Naraku was dead.
The evil demon that had plagued the lives of so many has now been laid to rest. By the hands of the same people whose lives he had mercilessly destroyed. It was probably the right time to go their separate ways; to continue what they had been doing before Naraku shattered their peaceful dreams. Kagome, who came into this feudal time by way of a mysterious well, could now return to her home. She could now go back to all those "geometry" and "English" that she seemed to be constantly worrying over. Inuyasha, on the other hand, could now go back to traveling and finding a meaning for his existence. But the hanyou had always been hopelessly in love with Kagome. Perhaps now he would visit her more often in the 20th century
And there was Houshi-sama.
Sango turned abruptly from the stream where she had been washing her face. She had since learned to acknowledge her feelings for the lecherous monk. Sometimes it seemed that he'd return her feelings, but Sango could never be too sure if he was serious about her or if he was just flirting with her. Miroku had always been one to flirt with anything that dons a skirt. When Naraku was alive, Miroku would always use his "curse" as an excuse to ask every female if she would bear his child. Now that the curse was gone—thanks to Naraku's death—he still hadn't stopped this rather nasty habit.
Leaving Sango with the feeling that she might as well give up on him.
"Sango."
She heard the familiar voice that never failed to make her skin tingle. She looked up to see Miroku's smiling face. She would miss this face. She would miss the way she constantly slapped the smugness written all over it whenever he succeeded in copping a feel of her behind or her chest. She missed the way he would grin lazily every time he would ask her if she could bear his child.
She would miss him.
She walked over to where he was standing, taking in all that she was seeing. His short, pony-tailed mane. His sweet and deceitful yet innocent eyes. His priestly robes It was then that she decided. Yes, it was time for her to go on her way and continue that life she used to live as a demon exterminator. But she would take this memory of him with her. She had to make sure that at least once in her miserable life, there would be a happy memory in store for her whenever she wanted to remember something good.
With this thought dancing in her head, she took Miroku's hands in hers. Houshi-sama was visibly surprised. Never had Sango been bold enough to show her true feelings to the monk. Today was different. Sango slowly led him farther into the woods. Farther. To where the sun didn't shine. To where nobody but the trees and the grass would be witness to what she was about to do.
Houshi-samaThis is my farewell gift
Sango was tired. She had been walking for days without food, only stopping by small bodies of water to get herself a drink. She didn't know where else to go. She couldn't return to her village. So many painful memories in there. There was nothing else for her to go home to. Her family had been wiped out by Naraku. Her only supposedly living brother, Kohaku, died on the day that she had exacted her revenge. She didn't have anything else. She only had that memory of Miroku and her adventures with Kagome and Inuyasha.
She stopped by a familiar village. Something was beckoning her. She didn't know what it was, but she felt goosebumps rise on her pallid flesh. She walked slowly to the village entrance and looked around, trying to make sense of what she was feeling.
"Hello, young lady," she heard an old woman call out to her. "Are you lost?"
Sango shook her head. "Are you rebuilding this place?" was all she said in response. The village was obviously surviving the aftermath of a disaster, but the people inside it had the look of hope and optimism.
The old woman nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. One of Naraku's stronger minions nearly wiped us out, but we're glad the battle's over. Now all we need to do is start over again. We have a good king and I don't doubt that he'd take very good care of us."
Sango smiled at the woman's eager storytelling. "I'm glad it's working well for you," Sango shyly said. She didn't really know what else to ask. Perhaps she might settle here? Help them start anew? That way she could also start her life over without any regrets. She turned to the woman and asked, "Do you happen to know if there's any work for me here? I have been traveling a lot ever since Naraku destroyed my own village. I'm still looking for a place to stay."
Hearing this, the old woman took Sango's hand and led her inside. "From the looks of your outfit, I'd guess you're a youkai exterminator, am I right? Come! Come! Naraku may be dead but that doesn't mean other monsters are soon following his footsteps. We are constantly under attack, too, although Naraku was the one responsible for nearly annihilating us. Oh, by the way, call me Kaoru."
