InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Understandings ❯ And in this corner.... ( Chapter 9 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: KennaS 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.15.2004 | Updated On: 09.04.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 527 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.15.2004 | Updated On: 09.04.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 527 | Status: Completed
Chapter 9
And in this corner....
Dimitri paced in his room, his features clouded in an anger that Geoff hadn't seen since the incident so many years ago with Stark. His anger was directed at the Reanimation Council this time though, of which he had no control over.
It was this council's job to review each execution and determine if the offender could be rehabilitated. Hisoka had been on the “no” list until Kagome had mentioned that she had seen something like regret in his eyes. The council had done a Last Active Memory Probe, fondly referred to as L.A.M.P., on him to “shed a light” on Kagome's claim and see what he had been thinking in the last few minuets of life. During that probe, they had come to the conclusion that yes, Hisoka could in fact be reanimated.
What they hadn't anticipated is that Kagura would request that he be made an executioner. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that the council hadn't given Kagome enough time to adjust to Hisoka being around again. He had, after all killed two of her best executioners...not to mention they had been her best friends. Unfortunately, since they had no souls when they died, they couldn't be reanimated. That was what made his crime so horrible. It had taken Kagome several days to get over that fact alone.
Yes, Dimitri was pissed and Geoff wished he was any place other than in this room. “How did she take the news?” the king spun on Geoff, causing the poor demon to nearly jump out of his skin.
“Ah...well, were not really sure at this time. She passed out, but that could still be from the incident the other day. She's still got a good three days till she should be over it.”
“Why do you say “should”?”
”Kagome heals faster than any of the other demons for some reason. They haven't been able to ascertain why, precisely, but they think it has something to do with her soul, or rather, the strength of it. She should have been in bed till at least today, recovering from the drain that the golem blood put on hers, but she was out of bed mere hours after. She is, by my calculations, a week and a half ahead of her recovery schedule. At this rate, she will be fully recovered by this evening.”
The king looked a bit surprised at this. “She is healing quickly isn't she? Perhaps it's time to see just how strong she really is...” he trailed off deep in thought.
“Dimitri, I don't like that look; what are you planning?”
“I'm planning on seeing just how strong my little Kagome is.”
“Obviously, but how are you planning on doing so?”
“The only way I know how. Hisoka, Brett, InuYasha, Sesshomaru, you and I are going to battle her.” He stood and began pacing the room, looking every bit of a caged animal, the excitement building in his voice. “This is going to be intense, I can tell already.”
“I can understand Brett, he would be a warm up for her, but why Hisoka? She's already...beaten him once.” Wincing at the fact that he had died the first time around.
“She will have to fight him to place his ranking on the squad eventually. In doing it like this, he'll give her an extra work out and she can kill two birds with one stone.”
“How intelligent of you Your Majesty; I would have never thought of that.” Geoff smiled and rolled his eyes knowing a little teasing would calm the man.
Dimitri stopped in front of the still seated Geoff, bending over to face him “This is why I am the King and you...are not.”
“And here I thought it was your good looks that got you in...”
“That too.” He continued after a moment, “So, she doesn't know anything past the fact that Hisoka has already been animated then?”
“Actually, when she woke up, they gave her his L.A.M.P. file and privacy to read it. She hasn't spoken to anyone since”
Nodding, the king stood and stepped over to the window, looking over in time to see a stealth demoness slip from the second story window of Sesshomaru's room and drop silently to the ground. “Now, what do we have here?” he questioned no one in particular as he forced his image to blend in with the window. “It appears our little Kagome has already recovered.”
“Fascinating...” Geoff murmured, coming to stand at the window next to the king.
Kagome slipped to the ground in a crouch and looked around. `So far, so good.' Failing to notice two sets of eyes watching her from a window located behind her.
Standing, she stretched luxuriously and let loose a huge sigh. It had been so long since the last time she had been able to venture out on her own. The snow had started to melt leaving the walk way wet and water dripping from the trees. The already grey sky was heavy with darker clouds, threatening rain soon. She inhaled the crisp clean air, relishing every lung full.
Sesshomaru had been great, taking her in when she could have just as easily used a guest room, but she just couldn't stand another moment inside. She hadn't been on her morning jog in almost five days. It was making her quite irritable.
She took a small discman out of her jacket pocket, putting the head phones on. After a moment of brief contemplation, slipped them around her neck, preferring, for the moment, to listen to nature instead of music. The birds darting here and there to gather the last bit of seed before winter set in. Checking to make sure her shoes were tied and her sweat pants were secure, she took off at a light jog.
