Evanescent

By: HalcyonMoments11


Ooh, how do we mend?
Ooh, I didn't choose to depend on you.
It's out of our hands;
Maybe it will work out in the end.
I don't know if you mean everything to me.
And I wonder, can I give you what you need?
Don't want to find I've lost it all.
Too scared to have no one to call,
So can we just pretend?

That we're not falling into the deep end?

-Birdy (Deep End)


Inuyasha grumbled, a sound that tumbled from the back of his throat as part growl, part sigh, as he watched Kagome stand from her "sun-bathing" position on the beach they had stumbled across a couple of hours before, wrap her towel around her waist and the pitiful excuse of fabric she called a "swim-suit", and move in the direction Miroku had started walking several minutes before.

The miko had stuck irritatingly close to the houshi's side since they left Mushin's shrine a few days ago, lingering beside him as they travelled from the outskirts of the forest Hachi called home, wandering off to help him in whatever task he took on to help set up camp, and frequently seating herself beside him during meals. She had even begun to place her bedding close to his following a nightmare from which she had woken screaming.

When Inuyasha had leapt down from his perch in a tree above them to gather her in his arms and try to comfort her she had asked through her tears: "W-where's Miroku-sama?"

While he had been startled by her question, he was completely taken aback when the monk had spoken up to identify his presence and Kagome had pushed herself out of his arms and hastened into Miroku's.

Confusion mingled with a pang of jealousy had hurried Inuyasha back into the trees with a scoff when the houshi's violet eyes had met his amber and made a shrugging motion with his hands before wrapping them around the shaking onna clutching his kesu.

"It's not you, Inuyasha."

Amber eyes met the chocolate brown of the taijiya, startled to see her standing beside him. She had somehow found her way to his side after changing back into her taijiya fuku and kimono without him noticing, lost in thought as he had been.

"What d'ya mean?" he asked in response to both her comment and her attention as she wrung her hair out in the towel Kagome had given her.

Sango gestured in the direction of their houshi and miko companions with a small nod. He followed her gaze; Kagome had just caught up to Miroku, just outside his range of hearing due to the sound of the waves.

"They've always been close, but what Naraku did… what almost happened to Kagome-chan… I'm not sure we'll ever be able to understand the fear of the kazaana that she and Miroku-sama share now. And you know how Kagome-chan is—a force of her own when it comes to chasing off darkness… I'm sure she doesn't even really realize what she's doing. So… it's not you. For once."

The taijiya offered him a teasing smile and chuckled when the hanyou cast a half-hearted glare over his shoulder at her, meeting her explanation with a quiet "Feh" as he tucked his hands into the sleeves of his haori.

She found a perch on the rocks beside him and glanced at Shippō who was dutifully building a sand castle with old ramen cups around Kirara, the neko more than happy to lounge in the shade the structure offered, a distance away from the water that the kitsune had been splashing her with just hours before.

"And the houshi? Do you think he's just innocently letting her tag along and fall into his arms?" Inuyasha's question drew the taijiya's attention back to him, noting the way his ears tilted back agitatedly and his nose twitched as he tried to catch their companion's scents over the smell of the ocean.

She followed his bright gaze to where the monk and priestess stood at the water's edge down the beach, thier figures almost silhouettes in the distance. Kagome had taken Miroku's hand in hers, presumably to examine something he held in his palm. She couldn't see their expressions, but Sango was certain Miroku must be smiling down at her amused, perhaps even affectionately, and she felt her stomach flip with the quick flare of doubt and envy that caught in her chest with her breath as the hanyou's words sunk in.

"I'm not sure… I think Miroku-sama is as much a 'fixer' as Kagome-chan, and I think he feels guilty for what happened to her, even if the circumstances of our last encounter with Naraku were out of his control. He's faced many situations in his life that have been uncontrollable—especially where the kazaana is concerned—and so he over-compensates in the things he can master... which may be why he's such an incorrigible flirt..." she replied quietly with a wry chuckle.

Inuyasha glanced in her direction and his shoulders slumped slightly, realizing what he had asked her to consider. "Yer probably right… probably just scared him too," he stated quietly with a shrug.

