Once Upon a Time Chapter 7

By Aisuru aisuru_chan@yahoo.com

Sango may have had her hand over Miroku's eyes, but that brief flash of erotica that he had been gifted with had been burned into his retinas for him to enjoy again, and again, and again... The sounds of Kagome's struggles, which were of course futile but burned in Miroku's ears like just so much more erotica, did not move towards the entrance of the cave, where Kagome feared more cold rain water awaited her, but towards the back of the cave, out of reach of the heat and light of the fire. "What is happening?" Miroku asked Sango, the huskiness of his voice doing little to disguise the effect being witness to this confrontation was having on him.

Sango's voice was unsteady when she answered. "He's, well, um, he seems to be taking her to the back of the cave, and, um, well..." There was a pause, and Miroku feared that he would get no more details out of the demon exterminator, when she suddenly exclaimed, still whispering, "Did you see where he had his hand!"

Miroku nodded, and although Sango couldn't see Miroku very well in the dimness of the cave, she felt the nod, since her hand was still on his face. The hanyou and the miko were no longer in the circle of light, and Sango quickly removed her hand from Miroku's eyes, going so far as to scoot a ways away from him, wanting to risk no contact with the male, just in case whatever Inuyasha had caught might be contagious. 'Okay, so it isn't likely that Miroku is going to go youkai on us and start acting all possessive and dominating,' Sango shuddered at the thought, but if she was honest with herself - which she wasn't - she wasn't sure if her shudder was revulsion or anticipation at the thought of Miroku being possessive towards her and not just any female that came around.

"Hey, Inuyasha," Shippou yelled after the hanyou, startling both Sango and Miroku, who had lost themselves in very adult musings. "Where are you taking Kagome?" Concern for the girl, who was threatening to subdue Inuyasha if he didn't put her down this instant, was overriding his fear of Inuyasha in his current state.

Miroku grabbed hold of Shippou's tail as the little kitsune youkai started towards the back of the cave. "Kagome can take care of herself when it comes to Inuyasha," he told Shippou, pretty sure that he was lying in this particular instance, but it was either tell a little white lie or listen to the fox child get torn limb from limb by Inuyasha for disturbing... whatever... was going on... in the back of the cave. Miroku's fingers twitched and then went limp at this train of thought. He dropped Shippou.

Before Shippou had a chance to hit the ground, Sango had hold of his tail. Miroku grinned down at the demon exterminator, who had sprawled herself across his lap in her rush to catch the child, and Sango immediately righted herself, elbowing Miroku in the ribs as she sat up. "Oh, oops," she said, not at all apologetically.

She turned her attention back to Shippou. "We aren't sure what is going on either," she told the fox. When Miroku cleared his throat meaningfully, she added, "exactly. We aren't sure exactly what is going on, but you know that Kagome is strong, right?" At Shippou's hesitant nod she continued. "And has Inuyasha ever hurt Kagome?"

Shippou's eyes grew wide. "The first day that he met her he tried to kill her! That is why Kaede made him wear the rosary necklace!"

"Yes, that is true," Miroku muttered, wondering if Kagome being carted off by an amorous Inuyasha was maybe less erotic then he had thought and maybe more along the lines of a dinner for one. He started to rise, unwilling to sit safely by the fire while Kagome was eaten (in a literal, non-innuendo sense), but Sango grabbed at his robe, pulling him back.

"He isn't going to kill her!" she whispered harshly. She blew her damp bangs out of her face in exasperation, both hands occupied with holding back the two males. "Don't you guys know anything about youkai?"

"I AM a youkai!" Shippou exclaimed, clearly offended.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Yes, I suppose you are. Look, if Inuyasha was planning on killing Kagome, do you think he would have spent the last half- hour combing her hair in front of the fire? Do youkai have some sort of weird dietary requirements specifying that their meals have well-groomed hair?"

Shippou, who had never actually eaten a human, paused to think about this. Miroku bopped the kit on the head. "Of course not, Sango-chan," Miroku answered, sitting down again for another enlightening lesson on youkai from the life-long youkai exterminator. "If he was going to eat her, he would have eaten her already." He paused, flashing Sango a hentai grin. "You don't think they've already gone that far, do you?"

The rest of the lesson was lost, as Sango beamed Miroku on the head with her bone boomerang. She was kind enough to pull the unconscious man away from the fire, but she paid no mind to his position, almost guaranteeing a stiff neck as well as a killer headache when he woke up. "Serves him right," she mumbled.

"I don't get it," Shippou pouted.

***

Meanwhile, in the back of the cave, away from the light and warmth of the little fire, the confrontation, if it could be called that, between Kagome and Inuyasha continued. Inuyasha's thoughts as he carried Kagome from her spot by the fire to the back of the cave were very primal and instinctual. Kagome was no longer wet (she had admitted as much herself). Kagome was wriggling in his hold as if she wanted to escape, which only meant that she really needed more reassurances of her importance to him. Reassuring her would prove to be very pleasant, and he was looking forward to it.

Kagome's thoughts were much more scattered, but she also had a primal urge: run! Escape! Get far, far away from the very strong, very attentive, frighteningly cuddly Inuyasha that seemed to be finding much too much enjoyment from her current predicament, namely that her bare feet were dangling several inches off the ground and she was being held in the air by the hand that reached in front of her body, holding her thigh, and the other arm, which was holding her across the chest under her breasts. Inuyasha shifted his hold, lifting her higher against his body. The feel of his maleness pushing against her bottom through his hakama distracted her from the hand that shifted to grasp her breast.

Kagome froze. Inuyasha took that as a good sign, a sign of acceptance, a sign of understanding, and nuzzled her throat to show her his pleasure. Then he lowered her, stooping so he could release his hand from her leg, and let her gain her balance, intending to remove his own clothes and use them to form a comfortable nest on the cold, hard floor of the cave, another benefit of wearing fire-rat fur.

Kagome's understanding was of a different sort. As soon as her feet touched the ground and Inuyasha gave her a final embrace before releasing her (and reaching for the ties of his hakama), Kagome bolted. Or she would have, if Inuyasha's reflexes hadn't been youkai fast at the moment. Okay, she couldn't have bolted with his hanyou reflexes either, but the point is that he easily caught the back of the fire-rat jacket she wore - the only clothing she wore - and she squeaked in surprise. She was then faced with the choice of remaining with Inuyasha or wriggling out of the jacket and running stark naked towards the fire (and Miroku, who she didn't realize had been rendered unconscious). She hesitated, giving Inuyasha the opportunity to wrap her in his arms and pull her back to him.

***

Sango jumped to her feet at the sound of Kagome's cry, and was considering ignoring her own advice and rushing to aid the girl from the future, when she felt Shippou tug on the hem of her kimono. She looked down at him impatiently, but in the glow of the fire she could tell that his cute little face was not looking at her, but towards the entrance of the cave. She turned her own face towards the storm, peering blindly into the darkness. A sudden flash of lightening lit the sky, and Sango gave a scream of her own.

Sesshoumaru was standing outside, a little girl in a green kimono holding his hand.