"You... know?!"
The monk had been prepared for outrage. Dubious skepticism at best, but almost certainly an explosive display of some kind. He wondered if he'd heard him correctly.
Seeing his friend stupefied into uncharacteristic speechlessness, Inuyasha lowered his sword in resignation, giving it a brief inspection.
"Keh, you really think I'm stupid, doncha? Of course I know. I figured it out almost immediately." His gaze narrowed accusingly as it shifted back to Miroku. "Can't believe it took you so long."
He blushed slightly, far too astounded to even try and save face. When did Inuyasha become observant? And devious?
xXx
His mind was reeling with questions, doing its best to prioritize them on the fly. The guilt that had niggled him constantly over the recent weeks had an apology poised near his lips' edge, and it burned uncomfortably in light of this revelation; but his curiosity prevailed.
"Why haven't you said anything?" he asked. "Everyone's been going crazy trying to keep this secret."
Miroku saw no point to downplaying his culpability in this charade, nor anyone else's. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he felt transparency was his duty.
He hoped it would begin mending trust's fences.
xXx
"That's why I ain't said nothing," he scowled. "I was waiting for her to tell me- so I could tell her how stupid she was... but she never did." His resentment masked his pain, though Miroku did not doubt it was genuine.
Inuyasha looked up to find a pitying gaze upon him and straightened. "When I realized she wasn't going to, I decided to keep playing dumb just to make her squirm."
He frowned, but the monk could not fault his friend for his deception. Hell, how could he?
Tetsusaiga regressed as its youki dissipated, slightly unburdening his holy aura.
xXx
Fangs flashed with the return of a wicked grin.
"And watching that bastard forced to tiptoe around like he's scared of me is just too good," he said, merrily sheathing his sword. "Serves 'em right for lying to me all this time."
"I agree that keeping this from you was not the right thing to do," Miroku conceded, though his brow creased in concern. He was apprehensive about advising him in this matter; but in the end, his inner mediator won out. "I highly suggest you come clean. This has put a great deal of strain on them."
Inuyasha shrugged.
xXx
"Like I said, serves 'em right."
"Yes," he agreed uneasily, "but their relationship has begun to suffer as a result."
"Keh, so? Ain't like it was ever going to last anyway."
The monk's grip on his staff tightened as he held the reins on his tongue. His credibility had taken a blow, and he was in no position to be chastising – particularly in this arena; so he had to tread carefully if he had any hopes of getting through... or at least not make things worse.
Sesshoumaru brought out his vindictive side, but he had a soft spot for Kagome.
xXx
His flippancy was not encouraging, however. Despite his high ambitions, Miroku seriously doubted the half-demon would ever be supportive of their relationship; and couldn't help but wonder if dismissing it as frivolous was the best reaction he could hope for.
He followed Inuyasha's steps to a nearby tree, where he discarded his inheritance with a careless toss before leaning back heavily against the trunk. The leaves around them shuddered in reaction.
"Kagome was bound to come to her senses sooner or later, and he's only doing it to fuck with me. Once he gets bored of her, he'll drop her."
xXx
"If anything, I'm doing her a favor."
He closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he used the tree like a scratching post. The rough bark seemed to remedy an itch in the center of his shoulders, making the dog demon more resemble a grizzly bear. Any other time, Miroku would have found the display amusing.
"I don't think so, Inuyasha," he asserted sternly. "They seem very serious in their involvement."
A gold eye cracked open to the solemn man at his side, considering his serious expression only a moment before returning to his activity.
"It's just a phase."
xXx
"Whatever gratification they are getting out of each other – which, fucking gross, by the way," he secured eye contact to fully relay the sentiment, "will wear off as soon as someone else catches their fancy. Kagome's hella fickle, and I'm sure she's only a novelty to him."
Seemingly satisfied in his efforts, he pushed off the tree to stand in front of Miroku, a condescending smile playing at his lips.
"Just an empty human box to check off his list of conquests." He illustrated his point with a careless flip of his index finger, and turned his back on him.
xXx
As he crouched to retrieve his sword, the red robes of the fire rat protected his back from the burn of the monk's glower- or if not, he didn't let on. Instead, he took his time assessing Tetsusaiga, meticulously brushing off any dirt or grass it had accumulated.
"I disagree," he said defiantly. "They appear to be in love."
The conviction in his tone seemed to give the squatting hanyou pause. Miroku couldn't see his brow furrow the brief moment before calling over his shoulder.
"Feh, you don't know squat." He sounded less confident than before, but no less stubborn.
xXx
He rose to secure the weapon behind his obi, ignoring his friend's disapproving glare. Despite being otherwise distracted, he seemed to sense an impending rebuttal that he was in no mood for and cut it off at the pass.
"Look, whatever is happening to them- they deserve it." Displeasure spiked his aura as he fastened a presentable knot, and Miroku's jaw snapped shut.
He'd clearly gotten as far as he was going to at the moment- and was aware the level of acceptance he did get was fortunate. He shouldn't push his luck.
"So keep your mouth shut, will ya?"
xXx
A cold, sickly feeling infected his blood, washing through his form and settling in his gut like heavy syrup.
"She has to be the one to tell me. I want her to do it."
Pained, panicked eyes pleaded with his pal- who's unrivaled intensity put his hope out of its misery. Still, it would die on its feet.
"But-"
"You owe me a lot more than that," Inuyasha said, fiercely daring him to argue before turning his head in dismissal. "I guess I really can't trust anybody."
The monk deflated where he stood, aspirations for a clean conscious slipping away.
xXx
He thought unburdening himself of this secret would be liberating for everybody and put an end to his shady errands- but he only sold himself to a different master.
He supposed it would be his penance for betraying his friend- even if it was to do right by another. No good deed...
No matter what came of his confession, he'd taken comfort in knowing that at least the lying would stop, but he'd succeeded in securing a whole new secret to shoulder.
He should refuse, tell him he's done- respectfully. But once again, he found himself sympathetic to the cause.
xXx
He knew his friend was right- not morally, of course.
The shame was more powerful than he'd anticipated, and he vowed to do whatever was needed to redeem himself.
"I'm sorry," he finally said.
"You can start making it up to me right now." The monk lifted his weary gaze to find a pair of golden eyes boring down on him, arms crossed superiorly. "At least I know you can keep your mouth shut."
"And then you will forgive me?" he asked hopefully, dig burrowing.
"Its gonna take some time," Inuyasha answered after a thoughtful beat. "But I will. Eventually."
A/N: whew, long week. but I'll be having some time off coming up, if I play my cards right. Til then, I'll just inch along. Thanks for reading!
Oh, and the voting is open now for the Feudal Connection awards. It's on tumblr, so you can go do that if you wanna.