Inu Yasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale Fanfic
Tsubasa (Wings)
Standard Disclaimers Apply
Chapter One: The Attack
It should have been just another simple, peaceful day. In most villages, men and women alike were tending their fields, busily working on their own tasks. The tranquility in those lucky places was in complete contrast to the vicious battle going on in a secluded area of a huge forest far, far away.
"CUTTING WIND!!"
A certain hanyou, to be a little more precise, a certain dog-demon, silver haired hanyou, dressed in red with prayer beads around his neck, dodged another attack from the youkai enemy, all the while yelling at his comrades to get to safety. We will give the safe guess that he is our beloved Inu Yasha. J
"Miroku! What the hell are you waiting for?! Open up your Air Rip!" Sango shouted to the monk, letting loose her huge boomerang again, hitting more snake demons out of their path.
"I can't open it up!" Miroku yelled back, whirling to the right to dodge the clawing attack of a small snake youkai, which Sango efficiently put out of their way. "I sense those Saimyoushou insects of Naraku close by! And if you need reminding, I'm also carrying Lady Kagome!"
"Yeah! Carrying AND groping!" Sango hurled her boomerang again to obliterate the creatures in their way. Shippo, who was on her shoulder, held on with one hand for dear life, his other hand covering his frightened eyes. "And if those damned insects are here, it's not that I'm complaining, but WHY THE HELL AREN'T THEY ATTACKING?!?"
"I don't know!" Miroku answered, dropping down to his knees on top of a small hill, looking at the battle still going on below them. Inu Yasha had the snake youkai by his big, slimy throat, and was currently squeezing so hard that it looked like he had every intention to giving the word 'crushing' a new meaning. His eyes were narrowed in anger at the helpless snake.
"How's Lady Kagome?" Sango asked, dropping down to where Miroku had laid Kagome to the soft grass. She had been knocked unconscious by the snake youkai's swishing tail earlier on, but not before she had been able to fire a purified arrow to the monster's chest sucessfully. Secretly, Miroku was thinking that perhaps that was the reason why Inu Yasha was fighting so furiously. He had truly thought that it was a miracle when the fallen hanyou had started fighting again so viciously when he saw the Lady Kagome hurt.
"She's going to be okay. Just a few scratches and sore bones," Miroku reassured her. Beside him, Shippo was staring at his friend as if he had every intention to keep in that position as long as she didn't get up. Then he saw something that made his blood run cold. "Oh God."
Sango turned to him so quickly it was a wonder that her neck didn't break. She had been watching the battle intently, hands gripping her Hiraikotsu tightly and eyes whirling around for signs of enemy youkais. But something in Miroku's voice and the way he had uttered those two little words had made her glance at him immediately. She looked at his stricken face. "What's the matter?"
Miroku held up Kagome's right arm in the air. There were two clean puncture marks on her arm. "Fucking youkais!"
Sango looked at the wound herself. "But we didn't see her get bitten! Is it poisonous?"
"Probably yes! That explains why she still hasn't woken up. I was wondering why it was taking her so long." He looked at her face, which was beginning to look pale. Her chest was rising and going down in fast movements. It looked like she was currently having trouble breathing. "Fuck it! Just what kind of guardians are we? We never even noticed!" Miroku said breathlessly, already trying to suck the poison from her arm, then spitting poisoned blood to the grass.
"Noticed what?" A cold voice said behind them. Sango felt a powerful aura behind them even before she turned to look at their comrade who was now currently standing behind them wearing a scowl on his face.
Sango looked up nervously at the hanyou's narrowed eyes. "Um, it seems that Lady Kagome's been poisoned by those youkais."
"She's been WHAT?!" Inu Yasha immediately dropped down and pushed off Miroku from his position beside Lady Kagome.
"It's going to be alright," Miroku said irritatedly, from his position on the ground. "Although."
"What is it, you lecherous monk? I thought you said she's going to be okay?" Sweat was visible on his forehead and his eyes were narrowed as he knelt by Kagome, her head pillowed on his lap.
"The snake youkai that you have previously been fighting with was not ordinary, it appears. It's poison is acting in a highly unusual way. Rather than damaging her system, it seems as if it is trying to merge with her blood cells." The priest gulped when he saw Inu Yasha's eyebrow twitch visibly at his words. "We have to transfer blood to her. Not ordinary human blood. We have to use someone's blood who would be strong enough to combat the youkai's blood."
