Miroku's Bedtime Stories
Chapter 5
Perfume and Sake
(AN: Just to answer reviewers, I'm making "Miroku's" stories up myself. I used to write a lot of fairy tale type stories for my kids. They're based upon my totally inadequate knowledge of Japanese folklore. I'll just apologize in advance to anyone who really knows this subject, gulp. I'm a casual student of mythologies of different lands. But, I didn't want to use any real myths, because the point of the stories Miroku tells are their effect on a certain young woman. However, this chapter is about Inuyasha and Kagome.)
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"At least the villagers here aren't too nosey," thought Inuyasha as he looked down from his perch in a large tree.
He was a bit more at ease than at the beginning of their journeys together. Still, he was never completely comfortable in ningen villages and towns.
He had learned to put up with a lot of things for his friend's sakes. His ningen friends. Youkai didn't have friends. They made alliances for power. They refrained from killing each other, helped each other do battle against common enemies. They chose mates, not usually from the heart, but based on the power of forging stronger alliances. There were exceptions. It was considered weakness.
Inuyasha knew now that most humans considered "falling in love" a strength, not weakness. He wasn't sure. If what he felt for Kagome was love, then why did she make him feel bad sometimes? Kagome had told him love was supposed to make you feel good. It was confusing.
"Feh," he muttered, scratching behind his ear.
He saw Kagome come out of the inn. She'd obviously had a bath, her hair was still damp looking. He could smell the stuff called "shampoo" on her from there. It smelled like sakura and almonds, only stronger. He supposed ningens liked strong smells because their sense of smell was so weak.
He'd asked Kagome to quit wearing perfume a long time ago. It made his nose burn unbearably. He'd asked her very rudely. She'd just had a bath then, too. It was six months ago, in a river...
"That damn piss you put on is making my nose burn. Go wash it off, bitch!"
"I'll have you know that this is very expensive perfume, I just got it for my birthday, you tasteless moron!" yelled Kagome back at him.
"It smells like cat pee!" he yelled back at her. "You're not getting near me with that piss all over you."
"Fine, then I won't get near you," she screamed.
"I can smell it miles away, just how far away are you going to go?" he asked sarcastically.
"How about all the way back to the modern era?" she pouted. "Is that far enough away?"
"Sounds good to me!"
She'd stomped off.
"The well is 3 days walk from here, stupid bitch," Inuyasha mocked her.
"I don't care, I'm going!"
"I'd be easier just to take another bath!"
"No," she yelled, turning and flashing him a rude gesture.
He laughed. And ran after her.
Before she could invoke "Osuwari", he'd grabbed her up (holding his breath, gods, that stuff stunk!) and ran to the river. He jumped in.
The water was up to his waist, but calm in this spot by where they'd camped the night before.
"Put me down, you asshole!" she yelled, kicking and punching at him futilely.
"Okay," he grinned wickedly.
He dropped her into the cool water.
She came up sputtering. She thought about invoking "Osuwari". He'd probably drown, though. It was a tempting thought for about 2 seconds.
"You smell much better now," he said, folding his arms.
She treaded water, glaring at him, then turned and swam the brief distance to shore.
He waded out after her.
She was sitting on the bank of the river, furious and shivering.
He sat down warily next to her.
"Kagome?" he asked tentatively.
"WHAT?" she turned on him, eyes blazing.
"Uh, you smell really nice without that stuff," he said, "Why do ningen girls want to smell like cat piss?"
(AN: Expensive musk based perfume is sometimes made from the glands of civet cats, maybe this is what Inu is detecting, hm?)
She glared at him. He looked genuinely puzzled.
"I don't want to smell like cat piss," she finally said.
"I want to smell like a girl."
"You already smell like a girl."
"It's hard to explain," she'd said.
"It must be, because I don't understand," he'd replied.
She shook her head. And shivered.
Inuyasha noticed that her skin was puckered with goose bumps. Her lips were turning blue.
"You're freezing."
She sneezed.
He went over, sitting next to her, opened his fire-rat haori and scooped her swiftly into his lap. He wrapped it around them. The rough material was warm where his flesh had heated it.
