The Best Laid Plans...

Kagome waved goodbye to her friends as the sun was setting on the second day of their stay at the village. She was staying with Saya to receive a crash course on miko powers; this morning Saya had approached her with a proposition of sorts. “I noticed you have a high level of miko energies, however you are as of yet untrained in the ways of controlling your gifts. I propose a barter of sorts: I will train you in the ways of the miko, if you will train me in the ways of healing you used to help the boy you brought to me.” Saya had said to her. Kagome had hesitated, not sure how much she could disclose to the elder miko without revealing her origins; Miroku had been the one to tell her this was an opportunity she could not pass up, as far as how much to disclose, she could go over the basics without showing her to much. She would just have to be careful about which supplies she used and the wording she used when describing the techniques. He and Saya had discussed a time frame for Kagome to be gone from the group, eventually settling on a 3 month training period, with the option at the end of the 3 months to extend further.

Needless to say, Inuyasha had been furious with this decision, ranting to anyone who would listen “No, she can’t do it! We need her to find the damn shards again! It’s all her fucking fault the jewel broke twice now! It was complete until she killed Naraku with the stupid arrow aimed at the jewel! She ain’t allowed to stay and complete any training, what does she need to train for? I said I’d protect her 3 years ago, and I will continue to…” at this point in his rant Kagome had tuned him out and began to glance at the villagers who had come to watch the hanyou rant. There were some very attractive men living in the village and they were one of the reasons she had decided to stay.

One man in particular, Toshiro, caught her eye and smiled. He had violet eyes that shined with mirth when he smiled, and wavy chestnut hair that reached his shoulders; his height towered over most other men, and his physique seemed very toned and lithe through the clothing he wore. He dressed slightly better than the other villagers; however his attire wasn’t extravagantly displaying wealth either. ‘I think he will do nicely as my victim. Now, to learn more about him…’ she thought to herself. Noticing that Inuyasha still hadn’t finished yelling about why she couldn’t stay in the village, Kagome turned her full attention back to him, finally saying in a very firm voice “Sit Boy!”

Inuyasha immediately stopped talking, and began to drag himself out of the crater the subjection beads had placed him in. He looked at her face and saw the determination she felt; finally realizing that she wouldn’t bend to his will he said “Feh, fine then. 3 months Kagome, no longer!” Kagome smiled at him and softly thanked him, then asked him to bring a note to her mother so she wouldn’t worry when Kagome didn’t return before the college application deadline. ‘School will have to wait.’

So now, Kagome waved goodbye to her friends. The village she would call home for the next 3 months was rather small, but she felt a sense of comfort here; there was only one road running through the center with huts on each side of it and large fields behind the buildings. There was a storage building behind the headman’s house for the village food stores in winter; and a well was dug for fresh drinking water on either end of the village. More expensive looking homes were situated toward the middle of town, with the huts on the outskirts being smaller, and a little less cared for.

Kagome was allowed to keep the hut that she had previously shared with Sango, it was styled with only one room, however there was a privacy screen that separated a small sleeping area towards the back, and the cooking fire pit was spaced into the center of the remaining room, there was also a rough looking basin at the front in which Kagome could collect water for hygiene. Saya had explained that the villagers didn’t approve of daily bathing, only rinsing their hands and arms during the majority of the week; and asked that Kagome adhere to their superstitions…if she really felt strongly about bathing daily, Saya asked her to please do so in secret, either very early in the morning or very late at night when she was least likely to be spotted. While Kagome didn’t completely understand how anyone could care about her bathing habits, she agreed that if she were to bathe daily she would do it in a stealthy fashion.

Anxious to begin her training, and excited about beginning her plan, she walked down the road to the other end of the village where her hut was, silently plotting out her course of action. ‘First, I need to pry information about him from Saya. She has been miko here for over twenty years; she should know something about him. Then, I will have to get to know him. Drag him into conversations, and do it in a flirty way. Well, I can decide what to talk about once I learn more about him.’ She entered her hut and dug through her bag for her notebook to jot down these thoughts.

The next morning Kagome’s watch alarm went off at 4am, giving her an hour and a half before sunrise to do her exercise routine and take a bath in the hot springs. She grabbed her laptop case and headed out after a quick glance to make sure nobody was around outside. There was a hot spring near the clearing she worked out in, and while she rushed her workout in order to bathe before sunset she still enjoyed herself. The yoga was soothing to her, and the hot mineral water from the spring relaxed her muscles. Kagome had decided to surprise Saya and bring some fresh game to her training, partially to show off her archery skills and partially as a bribe for information about Toshiro.

