…From the Ashes the Phoenix Rises

By Danyealle

(FanFiction/Angst)

Chapter 16

When Sesshomaru stepped out of the hut the next morning Kouga was waiting for him.  “Is Kagome still asleep?”  He asked quietly.

“She’s getting dressed.  Why?” The taiyoukai asked looking at the wolf demon.

“We’re going to need to talk alone some time today.”  Kouga said softly.

Eyes narrowing, Sesshomaru asked, “What’s goin on?”  From the tone of the wolf demons’ voice he knew it was most likely not something he was probably going to like.

Sighing, Kouga shook his head then said, “Well, we’re going to have a great breakfast this morning.  Scrambled eggs, fresh berries, fresh bread and milk.”  Though his voice was calm there was something odd in it.

Brow furrowed, Sesshomaru looked at him.  “What’s with the subject change?  You didn’t answer my question.”  He said gruffly.

Looking at the taiyoukai, he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, “Don’t you see the pattern?”

“No.  Enlighten me.”  Sesshomaru all but growled.

“Those are all Kagomes’ favorites.  Inuyasha went out before dawn to one of the nearby villages and bough some of it then went and picked the berries.  When he got back the bread was still hot, it was that fresh.”  Kouga told him, looking out the corner of his eye at the demon lord.

Both the taiyoukais’ eyebrows shot up and his jaw tightened eyes hardening.  “Great, just great!”  He growled.  “After breakfast we’ll slip away to discuss this!”

“I would suggest that Kagome join us.  She needs to know what’s going on.”

“I agree.”  Sesshomaru replied, nodding.

When Kagome joined them they all walked over to the hut that had been used as something like a meeting hall by the village.  They were using it as something like a dinning hall where they could all gather to eat together comfortably.  They were the last to arrive so when they seated themselves the meal was set on the table.  Although Kagome arched an eyebrow at what was being served and the fresh flowers on the table she said nothing other than to compliment Sango on how the eggs were cooked.

After breakfast, the pack sat around discussing their next move.  In the end it was decided that they would all stay at the village for the next couple days.  After that Kagome had to go home for a few days to take some tests.  Everyone else would have a few days to do as they pleased then they would all meet back at Edo on the day Kagome was to return.  Because these tests were the last she had for the school year, it was time for summer break; she would be able to spend longer periods of time with them.  The extended break would be a forerunner to some more intensive searching without breaks.

After the ‘meeting’ Sesshomaru had Kagome grab her bow and sword.  Grabbing Kouga the three of them headed to a secluded meadow not far from the village.  When they arrived Sesshomaru made sure they were alone and that Inuyasha didn’t follow then cast a barrier around the small grassy area that would ensure that anyone outside wouldn’t hear what they said.

Sitting down, the three of them began hashing out a plan to deal with what they were sure was coming from Inuyasha.  Mostly, it came down to the same kind of vigilance from Kouga that had been used when she first returned.  But there were a few new things added.  It was decided that if Inuyasha left Edo some of Kougas’ wolves would shadow him and there would be some of them posted at the well the whole time Kagome was gone.  Usually, as Inuyasha well knew, Sesshomaru would go through the well with her to ensure she arrived safely then he would come back.  When she was due to return he would go retrieve her.  He very rarely stayed with her when she went home.  The consensus was that this time the taiyoukai would stay with her the whole time she was gone.  With Kikyo gone Inuyasha had no reason to hang around the feudal era and he may well try to go through the well in hopes to catch Kagome alone.  It was also decided that once they were on Kagomes’ side of the well that she would temporarily seal it with sutras so if he did manage to slip by Kouga and the wolves he couldn’t get through.  Beyond those measures they were just going to have to be more aware to keep an eye out for any of his tricks.

After all the measures were laid out and the best plans they could conceive were put in place, Kagome sighed deeply and rubbed her face.  “This is ridiculous!  We shouldn’t have to go through all this crap!”  Looking down at the ground, she shook her head. “Why don’t I just talk to him and make it clear I don’t want anything to do with him?  I can put up with a couple hours of his crap if it means we can do away with all these elaborate plans and schemes!”

