InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Visiting Sibling ❯ Decisions and Developments ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

Sōta feels like a heavy fog is slowly clearing out of his mind.

Holding a hand to his head, he concentrates on trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

‘Ok, I got into an argument with Miyuki. That’s rare, but it’s not like it hasn’t happened before, so that shouldn’t really be a reason for me to feel so disorientated and drained… I did get pretty mad after hearing that Miyuki’s parents actually drug her when she goes into that so-called blood zone though.’

His body reacts to the thought in much the same way it had when Miyuki had accidentally told him that little snippet of information before.

He frowns darkly and clenches his jaw.

‘Looks like you’ve unlocked your own holy powers now.’

Sōta gives a little start when he suddenly hears Miyuki’s voice in his mind. All previous thoughts forgotten, he focuses on his best friend.

‘Miyuki? What do you mean?’

He tries to direct the thought back to her but finds that her link ends before he can reach her mind.

‘That’s pretty cool.’

Again, he flinches, but this time he hears a little echo in her voice, and his heart sinks when he realises that the words he’s hearing were said before whatever had happened happened.

‘Don’t blame yourself when you wake up though, ok?’

His eyes snap open wide and frightened, when he hears her say that.

‘What do you mean, “don’t blame myself”, what happened?’

Sōta asks himself, worry and unease building within him.

‘I was trying to get a rise out of you anyway. You seemed tense and I was hoping to remedy that.’

Figures that she’d picked up on that… How was she trying to get a rise out of him though?

‘Heh, next time I think I’ll just suggest a sparring session.’

Again, the quiet words echo in his mind, and Sōta feels a cold sense of dread start to overcome his heart.

Slowly, his eyes start to refocus on his surroundings.

Just slightly to the left of him, the smouldering remains of a fire lay, hadn’t that been blazing a few seconds ago? He can see Inuyasha leaning against a tree a few meters back and then he notices Kagome picking her way across the grass, which almost seems to sparkle, and making her way towards him.

She stops short however, when she the smoke and meat pikes no longer block her from view completely.

He watches as his older sister’s seemingly frozen form quietly starts shaking, her eyes fixed on something just a little ways in front of him.

- - - - - 

Almost instinctually, Sōta’s eyes follows the vectors of his sister’s gaze.

Somehow, he already knows what he’s going to see.

He also knows that he REALLY doesn’t want to see the scene that he knows awaits his eyes when they finally land on the prone form of his best friend lying at his feet.

‘I should heal up pretty quick though, since my demon is on the rise at the moment anyway.’

Tears start to blur his vision as Miyuki’s final words of reassurance echo in his head.

Miyuki lies in the same spot where she’d been standing mere moments before, but, her legs and forearms are covered in horrible red burns and parts of her skin are cracked to look like a porcelain doll that accidentally fell on the floor. Some of the cracks even run up her neck and over her cheeks, one even made it to the corner of one of her eyes.

That’s where Sōta sees the silent tears sliding over her cheekbones and temple. What makes the whole scene that much worse though, is the fact that there is an incredibly gentle smile on her face.

She knew this was going to happen damnit, so why didn’t she try to stop it? Or protect herself?

“Mi-yuki?”

Sōta feels like the name is practically stolen from his voice box, his tone so soft and broken. He essentially collapses to his knees next to Miyuki, unable to really process what he’s seeing.

He just wants her to open her eyes and laugh and say that she’d managed to prank him with some very realistic makeup… Although he was well aware that Miyuki hadn’t bought any make-up with her.

Not to mention that it was quite impossible to fake the way her hair looked so dull, how some of the cracks in her skin were creating little trails of blood over her body, and the burns were blistering slightly as well.

His head whips up at the sudden sound of shifting earth and he locks a gaze with his older sister, who was slowly trying to get closer to Miyuki and himself, and all of a sudden, he was really ANGRY.

- - - - - 

Angry at his sister for her prejudice against his best friend, when she herself was MARRIED to a man who was part-demon.

“Stay there.” He says clearly, seeing a crease of confusion mar his sister’s brow.  

“Sōta…” She tries, but he cuts her off.

“Don’t come any closer.” He rephrases the warning, it was difficult enough to keep himself in check as it was.

He was angry at his mother as well, for letting Kagome return to the past. If they hadn’t come here, he never would have discovered his accursed power.

Ha, they called it “holy” when it was really a curse.

What was so holy about a power that could hurt your friends and that you couldn’t control?

Kagome’s voice interrupts his thoughts again.

“But I can…”

This time his eyes flash angrily, and he starts to shake from the effort of trying to hold himself together.

Most of all though, he was just angry at himself.

Angry that he hadn’t recognised the strange feeling within as a stronger presence of spiritual powers. They had likely reacted to the greater number of demons present in the past.