She worked through the questions she would ask in her head during her bath. ‘So Saya, tell me about the villagers; I’m going to be living here for the next 3 months, I’d like to at least attempt to make friends with some people.’ From there, she would gently prod for more specific information, in a roundabout way. Toshiro was the headman’s third son, and from the gossip Sango and she had overheard the first day in the village, he was quite a womanizer…she would play up this fact in her questions. ‘I’ve been traveling with Miroku so long, it’s going to be weird to not have to watch out for roving male hands!’ She would giggle to herself at her comment and then look innocently at Saya then, hopefully the elder miko would have a strange look on her face, so she could ask next ‘I won’t have to worry about roving male hands, will I Saya?’ From there it would be easy to learn about him, she hoped!

Kagome got out of the springs and dried herself off, then went in hunt of some small game. She stretched out her senses, finding a den of rabbits nearby and a lone boar. She decided to go after the boar, she didn’t want to leave any baby rabbits without a parent; that would pretty much be signing their death warrant as a single parent would have to leave the babies unattended in order to hunt. Another benefit of bring a boar back would be the extra food. Sango and she had noticed there were a few families in the village whose men had left for war, and the extra meat could be provided to them as they had nobody to hunt for them. She tracked the boar silently, after about 15 minutes she had a clear shot and took aim. The arrow hit the boar in the neck, and 5 minutes later the boar fell to the ground dead. She rolled it onto a tarp from her backpack, tying the corners into a makeshift handle and began to drag it back to the village. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon as she entered the village, dragging the boar behind her in the tarp. Saya stepped from her hut and gasped at the sight of Kagome dragging the tarp, when Kagome was close enough she asked softly “Hello there child, what have you brought from the forest?”

Kagome smiled at her and proudly showed her kill, responding “I decided to hunt some game this morning, and managed to find a lone boar wandering. I didn’t have time to dress it before sunrise, actually to be honest I don’t really know how to dress it properly.” She smiled sheepishly, then asked “Maybe one of the village men could show me how to field dress my kills so I don’t bring you whole game next time?”

Saya looked thoughtful for a few moments, then replied “Of course child, I’ll speak to the headman about having someone show you once we’re finished for the day. I’m sure he knows someone who could show you. For now, go meditate behind the hut while I bring this to get cleaned, it looks like we’re having a hearty stew for dinner tonight; we’ll begin your training in a little while.” That said, Saya began to drag the tarp toward the headman’s house and Kagome settled into a lotus position behind the hut.

Soul racking pain ripped through Kagome’s body for the next hour, as Saya had her draw her powers to the surface, form a sphere in her hands, and then pull everything back into herself repeatedly. Each time she withdrew the powers back into herself, the pain would grow. Finally, Kagome gasped “Lady Saya, what is the purpose of drawing my powers back inside once the sphere is formed? Isn’t the ultimate goal to control the sphere and release it, not kill myself?”

Saya smiled and replied “Child, I know ye are not drawing forth but a fraction of your powers. When you draw them forth, more energy comes to take the place of those powers; by drawing the energies back into yourself, you’re exercising your body and mind to eventually work with a greater quantity of energies at a time. I know this is painful for you, however the outcome will be far more valuable to you than any amount of pain you’re in now. How many times have you passed out because you channeled to much of your energy at once?”

Kagome thought back through the past few years. Many times during and after battle, she had felt dizzy and tired; she had passed out on a few occasions, mainly when she ripped through any of the power seals she had in place. Miroku had shown her this technique a year or so after they had met. He explained to her that many holy people have died from overexerting themselves, falling into a coma and eventually dying due to lack of nourishment. However, during meditation the holy person could erect barriers over their energy, effectively sealing it within to prevent overwhelming the body with energy. Kagome realized that in the past, every time she had felt dizzy or passed out, she had been close to reaching her first seal of power. Saya was looking at her expectantly, patiently waiting for an answer.

“I have felt dizzy and tired many times both during and after battles. There have been a few occurrences where I did in fact pass out. Are you familiar with the power sealing meditation technique?” Saya nodded her head, a bit surprised that the untrained miko know enough about her energies to have heard of the technique; it was well known that only the most powerful holy people needed to employ this technique, and most of those who did use it, only had enough strength to create one or two seals. Kagome noticed the surprise on her face, silently thanking Miroku for explaining it and showing her how to use it, then continued “Well, every time I’ve felt dizzy I was close to breaking my first seal. Just about every time I’ve broken that seal, I’ve passed out shortly afterwards. In fact, the only time I didn’t pass out was during the fight with Naraku, and well…I broke my first 3 seals so fast in that fight that I don’t know if my body had time to react to all the power coursing through it; then the jewel shattered again, Naraku was purified, and I passed out for a full month.”

Hearing this made Saya very skeptical. “Child, a full month? Tis impossible to survive that long without nourishment. How are you still alive today?” The girl had said she broke the first 3 seals…indicating there were more. She would ask how many seals the young girl has another time, and she would have to see the full extent of this girls powers.

