Disclaimer: I clearly own no rights to Inu-yasha seeing as how he's quite absent from this story. Oh and I don't own the rights to Inu-Yasha, the story… those belong to the lovely Rumiko Takahashi.
Author's Note: In case you forgot in the, how many months has it been, two going on three since I last updated—bad me, bad finals, bad holiday retail work—this is a sequel to another story I wrote called Sango's Ordeal. If you haven't read it, but have read the previous four chapters and didn't get lost in the prologue, you'll survive Chapter Five as well, but you're missing out on a whole lot of bat-youkai action and should read it when you're through here… it's fun.
Miroku's Worst Fear Chapter Five: The Premonition"The ceremony occurred in this very shrine. It happened a little more than fifty years ago now, but I remember it clearly. I was a shrine maiden then and as such helped the visiting miko with her preparations." The old woman walked over to a cabinet and gently opened both sides together. Inside the cabinet various herbs and incense lined the shelves and dried flowers hung upside down from metal spikes near the top of the cabinet. She removed a jar from the back corner held it up for the others to see. "This is what remains of the original flowers that were spread to purify the village." The airtight jar contained remnants of white petals and a cream colored powder that had formed at the bottom. "We've kept them originally as a reminder of the past hardships, but now that hard times have befallen our village again we look at these petals as a symbol of hope." She placed the jar in Sango's outstretched hand.
"I've never seen flowers that were so well preserved before," Sango commented letting Shippou look at the jar.
"Nor have I, Taiji-ya-san. Yet they've remained whole for the past fifty years. I've always thought it had more to do with the miko who performed the purification ritual than our preservation capabilities." The elderly woman removed a few sticks of incense from the shelf and then turned back towards the doorway. "She stood here, lit three sticks of incense from one white candle and then proceeded to place them in the ground at three points in front of the jinja." The woman pointed to three places just beyond the steps. "She chanted the same three words over and over again as she did this, and then she took the flowers and crushed them in her hands removing the petals before throwing them out in a circle around the incense. She would later repeat this for every home in the village." The woman turned back into the shrine and replaced the incense before taking another object into her hands.
"That couldn't have been the entire purification ritual," Shippou began to protest.
"That was just to purify the land. She then sent up an offering to the kami to purify any wrongdoings we had committed unknowingly."
"An offering?" Miroku asked, "It wasn't by chance some kind of animal was it?"
"Actually yes, a pair of white birds was sacrificed in fire at the shrine altar."
"Birds?" Sango asked under her breath. Miroku looked at her and shook his head.
"Of course she brought these birds with her for the purposes of the ritual."
"That's right you used rabbits last night," Shippou chimed in.
"Rabbits?" Miroku asked reaching out for the old woman's shoulder. "What other kinds of animals have you sacrificed for these weddings?"
"Well that depends on the season. Sometimes we use birds but usually it's easier to catch ferrets and weasels on short notice. We've used rabbits and foxes before, as well." On this last statement Shippou took a step away from the old miko.
Miroku's mind was racing, "What procedures do you follow in obtaining and sacrificing these creatures?"
As if she been insulted by the question the old woman spun around to face him, "We take proper measures to ensure that these animals are well treated up to the time of the sacrifice and then follow the most sacred ritual in taking their lives. I assure you we do not take killing these animals lightly." And with that she turned and continued walking and explaining the ceremony.
"The couple walks together from the torii, until they reach the front of the jinja. Then they stop and wait for the priest or priestess to say a few words over them before they enter the shrine followed by their family. Everyone then takes part in the san-san-ku-do ritual and vows are spoken. When the ceremony is complete we escort the newlyweds to the inn where a bridal chamber has been prepared for them."
Sango shuddered a little, "Okay… enough about the newlyweds. What courses do you take in cleaning the shrine afterwards? In the burial of the animals?"
When Sango said this Miroku's eyes lit up. "That's it! Can you show us the memorial shrine for the sacrificed animals?"
Meanwhile, in a small shack in the woods Haruko sat at the table while Rika finished preparing their afternoon meal. "Do I really have to go back?"
Haruko sighed, "Rika, we can't stay here."
"I know," she said placing a pot on the table. "But I don't see why I can't just go with you to the city."
"Because the town needs you," Haruko said taking some of the food into his bowl. " You're the next miko, and if this curse continues you'll be the only miko we have."
Rika shook her head, "Ruko, I'm not going to be the next miko. I realized last night that I wouldn't be happy with just anyone, and the curse knows that too. It passed through me on its way into the room. When it moved on for a mere second, as if trying to decide who to take, I ran as fast as I could before it could return. My heart led me here, to you. Haruko, I think I'm in love with you."
Haruko snorted a little, "Who isn't."
