The shadowe catchen they ne might,
For no lines that they couthe lay,
This shadewe I may likne aright
To this world and yesterday.
(This shadow never shall be caught
In any trap they lay.
This shadow in the likeness,
Of this world and yesterday.)
-Aria, Mediaeval Baebes
Chapter 7- A Marbled River of Silent Ghosts
Though the paper door, Inuyasha and Kagome
could hear that Sango had indeed woken up, and was currently in the middle
of chewing out Shippou for running off alone.
"But I'm fine!"
"It's dangerous! With all that noise, who
knows what's...."
Inuyasha slid the shoji open sharply, and
Sango froze, tensing and then relaxing again in recognition. Then she stared
at the mess that was Inuyasha, bits of ash on his clothes, half his hair
wet, the other half singed, and with his blackened fire rat kimono over
his shoulder. Kagome looked little better. "What happened to you two?"
"Fire in the kitchen," Inuyasha explained
curtly, tossing the ruined kimono into the corner of the room. "And what
did you do that's so dangerous?" he asked, picking Shippou up by the tail
and giving him a bored look.
"Ack! Stop pulling on my tail! Put me down!"
Shippou shouted as he tried to wriggle free of the grasp.
"Went running off by himself this morning,
after you two left," Sango told them, frowning at the squirming kitsune.
"I went to go get information! Ukifune knows
about the other one, the one Miroku saw! She said it! I was going to ask
her to help!"
"And did she agree?" came the question from
Inuyasha, now a bit more interested in this ghost kid.
"I didn't get to ask her that," was the irritated
response. "She went running off crying something about people getting hurt.
So I came running back here to make sure everybody was all right. Now put
me down!"
Inuyasha ignored the request to be put down, but glanced at Kagome
instead. "Seems like that more or less confirms your guess. There's two
of them, and they're fighting." Kagome nodded, and Sango looked between
them, wide eyed. "This Ukifune kid. She know about the shikon no kakera,
too?"
"Yeah. Said something like they could be used
for good or bad. I don't know, she gets weird sometimes, and starts talking
all strange. Inuyasha! Put me down!"
Inuyasha continued to ignore the request to
be put down.
"Two..." Sango murmured. Then her head snapped
up. "Yanagi-san and Kagan-san?"
"They're okay," Kagome told her, "but they
were attacked. If Ukifune's been trying to protect them, she may be running
out of strength."
"So they're leaving...." she trailed thoughtfully,
looking down.
"How's Miroku-sama?"
Looking up again, Sango shrugged, casting
a worried glance at the still form on the futon. Miroku had the blanket
up to his chin, head turned to the side, away from them. There was little
indication of life, save for the tiny rise and fall of the blanket. "Still
out. He almost looks dead...was I like that?"
Kagome nodded. "He'll wake up eventually...."
She paused. "How are you?"
"Better. Awake again, no headache or dizziness."
"I'm glad," Kagome replied. "If it comes back,
you can take some of my aspirin...there's water in the bowl on that side
of the room...."
Sango glanced at the white box Kagome kept
medicines and bandages in. The 'aspirin' would be a clear bottle of some
strange material, she remembered, she'd seen Kagome use it once or twice
before. "So I assume I'm keeping an eye on houshi-sama?"
"If you would...." Kagome managed, half asking.
"Inuyasha! Come on! That hurts!"
"Yeah, it'd hurt a lot worse if something
tried to kill you, running around by yourself. When'd you get so damn adventurous?"
"Quit it! Put me down!"
Kagome shot a warning glare at Inuyasha, who
seemed to be mildly enjoying Shippou's acrobatic attempts to free himself.
"Inuyasha...."
"Feh."
Released, Shippou leapt straight into Kagome's
arms, sticking his tongue out at the hanyou, who just grunted, and returned
to looking bored. Kagome rolled her eyes at the childish display, then
grabbed Inuyasha's arm, hauling him along with her. "Oy!"
"Come on you two. Since Sango-chan and Miroku-sama
are okay, we're heading back to the kitchen."
"Why?" Shippou asked, peering up at her, then
moving to the more comfortable spot of her shoulder.
"Because it's a wreck, and with Yanagi-san
and Kagan-san leaving, we're going to clean it up for them."
"Nani!? We saved the building from burning
down!" Inuyasha protested as he was shoved out the door by a very determined
looking Kagome.
"Yes, we did, and that was very nice of us.
Now we're going to reassemble the kitchen for them and say a proper goodbye."
