Kagome woke to the creak of carriage wheels as a supply wagon rolled by just outside the tent. She stared blearily at the dim wall of the canvas, lit only by a splash of light as the tent flap danced in the mid-morning breeze. A group of perfectly synced footsteps marched by as someone called out a marching cadence and from far off, the enticing scent of cooking meat wafted by.
Yawning, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly as sunlight shown through the dense fabric—then gasped and rolled off her cot, landing face first on the soft carpet as she scrambled out of bed in a wave of unfettered panic. "Oh god she's gonna hate me," she gasped, scrabbling along the ground to drag the same haori and hakama she'd worn the day before into reach and start tugging them on.
An amused exhale sounded from just outside the tent—Horuto, ever patient and unruffled. "Why didn't you wake me?" she demanded as she burst up and limped to the wash basin as she tried to tug on a dusty boot at the same time.
He didn't answer, or at least she didn't hear if he did as she leaned down to splash water on her face. The cold water shocked away the last of the sleep slowing her down. She rushed through cleaning her teeth with one hand as she pulled her second boot on with the other. "Horuto?" she asked again
He sighed and she watched the shadow of his shoulder lift in a one-sided shrug. "Yesterday was very trying on you. I deemed your mental health and rest more important than rousing you."
She did feel more rested. Hopefully that was worth whatever scolding she'd receive for being late. Rushing to her armor stand, she spared a glance at Izayoi's empty cot as she started tugging on the various pieces. "Have you heard from your brother yet? I thought he and Izayoi would be back by now."
"No, Kagome-sama. They are schedule to return in a day or two though, according to Tōga-sama."
Snapping the last buckle in place, Kagome wondered what Fuiasu-sama had deemed so important as to summon Izayoi away for, but didn't linger any longer. Snatching a simple wooden hairpin off the vanity table, she tied her hair and dashed outside where Horuto waited—with two steamed buns and cup of tea. "I don't have-"
He only raised black brow and held both out to her.
"You're worse than a fretting mother," she muttered, but took the tea and gulped it down. The buns she took with both hands and then dashed off, stuffing them into her mouth one bite at a time as she dodged groups of soldiers on her way to the training grounds amidst greetings of her name and title. As always, Horuto followed at a sedate pace behind her, as unperturbed as ever.
When she burst into the training grounds, the sounds of clanging metal and heavy grunts filled the air. Soldiers worked in various forms of combat, from meditation to katas to everything in between. In the center of the training grounds stood a large ring where they often practice their hand-to-hand combat and as always, soldiers in a various states of disrepair hovered around it jeering at whoever fought in the middle.
Not seeing the tell-tale splash of red and white miko were known for, Kagome thought maybe her teacher had given up hope she'd ever arrive and left—and would have returned to camp if not for the snippet of conversation she heard as two soldiers passed her on their way back to camp themselves.
"Can't believe Taki got his ass handed to him by a Miko—and she didn't even use any reiki to do it. He's never going to live that down."
The other soldier guffawed as they wandered off.
Tardiness forgotten, Kagome's attention darted back to the obscured training ring. Soldiers gathered around it at least three deep, jeering and cheering in equal measure. The occasional flinch or groan washed across them in waves as the fight waged on.
"It seems your new teacher has decided to make an entrance," Horuto mused from behind her.
Eager to see another miko in action, she didn't hesitate to push through the crowd to reach the front of the ring.
Kagome didn't know what she had expected, but this wasn't it. The other girl barely looked older than her. Despite the quiet concentration painted across her face and the calm calculation in her eyes, she hardly looked experienced enough to be the teacher Kagome had anticipated. Donned in stark red and white miko robes and the stunning, dragon scale armor she bore, she looked like a young warrior fresh off the training grounds, not a miko renowned for her strength and viciousness towards youkai.
Despite that, she didn't move like a novice. Each step flowed like the smoothest dance but every strike came down with the force of a raging typhoon. As her opponent grabbed her wrist, she stepped behind him and used her free hand to grab the back of his neck, shove him behind her, then wrap her trapped arm around his neck to lift him and throw him down to the ground in one smooth motion.
