AN: Italics = Sango's memories
Sango turned to look for the ball. There was no sign of it. A little creeped out, she turned to walk (albeit a little more quickly than most normally walk) back to where Miroku was.
She started running when she saw a crowd of villagers around the door.
She quickly elbowed her way to the front, rubbing the side of large Kirara's face (the kitty had been blocking the door with sheer mass as per Sango's request) as she slipped by. She slowed to a stop as she heard the houshi in the corner, muttering again, only in two voices.
She regarded him quizzically, leery of approaching the houshi. She turned back toward the villagers still held at bay by the large fire cat demon creature. "Everyone leave. This is under control. Hovering will help nothing."
She left the cat youkai to fend off the villagers (Kirara quite adequately filled the door frame), Sango walked quietly over to Miroku, who had quit muttering and was staring blankly up at the ceiling.
She tapped him on the shoulder, getting his attention. Only her taiji-ya instincts allowed to deflect the blow, mostly.
"Houshi-sama! I mean you no harm," she said tersely to him.
"Sango…" he rasped out, sitting bolt upright, and pulling her into a tight embrace.
Sango gasped, eyes wide as she knelt there, completely unsure as to how to react to this.
She clenched her eyes shut as images flashed in front of her eyes, and she heard snippets from the past.
The houshi's arm, bleeding, as he prepares to free her from the youkai, despite the wounds.
Her, slicing his face after his arm. Even so, he protected her from the hardest enemy. Herself.
Him, smiling at her, "You sure are... scary as an enemy..."
"I'm very glad you're on our side."
Houshi-sama, always comforting her…
Taking time out, and cheering her up.
Wishing for her to have the best.
"Be happy…"
Sango's eyes snapped open, and she only had another small fragment, "…special girl, to me…"
She didn't notice Miroku's harsh breathing, or the fact he still hadn't let go.
The pair kind of sagged against each other, taking comfort from the strange embrace.
Kirara hadn't moved from the doorway, laying down across it and showing her impressive fangs to those who attempted to approach.
*~*
"There's a voice, a voice like candy. So sweet it almost hurts… It wants me. It keeps telling me to succumb."
"There's a chance that's the youkai behind this whole mess," Sango said. Something was tingling in the back of her mind. She pushed the memory away, not able to deal with anything else adding to her splitting headache.
"But it doesn't feel like a youkai. It sounds… forced when it speaks, like it's gentle, but what it says isn't," Miroku said slowly.
"There can be nice youkai, houshi-sama."
"Yes, but this doesn't feel like that."
"We can't leave, by the way. There's a barrier against us leaving."
"I figured as much. Do you know if Kirara can leave?"
"Why?" she asked. "We don't know what we're fighting. We can't pull Kagome-san and Inuyasha-san away from this Shikon shard they are looking for, for something like this. It's not worth it. We can handle it. Besides, if they enter, they might not be able to leave, like us."
"But Inuyasha packs a substantial amount of firepower," Miroku pointed out.
"Not with enough brains, necessarily, though," Sango shot back. "He kills first, asks questions if it occurs to him afterward."
Miroku raised his hands in a motion of defeat. "I cannot argue with a beautiful woman's point," he remarked with a sigh and a smile.
Sango smiled ruefully back at him, rolling her eyes. A vague hint of a memory…
"HENTAI!" *smack*
She decided to err on the side of caution, and scooted over a few feet as she shook her head against the bizarre feeling of the memories.
"Houshi-sama," she started.
He looked at her expectantly.
"I saw something peculiar today," she continued. "I think it was a ghost, but I don't know."
"What was it doing?"
"He was bouncing a ball. Outside of the miko's shrine. He looked like he wanted a playmate. And he seemed to be saying that the other children are in the shrine, but there was no one in there earlier aside from the miko and us."
"Truly. I felt no other presences," Miroku agreed.
"I was probable hallucinating," Sango said finally. She glanced out the window to the peach tree. "It's late; we should sleep."
Miroku nodded his fervent agreement, yawning so widely his jaw popped.
Sango giggled.
AN- Yeah, I know, I know, short. As usual. But the good news is that I finished the complete outline for this story, and I'm almost finished with the side story outline. Of course, they almost got taken away during Psychology (gomen, Frasca-sensei!)… *whistles innocently* Remember: Review and get your questions answered ~ ! I figure that each day is going to get a chapter, which means that chapters will get longer, and that means, *counts on fingers quickly* that there should be seven or eight more chapters, depending on if I do an epilogue-ish thing or not. Then, there will be a side-story-type thing which hopefully won't be too long… *crosses fingers while cursing suddenly prolific muses* Yes, as soon as I post this, I'll continue typing Day II.
Replies:
sango_chan4: I'm attempting to update faster…. Blame AP Euro History… So much reading… But I now know where I'm going with this! Thanks for sticking it out.
Kyosnekozukigirl: Is your name from Fruits Basket? I like… Thanks for reading.
AND EVERYONE ELSE who might have "forgotten" to review, thanks for reading anyway, and I do hope you enjoy it. I just wish you'd drop me a line….