InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cannot Be Broken ❯ Power of Love ( Chapter 24 )

“Get off me, you lecher!” Sango cried, trying to simultaneously dislodge a heavy monk off her and wipe her face that was full of snow.

 

Miroku did not seem to notice as he looked down at her from where he lay on top of her. “Oh Lady Sango….” He winced. “I think I may have broken….”

 

“Shut up, liar!” Sango rolled on the manor's training ground trying to get him off her.

 

Kagome ran over to them and pushed the monk off of the slayer and helped her to stand. “Shit! Sorry, Sango! I didn't mean to fling him so far!”

 

Sango tried to smile but it came out as a pained grimace. “It's okay, Kagome. Maybe we should take another break?” She staggered slowly over to Miroku to help him up.

 

InuYasha was snickering and had a constant smirk on his face. The rest of the morning and afternoon was like this and he loved every minute of it. Sango and Miroku thought that they should start training Kagome right away, and soon enough found themselves in a position very much like the one they were in now, beaten, bruised and back here they started from.

 

Kagome glared over at him. “Keep it up, hanyou, because you're next!”

 

InuYasha bit back his laughter but still smirked at her. “Feh, does this mean that if you use your powers on me, I get to use mine on you?” He flexed his claws slightly.

 

Kagome blushed at the memory of that morning and her eyes narrowed at him. “You mean your abilities to be a complete ass?”

 

“No, not those!” He growled and flinched after he realized what he had just said. “Bitch.” He muttered and crossed his arms as he looked away.

 

Kagome stifled a giggle and looked over at her two teachers. Her face fell watching them dust the snow from their clothing, looking very tired. “I'm so sorry.”

 

Both looked over at her surprised.

 

“Kagome,” Sango smiled, “don't apologize. I think I might be using the wrong approach.”

 

Miroku rolled a shoulder and massaged it with his hand. “I agree.” He groaned. “We forget we are not just dealing with Kagome here.”

 

Sango blinked. “I never thought of that.” She cast her gaze over at the necklace. “Damn.”

 

“Sango?” Kagome looked at the girl's worried expression.

 

Sango waved her off and smiled slightly. “Just that… they never taught us how to train the Shikon if she has been enhanced by youkai powers. This will take some ingenuity, that's all.”

 

Now Kagome blinked. “This doesn't sound good.”

 

Miroku grinned. “Actually….”

 

“Miroku… shut it.” Sango barked.

 

The monk just sighed. “Yes, Lady Sango.”

 

“How the fuck did you end up like this, monk?” InuYasha smirked.

 

Miroku flushed slightly. “Honestly, InuYasha, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

 

InuYasha barked out laughing. “Like such a kept man. Look at you, tied to the slayer's strings.”

 

“Well, at least I don't have a collar.” The monk stated simply.

 

InuYasha flexed his claws. “Oh yeah? Well, I never sided with the enemy because she batted an eyelid!”

 

“No.” Miroku smiled. “You married her.”

 

InuYasha stalled, his mouth wide open but no valid response would come out. “Fuck you!” He crossed his arms and looked away sulkily.

 

Kagome and Sango watched them stunned, before looking at each other.

 

“So what do you suggest?” Kagome sighed.

 

Sango shook her head. “My only suggestion is to use the necklace. Severing the ties is impossible, so the only thing we can do is to get InuYasha to help hone your powers.”

 

Kagome paled and glanced over at InuYasha whose ears were perked in her direction. “Um, Sango… are you sure about this?”

 

Sango shrugged. “It's his powers too, maybe you have to work together in order for you both to be able to control and manipulate what you two share.”

 

“What?” InuYasha moved to stand by Kagome. “What do you mean by both of us?”

 

Sango looked over at him. “Exactly that. She uses her Shikon abilities and you use your youkai.”

 

InuYasha growled. “Yeah, Sango, you may not have heard, but the necklace is used to subdue my demon side, not bring it to my beck and call.”

 

“Actually, InuYasha, isn't that what you have been doing?” Kagome bit her lip.

 

The hanyou looked at her in confused frustration. “No, I never had control of when my youkai side came out.”

 

Kagome shook her head. “Maybe, but you do have control when it does come out.”

 

InuYasha stalled. She's right. Ever since the necklace, every time I transformed I was still in my own mind. I never lost my reason, but I was still reckless…. Visions of that morning filled his head. He growled slightly and looked away. “No, I don't have control.”

