InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Live and Let Die (Part 3): Learning To Deal ❯ Unexpected Results ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimers: I do not own InuYasha or any of the manga/anime characters. They belong to the wonderful genius Rumiko Takahashi. Any original characters do belong to me.

AN: Thank you very much for the reviews left so far! I read each and every one of them, and they inspire me to continue writing.

Live and Let Die: Learning to Deal

Chapter 5: Unexpected Results

It was rather late when Miroku and Sango returned to the hut. Kaede had told the others not to worry and to go ahead and turn in. The old miko hoped the pair were working out their issues and maybe doing something to relieve the tension that had been quite noticeable between the two since their return from the last trip.

Shippou was still awake when he heard the couple return to the hut. He could barely hear them mumbling something to each other before they came back inside to turn in for the night. The little kit's eyes and mouth sprang wide open when Sango entered through the door as Miroku held up the covering for her to pass under. Shippou almost said something, but then remembered Kaede's words and closed his mouth. Sango smelled full of Miroku, just as Kagome had smelled like InuYasha had somehow filled her up with his scent. Plus, Kaede has told him that was how mated adult couples showed their love for each other, but Miroku and Sango were neither mated nor married, though they were grown up. More confused than he was before, Shippou decided he would question InuYasha about it the first chance he got since Kaede said she was going to ask the hanyou to explain things to him, anyway.

~ ^~^ ~

Mama just smiled when InuYasha and Kagome entered the kitchen the following morning. For the most part they had remained fairly quiet, but they did get just a little loud once or twice. She didn't say anything at first as she placed their tea on the table in front of them while she finished preparing the rest of the food. Jii-chan arrived shortly after InuYasha and Kagome, and told everyone good morning as he took his seat. Now that everyone was here, breakfast was set on the table.

Once everyone had their tea and food in front of them Mama asked, “Kagome, are you going to tell us why Hojo came to see you?”

Kagome blushed. “He wants to ask Yuka to marry him. He came to ask me if she had ever told me anything about her dreams, even fantasies, about being proposed to and getting married. He didn't want to ask the other girls because he knew they would spill the beans before he had a chance to set it all up. I guess he thought I was safe since I only see them when I go in for my tests. I'm not around them very much any more.”

“So did you have any suggestions for him?” Mama questioned.

“Yeah, a couple. She always did think it would be romantic to go to a really nice restaurant and have her engagement ring delivered in one of those little silver covered dessert plates and then have him propose on bended knee in front of everyone there. She said the only thing better would be if they were in a restaurant at the top of the highest building in Tokyo, and a plane flew by with a banner that said, `Will you marry me, Yuka?' Otherwise, she said it would be cool to fly to the United States and go to Las Vegas to get married by an Elvis impersonator. I think Hojo is going to go with the ring for dessert,” Kagome answered with a giggle.

“Mentioning marriage, young lady, when are you and InuYasha going to be properly married?” her grandfather asked seriously.

“Jii-chan, we told you I want to wait until I finish school. I think we are going to get an engagement ring, though, so everyone will know we are intended to be married. That's one of the things we need to work on when we go back,” Kagome told him, and then turned to InuYasha. “And I think I know just the place. I'll explain later, okay?”

“Keh,” InuYasha responded, and hoped he didn't get quizzed next.

The old man opened his mouth, but Mama cut him off. “Honey, I know you have a lot to do when you go back today. Do you think you will come home for dinner or stay there?”

Kagome looked thoughtfully at her mother. “You know, I don't know. I guess it depends on what we have to do and where we have to go. We really don't have any idea what will be involved in our training. We worked on what they asked us to, so now we will have to see what's next. My guess is we'll end up staying in the past if there is a lot to do.”

Kagome didn't mention she wouldn't mind some more alone time with her mate out by the remote hot spring. But they really might end up too tired from their training, so she would have to see how things played out.

“Well, InuYasha. Are you ready?” Kagome asked her mate.

“Keh,” the hanyou responded as he got up from the table as Kagome gathered their dishes to put in the sink.

Kagome started to wash them when her mother said, “That's okay, honey. I'll get them. I know you have a lot to do and are probably anxious to get started. Just be careful.”

“Don't worry, we will,” Kagome answered. “Let's go, InuYasha. No time like the present.”

“Huh?”

