Complete the Circle
Chapter Seventeen: Muse About the Others
Inuyasha walked next to Miroku, feeling the warmth of the afternoon sun warm his cheeks. It was silent between them, the only sounds coming from the cars and people passing by. Miroku could feel Inuyasha shift uncomfortably in the silence. His friend was never one for silent, serious atmospheres.
"So, what was with you back there?" Inuyasha asked, breaking the silence. "You weren't acting like your usual self."
"I don't trust them," Miroku said.
"No reason to get all mean on them," Inuyasha said, clueless as to why Miroku was suspicious of them. "They seemed pretty nice to me."
"Well, you're an idiot," Miroku grumbled, wondering how on earth did he ever land with an idiot like Inuyasha for his best friend.
"Hey, you don't have to take your anger out on me," Inuyasha grumbled back, but Miroku could see that he wasn't irritated by his insult at all.
"The girl's a miko," Miroku said, figuring that would explain all.
"So?"
"You idiot! Miko's slay youkai!" Miroku said loudly, losing his temper.
"She just said she doesn't slay 'good' youkai," Inuyasha replied calmly.
"What makes you think you fall under the category of a 'good' youkai?" Miroku asked, his calm mask once in place again. Gah, Inuyasha irritates the hell out of me sometimes.
"Puh-lease," Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes. "I can't even kill an ant with my powers, much less a human."
"That's true," he said, annoying Inuyasha. "That's not my biggest worry though."
"Really? Then what?" Inuyasha asked, managing to sound bored. Asshole, Miroku was tempted to say, but held his tongue. His friend was still stronger than him without his powers, and he knew for a fact that Inuyasha was smart, so insulting him now would probably have a consequence later, and he didn't want to test just how smart Inuyasha was with the more...creative side of his brain.
"My grandfather had a bad feeling. Yes, like a premonition or something," Miroku said before Inuyasha interrupted. "He sent me here because he wanted me to find out if anything strange was happening around here. So, I'm kinda like a scout, trying to see if anything is out of place."
"And you think Kagome and Shippou are the ones your grandfather was…um, 'feeling,' right?" Inuyasha asked.
"Are you stupid? A miko and a youkai, living together, under one roof; that's not suspicious to you?" Miroku said, trying to control his temper.
"Kagome has been here since kindergarten," Inuyasha reminded Miroku. Inuyasha suddenly frowned. "Weird. I should've remembered her from kindergarten. Why didn't I remember her name?" Miroku ignored his friend's wonderings and continued his suspicions.
"Were you even paying attention to that kid, Shippou? He says his parents were killed by youkai who were after a treasure in his father's possession, and when you asked if those youkai who killed his parents were punished, he said yes. Doesn't that strike you as odd?" Miroku questioned. "He loses his parents, then all of a sudden he doesn't have to carry out his vengeance any more because some dude just popped out of nowhere and took care of those goons for him, and then a miko comes and adopts him? That's not weird to you?"
"What? It could happen," Inuyasha said in pretend naivety.
"I think the tale's too coincidental, or the boy's lying, or at least, stretching the truth," Miroku stated. He saw Inuyasha shrug.
"There's also been one other thing that's bothering me," Miroku said quietly. "It's you. Your aura…it's different."
"Different? What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked, looking himself over. "I don't feel any different."
"I didn't think you would," Miroku said. "It's just a small difference, very slight and easily overlooked. If I didn't know you as long as I have, I wouldn't have noticed it."
"Are you going to tell me what's different or not?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.
"Remember how I told you that you lack the aura of a human or a youkai?" Miroku asked, watching Inuyasha nod exasperatedly. "Well now, your aura seems even more empty."
"Huh?"
"I don't know how to explain it," Miroku said, frustrated with his inability to pin down what was wrong with his friend. "It's like you got some extra power to boost your nothingness. I didn't think anyone could have an aura as empty as yours, I mean, even the least sensitive person has some spiritual aura around them, but with you, it's empty. A void. A blank."
"Alright already," Inuyasha said, cutting the monk off from more detailed descriptions of his aura. "Who cares if it's more empty? I want to know when it starts to get opposite of empty."
"Don't interrupt me," Miroku said, ignoring Inuyasha's question. "I was thinking that this recent development has something to do with you awakening from your coma."
"Don't be so dramatic," Inuyasha scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"I'm serious here! Ever since you got back from the hospital, your aura's been different. Plus, you almost forgot who I was! Sure, you remembered who your grandfather was and mostly everything else, but you almost forgot who your own parents were!" Miroku said, his frustration apparent in his words.
"Hey, I still remembered their names," Inuyasha said defensively.
"That's not the point! You couldn't remember their beings. I know it was only for a couple of minutes, but in that small time, your mind drew a blank on these people. Even your favorite 'onii-chan' was forgotten. And what about your sister? It wasn't as bad with her, but I saw the confusion in your eyes in that brief second. It's like specific things in your mind were erased," Miroku said, stopping to catch his breath.
