Author's Notes: Hello, so sorry for the extra delay this time around. I started a new side job (wedding photography touch-ups!), so I was slammed for the last two weeks. But I'm happy I was able to get this chapter out to you all. It's a long one! The biggest chapter by far, so I hope you enjoy the read! Edit: Fixed the italicization issue. Should read better now! :)
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Tsukinohimeusagi, who left the 950th review for YITM. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, Tsukino, and I hope you managed to make it safely to the final destination of your trip! I really appreciate all the support you've given me!
Awesome Betas: Pentheseileia, Not_Towa_Wakasa, Noir, Youngimoo
Special Shout-Out: Wanted to give a shout-out specifically to Pentheseileia, who basically live-chatted me with motivational gifs when I wanted to do nothing but cry while trying desperately to meet this deadline. Couldn't have done it without you.
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Chapter 51: The Slayer's Tribe
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Sango
"Sango, wake up."
She shot out of bed, hands up and ready to slap, if needed. If that damned monk thought he was going to put his fingers on her again, he had another thing coming for him.
"Whoa, what were you dreaming about?"
Sango's vision was fuzzy with sleep. She brought her hands up to her eyes and rubbed at them, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Hojou?" she croaked. She felt like she'd been asleep for ages.
"Of course it's me, who else would it be?"
"I-" she started, glancing around at their makeshift campsite. Hojou's stuff was all packed up and ready to go. The embers of last nights fire had been stomped out and covered. The area looked completely undisturbed now, as if they'd never had a fire built in the first place. "I don't know," she finished. Her gaze flicked over to where she last remembered leaving the monk. There was no trace of him, either.
Was he ever there at all? she thought, before shaking the idea from her head. Of course he'd been there. She hadn't imagined his perverted hand on her ass.
"I couldn't get you up at first, you were asleep so soundly." He gave her space as she lifted herself up from her sleeping bag.
"Yeah, I feel… good," she decided, because she did feel good. She hadn't had any more nightmares. Her sleep, in fact, had been completely void of any dreams. Just sweet, sweet nothingness. The monk had done as he promised.
Sango stretched before changing and packing away her own stuff. It didn't take her very long. She was no longer lagging and exhausted.
The same merciless pace was set, but this time she had no problem handling it, and was even able to answer Hojou's rambling, spoken thoughts with more than a grunt. She was grateful for his consistent, verbal distraction. It was pleasant background nose set to the beautiful landscape they trekked through. This deep in the forest, the moss grew like soft carpet over the dirt and rocks, climbing up tree trunks and dampening any noise they made. Wide, fanning, reaching ferns brushed against her calves as they trekked further south.
When Sango finally laid down to rest, after the sun had set and she and Hojou made a pathetic dinner, she allowed herself to close her eyes.
But it was Kikyou's face behind her lids. She felt too hot in her sleeping bag, like it was suffocating her. Her hands shook, a slight trembling that matched the accelerated beating of her heart.
Developing anxiety over attempting to sleep, that's perfect, she thought, trying again to close her eyes and failing.
Her hands came up to rub at her face and froze as she heard soft footsteps over fallen, damp leaves and spongy moss. Without a word, Miroku appeared from between the trees. He awarded her a brief smile before sitting again only a foot or so away, leaning up against the bark of a tree and settling in.
He said nothing. He didn't attempt to touch her. Sango watched him with inquisitive eyes before snuggling back into her sleeping bag and closing her lids.
Nothing. Nothing but darkness and the warm, soft, low humming in her head, fending off her nightmares.
She drifted to sleep.
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For another two weeks they pressed forward. Sango knew when they were getting close to Wolf Territory, because Hojou began to slow down. He would pause and point to broken branches that, to her, just seemed broken, or half-tracks that, again, didn't look much like tracks to her, but what did she know about youkai tracks? She wasn't going to argue.
It was a tense series of days, and Sango could feel her muscles bunch up. Tighter and tighter they wound until she was sure they would snap and leave her just as useless as she'd been when she first woke up in Kaede's house.
The monk kept his word, though. He crept into sight after Hojou dozed off every night. It wasn't difficult, Sango came to realize, because nothing but the rising sun seemed to wake him. She wondered if he would have been safe out here on his own, with no one watching his back, sleeping like he did. Deep and oblivious.
