Evanescent

By: HalcyonMoments11


All of the lights land on you,
The rest of the world fades from view.

- Christina Perri (The Words)


Late June and early July ushered them into the heat of summer slowly, encouraging them to take more frequent breaks in their travels and providing more frequent opportunities for Miroku and Kagome to continue developing her healing and cloaking techniques. Even with these added moments, the two weeks after they left Edo passed by in a blur of routine travelling permeated by small moments that seemed to always orbit the miko: lingering touches while training; reproachful looks in response to his flirting with young women as they passed through a small village; and companionable conversations and teasing while gathering materials for camp.

With the additional practice, Kagome had become quite adept with her healing abilities, a fact that did not surprise Miroku having seen her swift progress in their other training ventures over two and half months. She healed small cuts, scrapes, and bruises with intentional ease now: quieting Shippō when Inuyasha would rough the young youkai up after bickering, healing her own bumps and bruises when her clumsiness caught her off-guard, easing muscle pains he and Sango had obtained while laboring with the Edo villagers through the duration of their stay.

Sango had joined them as they trained periodically throughout the past few weeks, offering to spar with him and the miko, the stretch of summer weather spurring everyone from their beds earlier and keeping them from settling later each evening. Kagome, as it turned out, was more knowledgeable in the martial arts than either he or Sango had anticipated, and when asked, the miko had been happy to explain her history of Karate lessons during her childhood and early adolescence in addition to the occasional lessons she took in what she called "physical education classes" at school. Miroku wondered how they could have been travelling together for years and not known this about their miko companion; he wondered what else they didn't yet know about her, despite her familiar habit of prattling when nervous or overtired.

The taijiya had immediately taken enjoyment in her own opportunity to train with the miko, leading her through warm ups and stretches she frequently practiced on her own, testing Kagome's skills, walking her through movements Kagome had become a bit "rusty" in, teaching her more advanced techniques when she determined Kagome would be able to keep up. Watching the two had been a curiosity and certainly not leering as Inuyasha had called it. Though he would admit that the garb each woman dressed in was unquestionably a gift: Sango dressed in her delightfully skin-tight, curve featuring taijiya garb, hair pulled back to bare her long neck, and Kagome dressed deliciously in a pair of similar tight-fitting pants she called "leggings" and a series of form-fitting and breezy looking tops she called "tank tops" that showed off the creamy skin of her lean arms and dipped tantalizingly low across her breasts whilst simultaneously binding them.

He had joined them a time or two, sparring deftly against Sango's well-practiced movements and taijiya capabilities which were matched against his own knowledge of various martial arts he had learned growing up, dexterously dodging and countering Kagome's mixed paced blows, encouraging her self-corrections when he could. Could he help it if his hands slipped a time or two? Delicately brushed a lush curve here or there? Dipped into dangerous territory when thier hot breath would flush against his skin, a pretty flush from exertion gracing their features? Sango, of course, had none of this and quickly ended each session in which he strayed with an ear-ringing slap and he would wander away in a daze to sit again besides the amused kitsune and hanyou, who teased and badgered him over his attempts.

Despite these (rebutted) efforts, the sparring had inspired another avenue for Kagome's training with reiki. It led him here: awaiting her in the early morning following his meditations and some short but swift exercises for which he had removed his kesu and kosode, the early summer morning quickly warming with the rising sun. He felt the pull of her reiki before he saw her. Kagome emerged over the crest of the hill, the rising sun behind her, casting upon her ebony locks a crown of gold and shadowing her features as she turned to walk in his direction, appearing in her every movement to be an ethereal being sent to enthrall and ensnare him. She was dressed in another pair of her leggings and a top that clung to her just as tightly, leaving little of her form to the imagination.

Miroku swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry, and resisted the urge to lick his lips at the sight of her. He shook himself slightly as she made her way to him, stretching one arm back behind her head and then the other before rolling her shoulders to shake the tension of sleep that remained in her limbs.

She paused a few feet away from him and he saw the way her eyes raked over his half-dressed body, his chest and brow still glistening with the light sweat that had coated his skin with his earlier exercises. A slight flush adorned her cheeks as she realized what she was doing and she tore her eyes away from him, running her hands over her hips as if smoothing the fur of a ruffled pelt. He felt a smirk tug at the corners of his lips.

