Disclaimer: I do not own any of the plot or characters in InuYasha
I don't know when or how often I'll be updating. It's just a little story I'm doing in my free time. Please feel free to comment but constructive criticism only, please. If you don't like it then feel free to not read it.
4
The young priestess knelt next to the well with Kaede holding a sutra between her fingers, courtesy of Miroku. The monk stood off to the side with Sango and Shippo, the three watching with interest. "Now say a prayer and place it on the well. Make sure you have your intent in mind. Might I make a suggestion?" At Kagome's nod, the old woman turned her gaze to the well. "Ye should place it out of sight, if possible. No doubt InuYasha will not be pleased when he discovers his inability to go through the well."
Humming, Kagome circled the well until she found a spot on one of the corners where the neighboring piece of wood was leaning forward ever so slightly. Kagome kneeled and concentrated on her prayer, making sure her desired effect was at the front of her mind. Once the prayer was made, Kagome's slim fingers were able to slip behind the plank and place the sutra on the other side. "What next, Kaede?"
Kaede shuffled over to the side of the well to inspect Kagome's work. Pleased, she kneeled beside the girl. "One more prayer for it to take effect." Both women bowed their heads and prayed, and their companions joined in to support of their friend.
After a moment, a pink light pulsed from the corner where the sutra was, and Kagome felt it deep within her. A blue light softly pulsed from the bottom of the well, as if in response to the pink pulse. Looking up at her friends, Kagome smiled sadly at them. "Thank you for being here." She didn't need to voice it for them to know her gratitude for them not fighting her decision. Nobody spoke for a few moments, the weight of the situation sinking in. This was the first time in Kagome's three years here that the group had faced this kind of problem. Youkai, Naraku, power-obsessed older broth- sorry, half-brothers... those all seemed minuscule compared to this. This was personal.
Standing, Kagome hugged each of her friends. "I'll be sleeping at home for the time being. Kaede, will early tomorrow morning work?" Shippo remained on her shoulder as she faced the older miko. Knowing the girl was not quite ready to face InuYasha, Kaede nodded and gingerly stood, stepping back toward the other two.
Sango chewed her lip anxiously. "Kagome, we can't leave them in that hut forever. Eventually, Kikyo will wake up and those sutras won't hold for good."
Kagome cringed. Sango's right but... right now I don't know when I'll be able to face him again. Goodness knows I don't want to see Kikyo either. Looking out toward InuYasha's forest, Kagome responded in a quiet voice. "How about when I've returned home after my lesson with Kaede, will that work?" As horrible as he had been to her, she felt awful keeping him caged like this. Sango nodded and opened her mouth to reply but Kagome but her off, a thought occurring to her. "Wait, Miroku," Kagome turned her attention to the monk, who had kept fairly quiet up until now. At his questioning look, she continued. "is there a way for you to keep someone in an enclosed space for a period of time?"
Frowning slightly in thought, Miroku nodded slowly. "I believe so. We may have to test it out first though, if you want to do what I think you do." Kagome nodded in response. "How about we try after your lesson tomorrow morning, and then when you come back the next day we can put it to use?" Miroku suggested.
Everyone agreed. They would keep the hanyou where he was for the moment, and free him after Kagome went home for the day tomorrow. Kagome hugged everyone one more time, then said her goodbyes and disappeared into the well with the familiar flash of blue light.
The rest of the day went quickly for Kagome. With her mother at work and the chores done, Sota and Grandpa under strict orders not to disturb her, she was able to get a jump start on her school work. Kagome was pleased to discover that she was much more productive and able to grasp the concepts easier than at school, mainly because she was able to start where she had last left off rather than having to play catch up during the lesson. Her studies went smoothly and time flew by until her mother returned a few hours later.
Kagome brought her mother and Grandpa up to speed on the decisions she had made that day, determined to keep her mother in the loop from now on. Hiromi was nothing but supportive and after some convincing, she was able to get her more traditional Grandpa on her side as well. With the progress she had already been able to make, Kagome was in a good enough mood to make dinner for her family. Sota was skeptical of it, Kagome never previously been one to cook, but her time in the feudal era had forced her to practice when they ran out of ramen. While not spectacular, the soup and vegetables she made had everyone full and content by the end of the meal.
Kagome went to bed early that night, knowing the next day would be busy. After she returned from her early lesson with Kaede, Kagome would have her self-defense lessons followed by schoolwork. She had a lot of work ahead of her, but knowing that at the end of it she would no longer be a liability to her friends made it worth it.
Sitting cross-legged in a field just outside of Kaede's village, Kagome's eyes were closed as she breathed evenly. Watched carefully by Kaede, she had been meditating for over an hour. This was the first step in being able to access the energy inside of her. Their friends had opted to stay near Kaede's hut, so as not to arouse InuYasha's suspicions.
"Alright, child," Kaede spoke softly to avoid startling the girl. "Look inward now. Do ye feel the energy?" She could feel it, deep within her. But... where? It was difficult to pinpoint. It's almost as if... as if it was everywhere. Kagome frowned. But there has to be some central location. If only I could find that... There! Almost breaking her focus, the girl felt herself buzzing with excitement. Below her sternum, but still between her ribs, she felt a well of pure energy. Weird, it feels like it's really deep inside of me but at the same time perfectly balanced in the center of my body. "Good, Kagome. Now hold out your hands and picture a sphere. Ye should be able to pull from within to form the shape."