It was just another reason for her to be thankful she and Hojou were working together, despite her keeping from him the truth about, well, almost everything, which she wasn't going to think about right now. She was thankful she was here to protect him if she needed to. He had to be in one piece to win Kagome back over.
"It should be obvious to you that she is in love." Kaede's words rang in Sango's ears the next day as she followed behind Hojou.
She didn't want to believe that it was true. It was easier to think that Kagome was being controlled to protect Inuyasha. It was easier to think the actions that led them down this path was due to a force outside of Sango or Kagome's control.
However...
"Wait a sec," Hojou said, his arm whipping out to stop her in her tracks.
She froze, keeping as still as possible. "What?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
Hojou kneeled down, his fingers brushing through the layer of fern and leaves at his feet. He stood up and walked a few feet to the right in a straight line, then a few feet to the left. He paused for a few minutes, his eyes gazing down at something Sango couldn't see, his hand at his chin, deep in thought.
He turned and walked back towards her. "This has to be the Dog territory line," he said, pointing at the forest floor.
Sango glanced down at where he pointed. She squinted her eyes, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. It looked just like the last few hundred miles they'd hiked. "Okay," she said, unable to do anything but take his word as truth. "So now what, we hide?"
"We won't be able to hide the way you're thinking of, but yes, as best we can," Hojou said, breath escaping in one big woosh. "Follow me." He led her, backtracking through the shin-high ferns and veering off to the left where there was a thicker clumping of trees. He took his time, his eyes glued to the forest floor, grunting every so often in what she hoped was assurance.
Finally he turned to her, his mouth set in a grim line. "This is probably the best place for us to camp out. It's a small area that's neutral, I think. I can't see any youkai tracks, but I do see signs of humans, which means they're tolerated here. It should cover us."
"Your word is good enough for me," Sango said, holding in a relieved sigh. She dropped her pack on the ground and stretched her arms out, happy to be done with the trek. "This would be so much easier if youkai lived in houses, like normal people," she muttered, releasing her hiraikotsu from her back and leaning it against a tree. "Then we could drive."
She was awarded a chuckle from Hojou, who had dropped his own pack as well. "Let's not give them any ideas, okay? One attic filled with supernatural beings is enough for me."
The sun had moved from its high position in the sky, and was warm in the early afternoon. They set to snapping off and gathering the large, fanning fern leaves, making a nice, soft base for their sleeping bags. Firewood was gathered for a well-deserved lunch, and more instant-food brought out. Sango dreamed of beef and mushroom skewers, of homemade miso soup and ginger dressing poured over fresh-washed lettuce and ripe tomatoes as she cooked their meal. It was disappointing that, even when she closed her eyes and imagined the food she was making was the food in her dreams, it didn't work. It smelled like instant ramen and dried jerky.
Still, she sat back and dug in just as eagerly as Hojou did, her body aching for nutrients to fuel the energy she'd expanded throughout the morning.
"What's the first thing you'll do," Hojou asked in between bites, "when you see Kagome again?"
His question seemed to come out of nowhere, although Sango guessed it made sense since the likelihood of running into them was high. But it made her uncomfortable. She squirmed in her seat, poking her chopsticks into her noodles and moving them around.
"I… don't know," she finally admitted. "I guess it depends on what she does first."
Hojou's head tilted back until it rested against the bark behind him, his eyes gazing up into the treetops. There was a large gap of the clear, afternoon sky between them.
For a while, his gaze didn't waver. Then, slowly, his eyes closed. "I'm going to run straight for her. I'm going to wrap my arms around her and give her the biggest hug I've ever given anyone in my life." He said it wistfully, as if he'd been imagining their reunion over and over in his mind. "Sounds silly," he continued, sitting up from the tree and moving his gaze back down to his food, "but that's all I want to do. Hug her again."
Sango opened her mouth to tell him to forget it. That she was there to see Kagome pull Inuyasha out of the mirror in the museum. That she was there in the high school bathroom, trying desperately to talk Kagome down and re-focus her attention on Hojou, back when she'd thought Kagome was still being spelled by Inuyasha.
Just forget about her, she wanted to tell him. Just forget about her and let's focus on killing Kikyou and then we can find you a nice girl who is just as terrified of youkai as she should be.
But the words wouldn't come out. She was such a wuss. "It's not silly," she relented, "but keep in mind that Inuyasha is still with her. Don't get your head lopped off for nothing."
