Chapter 7

Kagome grinned as she pulled Sena around the ranch and pointed out the random cows and other farm er ranch animals. Yes she was acting childish but come on she was at a Ranch for the very first time! It was cool! She grinned as she turned to Sena, "Mahh look at that cow…doesn't it remind you of someone?"

Sena looked at the cow. "Yeah…it looks like Monta!" They both laughed as Monta cried out. "It does not!"

She paused as she felt a pair of eyes on her back, she quickly turned to see who it was and was not surprised to see it was Hiruma. He was halfway across the giant field standing in front of the practice field where the Gunmen were practicing plays. She smiled lightly at him, he was really dedicated to the team. Yeah, she knew she was being childish by avoiding him, but he had hurt her bad…saying that what they did on the plane changed nothing! She huffed her anger renewed as she turned her back on him and pulled Sena and Monta towards the barn.

"Oi! Kagome!" She blinked and turned towards the person who called her name. "What do ya want, old man?"

Doburoku rolled his eyes at her but mentioned them over. "Look…I just wanted to know if you guys wanted to get in some training…"

Sena and Monta nodded eagerly. "Yes, Sir!"

Kagome smiled as the rest of the team came over. Oh, this was going to be fun!

How right she was, she held her sides as she laughed, oh gawd they looked so ridiculous! But…they were so serious and that was what made it even funnier. They were all decked out as Indians, hell even Hiruma had let her put some war paint on him. But the old man took the cake, not only was he decked out as an Indian chief but he was sitting on a horse that was also decked out in war paint…plus he had a war drum…and of course had his bottle of sake.

Doburoku glared at Kagome before turning to the others who were lined up in front of him. "ALRIGHT! We're gunna train ya'll for that explosive breakthrough! Starting with 'Indian Running! Kagome stop giggling!'" She smiled as they all cheered, minus Hiruma of course. Hmm maybe she would join them…she nodded yeah, she would. She quickly ran inside and changed into a tan tank top and a pair of black short shorts. She sloppily tossed her hair into a high ponytail and threw on an Indian headband.

She smiled as she stood next to the horse, "Old man what can I do to help?" He grinned and pointed at three jugs of water sitting on a grill. "You can run alongside me and hand me a jug when I run out of water, be careful though they're hot as hell." She grinned evilly and nodded grabbing an oven mitt so she could grab one of the bottles and handed it to him, smirking at his pink flowery oven mitt.

She shook her head as she grabbed the other two jugs and jogged after them, already she could hear them crying out in pain as the boiling hot water hit them forcing them to run to the front and repeat the process. To others it would seem inhumane, hell it was but, hey, it worked. They needed to get in as much training as they could if they wanted to make it to the Christmas Bowl. Even so she couldn't help but wince as Sena cried out in pain.

It was an hour later that they were done for that day, everyone minus Hiruma was sprawled out on the ground panting for breath and gasping in pain. She rolled eyes at Hiruma as he grinned at her, he was the only one who hadn't gotten hit by the boiling hot water. She smiled at Mamori as they tended to the fallen, Mamori felt guilty as well, she was the one who kept warming up new jugs of boiling hot water for her to run back and grab.

She crouched down next to Sena and lightly placed her hands on his back, allowing small amounts of her power to seep into his burned back and heal it. "You did real good Sena. All of you did!" She grinned as they groaned in response. "Let's try harder next time!" She laughed as they groaned in pain.

She blinked as The Kid walked over to them. "Yes?" He tipped his hat at her. "It's time for dinner little lady." She twitched at the nickname but nodded. "We'll be there in a few." He nodded and walked away. "Alright team! Get up, it's time for some grub!" They groaned again but slowly got up, food sounded so good right now.

Kagome sighed in annoyance as Hiruma and The Old Man argued about plays and whatnot. Kami was it boring...everyone else had already finished eating and had dispersed across the ranch. As it was right now only she, Fatty, The Old Man, and Hiruma were left in the dining room.

She rolled her eyes as they started talking about the death march, well more like argued about it. The Old Man didn't think Hiruma knew what he was suggesting. While Hiruma defended he knew what he was suggesting and that their team could do it.

Honestly she agreed with Hiruma she knew their team would be able to do it, it would be hard but they would do it. Even so she didn't want to sit here and listen to them argue. "Guys, I'm going outside…" She rolled her eyes as they went on arguing.

Kagome sighed as she walked away from them and went outside. She smiled as she spotted Sena sitting alone by a campfire. She quietly made her way towards him, "Hey, Sena mind if I join you?" He blushed as he looked at her, "Ah, no I don't mind." She smiled as she sat down next to him and looked up at the sky; it was truly a sight to see.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while but Sena kept sneaking glances at Kagome like he was unsure about something. Kagome of course noticed and decided to break the ice. "It's so beautiful out here." Sena nodded his eyes not leaving her upturned face as she gazed at the sky, "Yeah it is…" He blushed and looked away from her when she turned to look at him.

"Sena?" He blushed even more yet he met her gaze, "Ano…Kagome there's something I want to ask you…" He trailed off as he looked at the fire in embarrassment.

Kagome smiled at him, "Well what is it Sena?" He sighed as he gathered his courage and turned to her a fire burning in his eyes that took Kagome's breath away. "Kagome…how do you feel about Hiruma?"

Kagome blinked, "What do you mean? He's my friend just like you and everybody else…"

Sena shook his head, "No, Kagome what I mean is do you love him?"

Kagome blushed and looked away from his intense gaze. Should she answer him? She glanced at him and blushed even more at his determined gaze. Yes she would answer him, she owed it to him to tell him the truth… She sighed as she pulled her knees to her chest… "I don't know…there are times when I see him as a friend and times when I see him as more…." She trailed off as she looked into the fire.

Sena sighed, "I see…"

Kagome quickly turned to him a blush staining her face, "But! I'm starting to feel that way about you to…I mean for some reason I feel drawn to you. I know that if given time I can fall in love with you…but…I want to wait and see…I-I can't help but want to wait and see what happens between me and Hiruma. I mean there are times he treats me as a friend and times when he treats me as more than a friend…" She trailed off guilt lacing her words, she knew she sounded selfish but that is how she truly felt and she owed it to him to tell him the truth.

She looked at him embarrassed, "You don't have to wait for me to figure my feelings out…it wouldn't be fair but I just wanted you to know…"

Sena smiled at her and took one of her hands into his own, "That's okay…I'll wait however long it takes. If there's even a one percent chance that's good enough to keep fighting because if you just give up that one percent becomes zero."

Kagome smiled at him and intertwined their fingers. "You're right."

She sighed happily as she leaned against him, their hands still intertwined and gazed up at the sky. A comfortable silence between them, it felt nice to get it all out in the open with Sena; maybe she should be as honest with Hiruma…yeah she would. But for now she would enjoy being with Sena…it was nice. She sighed happily and turned to look at Sena. "It's a shame we have to leave tomorrow."

Sena nodded, "Yeah, it's nice here but it'll be nice to be home again." She nodded and leaned more of her weight against him enjoying how peaceful it was, tomorrow was no doubt going to be hell.