Evanescent
By: HalcyonMoments11
I was as pure as a river
But now I think I'm possessed.
You put a fever inside me
And I've been cold since you left.
-Halsey (Haunting)
Miroku awoke to the familiar sound of his miko companion shouting "Osuwari" and Kaede's hut shuddering with what he immediately knew to be the hanyou hitting the ground. Violet eyes glanced around the small hut blearily, heart racing despite the familiar awakening. They settled on the taijiya who sat tending the small fire at the center of the hut, neko companion in her lap.
Brown eyes rose from the fire to meet his gaze almost instinctively. "Good morning, houshi-sama." The neko in in her lap stirred at the sound of her voice, rising from her lap with a stretch and a soft mew.
The monk straightened against the wall where he had fallen asleep, stretching as he said, "Sango-san, good morning. When did you and Inuyasha arrive?"
"A few hours before dawn."
Miroku nodded, glancing around the empty hut slowly. Judging by the shadows cast across the floor from the window and covered hut behind him, it must already be late morning. He wondered when he had fallen asleep, how long he had slept, and how long his miko companion had been gone from his side.
"Where are Shippō-chan and Kaede-sama?"
"Kaede-sama asked Shippō-chan to help her with her morning chores when Kagome-chan and Inuyasha started arguing."
"I see… and what are they arguing about this time?"
Sango's chocolate gaze rose from the fire she was tending to meet his amethyst. She replied, "The way we found the two of you when we arrived this morning."
Something he couldn't explained fluttered in his stomach as he pictured the scene they may have found in the early hours of the morning. The miko leaning against him, head on his shoulder, fingers practically intertwined between them. The smell of her shampoo still lingered on his robes.
When he remained silent, the taijiya added, "It was… odd, Miroku-sama."
His brows rose slightly in response to the taijiya's unasked question: 'what were you doing?'
Part of him felt that his answer would not adequately answer that question.
"Ah, yes, well, it was accidental, Sango-san. While waiting for your arrival, Kagome-sama needed a distraction, so, I offered to help her practice with her reiki. We separated ourselves from Shippō-chan and Kaede-sama so that we wouldn't disturb them while they slept."
Miroku watched as Sango nodded in response, curiosity lining her features when he mentioned practicing with reiki. It occurred to him that training was not something either of their returning companions had imagined. He wondered if this was because of his nature, or because of their perceptions of their miko companion.
"We must have simply fallen asleep while she was practicing," he continued. He smiled gently, unconsciously brushing his thumb across the tips of his fingers; his skin still tingled when he imagined the small bursts of reiki they shared from fingertip to fingertip for hours.
Sango watched him closely and nodded, considering the way her houshi friend slowly brushed his thumb across the fingers of his hand, the same hand that had rested intertwined with the miko's the night before. The taijiya had felt the lingering sensation that often accompanied Kagome's return when she arrived in the Sengoku Jidai through the Hone Kui no Ido as she and Inuyasha had entered the hut in the early hours of the morning. Was this the feeling Miroku was obviously pondering over now? As a monk, what did Kagome's power feel like to him?
Another shout from outside the hut interrupted their conversation. "Inuyasha… Osuwari!"
Sango sighed and Miroku winced sympathetically.
Their hanyou friend growled back a muffled "Will you quit doing that?!"
The houshi slowly pushed himself up from where he and the miko had fallen asleep the night before. "Eh... perhaps we should make sure Inuyasha survives this encounter?"
Sango chuckled and nodded as Miroku moved to hold the door aside for her to exit. "After you, my fair lady." Sango rolled her eyes and scoffed quietly, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips.
Miroku felt their eyes on him as he exited the hut behind the taijiya and knew immediately the subject of the miko's and hanyou's argument was the same as his and the taijiya's conversation. He looked up at the pair with a sheepish smile, catching the amber-eyed glare of a disgruntled silver-haired hanyou as he pushed himself up from the dirt, rubbing a bit from his face. Next to him a flustered miko, face flushed with anger, shoulders tense, and arms crossed indignantly below her breasts, emphasizing them in a way that made it hard not to stare and see her beauty even in her furry. Cobalt eyes met his violet gaze then and tenseness in her face and body softened ever so slightly.
