Kurama bit back a growl as he stealthily followed the oblivious priestess to the well house. He could not believe he had actually accepted this mission of Koenma's. Just because Yusuke and Hiei were on their honeymoon -which still boggled his mind- and Kuwabara was too busy in vet school to do anything else, there was absolutely no rationalization that Koenma could make that would justify sending Kurama to investigate an unknown phenomenon with absolutely no backup.
He refocused on the girl before another growl could rise. She was dressed casually but lugging a backpack that looked like it had to weigh as much as she did. She was definitely well supplied for a journey, but he could think of no explanation that he would like for the journey to start in a temple well house and even though Koenma had informed him that the disturbance had all the markings of a portal, Kurama did not like speculating what on the other side would require her to be so well supplied, assuming, of course, that it was not a bunch of magazines and instant ramen cups.
Kurama peeked around the door and watched as the priestess jumped into the well, carefully shielding his eyes from the blue glow. He grumbled as he fingered the charm in his pocket that Koenma swore would let him travel through any portal. He counted to one hundred slowly. Not being knowledgeable about what would be on the other side, Kurama wanted to give the girl plenty of time to move away. While he fully planned to finagle his way into her travels, he thought it would probably be much less suspicious if he was not obviously from the same portal she traveled through. Upon reaching one hundred, he took a deep breath and jumped.
Bright blue filled Kurama's vision through his eyelids and there was a slight sensation of falling. When the feeling stopped and the blue faded, Kurama slowly opened his eyes. He was slightly startled to see himself still in an old dry well. Plant roots were visible in the walls and he grinned. He did not know how the girl got herself out of the well but he certainly would not have any trouble.
Miroku stretched and grinned as he walked through the village. Kagome was back so they would start on their journey again but it was late enough in the day that they had decided to wait until morning. That left the rest of the day for Miroku to wander around the village and enjoy the view while Sango and Kagome were busying catching up on gossip with Kaede. His grin widened because that meant that no one would call him on being a lecher.
The village always had great scenery too though he was very careful not to allow anyone to catch him admiring the men's bottoms as well as the women's. It was nominally acceptable for a monk to be a skirt-chaser; it was another matter, and usually not so easily accepted, for a monk to go after men as well. Miroku honestly believed that the rest of the group would be alright with his leanings but he did not want to risk it and he knew that if he let it slip that he admired men's asses equally, he would end up admitting that he really enjoyed watching Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru battle for more than just being in awe of their skill in fighting each other.
Speaking of spectacular views, Miroku quickly checked his chin for drool after spotting someone who had to be a visitor to this humble village. Long, luscious, red hair trailed to a point just above a fine, firm ass. The figure had strange clothing but after seeing Kagome and some of their foes, Miroku barely noticed strangeness in attire any more. But that ass! Miroku's hand twitched; he desperately wanted to touch. His entire awareness narrowed to that figure. He would not have noticed Naraku appearing and offering lap dances to the villagers. Even Sango and Kagome proposing a ménage a trois would have deterred him from his goal. Well, he paused at the image his mind presented at the thought. That would distract him, but nothing short of that would prevent him from just… a little… touch.
He stealthily crept up alongside the figure with his hand outstretched slightly. Now, how should he do this to avoid getting slapped? Or rather, how could he do this to get the longest possible touching time before the slap? Would touching without warning cause a slower reaction time or would alerting the person to his presence by speaking result in that slight delay where the mind of the gropee has to connect the feeling of contact to the groper and allow for the smallest lengthening of groping time for the groper, Miroku to be precise.
"What brings such a lovely one as yourself to our tiny village?" Miroku shrugged philosophically as he groped and spoke at the same time. "Please bare my children." He was so busy losing himself in feeling the flesh beneath his hand that his customary pick-up words for women slipped from his mouth without thought.
The figure turned, eyebrow quirked, and seized his wrist, pulling Miroku's hand from his body. Miroku almost let out a slight whimper before collecting himself.