He was angry that he hadn’t realised that Miyuki was consciously trying to get a rise out of him. He KNEW that she was sensitive to his emotions, he KNEW that she would do most anything for her friends, so why hadn’t he figured her out earlier!?

“I SAID STAY AWAY!” He finally screams, his thoughts getting to be too much for him to bear and he instinctually erects a barrier around himself and Miyuki.

Safe in the knowledge that no one can come near the two of them now, Sōta allows his head to fall forward and rest on Miyuki’s chest.

His tears flow freely when he hears the steady beat of her heart in his ear. His hands clenching the loose fabric of her shirt just to assure himself that she’s still THERE.

That he HADN’T accidentally purified his best friend into nothing.

She was ALIVE… but she was hurt, because of him.

- - - - - 

‘Didn’t I tell you not to blame yourself, you annoyingly gallant worrywart of a best friend.’ Miyuki’s soft thoughts enter his mind, punctuated by a theatrical sigh.

A fresh wave of sobs wrack Sōta’s frame when he feels Miyuki’s telepathic link reopen. His hands tightening in the fabric of her top as he rolls his neck to bury his face in her stomach.

‘I-I’m so s-sorry!’ He cries, though he’s not quite sure if he’s apologising for hurting her or for blaming himself AND hurting her?

‘You have nothing to be sorry for. That had to happen at some point anyway, and, all things considered, I actually got off pretty easy.’ Miyuki says calmly, though her statement draws Sōta up short.

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean!?’ He asks angrily, receiving a sweet chuckle in response.

‘I knew you had spiritual powers when we first met, and I decided that, if you could accept me for who I am, I would make sure that I could never hurt you.’ Miyuki begins, her thoughts sighing when her resting body registers the tense set of Sōta’s muscles on top of and next to her.

‘To do that, I needed to force my youkai to acknowledge you as “family”, which it can only do by coming in contact with your aura. But, a human’s aura changes when they first unlock spiritual powers, for those of them who have such powers anyway, and spiritual powers change the wielder’s aura based on the type of power they manifest. The aura of a spiritualist in the act of holding up a barrier, is different to when they infuse something with their powers, or create a flare, like you just did.’ She explains, pleased when she feels Sōta’s acknowledgement hum against her stomach.

‘Every aura and power has a core essence though, and that essence is only exposed in its purest form when a spiritualist experiences the primary flare, which is like an instinctual ritual that occurs when spiritual powers are first awakened.’ Miyuki continues, noting that Sōta was now quietly listening to her.

‘So, I let my youkai aura seep out a bit so that it had a direct contact with your new energy signature and forced myself to just endure the primary flare, since any hesitation or fear on my part would have made my instincts kick in and I would have defended against your powers, which would have defeated the whole purpose of trying to familiarise myself with your aura.’ She finishes, wondering how Sōta will respond.

‘…and you had to get HURT for that to work?’ He finally asks, his voice still strained.

‘Well, it was going to pinch a little no matter when we did it, and I knew you’d be against causing me any pain, but this way I will never be able to hurt you, no matter what form I’m in or what type of spell you manifest your powers into.’ Miyuki admits with a mental shrug.

‘But I HURT you.’ Sōta says stoically, despair and anger prevalent in his scent of Hinoki wood and rain.

Miyuki heaves a soft sigh at his accusatory thoughts.

‘Well yeah, but we can’t hurt each other with our powers ever again now, unless we really want to, but that is never going to happen.’ She states, suddenly missing the weight of Sōta’s head on her stomach, and she could imagine the look of confused relief in his eyes as he peered down at her.

‘When I exuded a bit of my aura to familiarise myself with your new aura, the two of them only clashed initially, since our emotions influence our powers, and they were quick to realise that we had no intention of hurting one another. So, after the initial burst, when you called your aura back, you took a bit of my youkai aura back with you as well, but it wasn’t purified, it was incorporated into your aura instead. Which means that not only our powers, but also our auras, won’t repel each other. A point you proved when you touched me after your primary flare. It didn’t hurt when you touched me, and my aura didn’t fling you off, so I’d say there’s as good as no chance that our powers will ever hurt us. That first little zap was a necessary one-time thing, and I’m glad I can still be around my best friend without having to worry about accidentally burning one another.’ Miyuki explains, slowly allowing her consciousness to spread back into her body, knowing that her youkai’s healing ability should have taken care of the worst of her injuries by now.

She hears Sōta sigh in irritation, knowing that she was right didn’t exactly change the fact that he’d practically cooked his best friend, despite not meaning to.

‘I REALLY can’t hurt you like that again?’ He asks, really needing that confirmation, especially after seeing Miyuki in such a state.

Though, as he surveyed her body again, he realised that her wounds were already healed up.

He blinks at that, knowing that she has a fairly high healing ability, but he’d never seen her patch herself up quite so quickly.

