Chapter Five

Despite the fact that Sesshomaru had intended on visiting the Miko after he'd visited his wards, a few problems had sprang up to stall him. Between dealing with a nest of beetle youkai that wished to make his homeland theirs, and his servants (who'd suddenly become overly lazy) he'd had no time.

And just when he thought he'd get a chance to go, a blizzard struck and grounded him for another week. So by the end of that month he was irritable and looking for something to vent his anger out on; altogether not a good time to go and visit the Miko, but he wanted to get it over and done with.

He expected the village to be quiet as he approached but was soon proven wrong when he caught the sounds of shouting. Frowning, he picked up the pace and extended his senses to find the Miko was running straight for him.

On the heels of discovering her presence and course, he detected the swarm of youkai that were hot on her trail. She's leading them away from the village to deal with them. He thought as he landed in a small clearing and prepared himself for a fight, his blood already heating up in his veins as his heart picked up its pace.

A moment later and he could hear her pounding footsteps as she ran through the forest and right after that, the snarls of power hungry youkai rang through his ears.

The snow must have muted the sounds somewhat because he wasn't expecting her to come crashing through the bramble before turning her fall into a controlled tumble. Nor was he expecting what happened next; without even stopping to notice him, she popped out of her tumble and whirled around to face her enemies while drawing an arrow and bringing up her bow.

From one breath to the next the arrow flared to life with more power than he ever realized she'd possessed and he found he was frozen in place as she loosed it. The resounding wails that came from her prey told them both that she'd succeeded in wiping them out completely.

Once the youkai had been purified to ash, an eerie silence settled around them as she panted to catch her breath without taking her eyes off of the forest she'd just run through. He shifted his gaze to her and watched as her shoulders slumped in either relief or exhaustion; he couldn't say which one it was for sure, but either way it bothered him.

"Miko," He said then blinked as she whipped around; an arrow knocked and aimed right at him, her eyes glowing near white with the power she carried.

It took her a moment to register just it was she was facing; and when she did, she blinked a couple times just to be sure. Once she was sure it was him she sighed as she relaxed the tension on her string and lowered her bow. "You startled me."

"Apparently," He mused as he arched an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

"Oh you know the usual." She shrugged as she climbed to her feet then glanced down at her torn and bloody haori. "Man that's the third one this week."

"How many battles have you fought in Miko?" He frowned as he took in the wound to find it wasn't serious.

"Too many to count," She shrugged as she shouldered her bow. "They've been coming out of the woodwork ever since that blizzard last week."

"I see you've gained control of your powers."

"Yeah and just in the nick of time to," She muttered as they started making their way back towards the village. "It's all I've got to rely on right now."

"What of Tesseiga?"

She put her head down to keep an eye on the ground as she chewed her lip on thought, after a moment she sighed and lifted her gaze to the path before them. "It won't transform for me."

He arched an eyebrow at that. "I thought Inuyasha said that he wished for you to learn how to wield it?"

"He did but… I don't know." She shrugged. "I've been taking lessons on how to wield a sword and I carry it everywhere with me, but it still won't work."

"I see."

"Yeah, actually I was hoping you might be able to tell me something about it."

"You knew I was coming?"

"I didn't have a clue." She said with a wry smile though she didn't look up at him. "I figured I'd have to be the one to hunt you down but planned on waiting until spring for that."

"Then it is a good thing I came to you now." He said. "My vassals do not take kindly to Miko's wandering around my lands."

"Well I figured that much." She said dryly. "But I figured if I waved the Tesseiga around and claimed that I knew you they might have at least brought me to you, or I could've just started purifying them to get your attention."

"You would not have been welcome if you'd done such a thing." He growled.

"Yeah I kind of figured that." She said. "At least your guys aren't stupid enough to come after me, though why that is I'm not quite sure."

"I told my vassals that they would be dealing with me personally if they thought to do something so stupid."

"Providing I didn't purify them first," She said pointedly.

"There is that as well." He said. "The youkai of my lands know you are the Shikon Miko and destroyer of Naraku; and while most of them do not care for humans they have enough logic to respect that you have done away with their enemy."

"Well that's good to know." She said as they broke through the clearing to find the village settling down while a group of farmers with pitchforks waited on the outskirts.

"Lady Kagome." One of them growled while they eyed Sesshomaru.

"You can relax, the youkai are dead and this one isn't here to pick a fight." She said with a barely repressed sigh.

"Remember Lady, ye have two weeks left." Another said while the rest began their trek back to the village while grumbling under their breaths.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten." She said crisply while ignoring Sesshomaru's arched eyebrow.

The first nodded then eyed Sesshomaru a moment more before turning and retreating to the village. Sesshomaru waited until they were well out of ear shot before turning to face Kagome.

"Explain Miko."

"It doesn't matter." She said as she made to head for the village only to stop when he interposed himself in her path; she bit her lip as she lowered her head and looked off to the side.

"You will explain now." He demanded.

"About two weeks ago, the villagers figured out that I'm the cause of all the attacks." She said softly. "They gave me a month to learn the rest of what I needed before I have to leave; if I don't leave they'll tie me up and offer me to the youkai as a sign of peace."

"Ridiculous." He growled.

"Can you blame them? I swore to protect the jewel and keep it from harming people." She said. "By staying here I'm not doing a very good job at that, two people were wounded today because of me."

"Where will you go?" He asked after a moment.

"I don't know." She murmured. "I figured I'd find someplace where there are no people, that way no one will get hurt when the youkai come for me."

"You cannot simply hide out in the wilderness."

"And why not?"

"You are a Miko are you not?"

"Yes but my duty is to see to the protection of the jewel; there are other Miko's who can tend to the people." She shrugged. "Besides I'm… not from these parts, my presence here would end up doing more harm than good."