“If I thought that would work I would have suggested it a long time ago Kagome.”  Sesshomaru told her in a calm voice.  Putting a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “You know better than the rest of us what he’s like.  No matter how you put it he’s not going to believe you.  Whatever you say would go in one ear then right out the other without any stops in between.  Then he would just convince himself that it is some kind of giant conspiracy against him and that somebody put you up to it.  Then he would just redouble his efforts to get to you.  He would allow himself to believe that you didn’t mean it.

“Even if we went to the extreme of banishing him from the pack it’s doubtful he would leave you alone.  He would probably just follow us and wait for a time when you were alone so he could grab you.”  Sesshomaru sighed, shaking his head.

“If he finds out you and Sesshomaru are involved it’s probably going to get even worse.”  Kouga warned darkly.  “Who knows what he would do then.”

Groaning, Kagome buried her face in her hands.  “This is crap!  We shouldn’t have to do any of this!  How do we even know he’s going to try?”

“Because he already has.” Kouga told her.  “Didn’t you notice that breakfast was all your favorite things?”

“Yeah.  I just assumed Sango made something special for me.  She’s done that before and I’ve done it for her and the others.  Nothing odd about that.”

“It wasn’t Sangos’ doing, all she did was prepare the eggs.  Inuyasha went out before everyone was awake to get everything.  He went so far as to go the closest village to by some of it.”  The ookami told her.

“Double crap!”  She groaned, shaking her head.  “Isn’t there some way of getting it through his thick skull that I don’t want anything to do with him?”

“If you can come up with something we haven’t tried we’ll give it a shot.”  Sesshomaru said quietly.

Sighing, she buried her face in her bent knees and wrapped her arms around her shins.

Sliding over next to her, Sesshomaru rubbed her back softly.  There really wasn’t anything he could say to improve the situation.  If there was a way to put a stop to it he would have done it long ago.  Both he and Kouga thought that the only way it was probably going to end was going to be a nasty confrontation after the hanyou found out he and Kagome were together, nothing that could be triggered on purpose, it would have to happen on its’ own.  Even after that he and Kouga weren’t convinced that it would stop.  Inuyasha wasn’t someone that was known to be a graceful loser.

Lifting her head, Kagome propped he chin on her knees then gave a deep, resigned sigh.  Desperately, she tried to come up with something, anything, that would nip things in the bud before they got any worse.

Knowing her the way he did, Kouga fixed her with a stare, “Kagome… don’t even think about caving in and going back to the way things were just to make things easier for the rest of us!”

Lifting her eyes, she looked at him then shook her head.  “No way can I go back to that!  If I did I would just end up in the situation I was in before.  I can’t do that again.”  She said softly.

“Good!”  He said nodding.

“Both Kouga and I agree that there really isn’t anything we can do to end the situation or make it any better.  The only being that can do that is Inuyasha and he doesn’t seem inclined to do so.  If he were a normal being he would have gotten the hint by now.  It’s obvious to everyone but him that you don’t want anything to do with him.  Hell, after all these months of not talking to him even he should have gotten the hint but he hasn’t.”  Sesshomaru said in a calm, quiet voice.  “Let’s just give it a couple weeks and see how it goes.  IF he doesn’t do anything then we’ll drop most of it and go on as we have been.  If he does then we’ll deal with things as they come and work with it.  How does that sound to you?”

Nodding, she replied, “Sounds good to me!”

After a bit more conversation about nothing in particular Kouga took his leave and headed back to the village.  Then Kagome and Sesshomaru began to work a bit more on controlling her increased powers and focusing them so she had better control over them so they wouldn’t get out of hand.  Although they hadn’t worked much on it she was doing very well.  She seemed to have them under control better and he didn’t think that they had to worry about her accidentally losing control of them.

