It was right of Hatori to seek Kagome out. That was what Kagome thought, even if Sesshomaru did not agree.

"He doesn't have a home, Sesshomaru." She put a hand on the boy's head. "His mother told him to see me because she thought I could help. Can't we at least let him stay here until his grandfather arrives?" Kagome frowned at the inu.

Sesshomaru continued with his paperwork. Kagome bursting into his office, holding the neko hanyou, was irritating enough. But for her to ask if the hanyou could live here was too much. "I do not enjoy housing a hanyou," he said, not looking up. "He can find another home to use."

"But Hatori already sent a traveling friend of his with a message that he's staying here." Kagome fondled the little neko ears, the feel reminding her of Inuyasha. "You have a thousand rooms in this place. It wouldn't be any trouble to let him stay in one."

"A hanyou here would tarnish my image," he said simply. "I cannot take that risk."

She wanted to stamp her foot like a child, but Kagome settled for quiet fuming. She'd forgotten about the awkward talk they had had earlier, when she came into Sesshomaru's office cuddling an upset Hatori. But the poor child had no home, his village and family destroyed by dragon youkai. It wouldn't kill him to give Hatori shelter for some time. "If you really wanted to keep your reputation," she said, "you would tell me to leave, since having a former human as a mate would taint the family honor."

The sarcasm did not sit well with Sesshomaru, and he glared. "Woman, you try my patience." He glanced at the hanyou, curled in Kagome's arms. "Fine," he spat, "Do what you like."

She smirked, and set Hatori down. "Koneko said you can take to room next to mine," she told him. "I'll keep you safe until your grandfather arrives, all right?"

Hatori beamed, and hugged her around the waist. "Thank you, Lady Kagome!"

"Why don't you find Shippo and Rin, and play with them?" she suggested. "They're a lot of fun, I promise." He nodded, and scampered out of the room. Kagome faced Sesshomaru again.

He was back to paperwork, wishing he could tell Kagome off. Minutes after she left, he began pondering why he could not command her to leave, and came to the conclusion that it was the Hana, once again.

After all, it bound them with the power of the gods, turned Kagome into a youkai, and started the complicated process of the Mating Dance of its own volition. It was not a stretch to assume it would stop one of them from forcing the other out of the mating. With this in mind, he growled internally.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome crept closer to his desk. "Look, I'm sorry about all that, but Hatori really does need a place to stay. And . . ." She hesitated. "I have a favor to ask."

As if he would grant it. But Sesshomaru decided to humor her. "What is it?" he asked curtly, sorting papers. The number of complaints about the shortage of animals to hunt was frustratingly high.

Listening to the advice of her inner youkai, Kagome took a deep breath, and said, "I was hoping to learn about my youkai powers."

Sesshomaru said nothing.

She continued, "I wanted to know if you would be willing to help me with that. You're the only one I know who would be able to teach me."

At this, he paused. Sesshomaru looked up. "You want me to teach you about youkai powers."

Kagome nodded, unsure if he would reject the request. "Please? I want to master my youkai abilities and become strong as both a miko and an inu."

There was a long silence. Kagome dare not say anything, lest he say no and she lose any chance she might have had at possibly connecting with him. If they were going to be mates, they had to find a way to get along, even if that was only through battle training.

Sesshomaru set his brush and ink down, considering the question. It was the only thing the miko had asked of him that made sense. Control was power, and power meant you could get what you wanted. It was the principal he had been taught since birth. He could understand Kagome wanting to learn about her new powers.

Kagome doesn't have the same motivations as you! His inner youkai snarled. She's obviously using the only thing she knows about you as a way to spend time together. Face it, the only thing anyone could possible know about you is how much you like fighting.

She does not care about me enough to try and 'spend time' with me, Sesshomaru snapped back, while looking away from Kagome to feign deep thought.

And all that about wanting to give the Mating Dance a shot? Apologizing and talking about not giving up such a unique chance? She's trying harder than you are. Accept the damn offer and stop being prideful for once.

As much as he didn't care for his inner youkai, Sesshomaru gave thought to the words. Perhaps he could humiliate Kagome and make her leave without having to tell her to, seeing as that was now impossible. The training could be a good opportunity to refresh his own skill, as well.

"Fine," he answered.

Kagome's eyes widened. "R-really?" she asked. "You mean it?"

His annoyance spiked, but he ignored it and said, "Yes. We can begin at dawn tomorrow morning. Now leave, I have work to do."

She couldn't believe he'd said yes. She thought he would comment on how he could never train with such a weakling, and dismiss her. I guess he can still surprise me, she thought.

()

"Lady Kagome? . . . Lady Kagome!"

She jumped, and groaned with bleary eyes. After rubbing them, Kagome saw Koneko standing next to her bed, a tray lined with food in her hands. "Too early," Kagome mumbled, pulling to covers over her head. She was used to getting up early, whenever Inuyasha caught Naraku's scent and there wasn't time to sleep in, but the bed in her room was particularly comfortable, and she didn't want to leave it.

Koneko laughed, setting the tray on the table next to the bed. "Lady Kagome, you instructed me to get you up before dawn so you would have ample time to prepare for meeting Lord Sesshomaru in the dojo." She cut an orange in half with a knife, and, pulling the sheets away, offered a glass of water to Kagome. "The more you sleep, the less you'll want to get up."

Kagome yawned, and sat up, looking to the tray. "Thank you very much," she said, yawning again. "I love oranges." She moved to take the fruit, but hesitated. "Koneko?" She peered at the servant, who had begun picking up stray clothes and tidying. "Is this all right?"

