First off, I'd like to say "O_O" I never expected so many reviews! Thanks soooo much to all my reviewers! :D I love reviews!
Sorry for the long wait!! It's been nearly a month since I updated, but I had writer's block like you wouldn't believe -_- I've just been writing a little at a time, and finally I finished! I guess I got a little too excited to write this chapter…because nothing I wrote sounded good enough. But it's okay, I suppose. I tried -_- This one's a little longer than the rest of them…but I hope u enjoy!
::Chapter Five:: Silence…
The village didn't seem right. That air of despondence hung over it that signaled the presence of a youkai.
"The youki's coming from that direction," the girl said, waving her hand vaguely in the direction of the forest.
Before she'd finished talking, Inuyasha had disappeared in the direction of the mountain, leaving Kagome and Miroku to watch.
"He's always like that," Kagome said, blushing a little. "but don't you worry. Your town will be as good as new soon."
Miroku didn't have anything to say, so he simply followed her in the direction of the youki.
It was pungent, this smell. If Miroku could smell it, he couldn't even imagine what Inuyasha must have smelled at that moment.
"Yuck," Kagome said, wrinkling up her nose. Shippou made a revolted face.
"I wish I had a…what is it that you call those things from your world that capture images?"
"Camera?"
"Yes, a camera. To take your pictures."
Kagome giggled. "We must have looked pretty stupid," she agreed.
Suddenly, a cracking noise behind them, and they whipped around, glancing around them intently so they could face their intruder.
But nothing could have prepared them for the sight of Sango stepping out of the foliage.
He'd been fully prepared to attack, but the mere sight of her rendered him helpless and shut down all his defenses.
"Sango chan?" he whispered, unsure of what to do or say. Apologies rose to his throat, but he couldn't spit them out.
She glared at him forebodingly. The fact that she was still furious was apparent, though Miroku didn't understand why she still hadn't gotten over it.
But it didn't matter. Now, to finally see him again let something inside him let out his breath in relief. After two weeks without seeing her face, he felt the only faint happiness he had felt in ages.
Was he the only one who'd seen her? It was almost like a mirage, and apparition. But, gods, he couldn't take it anymore just looking at her.
He felt his staff drop to the ground as he ran up to her and in an abrupt motion seized her into his arms; tightly, almost painfully. "I'm sorry, Sango…" he said in a tight, pain-ridden voice.
"Sango chan!" Shippou yelled happily, hopping off of Kagome's shoulder and rushing up to greet her.
A low, flat voice escaped her mouth. "Stay away from me," she growled into his chest, and pushed him away. He was too shocked to put up any kind of resistance, so simply stood there gaping stupidly.
"What's the big idea, Sango chan?" Kagome cried, and rushed to aid their fallen friend.
"Wait," Miroku said sharply, seizing her arm. He kept his head erect, not looking at Kagome but locking gazes with Sango.
"Look at her eyes. They don't look right..." The matter-of-fact tone in his voice startled him, when at this moment he was ready to scream, to cry.
Kagome started and shook herself free of his grip. "Sango chan…?" But there was no time to ponder this, for at that moment, Sango lunged forward, Hiraikotsu ready to be thrown.
Both Kagome and Miroku ducked and narrowly avoided being hit.
"Sango chan! Get a hold of yourself!" Miroku yelled.
Suddenly, from behind her, two more figures appeared. One of them was the small frame of a child, and the other was a huge, lumbering youkai.
Turning around sharply, she said "come on, Kohaku chan. Let's get it. But first, let's get these annoying people out of our way."
Inuyasha ran up on the youkai's tail, breathless. "Kusu, sono yaro!" He swore, "stay in one spot, dammit!"
He stopped when he saw Sango standing there with Kohaku. "Sango? You're back? Good, help us kill this youkai! You two, help me, too! Don't just stand there!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome tried to warn him, but it was too late- he was already slashing the youkai up with the Tessaiga.
"The Shikon no Kakera is in its right foot!" Kagome called up to Inuyasha, watching anxiously as he battled recklessly. "Be careful!"
In the meantime, Sango was picking up Hiraikotsu. "Get ready to die, houshi," she whispered, and a demonic smile whispered across her face.
Miroku felt sick. What was wrong with Sango?
Then the attacks started. He felt more fury poured into these attacks than anything he'd ever seen before. She mercilessly whipped the giant boomerang around, each time almost hitting him.