Since that time Miroku had come behind her and “helped” her out of her clothing in preparation for her after jog shower, she was paranoid about loosing them again. Sure, she had been wearing her jogging shorts under, but it was still enough to teach her a lesson.
She chuckled at this memory. It was funny back then and it was still funny now. She had sought revenge by pushing Miroku in the fountain they had been jogging past, failing to notice that he had latched on to her tank top and pulled her in with him. He always knew how to make her laugh...or blush depending on his whims.
She wished he would settle down and pick a woman though. He had gone though several women and still hadn't found any one that didn't bore him to tears after a half an hour. Well, he had found one, two actually, but one was his best friend and the other...
“Whatcha thinking' `bout?” the object of her thoughts materialized out of no where.
“I was just thinking about if you are ever going to get off your ass and ask Lady Sango out” she replied, sighing in defeat. If she was going to be cornered, he was too. “Couldn't you have given me just hour alone, Brett?” She asked, extending her leg, tripping his stride up.
“Hey! That's no fair!” he cried steadying himself. “Lady Sango is...beyond my grasp. Youre not however...” he said slyly, reaching out to shove her off the path.
She jumped over a mud puddle, which was more like a lake with the amount of water in it, attempting to escape and at the last second, changed her mind. Jumping squarely in the center of it, she soaked Miroku from head to toe. Yeah, she was drenched too, but man, was the look on his face worth it.
“Now that...” he replied coolly as he stopped and turned to face her “was uncalled for.” Smiling, he strode forward, breaking into a run when she recognized the gleam in his eyes.
“Oh...n-now, Miroku” she stuttered “Lets not do anything that you'll regret. Besides, the waters not that cold.” she finished, ducking his tackle and spinning to kick him down into the puddle. Doubling over in laughter, she failed to notice him get up till it was too late.
Sweeping her feet out from beneath her, she fell with a wet slosh on her back in the center of the puddle. Blinking up in shock at the laughing demon, she could only laugh at her situation. She had, after all, started it. Flipping into a handstand, she used the momentum to place a kick in Miroku's chest, sending him sliding through the mud. Before she could right herself, however, he was back with a spinning kick to her head.
She countered, sweeping him off his feet again and jumping to avoid his hand as it struck out to pull her ankle with it. “How did you know I was here anyway? I was careful not to make any noise when I left.” the sky chose that moment to break open and unleash a light rain.
Miroku caught her leg as she came down the second time and attempted to pull her down. She caught her hands on the ground in time to perform a neat handspring out of his grasp. He loved to spar with her; she always gave him a run for his money, teaching him new ways to defeat an enemy. Every time, she had a new little trick to teach him and that handspring was a new one. “It seems your escape did not go unnoticed.” He said, gasping from his back in the puddle and pointing to the king's window. “Geoff informed me about thirty seconds after your feet hit the ground.” He finished that arrogant smirk of his plastered on his face.
Kagome turned slowly to see an extremely amused Dimitri and Geoff laughing through the open window. Cringing, she hung her head, ashamed in her behavior. No matter how caged she felt, it was irresponsible to have snuck off like that. Rain plastered her already wet hair to her head as water dripped from her jacket. She shivered slightly, unsure if it was from the slight chill of the water, which she barely felt, or the gaze of the king and Geoff.
Kagome heard laugher in front of her and looked up, startled to see the prince standing in front of her, dressed in sweats similar to hers and Miroku's, water and all. Wait...water?
“You look like a kicked puppy, poor thing; all dejected by your master and thrown out in the rain!” He broke out in a fresh fit of laughter causing a blush to spread over her ivory features. Miroku's laughter resounded from behind her, causing an even deeper blush.
Narrowing her eyes, she questioned the prince. “You're too wet to have just come outside. How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to see your daring escape though the window.”
The look of indignation on her face sent Miroku to his knees in the puddle again in a fresh round of laughter. She leaned back and placed a kick in the center of his chest, sending him sliding through the mud to hit the wall with a slosh.
By this time, the king and Geoff had tears rolling down their faces, trying to catch their elusive breaths from all the laughing. Glaring at the four men laughing at her, Kagome yelled “I hope youre all getting a good laugh about this...really I do!” She stomped out of the puddle, attempting to side step InuYasha.
“Kagome, please don't be angry. We didn't mean to embarrass you.” He soothed, reaching out to grab her by the arm.
She spun on him, ducking to a crouch, sweeping his feet from under him. Landing flat on his back with water squishing out of the grass beneath him, he lay there for a few moments, blinking up at the grey sky as the rain continued to fall.