When he felt they had worked enough on that he had her put the bow down and pull her sword.  Gently, he walked her through how to properly hold and swing it.  When he felt she had the basics pretty well down pat he worked with her on focusing her power into the blade.  Like had happened with his blade, she was able to pour her power into it quite easily.  He did notice that with this one when she poured everything into it the blade its’ self did seem to vanish and appeared to be replaced by a pink light.  More than likely it was just an optical illusion, that the blade was still there, just obscured by the light made by her miko powers.

When he felt they had worked enough for one day she said there was something she wanted to try.  Having him step back from her, she drew the katana again.  Holding it like he had shown her, she drew it back then swung it like one would a baseball bat, yelling, “Fuwafuwa dageki!”  A large burst of her energy shaped like a lightning bolt erupted out of the end of the katana and streaked towards the trees at the other end of the meadow.

Standing behind her, Sesshomaru watched, eyes wide.

A grin turning up the corners of her mouth, she chucked, “Wicked!  It worked!  Let’s see if the other one does too.”  Raising the blade over her head, she brought it down in a slashing motion, yelling, “Kon Junshin!” What that caused was something that looked like a cross between Inuyashas’ Windscar and Kagura’s Dance of Blades made up of Kagomes’ pink spiritual energy.  The difference was the ground and foliage it passed over wasn’t damaged only blown about a bit.

Lowering her blade, she grinned.  “Wow!  It worked!”  Looking over her shoulder at the wide-eyed demon lord, she asked, “Well?  What do you think Sesshomaru?”

Although his face was the place mask it always was his eyes were a bit wider than they normally were.  Clearing his throat, he said.  “Very impressive Kagome!  But, tell me, where did you learn those strikes from?”

Sheathing the sword, she turned and faced him, still smiling, “Midoriko showed me them in a dream.  I was curious to see if they really worked or if it was just something my mind created.”

“Well, it appears that it wasn’t just a dream.”  He said calmly.  “Do you think that this has something to do with what she told you?”

Nodding, she replied.  “I think so, yeah.”

“Hn…” he replied, looking at her, mind racing.  If she had a weapon that could harness her powers it would most assuredly be advantageous to them in the long run.  Especially if they could keep its’ existence a secret from Naraku.    Stepping closer to her, he slipped his arm around her waist.  “Tell me about those strikes.  How powerful are they?”  He asked calmly.

Leaning into him, she replied, “Right now no more so than my arrows.  Those strikes draw from the same power my arrows do, at least that’s what I was told in my dream.  As my power grows so will the power of the strikes.”

“Hn…” was his only reply as he turned what she said over in his mind.  “Are there any more strikes associated with that blade?  Or do you know?”

“I don’t know for sure but it’s my feeling that there are more.  Again, it’s just an inkling but I think as I grow more powerful and learn to control what I have I’ll learn more of them.”

Pulling her to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her.  Giving her a peck on the temple, he replied sardonically, “Control is a good thing Kagome.  Considering I’m one of the beings that would be affected if they got out of hand…”  He let the sentence trail off.

Sighing happily, she pressed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “I don’t think my measly powers are much of a threat to you Mr. Big-Bad-and-Scary.”

“You’re much more powerful than you realize Kagome.”  He told her quietly.

“Maybe. But I think you’re one of the beings in this world that are safe from my powers.”  Was her response.

“Oh?  Why is that?”  He asked, eyebrow arched, looking down at her.

Smiling, she reached up and stroked his cheek gently, “Because I love you.”

Eyes softening, he leaned down and kissed her.  “And I you.”  He replied softly.

“Though I can’t be sure I think those I’m close to have some protection if things get out of hand.  You might feel some of it but I think our connection will protect you and the others I consider my friends and family.”

Kissing her on the forehead, he then leaned his cheek on the top of her head.  “That is a very good thing.”  Though there was a lot more he wanted to ask her about but suddenly those things didn’t matter.  He would ask about them later but for now he just wanted to touch her, to feel her in his arms.  Her power, his, Naraku, Inuyasha, none of that seemed to matter when he held her.  All that mattered was her and him, being together.  For the first time standing there with her in his arms, he understood what people meant when they talked about being in love.

Finally, he understood.

Finally….