Kagome's Trial by firevixen73

He's Crazy

Recap:

Kagome’s eyes grew. What? He can control her powers? How was it he could do that when all she could do is shoot only a half decent arrow?

“I didn’t use it before because I didn’t want to frighten you, but I will get you to do what I want,” he said fiercely.

Kagome gulped, “And what exactly is it you want me to do?”

“You little one, are going to fix the gap between my sons. You will make them the brothers they were meant to be.”

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Kagome stared at him dumfoundedly, “You want me too…” she started but couldn’t seem to finish her sentence.

“I want you, little one, to fix this little blip my boys are having,” he said calmly while watching a passing squirrel climb up its tree.

With his second declaration she quickly came to her conclusion. This man was crazy, he was a lunatic. It was the only possible solution; there was just no other way.

Damn, she wasn’t exactly sure what to be feeling right now. While it was nice to know that you yourself weren’t crazy it isn’t exactly heartening to learn that the person you are possibly working for is. Double damn, this just wasn’t her day. Alright, the best way to deal with a crazy person is through a calm, rational mind.

“A little blip!” screamed Kagome, “You call this a little blip? You are insane, a damn ass lunatic! Did they torture you in hell that bad? Did you lose all reason? Because as much as I would like to see those two work together and not try to kill each other I know it’s not going to happen. Those idiots hate each other as much as they hate Naraku...okay, maybe not quite that much but you get my point!” she finished with a furious yell.

The dead demon lord before her blinked a few times as he took in her disheveled appearance and angry features, “So when you are angry or frustrated you yell,” he said suddenly.

If Kagome didn’t know any better she would say the demon was diagnosing her traits.

“My boy Sesshomaru is going to have a hard time with that one. I have to say I am looking forward to it. From what I have managed to gather you should be able to control him as much as you do Inuyasha, though in a completely different manner of course,” he said absentmindedly, like he wasn’t suggesting the impossible.

Kagome grumbled to herself, “Perhaps I’m not being clear. I’m not angry or frustrated; I just don’t think you realize the magnitude of the situation. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru do not just simply not get a long, they absolutely loath each other. This is not going to be fixed over night.”

Touga blinked a few times before looking at her again, “Well of course not. Which is why I need you. Inuyasha listens to you and furthermore, you know more of what that boy wants or needs than even he does. If anyone can convince him to look at Sesshomaru as an older brother and not an enemy it is you.”

Kagome massaged her temples tiredly, “Alright, let’s say I could convince Inuyasha to look at Sesshomaru in a different light, what about Sesshomaru himself? He is not going to start having a heart just because Inuyasha is looking at him differently. I could only convince Inuyasha of so much, his brother would have to prove whatever I was saying. In case you haven’t met your eldest, that is not going to happen.”

“Not on his own, no, my boy is to…difficult for that,” came Touga’s slow but deliberate response.

“Difficult? That wasn’t quite the word I was thinking of,” came Kagome’s semi-snort.

Touga gave her a slight warning glare, “Sesshomaru was raised in a time of war. Where hate and loathing elevated your rank, where power was all that mattered because without it you would surely perish. He cannot help it that he see’s others as unworthy of his time. He is difficult because he was raised to be so. If you were a simpleton you did not last long.”

“Then why can Inuyasha do it?” countered Kagome. “When I first met him he was awful. He was brash, rude, demanding, blood happy and self oriented. How could he change in such a small amount of time compared to Sesshomaru’s hundreds of years?”

Touga looked towards the bright blue sky patches shinning through the trees, and then back towards his self proclaimed miko, “Two reasons. One being that Inuyasha is part human. Human’s by nature have the ability to feel, to love and to change. That is one of the qualities that will allow their species to thrive and I am glad to say that my youngest has developed such a quality.”

“…and the second reason?” inquired Kagome.

Touga’s eyes focused solely on her and she had the distinct impression that he was seeing something beyond her, beyond anything she could ever hope to see. Finally, he spoke, “He had you.”

“M-me?” she stuttered. On impulse she took a few steps backwards, “What do I have to do with any of this?”

He looked at her with all the affection in the world shinning through his honey colored eyes, “You, little one, opened a whole new world to Inuyasha. One where his emotions were welcomed, received, expressed upon and rewarded for. In any other point in his life Inuyasha faced trials where his emotions would only end up hurting him. You provided a safe environment where he could express and explore what he had spent his entire life suppressing. You have made him into the man he is today.”

“I…I don’t think so. Kikyo was the one that he loved, not me. If anything she should be getting the credit,” she once again stuttered. Kagome was not used to praise, or the look of thankfulness that was crossing Touga’s face.