Miroku, Geoff and the king all gasping desperately with purple faces for much needed oxygen. “I guess she showed you!” Miroku rasped out, holding the stitch that had developed in his side.
Kagome's eyes shot up to him; glinting with a promise of death should he be foolish enough to continue with his taunting. Knowing the limits to her anger, Miroku picked himself up off of the ground, giving a wide birth to the fuming demoness as he made a break for the door, still laughing just as hard as he had been before.
Dimitri and Geoff, sensing when enough was too much, stepped away from the window, still chuckling at the sight of the young prince laid out on the wet ground.
“Kagome, I really am sorry....where are you going?” InuYasha called to Kagome's retreating figure, in the direction away from the palace.
“I'm going to finish the jog I started a half an hour ago...Your Highness.” the bite of her words making InuYasha flinch.
“You cant go alone, there's still two golems out there and they won't fade till tonight...provided we have calculated the time of their creation in the lab correctly...”he trailed off, doing his own mental calculations. The lab never had been able to tell them where the ingredients had come from, but they had given an approximation on how old the golems were. That was, at least, something.
“I took care of them this morning.”
Her words stopping him in his tracks, “What do you mean you “took care of them”?”
“Just what I said...I thought you were supposed to be smart.”
“Now, just a minuet!” he yelled, catching back up to her and grabbing her by the elbow, guiding her to a stop. “My intelligence has nothing to do with this and if youre saying that you did what I think you're saying, then I'm a hell of a lot more intelligent than you!”
She arched her eyebrow at him, looking eerily like a black haired Sesshomaru at that moment, and jerked her arm out of his grasp, continuing her jog.
Taking her silence as an admission, “How, how did you do it; and by the gods, when?!!”
“I simply went for a walk.” She smirked as she looked back to see him following, a gaping look of disbelief plastered on his face. “This morning, after my “nightmare”, I couldn't sleep and in effort to avoid waking Sesshomaru, I went out. They attacked and I killed them. Really, Your Highness, why is this concept so hard for you to accept? I'm a big executioner; I can take care of myself.”
“How did you do it with out getting their blood on yourself or even touching them for that matter?”
“You know, it's amazing how great of a weapon a broom handle from the janitors cart makes when you're in a pinch.”
“And...you killed them both, just like that?”
She smiled “Ummhumm.”
They jogged on for a few more feet in silence, InuYasha casting long glances in her direction every few steps. Finally, she could take it no longer. “WHAT?!! What the hell are you staring at?!” She yelled at him, stopping her jog and facing him.
“Nothing, I'm sorry.” He mumbled quietly and continued on. She was beautiful when she was angry and the cold rain was doing nothing to alleviate the effect that thought was having on him.
How did some one as young as her get to be so brave and smart about things like that. She took BOTH on at the same time, not even caring apparently that her life was in danger. He himself, would have did what he was told and stayed in the company of a body guard at all times, but isn't that what she was...his body guard? He couldn't blame her really, for leaving and for taking care of the situation herself. It's what she was trained to do, that was her job. Why should that be any different, especially now that it was her life on the line?
He looked back to see she had started after him again, slowing so she could catch up. She was used to taking care of others; she had gone up against some of Earths and Alden's most dangerous criminals and survived it all. What were a few measly little golems to her? They were foolish to believe they could hold her, cage her like an animal. InuYasha had to give her credit, when it came to loyalty to her job or her own life, she chose loyalty.
He turned to look at her again out of the corner of his eye, but she caught it this time. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you keep looking at me like I have three heads?”
“I'm sorry; I've just never met anyone like you.”
“What do you mean “like me”? What's wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you. There's just so much more to you than most women. You don't back down from a fight and you don't take anything from anyone; you command a small army of the most talented executioners I have ever come across and I must say, you kick some major ass. Doing all that while managing to not be a bitch; I find that fascinating.”
“...Thank you; I think.” They both jogged on in silence, neither one knowing just what to say after the long morning of awkwardness between them. Eventually, Kagome opted for headphones instead of the strained silence.
InuYasha was baffled `What the hell is wrong with me? I haven" felt this awkward since puberty.' It took every effort to avoid glancing again back over at Kagome. The drizzle of rain causing steam to rise off her heated body was enough to....well it was enough anyway. And then it hit him like the roll of thunder that had just resonated through the air. He was worried about his new competition for her affections and didn't know how to handle it. It was bad enough with Sesshomaru; Miroku, he could tell that she held nothing for him but a close friendship...but Hisoka; he was dangerous. He was someone that was realistic in a companion, someone that was sensible for her to be with and if that wasn't bad enough, he had the power of attraction. Well, he would just have to double his efforts.