“Just an expression. It's time to go back.”

“Keh.”

~ ^~^ ~

Kaede could not help but notice that things seemed considerably more relaxed between Miroku and Sango the following morning. As far as she could tell, it appeared that the couple might have worked out some of their differences. She also didn't miss the blush that crossed their cheeks as they glanced at one another.

Rin and Shippou cheerfully joined them and accepted a bowl of rice and some soup for their breakfast. The group was fairly quiet while they ate. It seemed like everyone had something on their mind that morning.

Shippou broke the silence when he asked, “When will InuYasha and Kagome be back?”

“They are supposed to return this morning, though I do not know how early. We will have to wait until they are ready,” Kaede told him.

The kit suddenly perked up. “I think they are back. I'm going to see Kagome!”

“Wait!!” Miroku yelled as Shippou started to take off. “Lord Sesshomaru is at the well!”

That brought the kit to a screeching halt. How could he have forgotten that? Shippou turned around and pouted.

“Well, are you guys going out there?” he asked.

“Yes, Shippou. We will walk to the well with you. We need to discuss some type of schedule for training with them as well as with Lord Sesshomaru. He probably wants to get his part over with first,” Kaede informed him and then added, “We will go as soon as everything is put away.”

Shippou started grabbing bowls and ran to rinse them before being put away. He was standing and waiting, drumming his fingers across his arm while he waited for the others to go.

Miroku looked at his very InuYasha-like pose and just shook his head and grinned.

~ ^~^ ~

InuYasha had the huge backpack over his shoulder and was holding Kagome's hand as they went out to the well. Once they reached the well house and slid the door closed behind them, he set down the backpack and pulled his mate to him. He then surprised her when he sat down on the floor, and indicated he wanted her to join him.

“What? Oh, I get it,” Kagome said softly.

InuYasha was sitting cross-legged with his arms resting across his knees. Kagome sat down facing him, and placed her hands on his. Apparently her mate wanted to make certain everything had returned to normal when the sun came up.

Kagome found the power surrounding her heart and discovered it had returned almost to normal. While she did not feel as powerful as she did the afternoon before, she still thought she felt stronger than she did two days ago. It was almost like she had passed some test and gained from it. She reached out and blanketed InuYasha in her aura and relaxed at feeling the return of his strength.

InuYasha reached into his gut and found the center of his youki, though he would have sworn he felt even stronger than he did before it had started to recede preceding the new moon. Deciding it must just be because he felt so fucking weak the afternoon before, he wrapped Kagome in his youki so that their auras were now twisting together again as they folded and melded together. The hanyou opened his eyes to see his mate sitting with her eyes closed and smiling. He squeezed her hands and she opened her eyes to look into his. Grinning back at her, he rose to his feet, pulling his mate with him. Still glowing neon hot pink, he wrapped his arms around her and just held her, before kissing her softly on the lips and pulling back.

“So I guess everything is back to normal?” The miko asked quietly.

“Keh,” InuYasha said with a smirk as the glow that surrounded the two of them dissolved.

Feeling much better than the afternoon before, InuYasha picked up the backpack and threw it back over his shoulder before swooping his mate up in front of him. Kissing her one more time, he jumped into the well.

When they landed in the past, InuYasha immediately jumped back out to land on the grass next to the well. He stood Kagome on her feet, and she took his hand while they waited. She hated to admit it, but she was nervous about what they were about to start. They could both feel Sesshomaru in the immediate area and waited patiently for him to come to them.

Sesshomaru was sitting at the base of the Goshinboku when he felt the couple arrive. He raised an eyebrow as he got up to go to them because they both felt like they had even more power than when they left. Wondering what had transpired between the two, he walked into the clearing to see them waiting by the well. He shouldn't have been surprised that the miko once again smelled like she was full of his brother.

As Sesshomaru walked into the clearing, the pair could also feel that the others were on their way.

“Let's wait, everyone will be here in a minute,” InuYasha stated as his brother approached.

“I guess we'll need to figure out who does what, first,” Kagome commented as she sat down on the wall of the well to wait.

About that time a furry red blur ran into the clearing. Shippou's fear of Sesshomaru had been overpowered by his desire to see Kagome. However, he was going so fast that InuYasha was afraid he would knock his mate into well and back to the future. But, much to the hanyou's surprise, the kit slid to a halt just before he got to them, saving him from being snatched out of the air by his tail.