She finished pushing Inuyasha out the door, leaving him to glare sourly
at her decision to be helpful. Wielding a mop and broom just wasn't the
same as wielding Tetsusiaga. Cleaning crews never get any glory.
The shoji slid to a close softly, and Sango
listened to the fading final protestations of the two boys, both not really
wanting to clean up a burned, haunted, and completely wrecked kitchen.
Turing with a sigh, she placed her hands on her hips and looked at the
snoozing Miroku. "You and me again, ne?" an amused smile played at her
lips. "Guess you can't try anything unconscious...."
Kirara, who had been quietly sitting on her
haunches by the window, mewed a bit, standing up. Sango smiled and moved
to pet her head, the large red eyes blinking up at her. "Ah, you too, Kirara."
It was full morning by now, and light was
pressing against the outside of the window screens. Quietly, Sango opened
them, letting in some air and the soft fragrance of the chrysanthemums
below the wall. Beyond, sunlight covered the land in a cloudy sky, shifting
shadows across the lush grasses and flowing river beyond the mansion. It
reflected goldenly into her face, and she leaned against the windowframe,
enjoying the view for a moment before turning back and settling herself
down to wait.
The square patch of sunlight she let in moved
across the room slowly, marking the hours of passing time. Sango had dozed,
off and on, and for awhile she'd been relieved by Inuyasha, taking a break
for lunch and stretching. Yanagi and Kagan were gone, a small cart of their
personal things pushed ahead of them reluctantly, slowly, as though perhaps
at any moment, they may change their minds and come back. But they didn't.
After a few minutes, they were through the gate, and out of sight of the
mansion's walls.
Now again, she sat beside Kirara, kneeling
and idly flipping through a copy of one of the books Kagome had brought.
It was a small book, bound remarkably well, Sango thought, by some gai-jin
writer named 'Shakespeare'. Yet another thing Kagome had to study for her
tests and school. She had made the comment that this was, in fact, very
close to the time he would be alive, on another island nation, in another
corner of the world. Quietly, she scanned the book, reading the odd passage
to while away the time, then slowly got into the screwball humor of the
story, the mistaken identities, troublesome youkai...or, in this case,
'fairies,' magic, and the bizarre 'play' at the end of the tale. She was
smiling, murmuring the final lines of one of the youkai, a trickster one
rather like a kitsune.
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear;
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream.
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And as I am an honest puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long,
Else the puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends....
She closed the book in her hand, running a
finger over the cover, proudly displaying the title: "A Midsummer Night's
Dream," with characters sketchily drawn onto the stiff outer paper.
Amused, she decided the small one with pointy ears was the one named Puck.
It seemed every culture had some form of trickster in its pantheon of magical
beings, even ones on the other side of the world, distant as they were.
A universal sense of humor, perhaps. As she made that choice of character,
she heard a soft breath, sharply drawn, and she looked up from her side
of the room, the angle showing that Miroku had opened his eyes, and was
now blinking, attempting to look around.
"Houshi-sama?" she set the book aside, and
gathered the folds of her skirt, moving to help him as he sat up, then
dizzily sank backward onto the futon. "Don't strain yourself."
He blinked up at her, brows lifting over wide,
innocent eyes. "I don't usually listen to that kind of talk outside a bedroom,
Sango."
"Eh..." she began nervously, then gave him
a dirty look and backed away, seeing that he was perfectly fine after all.
Then of course came the caustic realizaton; "We are in a bedroom,
baka."
"Ah, well, all the better...."
She snorted, steaming for a moment and folding
her arms. But the bemused expression on Miroku's face faded, and he looked
serious again. "Daijobu ka, houshi-sama?"
"Dizzy, when I sat up...better now. You're
not spinning around the room anymore. Otherwise...mild headache. How long
have I been out?"
"Not quite a day. Late afternoon the day after
you were attacked."
"Sou ka..." he murmured, taking that in as
Sango stood and moved across the room. He tried to angle his head to see
where she was going, but instead got a faceful of curious Kirara, coming
to inspect the newly awakened Buddist monk. "Hai, it's good to see you
too, Kirara."
The firecat seemed satisfied with that, and
backed away a bit for Sango, returning with Kagome's white medicine box
and some water. She knelt down, and began rifiling through the various
bottles, cans and packs of bandages, finally finding the one that she wanted.
"Kagome-chan said to take aspirin if you have a headache. I think this
is the right one," she said as she tried to figure out how to undo the
child proof top.