“It's raining harder.”
“Huh?” `Man that was intelligent, Inuyasha!'
“Its starting to rain harder.” She repeated, banishing the headphones to her neck once more. “Maybe we should rest for a bit under that tree?” she added, pointing to a giant oak in the distance that promised to shield them from the worst of the rain.
He looked up at the sky, the clouds seeming to darken with each step they took toward the large tree. “Sounds like a plan.” He called taking off at a run as the sky unleashed the beginning of its torrent.
Sensing a challenge, imagined or not, she took off in a run after him, easily catching up to him. “Is that all you have? Miroku could probably beat that.”
`She wants to play, does she?' InuYasha matched her run stride for stride, that is until she turned and smiled at him. At that moment, he realized that she really was playing with him. As the look of recognition passed through his eyes, she increased her speed, easily outpacing him to the tree. By the time he had caught up, she was leaning against the tree, having already caught her breath.
“Really, Your Highness, I was serious when I sad Miroku could beat you.” She smirked, removing her jacket and wringing the water from it. Fortunately for her, her jogging shirt had stayed mostly dry.
“How the hell did you do that?” he asked, copying her actions and admiring the way her now sagging sweats pulled on her hips enough to show the shorts she wore underneath and her smooth stomach peeking out from between her waistband and her shirt. He went back to ringing out his jacket, barely resisting the urge to run his tongue around the rim of her tiny little belly button.
“It's a matter of mind over body.” She explained, trying to avoid the sight of him and his white tank top. `Damn, why the hell does it take so much muscle for him to wring that thing out?' “I teach it to my executioners, but so far, only three of them, Sesshomaru, Miroku and I have been able to master it so completely.
Miroku teaches a variation of it for breathing.” He gave her a questioning look and she clarified. “Miroku can hold his breath for almost twenty minuets. I myself can go to ten. That however is not something we tell everyone.” She stressed, leaning back and tying her jacket around her hip. “Our talents for these have gotten both of us out of sticky situations before and it would be most inconvenient if our enemies were to get a hold of this information and use it against us.”
“Obviously so. Could you teach me those two tricks?” he asked, leaning against the tree beside her.
She shifted, a little uncomfortable at the fact he was so close she could smell the traces of cologne that the rain had all but washed away. “If you like, but it's not something you learn overnight.”
“This was my last stop on my little tour so time won't be an issue; I'm not going anywhere soon.” He smiled, causing her heart to skip a beat or three.
“O-ok then, Your Highness, we'll s-start training tomorrow” she stammered.
“Why do you refuse to call me by name?” he asked, inching closer to her. She swallowed and tried to take a step back, bumping into the tree behind her instead, as his liquid amber eyes burned into her. Her eyes darted to his lips to escape the heat of his stare, but found a heart wrenching smirk instead of relief from the fire. She looked back to his eyes; the heat was still there, making her squirm.
“I'm sorry; it just seems weird to call you that.” He arched his eyebrow at her and she continued quickly “Not that InuYasha isn't a good name...it's a great name in fact. It's just that...your royalty and I...well I'm not. It just doesn't feel right to be that familiar with you.” Water dripping from her hair fell on her chest, sliding its way slowly down the curve of her breast and disappearing under the fabric of her sports top. She shivered as she realized his eyes had followed the water drop.
“That's too familiar with me?” He asked with a smile as he reduced the already small space between them. Hooking his finger under her chin, he closed the distance between their lips as he whispered “Is this to familiar for you?” and took her lips in a mind searing kiss.
Kagome's world spun; her head clouding as she latched onto the front of InuYasha's shirt to steady her trembling body. InuYasha smiled and intensified the kiss, burning into her soul the memory of this moment with everything he had.
She felt the tugging on her wrist, but it didn't register past the haze of pure pleasure until the tug became more intense and insistent. “Oh...Sesshomaru...” She broke off as he moved down her jaw to her neck, no loner able to form a coherent thought.
“What?!” InuYasha cried, pulling back letting her fall back against the tree. The look of hurt mixed with anger was enough to break her heart.
As her head cleared a bit further and the tug came again, it hit her, what had happened. “Oh no! Sesshomaru is looking for us!” she explained quickly, holding up the wrist that was being tugged forward gently. “I was trying to tell you...but I didn't want to stop” she said, blushing and thoroughly embarrassed.
“I guess we should get back then?”