“Kikyo did nothing for my son except show him what she wanted out of life. Unfortunately, even to this day my son still holds onto the ideal image he has made of her, no matter how false it is. After having no one to think of except himself for centuries he immediately took on her desires as his own in hope of feeling something besides loathing,” Touga shook his head almost angrily, “she didn’t even except him. She liked the idea of defying the elders, of claiming love to a half demon. She liked the idea of not being perfect. In the end, if she had truly accepted him, her selfish desire for him to turn human would not have crossed her mind, let alone her lips.”

Kagome had never thought of it that way. She had always figured the two were in love with each other, not the idea of what the other represented, “But…she allowed him to feel.”

“Her emotions, not his own. No little one, you did that all on your own. This is why I have hope for my son’s,” he finished.

“I-I…” Kagome needed to get off of this topic. Praise was not something she was used to receiving and it was extremely unnerving. “I can’t do it. I can’t even get within a mile of Sesshomaru without him trying to kill me, besides we still have Naraku to kill. We can’t just put that on hold because they need some brother bonding time.”

Touga smiled, “You will think of something to balance the two out,” but his jovial expression changed quickly, causing him to sigh heavily as he took in her hesitant expression.

Obviously she was more worried about Naraku than Inuyasha’s and Sesshomaru’s relationship. He frowned; apparently he was going to have to compromise in order to get what he wanted. If only his friends could see him now, bargaining with a female miko.

“Now, since I know you are worried about this Naraku pest, head here,” he pointed in a direction with his long manicured claw, “that is where Naraku is hiding. The sooner you find him the sooner you can do what I want.”

“W-what!” she yelled but stopped when she saw him smiling. Did he just tell her what she thought he told her?

Suddenly the brush behind her shook and she turned around to see Inuyasha stepping out of the trees. “Wench, you talking to yourself again?”

“…Um…futuristic thing…remember?” Kagome internally groaned, she so needed a better line.

“Whatever, we’re heading out. We’re not staying in this stupid area any longer,” Inuyasha grabbed her wrist and lead her back to the camp. Kagome easily complied in hopes of figuring out Touga’s statement. He said he knew where Naraku was, but how could he know that? Then again, he was dead and probably did know more things than they did. Was there such a thing as contacts in the underworld?

Inuyasha pulled her into the clearing where her friends waited. Kagome looked back over at Touga in question, not seeing why she shouldn’t take his advice. They had no leads and were currently heading in whatever particular direction Inuyasha chose.

“Umm…Inuyasha, I’m not sure but I think I sense part of the jewel…a large part,” Kagome said quietly, almost hoping Inuyasha wouldn’t hear her. Oh god he would kill her if he ever figured out she was lying through her teeth. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you saw it, he stopped.

Sango and Miroku both looked at her as well. Kagome silently swore to herself, hoping she was making the right decision. If that stupid demon was just running her in circles in hopes of making her crazier than she already was Kagome swore she’d find a way to skin him, even with his lacking of actual skin.

“What?” stuttered the half-demon.

With a quick glance towards Touga and a nod of his approval she pointed into the direction that he had pointed out earlier. “It is really faint,” lie, “but I know I sense something,” another lie, “and I think we should follow it,” and yet another lie.

“Alright, well let’s head that way,” said Miroku while picking up Kilala while she was in her small form.

Inuyasha stopped him with a claw on his shoulder and looked at Kagome fiercely, “Are you sure that is it that way Kagome?”

Kagome felt like grimacing but turned it into a smile. No she wasn’t sure, she was listening to a crazy and obsessed dead guy after all, “I’m pretty sure, but it seemed really far off, and it was only a flash, like it was on accident.”

They watched as Inuyasha contemplated something in his head, what it was she would never know…and then it hit her. The way that she had pointed, it seemed to be the direction that Inuyasha had been running from for the last couple of days. But why?

“Alright, we’ll head that way, but everyone keep a sharp look out alright?” he said quickly before heading in the described direction.

“What was all that about?” asked Sango.

“No idea,” answered Kagome as both girls increased their pace in order to keep up with Inuyasha.

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It had been a week, a week where Inuyasha was nothing but sour. Not only had he been in a horrible mood but he was snappy too. And he was so fidgety! Especially for the last three days, he would jump at the smallest sound. Just the other night he went feral on a rabbit and used the wind scar on it…the poor thing. Why he was in such a bad mood she didn’t know but she had a feeling it had something to do with where they were heading, of course he would never tell her that. Touga wouldn’t tell her anything either, just that this was the direction they needed to head.

Stupid dog demons. Where they all this impossible or was she just that lucky? Of course Touga hadn’t left her alone about the Sesshomaru and Inuyasha thing either. He had spent night and day trying to convince her to go through with it but what didn’t he get about it? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to but she couldn’t. There were other priorities at hand, and at least they were achievable and not the dreams of a dead guy with too much time and power on his hands. And here she thought that Touga’s information about Naraku was some form of a truce declaring that he would lay off for a bit.