"What, my lady?" Koneko tossed some clothes near the door to pick up on her way out.

"Me, training with Sesshomaru. Does it bother you?"

Koneko smiled. "Lady Kagome," she said, brushing a fly off the desk, "I am privileged for you to speak with me in more than orders. Do not worry about my infatuation getting in the way of your mating."

"Hmm." Kagome broke off a piece of bread from the roll on the tray. "If you say so."

She ate breakfast slowly, wondering what the day would be like, while Koneko, despite Kagome's insistence, continued cleaning her room. Munching on the orange, Kagome thought, I wish I could know what he's planning to do.

At least you get to spend some time together.

Kagome had grown used to the inner youkai by this point, but it still disturbed her slightly. It felt like she had multiple personality disorder.

I suppose, she thought. It might be nice to interact for longer than a few minutes.

After finishing breakfast and sending Koneko out, Kagome opened her closet to look for an appropriate training outfit. Koneko had informed her that there should be several suitable outfits in her closet, but when Kagome opened it, it was so full of clothes that she almost fainted.

"Geez Louise," she muttered, pushing some of the kimonos aside. "There's way too much stuff in here." The kimonos were of all shades and colors, mostly the deeper colors that were more expensive because of the intense dying required. She sifted through them for some time, before finally finding something she could wear.

It was a shirt with short sleeves, much better for training that a long sleeved, heavy shirt, dyed black with red dragon patterns sewn into it. Beside it was a matching pair of black pants, worn with loose ankles to provide extra movement, rather than the ballooned pants Sesshomaru wore. Happy with her find, Kagome quickly donned it and left to find the dojo.

She had been told it was on the land behind the castle, far beyond the courtyard because of the noise, and it was easy enough to find. The building was only one floor, with a high ceiling and a tall door. Upon entering, she was struck with the number of weapons on the walls. Swords, daggers, and knives of every kind were on prominent display for anyone who came in.

Sesshomaru was on the far side, across from the door, wearing a thin haori with no coloring and pants that held a bright green emblem on the hip. Looking at it for a moment, Kagome saw the emblem was actually a green inu youkai contained in a lighter green smoke. Odd, she thought. Green isn't his color.

He looked up, expressionless as usual, and unsurprised by her outfit. It was a traditional training outfit for female inu youkai, but the dragons sewn onto it were something he did not recall seeing on a training outfit before. Her hair was done in a high ponytail for convenience, a style he had not seen her wear before. It helped her cheekbones stand out, and made the color in her cheeks more prominent.

Sesshomaru straightened his sleeves, facing her. "You have arrived early."

"Yes," Kagome replied, stopping a few feet before him and gazing at the weaponry on the wall. "I asked Koneko to get me up early for this. I was pleasantly surprised when I found I could see in the dark." She smiled, but Sesshomaru did not react.

Instead, Sesshomaru brought his hand up, and summoned his poison claws. They sizzled with green energy, dripping and burning the floor beneath. "This," he said, "is my unique power, inherited from my father. Each inu youkai family has a power that is passed from father to son, and mother to daughter, by blood." He put his hand down, the poison evaporating. "Because you do not have any true inu heritage, we will put off discovering what your talent is until further in the training.

"For now," he continued, "we will practice with one of the simpler moves, the whip of light."

Kagome listened patiently, frowning at the 'true' inu heritage comment, and nodding at the end. "All right," she said, "How do I do that?"

Widening his stance and bringing up his hand again, Sesshomaru said, "It can be done with either hand. I use my right hand, as I did even before my arm was severed." He stepped to the side of Kagome, extending his pointer finger and thumb toward the far wall. "It does not take focus to perform a harmless whip, but to produce one that will damage is difficult and takes time. We will start with the simple version."

A bit stunned that he hadn't thrown any insults at her yet, Kagome watched as he flicked his hand the slightest amount, producing a long whip, and swirled it in a circle in front of him. It was like a gymnast twirling ribbon, but Sesshomaru made it look puissant rather than elegant.

"It only takes a miniscule amount of energy and the ability to picture the whip in your mind." Sesshomaru flicked his hand again, the whip vanishing into nothing. "I expect you to be able to do it easily," he said, facing her.

She nodded, doing as he had and facing the wall head on. Closing her eyes, she focused her energy. The world became lost to Kagome.

Kagome couldn't hear any sounds. As if something was guiding her, she began to twist her body, and her hand gleamed blue with a whip. Part of her knew she should have stayed still, as Sesshomaru had, but the other part of her was pounding with an unknown rhythm that she would not disobey. She spun and leaped, in a way that most people would have to practice years to accomplish.

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome danced to music that only she could hear. She picked up speed, twirling the whip above her head and spinning on one leg. Sesshomaru was surprised at how well she was doing for her first time, and all with her eyes closed. He would have expected her to crash into something by now.

He soon found himself entranced by her.

Kagome could envision each step just before she took it, as if a strange force was instructing her. It felt like she was on air. She felt the force that had been guiding her, telling her something new. Kagome obeyed the force, and stopped spinning, still twirling the whip. She focused and brought the whip down with more force than she knew she had.

And blew up half the dojo.

()

Chapter seventeen! Hi, everyone. This chapter had to be a little shorter, and it almost didn't get finished at all. I've been so busy lately . Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Kagome is on her way to discovering her inu powers, and we'll see how well Sesshomaru handles that *wink*

I don't have much time, but thanks for reading, and stay tuned for another chapter next week. And as always, please review! :)

Thanks again, and ja ne!