“Yeah.” She replied, still blushing, not able to meet his gaze.
If they thought the jog out had been uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to the jog back.
And in this corner....
Dimitri paced in his room, his features clouded in an anger that Geoff hadn't seen since the incident so many years ago with Stark. His anger was directed at the Reanimation Council this time though, of which he had no control over.
It was this council's job to review each execution and determine if the offender could be rehabilitated. Hisoka had been on the “no” list until Kagome had mentioned that she had seen something like regret in his eyes. The council had done a Last Active Memory Probe, fondly referred to as L.A.M.P., on him to “shed a light” on Kagome's claim and see what he had been thinking in the last few minuets of life. During that probe, they had come to the conclusion that yes, Hisoka could in fact be reanimated.
What they hadn't anticipated is that Kagura would request that he be made an executioner. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that the council hadn't given Kagome enough time to adjust to Hisoka being around again. He had, after all killed two of her best executioners...not to mention they had been her best friends. Unfortunately, since they had no souls when they died, they couldn't be reanimated. That was what made his crime so horrible. It had taken Kagome several days to get over that fact alone.
Yes, Dimitri was pissed and Geoff wished he was any place other than in this room. “How did she take the news?” the king spun on Geoff, causing the poor demon to nearly jump out of his skin.
“Ah...well, were not really sure at this time. She passed out, but that could still be from the incident the other day. She's still got a good three days till she should be over it.”
“Why do you say “should”?”
”Kagome heals faster than any of the other demons for some reason. They haven't been able to ascertain why, precisely, but they think it has something to do with her soul, or rather, the strength of it. She should have been in bed till at least today, recovering from the drain that the golem blood put on hers, but she was out of bed mere hours after. She is, by my calculations, a week and a half ahead of her recovery schedule. At this rate, she will be fully recovered by this evening.”
The king looked a bit surprised at this. “She is healing quickly isn't she? Perhaps it's time to see just how strong she really is...” he trailed off deep in thought.
“Dimitri, I don't like that look; what are you planning?”
“I'm planning on seeing just how strong my little Kagome is.”
“Obviously, but how are you planning on doing so?”
“The only way I know how. Hisoka, Brett, InuYasha, Sesshomaru, you and I are going to battle her.” He stood and began pacing the room, looking every bit of a caged animal, the excitement building in his voice. “This is going to be intense, I can tell already.”
“I can understand Brett, he would be a warm up for her, but why Hisoka? She's already...beaten him once.” Wincing at the fact that he had died the first time around.
“She will have to fight him to place his ranking on the squad eventually. In doing it like this, he'll give her an extra work out and she can kill two birds with one stone.”
“How intelligent of you Your Majesty; I would have never thought of that.” Geoff smiled and rolled his eyes knowing a little teasing would calm the man.
Dimitri stopped in front of the still seated Geoff, bending over to face him “This is why I am the King and you...are not.”
“And here I thought it was your good looks that got you in...”
“That too.” He continued after a moment, “So, she doesn't know anything past the fact that Hisoka has already been animated then?”
“Actually, when she woke up, they gave her his L.A.M.P. file and privacy to read it. She hasn't spoken to anyone since”
Nodding, the king stood and stepped over to the window, looking over in time to see a stealth demoness slip from the second story window of Sesshomaru's room and drop silently to the ground. “Now, what do we have here?” he questioned no one in particular as he forced his image to blend in with the window. “It appears our little Kagome has already recovered.”
“Fascinating...” Geoff murmured, coming to stand at the window next to the king.
Kagome slipped to the ground in a crouch and looked around. `So far, so good.' Failing to notice two sets of eyes watching her from a window located behind her.
Standing, she stretched luxuriously and let loose a huge sigh. It had been so long since the last time she had been able to venture out on her own. The snow had started to melt leaving the walk way wet and water dripping from the trees. The already grey sky was heavy with darker clouds, threatening rain soon. She inhaled the crisp clean air, relishing every lung full.
Sesshomaru had been great, taking her in when she could have just as easily used a guest room, but she just couldn't stand another moment inside. She hadn't been on her morning jog in almost five days. It was making her quite irritable.
She took a small discman out of her jacket pocket, putting the head phones on. After a moment of brief contemplation, slipped them around her neck, preferring, for the moment, to listen to nature instead of music. The birds darting here and there to gather the last bit of seed before winter set in. Checking to make sure her shoes were tied and her sweat pants were secure, she took off at a light jog.