'Good. At least we'll be on even footing.'

"Good morning, Kagome-sama," He greeted her with a warm smile.

She met his gaze and offered him a small smile of her own, a faint pink still adorning her features.

"What are we working on today, Miroku-sama?" she asked, curiosity and excitement alight in her voice.

His smile turned soft, admiring how her enthusiasm for learning new techniques related to her priestess abilities had yet to fade. "I thought, perhaps, it may be time to try your hand at creating barriers Kagome-sama."

Azure eyes brightened and he chuckled.

"As usual, we'll start small. As you are quite familiar with defensive martial arts techniques, let's try to apply your reiki to those movements to enhance your defenses."

Kagome nodded in response and asked "How?".

Miroku held out his hands in what was now a familiar gesture between the two of them. Kagome placed her hands in his without hesitation, but before she could wrap her slender fingers around his wrists as she had become accustomed to doing, he brought his reiki to his skin in its corporeal form, fortifying it above his skin in a way that made it impossible for her fingers to fold around his wrists.

He heard her breath hitch and he wondered idly if it was out of surprise or in reaction to the flare of his reiki beneath her hands.

"Your goal will be to produce your reiki as a shield above your skin in an attempt to prevent, or at least deter contact. We'll take a few minutes for you to practice like this…" He paused and allowed his reiki to dissipate. When her skin met his again, it was soft and warm.

She met his gaze and the corners of his lips curved up in a small, playful smile. "Then you'll have to manage while we spar."

Her blue eyes turned to his bare chest briefly, nervously, and she flushed before pulling her gaze quickly back to his. He noticed. In that moment, her gaze inexplicably carried the force of her aura with it, raking across his skin in all its tingling, inviting warmth. He suppressed a shiver at the thought, realizing suddenly that soon it would not be just her body pressed against him as they sparred, but her reiki as well.

"Doing so will test your concentration and help you refine your use of this technique," he continued in explanation, dutifully attempting to recenter himself on his task as instructor despite the anticipation coursing through him. He hadn't thought about how her aura might feel flushed directly against his skin beyond his hands until this moment and the prospect of it coiled like heat low in his stomach, fluttering there.

She nodded her understanding and called her reiki to her hands; another familiar gesture for them now, but one that never failed to peak his attention. A faint pink glow coated her fingers, almost imperceptibly swirling around their hands as it encased his own.

Miroku watched as it did, breathing deeply with the sensation of calm that eased into his muscles where she touched him. His fingers tightened around her wrists instinctively.

"Imagine that your reiki is a barrier between your hands and mine, a defense, solid and unyielding. Remember your intention matters." He said quietly, willing his fingers to lighten their hold.

They stood together like that for several minutes, hands linked and heads bowed low to observe her progress. With a few more encouraging words, Kagome was able to enforce space between their hands with her reiki and she looked up at him with the same breathtaking smile she always shared in her delight at accomplishing such a task.

He smiled gently in response, then slowly withdrew his hands form hers. "Well done, as always, Kagome-sama." He took a couple of steps away from her, head tilting curiously as he watched her enthusiasm fade into apprehension.

He rolled his shoulders to relieve some the anticipatory tension that had settled there and watched as she took a defensive stance. "Remember Kagome-sama, your goal is to use your reiki alongside your defensive maneuvers."

"Hai, and yours is to behave, Miroku-sama."

He chuckled, violet eyes sweeping over her figure once, glinting mischievously. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Before she could nod in response he was on her and she stumbled back slightly as she attempted to block his blows. It took her several minutes to learn the way his body moved against hers, the graze of his forearm against hers as she dodged a strike, the way their feet intricately danced close, tangled, deftly moved away, their hot breaths mingling in the air between them.

"Call on your reiki, Kagome-sama." Miroku reminded her, calling on his own as she struck at him, forcing an invisible but tangible space between her hand and his forearm.

She grunted in response as he moved back on the offensive, striking at her abdomen, his knuckles brushing the skin of her waist and the bottom edge of her top as she dodged. Her reiki flared there, but did not block him. His skin tingled as the heat of it traveled up his bare arm all the same.

