InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Understandings ❯ An encounter to remember ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: KennaS

Chapter 3
An Encounter to Remember

Kagome awoke to a knock on her door. “How long have I been asleep?” she mumbled as she walked to the door. Looking at the watch hidden just out of sight under her sleeve, she found it had been four hours. `Wow,' she mouthed to herself. She had still been exhausted from the past few weeks and had needed it. She hadn't known sorrow could take so much out of a person.

She barely recognized the girl standing on the other side of the door as one of the princes `servants' from yesterday morning.. “His Highness wishes to walk in the gardens after dinner. He will call on you at eight”

“Thank you for letting me know, I will be ready.” stated Kagome, gently closing the door on the girl.

The pair of eyes that had been watching from the shadows faded back into the wall and disappeared. They made their way across the city into an abandoned building. Or at least it was supposed to be abandoned. The eyes floated back into they're owners head. `So he's planning on a walk in the gardens tonight. He should just wear a sign that says come and kill me. He never did have a sense of self preservation; he lives for the moment and nothing more. Which is fine by me, it just makes him all that much easier to kill.' the figure thought.

Standing, he called for two of his henchmen to come forward. The two of you will go to the palace of the Demon High Counsel tonight and kill Prince InuYasha. He will be in the gardens tonight at eight. Do it quickly....and painfully if you can. Be careful however, the Demoness Kagome will be with him.”

At the mention of her name the two lower demons looked at the floor, their job had just become significantly more difficult, not to mention dangerous.

        Kagome was just finishing up her meal when there was a knock at her door. Glancing at the clock she found she still has fifteen minuets before her scheduled walk. Opening the door she found the Prince standing there. Surprised she quickly bowed to him and moved to the side to let him enter.

        “I am sorry you're Highness! I was under the assumption that I still had fifteen minuets left.” she stated with much chagrin.

        He chuckled at her obvious embarrassment. “You are not late my dear, I decided to go early. I hope its mot an inconvenience for you.”

        “ ;No your Highness, it is not. Shall we go?” With that she led him to the door and stepped aside to wait for him to pass.

He led the way down to the gardens and stopped before they got even half way. He turned to her and asked “Why do you always walk five steps behind me?”

      Looking truly shocked at his question she replied “I am in the service of the Demon Prince InuYasha; I follow as per the rules of my station as security for you while you are here.”

“Well I don't like it. It makes me feel like someone is following me everywhere I go.” he teased her “Get up here and walk with me.”

Her eyes widened and she started to protest when he cut her off “Now.” he said firmly.

She nodded and they continued on their walk, side by side this time.

Turning to look at her “Tell me, Kagome isn't it, how you came to be here in the service of the counsel.”

Nodding in agreement to the question of her name she started “I came her 75 years ago to visit and was summoned by the High Counsel to a meeting. I had no idea what they wanted. When I arrived they said that I had an extreme amount of power and told me of the problem with people taking your fathers stones with out his permission. They asked me to help make sure that the demons doing this did not become a nuisance. If the did I was to eliminate them immediately.”

“And your relationship with Sesshomaru, how did that come to be?”

“Not that it's any of your business,” she started “Sesshomaru of the High Counsel, was my friend on Alden. We have known each other since childhood. When my mother was killed, he was there for me and a few months later when my father was killed by the same person, he was there for me again. He is my best friend and he always has been.

Just then they arrived in the gardens. He stood to the side and held the door open for her to exit and she gave him a nod as she passed.

“And how did you become so high in rank this quickly,” he asked her arching an eyebrow as they continued to walk.

Not sure if she liked where she thought this line of questioning was headed, she replied some what stiffly “They discovered that even without a stone from your father, that I had great powers and abilities.”

“So you are the best then? That would explain your some what attractive attire.” He glanced out of the corner of his eye in time to catch her bite her tongue. “Meaning, why yours is black and the rest are grey.” he continued quickly, chuckling at her obvious discomfort.

Blushing she looked down, suddenly self conscious “This is my required uniform. I don't know if it is attractive or not, but I do know it serves its purpose well.”

“And what exactly, is its purpose?” he questioned trying to get further under her skin. He was enjoying the anger she was carefully trying to hide. She was doing a remarkable job at keeping her cool.

