Evanescent

By: Halcyon Moments


This is going to bring me to my knees.
I just want to hold you close to me.

-The Fray (She Is)


This was not how Miroku had imagined Kagome would first use her developing healing abilities: seeking sparks of life where few remained, desperately trying to stitch muscle and skin and lives back together where she could, holding back tears and fury and horror with each bated breath.

Every village they encountered like this felt like one too many.

The more they encountered, the more it became evident that this was not the result of a random, rampaging hoard of youkai, but purposeful and devised for them to find.

Sango and Kirara set to aiding Kagome and Shippō in their endeavors to bring the few survivors to a single location, to helping the miko bind wounds, set bones, stem anguished cries. While they did, Miroku and Inuyasha silently set to work digging graves.

Late into the night, when they had finally completed what they could for the people of this village—living and dead—and they had gathered together once more to pick at a meal and find what rest they could, violet eyes met the amber of his hanyou friend and he gave voice to what they were all thinking: "Naraku."


They set out at the break of day. It didn't take them long to find the trail of the hoard of demons that had laid waste to village left behind. It seemed to take even less time to stumble upon them, to fall into the familiar whirl of battle driven by anguish and rage.

As usual, Naraku sought them out after they had partially exhausted themselves fighting the mindless, bloodthirsty youkai he had gathered for them. His attacks drew them in separate directions, Sango with Kirara and Shippō attacking with hiraikotsu, kitsune-bi, and tooth and claw from the air, Kagome and Miroku using a variety of reiki laced attacks and his kazaana from the ground, and Inuyasha releasing a barrage of fast-paced attacks from every direction he could muster.

Miroku heard the saimyoushou before he saw them, felt them closing in, their youki faint compared to the variety of youkai around them and the foul thrum of Naraku's shouki, but distinctly entangled with the evil hanyou's poisonous miasma.

Cursing, he reached for his prayer beads to close and seal his kazaana; a gray tentacle struck at the lavender-blue beads before he could, wrenching them from his grasp and casting them into the trees out of his reach. The hiss of the cursed flesh against the beads echoed in his ears as his eyes followed their trajectory in shock.

The wicked chuckle that seemed to rumble around him made his breath hitch.

"Ah-ah-ah, houshi. Let's see how you fair against my saimyoushou for old time's sake, ne?"

Violet eyes glanced back over his shoulder, caught sight of the bamboo cloak as Naraku closed in. If he turned now, tried to use his kazaana against its maker without his prayer beads, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't harm one of his companions.

'And now there's the dammed saimyoushou.'

A growl that could rival that of Inuyasha's tore from his lips, wincing as he felt the first few saimyoushou enter the void in his palm; the throb of pain was instantaneous.

"Houshi-sama!"

Sango's hiraikotsu surged between the monk and the spider hanyou, severing tentacles and youkai in its wake, but it was not the taijiya who drew his attention in that moment. He felt the pulse of Kagome's reiki close-by, fierce and blazing in its force. His amethyst gaze turned to the miko then, watching as the tentacle that had coiled around her vanished in an instant with the flurry of pink chakra she summoned to her skin, as she fell with a grunt and a wince to the ground, scrambling in the underbrush for something he couldn't see.

"So, the miko learned a new trick."

Miroku shuddered at the venom in Naraku's voice, at the feeling of each saimyoushou's miasma tearing at the edges of his kazaana, their poison visibly advancing across the skin of his hand now, steadily leaching the life from his blood.

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha's voice drew their attention, frustrated, angry. With a glance in his companion's direction Miroku knew that the force of the kazaana itself was part of his distress. There was no easy way for Inuyasha to get to Kagome with the maw of Miroku's kazaana forced open.

"Miroku, dammit! Close the kazaana!" Inuyasha growled, swinging Tessaiga furiously to dispatch youkai and Naraku's tentacles alike as he sought a path to the miko who had now drawn the evil hanyou's attention.

"I… can't…" he gritted out through his teeth, barely audible above the ravaging winds from his palm. A pained groan escaped his lips as more saimyoushou sought him out and were consumed by the void in his palm. He braced his wrist with his opposite hand, fingers twitching as he lost feeling in them. He felt himself sway on his feet, the miasma now in his veins.

