CHAPTER ONE
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"Lecherous monk," Sango muttered. She slid into the warm water, splashing it over her chest and shoulders. Her long black hair started to cling wetly to her back. I don't know what's wrong with him! He just gets on my nerves SO much, and I can't...
"Are you okay, Sango?" Kagome waded over to her friend, with a towel pressed over her chest. There was no one except Sango there, but just in case Miroku was watching, or anyone else stumbled on the hot springs.
"Yes..."
"I want the truth, now."
"No," Sango said quietly.
"Wanna talk about it?" Kagome splashed around in the water. "Let me guess. It's Miroku, right?"
"Why does it always do this?" Sango said heatedly. "Every single time we come to a village, he's propositioning girls all over the place! He asks every single one who's pretty enough! It's 'will you bear my child' left and right and... I'm just frustrated."
"I can see why." Kagome sat down beside her friend and began scrubbing herself with a bar of soap. She had given up just about every luxury from her time, and had gotten used to the rougher, dirtier times from five hundred years before. But soap was one thing she didn't plan to go without. Or shampoo. Or towels...
"I suppose it isn't as bad as what Inuyasha does," Sango said morosely. "Sure, Miroku chases lots of girls, but at least he doesn't actually get attached to any of them."
"What would happen if he ever did? Get attached, I mean?"
Sango said nothing. She hadn't even considered that -- Miroku was such a womanizer that she hadn't even thought about the possibility of him really falling for someone. That thought only made her mood dip even lower. She sank in up to her chin in the water, sighing.
Kagome paused in her scrubbing, then picked up her shampoo. "You like him, don't you?" she asked. "Is that why his womanizing bothers you?"
"It's not that," Sango said darkly.
"Then what is it?"
"Because I can't tell what he's thinking. One minute he'll be giving me a reason to think he DOES like me, and then the next minute he'll be off chasing half a dozen village girls." Sango savagely wrung out her washcloth, as if it were the wayward monk's throat. "I don't know if he's just toying with me."
"Ohhhhh, so that's it. You don't like not knowing," Kagome said slowly. She frowned, thinking. "You really can't tell?"
"Miroku flirts all the time," Sango said. "How am I supposed to tell if I'm any different from the dozens of other girls he grabs?"
"Jealousy."
"Huh?"
"The first time I ever realized that Inuyasha might not hate me after all was when he started getting jealous," Kagome said, lathering her hair. "After all, if he hated me like he was claiming he did then, why would he care whether I liked other boys?" She paused. "That was before Kikyo, though he still acts like a lunatic whenever Koga's around."
Sango quickly steered the conversation back to herself and Miroku, knowing that the subject of Inuyasha's onetime love depressed Kagome. "I don't understand how jealousy can help me."
"Don't you get it?" Kagome rinsed her hair out in the little waterfall, looking at Sango with bright eyes. "If he gets jealous of you, that must mean he's not just flirting, right? He never gets jealous of the village girls he gropes, right?"
"I guess not," Sango said reluctantly. "But what should I do?"
"It's easy. Pay attention to another guy. Miroku's bound to notice."
"Pay... attention?"
"You don't have to flirt or anything. Just, you know, pay attention to him."
"There aren't any other guys I see very often. Aside from Inuyasha, that is." Sango thoughtfully dabbed her face with a washcloth.
Kagome straightened up, wringing out her sopping hair. A thoughtful look was creeping into her eyes. "I guess he is the only guy other than Miroku that you see, isn't he?"
TO BE CONTINUED
.
"Lecherous monk," Sango muttered. She slid into the warm water, splashing it over her chest and shoulders. Her long black hair started to cling wetly to her back. I don't know what's wrong with him! He just gets on my nerves SO much, and I can't...
"Are you okay, Sango?" Kagome waded over to her friend, with a towel pressed over her chest. There was no one except Sango there, but just in case Miroku was watching, or anyone else stumbled on the hot springs.
"Yes..."
"I want the truth, now."
"No," Sango said quietly.
"Wanna talk about it?" Kagome splashed around in the water. "Let me guess. It's Miroku, right?"
"Why does it always do this?" Sango said heatedly. "Every single time we come to a village, he's propositioning girls all over the place! He asks every single one who's pretty enough! It's 'will you bear my child' left and right and... I'm just frustrated."
"I can see why." Kagome sat down beside her friend and began scrubbing herself with a bar of soap. She had given up just about every luxury from her time, and had gotten used to the rougher, dirtier times from five hundred years before. But soap was one thing she didn't plan to go without. Or shampoo. Or towels...
"I suppose it isn't as bad as what Inuyasha does," Sango said morosely. "Sure, Miroku chases lots of girls, but at least he doesn't actually get attached to any of them."
"What would happen if he ever did? Get attached, I mean?"
Sango said nothing. She hadn't even considered that -- Miroku was such a womanizer that she hadn't even thought about the possibility of him really falling for someone. That thought only made her mood dip even lower. She sank in up to her chin in the water, sighing.
Kagome paused in her scrubbing, then picked up her shampoo. "You like him, don't you?" she asked. "Is that why his womanizing bothers you?"
"It's not that," Sango said darkly.
"Then what is it?"
"Because I can't tell what he's thinking. One minute he'll be giving me a reason to think he DOES like me, and then the next minute he'll be off chasing half a dozen village girls." Sango savagely wrung out her washcloth, as if it were the wayward monk's throat. "I don't know if he's just toying with me."
"Ohhhhh, so that's it. You don't like not knowing," Kagome said slowly. She frowned, thinking. "You really can't tell?"
"Miroku flirts all the time," Sango said. "How am I supposed to tell if I'm any different from the dozens of other girls he grabs?"
"Jealousy."
"Huh?"
"The first time I ever realized that Inuyasha might not hate me after all was when he started getting jealous," Kagome said, lathering her hair. "After all, if he hated me like he was claiming he did then, why would he care whether I liked other boys?" She paused. "That was before Kikyo, though he still acts like a lunatic whenever Koga's around."
Sango quickly steered the conversation back to herself and Miroku, knowing that the subject of Inuyasha's onetime love depressed Kagome. "I don't understand how jealousy can help me."
"Don't you get it?" Kagome rinsed her hair out in the little waterfall, looking at Sango with bright eyes. "If he gets jealous of you, that must mean he's not just flirting, right? He never gets jealous of the village girls he gropes, right?"
"I guess not," Sango said reluctantly. "But what should I do?"
"It's easy. Pay attention to another guy. Miroku's bound to notice."
"Pay... attention?"
"You don't have to flirt or anything. Just, you know, pay attention to him."
"There aren't any other guys I see very often. Aside from Inuyasha, that is." Sango thoughtfully dabbed her face with a washcloth.
Kagome straightened up, wringing out her sopping hair. A thoughtful look was creeping into her eyes. "I guess he is the only guy other than Miroku that you see, isn't he?"
TO BE CONTINUED