Love Beyond Life
Book 2: Life in the Modern Era
Chapter 4
Sango-sama
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inuyasha, for if I did, these college bills would look like pocket change.
Author's Notes: It has been quite some time since I began writing this piece...and after an extended break in the summer, I seem to have a fair amount of ideas to hopefully complete this monster. Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! The reviews and the e-mails, they really do remind me to get myself in gear and I love hearing about the many theories you all concoct from your reviews...though I won't tell if anyone is right or wrong, as it has been a principle of mine not to tell the readers what to expect. Sometimes, I don't even know ^_^;
*****
He could hear the steady beating of her heart, as it kept time with the soft breaths that past her lips. To his heightened senses, he could detect the very slow speeding of her pulse when her fingers dared near his ears. She sighed softly when she finally mustered enough courage to touch his ears, and he apparently hadn't woken up to be irritated with her. As far as his demonic sense could be certain, she seemed to be healing well.
Truth be told, Inuyasha had been awake for just a little while now, although he was pretty sure that Kagome was completely unaware of it. He lay still, controlling his breathing as if he were still asleep and fighting off the slightest blush that was threatening to darken his cheeks. He was perfectly comfortable right where he was, snuggling close to her warmth, inhaling her sweet scent, and relishing the attention she was lavishing on his ears. For one of the few times in his life, he could truly relax and not worry about the encroaching dangers. In spite of his carelessness in leaving her by herself, she was safe now and healing. He could allow himself to drown in her senses, to be content for a change.
In spite of his past complaints, he didn't mind the lazy circles that her soft fingertips were tracing, although they were straying into dangerous territory, near the more sensitive region at the hairless portion of his inner ear. The short hairs that covered his ears did little to dampen his sharp sensitivity to her touch, making it increasingly more difficult to maintain his careful breathing, as he struggled to hide the fact that he was quite awake.
Her fingers then would stray to tangle themselves in his long white hair or to smooth down his bangs atop his forehead. But, oddly enough, her fingers always returned to his ears, stroking their softness with an almost morbid fascination.
All in all, he was feigning slumber quite admirably until her fingers stumbled onto the highly sensitive spot on the inside of his ear. And then, he had started to purr. It was purely reflex, of course. The combination of Kagome's touch over the highly sensitive part of his ears and her presence was simply overwhelming his senses.
Her fingers stopped. It took all the will he could muster to keep from frowning at the loss of her warmth. But her muffled, bell-like giggling really was music to his ears.
"Kagome," he mumbled drowsily, rubbing the corners of his amber eyes.
"Ummm," she murmured, blushing a deep rosy pink and holding her hands idle in her lap. She gazed at him, amazed both that her voice was cooperating enough for the simple affirmative and that Inuyasha was not already in the throes of a conniption fit for her touching his ears.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little sore. It hurts to move around too much." She winced demonstratively.
"Feh. Then don't move, stupid." Inuyasha may have sounded petulant but his eyes betrayed his feelings. His fingertips pressed gently on her shoulder to ease her back against the bed. "You need to get better."
*****
The floor was absolutely fascinating. The multicolored, speckled pattern that covered the tiles seemed almost hypnotic as she was guided down the hallway.
She wondered vaguely why she didn't feel like removing his arm from her shoulder. She wasn't a particularly tactile person.
"Would you like something to drink, Sango?"
Catching her silent nod, he steered them both towards the glowing machine.
She watched with fascination as the can dropped into the box. It seemed like magic that with a few small coins and pressing a single button, a cold can of tea appeared at hands reach. Kagome world had so many incredible things.
The doctor grinned widely as he handed her the can. "So, you said that Kagome got these injuries how again?"
Sango frowned, trying to remember to tell him the story exactly in the way she and Mrs. Higurashi had discussed the night before. "We were helping out my father. He was arranging some sort of haunted walk with all sorts of stories from legend, for the little village where we live."
"And why was Kagome there?"
Sango's eyes widened. They had never decided why Kagome had left her home in the first place. Surely, she kept running back to this world for those "tests"...or whatever Kagome had been calling them, so she probably wasn't supposed to go far from where she had to do those. He was obviously waiting for her answer, and she could do little but to blush under his scrutiny. "Well, she came to look at a cave that one of the neighbors was convinced was haunted. Her grandfather was a little too old to travel and she was the only other person in the family to have any power as a priest or priestess. So her mother sent her to help--"
"Excuse me, Dr. Muraki." The heavy-set, nurse bowed slightly, apparently very unsure of interrupting their conversation. "It seems that there's been a rather large accident downtown. The other hospitals are at capacity, so we'll be getting about twenty minor cases in 15 minutes or so. They're rather short on staff down in the ER right now...so we'd be very grateful for your assistance."
