"I thought I told you not to get involved! This is my business," hissed Sango as she leaned against a pillar, hiding herself from the guards. Miroku's arms were crossed over his chest as he towered over her. His handsome face was drawn in a dark scowl.

"I don't trust you not to lose your head when you rescue your 'boyfriend'," said Miroku haughtily as they waited for an opportunity to infiltrate the female scorpion youkai's hideout where they traced Kyo's whereabouts. From what they were able to gather as they drew closer to the hideout, Kyo's undercover mission was discovered and he was caught and poisoned by the scorpion youkai. He was ordered to kill the band of strangers who entered the town (Inuyasha and company) so that he would get the antidote. He didn't recognize Sango until their kissing encounter.

Sango got rid of a few youkai guards with her katana as they stealthily got closer and closer to the main chambers. Instead of wasting her time in arguing with that stubborn goat Miroku, Sango focused her attention on the rescue. Getting rid of a scorpion youkai is easy enough but since this youkai had a female form, it meant that it was pretty powerful. She hoped that her hiraikotsu was tough enough to take it down.

Miroku destroyed a couple of monsters with his shakujo as he hurried after Sango. / That female irritant! So eager to save her boyfriend all ready! / thought Miroku grumpily. Their infiltration was swift, silent and methodical. Even Miroku felt admiration from the steely determination in Sango's eyes. / And she calls me pervert when that guy kissed her while she was naked! / thought Miroku sourly. The two of them paused in front of the inner chamber's door and Sango set the small Kirara down from her shoulder.

"All right Kirara! Attack!" commanded Sango as Kirara burst through the door, spitting fire and tearing through the surrounding youkai. Sango gasped when she saw Kyo, unconscious and half-naked on the floor, the female youkai straddling him with her clothes loosened. "Sukebe!" murmured Sango under her breath as she sent her Hiraikotsu flying towards the youkai. The female youkai was thrown back and her human form began to revert back to her original body.

"Sango!" called out Miroku as he sent three electricity seals towards the youkai. The youkai screamed and began trashing her tail. In the youkai's rage, it began sending out poisoned darts and Sango used her Hiraikotsu as a shield. "Kirara! Watch over Kyo," instructed Sano as she jumped high towards the youkai. Holding the end of her Hiraikotsu, she slashed the scorpion but the armor protected the youkai.

"Kuso!" cursed Sango as she went down and crouched low, thinking of her attack. Miroku attacked next, his standard style of placing a seal on the youkai's forehead and hitting it on the head with his shakujo. The youkai writhed and screamed in pain but it still didn't die. "Here's the final blow! Hiraikotsu!" shouted Sango as she sent her huge boomerang flying towards the monster.

The monster gave a scream of rage and released a barrage of poisoned darts before it disintegrated. With her Hiraikotsu still in rotation, Sango started to run away from the darts but Miroku placed himself in front of her. "Stay still," ordered Miroku as he spun his shakujo, making an effective shield against the poisoned darts. Miroku never noticed that a dart rebounded from his staff and sank into his neck. He set his shakujo down and suddenly felt weak after the battle. He sat down on the floor, indian style as he wondered at his sudden nausea.

Sango was already at Kyo's side and asked the shivering young man. "Did she mate with you?" she asked anxiously knowing that a female scorpion poisoned her mate after sex. Still lying on the floor, Kyo shook his head. "She paralyzed me though. And poisoned me on my hand yesterday," answered Kyo. Sango shook her head and looked for her water skin. She shook it and found out it was almost empty. She took out one of her antidotes contained in a shell and mixed the antidote with the water. "Here. Drink all of this," instructed Sango before she heard a soft thud behind her back. She saw Miroku down and turning paler by the minute.

"Houshi-sama!" cried Sango and ran over to the monk's side. As she cradled the monk's head, she saw the poisoned dart embedded in the monk's neck. The poison has reached his bloodstream! Miroku opened his eyes slowly and winced when he hardly recognized Sango's face because his vision was blurring.

"What happened?" asked Miroku, his lips dry.

Sango's eyes darkened before she bowed her head and answered, "You were hit by a poisoned dart in your neck and it struck one of your veins. The poison is spreading fast and I know how to beat this poison."

"Well, then help me," gasped Miroku feeling the pain ripping through his veins. His arms felt numb now and he knew the poison worked fast. He focused blurry eyes and saw that Sango's face was a little red.