The corners of his mouth pulled up, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Bah. I can handle one little youkai," he said. "Besides, how could she resist my charm?"
Sango couldn't help but laugh. "Your charm?" she teased. "Please, tell me more about-" Her words died in her throat. The cup that held her noodles slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground, spilling out in front of her.
The monk had materialized out of thin air. Just like she'd seen him do in her bedroom, all those weeks ago. He stood in the middle of the makeshift campground, his gold staff gripped tightly in his hand.
"Fuck!" Hojou cried, leaping up onto his feet.
But Sango didn't move. She sat solid. Frozen. What the hell was he doing, coming into camp while Hojou was still awake? What the hell was he thinking?
She noticed then, as the monk's eyes darted from her to Hojou and back again, that they were wide and alarmed. That his skin was pale and clammy.
Oh shit.
"What happened?!" Sango asked, afraid of his answer.
"Sango, get back!" Hojou cried, stepping back into a fight stance, ready to go for round two.
"Slayer, you must come with me now," the monk said, ignoring Hojou.
"What do you mean?" She scrambled to her feet. "What happened?"
"Your parents," he said, sweat beading down his temples and pooling onto his chin, "They are on a hunt. They don't have much time."
The world around her abruptly stopped. It was only the monk and his aghast face and his terrifying words. How the hell did he know what her parents were doing? How could he possibly know they were in trouble?
She reached out for her hiraikotsu and took a step towards him.
"Sango, what are you doing?" Hojou shouted, reaching out towards her.
"Take me to them," Sango said without hesitation.
The monk was by her side in an instant, too fast for Hojou to reach her. He pulled his hand back, as if it were burned. "What the hell?" he spat. "Get away from her."
"Hojou," Sango said, voice breathless. She wanted him to come with her, to help with her family. But they couldn't let Kagome and Inuyasha slip them by, and she knew it. "Stay here and watch for Kagome. I'll be back as soon as I know my family is safe."
"Wait, Sango, don't go with him, he'll-" His voice faded out as the monk's arm slipped around her waist, and Hojou's face dissolved into the dark as they sifted.
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She landed on wet grass, instantly soaked by the pouring rain. Each drop was like a frozen micro-needle pricking at her skin. Still, despite the cold weather, Sango burned hot. Her stomach heaved and her barely-digested lunch poured out of her mouth.
She felt sick, like she'd caught the flu out of nowhere. A low, thumbing bass warbled in her ears, sounds she couldn't make out yet blending together in a deep womp, womp, womp.
A hand gripped onto her shoulder, and she looked up to see the monk, his black bangs plastered to his face. He hooked his arm under hers and heaved her back up into a standing position. She kept a grip on his robes as her feet threatened to give out, and she wiped at her mouth with her arm, the last of her sick spreading across the fabric before being washed away by the rain.
The monk said something to her, but she couldn't understand him, her hearing still muffled. She jerked her arm from under his, eyes roaming over the open field he'd dumped them in. "Where are we?" she shouted, desperate for her voice to penetrate her disturbed ears over the pouring rain.
He waved his hand in front of her face, causing her to turn to him. He was pointing upwards, over the slope they stood on. At her nod he began to pull her behind him.
The grass was slick under Sango's feet, the mud pulling at her shoes, sticking her to the earth. She slipped and scrambled to keep up as he yanked her along, his desperation causing the panic to rise up inside her once more, even as her hearing slowly returned.
The sound of rain striking wet ground.
The monk's deep, erratic breathing.
The sound of battle, like nothing she'd ever heard before. A deep, prolonged screeching that caused the hair on her arms to stand on end.
The chance of this being a trap was high. She knew it. But why go through all the trouble of protecting her from her nightmares if he were just going to off her anyway? The thought kept her moving, kept her crawling up the side of the slick, swampy hill until finally she was over it, and she could see.
Monsters.
They loomed above her, blotting out the overcast skies. Worse than her nightmares. Worse than anything she could ever dream up in her head. They were large, at least five stories tall and a deep grey in color with a build like over-stretched balloons. Sagging and bloated and slow-moving, insides writhing and squirming, as if bodies had been stuffed inside and were pressing at the skin, desperate to break free. There were a handful of them, two or three in the open field, and more emerging slowly from the forest line.
"What the fuck?" Sango cried. "What are they?"
"Naraku youkai," Miroku said, the knuckles of his hand that gripped his staff turned white. "We don't have much time."