He did not get up, merely laid there panting and squinting up at the sun bright sky until she leaned over and offered him a hand up. Chuckling, he grasped it and let her haul him up. "You fight good for a miko."
She lifted a brow and said wryly, "I did attempt to warn you."
Kagome hesitated at the edge of the sparring ring, uncertain if she should step forward but before she could decide, those solemn brown eyes of her teacher settled on her. Electricity hummed to life between them and Kagome could have sworn something like recognition settled inside of her—but such a thing could not be possible, could it? Wasn't this their first meeting?
"You must be Kagome-sama," said the other miko.
"I…" She swallowed and hesitated again, but stumbled forward when Horuto shoved lightly at her shoulder. "Yes, that's me. I'm Kagome."
"I am Midoriko. The Inu no Taisho has told me much about you. I have been warned about your attendance record." Her words, though kind, rang with both jest and warning as she bowed once and straightened.
Kagome flushed and swiped a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "I'm sorry! Yesterday I…" She rolled her shoulders and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll do better from today if you'll give me another chance?"
"Of course, Kagome-sama. Per Lord Tōga's instructions, I am at your disposal. He has informed me that he will require weekly updates on your progress. Are you ready to begin?"
Just like that, Midoriko drew her into combat. It was one thing to watch from the outside as she demolished a soldier with her precisely elegant strikes, but it was another thing all together to be on the receiving end. Each step towards her, each thrust of her fist, each swipe of her foot, pushed Kagome out of striking range with all the strength of the ebb and flow of an ocean tide—teasing her in for a strike, forcing her out when she got too close.
After only a half hour, Kagome fought for her breath as if a piece of coal sat snug at the base of her throat. Each gasp of air she sucked down burned, cold and harsh. Sweat, not from the heat bearing down on them, beaded along her brow. It soaked down the front of her undergarments, a dark triangle against her breastbone—damp and sticky against her skin. Her arms trembled, heavy and unwieldy, as she raised them to block another punch—unnecessary, as not even a scratch marred her skin since Midoriko stopped her attacks from landing each and every time. Kagome had never fought anyone with such self-control.
Throughout, her teacher didn't utter a single word. She'd become accustomed to Horuto's passing corrections in training, or the older soldier's advice on sparring days. Even Tōga made a few comments on the rare occasion he could be pulled away from the war tables to check on her and Izayoi's trainings. Midoriko's silence unnerved her—and distracted.
One second comparisons against old teachers filled her brain, the next only the lack of air as her back slammed into the ground and she stared face first at the sky. A chorus of laughter echoed, or maybe bird song—hard to tell with her ears ringing and her lungs bursting—and she could have sworn even Horuto let out a dry chuckle from somewhere around the sparring ring.
When a slender hand covered in calluses popped into her range of view, Kagome, panting, followed it up to a dainty wrist and scarred forearm, past sleeves gone off-white from age, to the deceptively delicate straps of dragon scale armor, and settled on Midoriko's unruffled, impassive face. Only a slight warmth in the tiniest curve of her lips gave her away—amused, pleased.
"Are you finished already, Kagome-sama?" Her words, though quiet, echoed with patience and consideration as she waited with her hand out to help her up.
Sucking in another breath, Kagome shook her head and grabbed wildly for her hand as she levered herself up with her other one. The moment their hands actually touched, palm to palm, Kagome's power exploded out in a pulse of recognition and shock. As a wave of reiki rolled out of her, loud and harsh like a drum, the sparring ring and it's occupants faded from her view.
She saw herself, but different—younger, more human, laughing and talking with other girls in a strange, obscenely short kimono of green and white. Dozens of other young humans surrounded them, and over them hulked giant buildings of grey stone—taller even than Tōga in his true form as steel birds screamed by up in the air.