"All right... demo-- this method is embarrassing enough for me. We have no water anymore so I'll have to administer the first stage of treatment through... my mouth. And then-- I'll have to suck the poisonous blood from your wound," muttered Sango in a rush as she met Miroku's gaze.

Miroku sensed the fear of being groped from Sango and then he closed his eyes. "Hai, I won't touch you in any way that would embarrass you further," said Miroku softly as he felt Sango relax and lean towards him. Despite the thickening of his blood because of the poison, he found his heart racing. Administer through the mouth, that would mean that Sango would be placing her mouth on top of his but since the antidote was made of powder, he can only imagine what it meant. He felt Sango's finger touching his mouth and he opened his mouth, knowing but not really knowing what was to come.

Sango dabbed the antidote on her tongue to get it slightly wet. She grimaced as she tasted the bitterness of the medicine and touched Miroku's face to turn it towards her. She found herself looking at his lips before she closed her eyes and bent her head. Her open mouth touched his and almost a bit tentatively, she touched her tongue filled with the antidote against Miroku's tongue. She felt the monk's eyelashes flutter open in surprise against her skin and then she felt the monk open his eyes. They were so close that she felt every movement he made. She blushed, trying to think that this was treatment-- not a kiss, a passionate kiss in fact. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Miroku's tongue move and caress her tongue with his.

Although he knew that Sango was merely trying to save his life, Miroku couldn't help but respond. / This would make the antidote more liquid. / he thought, trying to excuse his actions. It was just that-- the feeling of her small tongue touching his, it was more than he had ever dreamed of. He shifted his head, feeling the pain lessen because the antidote was working. He felt the antidote on Sango's tongue disappearing and before it completely disappeared, he kissed her deeply for one last time, as if to store this one encounter as a cherished memory and he felt Sango shiver against him.

'This is insanity,' thought Sango, the antidote long gone from her tongue but she was still kissing Miroku back. The way he kissed her... so gently and so full of painful yearning, it made her heart squeeze. So many times she dreamed about him kissing her-- not trying to cop a feel on her rear. But his hands weren't anywhere near her butt and that fact alone made her feel as if he saw her as a woman-- as herself she hoped, not some vessel of lust.

She drew back from him, touching her softened lips with her fingertips as she stared down at Miroku's peaceful face. He lost consciousness but even on the edge of death-- he was quite a kisser. There was electricity surging through her veins, like adrenaline. She felt like jumping around and defeating a thousand youkai with one hand just because of that one kiss. She shivered as she touched Miroku's face tenderly.

/ I just wish that-- that was my first kiss. / thought Sango as she bent her head once more to suck the poisoned blood from Miroku's neck. Her eyes saddened as she wondered how Miroku became such a good kisser and how many women have he kissed that way.

***

"You want to what?" exclaimed Inuyasha tactlessly as Sango crossed her arms over her chest and explained her plans once more.

"I said-- I want to go to my Uncle's town to make sure Kyo goes back safely, " said Sango, trying to be patient with the hanyou. She didn't add the fact that she will also be trying to break her engagement with Kyo because things are so different now, with her family gone and as much as she hated to admit it-- her feelings for Miroku.

But fortunately, Kagome was perceptive enough to see through Sango's explanation. She turned to a ranting Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, owasuri," commanded Kagome as Inuyasha slammed down on the ground. Kagome took both of Sango's hands and said, "Sango-chan, let's leave this stubborn louts behind, I'll go with you."

Miroku was seated at the corner of the room silent. It was two days ago since he got poisoned but he and Sango never discussed what happened between them. He knew, deep down that whatever he felt for Sango was dangerous and it would take their focus from their mission. Leaving what passed between them that night and whatever they felt unsaid was better and safer. He felt someone boring holes in his back with angry looks and he looked back to see Kyo glowering at him.

This morning the young man cornered him and said, "Stay away from Sango-hime, bouzo."

He gave the younger man a look of indifference and then sourly muttered, "What's he so jealous for? His beloved Sango stayed with him practically every minute since the rescue." Miroku felt as if since their kiss, Sango was avoiding him and she was very polite. He still couldn't bring himself to grope Sango, the memory of Sango worrying about his touch was still too fresh in his mind. He knew it would be normal if he acted perverted, and that things would probably settle back into their old routine but the presence of the Kyo made him ashamed to think of how he treated Sango in the past. Kyo had all but worshipped the ground where Sango walked on, and generally acted much like Kouga.