‘Yes, really. Now, would you mind helping me up in a bit? I’m hungry and I think our smoked boar is really going to hit the spot.’ She thinks, opening her eyes and turning on her side before trying to get up.

Sōta gives a strangled yelp when Miyuki starts moving as soon as she broadcasts that thought into his mind, and he moves to support his best friend in a flash.

- - - - - 

‘ARE YOU AN IDIOT!? What if you reopened your wounds?’ He thinks, glaring at Miyuki, though his touch remains gentle and careful as he supports her weight and helps her stand up.

Miyuki rolls her eyes at Sōta, making sure that he sees the action.

‘I’m not about to reopen ANY wounds, since they’re all totally healed, thanks for the boost by the way, and no, I wouldn’t consider myself an idiot, since the only damage such sudden movements could cause me would be internal, but, since I didn’t just have a physical life and death fight I think it’s safe to say that I’m FINE.’ She emphasises, before lifting her gaze to look towards the former campfire.

‘Um… When were you planning on lowering your barrier, Bestie?’ Miyuki asks, looking a little dumbfounded that Sōta’s barrier was still sparkling in all its purple glory.

Sōta merely blinks.

Miyuki raises a hand and slaps her forehead.

Had that Idiot REALLY just tried to accuse her of idiocy, when he himself was sustaining a barrier on his first day of having awakened his powers, when there was no more need to do so?

“Oh. I didn’t realise that it was still up.” Sōta comments verbally, standing still as he focuses for a second and tries to draw his power back into himself. It takes a while, but eventually, the barrier is completely reabsorbed into his body and he and Miyuki make their way over to the fire.

Which is where they see Kagome and the shocked expression on her face which pretty much screams, “I’m sorry, WHAT just happened?”

- - - - - 

Exchanging a quizzical look, the two take a seat near the smouldering fire and wait for Kagome and Inuyasha to join them.

“You know, the foods going to get cold if you guys wait much longer.” Miyuki says, smiling at Kagome to reassure her that she is only tired and hungry, but otherwise fine.

Dinner progresses swiftly after that.

Everyone focuses on eating rather than conversing, since their hunger and tiredness wins out over their curiousity.

Once everyone’s had their fill though, it’s time to explain what had happened in the hour before dinner.

Miyuki tells everyone why she allowed Sōta’s primary flare to wash over her, and what her doing so had accomplished.

There were still some things that remained unclear though, even to the two teens.

“I’m still confused as to why you healed so quickly, even with your demon abilities, you shouldn’t have been able to recover at the speed that you did.” Kagome confesses, though Miyuki has an answer to that.

“Oh, well, when your brother’s aura receded back into his body, he took a bit of my aura with him and left some of his aura clinging to mine. So, that contact combined with Sōta’s feelings wanting to help and protect me, boosted my abilities in that instant.” She clarifies, though everyone is surprised when Inuyasha decides to speak up and add his own assumption.

“That would explain why the Shrimp was able to absorb his expelled spiritual powers again.”

When everyone merely looks at him in confusion, Inuyasha sighs before elaborating.

“I don’t think that aura exchange gave you both temporary boosts where you needed them.” Inuyasha states, suddenly moving faster than the human eye can follow and scratching along Miyuki’s exposed forearm to leave three bleeding grooves in her flesh, drawing a startled exclamation from her and causing an immediate flare in Sōta’s aura.

However, before the protective teen could yell at his former idol, everyone watched, wide-eyed, as Miyuki’s wound started to seal and regenerate itself within a matter of seconds.

Having proven his point, Inuyasha nods his assurance and keeps talking.

“You’ve somehow converged your auras, which means you’ve also interwoven some of your powers in each other.”

Now it’s Kagome’s turn to interrupt the flow of the conversation.

“Which explains how Sōta was able to draw his spiritual energy back into his body!” She exclaims, soon seeing that she’ll have to explicate at Sōta’s questioning glance.

“Normally a spiritualist can only expend their energy and they have to replenish it with food and water and rest. What you did, when you called your powers back into your body and merged them with your aura again, has never been done before. It’s not possible for us.” Kagome specifies.

“But it’s commonplace among the majority of higher tier demons. We can create barriers from our youkai as well, and the attacks we infuse with our power can be reabsorbed if our opponent somehow manages to misdirect them to come back at us.” Inuyasha continues.

Smirking when he sees the identical looks of surprise and joy on the teens faces.

- - - - - 

Secretly though, there are numerous alarm bells going off in his head.

Usually, a convergence of auras only took place when two lovers mated and marked one another. It was a bond that connected them far deeper than a simple sharing of each individual’s powers and strengths.

So, how had the two teens before him managed to find and create a partial ritual which gave them all the perks of being mated, without tying their lives together?

Such a transient state shouldn’t even be possible for a Taiyoukai to achieve, let alone a quarter demon and a novice spiritualist!