"Where are my parents?" As the words fell from her lips, she saw them. Her father was dragging something heavy, she could see the strain in his back as he took two or three steps, his shoulders heaving. The youkai the monk called 'Naraku' reached out for him with a fucking tentacle.
...With a fucking tentacle.
Her father raised his weapon, a short, thick-waved blade stuck to the end of a staff, and sliced at the beast, his cry reverberating through the air and reaching Sango's ears.
She was off, running down the hill and towards her dad, calling out for him. She reached behind her back and withdrew her hiraikotsu, the straps holding it to her breaking away and freeing her weapon. She needed to get closer, but there was no time. There was no-
"Now!" the Monk shouted behind her.
She hadn't realized he'd been keeping up with her, but she didn't hesitate. Her feet pushed into the mud as she came to a halt. Her arm wound back. The weight of her weapon strained against the connective tissue of her shoulder before she hurled and released.
It sliced through the rain, droplets splicing to mist, creating a visible trail through the air in its wake. Sango watched, breath caught in her throat, as it arced and swept clean through its target.
The youkai screeched, the sound reverberating in Sango's ears. It recoiled as its appendage dropped, heavy and sodden to the earth.
"Yes!" she said, taking a few steps back to catch her hiraikotsu.
"Hurry, while it's recovering," the Monk said, pushing past her. "I'll keep the others away. Get your parents out."
"Wait!" she cried. "You can't possibly fight these things alone. You'll be mutilated."
His smile was knowing, and he raised his hand up, the one covered in cloth and beaded string. "I have battled worse."
And the dread in Sango's stomach grew, because she'd experienced it before, the terrifying power of his hand - whatever it was, because fuck if she actually knew. She was back in the attic again, desperately reaching out for Kagome as the wind kicked up out of nowhere, pulling them in.
"Slayer, your parents," he hissed, pushing at her shoulder. "Keep alert and get them out."
Ripped from her memory, Sango nodded. She wanted to tell him that he couldn't die. Not yet anyway. Not until he could remove the jewel from her back and she could walk on her own again. Not until she understood what his fucking motive was. Not until she understood who he was, and…
Instead, she turned and half ran, half stumbled down the hill, slipping and sticking to the soaked ground. The detached tentacle withered and flicked erratically, like a hooked fish. Sango gave it wide berth as she ran, the breath she'd been holding coming out in a big whoosh as her father came into view again.
He was hunched over a body. Her mom. Definitely her mom.
Sango was beside them in an instant, and dropped to her knees next to her mom. Shaky hands reached out to touch her gray, shallow face. "Mom?" Her voice cracked, tears leaking from her eyes and mixing with the rain. "Mom, can you hear me?" Her charcoal-black hair was braided like it normally was, her usual cool, greenish-brown eyes closed off from her.
"Sango," her father mumbled, his arm limp at his side. "What are you doing here?"
"As soon as I found out you were in trouble I came," she said, a lame answer to his question. She paused, staring for a moment. It felt like forever since she'd seen his face. It was weathered and wrinkled from years of smoking, gray hair cropped short, mustache trim and precise. He looked older for some reason.
"Yes, but how?" he asked. "What are you doing here? You'll get yourself killed."
Her eyes locked onto his. "I won't let you two fight these youkai alone. Is mom okay? Is she…"
He shook his head, his hand on her mother's forehead. "She's still with us, but… Sango…"
"She's alive. That's all that matters."
"Sango, your brother…"
"What?"
"Your brother," he repeated, raising his good arm up and pointing into the sky.
She followed the path he pointed out to her. Her brother stood atop one of the creatures, as if it were nothing. As if the monster he had become and the monster he stood on were one in the same. The tentacle he stood on was raised high above the battleground. In that moment he looked like a general, watching over his troops, removed from the blood and gore, above it all.
"Kohaku." His name escaped her like a punch to the gut. The last time she'd seen him he'd tried to slice her open. She never imagined he would go after their parents.
"What happened to him?" her father asked.
Guilt slammed into her. It overwhelmed her. She opened her mouth, then closed it, not even close to knowing what she could say to explain.
"Dad, I-"
"Slayer!" The monk lept behind her, reflecting a tentacle. He spun and stood in front of her, facing the youkai on his own.