Since that time Miroku had come behind her and “helped” her out of her clothing in preparation for her after jog shower, she was paranoid about loosing them again. Sure, she had been wearing her jogging shorts under, but it was still enough to teach her a lesson.
She chuckled at this memory. It was funny back then and it was still funny now. She had sought revenge by pushing Miroku in the fountain they had been jogging past, failing to notice that he had latched on to her tank top and pulled her in with him. He always knew how to make her laugh...or blush depending on his whims.
She wished he would settle down and pick a woman though. He had gone though several women and still hadn't found any one that didn't bore him to tears after a half an hour. Well, he had found one, two actually, but one was his best friend and the other...
“Whatcha thinking' `bout?” the object of her thoughts materialized out of no where.
“I was just thinking about if you are ever going to get off your ass and ask Lady Sango out” she replied, sighing in defeat. If she was going to be cornered, he was too. “Couldn't you have given me just hour alone, Brett?” She asked, extending her leg, tripping his stride up.
“Hey! That's no fair!” he cried steadying himself. “Lady Sango is...beyond my grasp. Youre not however...” he said slyly, reaching out to shove her off the path.
She jumped over a mud puddle, which was more like a lake with the amount of water in it, attempting to escape and at the last second, changed her mind. Jumping squarely in the center of it, she soaked Miroku from head to toe. Yeah, she was drenched too, but man, was the look on his face worth it.
“Now that...” he replied coolly as he stopped and turned to face her “was uncalled for.” Smiling, he strode forward, breaking into a run when she recognized the gleam in his eyes.
“Oh...n-now, Miroku” she stuttered “Lets not do anything that you'll regret. Besides, the waters not that cold.” she finished, ducking his tackle and spinning to kick him down into the puddle. Doubling over in laughter, she failed to notice him get up till it was too late.
Sweeping her feet out from beneath her, she fell with a wet slosh on her back in the center of the puddle. Blinking up in shock at the laughing demon, she could only laugh at her situation. She had, after all, started it. Flipping into a handstand, she used the momentum to place a kick in Miroku's chest, sending him sliding through the mud. Before she could right herself, however, he was back with a spinning kick to her head.
She countered, sweeping him off his feet again and jumping to avoid his hand as it struck out to pull her ankle with it. “How did you know I was here anyway? I was careful not to make any noise when I left.” the sky chose that moment to break open and unleash a light rain.
Miroku caught her leg as she came down the second time and attempted to pull her down. She caught her hands on the ground in time to perform a neat handspring out of his grasp. He loved to spar with her; she always gave him a run for his money, teaching him new ways to defeat an enemy. Every time, she had a new little trick to teach him and that handspring was a new one. “It seems your escape did not go unnoticed.” He said, gasping from his back in the puddle and pointing to the king's window. “Geoff informed me about thirty seconds after your feet hit the ground.” He finished that arrogant smirk of his plastered on his face.
Kagome turned slowly to see an extremely amused Dimitri and Geoff laughing through the open window. Cringing, she hung her head, ashamed in her behavior. No matter how caged she felt, it was irresponsible to have snuck off like that. Rain plastered her already wet hair to her head as water dripped from her jacket. She shivered slightly, unsure if it was from the slight chill of the water, which she barely felt, or the gaze of the king and Geoff.
Kagome heard laugher in front of her and looked up, startled to see the prince standing in front of her, dressed in sweats similar to hers and Miroku's, water and all. Wait...water?
“You look like a kicked puppy, poor thing; all dejected by your master and thrown out in the rain!” He broke out in a fresh fit of laughter causing a blush to spread over her ivory features. Miroku's laughter resounded from behind her, causing an even deeper blush.
Narrowing her eyes, she questioned the prince. “You're too wet to have just come outside. How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to see your daring escape though the window.”
The look of indignation on her face sent Miroku to his knees in the puddle again in a fresh round of laughter. She leaned back and placed a kick in the center of his chest, sending him sliding through the mud to hit the wall with a slosh.
By this time, the king and Geoff had tears rolling down their faces, trying to catch their elusive breaths from all the laughing. Glaring at the four men laughing at her, Kagome yelled “I hope youre all getting a good laugh about this...really I do!” She stomped out of the puddle, attempting to side step InuYasha.
“Kagome, please don't be angry. We didn't mean to embarrass you.” He soothed, reaching out to grab her by the arm.
She spun on him, ducking to a crouch, sweeping his feet from under him. Landing flat on his back with water squishing out of the grass beneath him, he lay there for a few moments, blinking up at the grey sky as the rain continued to fall.