Apparently not.

Well, at least he was helping with the Naraku thing. He had said it was because the sooner they solved this, the sooner she could help him. At least he was somewhat sensible. It made her wonder why Inuyasha never picked that trait up, perhaps-

“Kagome!” yelled Inuyasha.

She immediately ducked on instinct as he yelled her name. Luckily she dropped just in time to see a wind blade go slicing past her. With her hands over her head and hair frazzled from the wind she looked up to see Kagura, the wind witch, gliding on her feather, ready for another strike.

Kagome turned towards Touga, “You couldn’t have warned me? You should know by now that I am oblivious to most things when I start talking to myself!”

Touga shrugged as he told her to duck. She did just that and then rolled to the side in hopes of avoiding the second attack that was sent her way. Once she was back on her feet, arrows in hand, she looked around the field. It seemed they had caught the woman off guard, if her shocked and angry expression said anything. That meant that Naraku wasn’t the one to send her, they actually had a lead on Naraku’s whereabouts.

She looked towards Touga in surprise, “You weren’t lying?”

She had to admit, she had been a little skeptical about this whole thing, but it seemed that her faith was placed in him correctly. It was moments like this that she was always proud of herself.

Touga’s expression suddenly looked offended, like something horrible had been said about him, “I am an Inu Lord, I do not lie, now make her head that way,” he motioned towards a hill, “there is an abandoned castle you can trap her in. Her wind will do her no good while trapped inside.”

Kagome looked towards the hill and then back over at Touga. Once she had decided that while crazy, he was a brilliant strategist, she followed his orders. She shot her arrow towards Kagura in a way that would graze her back with her priestess powers and force her towards the supposed castle. There was no way Kagura’s wind would let an arrow hit her so in reality, this was a very good plan. If they could get her in an enclosed area she would be very limited.

Miroku, quickly caught on the direction that Kagome was trying to lead Kagura into, although he didn’t know why his friend would make such an attempt, and began to help her. It wasn’t until they somehow made it over the hill that Kagome froze…and Inuyasha threatened to kill her. God she could hear his yells from all the way over here. Then again, she couldn’t really blame him.

Before her stood a castle, but it was in no way abandoned. In fact, there were numerous guards placed at all entrances. What really made her day was the Inu Clan flag that sat atop the highest tower, blowing in the breeze. Kagome furiously turned towards Touga all the while remembering his previously offended face, “Please tell me this is not Sesshomaru’s castle!”

“…” no response came from him.

Her eyes widened, “You little liar! Abandoned! Whatever, no wonder Inuyasha was so dead set on getting way from this place! I cannot believe I fell for your act either! Offended? You were just making sure I headed this way!”

He turned towards the furious woman, “Well it wasn’t like you were going to come here on your own, I had to get you here sometime. It was just coincidental that Naraku seemed to be passing through here as well.”

“Just for that, I’m making sure we leave this awful place you crazy old dog,” she hissed, but before she could turn around and yell at the others to retreat, Kagura or not, she was not letting Touga win, a steady claw grabbed her upper arm. For a second she thought it was Inuyasha but then she realized that he was charging in her direction. He had to be a good hundred feet away so that sort of left him out as an option.

Well who else in their group has claws? Shippo? No, to small. Kilala? No, these were like hands…who else did that leave. There was no way Touga had found a way to materialize so…apparently she needed to turn around. When she did Kagome kind of wished that she hadn’t. Well, at least it wasn’t Sesshomaru right?

“Let her go!” yelled Inuyasha as he stepped towards her and her captor.

The guard that was still holding her arm yanked her towards him, “You are trespassers on Lord Sesshomaru’s ground, you will all need to come in with us.”

Kagome growled loudly in turn startling the guards, great. She didn’t even feel this guy or his four friends approach her. Touga was really a bad influence if she was so distracted she couldn’t even sense demonic auras anymore. First Kagura and now Sesshomaru’s guards dressed in blue? She really needed to work on this multitasking bit.

Inuyasha huffed at the situation and looked at Kagome in annoyance. She glared back at him, disbelief crossing her face as she realized that he blamed her for their little predicament. Oh hell no, he was not pinning this on her, this was all him and his stupid, stupid father, “You could have told us where we were heading!”

The guard froze as he heard the way the human female was talking to the half breed. He had never seen a woman so…feisty that way. He looked at his surrounding men to see many of them just as baffled. Women of the court were taught to be docile and gentle, but she was…fuming.

“Oh don’t start with me wench. I didn’t know this was exactly where it was alright. I just knew it was around here somewhere. You know, if you weren’t so useless maybe we wouldn’t even be in this predicament,” he countered.

“I’m useless? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you could sense the jewel shards all on your own. Well don’t let me get in your way. It’s obvious you don’t need me so just go on in your merry little way,” she crossed her arms, guard still attached, and made a shooing motion with her hands.

