Chapter 22:
Volts

"I... do... not... do... lightning."
― Ridley Pearson, Disney at Dawn

Prompt: My Freedom – Two Steps from Hell

Kagome tapped her pencil against her desk as she listened to the teacher explain how the exam was going to go, even if everyone had heard the same speech almost literally a hundred times by now. These were mid-term exams which would affect their grades, for better or worse, and the teacher dared them to cheat. If students were doing poorly until now this was a good way to make their grades skyrocket, or drop even further.

Thankfully, Kagome was prepared. She had studied well into the night with a fury in her heart. She was going to fail and dishonor her family, huh? Yeah, right! Kagome didn't think so.

"Screw you, Hojo!" she muttered vehemently.

She was so fired up now she didn't feel the least bit tired from only having two hours of sleep. Though, that probably had something to do with Ryura cloaking her in his youki to give her energy before she left, which Kagome didn't even know was possible.

Ryura had explained it as since he was a Dragon Daiyoukai who could control electricity. He literally shocked Kagome's body into functioning properly, somehow. Kagome was never any good at biology, so she wasn't going to question it. Look at Tsuyoshi! He made her hair grow at least nine inches in only the span of a few minutes while making it glossy and soft at the same time. Nope, Kagome wasn't even going to ask.

The teacher happily chirped to begin and wished them all good luck.

On the roof of her school Ryura sat hidden away unknowingly to Kagome, his human disguise in place should someone spot him. In his hands rested yet another new book, which he was quickly reading. After Kagome had left he followed her, not wanting to risk her being too far away considering she had his own youki surrounding her. It would be easier on both if he remained close. And, well, he wanted to see how she would handle herself should her friends start interrogating her. Or if Hojo started something.

The sharp sound of a bell ringing brought Ryura's attention away from his book and he looked up at the sky. The sun was hanging overhead, showing it was mid-day. Kagome had told him since today was an exam day, that she wouldn't have to go as long as she normally would, and she'd be finished around noon.

Ryura marked his place with a bookmark Kagome gave him and stood. He centered his senses on Kagome's aura and his youki wrapping around her and followed it to a different part of the building he was standing on. When she began to move, so did he. He was walking directly over her now. She paused and he followed suit until she began to walk again.

She was outside now and Ryura could easily see her standing with a group of other young women dressed as she was. Ryura knelt and decided to watch and listen in to their conversation. He had slowly started to become used to all the noises and scents in this era, so he wasn't required to keep his senses so hampered.

"Was it the two-timer!?" one girl asked loudly.

"No, that's Inuyasha," Kagome responded.

Another girl spoke after. "Who was he then? He really pissed Hojo off!"

Kagome sighed. "His name is Ryura."

"Ryura... Ryura what?" a third girl asked. "What's his family name?"

Well, that wasn't expected. His family's name? Ryura paid close attention to Kagome, waiting for her to respond just as much as the others were. Ryura didn't exactly have a family name, and if he had, Kagome wouldn't have known it. So, how was she going to answer this?

"Erhm..." Kagome coughed and fumbled around with Ryura's name until she came up with a surname that fit him. "His name is Ryura Kumori?"

The girls stilled and just stared at Kagome.

"What?" she squeaked, nervous beyond belief now.

"You can't be serious!" one girl exploded, making people not involved walking around her give her odd looks and back away.

"What!?" Kagome asked again, desperate to know what was so wrong with that name.

"You mean this Ryura Kumori?" the same girl asked as she shoved a book she had held at Kagome. She flipped through a few pages and pointed at a picture.

The book wasn't really a book at all, but a magazine.

Ryura watched while resting his chin in his hand as Kagome read over whatever it was. With his youki tied so closely to her he could easily feel her nervousness turn to panic, and he had to wonder just what it was she was reading.

"The... architect?" Kagome asked.

"Yes!"