        “Its purpose,” she said stressing the last word, “is for my protection.”

         ;“Continue.” he said patiently.

        “The leather is a high gloss so that if I get blood on it or it gets wet, it becomes slick and hard to hold on to. And the fit is so that the enemy cannot grab onto any loose article of clothing.”

        A s if for demonstration purposes, the two demons hiding in the fall colored leaves jumped out and grabbed for Kagome.

        Ju mping in front of her, Prince InuYasha started to unsheathed his sword when he was roughly pushed aside and behind by Kagome.

        “Wha t do you think your doing!” he yelled indignantly.

        ̶ 0;MY JOB!” she yelled back and turned back to the two demons towering over her.

         “Our business isn't with you Kagome. Stand aside.” stated the black haired one. “Our business is with the Prince here.”

       & nbsp;“He is in my care and if your quarrels' with him, then it's also with me.”

        “ We warned you, bitch! You just had to go and stick your nose where it wasn't welcome.” the blond growled and lunged at her.

        Kagome easily dodged his swipe and punched him in the throat. As the darker haired approached she turned and kicked him in the face. The blond recovering by then, grabbed her from behind while the first prepared to slash at her stomach with his claws.

        As the darker one approached, she used him as leverage and kicked off to flip over the head of the one holding her, neatly releasing herself from his grasp. She landed behind him and looked over at the Prince who was staring at her in awe. “Get back out of the way you fool!” she yelled at him. Not wanting to take his eyes form the show he retreated to just under a tree so he could continue to watch.

        Turning back to the task at hand she moved to dodge another swipe from a claw and blocked a hit from the mate to it. The black headed demon scored a hit to her face, knocking Kagome to her back and tried to jump on top of her. At the last moment she rolled to the side and kicked him in the face as he passed over her. The blond watched as she did this and when he thought her to be off balance, tried to kick her legs out from under her. Sensing this, Kagome jumped up at the last moment and kicked him in the head bringing him down with a sickening crunch. He would no longer be in her way.

        Turning then to the darker haired demon she blocked another lunge and tripped him as he passed by her. Kagome jumped at the same time he landed, sprawled out on his stomach. She came back down, her knee landing on his neck, snapping it in two.

        Kagome bent down to touch both of the bodies and leave her mark. As she stood she pulled out her phone and called the clean up team. “Two assassins in the garden.” she said and hung up.

        As she walked over to the Prince he asked. “Why did you just touch those two men?'

        “I touched them to leave a trail for the cleaners to follow. They come and clean up my messes for me. It also masks them from humans. Most of them don't appreciate the fact that the majority of demons are peaceful. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who think all demons are evil. There are a lot of ancient storied about evil entities that have gotten the name `demon'. It gives us a bad reputation.” Turning away from the bodies, she asked him “Are you ok?” she questioned, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.

        Growling he turned on her as if suddenly remembering something, “Of course I'm ok, now why the hell did you push me out of the way? I was trying to protect you!”

        She bristled “I need no one to protect me! It is my job to protect you!”

        “ ;The man is supposed to protect the woman. That's the way it works!” he yelled.

        “Yes , but not when the man is a PRINCE and the woman is his GUARD!” she yelled back at him. “Remember that for next time!”

        ̶ 0;Do you think there will be a next time?” he asked her quietly, more than a little startled.

        The cleaners had arrived and started cleaning the mess while staring at the two arguing demons. Glancing over at their audience, Kagome ignored his question “Let's go your Highness.”

        P rince InuYasha started to walk but stopped when she followed the usual five steps behind. “I told you to stay up here.” he demanded, pointing to the spot beside him.

        Growling, she stepped forward and they walked back to their rooms
        without another word.

The eyes that had been watching the show from the tree trunk above the Prince's head, took off as the two walked away.

`Those idiots! I can not believe they failed so quickly; I was hoping to wear her down. I need to reconsider my course of action.' the dark figure was now pacing. “I need to be on the inside...” flipping through a book that lay on the desk he quickly found the spell he was looking for and set to work.