"I…" Inuyasha started, but paused. "You're right," he said in a soft voice. "I didn't remember. I didn't think anyone noticed, but I guess I was wrong."
Silence surrounded them again as they neared Inuyasha's house. Inuyasha was about to enter his home when Miroku pulled him back.
"What now?" Inuyasha asked, impatience in his voice again.
"I'm not sure if this is important or not, but…" Miroku hesitated, then plowed on. "That night, the night that you, er, 'dropped dead,' I suppose," Miroku said, Inuyasha rolling his eyes at him once more. "I saw something come out of you. I don't know what it was, but… I don't know. I could be wrong about this whole thing but…"
"Get on with it, will ya?" Inuyasha said, crossing his arms.
"It could have been your soul. It could have been the remaining of your spiritual energy, if you ever had any before. It could have been anything." Miroku watched Inuyasha's face for any reactions. His friend was not exactly good at hiding his expressions, but now he had a strangely stony face, almost calm in its lack of emotions.
"I saw an orb of light. A shining jewel, more exactly. While I was 'sleeping.' That was the first thing I remembered, or saw… Whatever." Inuyasha looked at Miroku meaningfully in the eye. He wasn't lying, or playing a joke on his best friend. "I'll let you figure the rest out."
Sango walked next to Kagome, her mind occupied with the day's events. The transformed kitsune trotted next to them, his expression changing from happiness to gloominess with his thoughts. Sango had no doubt that Shippou was thinking along the same lines as she.
Why had Miroku acted so cold and hostile towards them?
Sango felt herself clench her fists in anger. If that monk doesn't give a good excuse for his actions, I'm going to beat the crap out of him. She was slightly startled with her thoughts, but she wasn't that surprised. Why shouldn't she get angry? Her…friend had just turned his back on her, pretending not to know her. Fine, he wasn't pretending, but still, he should have had more faith in her. Even if he didn't know her in this life, the emotions he had in his past life should still have somehow stayed in him, getting him to trust her.
Sango almost stopped walking in that thought. The emotions of the past life should still somehow influence the present, even if it was a small influence. But Miroku had shown no interest in her, no welcoming familiarity. When she had met Kagome, she knew she could trust the girl, yet Miroku showed no such trust. He had not felt the sudden friendship that had sprung up between her and Kagome. Well, except to touch my butt. But that doesn't really count, does it? He probably does that stupid trick all the time in his other school. Does that mean Miroku never really liked me at all?
"Inuyasha's…not the same, is he?" Kagome asked, her question interrupting Sango's thoughts.
"Well, he doesn't seem that angry or mean anymore," Shippou's small voice piped up.
"I'm sure he's only different because he was raised differently in this life," Sango said, hoping her experience with two lives gave her to wisdom to speak on such matters. "Perhaps this life has been gentler on him, so he doesn't need his mean façade anymore."
"I guess…" Kagome said, still unconvinced. Sango couldn't blame her. To come face to face with her own incarnation, then to find the incarnation willing to kill the one she loved out of malice was not something the girl could easily forget. To Kagome, one reincarnation was drastically different from another. After all, how could Kagome imagine herself willing to kill Inuyasha? It was easier to believe that she and Kikyo were two different people than to believe that Kikyo's experience had led her to become a ghost of vengeance. So in Kagome's mind, this Inuyasha may not be the Inuyasha that she loved.
"At least Inuyasha was nice," Shippou said, looking up at Kagome. "Miroku was just plain mean."
Sango felt herself almost freeze at those words.
"He kept looking at us mean, and he kept asking those questions," Shippou continued, oblivious to Sango's discomfort. Kagome quickly shushed the child from saying more to upset Sango.
"He's right," Sango said, interrupting Kagome's scolding looks at Shippou. "Miroku is different. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
"I'm sure he was acting that way for a good reason," Kagome said, trying to comfort her friend. "Miroku's not the type to do something on a whim."
"He may be in this life," Sango said softly.
"But he's still perverted, so maybe there's a chance that he's still the same. We probably just caught him on a bad day," Kagome said, trying to sound cheerful.
"It doesn't matter," Sango said, sounding exhausted. "We'll find out what he's really like, won't we? In the mean time, I better go home and get a good night's rest. My dad's bringing me to his 'good' youkai friend tomorrow for 'training' or whatever. I hope his 'good' friend doesn't eat me if I lose."
"You won't lose, Sango-chan," Kagome said encouragingly. "You're the best youkai exterminator in your village. You're not going to lose your skill, especially since you've got the memory of all your experience in your head. Besides, Shippou-chan and I will be there to cheer you on."
"You're going, too?" Sango asked, surprised.
"Sure, if your parents will let us," Kagome said. "Ask your parents for us. If we're there, we can protect you with our powers if your dad's friend decides to eat you, so you don't have to worry about a thing."
"Unless the youkai decides to eat you two first," Sango said dryly.
"Well, there's that too," Kagome giggled nervously. Sango smiled at her friend's effort to make her smile. If no one else in the world could remember what happened in the Sengoku Jidai, at least she still had Kagome and Shippou, not to mention Kirara.