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Episode 78 (English Sub, English Dub)
"School-Girl Crush"
The lone, terrified cry of "youkai!" shattered the relative silence of the blue night. It was something almost impossible to miss; it caught the attention of miserable feeling mikos and snoring half demons, of melancholy monks and of off-guard demon slayers. And indeed, the cry was not without reason. Standing in the center of the mansion yard was a monsterous youkai, with rolling red eyes and a gaping, drooling maw filled with sharp and yellowed teeth. It towered above the tallest point of the mansion, feral and growling and absolutely terrifying.
Well, it was terrifying if you weren't a hot-headed inu-hanyou. "Took ya long enough!" Inuyasha barked, unsheathing his Tetsusaiga with a flourish and a grin. It had been a couple days too many since he'd last had a good fight, and even with the prospect of Kagome's purifying arrows, he hoped that this would be his opportunity to get one.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku called, thundering up the muddy dirt road to the miko and the hanyou, his staff jingling and jangling. Sango was hot on his heels, already dressed in her armor and hefting the Hiraikotsu. Inuyasha spared them a glance over his shoulder.
"'Bout time you showed up," he said, his tone totally different from only a few seconds before as Sango and Miroku came to a squelching halt close by him. "You're late!" Neither of them answered, dipping down into their offensive stances. The half demon rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It don't matter; it'll all be over with just a swing of my sword."
He almost did raise the sword too, but then Sango leapt in his way. "No! Stay out of the way and let me handle it!" she said harshly. Everyone looked at her, bewildered.
"What? Why! What's your problem?" Inuyasha asked, his brow furrowed as he expressed each of their questions in quick succession. "I can handle this small fry on my own!"
"Killing this thing is my job," she answered cooly, not looking back at any of the inutachi behind her. It was scary enough to hear her voice so cold, and doubly so when she lowered her voice a pitch or so and added, "Besides, I'm in a real bad mood right now. I wouldn't mind blowing off a little steam."
There wasn't really anything there Inuyasha knew; it wasn't like a fire could start in this miserably, soggy, drizzly weather, but he could have sworn a few sparks hand flown out of her ears, if not an entire furious inferno engulfing her feminine frame. It was probably this and his overactive imagination which made him lower his sword squeak out an agreeal. Kagome whipped around, brown eyes sharp as she turned on Miroku. "Miroku!" He flinched terribly, clenching his staff as though he hoped it to protect him from his friend's wrath. "Did you say something to her?"
"What? No, nothing in particular," he stammered weakly, truly as bemused by Sango's actions as Inuyasha was of Kagome's desire to go to her world and take her "exams". Kagome turned back to her friend in mild alarm, worry flooding her stomach. This demon was huge. She wouldn't have been worried about Inuyasha taking it on, but Sango was only human, and a young human woman at that.
Her worries were wasted, however. Sango looked like she was going to be just fine. How did any of them know that, when she was simply standing before her enemy with her massive bone boomerang in hand? Perhaps it was the way she was standing perfectly still, on her toes with her body half lowered to the ground. Or perhaps it was the way she - so unlike her dog-eared companion - was letting the enemy attack first so she could better retaliate. Or perhaps it was the fact that, conversely similar to said companion, there was a wide, determined smirk spread across her lips.
The huge grey demon lunged. As though a switch had been flipped, Sango bounded away, straight for the demon. A scream tore from her throat as she ran. The youkai made a swipe for the comparatively small black and rose figure, but Sango knocked it back with the Hiraikotsu. The clawed hand was pulled back up to the feral, demonic face, the other paw coming down hard on the taijiya in a vicious counter strike.
With hardly a second's thought, Sango slammed her boomerang into the earth, planting it as a firm shield against the mighty blow that came a heartbeat later. At this point, most would most likely have to pause and think after losing their only effective weapon to becoming a shield. However, Sango hadn't been one of the best youkai taijiya in her village - not to mention one of the only women fighters - for no reason. Rather, she leapt into the air with another bellow, spun around, and kicked the huge youkai with such force, she knocked it solidly onto the ground.
She allowed herself a moment to wipe her sweaty brow before wrenching the Hiraikotsu from the ground and returning to the thrashing of the demon.
"Boy," Shippo whimpered from Inuyasha's shoulder, looking fascinated and absolutely terrified, "I've never seen Sango looking so scary before!"
The hanyou blinked, his jaw hanging slack as he watched the human woman pummel a youkai twenty times her size with absurd ease. He couldn't tell whether to be awed, annoyed, or scared, and had settled on a sort of faraway concern. "Yeah, uh, I don't think there's a person in the world who could take her on just now and not end up dead."
Miroku was standing, petrified, a nerve in his eyelid twitching. Beside him, Kagome folded her arms and closed her eyes, a little frown on her face. "Don't come crying to me," she said loftily, sentencing the lecherous monk to his inevitable fate. She was well aware of her friend's strength and did not envy the dark-haired man's destiny in the slightest. He whimpered.
The fight had only lasted about five minutes at the most, but Sango had already sensed defeat in the gigantic youkai. She kicked off against it's stony chest, flying into the air and raising the great bone boomerang. This is the final blow. The thought came with a sort of savage satisfaction that left a ferocious smirk on her face. "HIRAIKOTSU!"
A blinding golden light, an unearthly roar, and the demon crashed to the ground, dead. Like a dancer, Sango thrust out a hip and dipped her chin, raising her hand for a weapon which returned to it like a loyal dog. She slung it across her back with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Nice job, Sango-chan!" Sango raised her head and smiled at Kagome. She chuckled under her breath, opened her eyes, and started forward. That fight, no matter how short or how unchallenging it had been, had done her a world of good. As a matter of fact, she really couldn't quite recall why she had been angry with Miroku in the first place.