"Hai. My name's Sango." She was led into what seemed to be Kaoru's home and she was asked to sit and make herself comfortable. "I'm not really looking to get paid. I just need a place to stay."
"Do you know how to cook?" Kaoru inquired.
"Ummy cooking's passable. I haven't been able to cook anything fit for a king, if that's what you're thinking."
Kaoru presented her with a rather toothy grin. "Ah, don't worry. I can teach you a few things. I cook for the castle but I'm getting a little too old. Perhaps you can take my place once in a while?"
Sango nodded. She didn't really know how to go about things, but she really needed to start her life over.
"Good!" Kaoru nearly shouted with glee. "We can start touring today, if that's all right with you."
It didn't take long for Sango to adjust to her new way of living. She got up early, as was her usual wont even when she was still a youkai exterminator, and walked to the castle. Kaoru wasn't feeling particularly well today, so Sango had to go over there by herself. It had been two months since she had moved into this village. She had never learned its name or who run the place. She had never even seen the king! The man was always busy with his political affairs, no doubt.
Although she had never met the king before, Kaoru always assured her that he was one of the kindest, gentlest people one would be fortunate to meet. Stillthe assurance did nothing to alleviate her nervousness. What if she ran into him? Would she even know how to conduct herself, now that she wasn't what she once was?
She looked back at Kaoru's house one last time before finally entering the kitchen. The whole village looked vaguely familiar, even this castle, but for some reason she couldn't put a finger to it. Perhaps this was one of the villages she had rescued before? That would probably explain things. Perhaps Naraku had "re-arranged" this place in such a way that it would hardly be recognizable even to the people who lived here.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over Sango. Darn. Could it be that whatever Kaoru had latched on to me, too?
"Sango-san?" Momiji, one of the other cooks at the castle, loomed over Sango in concern. "Are you okay?"
Sango steadied her breath. Now was not the time to be sick. Not when Kaoru herself was sick too. She sighed. "I'm okay, Momiji. I just need a glass of water." She was about to get herself some, when both she and Momiji heard a few people screaming outside.
"Youkai! Head for cover, everyone! There's an approaching youkai!"
Within seconds, Sango was outside wielding her hiraikotsu. She had no time to get into her taijiya outfit, which she normally used when in battle, so she was quite relieved to see that it was only a lower-level monster. She could easily defeat it in her "work" clothes. She hadn't counted on her "illness" to take its toll on her body so soon, however. While she was able to slay the monster in a short span of time, her knees buckled as soon as she was sure that it was dead.
"Sango!"
It wasn't Kaoru or Momiji's voice that yelled her name. It was a deep masculine voice that oddly sounded familiar. Sango's surroundings were starting to blur and spin, but she managed to raise her head to meet the eyes of the man who held out his hand to her. She gasped when she realized who it was.
"Kuranosuke-sama."
His name was the last word she uttered before she lost consciousness.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I will continue in this same chapter. It's just that I ran out of thoughts because I have to watch a Slayers movie in order to write a review for my cousin who owns Animeokashi.Com. OMG! I just wrote the very first chapter of my very first fanfic. Hopefully I'd be able to finish this too! I always start something and not finish it (which is what happened to the countless fanfics that I've tried to write for the past five years but never had the chance to post online). OkehI bet it would be my sister who's going to write the first review. Anyways, I already have the second chapter drafted 'cause I thought that was gonna be part of the first chapter. I changed my mind and will be putting that on the second chapter instead.
This is just inspired by episode 78, which is probably my most unforgettable
part of Inuyasha, even though I've already seen many episodes after it. I couldn't
think of a decent title, so I chose Boa Gwon's Inuyasha ending theme. I'm always
reminded of Miroku and Sango whenever I hear this. Written on Sunday, October
27, 2002 5:33:31 PM (Philippine Time). I don't own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi
is the creative person who made this wonderful series. Ohand I've never
seen a single Tagalog episode so please bear with me if my writing is based
on the Japanese release of Inuyasha.