Sesshomaru sent for Kagome the next afternoon. “Enter.” he said before she could even knock. She smiled inwardly; no, she would never get used to it. She opened the door and stepped in.

“You wished to see me, Sir?” she asked as she bowed.

“Yes, I did. How are you this afternoon Kagome?” he asked her with concern in his voice.

“I'm, Sir.” she simply stated.

“Good, the last thing we need is for you to be injured.”

She chuckled “Please don't worry about me, I can handle myself. It is Prince InuYasha that you need to worry about. The fool thought he was going to protect me!”

Sesshomaru laughed at that. Kagome was a woman yes, but she was the best fighter in the entire palace. InuYasha was foolish indeed to think she needed help.

“I saw the battle. My chambers faces out over the garden like yours, remember?” Smiling he offered her a seat. “Who do you think is behind this Kagome?

“I'm not sure. I think we may find another clue soon though.”

“Tomorrow is the ball in honor of Prince InuYasha's arrival. Do you recommend we postpone until this is over?” he asked her

“No, the Prince was shaken about last night. I do believe that is the first anyone has ever tried to kill him, as unbelievable as that may sound,” she chuckled. “I think he needs this ball to take his mind off of it for a while. He hasn't left his room all morning and I was concerned, so went to check on him. He said he was fine and working on some important documents. I'm not so sure he is though. I believe it should go on as scheduled.”

“I see. I will be removing you from duty that night, Kagome. You need to have your full attention focused on your surroundings.” Sesshomaru closed his eyes and his body dissipated, spreading his aura out over the castle and the grounds, then out over the city. This was the first time Kagome had ever seen Sesshomaru use his special stone from the King. She stood in awe as she watched. A tendril came down and wrapped around her wrist and she gasped.

“So this is how he knows where I am and how I'm feeling all the time.” She said in shock. She could feel Sesshomaru laughing at her. Now that she thought about it, she could always feel the tightening around her wrist before a battle but she never thought much of it, till now.

Coming back to his chambers and reforming his body he said “I don't sense a problem, and I usually have at least two days notice to alert the counsel. I can feel something in the distance, but I'm not sure what. We will need to be alert at any rate.”

“So, what's the plan now? Kagome asked

“So now you go get a dress.” He instructed as they stood and he guided her to the door. “You will accompany me to the ball. I can watch over the festivities and let you know if there is anything that's going to happen.” As an after thought he added “You look good in navy blue.”

“Thank you, Sir,” she blushed as she bowed. She turned and walked to the shops in the lower level of the palace. She hated shopping, but she needed a dress and Sesshomaru would never let her get away with not going.

Later that evening, Prince InuYasha sent for her. “I am sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. It was rude of me not to have thanked you for putting yourself in danger to protect me.” He said offering her a seat.

Looking shocked and more than slightly uncomfortable, she declined stating “It is my job, Sir; there is no other task at the palace that requires my focus more than this and as long as you're here, it will continue to be so.”

“As true as that may be, my behavior towards you last evening was inappropriate and I apologize.”

Now truly shocked and speechless she was unsure of what to say next. “Um Sir, is there any thing else you needed me for?” she asked more than a little uncomfortably.

The Prince chuckled as she squirmed under his gaze “No dear, I do believe I have confused you enough. This evening anyway.” he added as an afterthought. “I will need to go and pick up my robes for the festivities tomorrow. I shall do so after lunch, so that you may have your morning, Kagome.”

“Sir, as I stated before, I am here to serve you. Please do not plan your day around mine.”

“Yes, well I spoke with Sesshomaru this morning and he mentioned you will attend the ball tonight as a guest. I'm not sure I like the idea, that it requires two male guards to protect me in the absence of just yourself.” he murmered wondering yet again how powerful she really was. “I truly would love to see just how skilled you are. I have a feeling that last night, for you, was like shooing a fly from your face.”

Blushing she said “Your father bestowed strength upon me to which I don't even know its limits. I have been interested to find this out for myself. I had thought to ask Sesshomaru to accompany me to the dojo to find out, but I never wanted to bother him with something so trivial. Perhaps one day we will all know.”