Inuyasha stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, “You-you did not just shoo me! You stupid woman!” he pointed his finger at her in disbelief, “T-take that back!”

“Make me,” she spat, knowing that Inuyasha couldn’t charge her while the guards were still around. It would be too large of a disturbance and Sesshomaru would be alerted, and neither one of them wanted that.

Miroku approached Inuyasha very carefully as he watched the scene unfold. Leave it to these two to fight while being put under arrest, “Inuyasha, maybe we should just reason with the guards. Kagura is long gone and it will take a while for us to find her trail again.”

“Oh hell no, we aren’t going anywhere until the wench takes that back!” yelled Inuyasha.

“Well then obviously we are going to be here for a while,” she countered.

Suddenly a very old, high pitched and horribly familiar voice broke into their conversation, “What is that wench doing here?!”

Kagome turned around to see none other than Jaken heading up the hill, strait towards them. Oh crap, now Sesshomaru was going to find out about this and they were never going to get out of the Western Lands before he caught up to them. She turned to glare at the ghostly projection that was standing in the middle of the field, a smile on his face. If only she could sick another spirit after him or something.

“Master Jaken, you know these people?” came one of the guards’ response.

“Yes, this wench is…Inuyasha! Lord Sesshomaru’s half brother! What are you doing here?” he yelled in shock as he saw Inuyasha for apparently the first time.

“I don’t know,” Kagome ridiculed, “I’m here, so I’m thinking he would be here too. We do tend to travel together after all.”

“Insolent wench!” yelled Jaken.

“Hey, you cannot call me that you mean little toad!” Kagome yelled at Jaken. She tried to move to kick him but the guard’s grip help true. Stupid demon strength, she really needed to find a way to counter that. Oh, wait; she’s a priestess isn’t she? Maybe that could work.

With all her concentration she pooled her energy into the arm the demon guard was still holding, in hopes of burning him just enough to let go. She let lose a triumphant smirk as she felt her powers reaching the surface of her skin. She might be a horrible priestess with absolutely no training but she did know how to do a few things, and this was one of them. But before she could gloat she suddenly felt her powers swiftly pull themselves back inside her and into the deep reaches of her soul.

What the hell? She quickly looked around to see what had happened only to find Touga grinning at her from pointy ear to pointy ear. She groaned, this had to be some sick perverted joke! Influencing her powers she could understand, even accept, but overpowering her own use! Now she felt even more pathetic than before.

Damn stupid dog demons, they all just needed a good sitting! Oh what she would give for a collar on Touga like she had on Inuyasha. No more late night nightmares of Inuyasha dying by Sesshomaru’s hand because she failed to do as Touga so kindly ‘asked’. An actual night of sleep, real live sleep!

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Kagome wasn’t sure how to view things anymore, the guards seemed to snap out of their blank state of mind while Kagome stood rambling to herself about dog demons.

“You are Lord Inuyasha?” asked the guard to the left.

Inuyasha blinked a few times as he took in what the guard said. Did…he just say Lord? He did didn’t he...was this guy nuts? He was anything but a Lord.

“Take this wench to the dungeon right now!” yelled Jaken’s high pitched voice.

“What?” she said quietly while taking in the situation.

Suddenly she found herself jolted forward as the guard that held her upper arm dragged her towards the castle. Her eyes immediately went wide as she took in the situation. She was being sent to the dungeons! And not just anyone’s dungeons, but Sesshomaru’s. This was so not her week. First the stupid ghost that only she could see and now this?

With slight hesitation Kagome tried to re-summon her powers but soon found that method to once again fail her. Before she could try again she was jerked to the left just in time to see Inuyasha’s claws heading for her, or more specifically, towards the guard currently holding her hostage.

She immediately ducked as the half demon’s razor sharp claws made their way over her head. Instantaneously she was thrown into the arms of another demon guard and was pushed out of the fight.

“You will be coming with me,” said a smooth voice from behind her.

Kagome looked up to see a demon with the same blue vest on that symbolized him as a guard. He had already effectively wrapped his arm around her waist and she found herself being lifted off the ground. Kagome, being human and obviously not used to managing such heights on her own or at least without Inuyasha or Kilala, did the instinctive thing and latched on to the guard as he sprinted to the castle. As soon as they reached the front gates the man landed and banged on the door with his fist.

While he was preoccupied Kagome managed to turn around and see the fight that was happening. Inuyasha’s desperate attempts to reach her through the multitude of guards, Miroku and Sango’s own attempts to reach her through the skies and Shippo’s…wait, where was Shippo?

She suddenly heard a cry from the guard that had carried her and she turned around to see a small fox kit latched onto the grown demon’s arm…with his teeth.

He was such a little cutie.

