Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. It should be very obvious by now.
Italics denote thoughts.
oOo
"I heard you want the miko killed, Hakudoshi."
A lavender eye swiveled to his direction, suspicion evident in his eyes.
"How did you know?" he asked sharply.
"Now, now, no need to get so worked up. Naraku himself told me. So I guess it's true, huh?"
Unconsciously, the humanoid demon's shoulders relaxed a little. He shouldn't have suspected the human in the first place for even Naraku trusts him completely.
"Yeah. What about it?"
"I suggest that you get Entei to do it personally or someone much stronger than a couple of his underlings," was the amiable reply.
"Why?"
"Didn't you know that the miko managed to completely purify the three demons you sent a few days back on her own?"
Hakudoshi narrowed his eyes.
"What are you getting at, Fujisawa?"
"Normal demons will be no match against someone with such strong spiritual powers. You're better off sending your best warrior against her so that you won't fail again. Naraku may not look it but he's rather annoyed that you've failed such a simple mission when you've never failed before."
The white haired humanoid demon looked sulky for a moment. If Fujisawa hadn't known any better, he was prepared to swear that Hakudoshi just pouted.
"As if I do not know that."
"So," the man asked conversationally, "who are you sending out now?"
Hakudoshi thought for a moment. Perhaps he should heed the man's advice and send out his best warrior. Could Entei survive the miko's attacks if he sent him? Or would he get purified as well? The horse demon was pretty useful at times, so it really wouldn't do to lose him. Who could possibly emerge from a fight with the miko with minimal injuries or better still, unscathed? Who could possibly withstand the miko's purifying energy?
His eyes fell upon the dark-haired young man seated on the couch across him. The corners of his mouth lifted to form a small smirk. Perfect!
"Fujisawa, perhaps it is now time for you to show us your capabilities."
The young man smiled an amused smile at Hakudoshi.
"You want me to kill her?"
"Of course. You're a human; her purifying energy will never harm you. Besides, you have holy powers of your own. You're the perfect choice, Fujisawa."
"Oh well," he said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, "I guess it's up to me then." Just what I wanted.
oOo
A dark-haired man leaned his elbows on the balcony railings, a half empty can of beer in his hand. He knew it was much too early for him to be drinking but he didn't care. It wasn't as if he had anything else to do right now, having just got off work. The sky outside turned a dull orange tinged with dark pink as the sun began its descent.
Idly he listened to the noises coming from the street five stories below him – the sharp honk of a car's horn, the loud hum of a truck's engine, the piercing vroom of a motorcyclist revving up his machine; they all melded together into one dizzying cacophony. Despite that, the din outside only made the silence in his apartment stand out so much more. Briefly he wondered how the demons with their hypersensitive hearing managed to stand the city's noise when he, a mere human, could hardly bear it at times. He made a mental note to ask Sesshoumaru about it tomorrow.
Sesshoumaru, the last Taiyoukai of the Western Lands. He had been working for the demon lord for six years now and recently, he just got himself a promotion. He, Fujisawa Miroku, is now the proud new partner of Sesshoumaru's accounting firm. Sesshoumaru must really like me, he thought with a wry smile.
Miroku took a long drag of his beer, relishing in the way the cool liquid ran down his throat and warmed him from the inside out. Suddenly he found himself wishing for someone to keep him warm instead of the beer, someone he could look forward to returning to after a long day at work, someone who would love him.
But who would want, much less love, a man like him? That was the reason why he contented himself with brief flings and one-night stands. Love would never be his. He was, and still is, a cursed man. No self-respecting girl would ever care for him. Except for her, his mind silently reminded him. He downed the rest of his beer in one gulp.
How could he forget her?
-- Flashback --
It has been seven days since he left the last village and five days since he wandered into this forest. Five whole days and he had yet to make it out of the forest, not that he was complaining or anything. Walking under the shade of the tall trees was definitely better than walking on a long dusty road with the sun glaring down on your head. However, there was no knowing what creatures took up residence in the forest so he had to take extra care not to call unwanted attention upon himself. He sent a silent prayer up to Buddha to let him make it out of this forest safe and sound.
He must have said the prayer wrongly because no sooner had he said it than a huge boar youkai came barging right at him. There was only time enough for him to raise his arm to prevent the demon from biting him into half. Apparently it was the wrong arm for what followed was a sickening crunch, the loud utterance of a curse no holy man should ever know and a lot of blood, his blood. He had meant to raise the arm holding his Shakujo but in the commotion he raised the wrong arm instead.
Nevertheless he had recovered his wits quickly enough and fought back before the youkai could think about having fresh monk flesh for dinner. He found out the hard way that fighting one-handed with an open wound dripping with blood against a demon is no easy task. The boar youkai took advantage of his handicap to rip him several new ones with its tusks. Despite the weakness and dizziness caused by the blood loss, he somehow managed to deliver some rather serious blows to the demon causing it to flee deep into the forest. He prepared to give chase but before he could take two steps, he fell to the forest ground, unconscious.
When he regained some semblance of consciousness, he felt like his body was on fire and was vaguely aware of a cool hand pressed softly against his forehead. He struggled to sit up but a firm hand on his shoulder pressed him back down again.
"You shouldn't be moving around, Houshi-sama," a soft female voice said.
Slowly he lifted his heavy eyelids to find a lovely face looking down at him. With her rosy, soft looking skin and wide, brown eyes gazing down at him in concern, she looked like a bodhisattva. If it weren't for the teeth clenching pain he felt on his arm, thigh and shoulder, he was prepared to swear that he had died and gone to heaven.