He pretended not to notice and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, turning his gaze back to the glaring hanyou. "Sorry to keep you all waiting," he said with a small laugh.
Before Inuyasha could retort, Kaede and Shippō made their return.
Kaede smiled, "Ah good, ye are all up. We'll make breakfast before ye take the day to resupply and get cleaned up. Ye'll have time to rest and be off by tomorrow morning."
Inuyasha huffed, "We can't wait that long, babaa."
Kagome's eye twitched as she reached out to pinch the hanyou's ear.
"Itai!" Inuyasha grumbled, pulling away from the irritated miko.
Miroku suppressed a chuckle.
Sango stepped toward the elder priestess to take the basket of herbs and goods she and Shippō had gathered from her arms. "We'd be happy to help Kaede-san." Kagome cast a small, grateful smile in the taijiya's direction who smiled back as the kitsune jumped gleefully into the young woman's arms. Kagome smiled down at him. "Ohayo, Shippō-chan."
"Kagome-chan! Sango-san and Inuyasha found a new Shikon no Kakera!"
Miroku raised his eyebrows in curiosity, wondering why he had not seemed to notice the presence of the shard upon their companions arrival, nor thus far during their conversations that morning. Could the influence of Kagome's reiki have distracted him that much?
Kagome looked up from the kit in her arms quickly to the hanyou who was slowly pushing himself up from his seated position on the ground beside her. He met her gaze and shrugged. "Keh. It's tiny, but we heard it was close. Couldn't wait for you to get back to go looking."
Kagome nodded slowly in response and turned to Kaede as the elder woman approached her, the small shard in her outstretched hand. "Aye, I took it for safe keeping when they arrived this morning. Here it is, child."
Before the tiny shard even touched Kagome's hand, it transformed from a muted pink to a glistening, vibrant pink that glowed as if incandescent. The inu-tachi watched, transfixed. Even if they had witnessed this several dozen times before, the flush of power that emanated from their young miko friend in these moments was unmistakable.
Miroku suppressed a shiver as the heat of her power rushed over him, surprised by the goosebumps it raised across his skin. It was not often that he reacted so strongly to her reiki. Perhaps their training the night before had left him more susceptible to it?
Kagome quickly dropped the shard into the small glass jar she kept around her neck and tucked it back beneath the collar of her shirt. When she looked up, her blue eyes met his violet with a small, almost playful smile.
He tilted his head slightly in curiosity—a gesture that the others might have taken as one of gratitude, or recognition. After just a short time practicing, could she tell how her reiki lingered around them, how it had impacted him?
Shippō tugged on Kagome's shirt with a small cry for attention, drawing her gaze back to the kit in her arms. "Let's make breakfast already! I'm starving!"
The ring of her laugh that followed was almost as enticing as her reiki.
Several hours later, Kagome sighed with relief as she lowered herself into warmth of the hot spring she and Sango had made their way to after collecting supplies in the village, playing games with Shippō, and making dinner throughout the day. The pair had decided to take the time to wash up and enjoy the hot springs before their travelling began again in the morning before their hanyou friend got too restless.
"I'm glad you both made it back safely," Kagome stated as Sango settled in across from her. On their way to the hot springs, they had begun talking about how Inuyasha and Sango had found the shard while Kagome had been gone.
Sango shrugged and rubbed the shoulder she often carried her Hiraikotsu on. "Inuyasha was right; the youkai that had the Shikon no Kakera wasn't very powerful. It was the others that came for it on our way back to the village that were the problem."
Kagome smiled sympathetically. "Ano… I'm sure it wasn't easy with just the two of you."