“Yes, perhaps.” Turning to her he nodded and added “I would like to be there to see that. Now you go and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day and I want to see you bright and refreshed in the afternoon, Sesshomaru's orders also.” he added to stay off the comment he knew was on the tip of her tongue.

“Yes Sir,” she said bowing and returning to her room.

When she entered the little alcove that contained her door, she almost ran into the demon Miroku, who was waiting for her.

“Miroku, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing,” she mumbled. He was taller than she was by a good foot so she had to look up at him. His black hair was liberally sprinkled with brown highlights. His massive chest and arms said without a word that he was a formidable foe. His bronze skin however said he loved to play...and play he did. Miroku was the biggest playboy in the palace. He always had a swarm of women following him around everywhere he went. Looking into his blue and grey eyes she thought she would drown, and that's how he liked it, for women to fall all over themselves for him. Miroku was gorgeous and he knew it. He used it to his advantage, to get his way, but he knew it didn't work with Kagome. She wouldn't be swayed by any man, and he liked that about her.

Flashing his famous heart wrenching grin he said “Hey that's ok Kagome, you can run into me anytime you like.”

Rolling her eyes and opening her door for him, she moved to the side to let him pass. `Why can I not, just for once, have an average looking friend? Why do they always have to be so damn good looking?' she thought to herself.

Giving that infamous grin again as he stopped in front of her, he said “Because beautiful people attract beautiful people.” and continued through the door.

“Miroku!” she yelled after him. “Stay the hell out of my head! How many times do I have to tell you not to read your commanding officers thoughts?”

“I'm sorry Kagome, its just, you looked so beautiful at that moment I wanted to be a part of it.” He threw out that damned grin again adding “And apparently, I already was.”

Rolling her eyes she gave him the `You are such a womanizing playboy, why do I even bother to let you hang around `look she reserved only for him.

“Because I'm so cute and I make you laugh” he said with a smug look on his face.

“MIROKU!”

“Hey,” he shrugged, holding his hands out in front of him, “I didn't pry! I just know that look and what it means.” He walked over and flopped down accost her bed. “You give it to me often enough, every time I remind you that you're a woman.”

Turning to look in the mirror she mumbled “I hardly think I need you to remind me of that, Miroku”

“Obviously not.” He murmured, using the opportunity to look her over.

Glaring, she walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning against him “Hey, you'd make a good pillow.”

“Another reason you keep me around.”

Elbowing him in the stomach she asked “Why are you here anyway, not that I mind, I guess. I mean...you're here all the time. I'm just curious because it's so late.”

“I came to see how it's going with Prince InuYasha. Rumor is, he can give my umm, “talents,” a run for their money.”

She frowned. “Really, I hadn't heard that he was so annoying.” He gave her an indignant look and laughing she smoothed “I don't think you need to worry Miroku, he doesn't fraternize with us little people.”

“Oh it wasn't myself I was worried about Kagome. I hear he's interested in you. Well in turning you to a sniveling idiot anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“Purely hearsay mind you, but I hear he likes to make his guides cry. It took him a full three days to make the last one. She was a tough one to crack, so they say.” he chuckled.

“Where did you hear this from, Miroku?”

“I um, well you see, I uh, kinda, well I met one of his servants in the hall last night.” he stammered.

Kagome's eyes widened “Miroku, Please tell me you didn't...”

“Oh, gods no! I didn't touch her! She wanted to but I'm not suicidal. I know the rules and follow `em Kagome, you don't worry about that!”

“Why is it I never hear this stuff myself?” she asked more to herself than him.

“Yeah well,” he said tugging on a lock of her dark hair, “people tend to be a bit tight lipped around you.”

“Funny, it doesn't seem to work with you!”

“Yeah, well, you like it and you know it. Besides, who else will take the time to make sure you don't go to long without blushing.” He grinned, winking at her.

“Ill go and fix us some tea Miroku, and then you must go home.” she groaned getting up. “It's going on midnight.”

“Yeah, it is.” he arched an eyebrow at her. “All the more reason to sleep right here for tonight, it's such a long walk back to my chambers.”

“Its two doors down from mine silly!” she said smacking him in the face with a pillow and walking over to start the tea.

“Yeah, but I may get lost on the way back”

“Ill be sure to send out a search party...”