Leave it to Eri to find someone who had the same name Kagome had given Ryura, and who looked a lot like the Dragon in his human guise. This guy's eyes were a glittering green, his hair shorter and that was the only difference. Dear Kami, don't tell her he was actually here. This just got a lot more awkward for everyone. Why was it architectural engineering that Eri wanted to study when she went to college? Why!?

"I uh, I have to go!" Kagome said.

She ran off without returning the magazine to Eri, and the girls couldn't hope to catch up with her, despite how fast they were running. Kagome had been honing herself over her time in the Feudal Era. Her friends didn't stand a chance.

"Good grief, how can a sick girl run that fast!?" one girl exclaimed as she panted for air.

Ryura followed above her, keeping himself hidden by leaping from tree to tree, or moving too quickly for the human eye to see. When Kagome was far enough away he dropped down to run beside her. The Miko yelled out in surprise and tripped, losing her footing. Ryura caught her by the arm and waited for her to steady herself.

"What is it?" he asked as Kagome worked to catch her breath.

She shoved the magazine at him and pointed at his eyes, "Make... your eyes... green..."

He gave her a confused look but did as she "asked" anyway. His eyes closed and for a moment they stayed closed, only to open up, revealing brightly shining green irises. Kagome almost fainted.

"It is you!" Kagome exclaimed.

If Ryura hadn't heard the conversation between Kagome and her friends earlier, he would have been worried she was in a state of delusional fever. As he held on to her, keeping her from just falling over, Ryura looked down at the magazine and blanched. There, staring back at him, was a life-like painting, or picture if he had but known the word, of himself with incredibly short hair. He scanned over the words on the page, and together both he and Kagome came to the same conclusion. Ryura had survived. He was alive in her era.

Kagome's eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted.

Hitomi carefully looked over the magazine, then at Ryura. Back and forth she went. There was no way this could not be him. When Ryura had brought Kagome's unconscious form home, Hitomi was worried, but now that she saw what made her daughter faint, Hitomi was feeling a bit light headed herself.

"I don't know what to make of it," Ryura said. "I'm alive, in this era. I survived and I might have passed the Kami's test, though for all I know I'm still going through it. I wasn't given a deadline, after all."

Hitomi held the magazine a bit tighter. Ryura had to explain after Kagome was tucked away in her bed everything he had done in his past, and what lead to where he was now. Thankfully Hitomi was much like her daughter and believed in giving people second chances. If Kagome trusted him, Hitomi would, too.

"I think you should take it as it comes," Hitomi said gently.

"But why wouldn't I come see Kagome after all she's done for me?" he asked.

"Well, she only came to know you as you are now recently, right?" Hitomi said and when Ryura nodded she continued, "Then the you in this era possibly didn't want to frighten her."

Ryura folded his arms. What Hitomi said did make sense. As they both fell silent, Ryura began to ponder. Youkai had indeed taken to hiding themselves, according to what he had just discovered. He was that man, and not a reincarnation. Why in the world would his reincarnation use his given name, and the name Kagome had given him for a surname? Now that wouldn't have made any sense. It had to be him.

Behind them the door to the house opened and Ryura rose to his feet. Everyone was at home, doing various things. Who would come into the house without announcing themselves first? He asked Hitomi to stay where she was, and with that thought in mind, he headed from the kitchen into the living room, only to see Inuyasha standing at the door and cleaning his feet off.

The hanyou looked up and blinked twice in rapid succession at Ryura's appearance. He hadn't let down his human guise yet.

"The fuck?" Inuyasha asked as he pointed to Ryura's hair.

Ryura sneaked a glance at the braid his hair was in resting over his shoulder, and realized what Inuyasha had pointed at. He allowed the disguise to drop, and Inuyasha grumbled.

"Oi, where's Kagome?" he finally asked.

"Resting. She fainted after we found out that I am alive in this era," Ryura said with a half-grin.

Inuyasha twitched. "What?"

"Hello Inuyasha!" Hitomi said as she came from the kitchen. She had heard the hanyou's voice and came to greet him.