Sango nodded briefly in response.


"What is that?"

Violet eyes turned up from the small silver pendent he'd found in the sand to meet the curious azure of his miko companion as she peered over his shoulder. He had bent down to rinse it in the surf, shaking the remnants of sand clinging to the attached leather strip away in the waves.

Miroku hummed in response, nodding his head in a gesture of greeting, having not noticed her approach beforehand. When had she gotten up to follow him? She had stuck close to him quite often as of late, perhaps that was why he hadn't noticed her approach?

"I'm not sure; I've only just found it in the sand."

He stood and held his hand in Kagome's direction so that she could take a closer look. He couldn't help the soft smile that quickly curved the corners of his lips in response to her curiosity when she bent over his hand to peer closer, fingers rising to brush the small metal piece in his palm.

"It looks like someone may have once worn this," she noted quietly, rolling the end of the leather strip in her fingers. "Oh! Do you think someone lost it?!" Concern laced her voice and she looked up at him wide-eyed, a mixture of wonder and worry lining her features.

He rose a surprised eyebrow in reply, though it had been a long time since the miko's tendencies towards immediate sympathy for others had caught him off guard. "I would presume so," he replied, eyes turning down to the small pendant in his hand.

It was hard to say how old it really was, depending upon how long it had been lost to the elements, but the remnants of the tattered leather strip that hung to it suggested it could not have been lost for long. If that was indeed the case, the very faint kanji he could feel engraved in one side of it had been eroded by wear, rather than the elements themselves. Even looking closely as he did now, he couldn't quite make out what the words said.

"You don't think it could have belonged to someone who was lost at sea, do you?"

"Perhaps… but I would have also expected to find a body nearby or attached if that were the case…"

She tapped a finger against her lips in thought; he tried not to notice, tried not to follow the creamy expanse of her arm down from her lips to where it was crossed over her chest, accentuating her curves beneath the thin fabric of her "swim suit."

"Ano… then someone must have dropped it somehow… maybe they were attacked here?!"

Kagome looked around as if expecting to find some assailant in wait among the rocks and cliffs surrounding the beach.

Miroku chuckled in response, shaking his head slightly at her antics. "It could have simply been an accident, Kagome-sama."

Kagome hummed, considering. "True, but it looks well-loved." She reached up to brush her thumb over the silver pendant again. "Don't you think they would have noticed losing it and tried to come back for it?"

"Maybe they were distracted."

She met his gaze once more. "Distracted by what?"

A small smirk curled the corners of his lips, eyes glinting mischievously as he attempted to subtly look her up and down. "Come now, Kagome-sama, certainly the future has not changed so much that the beach is no longer a favorite place for trysts?"

A pretty pink flooded her cheeks. "O-oh… ano, it is… I-I mean I don't know, but I've heard…" She fiddled with the edge of the towel around her waist as she talked, looking everywhere but at him.

Miroku chuckled, closing his hand around the small pendant and tucking it into his kesu. "What a shame, a beautiful young woman such as yourself, only having heard of such trysts. I'd be more than happy to remedy that with you." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Kagome flushed so red that the color bled into patches down her neck and blossomed across her chest, and for a moment Miroku was not sure if he should be flattered or concerned.

"I-I'm sure you would, you hentai."

Her eyes narrowed in a glare that barely fazed him.

"That's not exactly a no, Kagome-sama…"

Before the miko could lift a hand in his direction—as she fully intended—they were distracted by two young men speedily scaling a path in the rocks and crossing the beach towards them, arms waving wildly to garner their attention.

"Thank goodness, Houshi-sama!" one of them exclaimed as they neared.

Kagome glanced between Miroku and the men curiously and he shrugged in response. He took a small, subtle step in front of the young miko as the men hurried closer, allowing his reiki to extend around them both, subtly, but protectively shielding Kagome's aura beneath his own.

"Apologies, gentlemen, but do I know you?" the houshi asked as the two finally came to a stop before them, both breathing heavily.

