InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Visiting Sibling ❯ Training and Traveling ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

When he wakes up the next morning it’s still WAY before dawn, but, before Sōta can drift back to sleep he hears a type of whimper from the other side of the hut, which wakes him RIGHT up.

In a flash, he’s by Miyuki’s side, noting immediately that she seems to be having a bad dream.

When he moves to shake her awake though, Sōta notices how she seems to quiet down a little as soon as he touches her.

Testing the theory, he immediately ascertains that she does indeed calm down when she has some sort of direct contact with him.

Shrugging off the oddity of that fact, Sōta decides to just lay down next to Miyuki to keep her calm and get a little more sleep himself.

He’s almost asleep when he feels Miyuki shuffle closer to him, cuddling his chest as he lets his arms wrap loosely around her torso.

- - - - - 

It’s in that position that Kagome finds the two of them when she wakes up for her morning meditation.

Smiling sweetly, Kagome rifles through her old bag and pulls out the camera Sōta had bought with him, snapping a sweet picture before heading out to meet up with Miroku, since the two of them had taken to meditating together since settling down in Kaede’s Village.

…

“Good morning Lady Kagome.” Miroku greets her with a smile and a slight bow.

“Good morning Miroku-sama.” Kagome replies with her own smile and bow, before grinning, dropping all pretences of formality and jumping into Miroku’s arms to give him an excited hug.

“Well, someone must have experienced something good.” Miroku says, smiling as he sets her back on her feet.

Kagome grins, but then tilts her head in the direction of their meditation site.

Miroku nods his understanding and the two set off for a secluded clearing next to the river, near the forest fringe.

“So, would you honour me with the knowledge of what has brought you such joy this fine morning?” Miroku asks once they both take a meditative pose on two smooth-topped rocks seated fairly close to one another.

“Well, my little brother Sōta managed to travel to this time and visit me yesterday.” Kagome admits, her smile turning sheepish at the disbelieving expression the monk now wears.

“and he unlocked his holy powers last night.”

Miroku’s eyes seem to gain a glowing light of happiness and inspiration at that news.

“Why that’s wonderful news! I was wondering why the village was shrouded in a purple primary flare sometime last night?” Miroku muses, causing Kagome’s eyes to widen a fraction

“Wait wait wait wait wait… the ENTIRE village was covered by his aura?” Kagome asks, her mouth dropping open when Miroku affirms the fact with a nod.

Considering that her hut was right at the edge of Kaede’s Village, that meant that Sōta’s primary flare must have reached a diameter of more than THREE kilometres!

Which meant that he had INSANE amounts of spiritual energy stored in his body.

“Well, I guess that makes my next question all the more important.” Kagome says to herself, meeting Miroku’s eyes as she prepares to ask if he would be willing to train Sōta to better understand and control his powers.

But Miroku suddenly raises a hand to silence her, his gaze serious as he surveys their surroundings.

It was an obvious sign that something was about to show up which could spell trouble for the pair of them.

Quietly, Kagome picks up her bow and nooks an arrow in place, channelling her miko powers into the projectile. Miroku also pulls a sutra out of his robes, his head snapping toward the direction of the village.

Slowly, Kagome starts to make out voices.

But while Miroku remains tense, Kagome lets her power dissipate from her weapon and returns the arrow to her quiver.

“Don’t worry Miroku. You’re about to meet my little brother, and his best friend.” Kagome says, placing a reassuring hand on Miroku’s shoulder.

The man furrows his brow, but returns the sutra to his robe pocket, just as Sōta comes out of the forest, though he freezes in place as soon as he lays eyes on his sister and the monk next to her.

“Oh, good morning!” He calls and Kagome smiles and waves at him.

Sōta makes his way over to his sister and her companion.

“Sorry if I’m disturbing your morning ritual, Miyuki and I just thought we’d get a bit of training in before we broke camp today.” He apologises to his sister, quickly turning to address the monk.

“It’s nice to meet you Miroku, I’m Sōta, Kagome’s told me a lot about you and your wife.”

Miroku’s expression softens in an instant.

“Ah, it’s nice to know I left enough of an impression on the lovely Lady Kagome that she would brag about me to her family.”

Sōta raises an eyebrow and Miroku merely grins at him.

“ANYWAY… do you guys mind if we have a surprise match here, or should I go somewhere else?” Sōta asks.

Miroku turns to regard the boy’s sister. He himself was curious about this so-called surprise match, but he also knew of the importance of balanced energy in a person.

Rather than give a direct answer, Kagome asks something else.

“Do you mind if we watch? I’d love to see how your auras react to one another now that they’re partially merged.” Sōta smiles and nods.

“Knock yourselves out… But don’t interfere, ok?” He replies, moving a few paces away once he receives affirmatives nods from the two adults who had now sat back down on two large flat rocks.

“It would appear…” Miroku begins quietly, as they watch Sōta’s receding back.

“…that you have a LOT to tell me.” He finishes, casting an imploring look Kagome’s way.