"Oh, hey," Inuyasha remarked lightly, forgetting about what Ryura said for the moment. "I came back to get the two slackers."

"What?" Ryura growled.

"You heard me! Everything's going all wonky in the past. We need Kagome," Inuyasha said with an arrogant nod.

Probably Naraku again, Ryura bitterly thought.

"Very well. I will wake her and we will prepare," Ryura said then. He didn't want for Inuyasha's response. He simply climbed the staircase and entered her room, heading for her.

Ryura sat on the edge of her bed and gently took hold of her shoulder, shaking her slightly to wake her. Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled.

"Inuyasha has come to fetch us. Naraku is possibly moving again," Ryura said softly as he allowed her to wake up a bit more.

Kagome groggily got out of bed then. Luckily for her Ryura looked like he was supposed to, so she didn't immediately faint upon seeing him again. That issue was going to have to wait until later. Much later. She would deal with it after all this Naraku stuff was over.

The two went about preparing themselves with Ryura leaving to give Kagome privacy as she dressed in her Miko attire. He borrowed the bathroom to change into his own clothing. Downstairs, Hitomi was preparing Kagome's black bag with food and medical supplies, with Inuyasha almost drooling when he saw the Ramen. He hadn't had it in days.

Ryura strapped Raijinga and Fujinga to his back, not noticing until now how much he missed the weight of his swords against him. He finished dressing by tying the white sash around his waist, and moved from Souta's room. By the sounds of it, Kagome was already downstairs and talking to Inuyasha and Hitomi. He descended the stairs quickly and came to a stop at the base of the staircase, his breath leaving him when he saw Kagome. He forgot how well the colors of his House suited her.

"Ready?" Kagome asked when she spotted him.

"Damn well better be, we ain't go all day," Inuyasha grumbled as he folded his arms behind his head.

Kagome slapped him upside the head, "Don't curse around my mother, Inuyasha!"

"Ow!" Inuyasha yelped. "Fine, fine! Whatever! Let's just go!"

He spun around and stalked outside of the home with the other three plus Souta who had just rushed down the stairs following after him.

"Will you come back to visit?" Souta asked when he caught up with Ryura.

The Dragon Daiyoukai smiled and rested his large hand on Souta's head as they walked. "I will try, Souta."

"All right!" Souta cheered.

Inuyasha grumbled again, jealous. He was supposed to Souta's hero, for Kami's sake! Kagome rolled her eyes and Hitomi giggled.

"Higurashi!"

The group came to a slow, horrified halt and turned around. Hojo was standing behind them, eyes wide. He was staring at Inuyasha and Ryura.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

He moved to go for Hojo, but Ryura stopped him by grabbing his bicep. Inuyasha was about to snap and ask what his problem was, until he felt Ryura's youki spike. Above them the clouds churned and the sky began to darken. Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he warily watched both the clouds and Ryura's now glowing red eyes.

Thunder rumbled and lightning danced through the air. Hojo looked like he was about to pass out, or piss himself, which ever came first. Souta was staring excitedly at Ryura, happy beyond belief he was going to get to see Ryura do something supernatural. Kagome and Hitomi only looked on with worry.

The women and Souta yelled out with surprise as a lightning bolt came rushing from the ground to streak high into the air. More and more sprang forward, each one coming closer and closer to Hojo. A particular bolt hit close to the young man and he was sent flying back a few feet.

"He is uninjured," Ryura said before everyone could rush for him. "I have simply knocked him out. This way his memory will be fuzzy and no one will believe someone who came a bit too close to lightning."

The lightning storm died down but the clouds and thunder remained. The realization on the human's faces showed that what Ryura had said held wisdom in it. After all, being nearly struck by lightning was a very traumatic experience, messing with brain waves and making the person sometimes delusional, or it could.

"That... that was awesome!" Souta exclaimed. "Do it again!"