“Kagome, you're back!” Shippou yelled enthusiastically.

The miko held her arms open, and Shippou jumped into them. As Kagome squeezed him hard enough to make him squeal, the others appeared in the clearing. InuYasha had much the same reaction Shippou did the night before; his eyes sprang wide open as the scent of the slayer hit him. It appeared that Miroku had gone from famine to feast in a hurry. What had happened the last couple of days?

“Hey, Shippou, what happened to you?” Kagome asked as she finally looked at the kitsune in her arms and realized his appearance was rather odd.

“Yeah, runt, I thought your fur was immune to your foxfire. How did your burn yourself?” InuYasha questioned, wrinkling his nose at the odor of burned hair that still clung to Shippou, though it was combined with the scent of soap where he had obviously tried to wash himself.

Miroku laughed. “He thought it would be funny to scare Jaken when he was taking a nap,” the monk said before he became more serious. “Shippou was lucky. He could have really been hurt if Jaken had been more coherent when he startled him.”

“Shippou! You didn't!” Kagome exclaimed.

“I thought it would be funny,” Shippou said as he dropped his head and pouted.

“Oi, runt, it's not so funny. And now I have to smell you. Maybe you should go and take another bath in the river,” InuYasha said as he plucked the kit out of his mate's arms. Unfortunately, Kagome now had the burning hair scent clinging to her. At least it was faint and would hopefully fade soon.

Rin had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to speak, “My Lord! You are here!”

“Yes, Rin. This Sesshomaru has not been far away,” the Taiyoukai responded.

“Rin is glad. Is it time to leave?” the little girl asked.

“No, Rin. It is time for the half-breed and miko to begin their training. Perhaps the demon slayer will take you and the kitsune to the river to bathe,” Sesshomaru answered. He, too, was affronted by the scent of burning hair still clinging to Shippou. He also didn't miss the scent of the monk clinging to the slayer.

Sango looked a bit startled when she realized that Sesshomaru was talking about her, but realized that there was little for her to do with the training they were about to start. Plus, after last night, a bath might be a good thing. Even after rinsing off, she still felt a bit sticky in some places.

“Yes, I would be glad to take them. I know there really is not much for me to do…” Sango trailed off, her feelings a bit hurt that she couldn't help.

Kaede spoke up, “Sango, I think we will be able to find use for your skills once we are able to get InuYasha and Kagome to erect barriers and keep them under control. They will need to be tested by a physical attack. So, do not feel left out. We will have use for you soon enough.”

Sango brightened at the thought she wouldn't be useless, after all. “All right, you two. Let us go back and get some bath supplies and go to the river. Kagome, do you want me to take your pack back to the hut?”

“Yes, thank you, Sango,” Kagome answered as InuYasha picked up the pack and handed it to the slayer. Sango threw it over her shoulder with ease. After carrying her Hiraikotsu around, the backpack was nothing.

They watched Sango head back towards Kaede's hut with Kirara on her shoulder and Shippou and Rin in tow. Once they were out of sight, Kagome asked, “So, how are we going to do this?”

Kaede finally spoke, “Did you work on your meditation as we asked? And did you have any success?”

Kagome grinned and InuYasha smirked. “Yeah, we did,” they said together.

“What did you do?” Sesshomaru asked.

“What do you mean?” Kagome responded.

“You both feel as though you have more power than you did before,” the Demon Lord stated.

“We do?” they said together.

“Yes, you do,” Kaede told them. Even she was picking it up, and Miroku nodded because he could as well.

“We don't know. InuYasha started losing his yesterday during the day. The closer we got to nightfall, the more his youki receded. At the same time, I seemed to be gaining in strength, almost as though to protect him as his faded. Then this morning, when everything was back to normal, I didn't feel as strong as I did yesterday afternoon, but still stronger than I felt the day before that.”

“Keh,” InuYasha confirmed. “I felt more power this morning than I did two days ago, but I thought it was just because I felt so fucking weak yesterday afternoon.”

“Hn.” Sesshomaru was looking intently at the couple. Apparently something had transpired either during the new moon, or immediately before or after, but he had no idea what it was. There were certainly a lot of mystery and surprises surrounding the mating of this hanyou and miko.

“Well, let's see it then,” Miroku stated.