"Hai, but someone had to stay behind for your arrival. We didn't want to leave without you knowing where we were, so Miroku-sama volunteered."
Kagome nodded and smiled gently in response. She understood that sometimes looking into the rumors about the shards couldn't wait, but these moments often left her feeling unnecessary to their group. She knew otherwise; she knew that they needed her to purify and keep the shards, but she struggled with the feeling none-the-less.
She recalled what she had said to Miroku the night before. "But I've held you back to wait for me." If not unnecessary, then at times she certainly felt like she was burden.
Kagome sighed and reached for the shampoo. A comfortable silence overtook them as the two washed, soaking in the quiet of the moment.
As they passed the shampoo and soap between them, the taijiya broke the silence.
"Miroku-sama said that he started training you?"
"Hmm?" Kagome met her friend's brown-eyed gaze.
"To use your reiki?" Sango prodded.
"Oh!" Kagome flushed slightly, unsure of why she felt embarrassed at the mention of her training with their houshi friend the night before. Was she embarrassed by the novelty of the training? Or by the knowledge of how the rest of their group had found the two of them sleeping that morning, her head on his shoulder, his head against hers, fingers practically intertwined between them? Or maybe it was the way she remembered the rush of sensations that his reiki had caused across her skin? Comforting, but cool, and yet simultaneously scorching in a way that felt alive and made her skin vibrate.
"Um, hai… he was teaching me how to summon my reiki and use it in different ways beyond just my arrows… I'm not very good yet, but it's a start…" Kagome mused, remembering the raw, tingling sensation she had felt as she called her reiki to her skin.
Sango smiled. "That's great, Kagome-chan!"
Kagome met her friend's gaze again and smiled sheepishly. "Arigato, Sango-chan… I'm not sure if we'll continue; I was just curious last night and looking for a distraction while we waited for you and Inuyasha to return."
"It's up to you, Kagome-chan, but I'm sure the additional training probably couldn't hurt…" Sango noted, handing the miko the bottle of shampoo back to put away.
"Ano…" Kagome mumbled, her mind returning to the way Miroku had reacted to each expulsion of her reiki the night before, the way he would breathe in as if catching his breath, his pupils dilating. Had her reactions been similar? What did her reiki feel like to the others? To him? 'Wait, why does that matter?'
The monk's words from the night before echoed in her mind then: "Held me back?...I'd spend centuries waiting for you, Kagome-sama. Only ever because I desire to, and for no other reason."
Her stomach flipped as it did the night before. She dipped her head underwater quickly to hide the flush that deepened across her skin as the thought crossed her mind, feigning another rinse of her hair. 'What was that?'
Despite their closeness, the comment from her houshi friend had surprised her the night before. In the moment she had told herself Miroku was just being kind, but the way he had emphasized the word desire had seated itself in her chest, and set her skin tingling like his reiki. Why? 'Get it together, Kagome!'
When she resurfaced she sighed and shook herself, not unlike their hanyou friend. She had to admit that the small amount of training she and Miroku had completed the night before had been a relief. It had made her feel useful and skilled in a moment where she had felt burdensome to her group. Perhaps that was where her emotions kept returning to when she reflected on the previous night: curiosity, exhilaration, raw and powerful.
She smiled at Sango and said "Maybe you're right, Sango-chan. I think I'll ask Miroku-sama to continue our training."
As she and Sango continued to chat about what she had learned the night before, gather their bathing supplies, towel off, and redress Kagome convinced herself that her excitement to continue practicing with the houshi was solely related to the raw and powerful feelings she had as she pulled her reiki to her skin, expelled it in waves, then in smaller, corporeal forms, and not because of the enticing sensations she'd felt when Miroku had responded in kind with his own reiki. And certainly not because she wanted an excuse to feel it again sooner rather than later, and not because she wanted to examine the way he responded to her own.
A/N: It's been a while. Updates will be slow in coming (obviously), but I'm trying to get back into this. Enjoy! -HM