Miroku, Geoff and the king all gasping desperately with purple faces for much needed oxygen. “I guess she showed you!” Miroku rasped out, holding the stitch that had developed in his side.
Kagome's eyes shot up to him; glinting with a promise of death should he be foolish enough to continue with his taunting. Knowing the limits to her anger, Miroku picked himself up off of the ground, giving a wide birth to the fuming demoness as he made a break for the door, still laughing just as hard as he had been before.
Dimitri and Geoff, sensing when enough was too much, stepped away from the window, still chuckling at the sight of the young prince laid out on the wet ground.
“Kagome, I really am sorry....where are you going?” InuYasha called to Kagome's retreating figure, in the direction away from the palace.
“I'm going to finish the jog I started a half an hour ago...Your Highness.” the bite of her words making InuYasha flinch.
“You cant go alone, there's still two golems out there and they won't fade till tonight...provided we have calculated the time of their creation in the lab correctly...”he trailed off, doing his own mental calculations. The lab never had been able to tell them where the ingredients had come from, but they had given an approximation on how old the golems were. That was, at least, something.
“I took care of them this morning.”
Her words stopping him in his tracks, “What do you mean you “took care of them”?”
“Just what I said...I thought you were supposed to be smart.”
“Now, just a minuet!” he yelled, catching back up to her and grabbing her by the elbow, guiding her to a stop. “My intelligence has nothing to do with this and if youre saying that you did what I think you're saying, then I'm a hell of a lot more intelligent than you!”
She arched her eyebrow at him, looking eerily like a black haired Sesshomaru at that moment, and jerked her arm out of his grasp, continuing her jog.
Taking her silence as an admission, “How, how did you do it; and by the gods, when?!!”
“I simply went for a walk.” She smirked as she looked back to see him following, a gaping look of disbelief plastered on his face. “This morning, after my “nightmare”, I couldn't sleep and in effort to avoid waking Sesshomaru, I went out. They attacked and I killed them. Really, Your Highness, why is this concept so hard for you to accept? I'm a big executioner; I can take care of myself.”
“How did you do it with out getting their blood on yourself or even touching them for that matter?”
“You know, it's amazing how great of a weapon a broom handle from the janitors cart makes when you're in a pinch.”
“And...you killed them both, just like that?”
She smiled “Ummhumm.”
They jogged on for a few more feet in silence, InuYasha casting long glances in her direction every few steps. Finally, she could take it no longer. “WHAT?!! What the hell are you staring at?!” She yelled at him, stopping her jog and facing him.
“Nothing, I'm sorry.” He mumbled quietly and continued on. She was beautiful when she was angry and the cold rain was doing nothing to alleviate the effect that thought was having on him.
How did some one as young as her get to be so brave and smart about things like that. She took BOTH on at the same time, not even caring apparently that her life was in danger. He himself, would have did what he was told and stayed in the company of a body guard at all times, but isn't that what she was...his body guard? He couldn't blame her really, for leaving and for taking care of the situation herself. It's what she was trained to do, that was her job. Why should that be any different, especially now that it was her life on the line?
He looked back to see she had started after him again, slowing so she could catch up. She was used to taking care of others; she had gone up against some of Earths and Alden's most dangerous criminals and survived it all. What were a few measly little golems to her? They were foolish to believe they could hold her, cage her like an animal. InuYasha had to give her credit, when it came to loyalty to her job or her own life, she chose loyalty.
He turned to look at her again out of the corner of his eye, but she caught it this time. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you keep looking at me like I have three heads?”
“I'm sorry; I've just never met anyone like you.”
“What do you mean “like me”? What's wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you. There's just so much more to you than most women. You don't back down from a fight and you don't take anything from anyone; you command a small army of the most talented executioners I have ever come across and I must say, you kick some major ass. Doing all that while managing to not be a bitch; I find that fascinating.”
“...Thank you; I think.” They both jogged on in silence, neither one knowing just what to say after the long morning of awkwardness between them. Eventually, Kagome opted for headphones instead of the strained silence.
InuYasha was baffled `What the hell is wrong with me? I haven" felt this awkward since puberty.' It took every effort to avoid glancing again back over at Kagome. The drizzle of rain causing steam to rise off her heated body was enough to....well it was enough anyway. And then it hit him like the roll of thunder that had just resonated through the air. He was worried about his new competition for her affections and didn't know how to handle it. It was bad enough with Sesshomaru; Miroku, he could tell that she held nothing for him but a close friendship...but Hisoka; he was dangerous. He was someone that was realistic in a companion, someone that was sensible for her to be with and if that wasn't bad enough, he had the power of attraction. Well, he would just have to double his efforts.