 

Kagome looked him over and glimpsed over at Miroku and Sango, who were watching them intently, before blushing. “Yes… you do…. You forget that I feel it too….”

 

InuYasha looked down in thought for several seconds. “It's not safe to do as Sango says.”

 

“No, it's not, nothing about any of this is.” Sango frowned. “But it's necessary.”

 

“She is right.” Miroku sighed. “And it is not just Kagome's life that is at stake. All of us are in danger if Naraku succeeds.”

 

“InuYasha?” Kagome looked up at him with wide eyes.

 

He looked up at her and watched her for several moments. “Okay.” He said softly before turning uneasily away.

 

Kagome sighed slightly then turned to Sango. “What do we do?”

 

Sango looked over at Miroku. “We fight.”

 

Kagome frowned. “What? But how will that….”

 

Before she could finish the sentence, Miroku knocked Kagome to the ground. His staff was raised over his head as if ready to strike a killing blow. Kagome's eyes widened. “Mir…!”

 

InuYasha growled and lunged for the monk but was toppled by Sango. InuYasha leapt to his feet and again tried to reach Kagome, who had rolled out of the way to avoid the sweep of Miroku's staff as it hit the ground heavily. Sango was already on the offensive, swinging her boomerang like a giant axe at the hanyou. He kept jumping back to avoid each swing. “Fuck off, Sango!” He roared.

 

Sango didn't reply, nor did she stop. She swung the boomerang at him and as he dodged it, she lunged her katana out and stabbed him in the chest. InuYasha howled in rage.

 

Kagome had rolled and stood quickly, looking at Miroku in fright and confusion. “Don't you think there's a better way than…?” She back jumped to narrowly miss a kick and a swing of the now fast twirling staff. She staggered back several feet trying to avoid each swing and punch by the monk. “This is fucking retarded!” She yelled at him. “Miroku, back off!”

 

InuYasha's howl echoed over the training grounds. Kagome's heart thumped hard as she heaved out a hot breath. “InuYasha….” She gasped.

 

The hanyou was looking at the blood on his hand that he used to grab his wound, but he felt no pain. From her raspy call, he looked over at Kagome and saw she was clutching her chest in the same spot he was just hit. Her face was pale from pain.

 

“Kagome!” He jumped over Sango and back kicked her, knocking her face first in to the snow several feet away. He landed behind Miroku and grabbed his robes and flung the monk back towards the slayer. He didn't even look back as he grabbed Kagome and held her close to him. “Kagome.” He breathed.

 

Kagome looked up at him. “I'm alright… just … it hurt….” Her attention was drawn to the monk and exterminator as they both jumped up from their thrown positions and ran towards them. Miroku had ofudas ready to strike, and Sango had let her boomerang go towards them. “No!” Kagome cried and held InuYasha hard, burying her face in his chest.

 

The giant boomerang and ofudas hit, and were deflected by an invisible force that surrounded the couple. The boomerang was pitched to the side, but the ofudas were burned into ashes.

 

InuYasha whipped his head to glare at the two feigned attackers. His voice was low and harsh. “What are you trying to prove?”

 

Sango looked at him and then paled. She gestured her head at their surroundings. “That.” She breathed.

 

Kagome and InuYasha looked at each other than around them.

 

Kagome frowned. Nothing looked beyond her perception from what she saw at first glance until….

 

“Whoa.” InuYasha blinked.

 

“What?” Kagome looked at all of them as they each looked all around.

 

The land was white from a blanket of snow, but once getting used to the brightness of that alone, they could all notice an overlaying soft haze of pure light surrounding every living thing.

 

“The auras.” Sango breathed.

 

Kagome looked around confused then stopped. “Wait… you all can see it?”

 

All three nodded, their mouths slightly open.

 

“How?” Kagome pulled out of InuYasha's now slack embrace.

 

Nobody said anything for a few moments as they all soaked in what they were seeing.

 

InuYasha finally spoke. “But it's duller.”

 

They all looked at him.

 

“Duller?” Miroku was silently watching Sango, a faint pink hue surrounded her and she looked radiant.

 

InuYasha nodded. “Yeah, the cave was much brighter….” He stopped and pinked slightly, before frowning.