"No! We gotta get going!" Inuyasha snapped. He was twitching angrily.

He marched over to the well house and yanked the door open, disappearing inside. A flash of blue showed he already had crossed over to the past.

"I'll take care of Hojo," Hitomi said with a quiet sigh. That was an experience and a half.

"I'll help!" Souta remarked a bit too happily.

Kagome giggled, holding up a hand to her mouth. She didn't particularly know what was funny about the incident, but she went along with it anyway. Ryura called out to her then and she turned to see him holding a hand out for her to take.

"I was carrying you when we first arrived," he said at her confused look. "I wouldn't want to chance it not working this time. Do you?"

Kagome half smiled and placed her hand in his, watching as the long, strong appendages that were his fingers tipped with claws curled around her own. He gave her a small tug, diverting her attention from his hand to his face. He gave her a lopsided grin and tugged on her again, having her follow him into the darkness of the well house. They trotted down the stairs, Kagome using Ryura as a guide in the dark due to the still darkened sky outside making it twice as hard to see inside the building. Ryura helped her stand up on the lip of the well, and together with their hands still joined together, they jumped.

As the magic of the Bone-Eater's Well engulfed them and all light disappeared save for the firefly-like lights hovering about them, Kagome felt Ryura's grip on her hand tighten slightly. The low light made it hard for her to see his face properly with the way his head was turned.

"Ryura, is something wrong?" she asked softly.

Kagome saw his red eyes flick to her for a split second. "It reminds me of the void."

The Miko's face softened and she squeezed his hand gently. Now she understood.

"I'm here," she said with a cheerful tone, "So don't worry!"

Ryura let out a laugh and finally looked at her, giving her a soft grin that lit up his face. "You're a weird woman."

"Hey!" Kagome said with a small frown.

Ryura laughed again and pulled her towards him until she was resting against his side. He let go of her hand only to wrap his arm around her shoulder, pushing her even closer to his body. They stayed in that position until their feet hit ground in the past, and Ryura carried them out of the well.

Inuyasha had been waiting for them, standing just off to the side in the shade with his hands stuffed into his sleeves. He watched as Ryura landed softly on the ground, bending the long grass beneath him, followed by Kagome. The Miko wore a large smile on her face, and she didn't seem bothered by how close she was to Ryura. Inuyasha didn't know whether to be shocked or not. He'd never seen her look so comfortable that close to someone of the opposite gender, not even himself.

In the end, Inuyasha smiled ruefully and sighed through his nose, eyes softening at the same time to look like molten pools of gold. What could he say? He loved Kagome. She was his best friend. If she was happy, that's all he cared for now. A gentle wind wrapped around him, sending his hair billowing in random directions, and he caught a scent on that wind he had only smelt once before.

"Father..." he whispered into the air.

Ryura's ears perked at hearing Inuyasha's whisper. The wind had moved to wrap around him short after, and Ryura's eyes closed, inhaling the scent he smelled.

"So it is," he said in a voice only loud enough for Inuyasha to hear.

With his eyes closed, Ryura missed Inuyasha's surprised glance in his direction. When his eyes opened, however, he looked directly at Inuyasha and gave him a kind smile, silently furthering Inuyasha's thought that he smelt his father.

Inuyasha could only grin in return.

Sesshoumaru tilted his head and closed his eyes. He could smell his brother's pack not too far away heading in his direction. His eyes opened once more and he looked in the direction Inuyasha would be coming from. It was time to end this, once and for all. If Inuyasha passed this test, Sesshoumaru would drop the issue of Tessaiga altogether.

As if she hadn't just recently died and returned to life for the second time, Rin hummed and sang happily behind him, and Jaken scolded her for various things, which only made the girl laugh at him like he was trying to be funny on purpose. Neither of them were aware of what Sesshoumaru was about to do.

Sesshoumaru spotted the red fire-rat of Inuyasha's haori, and without so much as a "How do you do" the Inu Daiyoukai charged forward, drawing Tenseiga as he ran.