"Shit!" Sango cursed. "We're far from Kaede's village, and there's no way I'll let another youkai get ahold of her, even if it's for her treatment. Can't we use Shippo-chan?" She turned to the trembling baby kitsune who held Kagome's left hand on his own hands. "You will do it for her, won't you Shippo-chan?"
"You know that I'd do anything I could for Kagome-chan, Sango," the little kitsune affirmed bravely. Miroku cut his courageous declaration short, however.
"It won't work." His eyes were glazed over, looking down at the pale girl, his closest thing he could have for a friend. Then his gaze shifted to the growling inu hanyou. "Inu Yasha."
Gods, Kagome, please be all right. He was mentally berating himself for not being a good enough protector for the woman he had sworn, if only to himself, to always protect and to lo-suddenly, he seemed to realize that Miroku had been speaking to him. "What do you want monk?" He was interrupted when Kagome gave a pained gasp, her eyes squeezing even tighter. Unconsciously, her hand reached toward the hanyou's kimono and tightened. "Can't you do something?" he snarled, stroking Kagome's hair gently, the look in his eyes fierce as he glared at them.
"Maybe if we transferred some of your blood into her."
"We'll do what?!" Both Sango and Shippo asked at the same time. Inu Yasha's expression had taken up a look of blank puzzlement, mixing with the concern on his face.
"In case you're forgetting, Inu Yasha is a HANYOU!" Sango shouted at Miroku, whose face was set in a calm, though grim expression. "I know he's a lot more powerful than anyone else, but his blood's a mix of human and youkai! We need pure youkai blood! And won't there be anything wrong with Kagome once we do that? We don't know what her miko powers will do to a foreign power going to her body!"
"We do not have a choice! I doubt that we're going to find an antidote anywhere near. By the time we find a village who might actually have a cure, which I doubt that they will, Kagome-sama will be dead!" Miroku snapped. He was still holding Kagome's arm, his grip on his staff so tight his knuckles were starting to turn white. "Inu Yasha may be just a hanyou, but right now we have no choice! We are not going to put youkai blood into her, she would want to die herself if that is the only way that she'll get well. We just have to hope that her miko powers, if not her spirit and strength, will not let her di- leave us that easily." Miroku wanted to cringe at the awful thought that their friend, his best friend, might actually die. Inside, he was berating himself for not being a good enough protector for the person he had cared so much about. But now was not the time to be guilty. After Kagome-sama is well, then, and only then, would he allow himself to feel the guilt that was flooding him.
My blood? Inu Yasha's mind raced. Kagome needs my blood.As he looked down at the pale woman at his lap he knew that he would likely have done and would do anything for her. Anything.
"What do I have to do, monk?" he growled, hands tightening around Kagome.
The feeling of intense relief was very evident in Miroku's small smile. "Very well, I'm sure that I have sucked out what little amount of the poison I could from her. The remaining amount of it left will be obliterated once your blood merges with her." I am sorry, Kagome-sama, he apologized in his mind, before his gaze turned to Inu Yasha once again. "Do it in her wrist."
Sango's teeth were gritted, her jaw strained at the uncontrollable motion. Shippo's eyes were wide, his aura surrounded by a strong sense of fear from what Inu Yasha could sense.
Meanwhile, the hanyou in attention had huge sweat drops beading on his forehead. A low growl was vibrating in his throat, his eyes intent on Kagome's face as he lifted her wrist.
Delicately, he used one strong claw to cut a small wound on her wrist. His lip curled up in a snarl at the scent of Kagome's blood, angry that he would have to physically hurt the girl he lov- Wait! God, what was I thinking? Shaking his head to get rid of the thought, he used his other hand to cut a wound on his other wrist. Without any expression showing whatever slight pain he felt at the wound, he carefully positioned his wrist above Kagome's wound, allowing the blood to drop into the wound.
Sango had now taken up the job of being the one to stroke Kagome's hair softly now that Inu Yasha was busy. She sincerely hoped that Kagome- chan would be all right. She just didn't want to witness another death.not another death of someone she cares so much for. But for some reason that she could not fathom, as she gazed at the softly growling hanyou as he continued dripping dark red healing blood on Kagome, she began feeling a small twinge of hope and security. Emotions that she hadn't ever been able to feel, knowing the way youkais and hanyous treated humans. She tried to give a message mentally to her unconscious friend. Don't worry, Kagome- sama. We'll make it all right, I promise you. Inu Yasha will keep you safe. I will keep you safe.