"You think?"
"Uh...pretty sure...if I can get it open...."
she fiddled with it a minute longer, glared at the bottle top, considered
bashing it open with hiraikotsu, then tried again, this time successfully.
"I will not be defeated by a lid." She shook out several pills into her
hand, then picked one. "Here."
"Maybe you should-"
"Don't even ask me to feed you mouth to mouth,
houshi-sama."
"Can't blame me for trying." She rolled her
eyes, setting the bottle aside and lifted his head as he took some water
with the medication. "Arigatou."
"You're welcome."
She placed his head back on the narrow pillow,
and he closed his eyes for a moment. "Is everyone all right?"
"More or less. Yanagi-san and Kagan-san left,
after being attacked." That caused him to open his eyes, and he waited
for more information. "We seem to be working under the theory there are
two yurei now, the little girl one Shippou has been seeing, and the one
you saw last night. Do you remember? You said something about it...before
you passed out...." she trailed off a bit, remembering the exact way he
had brought that particular yurei up. Miroku was watching her warily, and
she tried very hard to keep a straight face.
"I remember. A nun, in grey robes. Blank white
eyes."
"Yes, well...we've decided that one is fighting
with the little girl, Ukifune, for some reason...Shippou talked to her
this morning, and she knew about the one you saw...and the shikon no kakera.
Ukifune may have the shard we're looking for. But no one has been able
to find her since this morning. Shippou said she just comes and goes."
Sango felt like she was babbling. The information was useful, but if he
remembered his dream, then he probably remembered what he did after the
dream, and that was rather unnerving at the moment. "Yanagi-san and Kagan-san
were attacked, but were all right."
"That's good...the others are out looking
for Ukifune now, rather than the shards?"
"Something like that. Been cleaning the kitchen
too, after the fire. It's a wreck."
"It's growing stronger."
"Nani?"
Miroku looked up at the ceiling for a moment,
following the spidery traceries of roofbeams overhead before continuing.
"That thing is sending us nightmares, and somehow growing stronger because
of them. Almost the way a corrupted soul taints the Shikon no Tama, the
jewel reacting to what's around it. Fear, anger, desperation, hatred. They're
within a dream, but the emotions are still real, so long as they are felt."
He lifted his hand over his face, looking at the wrapping and rosary over
the kazaana, the beads dangling downward towards him. His fist tightened
around it. Sango watched him, his face carefully blank and somewhat hard
of expression as he thought. "Do you still have that rosary I gave you?"
She blinked in surprise, edging backward a bit awkwardly. He
was looking at her now, awaiting a response as she rubbed her palms over
her knees, wondering what he was up to, or at least what he was thinking.
"Hai...I started wearing it again after the attacks started...in case something
came after me again. I don't have any others, so...." she pushed the hem
of her sleeve up to reveal the beads twined around her forearm. "Why?"
"So you have kept it, " he said very calmly,
focusing on the ceiling again. "Promise me something?"
His tone had lightened a bit in the last phrase,
and she became suspicious, eyeing him warily. "Nani?"
"Never give it back to me."
"Huh?"
"If you ever see mine break...ever...I want
you to run away from me. Fast."
"Break? Houshi-sama, what in the world were
you dreaming about to make you think-"
He cut her off by grabbing her arm, the beads
of the borrowed rosary clacking against each other lightly as he held her
wrist. Propping himself up slowly on one elbow, he looked at her very hard,
his eyes meeting hers. "We were just talking...Naraku appeared out of nowhere,
and broke my rosary. You got the clever idea to give this," he jerked her
wrist slightly, causing her rosary to noisily clatter, "back to me. And
got sucked in right along with." The intensity in his voice faded, sounding
worried. "I thought I'd killed you, Sango."
She looked at her hand, where the rosaries met each other, and
he gripped her wrist so hard it almost hurt. Grimly, she placed her other
hand on his, pulling the wrapped hand into hers. "Don't be stupid."
"Sango, I'm serious-"
"So am I," she snapped before he could continue.
"You think I'd just let you go and die without trying to help? Don't be
stupid."
Miroku, for once, had no idea what to say.
Sitting up brought on more waves of dizziness, and he could barely believe
he had just heard. He sank back onto the pillow, oddly aware of the way
his arm stretched out of the cover, and his wrapped hand was resting in
hers. But what she said next unnerved him.