"How are you feeling, Houshi-sama?" she asked.
What came out of his lips was only an odd sounding croak. He sounded worse than a toad with a sore throat. She offered him some water and he tried to raise his head to drink. However, he only managed to get it two inches off the ground before he felt dizzy once again and let his head fall back down with a thump. Not wanting him to injure himself any further, she had helpfully elevated his head by placing it on her lap before bringing the water to his lips. It was the most delicious thing he ever had.
He drifted in and out of consciousness, more often than not staying awake just long enough for the girl to get some food into him before he blacked out again. It didn't take long for him to lose count of the days and nights that had passed but he reckoned that he had been lying there for close to a week now.
During that period, the girl stayed by his side, leaving only to hunt for food or to get water. She took care of him like a mother would a sick child. She talked to him and he listened, well, whenever he was awake enough to listen that is. The girl told him about her life, her work as a demon exterminator, her childhood, her family, everything. Most of the time her voice was light and happy but there were times when she sounded very sad although she tried to hide it from him. It was during those times that he wanted so much to hold her in his arms and comfort her, but sadly he couldn't. Even thinking about moving hurt so he settled for covering her hand with his.
It was on the one night when he was at his worse, what with the fever running higher than usual and the pain more intense, that the boar demons came upon them. They stood there, three fully grown male boar youkais against a small human female and a heavily wounded man. He attempted to push his upper body up using his elbows but was held in place by a hand on his chest.
"It's okay, Houshi-sama. I can handle this. I'm a taijiya, remember?" she said with a reassuring smile.
With that she left him to go fight the demons alone and with only a wakizashi for defense. Not far off, sounds of the fight began drifting to his ears – loud grunts, thunderous stomps and shrill squeals. He prayed fervently to every single Buddha in existence for her safety.
What seemed like a few hours later, the sounds died down gradually and the forest returned once again to the silence it was accustomed to. Paying no heed to either the pain he felt or the dizziness he experienced, he anxiously tried to push himself up when a pair of small hands pushed him back down again.
"You … you shouldn't be … moving … Houshi … sama."
Violet eyes looked up into her brown ones. Although she was smiling her usual smile, he could tell that something was very wrong somewhere. Her face was extremely pale and she was wheezing as she spoke. Before he could say anything, her lips moved to speak again.
"Take … care … Hou … shi … sama."
She ended the sentence by pitching forward suddenly, her head falling on to his chest. He was shocked, to say the least. Gingerly, he lifted his hand and placed it on her back. Warm, sticky, viscous liquid met his palm. No! He refused to believe it as he brought his hand into view. Blood coated his entire palm and several rivulets snaked down the length of his arm. It was her blood. Disregarding everything else, he shook her shoulder while croaking out things that sounded vaguely like "Wake up!"
Wake up she certainly didn't. By morning, her body was already cold.
-- End Flashback --
Miroku crushed the empty beer can in his hand as he remembered her.
In his mind he could still see her smiling down at him as she wiped the sweat from his brow. He remembered how she had sacrificed her own kimono to make bandages for his wounds, leaving her with no other clothing except her taijiya outfit. He remembered how she refused to talk to him until he let her feed him. He remembered how animated she became when she talked about the new weapon she would be receiving when she returned to her village – Hiraikotsu, a large boomerang bone. He remembered how she had smiled reassuringly at him before rushing off to prevent the boars' from attacking him.
Even now, when close to 500 years have passed, he never forgot her face. The lovely image of the girl with the rosy, heart-shaped face, cherry pink lips, eyes the color of chocolate and long dark brown hair was forever with him. She was the only girl who found it in her heart to care for a cursed stranger. She cared enough to risk everything for him, and that was exactly what she did. She gave up her life for him.
And he never knew her name.
oOo
Translation:
Shakujo - the holy staff that Miroku carries
Wakizashi - a blade which is similar to the katana (Japanese sword) but shorter
A/N: Halfway through this chapter, I was tempted to leave Miroku to die in the forest because he was giving me a whole lot of trouble when I tried to write about him.
On another note, classes have officially began and I have a timetable from hell. Anyway, I will be getting busier now so updates may be less frequent but I will try my best to get at least one chapter out a week. Thank you for reading and for leaving me a review. They mean a lot to me. ) Oh, and I can't believe I have more than 50 reviews already. It was much more than I anticipated initially. Thank you all of you!
To:
CobaltHeart - lol...I'm glad you liked the Sesshoumaru in dreams part. I spent a lot of time on them mainly because I don't really know how Sesshoumaru would act in a dream (that is, if he ever dreams).
Serenity Voldemort Riddle - I made this chapter slightly longer than the rest. Hope you enjoyed it. And is Sess going to save Kagome? I really hope so but there's really no knowing where my muse may lead me. ::evil grin::
numberoneklutz - hmmm...you'll have to continue reading to find out if Kagome knew Sesshoumaru in the Feudal Era.
KnockKnock313 - ::wipes sweat off brow:: Thank God I managed to not ruin the dream sequence and people actually liked it.
Nekokyttin - Thank you! I'll need all the luck I can get to survive this semester! Don't worry, I won't abandon this fic halfway and leave you guys hanging for months.
acechi-anghel - hehe...I liked what you said "...a cool awesome person with a sadistic yet not overly quality ...". It had me grinning (evilly) the whole morning.