"Ah." He smiled, clearly forcing himself not to be upset by the distraction. "I'll be there in a moment then, Kanzaki-san. I just have one last patient to check on first."
Giving him a small smile, she pressed the up button and waited for the doctor to head off his last patient.
The doctor had pulled Sango just off to the side, to what he thought was outside of the nurse's hearing range. But unfortunately, the poor doctor had no notion of how the prospect of good gossip could sharpen hearing.
"I'm sorry that our conversation was interrupted, Sango. Perhaps you might join me for dinner tomorrow to finish it?"
The nurse looked visibly surprised. But neither Sango nor the doctor noticed. She was too busy blushing and tearing her eyes from his gaze. "I...suppose so."
"Tomorrow at seven, then." He said with a smile, his eyes shining in that same, uncanny way Miroku had always had. "Would it be alright to meet me downstairs in the lobby?"
"Mmmhmm." She nodded absently, too transfixed by his eyes.
"Good. I'll see you later." The elevator doors closed behind him as he threw a wide, charming grin at Sango.
If Sango had been any weaker a girl, that smile would have made her melt.
"My, my!" The nurse also seemed a bit dazed. "I never thought I'd see the day..."
"Excuse me. Why do you mean?"
"Doctor Muraki. He flirts mercilessly with all the nurses in the ER, whenever he's managed to find his way downstairs. But for the life of me, I've never heard of him asking anyone on a date. Never."
'Date?' Sango looked confused for a moment before the word clicked. Kagome had used it briefly before, and to Inuyasha's irritation, but she hadn't been entirely sure what it meant. Clearly having dinner with a man like Dr. Muraki counted.
"You can see why I'd be surprised to actually be asking someone out, then." She said with a good-natured smile. "To be honest, most of the other girls were convinced that he must have changed sides or something...It seems like all of the good-looking ones do anymore." She gave a rather pathetic sigh, before her mind flitted off in another direction. "Look at me, babbling. I have to get back downstairs."
Nodding, Sango wandered her way through the hallways back to Kagome's room, a pleased smile plastered across her lips. 'A date.'
******
Mrs. Higurashi was in the waiting area, thumbing lazily through a Parenting magazine and looking otherwise terribly bored. She must have looked at her watch four times in the past twenty minutes. That doctor, it seemed, was proving quite the distraction for her daughter's friend...and if her suspicions were correct, she would be hearing quite the juicy piece of gossip when the girl returned.
"I'm ready to leave whenever you are."
"Good thing, too." The older woman stood up, after neatly placing the magazine back onto the pile. "It is about time to start making dinner for the boys."
'Boys?' Sango blinked, before deciding that Kagome's mother was probably just talking about Souta and Kagome's Grandfather. "Should we bring Inuyasha back to your home? I mean, I doubt he'd really come but..."
"Perhaps we'll just let him know we'll be leaving. Kagome will be home by tomorrow afternoon, but he'll be antsy until then if we make him leave her side."
"He'll be far happier here." Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "And he is a good boy; I can trust that he will do what he can to keep her well."
'Yes, Inuyasha would protect Kagome.' Sango smiled. 'In fact, it would probably be quite difficult to keep the demon dog more than 5 feet from her side.'
Mrs. Higurashi was quiet, but the bit of gossip she was waiting for was dangling right in front of her. "But, you look rather happy, Sango. Did something nice happen on your walk with the doctor?" she pressed innocently.
"I....er...yes." She spoke quietly, crimson highlighting her cheekbones.
"Well?" The innocence had all but left her voice to be replaced by eagerness. It hadn't taken too much longer before Mrs. Higurashi had managed to pull the rest of the details out of Sango, though the girl was a little embarrassed.