"Let me rephrase that. Would you like to celebrate life in the most primeval way? It is pleasing to the gods, after all." He gave his most charming smile. Now that the young man had turned, Miroku could see the rest of the body was just as pleasing from the front as the back. The clothes were just tight enough to hint at sleek muscles and the young man had the most bewitching green eyes.
"While I would normally take you up on your offer, I am afraid that I must refrain though I know Inari will be most disappointed in me." This time Miroku did let out a whimper; he could have easily lost himself in the husky melodious voice. Then the young man's words registered and Miroku gaped slightly at the realization that the young man had used his distraction to look over his body. Miroku was shocked to realize that he was blushing, something that he hadn't done in years. He almost missed the next words.
"You see, I was sent here by my employer to investigate something but became quite distracted when I smelled another kitsune. I feel I had best introduce myself and reassure him as to my intentions. He seems quite young and I would hate to alarm him." Then the man turned sheepish. "But it appears that he's been all over this village and my nose is not what it should be at the moment so I haven't been able to locate him."
Miroku startled a little then paused. Now that he wasn't quite so transfixed by the man's ass, he finally noticed that he did detect the slightest hint of youki coming from him. He was impressed; to maintain an illusion hiding all his foxy features while keeping his youki suppressed to an almost undetectable level, the man had to be powerful indeed. Miroku knew he would have to tread carefully.
"My good sir, I know the kitsune of whom you speak. Please, allow this humble monk to carry a message to him for you." Miroku bit back a grin, being wary did not have to mean giving up his flowery ways.
"Tell me your name first, monk. Mine is Kurama." He smiled and bowed slightly.
"Oh of course, I am Miroku. Please, tell me what message I should take." Miroku returned his bow, delighted to have the name of the man in front of him.
"I merely wish to greet a fellow kitsune and inform him that my intentions are benign. Do you know of a place I might meet him to do so?"
"Let's see," Miroku mused out loud, "the best place would probably be the Bone Eater Well just outside of town. Do you know it?"
"Yes, I do. Shall I meet him there in half a candle mark? And will you be there to provide introductions?"
"I would be happy to." Miroku turned to go then stopped abruptly, staring down at his hand as if it had betrayed him. How could he have not noticed that Kurama had never released his wrist… and was in fact softly stroking along his pulse point with his thumb.
"Hmm, yes, I suppose I do have to let you go. Perhaps later we can 'celebrate life' as you called it." Miroku gulped at the hooded eyes and sultry smirk that accompanied the words. Though he knew scent would inform Kurama of his interest, he was still intensely glad that his robes would hide his interest from the villagers. As soon as Kurama let go, Miroku hurried to go to the safety of the group and Kaede's hut. He was very conscious of the weight of the eyes following him and half hoping that the promise of that gaze and those words would be fulfilled.
Kurama could not stop smirking as he watched Miroku walk quickly away. He had sensed a presence sneaking up on him and out of curiosity, allowed the person to come close. He had been expecting an attack but not a sexual one. However, he had not been displeased. The monk was quite handsome and Kurama had always been one to reward audacity when it came in such a good looking package. He shook himself before he could get lost in his rather explicit daydreams. He had half an hour to gather information so he had best find some shopkeepers, they were always willing to gossip.
Thirty minutes later, Kurama was strolling up the hill to the well. He was mildly concerned at the size of the group there to meet him. If this meeting went badly, he could have trouble extricating himself. He quietly cursed Koenma again.
"Well, my good monk, please begin introductions." Kurama spoke as soon as he was close enough that he didn't need to shout. He gave the group a welcoming smile.
"Of course." Miroku was quick to respond. "Everyone, this is Kurama. Kurama, the growly one to my left is Inuyasha." The newly identified Inuyasha growled louder. "The lovely ladies to my right are Sango and Kagome. Sango is holding Kirara." He gestured to each of the girls as he said their names. "And last but certainly not least, is Shippo, the kitsune you so desired to meet."