"Whoa! What the fuck!?" Inuyasha yelled out in surprise, having drawn Tessaiga just in time to meet the incoming attack from Sesshoumaru.

"Fight me, Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru growled out while turning Tenseiga slightly and running the blade up the length of Tessaiga.

He then jumped back and watched with a morbid humor in his eyes as Tenseiga pulsed and began to grow into the replica of Tessaiga. Sesshoumaru hated it. He absolutely hated that he had to steal the power and mimic it to actually hold the sword in his hand without it burning the living hells out of him.

Inuyasha, wondering what was going on, could only stare in silent shock at the copy of his own sword. To his side, Kagome began to yell at Sesshoumaru.

"What the heck, Sesshoumaru!? Stop it now!"

Sesshoumaru only spared her a glance, and what she saw in his eyes was enough to make what she wanted to say next die on her lips. It was a look that said this fight needed to happen, and she shouldn't interfere like she had in the past. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat while reaching out and grabbing the tail of the silk-like sash that Ryura wore. She used it as an anchor to keep herself calm as she watched the battle.

Inuyasha pulled Tessaiga above his head and brought it down in his customary wide arch. "Wind Scar!"

Nothing happened.

Panic gripping at his heart, Inuyasha tried it again, only to result in the same as before. No energy was released. It was simply... a blade now. A very large, fang shaped blade.

Sesshoumaru gave a single look to Tenseiga before he rose the sword high above his head and brought it down with a powerful thrust while shouting, "Wind Scar!"

Inuyasha managed to jump out-of-the-way just in time to avoid his own attack being tossed back at him. Now he was angry. This type of stuff just needed to stop. It was his sword and he didn't like that its powers were constantly being copied or stolen.

As he and Sesshoumaru fought, Inuyasha had to trust in the blade alone. He had to trust himself. When Sesshoumaru opened the Meidou Zangetsuha, faith and trust in his blade was all Inuyasha had. Both he and Sesshoumaru were sucked into the black void.

Kagome began to pace and chewed on her lip, no matter how much Ryura had tried to get her to stop it. Tsuyoshi was as close to the Meidou Zangetsuha as he dared to get, staring into the void with concerned eyes. He was confused beyond belief why Sesshoumaru would show up out of no where and attack his brother like he had. Everything the Daiyoukai did had a reason, and at that moment, Tsuyoshi couldn't think of any proper reason for them to kill each other.

Everyone else was pretty much in the same panic as Kagome, showing it in various ways. Shippou had just fainted, though.

"Kagome," Ryura said as he watched her pass by him for the umpteenth time. "If you do not stop your incessant pacing and chewing your lip raw, I will make you regret it."

Kagome stuck her tongue out in defiance at him as a response.

Back and forth, back and forth Kagome went, not once stopping her pacing or chewing on her lip. Her eyes would glance at the open portal, and sometimes she was tempted to jump in it herself. She half thought Tsuyoshi was standing so close to the portal just for that reason, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get by the water Dragon. What was taking so long? They weren't dead, were they?

Kagome chewed on her lip harder and she started to bleed.

"Enough!" Ryura bit out in a hissed whisper as he stalked quickly over to her as soon as she turned her back.

He placed his clawed hands on her shoulders and roughly spun her to face him. Kagome squeaked, but he didn't particularly care right at that moment. Ryura wrapped his right hand in her hair gave it a tug until she was looking directly up at him, and then he crashed his lips against Kagome's own.

Kagome felt a small volt of electricity shoot through her and she was so shocked she couldn't do anything against what was happening. Ryura was kissing her! Her! All thoughts of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru flew out of her mind. She wasn't able to focus on anything except Ryura's lips on hers and on the hand he had tangled in her hair. After a long moment he pulled back, leaving Kagome stunned at the loss of contact.

She stared at him and watched as his tongue dart out to lick her blood off his lower lip that had been left from their kiss.

