Disclaimer: I own nothing

Rated: T

Inspired by Whispering Kage (thank ya!)

'Thunk'

Blue eyes narrowed and thin brows furrowed, noticing that the arrow had embedded itself into the bullseye of the target, but not exactly where she had wanted it to go.

It was probably less than a millimetre off the centre of the bullseye, but it wasn't in the exact centre, "Damn." Kagome muttered, curling her fingers tighter around the sleek compound bow.

Her skill may have been called exceptional by any others, but it wasn't up to par back when she was using her Japanese short bow.

But alas, this was no longer the Sengoku Era and she had to move on – and even though she had refused to give up her archery, it was pretty much fact that her traditional bow no longer had a use in this modern world, except for museums and such.

Kagome sighed, noticing that all her arrows were gone from her quiver and that it had been at least an hour since she had started her practise at the archery range.

It was quiet, almost dead so, but she didn't mind it at all – in fact, she preferred it. Archery, nowadays, was only a sport now, not even all too popular in this part of the world, so the range was almost always empty.

Except for him.

Kagome blinked blue eyes, glancing out of the corners of them to look at the tall man with short spiked blond hair who was skillfully shooting arrow after arrow into the target and she was very impressed to see that even some of his arrows were splitting.

'That's... almost impossible.' She thought, knowing how near impossible it was to split an arrow with another arrow that was not made of wood.

It simply meant he was a master archer.

Kagome glanced away, noticing that she was staring (rudely, at that) and turned back to her own target, collecting the arrows to place back into her quiver while she took off the black fingerless gloves and sighed.

Sesshoumaru would probably be angry with her that she had left without telling him where she was going yet again.

'Onii-san should know by now.' She pouted, collecting her things and making sure that she avoided looking at the man when she walked past him.

Kagome almost dropped her equipment when a male voice spoke up, immediately breaking the quiet and almost serene atmosphere.

"Leaving so soon?"

The miko quickly turned, seeing that the man was eyeing her from the corners of his eyes and, with a light smirk to his face, released an arrow that embedded directly in the middle of the target, despite not even looking at where he was shooting.

It actually kind of irritated her.

"Excuse me?" Kagome furrowed her brows, not expecting for him to speak to her as he relaxed his stand and turned fully to look at her.

"I can't help but notice that you're here every day," The man said, "Even for hours on end sometimes. It's not common at all to see one so dedicated to archery these days, even for the tournament-goers."

"The same could be said of you," Kagome retorted back, not sure why she felt so defensive, "I notice that you're here more so than me."

"That's true," The man said and Kagome noticed a smile on his face that told her he had a reason he was always here, "But I have never seen another person who is as skilled as you, other than myself."

"It's a just hobby," She said quickly, still feeling a little defensive, even though she had no idea why she had to explain herself to a complete stranger, "For two years now."

The man whistled sharply, obviously impressed, "Only two years and you're already this skilled?" He stepped closer, "You have some talent, Miss..." He trailed off, obviously asking for her name.

"Kagome Higurashi." She muttered, glancing away as he smirked at her.

"You have some talent, Miss Higurashi," He held out his hand and Kagome hesitated before placing her hand in his, feeling how calloused his hand actually was as they shook hands, "Clint Barton."

She could only assume that was his own name, but her mind barely had time to even process the new information when he shocked her with his next words.

"Higurashi, would you like to learn a few tricks?"

Was... was he offering to teach her?