Evanescent
By: HalcyonMoments11
You're a pretty butterfly;
You keep on passing by.
You never land inside my hands;
Your home is in the sky.
-Christina Perri (Butterfly)
The members of the inu-tachi found themselves spending another day in the small village they had taken refuge in to heal with the knowledge that the night would bring the new moon. While collecting a few last supplies before they continued on their journey in the morning, they were pleasantly surprised to learn that the village's celebration of the summer solstice would take place that evening. The mother of Shippō's friend, Airi, happily invited Sango and Kagome over to peruse her small collection of yukatas for the occasion.
While the two women were out—Shippō in tow, of course—Miroku set to replenishing his supply of sutras and did his best to ignore the anxiously pacing hanyou.
"Relax, Inuyasha. They'll be back soon." Miroku sighed after what had to be Inuyasha's hundredth huff.
"What the hell is taking them so long?!" he demanded.
Miroku collected a row of dried sutras and carefully packed them away.
"I'm sure they're just enjoying some time preparing for the celebration, a semblance of normalcy."
"Feh." Inuyasha scoffed, ears flickering agitatedly. "Normalcy? What the hell do you mean by that?"
"Just that we don't get to do this often, Inuyasha, and sometimes we need a moment to rest and celebrate something. Perhaps you could also use a moment, hm?"
White ears bent backward in response, then quickly perked up at the sound of laughter and the door to the small suite they had rented for a few days sliding open.
"Ah, welcome back ladies, Shippō-chan." Miroku greeted cheerfully as Sango and Kagome walked in, a neko and kitsune perched on their shoulders.
"And where the hell have you been?!" Inuyasha interrogated.
Kagome smiled warmly in his direction and he faltered.
"Fusae-san kindly shared her yukata collection with us; we were trying them on for tonight."
"Who's Fusae?" Half-hearted irritation this time.
"Airi's okaa-san!" Shippō chimed in, hopping off Kagome's shoulder to dig in her bag for any remnants of candies.
"Well that was kind of her," Miroku commented as he collected the rest of his sutras. "I'm sure you ladies will look ravishing this evening."
"Careful, Houshi-sama." Sango's warning tone drew his attention back to the women who were stretching their borrowed yukatas out across their bed rolls.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I simply meant that as a compliment, my dearest Sango-san, nothing more."
"Mm-hmm." Sango turned to meet his gaze, arms crossed over her chest, a half-smile on her lips.
"On that note!" Kagome interrupted with a clap, drawing everyone's attention. "You…" she pointed to Inuyasha and then Miroku. "You'll both have to leave while we change and get ready for the festival tonight!"
"And where the hell are we supposed to go?" Inuyasha asked, arms crossed defiantly across his chest.
Miroku suspected that the hanyou's defensive stance stemmed from the knowledge that dusk was just an hour or so away; despite that, his eyebrows rose in curiosity. 'This could be an interesting development…'
"We could go to the market!" Shippō declared.
'Well, there goes that.'
"Feh. So you can keep chasing the tail of that girl you've been after most of the week? Yeah, right!" Inuyasha responded, drawing a furious blush from the kitsune.
"I-I… I have not!"
The women muffled giggles. Miroku chuckled, drawing a rather adorable glare from the kit.
"The hell you haven't!" Inuyasha countered with a taunting grin.
Kagome placed a hand on his elbow, drawing his attention back to her.
"I don't care where you go, you can just sit outside until we're done if you must, but the sooner you leave the sooner you can come back inside," she stated gently, seeking his gaze with a small smile.
Amber eyes met her blue and his stance visibly softened. Ears twitching, he huffed. "Yeah, yeah. We'll wait outside for ya to change. Might as well make sure the houshi doesn't try anything."
"I don't appreciate your accusation, Inuyasha." Miroku protested indignantly.
"Oi, don't give me that houshi," Inuyasha spat.
"Oh, Miroku-sama wouldn't dare peak before we were ready for the festival!" Kagome interrupted, slowly pushing the two of them out the door. "He wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. Would you?"
Curiosity got the better of both males of the group. "Surprise?"
Kagome gave them a little shove out the door. "You'll have to wait and see!" she said with a little smile and a wink before she closed it in their faces.