 

Kagome's cheeks flushed too and she looked down shyly.

 

“InuYasha?” Sango frowned.

 

The hanyou growled. “What?!”

 

“You've seen through her eyes before?” Sango tilted her head questionably.

 

InuYasha looked away uncomfortably. “Yeah, so?”

 

“And it was brighter?” Miroku grinned. “What were you do… ow!”

 

Sango flicked her hand from the pain of smacking the monk in the back of his head. “It doesn't matter. What is essential is that we can all see a portion of it now.”

 

“And again,” Kagome sighed in exasperation, “how?”

 

Sango shook her head. “I must admit this wasn't what I was expecting.” She glimpsed over at InuYasha. “I was trying to revive your demon side, by placing Kagome in danger. I didn't think she would be the one protecting….” Sango's face lit up. “She created the life shield and was protecting you… but how did she… unless….”

 

All three watched her, two with confused expressions, the other with a soft grin on his face as they watched the exterminator pace back and forth in thought.

 

“It was the same with me fighting Sesshomaru… she had the ability, but she didn't know how, and it was a bit reckless and uncontrolled….” Sango muttered. “And it all has to buckle down as to why….”

 

“Sango?” InuYasha frowned.

 

She rose up a hand to silence him as she thought. After a few minutes she turned to them, her eyes focusing beyond them as she still thought aloud. “Sesshomaru told me it began when she left the Western Territory, the day InuYasha was to bring her to the manor. They were intimate….”

 

Kagome and InuYasha flushed and looked away from each other.

 

“And again, the bath chambers, the stable… Kouga.” Sango bit her lower lip. “Each time when she was with him….” She looked around quickly. “No, only when they were alone and….” Her eyes focused on Kagome and InuYasha and a dawning expression filled her face. “Oh gods, I never knew, but it's so obvious. I couldn't just teach you how to use your powers on your whim… they only are a manifestation of what you are.” Sango smiled. “And InuYasha is the trigger, not the cause or the effect. He was the reason. His youkai strength is only bonus!”

 

“Sango, my most cherished.” Miroku grinned. “Would you mind elaborating what is on your lovely mind?”

 

Sango smiled. “All this time we've been looking at it all wrong. Her progression of powers, the unexpected link of the necklace… it wasn't how we thought.” Sango looked at each in turn. “Don't you get it? All this time we believed Kagome's powers were kept at bay but in fact they just weren't able to be properly channelled.”

 

“I don't know, dear Sango, Kagome seems to handle her powers quite fine, though a bit eager at times.” Miroku grimaced and rubbed his neck.

 

Sango shook her head. “Those powers are nothing compared to what the Shikon can do. Seeing, healing and forcing auras are powerful, but can be obtained by any full powered miko as long as they have something to channel it in. The Shikon no Tama goes way beyond her miko form. The Shikon transcends that of our mortal plane and draws from the power of life and good itself as a whole, not only through one's self. She has the power of the world in her, and that is what Naraku is trying to take, and that is what Kagome must use.”

 

Kagome paled. “Sango, I don't think that's possible. Use the power of the world? I can't even create the life barrier without coming close to killing someone.”

 

Sango shook her head. “No, that was my mistake. I believed what we all believed. That Sesshomaru subdued you, and when you left his domain they came to light. That may be the case as to why your Shikon powers emerged when they did, but there had to have been a reason why they happened at certain times. If your powers were no longer controlled by Sesshomaru why did they not come to full light?” Sango looked at them all again.

 

Miroku nodded slightly tying to catch hold of what she was saying. “Yes, that is true, if her powers were no longer contained by Sesshomaru, why did they not appear and stay for the duration she was with us in the Eastern Territory? Why did they only occur at said times? That is an interesting observation, my Lady Sango.”

 

“Yes, you're both smart, now shut up and get to the point.” InuYasha growled.

 

Sango ignored him and frowned in thought. “Sesshomaru had told me her powers would develop once away from the Tensaiga, yet Kagome's powers only seem to grow when she was with InuYasha. It was my observations that convinced him the necklace was the only way to keep her powers contained and to keep your youkai from drawing them out as he believed.”

 

“Whoa, wait, what?!” InuYasha growled. “Your observations? My youkai was drawing out her powers? What the fuck?!”