Still, the evidence was undeniable.

The two were essentially mated, without having physically mated and without being life-bound to one another.

- - - - - 

“Well, now that that’s been cleared up… Kagome, have you spoken to Inuyasha yet?”

Miyuki asks, immediately drawing the half demon’s attention to the teen and his wife.

“I think I can take that as a no…” Miyuki sighs, sending Kagome a meaningful look.

“Sorry, things got a little hectic before dinner, so I didn’t get around to it.” Kagome chuckles, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly.

Miyuki nods once.

“Understandable. Still, I don’t know how best to say that we decided it would be beneficial to travel to the western palace and seek an audience with Lord Sesshōmaru and Hayato without needlessly angering Inuyasha… oh.”

Miyuki suddenly presses her lips in a tight line, both to stop herself from talking, but also to suppress the laughter bubbling within her at the combination of Kagome’s worried look and Inuyasha’s furious expression.

Quickly sneaking a few steps back, Miyuki grabs Sōta’s hand and makes a run for the forest, leaving Kagome to deal with her husband.

- - - - - 

“We are NOT going to pay that bastard a visit in his home territory!” Inuyasha yelled, a continued growl rumbling in his throat when he thought of his half-brother.

Kagome sighs, wondering how she’s supposed to try and reason with him now that he’s already riled up.

“It’s our best bet to finding out more about Miyuki’s powers though.” Kagome says, attempting to reason with her husband.

“I don’t bloody care! We aren’t going and that’s it.” Inuyasha retaliates.

“Inuyasha… He might know something about quarter demons, and, even if he doesn’t, it gives Miyuki the chance to meet her grandfather.” She tries again, knowing that his human heart would understand the wish to see a family member.

“Even IF we went, he wouldn’t think twice about turning us away. I doubt he knows anything about part-demons either. We’re beneath him, and such beings are of no interest to that icy ass.” Inuyasha replies bitterly.

“Look, I’m not asking you to suddenly put aside all of your differences and get along…”

Inuyasha snorts at the very idea, but the action softens Kagome’s expression some.

“But I think it’s worth it just to have someone around who could help Miyuki without necessarily having to subdue or hurt her… And I mean Hayate when I say that.” Kagome clarifies, smiling when she sees Inuyasha’s expression shift, a small motion which pretty much means that she’s won.

“Keh. Fine, we’ll take the teens on a trip to the west… But, if Hayate’s already left, and Sesshōmaru doesn’t know anything about the strange strength of Miyuki’s powers, we leave within the minute.” Inuyasha confirms, hiding his smile in his wife’s shoulder as she hugs him.

- - - - - 

Miyuki smirks from her spot on a branch in a tree next to Sōta on the fringe of the forest.

‘We’re leaving for the west an hour after dawn tomorrow.’ Miyuki says telepathically, prompting a grin to light Sōta’s face.

‘Awesome! This is going to be SO fun!’ He exclaims happily.

‘Well duh. This has only been day one of our adventure, there’s plenty more awesomeness to come!’ Miyuki thinks giddily, turning to smile at Sōta.

The two could see each other rather well despite the night sky currently reigning over them, since the moon was still pretty full.

So, Miyuki can see that much clearer when Sōta averts his eyes and clears his throat.

‘We should probably turn in if we’re supposed to get up that early tomorrow.’ He thinks, prompting Miyuki to nod in agreement.

Nodding, Miyuki scooches over, wraps an arm around her best friend and jumps down to the ground.

- - - - - 

‘I’ll see you inside, I just have to get my katana from the fire.’ Sōta thinks, turning around as soon as they land, though he doesn’t leave until Miyuki says goodnight and heads for his sister’s hut.

Taking a quick detour after retrieving his katana from the fire, Sōta makes his way back to the river, kneeling to scoop some of the cool liquid into his hands and seeing his blushing, wide-eyed reflection stare back at him.

Today had been a total rollercoaster for the poor boy, but he’d certainly come out of the whole thing smarter than before.

He could have killed his best friend today. He could have killed Miyuki… Why was it that such a small change in the terminology was causing his heart to race SO much more than it ever had before?

Shaking his head, Sōta splashes the cool water on his face.

Whatever had passed between Miyuki and himself had changed their dynamic.

And he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. Though his feelings seemed pretty obvious, but his thoughts still needed some time to catch up. 

'You CANNOT be falling for your best friend, you cliche IDIOT.'  Sōta thinks vehemently. Repeating the thought as he makes his way back to the hut and settles down to sleep for the night. 

- - - - - 

Author's Note 

To all my lovely readers, thank you SO much for reading VS! 

As always, the next chapter is uploaded before 24 hours come to pass. 

PLEASE let me know what you think so that I can improve my writing some. 

I look forward to hearing from you! 

Tora.