After a considerable amount of Inu Yasha's blood had been transferred to Kagome's, Miroku wasted no time in tying a cloth bandage around the girl's wrist. The hanyou had previously yelled at him stubbornly that he didn't need a bandage. His youkai blood would be enough to heal such an insignificant wound. He had tried very hard to hide a grin when Inu Yasha's possessive streak had shown by the way he had growled so fiercely when Miroku had attempted to transfer Kagome's body to his own lap to better administer to her wounds. Right now, the inu hanyou had turned his back to them, the Lady Kagome in his lap, purring softly, almost absently to the still unconscious girl. Soft, reassuring sounds vibrated from his chest. The priest knew however, that the danger still hadn't passed. They still had to wait and see if the hanyou's blood would be enough to defeat the snake youkai's poison. And even that was not the worst thing that they would have to worry about.
Suddenly,
"MIROKU!" the priest jumped when he heard Sango's voice shouting frantically at him. He turned around to see her bent over Kagome, hiding her from view, Inu Yasha bending over Kagome as well. "Get the HELL over here!!"
He scurried over to the unconscious miko, his eyes widening in alarm when he saw her almost curled up into a ball, hugging herself. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was making small pained gasps, her breathing coming in sharp bursts of air. Beads of sweat were rapidly appearing on her forehead.
It would shortly become obvious that the hanyou beside her was NOT AT ALL pleased by this development.
Miroku had his breath knocked out of him violently when in no less than two seconds, Inu Yasha slammed him into a nearby tree. His feet dangling inches off the ground, he found himself staring into a pair of flashing and furious golden orbs.
"What the shit is going on?!" Inu Yasha shouted, slamming him to the tree once again to punctuate his question. "What's happening to her?!"
The monk thought it best to answer the furious and worried hanyou that was now obviously trying not to strangle him, if only to get an answer as to why Kagome was behaving this way. "I can't.answer.*gasp*.as long as.*choke*.you keep holding me like this, Inu Yasha!"
"Let him go, Inu Yasha!" Sango said behind them, cradling Kagome's upper body in her arms. She was anxiously waiting as well for Miroku's explanation.
Inu Yasha did so, albeit a little reluctantly, and Miroku slid slowly to a sitting position on the forest floor. He talked quickly, concern and worry etched on his face as well as he rubbed his neck. I am definitely going to get bruises here. He, however, maintained his cool expression, looking up at where the inu hanyou was towering over him. He tried his best to look dignified from where he was sprawled on the ground.
"I should have guessed that this would happen. Apparently, her body and powers have sensed that a foreign element has been transferred to her body. Right now, it is trying to detect if the energy entered into her is harmful, all the while moving quickly to destroy it while it still hasn't decided. That is what's causing her pain." His expression was dead serious. "Your blood is trying to heal her, but it is still not familiar to her senses, and it is now trying its best to figure out if it should accept or reject the help it is receiving. The longer the time it takes her blood to figure out that your blood is trying to help, the closer the period of time that the youkai's blood merges completely with hers comes."
Inu Yasha's hands were clenched tightly into fists, unmindful of his claws digging painfully into his palms. He didn't even notice the small rivulet of blood seeping from his closed hand. "You mean that my blood is.is causing her pain? Putting her in danger?" even as he spoke, everyone who heard knew that he was in pain, obviously thinking that it was his fault that Kagome's life was now in even more danger.
Miroku's eyes narrowed uncharacteristically. "Do not even *try* to think that you did something wrong. She needs your blood to survive. We just need to let her know that it is safe to accept the help that we're giving her."
Sango spoke this time, asking the question that was in all of the listeners' minds. "How do we let her know? In case that near strangulation messed up your brain, forgetting the fact that it *is* already messed up, have you forgotten that Kagome-sama is unconscious right now?" Her expression would have been laughable if the situation hadn't been so serious.
"I'm going to try to reach her in her mind!" He sniffed haughtily, nose up in the air.
"That would be exhausting, Miroku-sama," Shippo whispered tentatively from his position beside Kagome. "Do you think you would be able to do it?"
At the kitsune cub's words, Miroku's whole expression softened. Placing a light hand on the baby youkai's head, his body became less tense as he gazed at Kagome with soft eyes. "As long as it's for Kagome-sama, I assure you, I would be capable of doing anything." The tone with which he said that sentence was so serious, so dedicated, that for a minute, all those who had been witness to that statement had to make sure that it was really coming from the priest that they thought they knew so well. And with those words, he straightened up, tapped his staff once against the ground, and closed his eyes.
And everything became quiet.