He looked down. Her face was flushed.
"Better?" he asked gruffly.
"Yes, I ..." she trailed off. Her skin was quickly warming from the close contact. He rarely got cold. Or sick. Ningen bodies were so fragile compared to his own. That's why he hated it when he changed into one on the night of the new moon. Weak.
She sighed and put her head against his chest.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"I can hear your heart beat," she whispered.
"I do have one, you know," he joked, a little uncomfortable.
She felt...good against him. He wasn't used to being close or being touched. It usually made him feel threatened. She'd put her hand on his chest, over his heart. "Yes, it's right here."
Gently, she slipped her hand inside of his white juban, her fingertips brushing his chest in a small circle.
His skin tingled hotly where her fingertips trailed. He gasped.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asked, stilling the motion of her hand.
"No," he said shortly. He put his hand over the small one on his chest.
"I like it."
She made stroked a larger circle on the warm skin of his chest.
He purred. Really more of a low pitched thrumming coming from his throat and chest. Growling?
"Inuyasha, are you...purring?" she'd asked him.
"I'm not a cat," he'd said, frowning. The purring/growling stopped.
"You're making this sound, like purring, only deeper."
"I know. It just happens when something feels...nice."
"Oh."
She caressed him again, experimentally, running her hand down across his stomach, then back up again to his collarbones.
His face was growing flushed. He bent his head down touching hers and licked his lips like he wanted to taste her.
Abruptly, he stood up, and Kagome almost fell to the ground. He grabbed around her waist until she'd regained her balance.
"You need some dry clothes," he said hoarsely
Kagome nodded silently and followed him.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha."
He walked off but a ear flicked backwards.
Inuyasha sighed and shifted his position in the tree, breaking his reverie.
Kagome saw him and motioned for him to come down.
He scowled and jumped down. What now?
"Stupid onna."
"I heard that." Kagome said.
"Good." He was in a really shitty mood.
"One of the village women just told Sango and I that there's an otter youkai that makes it's home in a nearby river."
"So?"
"She thought it might have a shard of the Skikon no Tama."
"Why?"
"Because it's become much more powerful and violent the last month. That's what killed the 3 villagers the head man was telling us about."
"Well, then, get ready, we're going jewel shard hunting."
Kagome nodded.
"Sango is ready. You go get Miroku."
"Where is he?"
"Can't you guess?" asked Kagome, pointing.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Bouzu no baka," he said.
He went up the street to the local tavern.
He heard the singing three roads over.
A sad love song.
"So, the houshi got turned down again," Inuyasha thought, sneering. "What a surprise."
He went inside.
Miroku was strumming his sanshin.
Three serving girls were giggling at him, two sitting beside him, one behind him.
When they saw Inuyasha come in, they scurried out the back, whispering at the scowl on his face.
"Get up, houshi, it's time to go jewel shard hunting."
"Now?" inquired Miroku, slowly lifting his dark eyes to meet golden ones.
"No, next week, ahou!" said Inuyasha with heavy sarcasm.
"You scared off my audience," said Miroku, frowning.
Inuyasha stalked over and grabbed Miroku up by the front of his robes. The shanshin clattered to the floor.
"I can't believe you're getting drunk!" he yelled in Miroku's face. "It's the middle of the day!"
Miroku said nothing, turning his face away.
"Let go of him, Inuyasha."
Kagome's quiet voice came from the doorway. Sango was behind her, dressed in her demon slayer's leather armor and holding her hiraikotsu.
Inuyasha let go of Miroku's robes and brushed past the two women as he strode outside.
"Miroku, let's go," said Kagome.
"I haven't been drinking that much," said Miroku quietly.
"I swear to you, Lady Kagome, just a little."
"Inuyasha's just in a bad mood," said Kagome, playing the peacemaker.
"You know how he can be sometimes. You don't have to explain anything to him. Or me."
"Please, houshi-sama," Sango said, "We need your help."
Miroku picked up the discarded lute and stood up.
"For you, Lady Sango," he said. "Because you asked me."