Kagome was nervous at the thought of doing this on demand. She took InuYasha's hand and said, “Let's go to Goshinboku. Maybe I won't be as nervous there.”

InuYasha squeezed her hand. He was a little nervous at being put on display, too.

Sango had at first felt hurt that she was not included in planning InuYasha's and especially Kagome's training. But in truth, she really did not know anything about the abilities they had each gained. Myoga had told them on the last trip home that even he was surprised to learn of their telepathic abilities, and he had also stressed the importance of not making it public knowledge. Apparently youkai that had that particular ability were generally pretty powerful, and not all of them were nice like the bear they had come across. While it could be a very useful tool, it could also be dangerous.

Sango also thought back to the night before as she followed Shippou and Rin along the trail that led to the sheltered part of the river. She couldn't believe she had followed through with the monk. But when he kissed her, and then cupped her breast, all of the memories of the feelings she experienced at the inn had come back in a rush. Suddenly, she wasn't angry with the houshi at all anymore, and wanted to finish what they had started there. She giggled at the thought of how nervous they both had been, and of how Miroku swore when he missed.

“Hey Sango, what is it?” Shippou called back. He had heard her giggle and thought he had missed something.

Sango was jolted out of her thoughts. “It's nothing, Shippou. I was just thinking about something.”

The kit pouted. “You're making fun of me, aren't you?”

“Why would I do that?” Sango asked, surprised at the question.

“Because Jaken nearly fried me, and I stink!” Shippou exclaimed.

“Well, you so smell a bit, but hopefully another bath will help. And besides, you did not have to go alone this time, right?”

“Yeah, it is more fun to take a bath with you and Kagome,” the kitsune commented.

“What about Rin?” the little girl asked, having stopped since the other two had.

“It's fun to take a bath with you, too!” Shippou assured her.

“Come on, then, let us go,” Sango said. “We are almost there.”

They had reached the river and stripped, and were about to go in when Sango called, “Hey Shippou, I found this in the bathing supplies. Try not to lose it.”

Sango threw something at him and the kitsune caught it. “Hey this is…”

“Soap on a rope. You can hang it around your neck so you don't lose it in the river,” Sango informed him. “I think Kagome may have brought it just for you.”

Shippou was bad about dropping things, especially bars of soap, into the river, never to be seen again.

“Okay, I'll try to hang on to it,” he replied. If Kagome got it for him, he would try to keep from losing it. He didn't want to disappoint her again.

InuYasha and Kagome had dropped to the ground in front of the Goshinboku. They seemed to fit together better when InuYasha placed his hands palms up so Kagome could lay hers across them, so that was what they did.

Kagome could feel her heart racing at the thought of attempting to demonstrate what they had done at home to Kaede, Miroku, and Lord Sesshomaru. However, a gentle squeeze from InuYasha helped her to calm down and focus. Like the very first time, she was hearing everything that was going on in the forest around her: the birds chirping, bees buzzing around flower blossoms, something rustling in the bushes not too far away. Remembering how she found her center the first time, she decided to once again concentrate on her mate's breathing and soon found herself relaxing so that she was able to move her focus back to her own body. Finally, she settled back on her heart and the power that was encased there.

InuYasha could tell that Kagome was a bit tense, and gently squeezed her hands to remind her that he was there with her. It seemed to help and he could tell she had started to relax. Soon he found himself breathing in a slow and steady rhythm with her and was able to turn his focus back to his own gut in order to pull at the source of his youki. He almost smiled when he could feel that Kagome had settled down and found her center of power, and he could feel it start to wrap around him. Eager to join her, he pulled at his youki and then enveloped himself and Kagome in it as the two auras swirled together to blanket them both.

Sesshomaru, Miroku, and Kaede did not say a word as the couple sat cross-legged, facing each other. At first, for what seemed like the longest time, nothing happened. Sesshomaru actually heard both Miroku and Kaede suddenly suck in air and hold their breath as first Kagome, and then InuYasha, begin to glow. Kagome was glowing the pink of her aura, while InuYasha was surrounded by the red of his youki. It was totally unexpected when the two suddenly begin to twist together and then blend so that they were glowing a fiery reddish pink color. The power they were exuding was almost overwhelming.