"Charmed." Kurama bowed. Before he could say anything else, the wind shifted and Inuyasha, Kirara, and Shippo all started twitching their noses. Kirara promptly sneezed and Inuyasha drew his sword.
"Who are you!" Kurama tensed but resisted pulling his rose whip from his hair.
"Inuyasha, what in the world are you doing?" Kagome shrieked.
"Keh, he smells like you. Like the world does when I go fetch you." Inuyasha kept his sword pointed at Kurama but Kurama was relieved to see that he was not yet tensed to charge. Kurama interrupted before Inuyasha could say more.
"I had not expected the kitsune I wanted to present myself to for politeness sake would be in the same group as the portal traveler." He gave a wry smile and ignored their shocked looks. "I suppose with my luck, I should have. Let me begin again. My name is Kurama and I was sent to investigate the disturbance at a Shinto shrine in Tokyo. However, my mission is information only; I have no desire to fight you. Now, if you don't mind, we appear to be in the past but I have not yet been able to ascertain how far back the well placed us."
"Five hundred years." The response from Kagome was dazed. Kurama kept a professional look on his face but couldn't help but inwardly smirk at the shock that he had caused the group. Before he could continue taking advantage of the group's mind-numbing amazement however, he feel victim to his own surprise.
A small portal opened to his side. This time, he didn't suppress the desire to be armed and quickly shook out his rose whip. He just as quickly stored it away again as he recognized Botan, of all people, coming out of the portal.
"Hiya, Kurama." Botan didn't appear to notice the group behind her as she hopped on her oar. "Koenma wants a status update. Have you found out what's going on yet?"
"Hello, Botan." Kurama carefully modulated his tone to not reveal his anger at the toddler godling. "Why, precisely, was Koenma not able to determine it was a temporal portal without sending me through? And why didn't a ferry girl investigate since you can apparently travel dimensions so easily?"
"What do you mean temporal portal?" Botan looked completely puzzled and neatly avoided his second question. "The well is a dimensional portal."
"What? But this is the Feudal Era, isn't it?" Kagome spoke up from where the gang was watching, having recovered from her shocks faster than the others.
"Er, no." Botan turned to face her. "Actually, it's not. You and Kurama are from one dimension and this is another. It just got started a little bit later than yours. And the barrier dividing the dimension into the Reikai, Makai, and Ningenkai hasn't gone up in this one." She was carefully avoiding looking at Kurama.
"So, how did the Shikon No Tama end up in a different dimension than its original?" Botan winced at Kurama's question and mumbled something. "Excuse me, I didn't quite hear."
"Paperwork error." Kurama raised a single brow in question. "Koenma is a god after all; he resides in the Reikai by choice but he still governs other dimensions. When two ogres collided, well… papers went everywhere and weren't exactly sorted correctly apparently." Botan refused to meet anyone's eyes.
"I see." Kurama folded his arms and looked sternly at Botan. "So not only was I sent on this mission without any back up and no way to contact anyone, but he didn't bother giving me complete information either. Do you seriously expect me to believe that he didn't know exactly what was causing the rift?"
"Eh heh heh." Botan scuffed her shoe in the dirt.
"Well, if I'm to be cleaning up his mess, I expect compensation. Especially since, if it really had been just a recon mission, he could have sent a ferry girl." Botan looked up, startled and slightly alarmed. "Once I'm done, I'll be taking Miroku back with me." Miroku flushed a dark red and the others started to splutter.
"What!" Botan screeched. Kurama just smirked.
"Botan, my dear, what kind of thief would I be if I didn't steal something from this dimension while I was here? Koenma will just have to be satisfied with the fact that I'm giving him advanced warning… and be glad that I think the Shikon No Tama would be more trouble than it's worth."
Author: VessaMorana
Betaed by: TZAG
Round Robin info on profile.