There were many loud gasps that made her look up in mild surprise. Then, the great wave of malicious jaki broke over her back like a wave. Heart sinking, the youkai taijiya turned her head just in time to see the towering form of the undead demon, burning with the fluorescent light of demonic youki before it swung at her head.
Blood, dark red like a precious jewel or a young flower, spattered the earth. The Hiraikotsu tumbled from her grip onto the ground with a loud clatter.
So why wasn't she dead?
Something warm was pressed up against her, but she couldn't see. Her eyes had shut tightly at the sight of silvery death, like three swords bearing down on her head. Was the wind against her face her soul flying speedily towards the afterlife? Was the whistling and soft beating in her ears the sounds of wind and hearts? Perhaps it would just be simpler to open her eyes and figure it out?
She did.
It was… Miroku. Miroku's face was above her, jaw set and brow furrowed with a curious determination. His dark hair was whipping around his face as they flew through the air, which she realized was happening a moment later. He looked, to her numb mind… Rather dashing, honestly.
He landed with a grunt, several feet away from where the demon's claws were still hovering, its entire body shimmering with jaki. Sango watched in mild surprise as his expression faltered into one of pain, her head bowing over her stomach as he held her. His arm around her shoulders was shaking, and something wet was seeping through her uniform. Uncomfortable with the undignified position as much as anything, she scrambled out of his arms and onto her knees beside him, where he clutched at his upper arm. "Houshi-sama," she started, resting her hand where his was as well. She didn't know whether to be grateful or annoyed or scared. The monk shook his head, opening his eyes.
They rose together, Sango's hand falling to her side. It felt unnaturally cold as the wind passed it, and the raised it to her face. Just through the gloomy darkness of the rainy night sky, slow burning torches, and the full moon above their heads, she could see something dark and wet against her hand. Her fingers were slick. She gasped, looking back to the monk's arm. From under his hand, she could see where his robes had torn, blood flowing sluggishly from under his fingers. Her gaze traveled upwards, where she could see him giving her a sidelong smirk. It was more of an apologetic thing than anything.
"You miscalculated, Sango," he smiled, not unkindly. He looked back to the demon, a drop of sweat tracing its way down his face to his chin. "I only realized after watching you fight, though. This youkai is actually a vengeful spirit." She whipped around to look at the massive creature, its form wavering with malicious youki. "It cannot be destroyed the usual way.
It lunged, not even minding that its two attackers were trying to have a conversation, yellowed teeth glistening, three red eyes glowing with unholy fire. Sango drew her wakizashi, crouching and baring her teeth in a very human snarl. Inuyasha had influenced her in some very odd ways it seemed. Beside her, Miroku drew an ofuda from inside his robes.
"Evil spirit exorcism is the only way to go, my dear Sango," he said. "Sorry." He hurled the small paper prayer, where it fixed itself on the head of the spirit. It roared, shaking the earth with its volume, great for shimmering, then wavering, then dissolving as though it were flame without fuel, disappearing entirely with a rush of heated wind. Miroku raised his hand in a silent prayed.
Without conscious thought, Sango sideled a step closer to the lecherous monk, watching the spot here the demon had been (she could now see Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo where they stood), and then glancing at the monk's wounds. Blood was continuing to flow from the shallow, jagged cut. Acting on impulse rather than thinking and psyching herself out, she slowly, so slowly, lowered her head until her brow rested on the sturdy, warm shoulder.
Her heart flooded with something… Indescribable. It was something like relief, something like annoyance. It was something sad, and something almost like…
No. No, no, no.
And yet, she couldn't stop a feeling like that. And in that moment, she resigned herself to a fate she never thought would come.
She glanced up to see Kagome running towards them, followed closely by Inuyasha who carried Shippo and Kirara on his shoulders. The sight of her dark haired friend reminded her of something. Kagome had words from her time that truly could describe things like nothing else could. And this time? "School girl crush" came to mind.
"Thank you, Miroku...:"
"Always, Sango."
She missed the tiny smile on his face.
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Glossary:
Youkai - a demon/spirit
Hanyou - a half demon/youkai
Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"
Inutachi - the group of Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo; often translated to "Inuyasha and co." in the manga
Taijiya - a youkai exterminator; "slayer"
Jaki - demonic aura, usually with an evil connotation
Youki - demonic aura
Houshi-sama - a respectful name for a Buddhist monk, this is what Sango most often calls Miroku rather than by name
Wakizashi - a short blade, often mistaken for a katana
Ofuda - a Shinto paper tag, prayer, or talisman
A/N OH MY GOSH, why was this so difficult to write? I feel it's very, very... Sub-par. I apologize. Maybe it's that I don't write Sango and Miroku's characters very often? I need to... They're freaking awesome and they need more love. Or maybe it's to do with the writer's block that's been plaguing me for ages? I've been trying to sit down and write all the plot out for that gang au story I'm working on, but I'm missing some crucial elements. While I was doing that, I did come up with a shorter story that should hopefully break hearts? I'm gonna work on that first.
I hate being addicted to art and writing.
oKAY HAVE FUN DON'T DIE, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE, REVIEWS ARE LOVE OKAY BYYYYEEEEE! (go read Daughter of the Lilies! gO! NOW!)
Currently listening to: Everybody Talks - Neon Trees