Curiosity Caught the Miko by Stella Mira

Crawling Back to You

A/N: I can never distinguish the fine line between hard-core M and soft-core MA, and with the story at this point, I'm upping the rating just to play it safe. I hadn't actually planned any lemons, or even limes, but like I said, lines became blurred, and I'm not sure if what I'll write henceforth will pass as M-rated. Plus, I dun wanna cause Wiccan more headaches than she already has. One of us having a headache over ratings should be enough. Though I am sorry for selfishly changing the rating this far into the story. And thank you for all the lovely reviews. ((:

2/3/2015: Rating changed to MA.

Written for SunsetMiko's Once a Week Challenge.

Prompt: Archery

~~~~~

They had been traveling in comfortable silence for the most part of the morning when Sesshōmaru informed Kagome they'd soon come upon a human village. The question of whether she wished to halt their journey and offer her skills or bypass it went unspoken, but Kagome gathered he wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't expect an answer. Little by little, she was familiarizing herself with his behavioral patterns, the intricacies of his character. There was a plethora of signs, subtle and complex but deliberate – fluctuations in his yōki, different facets of the same expression, emotions swelling in the silence, words unsaid but actions layered with intent.

"I'm going to see if they need my help with anything." Kagome gazed at him under her lashes. Curious. Pleased. "What will you do?"

"I will visit Rin."

Light entered his eyes – paler shade of gold, gleam of affection. It was tempting, more than it should be, spawned urges she struggled to suppress. Kagome wanted to feel him – the texture of his skin, the pulse that beat beneath it, heat and sinewy muscle under the pads of her fingers. Teeth dragged across her lower lip, and she inhaled deeply, leashed the impulses lest her body betray the decadence that dwelt in her thoughts.

Sesshōmaru wasn't oblivious, merely didn't bother with things he had no care for, and Kagome was no longer included in the category of inconsequential things. It would be quite facile for him to connect reaction with origin once he was made cognizant of its existence. But his reaction to that knowledge was harder to predict, made her self-conscious and wary. Kagome had gorged herself on denial, wasn't ready to open herself to the possibility of rejection. Until she could accept that, she'd smother the visceral pull of what she wanted to do, and be mindful of what she let slip in his presence.

"All right." Her voice spilled out of her throat huskier, consonant with desire. It was fortunate that Sesshōmaru had already turned his back to leave. A murmur was all that came out of her lips as she copied him. "I'll see you later then."

"Miko." There was an inflexion in his tone that made her pause. It was coated with a monitory layer, quiet warning. "A mizuchi resides in the river near this village. Do not provoke it."

Sesshōmaru was gone before she had a chance to reply. Kagome drowned a sigh then cleared her mind of any lingering thoughts of touch and skin and urge. When she finally composed herself, she headed for the village, more alert than she would have otherwise been.

~~~~~

It was a poor village, even by this era's standards. Sympathy suffused her core, and Kagome suggested she could do more than treat the sick and elderly, but they refused to let her do any manual labor. Her miko status forbade them to even contemplate the thought, no matter how much Kagome insisted it amounted to nil when there were people in need before her eyes. In the end, she yielded under their obstinate refusals, and focused on searching the village for patients, hut by hut. It was now noon, but she wasn't overly weary, making her way to the next hut when someone called after her.

"Onee-chan..." A child's voice reached her ears, hushed, anxious. "Over here, onee-chan."

Kagome followed the direction it came from, peering inside the closest hut to her left. It was a boy, no more than thirteen years old, ushering her inside hurriedly. He stuck his head outside, stealing surreptitious glances, making sure nobody saw her come in. His attitude roused Kagome's intrigue, but she waited for him until he deemed it safe to talk.

"Are you really a miko, onee-chan?"

The boy stared at her with nothing sort of fascination, and perhaps hope.

"Yes, I am." She smiled a sweet smile, wondering what he needed and why he had to be so covert about it. "My name is Kagome. What's your name?"