Then a shrine as she chased a laughing young boy who in turn ran after a fat tri-colored cat. An older woman called out her name and the scene changed again—this time fear and darkness as something dragged her down, down, down, before purple and blue light exploded around her and she was crawling up, up, up, out of an old, decrepit well filled with bones and the thing that had dragged her down—a centipede youkai, her cries of 'shikon no tama' a death mantra as she chased her and chased her until a giant tree with boy, blurry-faced and white haired, pinned by an arrow. She lunged for it, but the youkai pinned her to the tree too and tore her vicious fangs into her side, ripping out a glowing, pink piece of her. Desperate panic filled her and she grasped the only thing she could—the arrow pinning the boy into place. He burst into life and clawed the youkai to pieces before he reached for the jewel she'd stolen from her. Inuyasha. Inuyasha. Inuyasha?
Like a sunburst, the visions faded and left her reeling. Only Midoriko's hand, still firmly clasped around her wrist, held her up as she tried to wrap her mind around what she had just seen. Had that been her future or her past? Who was Inuyasha? What was the Shikon no Tama? Why had she seen all of that when she and Midoriko made skin contact?
"Are you alright, Kagome-sama?" Midoriko tightened her grip on her wrist and hauled her up, setting her other hand on her forearm to steady her.
Just like that, another vision sent Kagome to her knees.
This time another miko stood before her, dull-eyed and lifeless, but with a face so like Kagome's she wondered if that's what she'd look like when she was older. But the other miko only held up a hand and blue reiki filtered out of her—pulling her, pulling her, pulling her, until an unbearable ache echoed deep into her bones, and she wondered if this was what dying felt like, if this was what her future held, if this was worth dying for.
'You're just Kikyō's reincarnation! You don't understand anything!'
Just a reincarnation. The words boomed in her head like a gong and dragged her back to reality. This time Kagome ripped her hand free of Midoriko's and stumbled back a step. "What was that?" she demanded, panic roiling inside of her as 'reincarnation' replayed in her head, a chant she couldn't block out.
"I am unsure," Midoriko admitted as she stepped back too, giving her space..
Kagome swallowed and wiped her palms, sweaty and itchy, against her hakama. "You…you didn't see anything?" A hand on her shoulder distracted her and she looked back to see Horuto hovering warily.
"No, Kagome-sama. Only the fear on your face and the distance in your eyes. You had a vision?"
She closed her eyes and sucked down a deep breath, desperate to calm her racing heart and ignore the shouted accusations from the boy called Inuyasha. "My past. Or maybe my future. I don't know."
Midoriko looked away, diverting her attention to the soldiers still milling about and completing their own trainings. "It is not uncommon for miko to have such visions, though often they present themselves in dreams or are induced by trances. It is…rare for physical contact with another person to cause one." She paused and clasped her hands together before her. "Do you wish to discuss it with me?"
Kagome shook her head and scrubbed her hands across her face this time. "No. I don't even know what I would tell you. Or how it would help."
She nodded once. "Then we will end our training here for today, Kagome-sama."
"But—"
"You are in no state to continue fighting, Kagome-sama." She did not smile, but her words were not unkind. Only firm. "Given your reaction to the vision, even meditation would not be possible in this moment. Go. Rest. We will resume your training tomorrow, when you have had time to calm."
Years of interpreting stern, immovable expressions had taught Kagome enough to know when someone would not be moved from their decision. Left with nothing else to say, she nodded once and left, Horuto trailing silently behind her.
Word count – 2402
a/n – thank you guys for your patience and loyalty to continue reading! This has been sitting on my desktop since January. I'm not really happy with it, but I've tried re-writing it a half dozen times and nothing comes together as well as this one did. Hope you enjoy it! For reference, Kagome and Izayoi are roughly 14/15 in appearance, Midoriko 16/17, Sesshoumaru closer to 19, Horuto (and twin) and Masashi 22ish. I've honestly gotten the math all mixed up in my head, so I have no idea how old anyone is anymore—just going to go based off appearances lol. Hope that's okay.