. It felt so strange. It was as if I had no nose at all. I rubbed my nose in bewilderment.

I took a deep breath through my nose and all I got was air, no scents of any kind. Going cross-eyes, I shook my nose and attempted to smell anything.

"That won't work Kagome," Nyata laughed, "It just makes you look silly."

I huffed and sat down beneath the tree. Nyata joined me. "Alright Kagome, focus on drawing out the power that lay dormant inside you. You only need a little bit to do this. Concentrate."

I let out a small sound of determination and closed my eyes. I searched deep within myself and when I found nothing, I asked, "What exactly am I looking for?"

"Find the center of yourself. There should be a ball of light. That is your power."

I nodded and closed my eyes again. Once again, I searched inside myself for what Nyata had told me to look for. At first, I didn't find anything, but as I relaxed and continued my search, I finally found it. It was about the size of a tennis ball. It floated innocently inside me. The ball of light was glowing and shifting colors every few seconds.

Alright, I thought, Nyata-sensei said I needed to draw only a small bit and direct it to my nose to break the spell. I wasn't entirely sure HOW to draw out the power, so I settled for picturing a small blob of the ball peeling away from the main one and making its way to my nose.

At first nothing happened, but then the ball started to react to my command. Slowly, a small blob of the ball broke apart from larger one. Sadly, as soon as I tried to move it, it dissolved.

I came out of myself gasping. This was seriously hard! "Unn…"

"You alright Kagome?" Nyata asked.

I gasped, "Well…I found the ball of power inside me. Ugh…I just have to figure out how to make it move!"

Nyata smirked, "That's the hard part. You better pick up the pace too Kagome. It's already been an hour."

My eyes widened. It had taken me an hour to find the power! I frowned. It was time to get serious. I closed my eyes and focused again. This time I found the ball easily. However, as soon as I tried to remove a bit from the ball and move it, it dissipated again. I growled in frustration. This was harder than I thought.

TWO HOURS LATER

"Gya! This is impossible!" I had been at this for the passed two hours. This was ridiculous! How hard was it to move a blob to your nose? Ok that didn't sound right but still!

"Relax Kagome," Nyata ordered, "Frustration will not make it any better."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered.

Nyata sighed, "Just relax Kagome. It's YOUR power. You command it. You just have to figure out how to bring it to your control. Once you do that, you can break the spell."

I growled under my breath and closed my eyes to try again. I couldn't believe how utterly hard this was. I quickly found the power inside me and for a moment I just sat there watching it. It seemed to have a seal around it, preventing me from doing anything with it. I reached out and grasped the light in my hand, in my mind of course. It pulsed when it was in my hand. I watched, amazed, as the light pulsed several time before exploding inside me, filling my body with warmth I'd never felt before. It wasn't uncomfortable or painful.

On the outside, it appeared that I was in a deep meditation. As the light exploded within me, my body became illuminated in light. Nyata watched from beside me as this happened. She smiled, knowing exactly what was happening. My power was awakening. I had broken the seal around my power.

Back on the inside, I watched as the light flowed through my body. I felt power like I'd never know surge through my body. It was amazing! The shear intensity of it was more than anything I'd ever experienced before in my life.

As its intensity began to fade, I felt as if I could take on the world in that moment. I felt…unstoppable. I couldn't help it. Knowing I had this power coursing through my veins helped in giving me the confidence I needed to break the spell upon me.

With a deep breath, I channeled a stream of the power to my nose. This time, with the power flowing freely throughout my body, it bended to my will. As it reached my nose, I felt the barrier blocking my sense of smell. I started off by thrusting only a small amount into the barrier. When nothing happened, I continued to add more force behind the power. Soon enough, I felt the barrier begin to waver. I smirked. With one last push, the barrier shattered and a rush of scents came rushing in.

On the outside, I brought my hands to my nose in attempt to block out all the spells. Nyata grinned and clapped slowly. "I see you have finally broken through my spell Kagome. Nice work."

I didn't respond. I was trying to even out my smell. That's when it hit me! If my sense of smell increases with the amount of power directed there, then I just needed to limit the amount that I placed in my nose.

With a quick twist, I redirected some of the flow to another part of my body. Immediately, my sense of smell dulled to a bearable level. And with that, I opened my eyes.

A wide, happy smile spread across my face. "I did it!" I yelled into the field.

Nyata laughed, "Yes you did. A job well done Kagome."

Unable to resist, I leapt over and hugged the woman, "Thank you sensei!"

"No problem Kagome. I only do my job."

I pulled away, "Yeah but you're good at it!"

She rolled her eyes and pointed back to my spot. I sat back down obediently. "What's next?"

She put a finger to her lip in thought, "Well I guess we should start introducing you to different smells. Come with me."

We both stood up and began to walk through the forest.

The travel back to my palace was a short one. Considering my search for a potential mate was on hold for a while, I needed to make some preparations. On the way home, I had made in essential to evaluate just what to do with the miko. There had to be some explanation for why the necklace had shone while she was near.

I had to admit, the woman was a beauty. She was unlike any human I had every met before in my life. She was passionate about everything she set her mind to, something not easily found within a human. Humans here were normally greedy and only interested in getting something out of doing a deed.