Kagome felt InuYasha squeeze her hands again and opened her eyes. She was pleased to see that they were successful. When she and InuYasha looked over at the other three, they almost laughed. Both of Sesshomaru's eyebrows had disappeared somewhere up under his bangs, and Miroku and Kaede's mouths were both hanging open. It appeared that none of the three were expecting a display like this.

“You think that's enough for now?” Kagome said softly.

“Keh,” InuYasha agreed as the fiery glow that surrounded them receded.

“How…how did you do that?” Miroku finally asked.

“What do you mean?” Kagome asked him.

“You were able to combine your two auras into one,” Kaede stated.

“Well, it seems to stem from our desire to protect each other,” Kagome said thoughtfully. “The first time I did it, I could feel InuYasha's youki surrounding me, so I decided to try to do the same and include InuYasha within my aura. I wanted him to feel my love for him as well as my desire to protect him as well. I don't really understand, but it worked.”

“Keh. I was thinking I always wanted to protect her, and reached out to surround her. The next thing I knew, I could feel her aura wrapping around me. I'm not really sure how I did it, except that I wanted to,” InuYasha added, though now he was blushing.

“Hn.” For some reason, his father's last words came rushing back to Sesshomaru, `Do you have someone to protect.' There was no doubt that the two displayed even more power than they had before they went home. If what they said was true, they were able to combine their auras simply by their desire to protect one another. Was this why they had both suddenly become stronger? Instead of answers, the couple just kept generating more questions.

~ ^~^ ~

Kikyou was thoughtful as she made her way towards her old village. The silence of the forest was broken only by the occasional call of a bird and the sound of twigs snapping under her feet and Kohaku's as he followed faithfully behind her. The undead miko had to wonder what Naraku was up to. He was notorious for playing with other people's feelings, and this just seemed to be one more ploy along those lines. Yes, she had been angry at first that InuYasha had claimed her reincarnation as his mate. She, too, had assumed the miko would lose all of her spiritual power when she gave herself to the hanyou. Kikyou hated to admit she was shocked at the amount of power the younger miko displayed instead. It was no idle threat; Kagome could call her soul back if she really wanted to.

Kikyou found herself remembering when Kagome chose to save her from Naraku's miasma that was poisoning her body, slowly destroying it. She held her hand to her chest, recalling the warmth that she felt after Kagome had healed her; how she had acted without hesitation to save her even though she considered her a rival for InuYasha. The younger miko had even asked her to stay long enough for the hanyou to see her in spite of the fact it was obviously causing her great turmoil and pain.

The undead miko also reflected back on the words of her younger sister when she last saw her. As much as she hated to admit it, Kaede was right; this whole mess was really her fault. If she had listened to her little sister, Naraku may have never been born. Kaede tried to warn Kikyou of Onigumo's evil intentions, but Kikyou just blew her off and said he was helpless and they should feel pity for him. It did not even occur to her he would, or even could, do what he did.

She also had to admit to herself she could have never accepted InuYasha as a hanyou. Her training would not allow her to because of his demon half. Kikyou hated to admit it, but she really did not know much about him. Neither one of them really trusted the other enough to confide anything of importance. She knew that was not the case between InuYasha and Kagome.

Nope, it was going to up to Kikyou to vanquish Naraku. She had pinned InuYasha to the tree and then died because of the dark hanyou's trickery and deceit. Because it was basically her fault he was brought into existence, it was her job to remove him from this world and send him to Hell. She was headed to her old home because, sooner or later, Naraku was bound to turn up to check on the events he had attempted to set in motion.

Kikyou was jolted out of her thoughts as she felt a demonic aura with two jewel shards approaching fast.

She pulled out an arrow and nocked as she said, “Kohaku, stay behind me.”

Kohoku silently followed orders and put Kikyou between himself and the approaching demon.

The whirlwind surrounding him suddenly stopped as Kouga slid to a halt. “Yo, Kikyou.”

“Kouga,” Kikyou responded. “So what are your intentions?”

“Did that Byakuya guy show up and tell you what he told me?” Kouga asked, knowing that he had.

“What about it?” Kikyou said coldly.

“Naraku is planning for us to kill them for him. He thinks I'm going to go and kill InuYasha. What are your intentions towards Kagome?” Kouga was just as cold. “I won't allow you to harm her.”

Kikyou lowered her bow. “No, that is not my intention. I am going because Naraku expects us to. What do you know?”