"Remember this. The next time you chew on your lip it is going to happen again," he said seriously.

Ryura spun on the ball of his foot and went to stand at the portal with Tsuyoshi. It was a good thing no one was looking, too. As soon as he was facing away from her, Ryura's hand shot up to cover his mouth and his face was so red it looked like his head was about to explode or steam was going to start coming out of his ears.

Kagome wasn't in much of a better state, either. It helped nothing at all when Sango suddenly appeared beside her, and regardless of what was actually happening or not, the youkai slayer had a sly grin on her face.

"So... That seemed nice," Sango said as she nudged Kagome with an elbow lightly.

"You saw!?" Kagome squeaked out. She turned an even deeper color of red.

Sango's grin widened. "Oh I saw and heard it all. When are you going to bite your lip again?"

Kagome groaned and covered her face with her hands, and Ryura, having overheard the entire thing, almost fell on his face. Tsuyoshi was about to comment on Ryura's behavior, but Sesshoumaru came walking out of the Meidou portal as if nothing happened at all, Inuyasha following behind him.

Tessaiga was in Inuyasha's hands, but Tenseiga was nowhere to be seen. Inuyasha seemed almost confused and grateful at the same time.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" Tsuyoshi asked, but Sesshoumaru simply walked past him.

Sesshoumaru came to stand in front of Kagome, looking down to her still blushing face. Sango quickly made herself scarce because of the look Sesshoumaru was giving Kagome. She ran away towards Miroku, trying to stop herself from laughing like a maniac.

"This is going to be good," Sango said lowly once she reached Miroku. Studying all those years on youkai behavior was paying off!

Miroku looked back and forth, confused. Sango now had him by his sleeve and was staring excitedly at Sesshoumaru and Kagome. His mouth open and closed a few times like a fish out of water, not knowing what to say. What was going on, again? Did he miss something? Obviously he had for now his eyes were almost hanging out of his head at what he was seeing.

Sesshoumaru had raised his only hand and with his thumb, was lightly was caressing Kagome's lower lip. Then he leaned over and replaced his thumb with his lips, brushing them lightly against Kagome's.

"Whaaaaaatt—mmphh!" Miroku was quickly silenced by Sango slapping a hand over his mouth.

Ryura, at Miroku's surprised yelp, turned to see what was wrong with the monk. He saw Sango with a hand over Miroku's mouth, and the monk wore the most shocked expression Ryura had ever seen. He followed Miroku's gaze and instantly his face too carried the same shocked expression as Miroku.

"Oh my," Tsuyoshi said beside him, wondering himself what was going on. "I suppose Lord Sesshoumaru was not jesting."

He stole a look at his Lord and saw Ryura's face contort from one of shock to pure rage. Alarm bells went off in Tsuyoshi's head and he quickly took a giant step to the side away from Ryura.

"Sesshoumaru!" Ryura bellowed the Inu Daiyoukai's name, coming out as half shout, half snarl.

Sesshoumaru slowly rose to his full height and looked over his shoulder to the raging Dragon behind him. He raised a slender brow as if silently asking, "What?"

Ryura stomped over and yanked Kagome away from Sesshoumaru as gently as possible. He wrapped as much of himself as he could around her and glared at Sesshoumaru. The Inu Daiyoukai didn't fight against it for now, knowing any rash actions could potentially harm Kagome. They were, after all, two beings with incredibly sharp claws.

"Ah?" Sesshoumaru asked with an almost amused tone. "A pity. You are not as naïve as I was almost hoping you would be."

Sesshoumaru threw a glance at Inuyasha and the hanyou bowed up.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" he yelled as he too stomped over to join in on the conversation.

"Do not test me now, Inuyasha. I may have completed the Tessaiga, but that does not mean I am willing to put up with your boorish antics," Sesshoumaru rumbled.

"Um, guys? What's going on!?" Kagome yelled, still trapped against Ryura.