He heard Sango call his name again, heard the kitsune's simultaneous cry for Kagome. He turned his gaze in the direction of the miko once more. Naraku had her in his grasp again, reaching for the Shikon no Kakera that hung around her neck. He hissed as she called her reiki to her skin again and dropped her from one tentacle into another, stealing her breath and concentration from her with the force of the movement. And then he was upon her, sneering menacingly as he brought the miko closer to himself, the hood of his bamboo cloak slung back to cast the full force of his violent red gaze against her stormy blue.

Miroku couldn't hear what Naraku whispered to her then, nor what Kagome spat at him in retort, but his skin crawled as Naraku brought his face mere inches from hers, furious that there was nothing he could do but watch, knowing that neither Inuyasha nor Sango were close enough—that he and the kazaana were in the way.

"Don't touch her" he snarled through gritted teeth.

Crimson eyes met his violet and something cruel and wicked illuminated the kumo's face then, twisted the corners of his lips.

"Or what, houshi?"

Miroku snarled in response, the power of it lessened by the way he stumbled with the pulse of miasma that coursed through him in that moment.

Naraku chuckled maliciously and turned his wicked grin on the miko.

"You think she'll fair better in your hands, cursed as they are?"

Naraku turned his gaze back to him, his meaning setting in. 'He wouldn't. Not with the Shikon no Kakera still in her possession.'

"You want her, houshi? Have her." Naraku's venomous voice barely reached his ears; his heart thundered in his chest.

'No. No, please.'

Blue eyes widened fearfully as the kumo unfurled the tentacle that held her, tossing her away with another whispered threat and directly into the path of his kazaana.

"N-no! Kagome!"

Her name tore from his lips like a prayer. Her blue eyes met his violet, panic lining her features, so vastly different from the assured way she had tossed herself in the path of his kazaana once before to defend their hanyou friend. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He could barely hear the way their friends screamed her name, pleaded with him to close his hand.

'Not like this. Not by my hand.'

Somehow, facing the certainty of the all-encompassing darkness in his palm, Kagome drew his attention to the beads in her hands, which she brandished between her own like a shield. His lips parted slightly in astonishment, drawing air with a gasp into lungs that were far too tight.

As she neared, he willed his fingers to move, to close. Her reiki spiked with her terror, the searing heat of it washing over him, beckoning his own chakra which soared to meet hers.

The force of her body colliding against his sent them sprawling into the trees behind them. When they finally came to a stop, his breath fell shuddering from his lips as he looked down at her, the fingers of his left hand curling desperately in the fabric of her shirt at her waist where his arm had instinctively curved around her.

"Kagome-sama?" his voice was hoarse and barely a whisper. He reached for her with his chakra, uneasily and beseechingly seeking her own.

"Itai…" she groaned into his kesu.

She was here—here and solid and alive.

He felt her shift against him, felt her tug at the beads that bit into his palm, pulling his hand up from where it had fell, fisted against her abdomen, to cradle it against her chest. He felt her wrap the beads around his wrist, echoing a movement he could perform in his sleep; her attempt was made awkward only by their proximity, how she remained laying across him, and he wondered how often she had studied that action of his to be able to replicate it in such a way. When she was satisfied he felt her reiki reach for him, entwining with his own, the warmth and serenity of her expanding like the breath in his chest.

"Daijoubu, Miroku-sama?" she asked him quietly, glancing up at him, blue eyes shadowed by wind tussled ebony locks.

Guilt clenched like a fist in his stomach. She was worried about him? How could she so easily cast aside the fear he had produced in her, ignore the danger he had put her in?

He nodded minutely in response and she sighed in relief, pressing her face back into his robes. His hand trailed up her back, coming to rest at the base of her neck, tangling in her hair as he held her close, breathed her in.

"How fascinating." They stilled as Naraku's sickly honeyed voice reached them and turned slightly to see him hovering just within the shadows of the trees in which they had tumbled. "You almost killed her, houshi. And yet she doesn't shy away from your touch."