"You killed Kohaku." He looked at her, disbelieving
and denying, though understanding she was now sharing what had happened
to her, in her dream. Her eyes were closed, remembering the forest, the
fire above the trees, and the image of her brother, before her and armed.
"I was fighting with him...I was hurt, and he was about to kill me. You...just
took the shard out of his back...he fell over...he fell over, like a puppet
with the strings cut...." Miroku felt her hands tightening around his,
almost painfully.
"If somebody were trying to kill you Sango...I
would kill them." Then, very quietly, "Even Kohaku."
She almost laughed, not sure as to why. She
wondered if she were hysterical, but doubted it. Despite faint tears in
her eyes, she felt deathly calm. Perhaps that was why it seemed ironic.
For some reason, the words did not surprise her, but rather confirmed something
she already suspected, though did not know for certain. "I know. But there...it
was like you didn't even care...."
He pushed himself slowly up, reaching with
his free hand for her face, and cupping her cheek gently. Very lightly,
he kissed her, lips brushing lightly against hers, until it was returned,
just as lightly, somewhat hesitantly. "This had better not be another damned
dream," he mumbled into her mouth, pressing in again and enjoying the response.
Sango's eyebrow twitched, and she smiled sweetly
against his kiss for a moment, reaching behind her. "I don't know. Does
this hurt, houshi-sama?" She pinched his hand hard, where it had strayed
to her rear end.
"Itai!"
"Hm, no, not a dream, then," she frowned as
he fell back onto the futon, wincing over his hand. With a sigh, she shook
her head and watched him shake it out. "You really do know how to spoil
the moment, don't you?"
"Eh...got greedy?"
She gave him a sour look and sighed, shaking
her head in despair. Miroku watched her, the afternoon's sunlight washing
her skin a deep gold color, warm and soft. She had folded her hands into
her lap again, and he reached again for her hand. She didn't pull away,
but gave him a look of warning, not to try anything again. "I promise."
Sango lifted an eyebrow in doubt, and Miroku
feigned hurt. She shook her head again, a faint blush rising belatedly
on her cheeks. It suited her, and he decided to make her blush more often.
In the sunlight, she could be very beautiful, after all.
Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippou were a bit tired
from the various chores of kitchen cleaning and trying to find Ukifune-
again. Shippou had had the best luck of it over the last couple days, and
though they'd checked the riverside, twice, there was no sign of the mercurial
ghost child. Sliding the shoji aside, each of these three paused, with
varying expressions of surprise or incredulity. Sango's back was to them,
though it was clear she was kneeling beside Miroku. Both were quietly occupied
in watching the sunset through the open window.
Knowing that the taiji-ya usually did not
allow Miroku within contact distance, due to fear of groping, this was
a slight change of the usual pace. The two incredulous faces turned to
Kagome, who had a pleased and slightly 'I told you so' smile on her face.
Politely, she coughed, and that startled Sango into moving, spinning around
wide eyed to see a confused looking Shippou, a bewildered Inuyasha, and
a beaming Kagome.
"Eh..." Sango began a bit uncertainly. It
was hardly as if they'd been caught in the act of doing anything, though
the simple fact Kagome was grinning at her conspiratorially was enough
to tip her off the other girl knew something was up. Inuyasha and Shippou
looked utterly clueless, however, and she was glad when Miroku saved her
the trouble of explaining.
"Arigatou, Sango, for the medicine. I hope
it was the correct bottle." The aspirin from that afternoon sat discarded
beside Sango, and she hurried to snatch it up, standing and then noticing
the precariously piled tray Kagome was holding.
"Oh, Kagome-chan, let me help you with that..."
she set the bottle on the tray and began to busy herself with the various
food items Kagome had brought with. Ramen, potato chips, and a steaming
bowl of what looked like warmed up canned clam chowder, along with various
eating utensils and a pitcher of water to drink. Occupied, Sango felt a
little less embarassed, though the fact Inuyasha and Shippou were still
confused didn't help much. "I thought the kitchen was ruined?"
"Yeah, well we salvaged what we could," Inuyasha
told her, gaze flicking between Sango and the politely bland expression
on Miroku's face. Something finally clicked, and he rolled his eyes, then
looked at Kagome's satisfied expression as she moved to help Sango with
dinner. "So you were right after all?"
"Hai," Kagome replied with a smile as Sango
froze for a moment.
Miroku lifted his eyebrows curiously. "Right
about what?"
"Oh, nothing," Kagome said airily, waving
a hand as Inuyasha settled himself down next to her, grabbing for a package
of ramen. "How are you feeling, Miroku-sama?"