“That Naraku got part of the story, but apparently not all of it. He thinks Kagome has lost her power. He's in for a surprise.”

“What do you mean?” Kikyou asked as she furrowed her brow.

“I mean I fought with them against a bunch of snake youkai. Naraku had given the leader of the snakes three shards.” Kouga looked around to check out his surroundings. There being no hint of Saimyoushou, he continued, “Mutt face and Kagome both showed far more power than I have ever seen before. Kagome turned the youkai that attacked to dust with a single arrow, and the mutt…well, I've never even seen a youkai with that much power. Together they defeated that giant fucker and reclaimed the three shards.

“That's not all. That Byakuya said that Sesshomaru is on his way there. Naraku assumes that he is going to kill them both before they can taint the family bloodlines any further. But I know that isn't true. Sesshomaru was there when we fought the snakes, so he knows everything there is to know,” Kouga added.

“Yes, I know. He was there after they had completed the ritual,” Kikyou answered. “So Naraku expects between us that we will kill them both. He is certain to eventually make an appearance at the village to check on his handiwork. You had better go on. We do not want the Saimyoushou or Byakuya to spot us speaking to one another.”

“Yo. See ya,” Kouga said and again took off, churning up a whirlwind of dust.

~ ^~^ ~

“Well, I have to admit, I am impressed,” Miroku stated.

“Yes, indeed. Have you tried separating from each other?” Kaede asked.

Kagome shook her head. “No, you told us to work together so that is what we have been doing. It took a good portion of the day the first time and then it wiped us out. It took me a while to be able to tune things out and concentrate. I was having trouble until InuYasha told me that he was focusing on my breathing, and maybe I should try something similar. I did, and it worked. I had to do the same thing just now because I was nervous about being put on display.”

“Keh,” InuYasha agreed. “We've only tried it together. And that wasn't all we did.”

“What do you mean, InuYasha?” Kaede asked.

InuYasha looked towards his brother. “We were able to reach each other again when we were relaxed and not really trying to. I thought something to myself, and Kagome heard me. We were able to carry on another conversation in our head, but we still don't know how we did it.”

“Indeed,” Sesshomaru responded.

“Oh, and don't forget your barrier,” Kagome added.

“InuYasha created another barrier?” Miroku asked. “Was he more youkai again?”

InuYasha shook his head. “No, it was after we were so wiped out from that first morning. We fell asleep, and when Kagome's mother came to wake us, we were both surrounded by my youki. Kagome asked her mother to see if she could touch us, and she couldn't. Kagome? How did you know? I didn't ask you.”

“I don't know. It was just a feeling I had. That's why I asked Mama to try and reach us. Somehow I knew you were protecting us, but it wouldn't hurt her; but I have no idea how I knew that,” Kagome answered.

“Well, why do you not try again? But this time, InuYasha, I want you to think about whatever it was you did before. Kagome, just stay with him but try not to react with your own aura this time. I want to see if he can create his barrier so that I can see what we are dealing with,” Kaede told them.

“Keh,” the hanyou agreed as he took Kagome's hands in his own again.

InuYasha reached in for his youki, and attempted to remember what he was thinking about when he fell asleep with Kagome. As he wrapped both himself and Kagome in his fiery red aura, he tried to imagine he was protecting the two of them. The only problem was that he did not know how to tell he was projecting a barrier or just his youki around his mate. He started to get frustrated trying to differentiate the two.

The hanyou felt Kagome squeeze his hands and he opened his eyes. He could tell they were both blanketed in his youki, but was it enough? Was it a barrier? Kagome was slightly smiling at him so he hoped that meant it was.

`InuYasha?' the miko thought.

`Kagome?' InuYasha responded, looking into her gray eyes.

`I think you are doing okay. This feels like it did the other afternoon,' she told him.

`Are…are you sure? I can't tell,' InuYasha told her.

`I'm pretty certain, but we need for one of them to test it,' Kagome reassured him.

Sesshomaru was watching the two, and could tell that something was going on. The Taiyoukai decided since InuYasha seemed to produce his barrier either when threatened or when he was not trying to, he should try something to startle him and force him to erect it. Sesshomaru could feel the power of the youki that surrounded the two, but was not certain it had become a barrier around them. Unnoticed by any of the others, he prepared to attack with his poison claws.