Not wanting to give the guard an opening she reached for her son and pulled him off the un-expecting demon. Damn, if Touga wasn’t going to let her use her priestess powers then she was just going to have to do this the old fashion way.

In a flash she was on her way back up the hill, Shippo in her arms, and running as fast as her human legs could carry her.

Suddenly Touga was racing by her side to brighten her already wonderful day, “You should just give up.”

Kagome growled as the guard suddenly appeared before her, “You should just shut up,” she whispered back.

Dodging to the left Kagome weaved again to the right, effectively managing to get herself out of the way of the demon’s attempted kidnapping. She immediately made another mad dash as another demon guard arrived. She skidded to a stop as a third guard appeared but as soon as she attempted another turn Kagome felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She looked to the left to see another hand reach out from nowhere and grab Shippo from her, pulling the little boy away from her desperate grasp. The demon was effectively gagging him with the armored hand attached to his body.

Suddenly everything became very clear. Her instincts kicked in as she realized the situation, no one touches Shippo.

Mustering up as much force as she could, Kagome elbowed her attacker in the gut, sending him a good few feet back and rolling in pain. She immediately swung towards her next victim with a roundhouse kick to the head and gave another figure in blue a back kick with a jab.

If she would have been paying attention she would have realized a few things. She would have realized that a wimpy little human should not have been able to kick a demon through a tree, or travel at such high speeds, but she wasn’t paying attention. All she saw was red as soon as her baby was taken forcibly from her arms.

The moment she had the chance she rushed to Shippo’s side as the little boy tried to sit up on his own, “Are you alright? Any cuts? Bruises?”

Kagome immediately started checking the boy for any sign of injury and sighed with relief when she found none. After she was sure Shippo was safe and sound, she immediately went into mother mode, battlefield or not. “How dare you attack a full blown trained demon soldier like that. Do you know what he could have done to you? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“But momma!” started Shippo but she cut him off.

“Oh don’t you dare start Shippo! I swear, if I wasn’t so ready to rip off Inuyasha’s head I would seriously consider grounding you, or better yet, making you spend a whole day with Inuyasha…alone!”

Unbeknownst to them, they had gathered an audience. Six soldiers in blue to be exact. Though, they seemed to be rather baffled by both scenes before them, the battlefield and the…mother? But the kit was a full blown demon, she couldn’t be his mother…could she? And were they really arguing during the middle of a battle?

“Mom! You cannot make me spend the whole day with him! He’ll eat me alive, you know how much he likes to beat me up when you are not around!” whined the fox demon.

“Well maybe it will teach you not to take on someone twice your size. Please Shippo, if there is one thing I’m going to ask of you it is not to pick up Inuyasha’s head strong fighting techniques. You know that man couldn’t come up with a decent plan…let alone follow it,” countered Kagome.

Shippo’s face gained a very light blush as he thought about what she had said. He immediately looked at the ground, digging his toes into the forest floor while twirling his thumbs. His momma was right, he didn’t have a plan. He had just bitten the demon in hopes that his mother would take care of the rest.

Kagome sighed and stepped next to him, “Though I am very proud of what you did, I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Inuyasha hasn’t had any time to train you so you can’t protect yourself. As soon as you have some proper training I’ll get off your case…a little…but I just want to make sure you are safe until then.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I bit that man like that,” said Shippo quietly. He looked up at her in question, “Do I have to say I’m sorry?”

Kagome thought about it, “If we were sticking around perhaps, and he wasn’t kidnapping me of course, I would make you, but I think for now I’ll let it go.”

Shippo immediately jumped into her arms, “Thank you momma. I promise I won’t do something like that again.”

On a reactionary level of having the kit in her arms, she hugged him back.

“Umm…” came another gruff voice.

She looked up to see the surrounding six guards who were staring at the three still sprawled on the ground. With a sigh of defeat she took in their expressions, “You are still going to take me aren’t you?”

The guard in the middle looked around the clearing and then back at her and the fox demon in her arms, “Y-yes…” he looked at his fellow comrades to make sure they would back him up if the woman attacked again.

Kagome squeezed Shippo tighter, seeing that there really was no way out of this. She was just going to have to get herself captured and then break out. Surely Miroku could keep Sango and Inuyasha from doing something drastic for at least a couple of hours right? He was the sensible one after all.

“Alright, I’ll go with you if you don’t touch my son or take him away from me,” there was no way she was sending him back out onto that battlefield in hopes that he would run into one of their friends.

“Alright my Lady, we’ll make sure neither of you are touched nor separated,” spoke a second guard.

Kagome reluctantly walked towards the first guard, thanking the high heavens Touga wasn’t laughing at her from the sidelines. She quickly glanced to her left as she watched the transparent figure. No, he wasn’t laughing, just smirking uncontrollably.

Stupid dog.