Sango could hear him muttering something. At first she thought it was the same language she'd heard him use in Kaede's hut, as he hovered over her and fed her water. But no, he was speaking Japanese, just…
It was old. The way people would talk in historical language books she studied in school. He thrust his staff into the ground and Sango's jaw dropped as the shimmer of what could only be described as a shield grew from where his staff struck the earth. In grew, larger and larger until it engulfed the monk, then her, then her parents.
He turned to look at her over his shoulder. She could already see beads of sweat gathered at his hairline. He winced, as if what he was doing was painful. "You've got poison, right?" he shouted at her over the screeching noise the youkai made as they throttled against the barrier.
Wide-eyed, she nodded.
"I'll hold the youkai away from your parents. You must stick Kohaku with a poison needle, get him to sleep. I can extract Kikyou's hold on him once he's out!"
Her eyes darted from the monk to the giant youkai. The bodies seemed to move slow, as if whatever it was that pressed against the inside of the large, bloated flesh weighed it down. The bodies weren't the problem.
It was the thick, whipping limbs that moved faster than possible. Those were the problem. Each body had to have at least eight or nine, it was hard to count with how fast they moved.
"Sango!" the monk cried again, her name ripping her back into focus. "Now!"
She didn't think. She just ran, breaking free of the barrier and letting the hidden blade slip from inside her sleeve, she gripped the handle as a limb came rushing at her.
She dove and rolled as best she could, the wet mud sticking to her clothes and hair. She spun, her heel pressing into the earth as she whipped her blade around, slicing at the tentacle as it came at her again.
She pulled at her knife, ignoring the smell of sick, putrid insides and ran towards the youkai her brother stood on. A second limb came swinging low, and she jumped up, flipping over it as it swept under her. She landed on her knees and rolled onto her back as a third came whipping down from above.
She brought her feet up, grunting as she kicked it away before rolling again and pushing herself up.
She ran.
Thick and rubbery, another slammed into her side, dropping her to the ground. Her ribs ached from the blow and she sucked in air, then froze as she heard it… like a voice, but… not.
It was intangible, the voice. Like nothing. I can sense it… the voice said. A shard… you have it. Give it to me...
She felt stickiness under her back, then pain. She screamed and tried to roll, but the tentacle had begun to press into her skin. She could feel it.
No… Fuck no! She wasn't fucking giving up the use of her legs! She inhaled sharply, bracing herself for the pain before she rolled as fast as she could.
The rubber ripped away from her flesh and she swallowed another scream, raising her arm despite the pain as another tentacle came at her from above. She stuck it with her knife, roared in anger as she forced it through youkai flesh.
Tentacle guts spilled over her. The smell was nauseating. She pushed the heavy, dead limb off of her and rolled over to vomit - but nothing came up. Her stomach was empty.
She reached back to feel the spot where the tentacle had tried to push into her. Her slayer top was dissolved at her lower back, her skin welted and blistered. Keep fucking running, she berated herself, pushing upright once more and picking up speed to where her brother stood.
Dodging and spinning, she avoided each attack as it came at her. She withdrew her hiraikotsu, using it as a shield when she could.
It was right in front of her, the youkai that held her brother. She thrust her hiraikotsu and split the tentacle that reached for her. Another swung, and she lept and caught her hiraikotsu as it returned to her, landing awkwardly on the tentacle. She climbed as quickly as she could.
If she could just talk to Kohaku, just reach out and touch him, she knew she would be able to get him back. She reattached her hiraikotsu and withdrew her poisoned needles as she climbed, ready to use them if she must.
Her feet stuck to the slime that covered the tentacle flesh. She dropped her hand into it as she slipped, fighting for stability as it rolled.
Kohaku was only feet away. His eyes were locked on the ground, and she turned to follow his gaze. The monk still sat in the center of the protective sphere. She could see his hands making small movements, as if he were struggling to hold it together while the yokai screeched and beat at the barrier.
"Kohaku!" she cried over the wind and the rain, "Kohaku, come back with me! Here, take my hand!" She reached out her left arm, her right gripping tightly to her knife steadying herself as best she could as the tentacle under her rolled again. She didn't want to get to close. He was obviously still not himself.
His eyes turned to meet hers, and for the first time she saw them. She truly saw them.
And there was nothing.
"Kohaku," she breathed.
"You are the slayer?" he replied. It lacked the warmth that usually laced his words. "Didn't you die?"
"Kohaku, it's me."