Sesshoumaru looked back to Kagome and stared at her for a long moment. "I smelt you on the Dragon," he said while glancing down to her lips. "If he did not attempt to take you from me, I was simply going to begin courting you myself."

"Heke?" Kagome squeaked out the noise and hid herself further against Ryura. She wasn't for sure on how to take what Sesshoumaru just said. Ryura was happy to hide her away and turned until only her eyes could be seen peeking over his arm.

"I do not repeat myself, Kagome. You should very well know this by now."

"Now just wait a minute here! What's going on!?" Inuyasha frustratedly screamed.

Sesshoumaru actually sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "How you came to be so ignorant is beyond me, little brother. The Dragon kissed Kagome. I was attempting to see if he was as foolish as you are and simply let her go. A female creature as power as she is, is not one to simply toss aside."

"I'm sorry?" Inuyasha said sarcastically, ignoring the jab at his intelligence for now. "Am I hearing the human hating, disgusted by hanyou, all powerful, holier-than-thou Sesshoumaru saying he would mate with a human Miko?"

"It matters not if she is human, or if she would birth hanyou offspring," Sesshoumaru retorted calmly. "Unlike your mother, Inuyasha, Kagome is power. It radiates from her as if it was light from the sun. Any male youkai would be a fool to not be tempted by it."

"And what about the fact you don't want any power from something that's not you, huh?" Inuyasha asked.

Again Sesshoumaru sighed, "It would not be power for myself. It would be power for my heir, the one who would rule over the West and the House of the Moon. Kagome is Kagome, and would do what she wanted with her power. I would not be able to force her to act in a way she would not want. Her child however would be the most powerful Lord or Lady our line has ever seen, even over our sire."

Well, Inuyasha didn't have a response to that. He stalked off, muttering with his ears pinned to his head.

"Rin, come." Sesshoumaru said as the hanyou left.

Rin, who had watched quietly with wide eyes, quickly nodded and waved goodbye awkwardly. She was holding a somehow intact Tenseiga in her arms and had fumbled with it to wave. Jaken however, had to be dragged away by the collar of his haori by Ah-Un. The little gami had promptly fainted when he heard his Lord admit his wish to want to make with the Miko.

"I... uh..." Kagome laughed nervously. "You can let me go now, Ryura. They're gone."

Ryura had been silent the entire time and only now looked down to Kagome. He stared at her then hopped away like she smacked him with her reiki, which she didn't. Kagome would have been offended if it wasn't for how red his face was. Ryura noticed the same and quickly tried to hide it by covering his mouth and chin with his left hand, like he'd done before after he kissed her and turned away.

"Awwwh, that's cute! You raise your left hand when you're embarrassed!" Kagome gushed. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him do that particular action.

"Shut up!" Ryura said, still embarrassed beyond belief.

Kagome and Sango laughed until they had tears in their eyes.

Bored out of her mind, Kagome continued to kick at the small pebble she had used to try to fend off her boredom with. After half an hour of walk, kicking the pebble, walking some more, kicking the pebble, Kagome finally gave up and left the pebble behind. Shippou was busy speaking with Ryura quietly about...something. Kagome didn't know what they were doing.

Sango was taking care of Hirakotsu as she sat atop Kirara, and when the slayer went into her own little world of caring for her weapon, not even Miroku and the monk's wandering hands could take her mind off of it – not that Miroku minded, of course. Inuyasha didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk after the fight he had with Sesshoumaru. Kagome tried to ask him what happened, and what Sesshoumaru meant when he said he completed the Tessaiga, but Inuyasha brushed the question up and walked at a pace she couldn't possibly keep up with.

Glancing over her shoulder, Kagome looked at Tsuyoshi walking far behind the group. He seemed to be the only one not busy with something. She wanted to talk with him anyway so she dropped back until she was walking along side him. She nudged him with an elbow and his blue eyes turned to look down at her.