~~~~~
Tsubasa (Wings)
Standard Disclaimers Apply
Chapter One: The Attack
It should have been just another simple, peaceful day. In most villages, men and women alike were tending their fields, busily working on their own tasks. The tranquility in those lucky places was in complete contrast to the vicious battle going on in a secluded area of a huge forest far, far away.
"CUTTING WIND!!"
A certain hanyou, to be a little more precise, a certain dog-demon, silver haired hanyou, dressed in red with prayer beads around his neck, dodged another attack from the youkai enemy, all the while yelling at his comrades to get to safety. We will give the safe guess that he is our beloved Inu Yasha. J
"Miroku! What the hell are you waiting for?! Open up your Air Rip!" Sango shouted to the monk, letting loose her huge boomerang again, hitting more snake demons out of their path.
"I can't open it up!" Miroku yelled back, whirling to the right to dodge the clawing attack of a small snake youkai, which Sango efficiently put out of their way. "I sense those Saimyoushou insects of Naraku close by! And if you need reminding, I'm also carrying Lady Kagome!"
"Yeah! Carrying AND groping!" Sango hurled her boomerang again to obliterate the creatures in their way. Shippo, who was on her shoulder, held on with one hand for dear life, his other hand covering his frightened eyes. "And if those damned insects are here, it's not that I'm complaining, but WHY THE HELL AREN'T THEY ATTACKING?!?"
"I don't know!" Miroku answered, dropping down to his knees on top of a small hill, looking at the battle still going on below them. Inu Yasha had the snake youkai by his big, slimy throat, and was currently squeezing so hard that it looked like he had every intention to giving the word 'crushing' a new meaning. His eyes were narrowed in anger at the helpless snake.
"How's Lady Kagome?" Sango asked, dropping down to where Miroku had laid Kagome to the soft grass. She had been knocked unconscious by the snake youkai's swishing tail earlier on, but not before she had been able to fire a purified arrow to the monster's chest sucessfully. Secretly, Miroku was thinking that perhaps that was the reason why Inu Yasha was fighting so furiously. He had truly thought that it was a miracle when the fallen hanyou had started fighting again so viciously when he saw the Lady Kagome hurt.
"She's going to be okay. Just a few scratches and sore bones," Miroku reassured her. Beside him, Shippo was staring at his friend as if he had every intention to keep in that position as long as she didn't get up. Then he saw something that made his blood run cold. "Oh God."
Sango turned to him so quickly it was a wonder that her neck didn't break. She had been watching the battle intently, hands gripping her Hiraikotsu tightly and eyes whirling around for signs of enemy youkais. But something in Miroku's voice and the way he had uttered those two little words had made her glance at him immediately. She looked at his stricken face. "What's the matter?"
Miroku held up Kagome's right arm in the air. There were two clean puncture marks on her arm. "Fucking youkais!"
Sango looked at the wound herself. "But we didn't see her get bitten! Is it poisonous?"
"Probably yes! That explains why she still hasn't woken up. I was wondering why it was taking her so long." He looked at her face, which was beginning to look pale. Her chest was rising and going down in fast movements. It looked like she was currently having trouble breathing. "Fuck it! Just what kind of guardians are we? We never even noticed!" Miroku said breathlessly, already trying to suck the poison from her arm, then spitting poisoned blood to the grass.
"Noticed what?" A cold voice said behind them. Sango felt a powerful aura behind them even before she turned to look at their comrade who was now currently standing behind them wearing a scowl on his face.
Sango looked up nervously at the hanyou's narrowed eyes. "Um, it seems that Lady Kagome's been poisoned by those youkais."
"She's been WHAT?!" Inu Yasha immediately dropped down and pushed off Miroku from his position beside Lady Kagome.
"It's going to be alright," Miroku said irritatedly, from his position on the ground. "Although."
"What is it, you lecherous monk? I thought you said she's going to be okay?" Sweat was visible on his forehead and his eyes were narrowed as he knelt by Kagome, her head pillowed on his lap.
"The snake youkai that you have previously been fighting with was not ordinary, it appears. It's poison is acting in a highly unusual way. Rather than damaging her system, it seems as if it is trying to merge with her blood cells." The priest gulped when he saw Inu Yasha's eyebrow twitch visibly at his words. "We have to transfer blood to her. Not ordinary human blood. We have to use someone's blood who would be strong enough to combat the youkai's blood."