"Better. Any luck while I was out?" he asked,
sitting up and feeling glad the world did not spin this time. After a moment,
he came and joined the others in the ring around the tray of food, beside
Sango and Shippou.
"Not really," Shippou told him, ripping open
a bag of chips. "Oh, these are those weird tasting ones!"
"Sour cream and onion," Kagome reminded him,
and ladeled some soup into a shallow bowl for herself, one of the wooden
ones that survived the morning's attack. The hot liquid warmed her hands
through the bowl, and she held it tightly for a moment in the oncoming
evening's chill.
Shippou stuffed his mouth full of the chips,
and continued a bit, the others oddly deferring to him in this case, since,
after all, he was the only one to have seen the yurei they were looking
for. "No signs of her. I thought for sure she'd be down at the river again...at
night I saw her once out in the courtyard, but that was it. Just the river.
Dunno where else she'd go."
"Her memorial?" Sango suggested, pouring herself
a glass of water from a pitcher.
"Said she doesn't like going there. I mean,
why would she? It's like visiting your own grave. Creepy." He wrinkled
his nose as he polished off the potato chips, and wiped the grease on his
pants.
Inuyasha shrugged. "You're sure you saw another
one, bozu? Sango said you were babbling something when you passed out."
"Hai," Miroku frowned, remembering the dream.
Though he had told Sango much of it, he was reluctant to reveal much more,
and particularly reluctant to reveal as much as he had already to the other
three. There was a certain level of it being personal, something to be
kept to oneself. Kagome had been the first, and though she had somehow
wakened herself from the dream, resisting it, Miroku suspected she remembered
it perfectly, and was only claiming not to. "She was clearly the dark force
in the dream."
"And how do you know that?" Inuyasha asked,
slightly skeptical.
Miroku's brow twitched. "Dreams operate on
the symbolism of the mind. To me, or any of us, someone wearing a white
baboon pelt would be fairly obvious as an enemy."
"I thought she was dressed as-"
"She was dressed as a nun." Miroku looked
at Inuyasha evenly, and he did not look uncertain about the fact. "Old
robes, shorn hair, white eyes. It was very clear."
Inuyasha slurped down another mouthful of
noodles as he mulled that over in his head. So the houshi didn't want to
discuss it. Fine by him.
Evening slipped away, darkening into a cloudy
night, blotting out the stars and the gleaming shape of the moon. There
was a strong scent of rain on the wind, distant but swift in the air, approaching
rapidly from the west. Rumbles sounded above the roof, swirling in drumrolls
down to the ground, sending the thin walls of the mansion to shuddering
in the dark night. They lit lamps, the thin paper hurricanes pressing the
light dimly outward, sweetly scented wax burning and competing with the
humid air.
Night pressed in, drawing down heavily, weighted
with water and sleeting rain. Windows were closed tightly against the precipitation,
though tiny puddles formed under the sills, slowly dribbling across the
tatami. Slowly the candles burned themselves out, charring the edges of
the paper tied behind them as they smoked. Each member of the group slowly
curled into their futon, warm and dry from the elements outside, resting.
Inuyasha sat against the inner wall, an arm
wrapped around Tetsusiaga, which leaned against his shoulder. To all appearances,
he slept, eyes closed, breathing regular and even. Though if one looked
very closely, it could be seen that his eyes were cracked open slightly,
occasionally sliding across the room watchfully. He was perfectly aware
of the pattern of attacks. Kagome, for the jewel. That failing, Sango.
To prevent retaliation, Miroku. If, as Kagome proposed, Ukifune was protecting
Yanagi-babaa and Kagan-jiji, then it was possible, with their leaving,
she may try to protect one of them. And, having personally met only Shippou,
he was the most likely candidate for that. Which, of course, left him.
Inuyasha intended to be completely ready for
this bitch.
And to take her down when he did.
It was the best way, wasn't it? And likely
to be the only way. How he planned to do this, he wasn't really sure. He'd
have to figure it out when he got there. That was how he usually fought
anyway. His hand tightened on the sheath. Though this wasn't exactly his
usual kind of enemy.
Lightning cracked outside, splitting through
the air and flashing, lighting up the patterns on the closed windows, the
figures of birds soaring as they brightened then dimmed again, high above
the shadowy inked marshlands painted below. Through the drumming of the
rain above, and the rumbles of the thunder, a light sound touched his ears,
and they perked up slightly, swiveling around towards the sound.