"My Lady?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No! Nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if we could talk?" she asked in return with a smile.

"If that is what you wish," Tsuyoshi returned the smile.

"What... What happened earlier?"

"Earlier?" one of Tsuyoshi's thin blue-white eyebrows rose with question. Kagome nervously pointed ahead at Ryura, and Tsuyoshi's eyes grew wide. "Ah, that. Inuyasha-sama has truly not taught you anything, hm?"

"Taught me anything?" Kagome's gaze flicked from him to Inuyasha, wondering what Tsuyoshi meant.

"About youkai," Tsuyoshi supplied. Kagome shook her head negatively and he nodded. "Very well. Lord Sesshoumaru, as you heard, was testing Lord Ryura. If he had not attempted to take you from him, then Lord Sesshoumaru would have attempted to court you for reasons you heard."

"Well, yeah I got that – sort of. I'm still not for sure what to make of that," Kagome muttered. "Ryura and I, uh, we're not courting, so why would Sesshoumaru care about that?"

"You are not?" Tsuyoshi asked, surprised. His eyes narrowed shortly after and he glared at Ryura's back. "He should not have shown you such affections then."

"I think he was just trying to get me to stop biting myself," Kagome said with a half-smile. "He did say that if I bit my lip again, he'd kiss me. I took it as a warning not to bite myself unless I wanted him to kiss me again."

Tsuyoshi fell silent and began to roll the ball of thoughts around in his head. What was Ryura doing? He thought on it for a few more moments before a smirk slowly appeared on his lips.

"Excuse me, Lady Kagome. I must see to something," he murmured to her before disappearing with a small puff of foggy air.

Kagome wanted to scream. So much for that. She sped up to catch up with the group again, grumbling the entire way. Now what was she going to do?

Miroku, noticing Kagome's foul mood, decided to stop messing around with Sango and moved to walk evenly beside the Miko. He gave her a kind smile when she looked up at him.

"I believe now would be a good time to focus on your training," he said with the same smile still plastered on his face.

"Really!?" Kagome exclaimed, excited now. Miroku nodded and Kagome had to force down the squeal she felt building up.

"Close your eyes. I will keep you from running into anything," Miroku promised and Kagome did as he asked. He placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her, then leaned over and murmured, "Find you reiki and pull it towards the surface, but do not allow it to fully be brought out. Hover it between the surface and your soul."

Below his hand he slowly began to feel Kagome's reiki swirl inside her. It took her some time, but she finally did as he instructed. He could feel it thrumming along underneath his hand, and when he felt it even out, he brought his own holy powers to mingle with hers. Kagome's spiked high in return and Miroku gave her a shoulder a soft squeeze, telling her to keep it steady.

Miroku had Kagome keep her reiki in such a state until they were close to a village.

"What you just did is the normal state those of us with reiki will keep that power in. It can easily be brought forward without much effort. You must practice this carefully, Lady Kagome. Reiki is a force that can easily harm as it can heal, and it is something that reacts to anything that could be a possible danger. You felt it react to mine, yes?" he asked after explaining.

Kagome nodded as she blinked her eyes open, squinting at the light of the sun.

"Once you can successfully keep your reiki in such a state without it going out of control, I will continue your lessons. For now, however, practice this as much as you can. It can easily be done no matter what you are doing. Walking, talking, even fighting," Miroku let his hand fall back down to his side.

"But my eyes would be closed? I can't exactly aim while my eyes are closed," Kagome said with a grin.

Miroku chuckled. "I only had your eyes close for this time specifically. You do not need to keep them closed. The first time this is attempted it is better to not have too much to distract you. Now, however, you have felt what it is supposed to be like."

"Oooh..." Kagome nodded once.

Miroku gave her a another smile before speeding up to walk along beside Inuyasha. The two men dropped into quiet conversation and Kagome was left to her own devices. She could see the village ahead of them and grinned widely. Hopefully they would be able to spend the night there and she could take a bath.