"Shit!" Sango cursed. "We're far from Kaede's village, and there's no way I'll let another youkai get ahold of her, even if it's for her treatment. Can't we use Shippo-chan?" She turned to the trembling baby kitsune who held Kagome's left hand on his own hands. "You will do it for her, won't you Shippo-chan?"
"You know that I'd do anything I could for Kagome-chan, Sango," the little kitsune affirmed bravely. Miroku cut his courageous declaration short, however.
"It won't work." His eyes were glazed over, looking down at the pale girl, his closest thing he could have for a friend. Then his gaze shifted to the growling inu hanyou. "Inu Yasha."
Gods, Kagome, please be all right. He was mentally berating himself for not being a good enough protector for the woman he had sworn, if only to himself, to always protect and to lo-suddenly, he seemed to realize that Miroku had been speaking to him. "What do you want monk?" He was interrupted when Kagome gave a pained gasp, her eyes squeezing even tighter. Unconsciously, her hand reached toward the hanyou's kimono and tightened. "Can't you do something?" he snarled, stroking Kagome's hair gently, the look in his eyes fierce as he glared at them.
"Maybe if we transferred some of your blood into her."
"We'll do what?!" Both Sango and Shippo asked at the same time. Inu Yasha's expression had taken up a look of blank puzzlement, mixing with the concern on his face.
"In case you're forgetting, Inu Yasha is a HANYOU!" Sango shouted at Miroku, whose face was set in a calm, though grim expression. "I know he's a lot more powerful than anyone else, but his blood's a mix of human and youkai! We need pure youkai blood! And won't there be anything wrong with Kagome once we do that? We don't know what her miko powers will do to a foreign power going to her body!"
"We do not have a choice! I doubt that we're going to find an antidote anywhere near. By the time we find a village who might actually have a cure, which I doubt that they will, Kagome-sama will be dead!" Miroku snapped. He was still holding Kagome's arm, his grip on his staff so tight his knuckles were starting to turn white. "Inu Yasha may be just a hanyou, but right now we have no choice! We are not going to put youkai blood into her, she would want to die herself if that is the only way that she'll get well. We just have to hope that her miko powers, if not her spirit and strength, will not let her di- leave us that easily." Miroku wanted to cringe at the awful thought that their friend, his best friend, might actually die. Inside, he was berating himself for not being a good enough protector for the person he had cared so much about. But now was not the time to be guilty. After Kagome-sama is well, then, and only then, would he allow himself to feel the guilt that was flooding him.
My blood? Inu Yasha's mind raced. Kagome needs my blood.As he looked down at the pale woman at his lap he knew that he would likely have done and would do anything for her. Anything.
"What do I have to do, monk?" he growled, hands tightening around Kagome.
The feeling of intense relief was very evident in Miroku's small smile. "Very well, I'm sure that I have sucked out what little amount of the poison I could from her. The remaining amount of it left will be obliterated once your blood merges with her." I am sorry, Kagome-sama, he apologized in his mind, before his gaze turned to Inu Yasha once again. "Do it in her wrist."
Sango's teeth were gritted, her jaw strained at the uncontrollable motion. Shippo's eyes were wide, his aura surrounded by a strong sense of fear from what Inu Yasha could sense.
Meanwhile, the hanyou in attention had huge sweat drops beading on his forehead. A low growl was vibrating in his throat, his eyes intent on Kagome's face as he lifted her wrist.
Delicately, he used one strong claw to cut a small wound on her wrist. His lip curled up in a snarl at the scent of Kagome's blood, angry that he would have to physically hurt the girl he lov- Wait! God, what was I thinking? Shaking his head to get rid of the thought, he used his other hand to cut a wound on his other wrist. Without any expression showing whatever slight pain he felt at the wound, he carefully positioned his wrist above Kagome's wound, allowing the blood to drop into the wound.
Sango had now taken up the job of being the one to stroke Kagome's hair softly now that Inu Yasha was busy. She sincerely hoped that Kagome- chan would be all right. She just didn't want to witness another death.not another death of someone she cares so much for. But for some reason that she could not fathom, as she gazed at the softly growling hanyou as he continued dripping dark red healing blood on Kagome, she began feeling a small twinge of hope and security. Emotions that she hadn't ever been able to feel, knowing the way youkais and hanyous treated humans. She tried to give a message mentally to her unconscious friend. Don't worry, Kagome- sama. We'll make it all right, I promise you. Inu Yasha will keep you safe. I will keep you safe.