And what was more irritating was that Sango seemed different, not as tough as before and there was a softness in her eyes that Miroku found so irresistible. "Houshi-sama?" asked Sango, breaking Miroku's train of thoughts. "Huh?" said Miroku as he looked up and found the occupants of the room all looking at him. He sweat-dropped and said automatically, "Hai!"

"That settles it! We're going to Kyo-san's town!" exclaimed Kagome as she grinned at the look of utter surprise on Miroku's face. Two days ago, the monk seemed distracted and appeared to be thinking deeply about something. Kagome grinned as she looked from Sango's constant glances at Miroku, to Kyo's obvious anger at the monk and Miroku's own preoccupation. "Chance!" said Kagome as she clapped her hands in glee, making Shippou and Inuyasha look at each other in worry.

***

"You're a prince!" exclaimed Kagome as they were walking on the road. It was late afternoon and the sun was just setting when Kagome looked back and noticed Kyo's eyes as he laughingly told the group more stories about their childhood in the same village.

Kyo scratched his head as he answered, "Aa. But technically, since my Chichiue still continues his intelligence operations, I'm also just an ordinary 'spy'." Stars sparkled in Kagome's eyes as she leaned a bit dramatically near Miroku. "A spy who loves Sang o and who is also a Prince! How romantic!" she rhapsodized. Miroku said nothing and looked only as if he were meditating.

"Say Kyo-san, I've only just noticed but the color of your eyes are strange," persisted Kagome. "It's a beautiful shade of green, so unusual compared to say-- Miroku-sama's boring, ordinary blue..." Kagome said with a chuckle. Miroku scowled and for the record, so did Sango. ^_^

Kyo flushed a little and said, "It's just green Kagome-sama." He looked at the green skirt of Kagome's uniform and scratched his head a little. Well, the color of leaves and grass are green and so was Kagome's uniform but on the other hand, the shade of his eyes was a little off the green color of those things.

"It's unique and beautiful. I think that's what you call silver-green," said Kagome as loudly as she could, also drawing the attention of Inuyasha who growled. Sango, who was walking beside Kyo whirled around and faced her friend as if verifying Kagome's words.

"Your eye color is green? I used to think it was gray!" said Sango aghast as she stepped closer to Kyo and peered at his eyes. Seeing the chance, Kyo stepped closer to Sango as well and bent his head a little as he said with a smile, "It's green." He started to lower his head to kiss her but was surprised when the metal contraption Kagome rode occasionally hit him from behind. Inuyasha was holding it earlier but the hanyou was smirking at him when Kyo looked back. "You hit me deliberately with the bike dog-boy!"

He narrowed green eyes at the hanyou and Inuyasha bared his fangs while Miroku stood at Inuyasha's back, his brows arched in disdain.

Kagome immediately stepped in before a fight breaks out like what had happened a few nights ago in their journey. Miroku was back to his old perverted self and that made Sango move away from him recently. Once, Kagome succeeded in getting the two together to talk but Miroku ruined the 'mood' when he groped Sango! Kagome since then has been trying to make Miroku jealous and from the restless behavior of the monk lately, Kagome's barbs were clearly affecting him.

"Maa Kyo-san, Inuyasha's just a little frisky today. Hope you weren't hurt. Your green eyes are really beautiful though," said Kagome, ignoring Inuyasha's growl from behind her.

Kyo blushed. "It's just green Kagome-sama."

"I never realized your eyes were this shade of green Kyo," said Sango a little sheepishly as the two walked ahead of their group.

Kagome looked back at Miroku and grinned slyly. "Not as green as Miroku's turning out to be though," murmured Kagome as she grinned at the dangerous intent in Miroku's eye as he stared at Kyo.

TBC

***

A/N: Wai!!!! Thank you for the immediate reviews! Nikkou-chan, White Witch and the others! ^_^ Go reviewers! Hope you like this fic and yes, sorry of it was too mushy. I felt bad for giving Sango's first kiss to Kyo and felt responsible to make up for it by writing a very romantic Sango/Miroku moment. Okay, another ambitious aim-- please let my reviews reach 30+ for this chapter! I'll make an extra-super duper special next chapter if my reviews reach 30 and up. REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

Disclaimers: All credits go to Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Inuyasha. I am simply borrowing these endearing characters for a few pages. ^_^

Crucify My Love

Part 3

An Inuyasha fanfiction by Jo-chan