“Oh Miroku… that doesn’t even BEGIN to cover it.” Kagome replies in a whisper, winking as she turns back to watch her brother, while filtering her sight with an aura film.

- - - - - 

Sōta takes a deep breath, focusing his energy and trying to pick out Miyuki’s energy signature from the surrounding forest.

They often practised their Jujutsu against one another, although Miyuki had a distinct advantage in the strength department, so they tried to even the playing field by training in all sorts of different and unfamiliar settings, giving both a possibility for surprise attacks.

Eventually, he identifies a blur of yellow and silver moving through the trees as though she were a bird flying through the sky.

Grinning, Sōta gets into a defensive position and waits for Miyuki’s first strike.

And strike she did.

Aiming for his right shoulder, Miyuki made a direct jump from one of the outermost trees to alight right in front of Sōta. As soon as he saw her though, Sōta shifted his weight and raised his arms to catch her punch in his hands, turning to swing his opponent away from him with a speed and precision that had Kagome and Miroku blinking as they tried to process what they were seeing, while Miyuki grinned at the challenge Sōta was presenting her with that morning.

Not missing a beat, Miyuki allows Sōta to throw her towards the river. Feeling the air around her slow down, she manipulates the wind to allow her to land on a stone very near the riverbank.

They locked a gaze between them, despite standing a few meters away from one another.

‘You good?’ Sōta asks as soon as he feel’s Miyuki’s telepathic link open up.

‘Never better. I TOLD you I’d healed up since yesterday. We can go all out.’ She replies, grinning as she crouches to await his next move and seals the telepathic link once more.

With masterful speed and agility, Sōta jumps from one rock to the other and aims to kick Miyuki’s legs out from under her, ducking at the last moment to swing his leg out and hit the backs of her knees.

While the move did catch Miyuki by surprise, she simply let herself fall backwards, hovering a little to perform a levitational backflip and pounce towards Sōta the instant her feet were back on the ground.

- - - - - 

The movements of the two teens were a flurry of kicks, punches, narrow misses and redirected energy.

Kagome and Miroku could hardly look away from the battle unfolding before their eyes.

It was obvious that the two of them were fairly evenly matched, not to mention that they regularly trained together. They were reading the other’s moves before they had even been executed by the acting party.

It was simultaneously thrilling and mesmerising.

What’s more, Kagome’s aura filter was letting her see an incredibly scene taking place between her brother’s violet and Miyuki’s silvery yellow auras. 

Every time the two of them came into close quarters, their auras would swirl and merge together, creating a beautiful glittering pattern around the two parties.

The auras never blurred though, indicating that each still possessed their own power and had simply accepted the other as harmless or helpful, depending on the situation.

Kagome’s grip tightened on her thighs as she watched Miyuki catch Sōta’s wrist in both her hands and heft her brother’s weight onto her back and over her shoulder, effectively flipping him over her form and onto the ground in front of her.

The instant Miyuki released Sōta’s wrist though, the boy rolled to the side, jumped to his feet and tackled his best friend to the ground, pinning her beneath his form.

- - - - - 

Miroku casts a quick look in the Lady Kagome’s direction, smirking at the obvious emotions playing across her face. He himself found the match quite riveting, and he knew Sango would curse him to no end for not coming to get her, if she ever saw the fight taking place between the two teens. The demon of the two couldn’t be kept pinned for long, and soon enough Miroku saw the girl use her knee and hips to dislodge Sōta’s hold and throw him off of her.

Seeing that the fight wasn’t likely to end anytime soon, Miroku decided to see if he couldn’t get Kagome’s attention to sate some of his building curiousity.

“So, would you mind telling me some of the stuff I need to be caught up on before you take your leave today?” Miroku inquires, pleased to see that Kagome immediately responds to his question.

- - - - - 

“Of course Miroku, it looks like their fight is going to continue for a while anyway.” Kagome agrees, wondering where she should begin and how much she would be allowed to reveal.

‘You can tell him as much as you’d like, Kagome. He smells trustworthy… and safe.’

Kagome stiffened at the intrusion of Miyuki’s thoughts in her mind, her eyes widening as she allowed the part-demon’s words to sink in.

Giving herself a little shake, Kagome turns her body to face Miroku and decides to start with the most important part of Miyuki’s story.

“First off, Sōta’s best friend’s name is Miyuki… and she’s a quarter wind demon.”

Oh, what Kagome wouldn’t have given to have had Sōta’s camera on her at the moment Miroku registered and understood those words.

His expression was absolutely priceless! A perfect mix of surprise, disbelief and joy.

“Her mother also happens to be something of a niece to Kagura.”

That made Miroku’s eyes widen and his jaw drop in shock, while Kagome gave him a sheepish nod to affirm that it was indeed true.

“Miyuki’s grandfather, Hayate, was created by Kagura, so, perhaps it would be more accurate to call her Miyuki’s mother’s grandmother.” Kagome corrects herself, trying to think of how to address the partial convergence of Sōta’s and Miyuki’s auras.

As it turns out though, Miroku has to clarify something first.