After a considerable amount of Inu Yasha's blood had been transferred to Kagome's, Miroku wasted no time in tying a cloth bandage around the girl's wrist. The hanyou had previously yelled at him stubbornly that he didn't need a bandage. His youkai blood would be enough to heal such an insignificant wound. He had tried very hard to hide a grin when Inu Yasha's possessive streak had shown by the way he had growled so fiercely when Miroku had attempted to transfer Kagome's body to his own lap to better administer to her wounds. Right now, the inu hanyou had turned his back to them, the Lady Kagome in his lap, purring softly, almost absently to the still unconscious girl. Soft, reassuring sounds vibrated from his chest. The priest knew however, that the danger still hadn't passed. They still had to wait and see if the hanyou's blood would be enough to defeat the snake youkai's poison. And even that was not the worst thing that they would have to worry about.
Suddenly,
"MIROKU!" the priest jumped when he heard Sango's voice shouting frantically at him. He turned around to see her bent over Kagome, hiding her from view, Inu Yasha bending over Kagome as well. "Get the HELL over here!!"
He scurried over to the unconscious miko, his eyes widening in alarm when he saw her almost curled up into a ball, hugging herself. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was making small pained gasps, her breathing coming in sharp bursts of air. Beads of sweat were rapidly appearing on her forehead.
It would shortly become obvious that the hanyou beside her was NOT AT ALL pleased by this development.
Miroku had his breath knocked out of him violently when in no less than two seconds, Inu Yasha slammed him into a nearby tree. His feet dangling inches off the ground, he found himself staring into a pair of flashing and furious golden orbs.
"What the shit is going on?!" Inu Yasha shouted, slamming him to the tree once again to punctuate his question. "What's happening to her?!"
The monk thought it best to answer the furious and worried hanyou that was now obviously trying not to strangle him, if only to get an answer as to why Kagome was behaving this way. "I can't.answer.*gasp*.as long as.*choke*.you keep holding me like this, Inu Yasha!"
"Let him go, Inu Yasha!" Sango said behind them, cradling Kagome's upper body in her arms. She was anxiously waiting as well for Miroku's explanation.
Inu Yasha did so, albeit a little reluctantly, and Miroku slid slowly to a sitting position on the forest floor. He talked quickly, concern and worry etched on his face as well as he rubbed his neck. I am definitely going to get bruises here. He, however, maintained his cool expression, looking up at where the inu hanyou was towering over him. He tried his best to look dignified from where he was sprawled on the ground.
"I should have guessed that this would happen. Apparently, her body and powers have sensed that a foreign element has been transferred to her body. Right now, it is trying to detect if the energy entered into her is harmful, all the while moving quickly to destroy it while it still hasn't decided. That is what's causing her pain." His expression was dead serious. "Your blood is trying to heal her, but it is still not familiar to her senses, and it is now trying its best to figure out if it should accept or reject the help it is receiving. The longer the time it takes her blood to figure out that your blood is trying to help, the closer the period of time that the youkai's blood merges completely with hers comes."
Inu Yasha's hands were clenched tightly into fists, unmindful of his claws digging painfully into his palms. He didn't even notice the small rivulet of blood seeping from his closed hand. "You mean that my blood is.is causing her pain? Putting her in danger?" even as he spoke, everyone who heard knew that he was in pain, obviously thinking that it was his fault that Kagome's life was now in even more danger.
Miroku's eyes narrowed uncharacteristically. "Do not even *try* to think that you did something wrong. She needs your blood to survive. We just need to let her know that it is safe to accept the help that we're giving her."
Sango spoke this time, asking the question that was in all of the listeners' minds. "How do we let her know? In case that near strangulation messed up your brain, forgetting the fact that it *is* already messed up, have you forgotten that Kagome-sama is unconscious right now?" Her expression would have been laughable if the situation hadn't been so serious.
"I'm going to try to reach her in her mind!" He sniffed haughtily, nose up in the air.
"That would be exhausting, Miroku-sama," Shippo whispered tentatively from his position beside Kagome. "Do you think you would be able to do it?"
At the kitsune cub's words, Miroku's whole expression softened. Placing a light hand on the baby youkai's head, his body became less tense as he gazed at Kagome with soft eyes. "As long as it's for Kagome-sama, I assure you, I would be capable of doing anything." The tone with which he said that sentence was so serious, so dedicated, that for a minute, all those who had been witness to that statement had to make sure that it was really coming from the priest that they thought they knew so well. And with those words, he straightened up, tapped his staff once against the ground, and closed his eyes.
And everything became quiet.
~~~~~