Just under an hour later, the door opened behind them and a freshly cleaned and spruced up Shippō beckoned them inside.
Kagome and Sango were busying themselves with setting the table for a small dinner when they walked in, both dressed in their borrowed yukatas and radiating excitement.
The taijiya glanced up shyly in Miroku's direction when he entered, flushed, and turned back to setting the table. She looked stunning in a deep blue-violet yukata delicately decorated with what appeared to be silver constellations. The black obi she wore accentuated the curve of her waist, the lusciousness of her curves that were often only revealed when she wore her taijiya uniform. Miroku delightfully noted that the violet shade of the yukata was quite close to the color of his kesu.
Kagome bumped her friend's elbow conspiratorially and giggled, drawing the monk's attention to her. The miko looked gorgeous in a lavender yukata and navy obi; bursts of gold, navy, and maroon flowers seemingly blooming from all the right places to emphasize her own curves; hair pulled up in a loose bun with a pair of simple wooden juda sticks, tipped with gold paint, revealing the spans of her neck, the curve of her jaw line, the faint dip of skin where her yukata crossed her chest. She smiled gently when his violet eyes met her azure blue, an eyebrow raising slightly as if to say: So?
"So, what's the surprise?" Inuyasha asked obliviously, drawing a look of exasperation and small huff from their miko companion.
Miroku sighed with her and said genially, "You both look phenomenal." The taijiya's blush deepened and Kagome beamed.
"Thank you, Miroku-sama!"
"What about me, Miroku?!" Shippō demanded, hopping up onto Miroku's shoulder.
"Well Shippō-chan, I'm certain you'll draw Airi's eye tonight!"
The kitsune flushed crimson and Kagome and Sango laughed. Inuyasha huffed and the miko's blue eyes turned to their hanyou friend.
"So, we'll have dinner, wait for the sun to go down, then venture out for the festival, ne?" she asked gently.
Before the hanyou could respond, Miroku chimed in with a "Sounds wonderful, Kagome-sama," drawing her brilliant blue eyes back to him with a soft surge of her reiki. He suppressed a shiver at the feeling.
After the sun had set and Inuyasha's transformation with the new moon was complete, Kagome ushered them all out into the small village festival, a fully human Inuyasha in tow, as susceptible to the beautiful miko's coaxing and charms as all of them in the moment. Feeling annoyed—and perhaps a bit vulnerable—Inuyasha kept to the shadows as much as possible as the rest of the inu-tachi enjoyed the artisanal stalls and delicacies, music, dancing, and games.
As she often did in peaceful moments, Kagome wandered off until she was just beyond the faint light of village lanterns and fires. Miroku could just make out her silhouette in the field on the outskirts of the village. Inuyasha huffed behind him and Miroku turned a knowing smile in his direction. Dark gray eyes glanced at him momentarily and then back to the miko, squinting slightly to see her.
"Why is she always wandering off?" he grumbled.
Miroku chuckled and shook his head. "Shall I go fetch her, Inuyasha?" he asked in response.
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed behind inky black bangs, nose wrinkling in annoyance at the word "fetch," but nodded.
"She should be more careful," he stated quietly. Miroku knew he meant that she should be more aware of her surroundings, particularly given Inuyasha's very human senses and vulnerabilities at the moment, but he also caught the concerned edge to Inuyasha's voice, the warmth that wasn't often discernible beyond the nights of the new moon unless you knew how to look for it.
He cast another small smile at his friend before turning to go. "Would she be our Kagome-sama otherwise?"
"Feh." A quiet, almost affectionate acknowledgement. "Just bring her back over here… un-harassed houshi."
Miroku waved his hand in part acknowledgement, part dismissal and shifted his shakujō against his shoulder, rings jangling faintly as he made his way out towards their miko companion.
When he caught up to her in the field, he alerted her to his presence with a soft, "Kagome-sama?"
Kagome was crouching low in the field, carefully examining the content of her hands. Azure eyes turned up to meet his violet and she smiled winsomely as he crouched down beside her.
"Look Miroku-sama!" She opened her clasped hands and in her palm a small green light flashed quickly before fluttering up before her. "Fireflies!"