The miko, Kagome, was a mystery to this Sesshomaru. The journey to the palace had given me time to think on just what this Sesshomaru thought of the miko. She had to be the only human I had respect for other that Rin. It was only about fifteen minutes outside my palace did the realization finally hit me. This Sesshomaru is interested in my brother's miko! But why? What does she have that no other demoness has? There is no denying it any longer. Even my inner demon screams for her attentions. I must do what I can to gain her trust…and eventually…her love. Only then will I attempt to court her. This will be a difficult feat for this Sesshomaru knows it will be a challenge to gain her trust. I have attempted to take her life in the past. Admitting this to myself had helped in easing my troubled mind for a time. It is hard to believe, but dog demons are naturally affectionate and protective. Should Kagome be truly worthy of myself, then she will have me for all eternity.

Another problem with having interest in the human woman was the opinions of the other lords. Surely, they would not approve of mating a human. She would have to prove herself in the Demon's Test. The Demon's Test was a test that any female had to take should any lord believe she was unworthy of mating one of such high stature. If she passed the test, she could mate the lord. If she failed, she was banished from the lands for forever. To pass the test, the female had to battle each Lord that deemed her unworthy.

This Sesshomaru was unsure if she could manage. But, there was time before I needed to worry over such matters. First, I had to prepare the palace for her arrival and come up with a plan to convince her to come to my home. That is where I would find out if this Sesshomaru could have any sort of…feelings for the miko. Should she be unworthy…her death would be absolute. This Sesshomaru was willing to let down his emotionless façade for the one that was to be his mate. It would take very much to do so though.

Now here I sat back at my desk inside my study. The sounds of the early night reaching my ears. That is, until Rin came bursting through the door. I was about to reprimand her for such an action when the smell of salt stopped me short.

The young girl, now 9 years old, rushed to me, tears streaming, and clung to my leg desperately. "Rin what is the matter?" I asked, voice slightly warmer for the girl I considered my own daughter.

She sniffled and sobbed, "J…Jaken…yelled…at…m…me!"

My eyes narrowed. It was a wonder even to me how I ever put up with that imp. I lifted her up onto my lap gently and gently stroked her back in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. Her sobs slowly subsided, and I internally sighed with relief. If it was one thing I couldn't deal with, it was a crying female.

She hiccupped once and turned her chocolate eyes to me, "Thank you Lord Sesshomaru."

"Are you alright now Rin?"

She gave a happy smile, "Yes milord."

I gave her a small smile and stated, "Jaken will be punished for his actions Rin. You may go play now."

She laughed, "Yes milord!" And she hoped up and dashed out of the room as fast as she had come. No matter how many times I told her not to run in the palace, she never seemed to listen.

I tried to get back to my work, but my mind kept drifting back to that intriguing miko. It was a shame that she would be gone for five months, as my brother so graciously informed me. To put it simply, it was frustrating. I am normally a patient Taiyoukai, but there are some times where patience is not a virtue.

Standing up from my desk, I walked to the window. I looked out over the gardens as the world settled into sleep. My guess was it was about nine o'clock at night. I could see my guards stationed at their posts, and I lazily watched the night life continue to grow. My gaze shifted to the sky where the stars twinkled in the sky. Again, my mind drifted to the miko.

"Kagome," I whispered. The name sounded good on my lips. With that thought, I found myself thinking far from civil thoughts, like how tasty she would be when I kissed her. I growled at myself when I realized what I was thinking. Kissing a human! This Sesshomaru hadn't even bothered to kiss the women he had been with in the past. Sure he had indulged in the occasional pleasure of a woman's soft flesh, but that was for political matters only. It was necessary to partake in the acts of intercourse to keep my demon satiated. If left alone for a long time, my demon would take control and go on a lusting hunt.

The women whom I was with in the past were mere pleasure toys. My relationship with them did not exceed the bedroom. Never were they allowed to lay hands on me. It didn't matter if they found their release as long as mine was accomplished. Once I was finished, they were cast out and I continued on with my life.

The miko, however, seemed different from other women. She had that aura about her that screamed to be treated as an equal, something women in this time rarely gained. To be treated as an equal to a male in any relationship was almost unheard of. Kagome was an enigma, a strange woman who valued a true love relationship from what I had overheard her companions, the monk and demon slayer saying.

It was well known to myself that the girl had feelings for my half-brother, Inuyasha. That would change for certain. His trysts with the undead miko always left the miko in tears. It was pitiful how the half-breed couldn't see that the living one was truly the best choice. From the occurrences, it was obvious that the girl's heart had been broken many times. If I was to earn her heart, I would first have to mend it.

I was brought out of my musing when Rin's voice reached my ears. She should be in bed by now, I thought. With a turn of my heel, I exited my study and made my way to her room. When I entered, I found Rin sitting on the floor drawing on a piece of parchment.

"Rin," I said, a slight scolding tone to my voice.

She looked up immediately, "Lord Sesshomaru!"

I gave her a stare, "You should be in bed."

A pout formed on her lips, "But Lord Sesshomaru! Can't I stay up just a little longer?"

"It's already passed your bedtime Rin."

"But…"

"No buts Rin," I said, stepping to her and lifting her up in my arm.

The pout didn't leave her face. I sighed, "Pouting won't help Rin. Now that's enough. Go to sleep," my tone left no room for arguments.

The pout left and she smiled, "Yes milord." To my shock she leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Good night milord!"

I patted her head and pulled the sheets up over her, "Good night Rin"

I quietly left the room and returned to my study. Paper work was piled up on my desk, so I sat down and began to work. As the night continued, I found it hard to continue my work. That damn miko wouldn't leave my thoughts.

Woohoo! Another chapter finished! Looks like Sesshomaru has some feelings for Kagome already. He did a lot of thinking in this chapter. And I just love how he adores Rin! She so kawaii!! And i know that Kagome's training is a little simplistic at the moment but hey, you got to start somewhere. Anyhoo, the next chapter will be up soon!