Both her and Shippo were immediately led through the gates this time, no banging on the door and no possible escape route. As much as she wanted to, in hopes of finding some way out of this little predicament, she tried to scan the area for an escape route, but was surrounded by blue. She couldn’t see anything, not even the stupid stone wall. Honestly, she wasn’t going to try to escape again…at least yet anyways.

Without further notice Kagome found herself walking through another set of doors and the surrounding air became colder. A sudden shiver ran through Shippo as she held him tighter. No, it wasn’t just her, Shippo felt it too, this place was awful. Although she couldn’t see her surroundings it didn’t take much to guess that the castle wasn’t meant to be friendly.

“Shit,” said the guard in front of her suddenly. He turned around quickly in order to face the other guards. “The Northern Lord is currently occupying the wing that leads to the dungeons. We can’t go through the war room either. That is where the Lord’s are meeting.”

The guard to her left looked down at her and Shippo. “We will have to go through the dining room and through the servant quarters.”

Kagome let out a small sigh for a few reasons. One, they weren’t going to try to take her to the war room where apparently Sesshomaru was, because if that happened she probably wouldn’t even make it to the dungeons and two, they had just given her three escape routes.

Both her and Shippo were quickly shoved forward and around another hallway. It was only when they made it through another doorway that Kagome collided face first into the guard in front of her. She rubbed her noise while she continued to hold Shippo. Honestly who stops that suddenly? No ‘hey, I’m stopping, watch out so you don’t kill yourself on my spiky armor’, really what was with that?

“What is the meaning of this guard?” asked a very authoritative voice.

The guard before her stood speechless as she tried to peek around him.

“Momma, you’re not going to want to do that,” said a very fearful Shippo.

Kagome immediately stopped, sensing her son’s fear rolling off him in waves.

“Is this the kind of help you hire Sesshomaru? One that interrupts our meals after a very tiring meeting?” came the same voice.

Kagome’s eyes widened, “Oh God no,” she whispered.

“I assure you, they must be new,” came the very calm and collected voice of the demon Lord who had tried to kill her on more occasions than she really wanted to count.

Kagome had a sudden urge to hold onto the guard in front of her and never let go. In fact, she was suddenly very thankful that the guards continued to surround her. It seemed they were caging in her scent. He would defiantly recognize it otherwise, she was after all covered in his brothers scent.

“Sorry my Lords,” came a guard from behind her as he stepped around her.

No! She felt like yelling. Get back over here, you move and he will catch a whiff of my scent for sure!

“We did not realize you had finished with the meeting. We had just captured an intruder from the outer wall and were about to place her in the dungeons on Jaken’s orders. We will go through the other way my Lords,” he spoke smoothly.

Get back here! Was what she was yelling in her head as she thought about Sesshomaru and his stupid hyper sensitive nose. Please let him have a cold today, please let him have a cold today, Kagome chanted repeatedly.

“Wait,” came the same silky reply she knew so well.

The cold, the flu…anything! Kagome looked towards Shippo, knowing they were in for it. Once he found out there would be no way for escape. He would either kill her or torture her himself. Sesshomaru wasn’t exactly known for his mercy.

“Sesshomaru! Give me my miko back!” screamed another not so smooth and silky voice that she knew all too well. Yet somehow…it was another voice she didn’t want to hear. The man was going to get himself killed if he kept this up.

Kagome looked up just in time to see Inuyasha, sword and all, come barreling through the ceiling. Once again while running on instinct, she covered Shippo with her own body as the debris and rubble from the castle’s ceiling fell from his entrance.

Even through all the mayhem, Kagome was grateful beyond belief that he was there. Once again, he had probably saved her life…but at the same time complicated things beyond belief.

Once the smoke had cleared she looked up from her floor position to see a very dirty, very mad Inuyasha staring at his brother…correction, half brother. They both looked furious, and that was saying something considering Sesshomaru’s normally stone like face.

Great, with Sesshomaru being this mad there was no way Inuyasha could beat him. She was going to be patching him up for a good couple of days…again. She was going to have to do something about it. A dead Inuyasha was never a good Inuyasha.

If this was going to work, Kagome was going to have to make Inuyasha really want to fight…to prove himself. He was going to have to have as much determination to win as Sesshomaru’s determination for blood. She hated it when she had to do this but…a quick glance at the two silver haired Inu demon’s told her that there was no other option available to her at the moment.

Touga wasn’t kidding when he said that Kagome knew how to work Inuyasha.

Now…it was time for her best weapon.

“Well that was unnecessary,” came her sarcastic remark.

Not believing his furry little ears, Inuyasha suddenly turned on her, momentarily forgetting about the larger threat at hand. “What do you mean unnecessary wench? You want him to fry you alive?”

Insults… they always did get his attention. It was hard to believe they worked well enough to be considered a secret weapon.