Chapter 5
Perfume and Sake
(AN: Just to answer reviewers, I'm making "Miroku's" stories up myself. I used to write a lot of fairy tale type stories for my kids. They're based upon my totally inadequate knowledge of Japanese folklore. I'll just apologize in advance to anyone who really knows this subject, gulp. I'm a casual student of mythologies of different lands. But, I didn't want to use any real myths, because the point of the stories Miroku tells are their effect on a certain young woman. However, this chapter is about Inuyasha and Kagome.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"At least the villagers here aren't too nosey," thought Inuyasha as he looked down from his perch in a large tree.
He was a bit more at ease than at the beginning of their journeys together. Still, he was never completely comfortable in ningen villages and towns.
He had learned to put up with a lot of things for his friend's sakes. His ningen friends. Youkai didn't have friends. They made alliances for power. They refrained from killing each other, helped each other do battle against common enemies. They chose mates, not usually from the heart, but based on the power of forging stronger alliances. There were exceptions. It was considered weakness.
Inuyasha knew now that most humans considered "falling in love" a strength, not weakness. He wasn't sure. If what he felt for Kagome was love, then why did she make him feel bad sometimes? Kagome had told him love was supposed to make you feel good. It was confusing.
"Feh," he muttered, scratching behind his ear.
He saw Kagome come out of the inn. She'd obviously had a bath, her hair was still damp looking. He could smell the stuff called "shampoo" on her from there. It smelled like sakura and almonds, only stronger. He supposed ningens liked strong smells because their sense of smell was so weak.
He'd asked Kagome to quit wearing perfume a long time ago. It made his nose burn unbearably. He'd asked her very rudely. She'd just had a bath then, too. It was six months ago, in a river...
"That damn piss you put on is making my nose burn. Go wash it off, bitch!"
"I'll have you know that this is very expensive perfume, I just got it for my birthday, you tasteless moron!" yelled Kagome back at him.
"It smells like cat pee!" he yelled back at her. "You're not getting near me with that piss all over you."
"Fine, then I won't get near you," she screamed.
"I can smell it miles away, just how far away are you going to go?" he asked sarcastically.
"How about all the way back to the modern era?" she pouted. "Is that far enough away?"
"Sounds good to me!"
She'd stomped off.
"The well is 3 days walk from here, stupid bitch," Inuyasha mocked her.
"I don't care, I'm going!"
"I'd be easier just to take another bath!"
"No," she yelled, turning and flashing him a rude gesture.
He laughed. And ran after her.
Before she could invoke "Osuwari", he'd grabbed her up (holding his breath, gods, that stuff stunk!) and ran to the river. He jumped in.
The water was up to his waist, but calm in this spot by where they'd camped the night before.
"Put me down, you asshole!" she yelled, kicking and punching at him futilely.
"Okay," he grinned wickedly.
He dropped her into the cool water.
She came up sputtering. She thought about invoking "Osuwari". He'd probably drown, though. It was a tempting thought for about 2 seconds.
"You smell much better now," he said, folding his arms.
She treaded water, glaring at him, then turned and swam the brief distance to shore.
He waded out after her.
She was sitting on the bank of the river, furious and shivering.
He sat down warily next to her.
"Kagome?" he asked tentatively.
"WHAT?" she turned on him, eyes blazing.
"Uh, you smell really nice without that stuff," he said, "Why do ningen girls want to smell like cat piss?"
(AN: Expensive musk based perfume is sometimes made from the glands of civet cats, maybe this is what Inu is detecting, hm?)
She glared at him. He looked genuinely puzzled.
"I don't want to smell like cat piss," she finally said.
"I want to smell like a girl."
"You already smell like a girl."
"It's hard to explain," she'd said.
"It must be, because I don't understand," he'd replied.
She shook her head. And shivered.
Inuyasha noticed that her skin was puckered with goose bumps. Her lips were turning blue.
"You're freezing."
She sneezed.
He went over, sitting next to her, opened his fire-rat haori and scooped her swiftly into his lap. He wrapped it around them. The rough material was warm where his flesh had heated it.