"Jirō." His name was spoken almost absentmindedly, as if it didn't matter, then he took a sharp inhalation. "If you are a miko then you can kill yōkai."

Caught unaware, Kagome reeled back, studied the boy better. His skin was clammy, his eyes glassy with fear, and he was flexing his fingers nervously. Before anything else, she needed to calm him down, or he was going to have a panic attack. Taking him by the wrist, she guided him toward the center of the hut where some hay was spread around the fireplace, and sat down with him.

"Well, it depends on what they've done to guarantee that." She spoke softly, carefully. "Yōkai are like humans, Jirō-kun. Not all of them are bad. I have many yōkai friends and they're all good people."

His lips drew tight; his gaze turned hard. He might not have been on the verge of hyperventilation any longer, but this wasn't the reaction she sought to elicit.

"But you can kill them, right?" he reiterated, voice gone flat.

A sigh worked its way out of her lungs, growing heavier as it was being expelled. Kagome inferred this was more than common prejudice, abandoned all platitudes, and sought the reason behind his request – because he was asking her to kill a yōkai.

"What's this about, Jirō-kun? Did a yōkai hurt you?"

Perhaps it was her tone that alerted him to the fact that she abhorred senseless murder, and that she wouldn't accept asinine excuses but legitimate reason. He refused to meet her eyes then but still spoke, albeit with less bravado.

"Not me," he all but muttered. "My parents and everyone in the village are afraid and won't talk to you, but there's a bad yōkai in the river."

His gaze rose in a too-fast motion. Haunted. Frantic.

"It eats people."

Maybe Kagome had become a little bit jaded after everything she'd been through all these years. She merely sighed again, finding this almost…redundant. Sesshōmaru's warning made sense now. If that mizuchi was terrorizing the village then she'd have to exterminate it. Still, from what she knew about this type of yōkai, she found it hard to believe. Mizuchi were fiercely territorial, but as long as they remained undisturbed, they posed no threat to humans. There was definitely more to this story than what the boy had revealed so far. Or it could just be a case of ignorance. Either way, she wouldn't go anywhere until she clarified this first.

"I know. It's a water dragon. They're hostile and easy to anger, but they rarely leave their nest. If you leave it alone, it probably won't bother or hurt anyone. You should just stay away from the river and you'll be fine."

Her advice not only didn't smooth things out but it brought back the boy's despair.

"You don't understand, onee-chan!" Jirō sprung up, near snapped at her, but it didn't last longer than a fragment of a second. He slumped back down, the fight wrenched out of him. Before Kagome could ask what was wrong, he was speaking again, glum-ridden.

"The water from the well is not enough for everyone in the village and it doesn't rain often here, so the village chief went to the daimyo for help. But the daimyo said he can't do anything about the yōkai and just put a toll on the water. If you can't pay it then you can't get water." He paused for breath; his gaze became dimmer. "My friend's dad got sick and they can't pay the toll this month, so Hiro went to the river this morning…even though I tried to stop him."

His fingers curled around hers, gripped with all his might, skin ashen and knuckles white. "Onee-chan…" He more sobbed than spoke now. "Please save my friend."

There was only the sound of his hiccups and tension. Thick. Ear-shattering. Kagome stared into his eyes for a quiet moment then steeled herself to the task.

"I understand, Jirō-kun." His grip loosened and he sniffed loudly. Kagome gave his hands a strong squeeze, but she wouldn't lie to him. "I promise to do all I can to save Hiro-kun if he is still alive, but you must stay here."

Jirō nodded once then gave in and cried in her lap. And Kagome sighed.