“It's raining harder.”
“Huh?” `Man that was intelligent, Inuyasha!'
“Its starting to rain harder.” She repeated, banishing the headphones to her neck once more. “Maybe we should rest for a bit under that tree?” she added, pointing to a giant oak in the distance that promised to shield them from the worst of the rain.
He looked up at the sky, the clouds seeming to darken with each step they took toward the large tree. “Sounds like a plan.” He called taking off at a run as the sky unleashed the beginning of its torrent.
Sensing a challenge, imagined or not, she took off in a run after him, easily catching up to him. “Is that all you have? Miroku could probably beat that.”
`She wants to play, does she?' InuYasha matched her run stride for stride, that is until she turned and smiled at him. At that moment, he realized that she really was playing with him. As the look of recognition passed through his eyes, she increased her speed, easily outpacing him to the tree. By the time he had caught up, she was leaning against the tree, having already caught her breath.
“Really, Your Highness, I was serious when I sad Miroku could beat you.” She smirked, removing her jacket and wringing the water from it. Fortunately for her, her jogging shirt had stayed mostly dry.
“How the hell did you do that?” he asked, copying her actions and admiring the way her now sagging sweats pulled on her hips enough to show the shorts she wore underneath and her smooth stomach peeking out from between her waistband and her shirt. He went back to ringing out his jacket, barely resisting the urge to run his tongue around the rim of her tiny little belly button.
“It's a matter of mind over body.” She explained, trying to avoid the sight of him and his white tank top. `Damn, why the hell does it take so much muscle for him to wring that thing out?' “I teach it to my executioners, but so far, only three of them, Sesshomaru, Miroku and I have been able to master it so completely.
Miroku teaches a variation of it for breathing.” He gave her a questioning look and she clarified. “Miroku can hold his breath for almost twenty minuets. I myself can go to ten. That however is not something we tell everyone.” She stressed, leaning back and tying her jacket around her hip. “Our talents for these have gotten both of us out of sticky situations before and it would be most inconvenient if our enemies were to get a hold of this information and use it against us.”
“Obviously so. Could you teach me those two tricks?” he asked, leaning against the tree beside her.
She shifted, a little uncomfortable at the fact he was so close she could smell the traces of cologne that the rain had all but washed away. “If you like, but it's not something you learn overnight.”
“This was my last stop on my little tour so time won't be an issue; I'm not going anywhere soon.” He smiled, causing her heart to skip a beat or three.
“O-ok then, Your Highness, we'll s-start training tomorrow” she stammered.
“Why do you refuse to call me by name?” he asked, inching closer to her. She swallowed and tried to take a step back, bumping into the tree behind her instead, as his liquid amber eyes burned into her. Her eyes darted to his lips to escape the heat of his stare, but found a heart wrenching smirk instead of relief from the fire. She looked back to his eyes; the heat was still there, making her squirm.
“I'm sorry; it just seems weird to call you that.” He arched his eyebrow at her and she continued quickly “Not that InuYasha isn't a good name...it's a great name in fact. It's just that...your royalty and I...well I'm not. It just doesn't feel right to be that familiar with you.” Water dripping from her hair fell on her chest, sliding its way slowly down the curve of her breast and disappearing under the fabric of her sports top. She shivered as she realized his eyes had followed the water drop.
“That's too familiar with me?” He asked with a smile as he reduced the already small space between them. Hooking his finger under her chin, he closed the distance between their lips as he whispered “Is this to familiar for you?” and took her lips in a mind searing kiss.
Kagome's world spun; her head clouding as she latched onto the front of InuYasha's shirt to steady her trembling body. InuYasha smiled and intensified the kiss, burning into her soul the memory of this moment with everything he had.
She felt the tugging on her wrist, but it didn't register past the haze of pure pleasure until the tug became more intense and insistent. “Oh...Sesshomaru...” She broke off as he moved down her jaw to her neck, no loner able to form a coherent thought.
“What?!” InuYasha cried, pulling back letting her fall back against the tree. The look of hurt mixed with anger was enough to break her heart.
As her head cleared a bit further and the tug came again, it hit her, what had happened. “Oh no! Sesshomaru is looking for us!” she explained quickly, holding up the wrist that was being tugged forward gently. “I was trying to tell you...but I didn't want to stop” she said, blushing and thoroughly embarrassed.
“I guess we should get back then?”
“Yeah.” She replied, still blushing, not able to meet his gaze.
If they thought the jog out had been uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to the jog back.