"Sango! Get a hold of yourself!" He yelled while dodging her.
"Fight back, houshi! Fight me, dammit!"
Just seeing him parry every one of her attacks seemed to make her even more furious. "Kohaku! Get the Shikon no Kakera!"
Miroku glanced away from Sango for a second to watch him mutely followed her orders, slicing the youkai's foot open and grabbing the purple shining light.
In that instant, a sharp, full pain exploded in his arm, so severe that he felt stars dance before his eyes.
A flash of a brown ponytail filled his vision as Sango leapt demurely past him, her brother's scythe clutched in her hand.
She paused, frozen in her landing position, and Miroku's hand flew up to his arm. The blood was already seeping through his robes, and his hands were wet and sticky.
Finally she drew herself up and turned to face him. "I missed, houshi. But don't worry. Next time we meet…I'll kill you."
Then she turned and vanished into the woods.
"She's gone," Kagome said softly to Inuyasha when he demanded to know where the hell Sango had disappeared to.
Inuyasha cursed. "Can't she make up her damn mind? Stupid woman!" And then he had the nerve to glance at Miroku, as if it was all somehow his fault.
"It wasn't me."
Miroku's voice came suddenly. He hadn't said a word after Sango had disappeared with the Shikon no Kakera. His voice didn't carry its usual serenity- ice blanketed it and made it cold and harsh.
Both Inuyasha and Kagome looked surprised at his sudden asperity. But their eyes widened further as he continued to speak.
"I'm not the scum you give me credit for. I care about her, dammit. I care so much it hurts." His face clenched up in pain, and he quickly glanced away from them so they couldn't see the expression on his face.
It was so familiar..oh, yes. This was the same feeling he'd had when he lost the other person he loved. His father.
When he spoke again, his voice was crowded with emotion, and he was horrified to feel his eyes start to burn. "If you think I'm just going to let her go like that, you're wrong."
He walked away then, hearing the patter of Kirara's feet behind him.
Right after Sango had left, he told her beloved pet that now he would take care of her now. She looked at him, understanding nothing, yet understanding everything at the same time.
Kirara knew it was his fault...but she also knew that he was sorry.
A smile crept over his face. It wasn't a happy smile, but it existed only to mock Inuyasha and Kagome's naivety. He was so grossly underestimated by them- only the furyou houshi who liked to flirt with girls, who occasionally won a battle here and there.
The pain inside was almost too much to bear, but he knew he deserved it. It was his fault, and he'd brought it upon himself.
It didn't matter if he died now. Nothing mattered. Except...
One more time, he'd like to hold her.
He knew it was totally stupid, what he was planning on doing. But he'd made a promise to himself- a promise that he would never let Sango go again.
It didn't matter that his right arm was nearly faded away. He remembered this from his father very well. His whole body had been slowly sucked into the Kazaana, a little at a time, when suddenly it exploded out of control and ate him alive.
But before that, he'd been perfectly fine to do anything he pleased.
If this killed him, it wouldn't matter, because that would mean failure, and life without Sango. He couldn't live with either.
She looked down. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the middle of the field in front of their house, picking strawberries.
Her hands had been stained in the red, sweet juice, and Kohaku was laughing as Sango tossed one up and tried to catch it in her mouth. The sound of her own laughter had filled the air as well; such a pleasant, rare sound that rested peacefully on her ears.
Shutting her eyes, she struggled to grasp something, a faint memory of what she'd done from then until now. But nothing remained, not a single trace.
What is happening to me?
This was far more terrifying than the worst foe. She was out in the middle of nowhere, dressed in her taiji-ya battle suit. And her hands…
Her hands were stained in red.
"Kohaku?" She could barely force the whisper out of her throat. Realizing that the sound was barely audible, she tried again.
"Kohaku?"
"Sango chan?" Breathing a sigh of relief, tears blurred her vision.
"What's going on? Look at my hands, Kohaku. They are stained with blood. And it is not my blood."
When he didn't respond, her eyes flew to locate him-was he still here?
From her spot on the ground, she saw his eyes in the darkness staring, just staring. Dead. "Come with me, Sango."
Sango's heart clutched in familiar fear, for at that instant, she felt Naraku.
Naraku gazed into the mirror with great amusement as he saw the girl awaken with a confused expression on her face. Stupid human. She didn't yet know that her mind was his.