The strain was tentative, luminiously floating
through the rain scented air, hesitantly wandering through the musical
chords of a stringed instrument. Slowly, Inuyasha stood, carefully watching
the others, who dreamt on, unhearing. He slipped towards the shoji door,
ears straining to follow the sound. The sound became pale, fading away
into the sluicing rain, and any scent of intruder washed away into the
water.
He pushed open the shoji warily, peering out
into the hallway. Though in this moment, the lightning flashed again, sending
his shadow into the room he stepped into, bare of tatami mats, slices of
light glinting through folding screens. The room was their room, different
and the same, and he spun back to check the way he came, finding that he
had merely stepped in from a quietly moonlit hallway. No rain thundered
above, drowning out sound and sense, no stormclouds blocking in the light
of the moon. Here, then, was his turn, though this was not as he expected.
For a moment, he cursed the others for not telling him about theirs, so
he could know what to expect. Did they know they dreamed, as he did? Did
it begin peacefully like this?
Habit placed a hand on the handguard of the
Tetsusiaga, and he thumbed it up just a bit, revealing a sliver of the
dulled, decrepit blade. The familiar grip was reassuring, to know he was
armed and supposedly capable of defending himself.
The music began again, lightly picking up
in an unsteady yet complicated rhythm, as though the player were testing
a new tune, fiddling with the strings as they learned and experimented
with the notes. He saw the figure through thin slashes in the screens that
surrounded her, a seated figure over a low instrument, waves of black hair
falling down behind her. He moved forward, searching for the opening in
the screens, allowing entry. The quiet way this began kept him hesitant,
not simply whipping out Tetsusiaga and blowing everything away. He was
not a subtle person, but he played along for now.
He rounded the circle, coming to a lacquered
screen of deep colors, the light of candles within lighting the transcluscent
shades, setting them alive in ghostly vibrance. Three panels, each illuminated
carefully, a frame in a story easily read. He paused here, caught by the
flash of the second panel, of the image painted there. Backing away a step,
he looked at the three frames, and the pictoral story they told. First,
a drawing of the mansion, clouds replacing the roof, revealing a glimpse
of the person inside. A woman in long robes, her hair falling straight
and long behind her as she sat, staring blankly into the room. Discarded
papers and brushes sat beside her, unused. A koto sat across from
her, disused, on its side.
The second panel had caught his attention,
and his first thought was that the woman stood by a rushing river, straight
lines indicating rain. But as a candle within the screens flickered, the
colors turned and shifted, and he looked closer. She stood, not on the
rock by the river, but rather above the river, her robes caught up in the
wind, arms out and hair floating behind her. The third panel revealed only
a rushing river, struck by the black slashes of rain, eerily empty of the
woman's prescence. Inuyasha looked again at the second panel, the girl
who stepped on the air. First he wondered if maybe she slipped. But there
was no expression of shock or of horror. Serene sorrow, instead, graced
her face, lit lightly from the golden glow inside.
As the musicality of the strain grew stronger,
more certain, he realized that the girl went willingly to her death, drowned
in the river beyond the mansion.
A chord struck sharply, then fell, plucked
nimbly, and he returned his attention to what he had to do. She'd keep
attacking until she got whatever it was she wanted. And he swore he wasn't
going to let something get to Kagome again. His hand went to Tetsusiaga's
hilt, and he stepped around the corner, into the light.
*****************************************
Koto- A thirteen stringed musical instrument.
It's Inuyasha's turn.
Muahaha, I had so much fun writing Sango and
Miroku's scene...did that make up for the Miroku's dream not being real?
I hope so...^_^ I wasn't going to have them kissing originally, but when
I got to the scene, I decided, aw, what the heck, might as well...hehehe.
And of course, Miroku has to go and be a dipshit again and try to grope
Sango. Adding in the Shakespeare was a whim. I was wondering what Sango
would be doing there, by herself, (well, Miroku's there, but he's kind
of unconscious...not exactly great for conversations....) so I had her
reading something of Kagome's. I doubt Kagome'd give her a history book.
(All that knowing the future stuff.) So she got a "Midsummer Night's
Dream" instead.
Also wanted to say thanks to Sangosama, for leaving
a review about what happened to the rosary in the anime. Gah, they really
shouldn't have had it shatter. There's so much plot potential there...I
like the manga version better....
All the cards are on the table, just so you
know. Next chapter, things will start to clear up.
Til then.
-Queen