Kagome squeezed his hand where it remained tucked against her chest. Miroku's arm tightened possessively around her shoulders in response; with the miasma coursing through his veins, he was too weak to do much more.

"You tried to kill me, Naraku, not him." Kagome spat with such force and vitriol that her chakra flared threateningly, visibly stirring the air around them. Miroku glanced in her direction, startled by the force of her power as she surged toward the kumo with it, hands bracing against his chest to steady herself as she pushed herself up. Naraku's crimson gaze widened marginally at the site of her, at the crackling force of her reiki that seemed to dance like sparks across her skin.

They heard Inuyasha's growling rage before they felt the force of it, saw him moving with impossible speed through the trees, a flash of red, a familiar attack dancing from his blade. The debris of his Windscar billowed around them in the aftermath and Kagome turned to brace herself above Miroku, to cover him from what her slight form could of those debris and he felt the hot thread of guilt knot in his stomach once more.

They heard Inuyasha curse, identifying their enemy as a puppet before he reemerged from the trees surrounding them, storming into the space between the trees where the miko and houshi remained, anger and anxiety stirring his youki palpably. "What the hell were you thinking?!" he growled, his question ambiguously directed at both of his companions before him. His amber eyes and astute senses quickly took in each of their battered and fatigued states—injured, frightened, and exhausted, but alive. The tension in his stance eased slightly when Kagome turned from her hunched position over Miroku to look up at him, her azure gaze finding his with a small, weary smile.

Before either of them could muster an answer for the hanyou, Sango reached them, leaping from Kirara's back to stumble toward them, immediately wrapping an arm around Kagome's shoulders, pulling her to her side, relief laced through her voice as she said: "You're okay. Thank Kami-sama, you're both okay." Kagome leaned into her warmth and caught the teary-eyed kitsune that leapt for her with her free arm.

Concerned chestnut eyes met Miroku's violet and he smiled weakly in response. The taijiya reached out to grasp his hand with her free hand, gingerly covering both his and Kagome's, which had not yet released her hold. She surveyed the stretch of poisoned flesh that he was sure covered the length of his arm, saw his wince and labored breath.

"Kagome-chan…" Kagome met the older woman's gaze. "We'll need herbs for the poison," Sango said carefully. The miko turned her gaze back to Miroku's violet then, saw the pain that wrecked his features before her eyes fell to their entwined hands beneath Sango's. She nodded in response and withdrew her hand, making sure to tuck his carefully into the taijiya's before standing.

"Shippō-chan, I'm going to need your help."

The kitsune nodded enthusiastically, jumping from her arms.

"I'll come too." Blue eyes met Inuyasha's amber with a grateful smile. She nodded her thanks and led them into the trees, explaining the type of herbs they were looking for.

Sango's fingers trailed up his arm as she pushed back the sleeve of his kosode, examining what she could without removing his robes altogether and drawing his attention back to her. He heard her breath hitch.

'Is it that bad?'

"We'll need to get you to Mushin-sama," Sango said quietly.

'That's a yes.'

He tried to force a bitter laugh, but it escaped his lips as a groan. Worry laced her features and he reached up with his other hand to grasp hers between both of his.

"Daijoubu, Sango-san."

She forced a small smile. "Hai, you will be, you baka." she replied quietly.

He had the thought to say something about the care of such a beautiful woman ensuring his recovery, but thought better of it. Instead, he squeezed her hand, a small smile curling the corners of his lips.


A/N: We'll continue with this situation and the aftermath for a few chapters. Let me know what you think? - HM11

Vocabulary: itai – ouch; kumo – spider; Daijoubu – are you alright in question form, and I'm fine in statement form; baka – idiot; kosode – robes; kesu – outer robes; kazaana – windtunel; miko – priestess; houshi – monk; hanyou – half demon; youkai – demon(s); youki – demonic aura; Shikon no Kakera – Shards of the Shikon Jewel; saimyoushou – Naraku's poisonous insects; taijiya – demon slayer; shouki – evil aura