I'm sorry, Sesshōmaru.

~~~~~

The trek to the river was nerve-racking. Kagome was afraid that she'd be too late, that the only thing awaiting her was torn flesh, cold viscera, and the tang of death. But she was wrong, oh so gratefully wrong. Dark, messy curls and scrawny limbs filtered in her line of vision, and she hastened her steps.

"Hiro-kun!" The fact that the boy's neck whipped around as she howled his name was proof enough. She placed her hands on his shoulders when she reached him, overcome with relief. "You're Hiro-kun, right?"

His eyes narrowed by a margin, full of suspicion. "Who are you?"

She opened her mouth but closed it all at once. Kagome's joy at finding him well and in one piece was short-lived. A hunk of yōki slammed into her, almost threw her out of balance.

"We don't have time. Just run! Quickly!"

Kagome thanked her luck that she had found the boy before the dragon emerged – a mass of viridian, lustered with gold, sharp-tipped claws, maw agape and teeming with incisors. Awe-inducing, terror made scales and flesh. Time froze. Breath abated. Blood chilled.

Her nails bit into the boy's shoulders, shook him hard, and sent him sprawling as far away as she could push him. She didn't turn to look back, see if he'd regained his sense and ran to safety – he just had to. Kagome eyed the hulking serpent, stared into its black-slit pupils and rage, instinct-wrought, feral. It was a beast. Even if it possessed higher intelligence – it probably did – Kagome doubted it would listen. Or perhaps it was the opposite. Dragons were intellectual creatures but rarely indulged in conversation with beings they thought beneath them….with prey. And prey had just trespassed into its territory, dared provoke the danger that lurked in deep waters.

A roar ripped the space in jagged pieces, drilled into her eardrums. It resonated through blood vessels, disrupted her equilibrium. Dizzy, hyper-aware, she clutched her bow and notched an arrow. Kagome didn't even have to aim due to its sheer size. Her arrow wheezed through the air, pierced through the explosion of water all around her, and flew straight to its shoulder. She watched in shock as it ricocheted with a grating sound, its arrowhead caved in and wood splintering upon impact. That was a full-power, reiki-clad shot…and it was useless. Dread seeped into her pores, churned in a pit low in her stomach.

Damn… This isn't working. I need to find a soft spot.

Another roar rent the atmosphere, and Kagome winced. Sticky fluid filled her ear canals, obstructed her hearing. Blood. She realized in horror that her eardrums were perforated. It was a mistake, being distracted by the internal damage, even for a split second.

Something thick rammed into her side, slashed through layers of skin in her arm. Bones cracked, flesh shredded. Tail…armored with cool scales and cusp-edged spikes. Kagome caught a glimpse of the slithery appendage as it coiled back and whipped the surface of the river after the attack. The earth seemed farther and farther away. No, that wasn't right. She was flying. Time was imperative. Kagome didn't know how much longer she could retain consciousness with all these injuries and through the haze of blood loss. The landing would jar and aggravate what damage was already done but it shouldn't add much more. Grinding her teeth, she prepared herself for the onslaught of pain, and when it came, she let it all out in a blood-curdling scream. But she was lucky.

The patch of ground she impacted upon positioned her directly beneath the mizuchi, with a clear shot at its vulnerable underside. Kagome could only pray that her arrow would puncture its hide because she only had energy for one last attack. Lying on her uninjured side, uncaring if she cut herself on the bowstring, she pulled it as far back as it went in this stance; she then refined her reiki to its purest point, imbued the arrow with it…and fired.

An otherworldly sound erupted from the beast's throat as it thrashed and rampaged, frenzied and frothing with rage. Despite her ruined hearing, Kagome still heard it. More than that even…she felt it – vibrations rippling through her body, strips of water lashing against her, blades of wind slicing through her skin. She had hurt it, perhaps gravely judging by its manic outburst, but it could very well survive even that for all she knew. It didn't matter. Her strength was sapped and her body ravaged. She was nothing but prey in this state, and the mizuchi wasn't the only predator here. Spilt blood called for hunters and the place brimmed with them. Now that the dragon was incapacitated, they wouldn't pass up the chance of fresh meat.

I must…get away from here…before its wound heals.

Crawling on hands and knees, she dragged herself toward the village, though she didn't hold much hope in reaching it alive.

I'm sorry…Sesshōmaru. I should have told you –

Oblivion wrapped its tendrils around her mind, and she plunged into the abyss with his name stitched into her heartstrings.