He looked down. Her face was flushed.
"Better?" he asked gruffly.
"Yes, I ..." she trailed off. Her skin was quickly warming from the close contact. He rarely got cold. Or sick. Ningen bodies were so fragile compared to his own. That's why he hated it when he changed into one on the night of the new moon. Weak.
She sighed and put her head against his chest.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"I can hear your heart beat," she whispered.
"I do have one, you know," he joked, a little uncomfortable.
She felt...good against him. He wasn't used to being close or being touched. It usually made him feel threatened. She'd put her hand on his chest, over his heart. "Yes, it's right here."
Gently, she slipped her hand inside of his white juban, her fingertips brushing his chest in a small circle.
His skin tingled hotly where her fingertips trailed. He gasped.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asked, stilling the motion of her hand.
"No," he said shortly. He put his hand over the small one on his chest.
"I like it."
She made stroked a larger circle on the warm skin of his chest.
He purred. Really more of a low pitched thrumming coming from his throat and chest. Growling?
"Inuyasha, are you...purring?" she'd asked him.
"I'm not a cat," he'd said, frowning. The purring/growling stopped.
"You're making this sound, like purring, only deeper."
"I know. It just happens when something feels...nice."
"Oh."
She caressed him again, experimentally, running her hand down across his stomach, then back up again to his collarbones.
His face was growing flushed. He bent his head down touching hers and licked his lips like he wanted to taste her.
Abruptly, he stood up, and Kagome almost fell to the ground. He grabbed around her waist until she'd regained her balance.
"You need some dry clothes," he said hoarsely
Kagome nodded silently and followed him.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha."
He walked off but a ear flicked backwards.
Inuyasha sighed and shifted his position in the tree, breaking his reverie.
Kagome saw him and motioned for him to come down.
He scowled and jumped down. What now?
"Stupid onna."
"I heard that." Kagome said.
"Good." He was in a really shitty mood.
"One of the village women just told Sango and I that there's an otter youkai that makes it's home in a nearby river."
"So?"
"She thought it might have a shard of the Skikon no Tama."
"Why?"
"Because it's become much more powerful and violent the last month. That's what killed the 3 villagers the head man was telling us about."
"Well, then, get ready, we're going jewel shard hunting."
Kagome nodded.
"Sango is ready. You go get Miroku."
"Where is he?"
"Can't you guess?" asked Kagome, pointing.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Bouzu no baka," he said.
He went up the street to the local tavern.
He heard the singing three roads over.
A sad love song.
"So, the houshi got turned down again," Inuyasha thought, sneering. "What a surprise."
He went inside.
Miroku was strumming his sanshin.
Three serving girls were giggling at him, two sitting beside him, one behind him.
When they saw Inuyasha come in, they scurried out the back, whispering at the scowl on his face.
"Get up, houshi, it's time to go jewel shard hunting."
"Now?" inquired Miroku, slowly lifting his dark eyes to meet golden ones.
"No, next week, ahou!" said Inuyasha with heavy sarcasm.
"You scared off my audience," said Miroku, frowning.
Inuyasha stalked over and grabbed Miroku up by the front of his robes. The shanshin clattered to the floor.
"I can't believe you're getting drunk!" he yelled in Miroku's face. "It's the middle of the day!"
Miroku said nothing, turning his face away.
"Let go of him, Inuyasha."
Kagome's quiet voice came from the doorway. Sango was behind her, dressed in her demon slayer's leather armor and holding her hiraikotsu.
Inuyasha let go of Miroku's robes and brushed past the two women as he strode outside.
"Miroku, let's go," said Kagome.
"I haven't been drinking that much," said Miroku quietly.
"I swear to you, Lady Kagome, just a little."
"Inuyasha's just in a bad mood," said Kagome, playing the peacemaker.
"You know how he can be sometimes. You don't have to explain anything to him. Or me."
"Please, houshi-sama," Sango said, "We need your help."
Miroku picked up the discarded lute and stood up.
"For you, Lady Sango," he said. "Because you asked me."