"We'll have to find you a nice dress to wear, dear. I'm sure I have a few nice dresses that would fit you well. And if not, we'll just have to go and buy you something." Mrs. Higurashi gushed internally at the chance to play dress up with a new life-sized Barbie doll. The girl was very nearly all alone in this world, after all, so it made sense that she adopt her like a niece...and proceed to spoil her rotten as a matter of course. 'Well, well. Both that nice doctor and little Kyoshi seemed to be quite enamored with Sango; with all this popularity, I hope she'll be able to distract herself from her troubles.'
"Ah! That reminds me, I really ought to apologize for that incident with Kyoshi-chan." Her eyes narrowed to let her glare idly at the Parenting magazine that now lay atop the pile, as if it offended her greatly. "I can't believe that he would do something so perverted. I know his father never taught him much in the way of manners-what little time he manages to be home for that boy. His wife was a very dear friend of mine, while she still lived. But when she died, he threw himself into his work, leaving poor Kyoshi in the incapable hands of his Grandfather." She shook her head. "I try and look in on him when I can, but it seems that does little to help."
Sango frowned, turning her eyes to the floor. She knew all too well how it felt to be raised without a mother. Her mother had died when she was very young, but she had trained with her father as soon as she could hold a sword. She and her brother had been lucky then that they could join their father in his work and even luckier that the village was like a large family. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her life would have been different.
*****
The light was growing dim in the small room. Aside from the small wooden box that set on the low table beside him, the wooden floor was completely bare.
Slowly, his arthritic fingers unwrapped the soft cloth that covered the thick scrolls. It had become a ritual for the elderly man to check the scrolls for some word about his Granddaughter every day that she had stayed in the Sengoku age. Now it had merely become a source of comfort, that all would be well in both of their worlds.
He squinted at the yellowed paper, poring over the scroll after scroll, his eyes following the familiar string of Kanji.
The demons had all disappeared, of that he was absolutely certain. No trace of their presence remains anywhere in the land. He wasn't exactly sure why or how such a miraculous event had come to pass, but he never was one to complain of the good fortune. A few sketchy details could be found in the length of these scrolls, but--
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
The words on the scroll had changed. Not even three days had passed since he had last looked through the ancient texts held by the shrine.
"This does not bode well for them." As he read, his fingers slid over the parchment, as if by some wave of his hand the kanji might change beneath his fingertips. "Not at all..."
Book 2: Life in the Modern Era
Chapter 4
Sango-sama
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Inuyasha, for if I did, these college bills would look like pocket change.
Author's Notes: It has been quite some time since I began writing this piece...and after an extended break in the summer, I seem to have a fair amount of ideas to hopefully complete this monster. Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! The reviews and the e-mails, they really do remind me to get myself in gear and I love hearing about the many theories you all concoct from your reviews...though I won't tell if anyone is right or wrong, as it has been a principle of mine not to tell the readers what to expect. Sometimes, I don't even know ^_^;
*****
He could hear the steady beating of her heart, as it kept time with the soft breaths that past her lips. To his heightened senses, he could detect the very slow speeding of her pulse when her fingers dared near his ears. She sighed softly when she finally mustered enough courage to touch his ears, and he apparently hadn't woken up to be irritated with her. As far as his demonic sense could be certain, she seemed to be healing well.
Truth be told, Inuyasha had been awake for just a little while now, although he was pretty sure that Kagome was completely unaware of it. He lay still, controlling his breathing as if he were still asleep and fighting off the slightest blush that was threatening to darken his cheeks. He was perfectly comfortable right where he was, snuggling close to her warmth, inhaling her sweet scent, and relishing the attention she was lavishing on his ears. For one of the few times in his life, he could truly relax and not worry about the encroaching dangers. In spite of his carelessness in leaving her by herself, she was safe now and healing. He could allow himself to drown in her senses, to be content for a change.
In spite of his past complaints, he didn't mind the lazy circles that her soft fingertips were tracing, although they were straying into dangerous territory, near the more sensitive region at the hairless portion of his inner ear. The short hairs that covered his ears did little to dampen his sharp sensitivity to her touch, making it increasingly more difficult to maintain his careful breathing, as he struggled to hide the fact that he was quite awake.
Her fingers then would stray to tangle themselves in his long white hair or to smooth down his bangs atop his forehead. But, oddly enough, her fingers always returned to his ears, stroking their softness with an almost morbid fascination.
All in all, he was feigning slumber quite admirably until her fingers stumbled onto the highly sensitive spot on the inside of his ear. And then, he had started to purr. It was purely reflex, of course. The combination of Kagome's touch over the highly sensitive part of his ears and her presence was simply overwhelming his senses.