Miroku cast his gaze around them to find many more brightly blinking small green lights, a small pulsating wave of them fluttering in the high grasses around them. He nodded in response and they remained in companionable silence, watching for several moments. The fireflies' dance was slow, precise, serene.
Kagome sighed contently beside him. "You know, the lights they produce are chemical reactions they can control to fend off predators and attract mates," she said quietly.
Miroku turned his gaze back to the miko beside him. She continued to look around them with wonder; the sight of her brought a warm smile to his lips. "Is that so?" he asked, encouraging her to go on.
Kagome nodded, not noticing his attention had turned to her. "They cast their lights in patterns to find each other, so what we're witnessing is the males trying to attract the females. The brightest, flashiest males get the girl." Kagome laughed and turned her vibrant blue gaze back to him.
Even in the dark she was stunning. Her soft, pale features were framed by stray strands of ebony locks that had fallen out of her bun, shadows of the night and the passing glow of fireflies casting strangely flattering lines along her jaw, across her cheekbones, below the pout of her lips.
"Seems accurate," Miroku replied, thinking about the many times he had considered the way the new moon practically drained the light from their hanyou friend, and though Inuyasha certainly remained handsome during his tenure as human, no one who had witnessed his transformation in the early morning hours of the day following the new moon could deny the way he practically glowed when his youkai blood came back to him. He had seen the awe and admiration in Kagome's expression in those moments many times throughout the past few years they had travelled together. 'The brightest, flashiest males get the girl, indeed…'
Kagome brought his attention back to the present with a playful bump of her shoulder against his. "Are you admiring their flirtations, Miroku-sama?" She giggled.
Miroku chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I have to take advantage of lessons in charming beautiful women such as yourself where I can get them," he replied in a teasing tone, standing slowly and offering her his hand.
She rolled her eyes and took his hand. He pulled her to her feet, tugging her just slightly closer than necessary as he did. He heard her breath hitch when he brushed his fingers against her cheek and tucked a loose strand of her raven locks behind her ear. He bent forward slightly and whispered, "That is what we learned yesterday after all, was it not?"
Her body tensed slightly as his hot breath washed across the crook of her neck, cheeks flushing prettily in response. "D-don't be such a tease, Miroku-sama," she said, voice hushed, eyes avoiding his.
He smirked, took a step away. "I would never dream of simply teasing you, my dear Kagome-sama. A lovely woman such as yourself deserves a proper courting." He winked when she turned her gaze up to him, skeptical but heartened.
Her blue eyed gaze slid back to the lights of the village where their friends were enjoying the festivities, toward the hanyou who was waiting.
He offered her his arm, drawing her attention back to him. "Shall we return to enjoy the festival, Kagome-sama? Inuyasha is waiting."
She blushed again, and he ignored the pang he felt knowing that it was not for him.
She took his arm, "As is Sango-chan, I'm sure!" she chirped.
A small smile curved the corners of his lips as his thoughts turned to the taijiya, wonderfully shy in the flattering yukata she wore that evening.
"Doesn't she look lovely tonight, Miroku-sama?" Miroku glanced down to the woman at his side, caught her gaze from beneath ebony lashes. He caught his breath and nodded in response.
"Beautiful," he admitted, though if asked in the moment he would not be able to say if it was a compliment meant for the taijiya or the miko on his arm.
He admired the miko's gracefulness and merriment when they returned to the lights of the village and she withdrew her arm from his, marveled at the light she carried herself with, warm and inviting. She found Sango who was affectionately teasing a flustered Shippō and laughed, wove her way through the crowd to Inuyasha, took his hands in hers, entwining their fingers, and coaxed him from the shadows. She was radiant; in his human state he couldn't possibly say no.
Dance with me, her smile said, beckoning him forward, beckoning them all near.
Impulsively, instinctively they gathered for her, smiling, laughing, dancing. The gold tips of the sticks holding her hair up flashing in the lantern light, flashing, flashing.
A/N: This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far, so I hope you enjoyed it. I dedicate this one to xXKillorbeKilledXx, 1Kenshinlover, DevilsDesign, and LadyAgni for your reviews and continued support, and to everyone who's still reading. Let me know what you think? – HM11