She immediately stood up and dusted herself off, placing Shippo to her right. At least riling him up was always easy. Now getting him riled up to a healthy level where he could still put all his effort into the fight, now that was harder, “I would have found a way out of it. He didn’t even know it was me. And did you have to crash in from the ceiling, from what I could tell it was very beautiful. You had to take down the wall attached to it too?”

Kilala, along with her two passengers, came swooping through the hole and landed next to Inuyasha. Unlike him and the woman he was fighting with, they were in their battle posses.

“Shut up and let me protect you wench. I’m getting sick of having to do it all the time,” he countered.

Kagome could have sworn she felt her forehead tick at that comment. Okay, so maybe she was a little bit out of line when she said that, he did rescue her and all, but did he have to make such a mess? She was just trying to make sure he came out of this inevitable fight alive, and come on, over the years she had learned enough to last at least a couple of hours on her own. And yes, she was irritable, and tired, and cranky…all thanks to a silver haired projectile that she was to mad at to name right now…and maybe she was taking it out on Inuyasha because he was the easiest target and happened to look like said ghost.

But he did not just call her wench…twice.

“It’s not my fault you don’t know how to protect your pack…I bet Sesshomaru doesn’t let anything happen to Rin,” she growled.

Oh yes, Kagome knew exactly how to push Inuyasha’s buttons, and comparing him to Sesshomaru would always get the best reaction out of him. It made him absolutely livid, and livid was what he was going to have to be in order to come out of this fight in one piece.

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted as a very mad, very red eyed figure launched itself at Inuyasha. On a purely reactionary level, the silver haired half demon lifted his blade as the blinding ball of white hurled itself forward.

Kagome once again found herself on the floor as she tried to stay out of the fight. Well that worked well, she thought while looking at the feuding brothers. Now that Inuyasha was all wound up and determined to prove himself maybe it will give everyone enough time to get out.

She looked once again to Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, who were currently trying to land as many punches on each other as possible. It seemed Inuyasha had ditched his sword, the matter had become personal. Then again, he wasn’t exactly in a situation to use the sword freely anyways, not while his friends were inside. But he was fighting with more speed and determination than usual, that was for sure.

Once again Kagome found herself smiling at her work. Inuyasha was so easy. Perhaps with him so determined to prove himself he wouldn’t end up with a gapping whole through his chest like before. She cringed while recalling that moment.

“My Lady, may I have a word with you?” came a voice to her left.

Kagome immediately swung around, pushing Shippo behind her in a protective manner. Once she gained her bearings she had to stop her jaw from dropping. Wasn’t that…

“Miss, I am Shiho, Ruler of the Southern Lands and it seems…we are in need of your…services,” came his reply.

Kagome took in this Lord Shiho’s appearance as she gauged him on her internal safety scale. Over the years it had become rather accurate. He seemed nice enough, a little tired and worn out, if the bags under his demonic eyes said anything. He also slouched a little like his back hurt, and his eye’s looked slightly dull, like they were losing a fight. His clothes spoke differently though. They were royal, just like Sesshomaru’s. You could tell from the quality of the fabric to the design and coloring of the silk.

“If it is about this uprising, I don’t think there is anything I can do. I know very few demon’s in the south,” came her reply.

The demon before her smiled, “That is sweet but unnecessary. If you must know, we believe Naraku to be at the heart of this turmoil. It was the three Lord’s wishes, minus Lord Sesshomaru of course, that we, your forces and ours, join forces. Perhaps our information could benefit one another. With our resources and your group’s firsthand knowledge of the matter, perhaps we could win this yet.”

Kagome slowly took in the words of the man before her, watching as the other two Lords, similarly dressed to Lord Shiho, stood next to her.

“You want me to convince Inuyasha and the other’s of this plan, don’t you?” came her understanding reply.

The Lord behind Lord Shiho laughed, “Inuyasha may be the protector of the group but it is obvious who is alpha and pack mother. Undoubtedly you can sway your pack.”

Kagome scanned their demonic faces quickly, and then back towards the fighting brothers. She watched helplessly as Inuyasha was thrown through a wall, Sesshomaru quickly behind him.

“Sorry, but that would never work. As much as I think it would benefit everyone…I can’t do that to Inuyasha. And don’t try to change my mind, I have very good reasoning here. One, Inuyasha is not about to do that. He would rather be sa-” she cut herself off before she accidentally plummeted Inuyasha to the ground during his fight, “down on all fours than work with Sesshomaru. Second, Inuyasha does not take orders, which Sesshomaru would undoubtedly give. Third point, Sesshomaru would slaughter him within the week. Furthermore, Sesshomaru would never work with us, he would rather die than associate himself with Inuyasha,” she turned back to the three Lord’s. “It would be a faulty alliance, one which Naraku would most defiantly use to his advantage.”