Kagome cursed to herself ‘shit I wasn’t supposed to let on that I was out that long. How am I going to explain that I had nourishment while I was passed out? I cannot let on that I’m from the future, if I show her the materials needed to make a nasal gastric feeding tube work, I would be giving away to much…or would I? I did see some grass growing near the stream, it was hollow and flexible enough to go down through the nose, and yet sturdy enough to bypass the airway valve and go into the stomach. However, would stomach acid eat through it? Well, it’s worth a try I guess…’ She explained to Saya that after the first time she passed out for more than a day, she had woken very sore and hungry. So she had shown her friends how to make a device that slips into her nose and down into her stomach, they would then carefully pour broth down it and her body would henceforth receive nourishment. She offered to show Saya how to do this on the boy she had brought to the village with her friends, who was still unconscious from his injuries.

Saya was very honestly amazed. This young girl knew more about healing that anyone she had ever met. She understood the workings of the human body and had figured out ways to overcome faults and keep those previously thought of as dead, alive! ‘I will have to watch her carefully, and learn everything she knows.’ She thought, still rather shocked how the girl took this miracle in stride as being a normal occurance. And such power! ‘I will teach her about control, and regulating the powers throughout her body.’

Kagome was instructed to continue the exercises as before, only each time she drew her power to the surface, she was to bring forth a little more. Once she began to feel dizzy she was to stop, stand, and walk around. Then when the dizziness passed, she was to begin again. This continued until early evening, when Saya finally told her to stop and meditate for a bit, then to come and get some of the stew that had been cooking all day.

“Child, how close did you come to your first seal today during your exercises today?”

“Umm, I’m not sure honestly. I did feel a little dizzy the more power I drew forth, however I got nowhere near as dizzy as I usually get when I can actually feel the seal.”

Saya nodded. “I see. Tomorrow I wish for ye to continue the same exercises again. Do not break the seal, however get as close as you can to it. A few days from now, ye are going to break through the seal in these exercises, and I have no want to take care of a passed out miko because ye decided to be lax in your exercises.”

They continued to eat for a few more minutes, then Saya spoke again. “Child, in a fortnight’s time, I will be having another student. This young girl stays in the village for a week at a time to learn the ways of healing. During her stay here, I’d like you to show her the way you saved that boy. She is very young however, only about 10 summers, and I am unsure how her guardian will take to her learning of these stitches you used. I have taught her so far some of the healing properties of herbs, and minor bandaging. What ye think about helping her to learn?”

Kagome agreed to help teach the child, however she wanted to speak with the girl’s guardian about what they felt appropriate for her to be learning. After a few more minutes of silence, Kagome began to ask Saya the questions she had thought of that morning during her bath. She learned a lot about many villagers, however Saya was very quiet about Toshiro, and did not admit to him being any part of a womanizer. Though, Kagome did learn to stay away from 3 other young men, who believed themselves kamis gift to womankind, and admanent about not accepting no as an answer. She would definitely give them a very wide sidestep if she ever found herself in a situation with them around.

The good news of the night was that the headman of the village had asked Toshiro to teach Kagome how to field dress her kills. Saya told her that tomorrow morning at sunrise Toshiro would meet her at the outskirts of the village to begin her lessons. After hearing this, Kagome bid Saya goodnight and went to her hut. She quickly scanned the articles she had printed off the Internet, and tried to think of a way to make field dressing game flirty.

As hard as she tried, she could find no clues in her notes about bloody animals being sexy. ‘There has to be something I’m missing. I can’t have him come hunting with me, I would be to distracted to hunt properly. Maybe…yes, I will have to find smaller game, birds maybe? Feathers could be sexy…’ She searched her notes, finding many different uses for feathers in a sexual context. Yes, she would definitely hunt for a bird or two tomorrow morning.

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AN: Responses to reviewers on AFF :)

deviousauthoress1: Hi! I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story! :) I will try to update every week, only under duress shall I delay posting! lol And I'll always give warning (see below!) Next chapter you will see a *slight* reaction from Sesshoumaru in regards to Kag's seduction skills...however I'm not going to say anything else regarding that, as well...yeah my muse keeps changing her mind and the chapter has been re-written to many times ...lol

YukiCross21: Hi! hehe I'm glad I updated soon too :) I always thought in the anime / magna that Kag's is a person of strong character, will a good sense of self worth. In my opinion, the longer she travels through time, the more she would work on self-persavation skills. I don't like the damsel-in-distress Kagome, so I will never portray her that way. (though, everyone can make blunders...*evil grin*...and I'm not going to make any more comments about that lol) I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I very much enjoyed writing it (ok, I know I'm babbling! lol)

Anywho...chapter 4 is still giving me problems, so it might be 2 weeks till the next chapter posted (I hope not...but I'm being cautious here!) What I have is pathetically short, but it's been sent to my wonderful beta Liz, and hopefully she can work her magic with it and then maybe my muse will start talking to me again...lol

Hope to post next week, at the latest it'll be 2 weeks from now though!

~Jenn