Kagome concentrated on picturing the sphere in her outstretched hands. A breeze made some of her hair blow across her face and she impatiently blew it away. It was a while before Kagome felt a distinctly familiar pull from within and there was a flicker of pink energy between her hands before it disappeared. Her excitement returned, and she grinned up at Kaede. "Did you see that?" Kaede chuckled, nodding, and instructed her to try again.
They continued like this for quite some time before Kagome was successful in creating her sphere. The older miko had her practice making various shapes of different sizes, testing the girl's powers. She was impressed. It took most mikos at least a week of meditation before being able to manifest any sort of physical form, and even then, did not have the ability to do what Kagome was currently practicing.
Before they wrapped up their first lesson, Kaede began teaching the girl how to form a barrier at will. This was different from the shapes as it required Kagome to keep it up for longer periods of time, depending on the situation. Sweat poured down Kagome's face, the use of her previously neglected abilities taking its toll. "Just a little more, Kagome. Can ye make it larger?" The barrier, currently just large enough to surround the two, shot out to cover almost the whole field at once. Nodding, Kaede instructed the girl to release her barrier. "Ye will need to practice your control, of course."
Before Kagome departed, Kaede instructed her to practice what she had been taught today. The child has made more progress today than most make in months... I believe she may even surpass my sister. The thought made Kaede pause, for Kikyo was one of the strongest mikos of her time. Speaking of the dead woman, she had disappeared before she had risen that morning with not a word to anyone. Even stranger, she had left InuYasha's binds untouched. It had been early enough that none of the other villagers had been up either, and had not seen her go. Not that Kikyo had been incredibly social since she was brought back from the dead, but still.
Kagome met Miroku and Shippo at an empty hut near Kaede's. Kagome's idea for using the sutras on an enclosed area turned out to be pretty simple. Miroku just needed to put the sutras on the doorway and bring the hanyou into the building. With the nature of the sutras, InuYasha would be unable to exit until they allowed it. They'd only be able to use it once, since the hanyou wasn't a total idiot, despite what his choices would suggest. Once that was set up, the young miko made her way back to her time to prepare for her next lesson.
Kagome didn't bother to shower when she returned home, knowing that she was going straight to her next workout. Arriving at the dojo, the miko was surprised to discover that her instructor was a very toned woman who looked to be not much older than Kagome. She wore no makeup and her black hair up in a tight ponytail. The leggings and loose tank top she wore showed off her toned legs and arms.
"You must be Higurashi." Her hard brown eyes and no-nonsense tone of voice rooted Kagome to her spot near the door. Kagome nodded hesitantly and the girl turned to face the other four students that Kagome did not notice at first. "You're late. Get in line."
Glancing at the clock as she hurriedly set down her bag, Kagome noted that it was barely one minute past eight. Snapping her mouth shut to force herself from protesting, she grabbed her water bottle and jogged over to the end of the row, where the girl next to her shot the miko a sympathetic look. Great, first day and I've already made a bad impression. Kagome's mood threatened to lower but she forced herself to stay positive. She was going to make this a good day.
Unlike some self-defense classes she'd heard of from her friends, this one was no walk in the park. Barely ten minutes in, Kagome and her fellow students were already pouring sweat. They hadn't even gotten to the forms yet! Her teacher, Ai, had them doing some "minor strengthening" exercises. Her mindset was that even though you don't need to be stronger than your attacker to fend them off, doesn't mean you need to be a twig and wait for them to snap your neck – as she so eloquently worded it.
"Back straight!" Ai barked out as the five gasping students shook in their plank positions. Even with Sango's lessons, Kagome's core was burning and she wanted nothing more than to let her body flop to the floor, but she was determined not to be the weak link of the group. Somewhere to her right, she saw a girl whose hair had blue tips do exactly as she had wanted to and landed hard on her chest. "Did I say you could stop?" Their instructor's voice was harsh as she stomped over to the girl and put her hands on her hips.
The girl – Suki – glared up at the Ai. "My foot slipped." Her voice was low, and her teeth were clenched together in an effort to keep her cool. Kagome, along with the other girls, forced themselves not to stare for fear of Ai's wrath. Suki's response would sound a lot more like an excuse if it weren't for the pool of sweat underneath each girl.
"Your foot slipped?" Ai's voice dropped to just above a whisper. She instructed the other girls to come down from their almost three-minute plank, something that the not very athletic girls found incredibly difficult. They gratefully and ungracefully let themselves fall to the floor, limbs shaking and breathing heavily. They made eye contact with each other, nervously listening to the exchange next to them. "Do you think that your assailant will pause and let you regain your footing, help you up when you slip?" Her voice was dangerously low and her eyes flashed as she addressed Suki.
Kagome's brows furrowed in confusion. It was just a plank, it's not like we were going through forms to fend anyone off. Nevertheless, Kagome was glad not to be in Suki's shoes as she voiced Kagome's exact thoughts. The instructor whipped around to address all five girls. "In this class, you treat everything like your life depends on it no matter how irrelevant it seems, because someday it might. So, if you can't handle that," Ai pointed to the door, looking directly at Suki. "you can leave."
Nobody moved. A few tense moments later, Ai barked out another exercise. Kagome couldn't help but wonder what kind of experience their instructor had to cause her to be this stern in her classes. But she didn't have time to ponder this as they dove into their burpees.
The rest of the class went as smoothly as it could. By the time Ai dismissed them, Kagome and her fellow students were exhausted and trembling. They hadn't learned any forms this class and the miko was left wondering if this was a self-defense class or a muscle destruction class. Kagome's legs felt like jello, and the thought of biking even just the twenty-minute ride home made her want to collapse right there. But she grit her teeth and started her ride home.