 

Sango nodded quickly still lost in thought and not noticing the fury growing in the hanyou. “Yes, like I told you before. When Kagome came to the manor, it was my job to see what powers were growing in her. I didn't know completely what she was capable of, but I did feel they got stronger every time she was alone with you. I never really agreed to the necklace, but Sesshomaru was adamant. So I told Kouga where to find you, though none of us expected the necklace to react the way it has.”

 

“You fu….” InuYasha snarled but was cut off by Miroku, who moved in front of the hanyou. He waved a subduing charm behind his back for InuYasha to see, warning him to shut up and stay quiet or else.

 

“My dearest slayer, I am afraid InuYasha was possibly not made aware of the complete motives behind the rosary.” The monk stated simply. “It may have been Lord Sesshomaru's intentions to leave that part out.”

 

Sango looked over at the confused couple. “Oh.”

 

“I think that part should be explained.” Kagome crossed her arms.

 

InuYasha just growled as he watched the subduing charm flick back and forth between the monk's hand, hidden from Kagome and Sango but clear in his line of sight.

 

Sango frowned. “Maybe I should leave that to Sesshomaru.”

 

Kagome shook her head. “Had my father wanted to say, he would have. But whether it was relevant or not, I want to know everything that concerns me and my powers.”

 

Sango sighed and nodded. “Yeah, it's only right.” She looked over at Kagome. “After the bath chamber incident, you asked me if InuYasha could manipulate auras. Do you remember that?”

 

Kagome nodded slowly. “Yes, you said he couldn't. His power was in Tetsusaiga.”

 

Sango nodded again. “You told me you thought you were hallucinating, and I could feel your power had changed. It felt purer, though still denied. Well, after that I made it a point to follow you everywhere. The day you escaped from your room and ran to the stables,” the slayer, hanyou and Shikon all blushed, “I… uh… followed behind after InuYasha… and…um…”

 

“Your… powers… can be quite phenomenal when you want them to be.” Miroku grinned like a schoolboy.

 

“You followed me too?!” Kagome paled.

 

Sango smacked the monk on the back of his head. “You told me you didn't see anything, you pervert!”

 

Miroku grinned. “I didn't, but I heard and felt enough to know what was happening to Lady Kagome.”

 

Kagome and InuYasha blushed deeper and Sango punched him hard on the arm.

 

Miroku sighed and rubbed his arm. “And had I not followed you, dear Sango, I would not have found out about your mission, Kagome or the threat of Naraku. And where would you be without me to support you and deny you nothing.” He reached out and squeezed her ass and gave it a rub.

 

Sango's eyes widened and she turned to him, her hand ready to smack him hard but she stalled, thinking. She growled and crossed her arms. “Keh.”

 

Miroku smiled and moved closer to her. “You know, it would pleasure me greatly if you would bear….”

 

“Miroku, shove your cock in your ass and leave it there for a bit.” InuYasha growled. “Sango, you said the bastard thought my youkai was making Kagome's powers come out. Why?”

 

Sango looked back at Miroku and frowned, before casting her gaze to InuYasha. “Because whenever Kagome and you were alone, her powers grew. I had made this aware to Sesshomaru, and he believed it was your… connection… that was making them progress. More specifically, he had believed it was your demon side feeding off of her Shikon abilities and vice versa, when ever you two… uh… were close.” Sango turned to Kagome. “The necklace was to subdue his demon and your Shikon powers, but instead it linked the two of you together.”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yes, that we were made aware of.”

 

Sango sighed. “But what we couldn't completely understand was why it linked you.”

 

Kagome looked at InuYasha from the corner of her eye. “Father said he believed it was because InuYasha's demon side saw me as a mate, and I saw him as my core. Our powers cannot control each other, they can only combine, so that's what the necklace does.”

 

Sango looked thoughtful. “Ah… so maybe Sesshomaru knows, or at least has an idea of what was going on.”

 

“Sango?” Kagome tilted her head.

 

Sango smiled. “We had it all wrong. InuYasha was not the cause of why your powers came, he was the reason.” Sango looked at the hanyou and miko, her smile bright and wide. “The Shikon no Tama is the foundation of all that is good and pure and alive. Her powers can only emerge should she feel the very thing she needs to protect.”

 

“And what is that?” InuYasha growled.

 

“Love.” Sango looked over at him and smiled softly.