"I know who you are." His hand raised up, empty, high above his head. Sango followed the motion, weary of the giant kama at his back.
His fingers snapped.
Rubbery limbs slammed against her legs. She fought to keep her balance and lost. The sky tilted, her brother's dead eyes keening out of her line of vision as she plummeted to the earth.
Her heart pumped in her chest.
"Ooof!" The monk excelled his breath as Sango slammed into him. Mud and grass splattered across her face and into her eyes as he fell back onto the ground. "I got you!" he cried, as if amazed himself that he'd caught her
"Fuck," Sango groaned, rolling off him and placing her hand at her hip, where a dull ache had started to throb. "My brother," she started to say, but she didn't get there, because she was being pushed down. Down into the mud. The monk placed all his weight on her.
"What the fuck-" she started, but her name on his lips stopped her dead.
"Close it for me if I can't!" he shouted at her.
And she watched as he pulled the beads from his hand. The cloth fell away from between his fingers and his palm, and then a roaring started.
So loud, like a jet flying right above her head.
The tentacle reaching for them drew closer, before it was sucked into his hand. His arm shook as the youkai fell prey to the wind. And then another. Another. Youkai after youkai flew towards them at incredible speeds, sucked into a vortex.
The monk screamed. Sango could feel him convulse on top of her. His back became rigid, and the wind grew.
"Monk!" she shouted over the wind. "Monk, close it! Close it!"
But his screaming continued. The wind grew wild. Sango cursed and grabbed the beads from his other hand, hoping that just throwing them over his palm would do the trick.
It did, and his body fell limp on top of her.
For a moment, she did nothing but breathe. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. There was no more screeching. No more roaring wind. The monk was quiet. The rain fell in a heavy, steady stream, washing the splattered mud from her face.
Sango sat up and looked around. The yokai were gone, save for the one that mattered. She caught a glimpse of its body melting into the treeline, the speck of her brother still standing atop a raised limb.
Goddammit.
She shook the monk, still limp and heavy on top of her. "Hey. Wake up." His face was pale, his lashes a stark contrast against his skin. She shook him again, with more force this time. "Monk, get up!"
His eyes opened slowly. His breathing quickened. "Slayer," he mumbled, brows furrowing. "You closed it. Thank you."
"Get up, the youkai are gone," she said, ignoring his words of gratitude. But he didn't move. His eyes stayed half-open and on her. His breathing shallow. "Hey," she said, feeling panic rise in her again, "Monk, get up."
"The youkai," he finally replied, short breaths splitting up his words, "I have taken too many in."
"What does that even mean?" she snapped.
"The magic used to summon Naraku youkai is not exactly good," he said. "I will get up in a moment."
Sango ignored the tinge of worry she felt in her chest and glanced to where she'd left her parents in the monk's care last, relieved to see her father up and moving around. He was trying to maneuver her mother onto his back.
"Well, mom and dad are still alive. You kept your promise there, at least," she admitted, wiping the rain from her face.
He nodded, wincing at the movement. "I keep all my promises, Slayer."
She opened her mouth to argue, but found that she couldn't.
.
.
"We must get them in water. Get the slime of the Naraku youkai off of them," the monk said, his deep voice a strange sort of comfort. Or maybe it was the fact that he seemed to know what to do, while she had no idea.
It had taken a while for the monk to feel up to standing on his own two feet. At that point, Sango's father had managed to carry her mother to them. Both were freezing. Lips blue, teeth chattering. The monk had insisted they sift back to Sango's home and warm them up.
"The tub," she said. It had been a while since she'd been in her own home, and her last few memories of the place weren't exactly pleasant. Thank god she had something else to focus on at the moment. "Dad, get mom upstairs." She ran ahead of him, taking the stairs two at a time and slamming the master bathroom door open. She yanked at the water handles, thankful her parents had opted for a large western-style jacuzzi tub.
"Hurry!" she cried, just as they appeared in the doorway. "Get her in!"
"H-her clothes," he started, and Sango noticed his lips had also started to turn blue.
"No time, just get her in. Here, get in with her," she said, stepping aside so he had room. "We have to get the slime off."
"How do you know what the slime is? I've never seen such a youkai," he said, sitting in the tub, slayer outfit and all. He had Sango's mom propped up against his chest, his arms under hers to keep her head up as the large tub slowly filled.
"I don't, not really," Sango admitted, "but that doesn't matter, we just have to make sure it's off you."