Her fingers stopped. It took all the will he could muster to keep from frowning at the loss of her warmth. But her muffled, bell-like giggling really was music to his ears.
"Kagome," he mumbled drowsily, rubbing the corners of his amber eyes.
"Ummm," she murmured, blushing a deep rosy pink and holding her hands idle in her lap. She gazed at him, amazed both that her voice was cooperating enough for the simple affirmative and that Inuyasha was not already in the throes of a conniption fit for her touching his ears.
"How are you feeling?"
"A little sore. It hurts to move around too much." She winced demonstratively.
"Feh. Then don't move, stupid." Inuyasha may have sounded petulant but his eyes betrayed his feelings. His fingertips pressed gently on her shoulder to ease her back against the bed. "You need to get better."
*****
The floor was absolutely fascinating. The multicolored, speckled pattern that covered the tiles seemed almost hypnotic as she was guided down the hallway.
She wondered vaguely why she didn't feel like removing his arm from her shoulder. She wasn't a particularly tactile person.
"Would you like something to drink, Sango?"
Catching her silent nod, he steered them both towards the glowing machine.
She watched with fascination as the can dropped into the box. It seemed like magic that with a few small coins and pressing a single button, a cold can of tea appeared at hands reach. Kagome world had so many incredible things.
The doctor grinned widely as he handed her the can. "So, you said that Kagome got these injuries how again?"
Sango frowned, trying to remember to tell him the story exactly in the way she and Mrs. Higurashi had discussed the night before. "We were helping out my father. He was arranging some sort of haunted walk with all sorts of stories from legend, for the little village where we live."
"And why was Kagome there?"
Sango's eyes widened. They had never decided why Kagome had left her home in the first place. Surely, she kept running back to this world for those "tests"...or whatever Kagome had been calling them, so she probably wasn't supposed to go far from where she had to do those. He was obviously waiting for her answer, and she could do little but to blush under his scrutiny. "Well, she came to look at a cave that one of the neighbors was convinced was haunted. Her grandfather was a little too old to travel and she was the only other person in the family to have any power as a priest or priestess. So her mother sent her to help--"
"Excuse me, Dr. Muraki." The heavy-set, nurse bowed slightly, apparently very unsure of interrupting their conversation. "It seems that there's been a rather large accident downtown. The other hospitals are at capacity, so we'll be getting about twenty minor cases in 15 minutes or so. They're rather short on staff down in the ER right now...so we'd be very grateful for your assistance."
"Ah." He smiled, clearly forcing himself not to be upset by the distraction. "I'll be there in a moment then, Kanzaki-san. I just have one last patient to check on first."
Giving him a small smile, she pressed the up button and waited for the doctor to head off his last patient.
The doctor had pulled Sango just off to the side, to what he thought was outside of the nurse's hearing range. But unfortunately, the poor doctor had no notion of how the prospect of good gossip could sharpen hearing.
"I'm sorry that our conversation was interrupted, Sango. Perhaps you might join me for dinner tomorrow to finish it?"
The nurse looked visibly surprised. But neither Sango nor the doctor noticed. She was too busy blushing and tearing her eyes from his gaze. "I...suppose so."
"Tomorrow at seven, then." He said with a smile, his eyes shining in that same, uncanny way Miroku had always had. "Would it be alright to meet me downstairs in the lobby?"
"Mmmhmm." She nodded absently, too transfixed by his eyes.
"Good. I'll see you later." The elevator doors closed behind him as he threw a wide, charming grin at Sango.
If Sango had been any weaker a girl, that smile would have made her melt.
"My, my!" The nurse also seemed a bit dazed. "I never thought I'd see the day..."
"Excuse me. Why do you mean?"
"Doctor Muraki. He flirts mercilessly with all the nurses in the ER, whenever he's managed to find his way downstairs. But for the life of me, I've never heard of him asking anyone on a date. Never."
'Date?' Sango looked confused for a moment before the word clicked. Kagome had used it briefly before, and to Inuyasha's irritation, but she hadn't been entirely sure what it meant. Clearly having dinner with a man like Dr. Muraki counted.
