Evanescent

By: HalcyonMoments11


And I've never longed for winter
Until your presence made me shiver

- Christina Perri (One Night)


Despite Miroku's reassurances earlier that day, Sango and Inuyasha didn't return that evening. As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, the monk and miko set themselves to small tasks to keep their minds off their companions' late arrival. While Kagome helped Kaede and Shippou collect herbs and cook dinner, Miroku busied himself by replenishing the elder woman's firewood and cleaning his shakujou.

It was a late, quite meal, save for the short bout of excitement followed by Kagome revealing her replenished store of sweets to Shippou for dessert. The rest of the evening wound down quickly and soon only Kagome and Miroku remained awake, the monk organizing and replenishing his store of sutras and the young miko rustling through pages of her texts books and notes.

Over his sutras, Miroku quickly notices Kagome's distracted state. Sometimes she lingers on a page of her book for several minutes, staring blankly at one section of text while tugging at the sleeves of her nightshirt, before suddenly rifling through several pages at once or quickly shutting one book in favor of picking up another. She is in the midst of one of her silent moments when the houshi asks, "What troubles you Kagome-sama?"

His voice, though gentle, startles her. She jumps slightly, azure orbs meeting his violet across the small pit at the center of the hut where a small fire still burns. She holds his gaze silently for a few moments before she realizes that he has asked her a question, and in those moments he sees the worry lines that mar her soft features and the many questions and concerns behind her gaze. Her cheeks flush a faint pink when she finally realizes that he's still waiting for an answer and she makes a show of adjusting the books on her lap to feign a different distraction before doing so.

"It's nothing really, Miroku-sama, just my schoolwork."

Miroku smiles gently and nods in response. He knows her better than to just allow such a response to suffice. He slowly gathers some of his sutras and begins to put them away, without looking up at her, he says, "I'm sure Inuyasha and Sango-san have simply just run into a small mishap. Nothing to fret over."

The young miko responds too quickly. "I'm not worried Miroku-sama. I'm sure they're fine!"

After a quiet moment during which a few pages of her book are turned most likely for his benefit, she adds, "This lesson is frustrating."

Miroku chuckles and meets her gaze once more. "Perhaps a distraction then, Kagome-sama?"

"A distraction?" Her voice is tentative, almost weary.

Miroku notices, lips curling up into a knowing, yet mischievous smile. He knows that her hesitancy comes from years of enduring his own lecherous activities – his fingers twitch anxiously at the thought of those encounters. He wonders idly, what has stopped him from indulging himself lately.

He chuckles. "Now, now Kagome-sama, I meant nothing lewd. What is that phrase you often tell me? Get your head out of the gutter?"

His smile widens when her flush deepens in response. He had always enjoyed that color on her cheeks, particularly when the color blossomed for him.

Before she could begin to stutter a reply, Miroku added, "Even though I'd be happy to oblige, I had thought perhaps a different kind of lesson would peek your interest."

Kagome raises a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean Miroku-sama?"

"How long has it been since you've done any Miko training?"

"Oh… um, months probably…" A different kind of blush coats her cheeks this time, one of bashfulness.

Miroku smiles gently. "I'm not scolding you Kagome-sama. I'm offering to help. I could teach you some things."

The young miko visibly perks up at the thought, blue eyes widening with anticipation. "Really, Miroku-sama?" She scans the small piles of sutras in front of him, some of them still drying. "Could you teach me how to create sutras?" Her voice is quiet, remembering their sleeping companions, but there's no mistaking the eagerness there.

"It would be my pleasure, Kagome-sama." Miroku carefully stacks a few piles together and sets them aside. "But, perhaps we should begin with something simpler. You will need to know how to transfer your rieki into the sutras so that they maintain the ability you've designated them for. To do that, you must first be able to cast out and withdraw your aura. We could start there?"

Kagome smiles brightly in response. "Do you mean you'd teach me how to cloak my aura?"

"Yes. Some of the most brilliant Priests and Priestesses were known to be able to cloak the aura of an entire village or army in times of war. That ability stems from being able to conceal your own. However, you are more adept at casting out your reiki, as is evident by your increasing skills with your arrows. I believe we should start there. Are you interested Kagome-sama?"

His answer comes in a quick, but quiet movement where she stuffs all of her schoolbooks back into her bag and then seats herself next to him, carefully avoiding the small fire pit and any sutras Miroku still had out on the floor before him. The houshi laughed. "I suppose that I'll take that as a yes."

"How do we start?"

"This technique would allow you to use your aura for weaponry, like your arrows, or defense, by creating barriers, healing techniques, or in its simplest form, you can alert your allies to your presence by extending your aura out to touch theirs. Let's start with that."