“But, if she’s a descendent of Kagura’s, don’t we have to worry about…”

Kagome shot Miroku a warning glare that immediately shut him up.

“No.” Kagome hissed, her eyes momentarily flashing angrily.

“We destroyed Naraku, all of his incarnations either died or were set free when that happened, depending on their loyalties at the time.” She elaborated, not wanting any more prejudice directed against Miyuki for something she had no control over.

She knew only too well how Sōta reacted to that type of threat towards Miyuki… and she wasn’t all too keen on a repeat performance of his volatile emotions and protective instincts.

Miroku nodded at Kagome’s little outburst, his eyes wise as he followed her words and thoughts.

“Good.” He says, gaining a grateful smile from Kagome in response.

“Other than that, she and Sōta managed to get their auras to acknowledge one another during his primary flare.”

THAT little tidbit had Miroku’s jaw dropping all over again.

“But that would mean that…”

“That Miyuki let Sōta’s primary flare attack her without fighting back, yeah.” Kagome finished, finding some humour in Miroku’s shocked reaction, which so much mirrored her own less than twelve hours prior.

“Well… judging from the way she’s fighting, I’d say Sōta DIDN’T purify his best friend into a purely human form, so… mind telling me what happened?” Miroku asks slowly, both curiousity and hesitancy lighting his eyes.

Kagome laughed sweetly, buying herself some time to string together a somewhat believable sentence.

“Um… well, Inuyasha and I spoke about it a bit last night and we think they may have partially merged their souls.” She squeaks at the end and Miroku merely blinks. Slowly.

“… I’m sorry, did you just say that they partially MERGED their SOULS!?”

Miroku asks with a whisper-yelling voice.

Kagome nods once, surprised at the intensity of Miroku’s soul, which was suddenly pulsing with the same urgency as when someone was in danger.

“I did JUST mention that their auras partially merged, you know.” Kagome reminds Miroku with a twitch of her lips.

He waves an impatient hand.

“Yes, but AURAS are NOT the same as SOULS! We’re talking about a person’s very life essence, not just the physical form of their spiritual strength!”

“Oh, well, then it was still their souls that partially merged.”

Kagome corrects herself, waiting for Miroku’s response.

“...But that’s the same as an incomplete mating ritual!”

He explodes after a moment’s silence.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

Both Kagome and Miroku jump in fright when Inuyasha suddenly speaks up behind them.

“But, that doesn’t exactly line up with their current dispositions.”

He tacks on, gesturing toward the two teens, still caught up in their mock battle.

- - - - - 

Any human/demon relationship was usually cemented through a mating ritual that granted the weaker partner a small portion of the stronger one’s powers, while also completely merging their souls together, creating one new one to be shared by both.

To become a mate means to share one life.

The weaker is strengthened and the stronger is given powers that help them protect their partner.

However, if such a ritual is interrupted, the souls remain split in three and severely weaken the partial mates, making them easy targets to be killed off.

- - - - - 

The teens though, were energised, vitalised and full of life.

They hadn’t gained any powers from their partner, nor were their souls split in three… But, their two souls did fuse closely together whenever they were close to one another.

“The bond those two created hasn’t been documented anywhere else in demon or human history.” Miroku marvelled, remembering what he’d learned from Mushin, Sango and even Inuyasha.

Inuyasha nodded and Kagome spoke.

“Yep… and that’s why we’re headed to the Western Castle to see if Sesshōmaru doesn’t know something about it AND Miyuki herself, since her powers are something truly unique.”

“and strong.” Inuyasha adds quietly, causing Miroku’s eyes to widen even as a worried frown creased his forehead.

For Inuyasha to acknowledge her strength, she had to be far stronger than he himself was, since even his half-brother couldn’t get him to directly acknowledge his power.

- - - - - 

“Are we leaving then?”

All three adults suddenly jumped in fright when Miyuki suddenly appeared in the air above them and asked her question.

“Keh, we should have left ages ago.” Inuyasha mocked, causing Miyuki to grin as she looked toward the horizon to see that the sun was only just now starting to rise.

“My apologies, it took a little longer to beat Sōta this time around. We can leave now.” Miyuki offers, landing in front of the three adults with a cheeky wink as Sōta comes up behind her.

“I think I missed the part where you won.” He says in a rather sarcastic tone, suddenly wrapping his arms around Miyuki’s waist, turning and hefting her over his shoulder so that her elbows rest on his back, and running back towards the village with Miyuki shrieking with laughter the whole time.

“We’ll see you back at the hut!”

Sōta yells over his other shoulder.

Leaving three blinking adults in his wake.

“Well…” Kagome begins.

“I suppose I’ll see you off then?” Miroku offers, rising to return to the village as well and seeing his friends off with his wife and children beside him. The sun shining on their backs as they walked towards the west.

- - - - - 

Author's Note 

So... I'm back! 

Sorry for the sudden break, but I encountered a small bit of writers block and worked on a few other pieces for a while to give myself a bit of a beather and some new perspective.  

I'll try to keep uploading VS chapters weekly though! 

Tora