This was such a simple plan that he was surprised he hadn't thought of it before. No intricate plots here- it was simple. Capture the girl, and the houshi rushes off to save her without a second thought. There was no need for such thought.
Stupid humans, so blinded by their emotions. He should have realized sooner how he could have used this girl. These ties between humans were what burdened them down. If they stayed alone always, the girl and the houshi would still be free.
He stole away her life force after Kohaku had led her to his hideout. Soon, the rest of the hanyou's band would follow and try to rescue her, but it would be too late. By that time, he would have already wiped out the last descendant of that houshi's clan.
Suddenly, a speck appeared in the sky. As he watched in interest, he saw that it was that stupid houshi, riding the girl's cat youkai.
Smirking, he waited. Soon, he would see her, and that's when the real fun would begin.
Miroku landed with Kirara and glanced around. Everything was dead…
"Sango!" A cry escaped his lips as he saw her form crumpled on the ground. She looked so helpless…so frail…
A swift anger overtook him. Whoever did this to her…they would pay.
Kneeling down, he took her hand in his own and rolled her over onto her back.
He was taken aback by her face; instead of the placid expression that came with sleep, her eyebrows were drawn to the center of her face, taut with pain.
But when his shadow passed over her face, her eyes flew open. "Sango!" He exclaimed happily, extending a hand to help her up.
But she shoved him away with a growl, glaring at him.
"I told you the next time we met, I would kill you."
Before he knew what was happening, a giant boomerang was hurled at his head, but he dodged it.
"Sango! Stop this!" He yelled.
"Kohaku!" She yelled, and in a second the boy was running towards him, sickle swinging madly.
"Kuso!" He swore under his breath as the tip of the weapon sliced through his robes.
He glanced around haphazardly. Gods, there was no chance of winning. Two versus one, and both of them charged with a superpowered rage.
But…
"Sango! I can't leave you! It's me, Miroku! Don't you remember?" Kohaku aimed for another blow, but Miroku easily shoved him away.
She drew back, hirakotsu in hand, and stared at him. A faint hope blossomed inside him. Maybe, somewhere deep down inside her, she could hear him. Maybe somewhere inside, she would fight.
"H…ho…u…shi…sama?"
She dropped Hirakotsu and looked at him.
"Sango!" Never in all his years of living had he been happier to hear those two words on her lips.
He rushed up to her, ready to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her, but suddenly he was kissing the dirt instead.
The blow from behind had been hard, aiming straight for his back.
Hot redness, filling his eyes. Dammit! He was going to do this, even if it was the last thing he did.
Scuttling upwards, he stood up and felt his head veering. Blood loss….sang a voice in his head. His wound from the day before had reopened, and he saw the ground below him becoming damp from his own blood.
His eyes flew to locate Sango, but instead drew in a sight that appalled him. Youkai surrounding them. Hundreds, millions. Their numbers were boundless.
He felt his hand reaching for the rosary beads but stopped. Right in their midst was Sango.
What am I going to do now? He thought in desperation. The boy was slowly approaching him from behind with that godforsaken sickle. And if he ran, he was fairly sure they would follow.
Then, he suddenly heard his savior…
"Kaze no Kizu!!!" Screamed a voice behind him, and the youkai evaporated like water on a hot day.
"Inuyasha!" He yelled, surprised by the amount of vigor his voice held, when he so clearly felt like shit, for lack of a better word.
His wounds throbbed, and from where he was standing, everything seemed to happen from very far away.
Inuyasha rushed in to where Sango had been, and in a moment he saw him scoop up her motionless body.
Stillness, so much stillness. That warrior goddess silenced by a single blow, made helpless in the swing of a sword.
"Inuyasha!" He screamed, "What did you do to Sango?"
But the hanyou didn't respond. He just walked in a perfectly straight path right towards where Miroku was standing and quietly set her down on the ground.
Kagome, Shippou, and Kirara rushed in and they all crowded around her. Miroku closed his eyes briefly and prayed to the gods for strength. Then he leaned down and put his ear over her heart.
The silence that hung over them was nearly unbearable. It was all silence, all silence…
BWA HA HA HA. *coughs to cover it up* I couldn't help myself! I'm just so evil! =) Originally it wasn't gonna be a cliffie but then the bright idea hit me ^^
I have the next section written already, as I thought it would also be included in this chapter. So I don't think it'll be too long till the next one is posted! Take care!
x~Aurora chan