Miroku reaches out to grasp her hands in his. Kagome allows it, watching carefully as he turns her hands so that they are palm up in his own. She meets his amethyst gaze after a moment and he offers her a small smile.

"You are already familiar with pushing your reiki into your arrows though your fingertips. What this technique would accomplish is that same reiki stretching across the entirety of your skin, in a more subtle, gentle way. At that point, you should be able to push your aura outwards to others. When you begin, your aura will appear to move from you in waves. Direction and control will come with practice. Do you understand so far, Kagome-sama?"

The miko nods in response.

"Good. Now, I'd like you to pull your reiki to your finger tips like you do with your arrows, but think softer, you're not trying to do harm here."

"If I mess up, will I hurt you Miroku-sama?" Her eyes are concerned, nervous.

Miroku shakes his head. "You can't hurt me with your reiki, Kagome-sama. We have similar spiritual powers, unlike you and any youkai. At most, I may feel a tiny shock, nothing more."

Kagome bites her bottom lip, a nervous trait she picked up from Sango. Not that Miroku would notice such a thing, of course.

"Give it a try, Kagome-sama."

She is hesitant at first, her fingertips barely flashing a faint pink in response to his request before meeting his gaze again. When Miroku nods slowly to encourage her, she tries again. This time, her reiki lights her fingertips and remains until they glow a bright cameo pink.

"Well done, Kagome-sama. Now think softer, and if you can, let your aura spread across your hands."

The young miko and monk continued in this way, Miroku's fingers resting gently around her delicate wrists and her hands in his lap for a long while. And after it all, Kagome was able to expand her reiki over the expanse of her skin, making her features glow a pale pink whenever she called it forth.

In those moments Miroku watched her in a slight awe, not only marveling at the pace of her development – he had known she was a quick learner, but this had taken him by surprise – but also at the way her reiki enhanced her ethereal appearance. Never before had she seemed more beautiful to him than in those short minutes where she sustained her aura above her skin, her cheeks flushed with excitement and slight fatigue, lips parted gently in a smile, and eyes bright even in the shadow of her reiki.

After her last successful attempt – which she had managed to sustain for several minutes – Miroku suggested, "Perhaps we should call it a night, Kagome-sama. You've done very well so far and we don't want to strain you too much."

Kagome frowned slightly, eyes still alight with determination. "Let me try extending my reiki beyond my skin once, Miroku-sama. Please?"

She had brought out her puppy-dog pout. She knew he couldn't say no to that.

The houshi sighed, shifted slightly and adjusted his grip on her wrists. "Very well, Kagome-sama," he replied with a small smile.

"I will put up a small barrier around the two of us, so that you don't have to worry about harming Shippou or waking Kaede-baachan, and also so that you do not have to focus on direction for the time being."

Kagome nodded her understanding and waited for Miroku to activate one of his sutras. When everything was ready, he said, "Remember what I said, Kagome-sama. Bring your reiki gently to the surface – as you have been – and then simply try to push it out from you."

"Right."

"Whenever you're ready then."

The young miko began to call forth her reiki once more. Rather than beginning at her fingertips as it had when they had first begun tonight, she was now able to bring it forth from several different parts of her body at once. A gentle cameo pink bloomed from her palms, her chest, her hips, the soles of her feet, and spread carefully across the rest of her skin. When the process was complete violet eyes met nervous blue hues with a small smile. Miroku nodded his encouragement once more and watched as Kagome took a deep breath once and then closed her eyes.

The sensation that followed took his breath away. In one smooth wave, her reiki pulsed away from her skin and rushed over him, a bit stronger than he had expected.

Never before had Miroku felt her power like this. He had felt it in passing when she had shot arrows in his defense during battle or whenever she purified a shard that they miraculously recovered, and as a gentle, tickly sensation moments before as her aura lingered on her skin, but never like this – never this breathtaking, skin tingling, overwhelming rush of heat and purity and passion.

It was over far before Miroku wished it to be. Thrilled cobalt eyes met his astonished amethyst, her hands moving back slightly to grasp his and entangle their fingers as she excitedly repeated "I did it, Miroku-sama! I did it!"

He could only smile in response, still speechless and marveling at the sensations that her aura had left behind. And realizing as he caught his breath that he desperately craved more.


A/N: Well, I apologize for the long wait once again. It took me a little while to figure out how I wanted to write this scene and if I wanted to let this chapter be this long. Overall, I'm happy with the product and with the fact that this provides me with more Miroku/Kagome lessons to work with! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for sticking with me!

Vocabulary: houshi – monk, miko- priestess, youkai- demon, shakujou – Miroku's staff, reiki – chakra, aura, spiritual powers, baacha – grandmother figure, sama – lord/lade/master, a term of respect, chan- a term of endearment

Thanks for reading! Please Review! – HM11