The same Lord as before stepped forward, “Let us handle Lord Sesshomaru, he will have no choice in the matter.”

Kagome rolled her eyes at their foolishness, “An irate and cornered Sesshomaru. Yes, that will be pleasant. I think we’ll pass, it was a nice offer though.”

“We can control him,” said the last of the Lords, “He may be young and powerful but we have the advantage of experience on our side.”

“You think you can control that?” she pointed to the figure that was making another lung at her best friend. “I don’t think even he can control that.”

Kagome turned around as she motioned for her friends to join her so they could leave, and Inuyasha could get the hell out of there. The only reason she fought with him was so he could last in the fight they both knew was going to happen. There was no way she was dragging it out longer than necessary. But before she could make it to her friends, and most importantly Shippo, who was already on Kilala’s back, something stopped her.

A claw snaked its way around her shoulder. She turned around to see Inuyasha leaning on her side. He was panting, slightly bloody, and barely able to hold his own weight. Even in her shocked state of mind she noticed that he had no noticeably detrimental wounds, no gaping holes and he wasn’t unconscious. He just seemed tired and scratched up.

Well at least her plan worked, right? Still baffled beyond belief at why he was standing there she looked up to see Sesshomaru standing in the middle of the wrecked dining room, surrounded by the three Lords.

To say she was thankful was an understatement, even if they were trying to show her what power they held. Kagome looked towards Inuyasha as he continued to lean on her, “Give up?”

“Keh, those old men got in the way,” he panted, “apparently Sesshomaru is too much of a sissy to hit one of them.”

Kagome nodded her head as she wrapped Inuyasha’s arm around her shoulders, “Well it is best not to hit one of your allies.”

“Whatever…I’m better at protecting you guys anyways, no one could do what I do. Did you see that move I pulled on him after he threw me through the wall? I could have killed him you know,” came his still breathy response.

Kagome had to stifle a laugh as she listened. It was always weird when Inuyasha’s insecurities broke through. Honestly, it’s not like he showed them often. Well, at least her plan worked, no gaping holes. Kagome laughed just a little at that thought. Getting Inuyasha riled up right before a fight always turned out for the best, she had learned that quickly after she met him. Just one of the reason’s she always fought with him…that and it was fun.

“Of course Inuyasha, anyone else would fail miserably,” she said back.

“You are free to go, please tell us if you change your mind Lady Kagome,” came Lord Shiho’s calm voice.

Inuyasha, realizing that his brother was still in the room and that he was leaning on a girl for support in front of said brother, quickly regained his composure and none so gracefully walked out of the hole in the wall. The one caused from the first time he had been thrown.

Kagome turned around and waved, deciding that she liked this Lord Shiho.

Sango and Miroku quickly followed Kilala as the giant cat walked through the same hole, Shippo on her back.

Kagome sighed as she thought about their offer, it really was too bad they were talking about Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, anyone else and she probably could have made it work. Perhaps one day those two would get along…speaking of which, where was Touga?

Kagome suddenly felt a blinding pain hit her noise as she walked into what felt like a brick wall. “Oww,” she yelped as she rubbed her nose. Funny, she could have sworn there was nothing but air there.

She looked up to see, yes, nothing but air. Well that was strange. Inuyasha suddenly came through the clearing, “Woman, are you coming or am I dragging you?”

She rolled her eyes, “Relax would you? I just need to-” but once again the pain of running into something struck her as she took another step forward. Only this time she was not only halted in her steps but being thrown backwards after said blinding pain.

Once Kagome opened her eyes she stared at the opening, wondering how she managed to fall a good three to four feet away from it. “What the hell?”

And then she saw it. The very faint, very pink glow of purifying energy that surrounded the opening. Inuyasha, oblivious to the pink barrier, walked right through it.

“Something wrong? Forget how to walk?” he chastised, but quickly grabbed her hand in order to pull her through.

Once she was on her feet he yanked the baffled woman to the entrance way. He walked through the pink wall without a thought or flinch but as soon as she tried Kagome was once again thrown a good foot backwards. This was beyond odd, how was it Inuyasha, the half demon, could walk through the purifying barrier and not feel it, yet she couldn’t pass? And who would put something like that up in a demon castle? And why wasn’t anyone else saying anything about it?

And then she realized how familiar this conversation sounded. In fact, she had had this same talk with herself not a week ago.

No…please god no.

Kagome quickly glanced around for the trickster spirit known to haunt her, and then she found him…waving…and on the other side of the barrier.

Apparently, she wasn’t going anywhere.

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Firevixen73- I hope everyone likes it. I have to say, I think this is turning out to be one of my favorite stories! And about the whole fighting to rile him up part, I noticed it during the series. Kagome and him are always fight about something menial so I figured I’d put a reason to it. Please review, it will make my day!