The monk stepped into the room then, and leaned his staff against the wall. "No one has followed us," he said, "but once they are free of the slime they must go elsewhere."
Sango clenched her jaw, but nodded. He was right. Kohaku had not been safe in their home. Obviously, no one would be safe here until Kikyou was rid of.
It re-lit the fire in her belly. That priestess bitch was going to die.
"Who's your friend? her father asked through chattering teeth. "He did well protecting your mom and I."
Sango opened her mouth to balk at the term 'friend' because fuck no he wasn't her friend! But her words of denial stayed buried deep.
Things had become complicated. Which, really, was such a joke because everything had been complicated as soon as Kagome had dragged her into the museum and pulled Inuyasha from his mirror. 'Complicated' was now a ridiculous term to use. Everything was so much worse than complicated.
But the monk, he had gone from someone she hated with the same rage she held for Inuyasha and Kikyou, to someone that was… helping her, kind of.
...wasn't he?
She could only hope that her decision to trust him didn't turn around and bite her in the ass. She could only close her eyes and pray that her willingness to go along with him didn't lead to her untimely death.
The monk stepped forward, "My name is Miroku, Sir. I am pleased that we arrived in time. For a moment I did not think we would make it."
"Miroku," Sango said, his name strange and foreign on her tongue, "is the reason I knew you and mom were in trouble in the first place. He…" she trailed off, unsure how to proceed, because even she didn't understand how he'd known.
"I had been keeping an eye out for your son. I was tipped off about the Naraku youkai because of him."
"Kohaku..." he shook his head. "We should have returned as soon as you called us. What was I thinking, having you contact Hojou? I will always regret not abandoning the hunt and returning to you and your brother's side."
"Dad…"
"But now that you're here, we can get him back together."
Her father's words caused her breath to catch in her chest. They were the exact words she had dreamed of hearing over the last few weeks. The support from her parents meant the world to her, and she was tempted to agree, to leave the bathroom and go to her room and curl up in her bed and let her mom and dad take care of the logistics of how they would save Kohaku.
But everything was fucked up. Because now her mom lay still and cold, her breathing shallow, unconscious to the world around her. Now Kikyou had the ability to turn her whole family against her, if she found them again. Now Kagome was holed up with the very creatures her family fought against.
...Now, Sango had a dirty secret... a powerful shard pressed against her spine.
There was no guarantee Sango would survive, but she was determined that her brother would. She was determined that he, at least, would return whole and healthy to their parents, who would also be alive and whole and healthy. It was Sango's fault that it had gotten to this point, believing she could handle Inuyasha, inviting him into her home and allowing the evil that was Kikyou to work her way into her family.
She was going to set it all right again.
"Dad," she said, trying and failing to keep her voice steady, "I won't be able to contact you for a while. There are things… there are things happening that I can't get you involved with more than you already are. Mom needs to be looked after, and you both have to go into hiding for a bit. At most until she's healed up all the way."
"Sango-"
"And I'm sorry," she continued, because if she let him talk too much she would cave in, "that I let them take Kohaku. I was protecting Kagome, and I let my guard down."
"What does Kagome-"
"I'm sorry. I have to go."
"No, don't go! Whatever it is that's going on, we can help you."
She fought back the tears that threatened to fall. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't cry, not in front of the man who had raised her and taught her everything she knew about being strong. And at this point, more than anything else that mattered, she had to keep him safe. Her parents were all she had left.
"Dad, keep mom away from the house. I'll be back, I promise." She stood and backed away from the tub, stepped back until she bumped into the monk.
"Sango..." Her father's voice cracked. His own eyes filled with tears. They welled up and leaked over his lashes, spilling unconfined over the rough surface of his face. "Sango, my daughter..."
No. No, no, no, she was going to cry. She'd never seen her father so emotional. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She wanted to tell him everything. To sit by his side and never get up. But Kohaku was still alive and he was out there, and she was going to get him back. Her parents had to live to see Kohaku return to who he was. There was no other option.
The monk's arm wrapped around her waist. He'd been silent and stoic until now. "I will bring your daughter back to you by the end of this," he said. "You have my word."
And then they were gone, her fathers wet, anguished face burned deep into Sango's memory.
.
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Thank you for being so patient with me everyone! I really appreciate it. :) Next chapter we'll be getting back to Inuyasha and Kagome.
~SugarRos