"What does that mean?"

"I'll explain it later." She said. "I have to go and clean up."

"I am not done discussing these matters with you Miko." He said as his eyes narrowed.

"Fine but can I at least clean up and change, I'm getting kind of tired of bleeding all over the place."

He blinked at that and looked down to find she'd lost a considerable amount of blood while they stood there. "Very well, I will wait by the Goshinboku."

"Thanks." She said before stepping past him and heading for the village.

Sesshomaru watched after her a moment before turning on his heel and heading for the God Tree.

~*~

By the time Kagome appeared at the appointed meeting place, the sun was preparing to set for the day.

"Sorry about taking so long I had a little problem to deal with." She said.

"What problem?"

"Just a couple of concerned farmers," She said lightly; once again she wasn't facing him and instead was looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I see." He said after a moment.

"So what brings you here Sesshomaru?"

"There was a trader telling tales of your battles here."

"Oh so you came to make sure I was holding my own against my enemies?"

"Yes."

"Well don't worry, I have everything under control."

"Your demeanor states otherwise."

She started in surprise before sighing as her shoulders slumped. "I'm still getting used to this alright? It's just taking some time."

"It's more than that Miko." He said as he approached her; noting how she took a step back and turned her head further away. "Look at me."

"Please Sesshomaru, this isn't a big deal." She said as she made to step back but froze when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look at me now." He growled.

She remained rooted to her spot for a moment longer before sighing and lifting her head. She was a shell of her former self and while she didn't look sickly; she looked hollow, almost like she was simply a body with no soul. The fey look in her eyes hadn't changed; in fact it only seemed to have settled more permanently.

"I'm just tired." She said softly. "And I lost a lot of blood today; I'll be good as new in no time."

Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow while wondering if she was saying the words to assure him, or herself. And while she possesses such power, she is still weakening. Why is that?

As he studied her, she grew increasingly uncomfortable and started fidgeting. Finally she had enough and dropped her gaze, breaking the tension filled deadlock.

"So everything's alright." She said as she took a step away from him and turned her gaze to the forest. "I'm leaving here in two weeks; I'll probably head south and set up shop in the forest somewhere; no doubt you'll start hearing rumors about some crazy youkai killer, and then soon after that the stories about the forest being cursed by an evil witch will start to circulate. I'm actually kind of looking forward to that, people are superstitious and they'll avoid me which means they'll be safe."

"No."

"Eh?" She asked intelligently as she slanted a gaze in his direction.

"You will not go south." He said. "You will come to the West."

"No." She shook her head. "It's too dangerous for your people, sooner or later the call of the jewel will become too much for your vassals and they'll give into it. I don't want you to end up hating me because I was forced to kill them."

"You think I will not be capable of keeping my vassals in check Miko?" He growled.

"Sesshomaru, not every youkai is as content with their strength and power as you are." She said, surprising him a bit. "It doesn't matter how good of a ruler you are, there will always be those who want more power than what they have. In the end it won't matter; if they think they have a chance of gaining a hold of that power, they will do whatever it takes. I can't allow that to happen."

"But alone you are in even more danger." He said pointedly then arched an eyebrow as she flinched.

For a moment she said nothing; then she shook herself and swallowed. "This is my task, no one else's. And besides, I'm really not so easy to kill anymore. I can handle it, really."

He narrowed his eyes at that a moment then smoothed his features out as a thought occurred to him. Why am I offering to give her a safe place to reside? She is correct, this task is her own and it is not my place to interfere. Perhaps it is because she is a ninjen and while she is immortal she is still weak, it's only a matter of time before the rogue youkai overwhelm her and claim the jewel.

"So, was there anything else?" She asked, signaling she was done talking and wanted to get away from him.

"You say you are leaving in two weeks?" He asked as a plan began to form in his mind.

"That's right." She said. "There are just a couple more things I have to learn from Kaede and Gin-dono offered to give me a few more lessons in combat. He said for only training such a short time I've managed to pick things up pretty quickly; it's probably because I've seen so much fighting already, it's only natural to start picking things up along the way."

"Indeed." He mused. "Very well Miko return to your business, but first if I might make a suggestion?"

"What is it?" She asked warily.

"As you said you are not a regular Miko and though you are immortal you can still be injured. Perhaps you should start wearing a battle kimono and armor to prevent yourself from gaining unnecessary injuries?"

She rocked back on her heels in surprise then frowned. "Now why didn't I think of that?" She muttered.

"You have had many things on your mind."

"I suppose I have." She mused. "Alright I'll look into it."

"Very well, until next time Miko." And before she could dispute that, he took off leaving her alone next to the Goshinboku.

Kagome sighed and rubbed her forehead a moment before slanting a gaze at the ancient tree. "I wish you were here." She said softly before turning on her heel and heading back to the village.

She knew deep down that Sesshomaru wasn't going to give her two weeks before he decided to come back and drag her to the West; she'd known it the moment he asked her when she was leaving, but for what reason she wasn't sure. He was a Lord and as a Lord it was his duty to ensure his people were safe from harm; taking her to his home was a stupid thing to do, no matter how powerful he thought he was.

So I have to leave earlier than that, it's the only way to keep him from inviting more trouble to his lands. And once I've left the village I'll conceal my scent and aura; that'll work for a time until I find a safe place to take up residence. Maybe by then I'll have figured out why the Tesseiga won't work for me; and if he finds me and I can prove I'm capable of taking care of myself, he'll leave me alone.

She couldn't deny it though; even while she made plans to get away before he could come back, a part of her was hoping and praying he'd catch on and come before she did.

~*~

A/N: way i finally managed to update! Stupid Squishy has been demanding i work on other projects and it's been frustrating. But finally i get another chapter up for you! SOrry it's taken forever and Happy New Year!!