He swept his foot out at her leg, knocking her off balance once more. He didn't give her time to steady herself as he pressed forward. Each of his strikes met her block, her chakra flaring at the site, but unable to enforce space between her skin and his own. He fought the shivers that threatened to roll across his skin at the feeling, ignored the goosebumps that rose despite the growing heat of the morning, the warmth of her reiki, of the places where her skin met his.

"Come now, Kagome-sama, certainly you can do better than this." He teased and caught her wrist as he dodged her punch.

He took a step closer and caught her other wrist as she tried to twist out of his grip, he advanced closer still until only their arms crossed between them kept them apart. She growled quietly at the back of her throat in frustration.

He reveled in the feeling of her hot breath ghosting across his neck, his bare chest as she struggled to pull her wrists from his grasp.

"Perhaps your intention is unclear… You're distracted." he continued, smirking roguishly when she met his gaze.

"I'm trying," she grumbled, voice strained with the effort of trying to twist out of his grip, to push him away. Her reiki flared, all heat and electricity between them; it swirled around them restlessly but remained intangible.

He pressed closer still as if to point this out, face lowering so that his cheek brushed ever so slightly against hers, his hot breath fell on the shell of her ear, the crook of her neck. "I'm starting to think that you like me this close..." he teased, his voice a whisper. "Perhaps you desire my touch... want my skin against yours." There was a husky edge to his voice that he hadn't intended, and although he was teasing her, he felt the implication of his words in his chest, the heat between them coiling low in his stomach at the thought.

He allowed his aura to reach out to hers then, to fold around them, entangle with the jittery edges of hers, a dance of its own. He heard her breath hitch in response and he leaned closer still, allowed his lips to brush against the sensitive skin behind the shell of her ear as her hands gripped his forearms between them tightly.

"You can move me if you want to," he whispered, voice thick.

He felt her chest press faintly against his as she breathed in deeply, then let loose a shuddering breath. She turned toward him ever so slightly, pressing into his touch, her cheek, the corner of her lips against his jaw line. His heart stuttered in response.

He need only turn into her ever so slightly to brush his lips against hers. Did the thought even occur to her? Would she let him try? Would she press back? Allow his arms to wrap around her, pull her body flush against his as he undoubtedly would, body and soul surging forward together into the all-consuming sensations she and her reiki would beckon from him?

He startled when that warmth and power surged between their bodies then, her chakra pressing against his arms, his chest, instantly pulling goosebumps to his skin. His breath hitched as her aura made every part of him tingle, his body burn wherever his skin touched hers. And suddenly he was stumbling back with the force of her hands shoving fiercely against his chest, rising with the space she solidified between them, as sure and furious as he knew her slaps could be.

When he steadied himself and met her azure gaze again he met a look that quickly flashed from furious frustration to surprise. She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers slightly in awe, and then met his violet gaze once more.

He was in awe of her as well, but perhaps in ways he would not allow himself to admit in that moment. Instead, he smiled gently and nodded an answer to her unasked question.

'Yes. You did it again.'

Surpassed his expectations. Accomplished her goal. Captivated him. Consumed his every thought. Made his resolve tremble. Set his heart racing. Left him longing for more. More of everything he could not have and should not desire. More of her.

She laughed in delight and leapt forward to wrap her arms around him. He laughed with her, every heart racing emotion he felt stirring within him releasing with it, and tried to ignore the way his body seemed to surge toward her instantly, instinctively when she had moved for him.


A/N: And slowly we begin to weave in small realizations here and there. Sometimes, I think slow burns are as simultaneously frustrating and breathtaking to read as they are to write; the past two chapters have felt like that to me. The next few chapters are going to be kind of dark and sad, full of hurt and comfort, just to forewarn you all. I thought we could use a moment like this before them.

On that note, I'm going to take a break from updating, just for a couple of weeks; the next chapter will be posted sometime around Fall Recess/Thanksgiving Break (U.S. academic calendar). I have the next few chapters mostly written, but I want to make sure I can complete and edit them before posting and I've been a little short on time lately. Thanks for sticking with me and let me know what you think? -HM11