"You can see why I'd be surprised to actually be asking someone out, then." She said with a good-natured smile. "To be honest, most of the other girls were convinced that he must have changed sides or something...It seems like all of the good-looking ones do anymore." She gave a rather pathetic sigh, before her mind flitted off in another direction. "Look at me, babbling. I have to get back downstairs."
Nodding, Sango wandered her way through the hallways back to Kagome's room, a pleased smile plastered across her lips. 'A date.'
******
Mrs. Higurashi was in the waiting area, thumbing lazily through a Parenting magazine and looking otherwise terribly bored. She must have looked at her watch four times in the past twenty minutes. That doctor, it seemed, was proving quite the distraction for her daughter's friend...and if her suspicions were correct, she would be hearing quite the juicy piece of gossip when the girl returned.
"I'm ready to leave whenever you are."
"Good thing, too." The older woman stood up, after neatly placing the magazine back onto the pile. "It is about time to start making dinner for the boys."
'Boys?' Sango blinked, before deciding that Kagome's mother was probably just talking about Souta and Kagome's Grandfather. "Should we bring Inuyasha back to your home? I mean, I doubt he'd really come but..."
"Perhaps we'll just let him know we'll be leaving. Kagome will be home by tomorrow afternoon, but he'll be antsy until then if we make him leave her side."
"He'll be far happier here." Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "And he is a good boy; I can trust that he will do what he can to keep her well."
'Yes, Inuyasha would protect Kagome.' Sango smiled. 'In fact, it would probably be quite difficult to keep the demon dog more than 5 feet from her side.'
Mrs. Higurashi was quiet, but the bit of gossip she was waiting for was dangling right in front of her. "But, you look rather happy, Sango. Did something nice happen on your walk with the doctor?" she pressed innocently.
"I....er...yes." She spoke quietly, crimson highlighting her cheekbones.
"Well?" The innocence had all but left her voice to be replaced by eagerness. It hadn't taken too much longer before Mrs. Higurashi had managed to pull the rest of the details out of Sango, though the girl was a little embarrassed.
"We'll have to find you a nice dress to wear, dear. I'm sure I have a few nice dresses that would fit you well. And if not, we'll just have to go and buy you something." Mrs. Higurashi gushed internally at the chance to play dress up with a new life-sized Barbie doll. The girl was very nearly all alone in this world, after all, so it made sense that she adopt her like a niece...and proceed to spoil her rotten as a matter of course. 'Well, well. Both that nice doctor and little Kyoshi seemed to be quite enamored with Sango; with all this popularity, I hope she'll be able to distract herself from her troubles.'
"Ah! That reminds me, I really ought to apologize for that incident with Kyoshi-chan." Her eyes narrowed to let her glare idly at the Parenting magazine that now lay atop the pile, as if it offended her greatly. "I can't believe that he would do something so perverted. I know his father never taught him much in the way of manners-what little time he manages to be home for that boy. His wife was a very dear friend of mine, while she still lived. But when she died, he threw himself into his work, leaving poor Kyoshi in the incapable hands of his Grandfather." She shook her head. "I try and look in on him when I can, but it seems that does little to help."
Sango frowned, turning her eyes to the floor. She knew all too well how it felt to be raised without a mother. Her mother had died when she was very young, but she had trained with her father as soon as she could hold a sword. She and her brother had been lucky then that they could join their father in his work and even luckier that the village was like a large family. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her life would have been different.
*****
The light was growing dim in the small room. Aside from the small wooden box that set on the low table beside him, the wooden floor was completely bare.
Slowly, his arthritic fingers unwrapped the soft cloth that covered the thick scrolls. It had become a ritual for the elderly man to check the scrolls for some word about his Granddaughter every day that she had stayed in the Sengoku age. Now it had merely become a source of comfort, that all would be well in both of their worlds.
He squinted at the yellowed paper, poring over the scroll after scroll, his eyes following the familiar string of Kanji.
The demons had all disappeared, of that he was absolutely certain. No trace of their presence remains anywhere in the land. He wasn't exactly sure why or how such a miraculous event had come to pass, but he never was one to complain of the good fortune. A few sketchy details could be found in the length of these scrolls, but--
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
The words on the scroll had changed. Not even three days had passed since he had last looked through the ancient texts held by the shrine.
"This does not bode well for them." As he read, his fingers slid over the parchment, as if by some wave of his hand the kanji might change beneath his fingertips. "Not at all..."