“InuYasha!” the Demon Lord exclaimed as he lunged at him.

Lord Sesshomaru did not get a chance to find out if InuYasha's youki had formed a barrier. Instead, he found himself being thrown a number of meters away. When he got up and shook himself off, he was astounded to see that Kagome had erected a barrier around the two of them. She was so angry she was shaking.

Kagome yelled at him, “You! I can't believe you did that! We trusted you!”

Kaede and Miroku looked stunned. Kagome had jumped to her feet and was standing protectively in front of her mate. Her fists were balled at her sides as she glared at the Taiyoukai.

“Hn. That was the reaction I was expecting from InuYasha, not you, Miko,” Sesshomaru stated.

“What do you mean?” Kagome practically shouted, obviously still angry and still under her barrier.

Kaede and Miroku looked at Sesshomaru with apprehension, but did not feel any evil intent coming from him.

Understanding started to cross Miroku's face and he spoke, “You were trying to help, were you not? You thought if you startled InuYasha into thinking you were attacking him, he would be forced to produce his barrier to protect himself and Kagome. But Kagome saw you and reacted before InuYasha did. I must say, Kagome, I am impressed.”

“You mean…” Kagome uttered.

“Kagome, child. It is all right. If you drop your barrier you will be able to tell there is no evil intent coming from Lord Sesshomaru. I believe it is as Houshi says, in his own way, he was trying to help InuYasha,” Kaede told her.

“Oh,” Kagome whispered as her barrier faded away. “I'm so sorry, Lord Sesshomaru.”

“This Sesshomaru is unharmed. Unfortunately, that probably will not work again.”

“Kagome, do you know what you did?” Miroku asked her.

“I just saw him lunge at InuYasha with his poison claws and wanted to stop him. He can move so fast I knew I had to be quick.” Kagome sighed. “But I'm not sure how I really did it.”

Kagome sank to the ground, and InuYasha caught her and pulled her into his lap. “That really drained her. Let me try one more time and then I think we need to take a break. Kagome is exhausted after that.”

The others nodded and waited. InuYasha discovered that by holding Kagome in his lap, he was able to quickly envelope them both in his aura. Not wanting to draw another strong reaction from his mate, he nodded at Miroku to test him.

The monk was a bit apprehensive as he came at the couple. He saw how far Kagome threw Lord Sesshomaru and knew if it happened to him, it would really hurt. He turned his staff to whack InuYasha with the wooden end, and was surprised when it just bounced off of him. He hit him harder with the same results.

“Well, InuYasha, it seems that you were successful. Was it easier with Kagome that close to you?” the monk asked.

InuYasha relaxed and the glow around him faded away. “Yeah, it was easier protecting her knowing she was worn out. I think I had better take Kagome back to the hut for a while.” The hanyou stood with his mate in his arms. “She's sound asleep.”

“Aye, it is lunch time, anyway. The others have probably returned from the river and are waiting for us. Lord Sesshomaru, we might should call it a day. Kagome exerted a tremendous amount of energy and will probably sleep the rest of the afternoon. Or perhaps there is something you could work on alone with InuYasha. Kagome can rest in my hut where we can keep an eye on her,” Kaede offered.

Actually, InuYasha really wanted to get to the bottom of his telepathic abilities, and it might be better to be alone with his brother to start out. He was excited and scared at the same time. He addressed his brother, “I think I might be ready after I've had something to eat. Kagome will be okay with them for the afternoon. We could meet back here so she can find me if she wakes up and gets worried.”

“That is acceptable,” Sesshomaru stated. He could smell the combination of excitement and worry from his brother. “Take care of your mate, eat, and return.”

“Don't worry, I'll be back,” InuYasha responded, and followed the others along the path back to Kaede's hut.

To be continued…

* * ^~^ * *

AN: “Soap On A Rope” was not an original idea. My brother used to go to Boy Scout camp where they actually bathed in the river every morning. Ivory Soap was recommended because it floated when dropped. However, boys being boys, they preferred turning the soap into little boats and watch them float away, thereby requiring their moms to send more. My mother found the solution when she found Soap On A Rope (that really was the name of it) and sent it with a note not to lose it. Thereafter, every year, that is what my little brother took to camp with him, even after he became old enough to become one of the counselors there.