Both were dressed in simple, lightweight outfits that consisted of a haori, hakama, and sandals. One looked to be middle aged, with sun tanned skin, graying brown hair, and brown eyes, and the other closer to their age, dark skinned, hair so black it had a blue-green sheen, and striking light grey eyes. They bowed their heads in greeting.

The elder of the two men spoke up. "Ah, no, apologies Houshi-sama, but we are indeed happy to see you, our village is in great need of your services."

"Your village?" Kagome asked, peering at the men around Miroku's shoulder. "I didn't realize there was one nearby."

Both men blinked at the sight of her, either not seeming to have noticed her presence prior to her question or immediately taken aback by her attire. Whatever the case may be, Kagome was unfazed by their stares, and only titled her head curiously when she received no answer.

Miroku cleared his throat. "I believe you were going to tell us about whatever ails your village, as my companion has noted?"

The younger of the two men recovered first; he offered a reply to Miroku's question without looking away from the miko. "We're unable to divulge the full details unless we're able to petition your aid, Houshi-sama, but it may suffice you to know that we are in great peril."

Miroku took note of the young man's gaze and shifted his shakujō across his body to cross the young man's line of sight; he glanced at Miroku, and then back to Kagome, bowing his head once more.

"Your aid may also be in great need, Miko-sama," he said quietly.

Kagome's eyes widened slightly in response, and Miroku's eyebrows rose faintly in incredulity. 'How could he tell she's a miko, despite my shielding her reiki with my own?'

"How fortunate that we would stumble upon a houshi and a miko on our patrol!" the elder proclaimed, smiling brightly.

In that moment, Inuyasha crashed down in the sand beside Kagome, one hand resting obviously on the hilt of Tessaiga as he stood amid a flurry of sand his entrance had cast into the air.

"Who the hell are you two?" he asked gruffly as the two reeled back slightly, startled by the hanyou's entrance and the neko youkai who followed, landing lightly on the other side of Miroku and Kagome with the taijiya and kitsune in tow.

The two strangers took up a defensive stance, eyeing the additional members of the inu-tachi carefully.

"Ah, Inuyasha, these two gentlemen were just about to petition our aid in ridding their village of some yet unexplained concern." Miroku smiled amiably at the two men as Inuyasha huffed, hand shifting to a less threatening hold on Tessaiga's hilt.

"Y-you know these youkai and the taijiya?" the brunette man asked.

"Hai, of course, we are travelling companions."

The two men glanced at each other, and then back to Miroku and Kagome. "We are truly only in need of a houshi and a miko," the elder replied.

Miroku smiled apologetically. "Oh, well that's a shame."

"Where they go, we go." Sango added from Kirara's back, scratching the neko affectionately behind one ear. Kagome nodded her agreement as Shippō chimed in with an enthusiastic "That's right!"

"Keh. Let's get outta here." Inuyasha muttered after a moment in which the two men did not respond, tucking his hands behind his head and turning to walk away.

The brunette glanced at the younger man once more, who shrugged in response. The older of the two sighed.

"Please don't go! I'm sure we can work something out!" he exclaimed before anyone else could follow Inuyasha's lead.

"Hai, it'd be our pleasure to welcome you all to Mizukagami," the younger man added.

Inuyasha glanced back over his shoulder and met Kagome's curious azure gaze, then Miroku's questioning violet, awaiting his confirmation. The hanyou rolled his eyes and heaved a shrug. "Do whatever ya want," he replied in a huff.

Kagome smiled gratefully while Miroku turned a wide smile towards the two men. "In that case, we'd be more than happy to offer you our aid, gentlemen. Let us gather our supplies and then you may lead the way!"


Vocabulary: houshi – monk; miko – priestess; taijiya – demon slayer; hanyou – half demon; youkai – demon(s); neko – cat; kitsune – fox; fuku – uniform; ano – well; hentai – pervert; inu-tachi – dog pack/Inuyasha and his travelling companions; shakujō – Miroku's staff; chan – term of endearment mainly used for females; kun- term of endearment mainly used for males; sama – term of respect, lord/lady/master

A/N: A longer than anticipated chapter, despite very little happening within it, but this and the next will set us up for a relatively long series of chapters set in this village. So, stay tuned! -HM11