The Cruel Twists of Fate
Author: Personification of Fluff
Rating: R, for violence, sex, and language
Title: The Cruel Twists of Fate, which was taken/inspired from a line in Aamalie's Sweet Tooth
Category: Alternate Universe, Sequel to Nihil Credo, Romance, Mystery, Drama, etc... And major crossover
Disclaimer: Sesshy, Rin, Inuyasha, Miroku, Kikyou, Kagome, and Sango all belong to Rumiko Takahasi. Ranma and Akane and Akane's family belong to Rumiko Takahasi. Alphonse and Edward Elric belong to the creator(s) of Full Metal Alchemist. Piroku belongs to Fred Ghallager and Megatokyo (I've just been reading it alot lately, and I loved the drawing style of that character!). Margo belongs to herself. Rezo, Xellos, and Shabranigdo belong to the creator(s) of Slayers and Salyers Try!. Fuu and Ferio belong to Clamp's Magic Knights Rayearth, and Suichiro to Clamp's WISH. Kakashi and Sakura belongs to the creator of Naruto (and Sasuke and Naruto will probably appear as well). Van, Merle, and Hitomi belong to the creator or Escaflowne. Last, and certainly not least, Rukia, Abarai Renji, Ichigo Kurosaki, Yoichiru, and Urahara belong to the creator of Bleach. All said, these charcters are not mine. I do not claim to have been their creators. Is there one OC in this series? Um... not yet!
Summary:
It has been two years since Shabranigdo was ressurected. Sango and Miroku have ben dating for those two years, and Akane and Ranma have continued their acceptance of their arranged marriage, though they have not had any romantic interactions (like a date). The IBSP has been dismantled and distributed across Tokyo to protect the members. After two years, the IBSP has had enough. Kikyou/Shabranigdo has been bringing so many creatures into the world that they've had their hands full trying to simply curtail the appearance of demons within the city. Who better to start the steps to bring down a demon claiming to be a god than the people who had first been on the case? Sango, Miroku, Akane, and Ranma.
But will their feelings for one another help their progress or hinder it? Worse, when Shabranigdo gets her hooks into Miroku after two years of failure, Sango will have a series of difficult choices to make. Will she remain faithful to the IBSP, her home and emplyer since she was a teenager, or will she choose Miroku and treason?
Prologue
Rezo Houshi was fifty-two years old. He worked as a university professor in Japan, lecturing on ancient religions. It was part of the history program. He could read ancient texts. He was quite knowledgeable. It was with regret that the university was letting him go early. He had applied for early retirement. Rezo had lived out the last two years teaching with a fervor that had inspired many of his students, but he said he could no longer keep up with that way of life. As he was leaving the university, he stopped, staring with brown eyes at a handsome young man leaning by the exit.
His favorite student: Miroku de Forest. He was also the only student Rezo had who knew his three deepest, darkest secrets. The first was the Miroku knew Rezo was actually blind. He had been born blind and had lived with it until two years ago. Then a woman by the name of Kagome had rewarded him with the gift of vision, taking the vision of a half-demon by the name of Inuyasha and giving it to him. Second, Miroku knew that the reason why Rezo had been rewarded was because he was a follower of a powerful, eternal, god-like deity named Shabranigdo and that Rezo had successfully called the demon from the astral plane into the real world. Third, he knew that Rezo had helped to commit murder. To summon Shabranigdo they had required the hearts of innocent victims, including his friend and fellow class mate Eve, the eyes of a kind psychic named Hitomi Kanzaki, and the blood of Miroku himself.
It was no wonder why Miroku was glaring at Rezo as he left the building after having announced his impeding early retirement. Rezo had once been Miroku's favorite teacher. Now Miroku was disgusted by him.
"You're only allowed to walk out of here on a technicality. If we had a shred of evidence linking you, you'd be…"
"But you don't," he smiled, wagging a finger. "You don't have anything, Miroku. Youths are so impudent now a days. There was a time when you would have been sad to see me go, Miroku."
"Don't get cocky. Part of me still is sad to see you go. You're a good teacher. You're not a good person, but you're a good teacher. I think that's part of why I hate you so much, Rezo. You're capable of leading others into your webs all too easily."
The older man smiled, brushing back violet hair. His brown eyes flashed gold as a brief flare of anger was felt, and then subsided. "It's been two years, Miroku. You're graduating this year. You have my congratulations. I noticed you were top of the class. It's quite an achievement, especially given your extra curricular activities."
The slanting light in the hallway of the setting sun made Miroku's Adonis-like face all the more heartbreaking as he glared at Rezo. The extra-curricular activities he had referred to at once involved flirting with every girl on campus and skirt-chasing. After Eve's death, however, they focused primarily on his part time job at the Independent Bureau of Studies for the Paranormal—the IBSP for short. It was an agency rooted back hundreds of years, meant for the continued protection of a particular genus of minorities: demons. It monitored their behavior, enforced laws, kept them from attacking humans, and kept humans from attacking them. For the past two years, work had been wearing them thin.
There was a war going on. Sometimes Miroku thought even the humans could feel it. The fear had been getting so thick Miroku's empathic abilities which made him an ideal worker in the IBSP had been saturated with it. There had been kidnappings, and excessive murders. People simply began to go missing. Sometimes, on a rare occasion, whole families disappeared. Girls traveled together at night in huddled masses. Weapon shops reported that their sales had increased five-fold. Some people theorized it was the Japanese mafia. Others thought it was a mass murderer, a government conspiracy.
The truth was that it was the demon Rezo had unleashed out upon the world. She had summoned her followers after taking over the body of Kagome Higurashi. Now the IBSP spent their time trying to track down the demons she had unleashed upon the world.
"Thanks," he said dryly.
The silence stretched between them as they stood there, glaring at each other. Slowly, Rezo smirked. "How's the tiger?"
Miroku smirked right back, gesturing behind Rezo. "Ask her yourself."
Rezo turned. He could see gold eyes peering out of the darkness of a classroom door. They were the wild, gold eyes of a cat, but rather than sitting at shin-level they were at the height for the eyes of a normal human girl. As she stepped into the light Rezo had to admit that Sango Tora resembled nothing like a human girl. She moved with the grace of a seasoned fighter, and carried the slim, well-built physique of one. Her eyes were really hazel but in the right light they couldn't help but flash gold. With her gently slanting cheekbones, the almond shaped eyes and the slight point at the tips of ears there was something almost delicate and elfin about her face. Perhaps what made her stood out the most was the color of her skin. It reminded him a caramel, a light tanned color that gave her a healthy, outdoors appearance that both men knew was natural. She was, after all, only half-Japanese.
Rezo greeted her warmly. "My dear, I still say that if Shabranigdo had remained in your body I would have been ten times more willing to follow him."
For no more than fifteen minutes during the summoning of the Demon Lord of Nightmares Shabranigdo had used Sango's body as his host in the human realm. Sango had fought back and had won, but that time had been the most painful time in her life. She still heard his voice sometimes, mocking her. Rezo's comment elicited a growl from her which made his skin crawl.
Rezo turned back to Miroku. He seemed to be the more sensible one to talk to. "I see… are you two detaining me for my arrest?"
Miroku pursed his lips. "We have to follow the rules, Rezo. I'm not stopping you from walking out these doors, nor is Sango. She's here to keep you from attacking me."
His smile was sardonic. With the gold eyes, Miroku almost felt as if he was talking to Inuyasha. "Isn't that cute? You two really do everything together, don't you? Do you think you're brave for choosing to love each other in the midst of war? Do you think that makes you fight harder or faster? You don't. It makes you weak, Miroku. It makes you two a very easy shot." As he walked by Miroku he gestured what he meant with his fist, making a small explosion with his fingers. "Boom. One shot, good bye to both of you."
Miroku looked ready to throw a punch. Rezo's hand was resting on the door of the exit. He wasn't looking at Miroku. He knew his student had more self control than that. His anger didn't stem from what Rezo had said but the fact that it was the truth. Miroku had recognized it before himself, and to have Rezo point it out felt humiliating. Rezo's hand didn't leave the door as he spoke, his voice quiet.
"Think about that, Miroku. You don't both have to get hurt." With that he pushed the door open and walked into the sunset.
The door slowly swung shut behind him. Miroku's fist relaxed and he looked down at Sango, who stared back at him quizzically. She offered him a tentative smile and he slowly managed to smile back. Miroku walked to her and took her hands in his, kissing her cheek gently. Even after dating for two years she was touched at the small token of affection. Part of why Sango liked Miroku was because he appreciated the power a small token could have rather than something large and flashy.
He winked at her. "Come on. I'll drive you back to my house. Fuu will be finishing up supper now. Her cooking's always much better than Akane's."
Sango pulled him back as he tried walking away. She didn't take her eyes from his. Sometimes, when she thought he was being evasive, she wished that she had his power of empathy. "Are you okay, Miroku?"
Miroku decided to be honest. "No," he admitted. "I don't think I will be soon, either. I'm confused, Sango. How can I hate him while at the same time respecting him? It doesn't make sense to me. I don't think I'll ever understand it. Even though he's betrayed me—hell, he helped to try and kill me and turn you into Shabranigdo's new body—I still can't help but recognize that the man is a genius. His writing skill is unbelievable, he's managed to learn the old language and speak it fluently… I should hate him all the more for hurting you and betraying me… but I still can't help but respect him…"
He sighed and turned to look at Sango. "At least you I can understand a bit more, Sango. After all, you'll never hurt me like that, will you?" Miroku smiled. It was a stupid and goofy question to ask. He knew the answer, but he liked hearing it.
Sango touched his cheek gently. "You, sir, are my partner. You watch my back…and sometimes you watch it far too well and walk into a wall. No, you'll never live it down, Miroku. I love you. How could I possibly think of ever hurting you?"
Little did she know that in the weeks to follow, she would hurt him; she'd hurt him repeatedly. In the end, that was the only chance Miroku would have to save his life.