"I'm serious. I'm in love with you. Not your family standings, or your samurai status, or any of that glamour, but you, Haruko." She lowered her gaze to her hands. "I love you, and I think I always have."
Haruko almost choked on his food as she concluded her profession, "But why? I've been nothing but rotten to you."
"Who hasn't?" she said looking up. "But in reality, you're the only one who sees me for who I am and not who I should be or even could be. You know they all started to give me this fake respect when the miko appointed me as her apprentice, but I could see it in their eyes. They still hated me and were only allowing this to happen for two reasons. There was no one else, and if I were a miko, then their sons would be safe from me."
"You brought that upon yourself you know."
"Haruko…" she said evenly, "I was ten. Is it my fault that the best way to get back at mean boys who think all girls have cooties is to kiss them?"
"You never kissed me," Haruko said leaning on the table.
Rika smiled, "I may have been naïve, but I wasn't suicidal."
Haruko smiled at her and Rika put her weight on the table. Slowly the two began leaning in towards each other until their lips met ever so briefly. Pulling away Rika blushed, "I'm not so naïve in the ways of the world any more, but…" she trailed off looking at her hands that were folded in her lap.
Haruko sighed inwardly, 'I know exactly what you mean,' he picked up his ohashi and began eating. "Mmm, this is really good," he said changing the subject. Rika raised her head and smiled as she watched him eat. Not long after she joined him and they turned to more frivolous conversations.
**~**
'Is this it?' Miroku thought staring at the small dilapidated building in the far back corner of the shrine grounds. Wood was piled up along side the building with an axe propped against the smallest pile.
"It looks like a woodshed," Sango whispered to him.
"This explains a lot," Miroku whispered back. They nodded in agreement.
Shippou looked at the elderly miko and smiled. "We'll have this problem fixed for you in no time. By this time tomorrow your village will be curse free," he said before bounding over to Miroku and Sango. Alighting to the space between their shoulders he sat for a moment and cleared his throat. "I have deducted the cause of this curse."
Sango and Miroku turned to look at him. In the background the miko could be seen leaving the scene.
"That building is the location of the sacrificed animals and their spirits are not happy and thus have been possessing the villagers at random as a way to get back at them. Now that I have done my part, you two can go in there and straighten things out with the spirits and break this curse," and with that he popped down and scurried off.
Sango and Miroku turned to look at each other and blinked twice before turning their attention back to the problem at hand.
The houshi raised his hand to get a reading on the shed, "An evil aura surrounds this entire area," Miroku said lowering his hand. He glanced sideways at Sango.
"We should get our weapons," she said turning to go back to the shrine house where they left them.
She stopped in her tracks mid-turn when she saw a shadow forming behind them. "Houshi-sama…"
"Sango! Look out!" Miroku said knocking her to the ground. Over his shoulder she saw an axe breeze through the air. Looking up along the ground Sango saw that they were surrounded by this dense, black shadow. "Perhaps we should have taken a page from Shippou's book and ran while we had the chance," Miroku said just inches from her face. The world beyond them was growing darker by the minute.
**~**
Rika and Haruko were walking back to their village. The time was about mid-afternoon. As they came upon the outskirts of the village they noticed a dense black fog that began sweeping through the streets.
"Darkness will cover the village before the rise of the next moon…" Rika whispered.
"What?" Haruko asked from her side.
"It's what the miko said. She said that by the rise of the next moon the village would be cloaked in an unnatural darkness."
"Does she ever say anything good is going to happen to this village?" Haruko said placing a hand to his sword. Rika smiled finding the humor in his seriousness.
As they reached the outer most row of houses the blackness formed a circle around the village and would not permit the couple entrance into it. Haruko drew his sword. "What are you going to do? Cut the fog?"
**~**
"Do you have a better idea?" Sango said having retrieved the fallen axe. Miroku was standing back to back with her watching as the darkness closed in around them. His left hand rested on his rosary. Sango heard the rosary rustle, "Are you insane? If you use that in here you have no idea what is beyond the shadow that you could be getting too."
Miroku sighed, "I know, but what are we supposed to do? Let it close in on us and possess us again?"
Sango didn't respond as she swung out against the surrounding cloud.
"Sango, this is useless. It's getting too dark to see anything, if we stay here much longer it's going to consume us."
"Don't you think I know that?!"
Just as darkness filled their vision and the light of the day could no longer be seen, a flicker of light appeared within their unprotected circle. The flames grew brighter just a few feet away. A roar came from the direction of the light and Sango looked over. "Kirara!"
The fire cat bounded over to her companions and helped bat at the shadows, hissing and growling at them the whole time. "Great, Kirara has arrived just in time to die with us," Miroku frowned. "If I could just get to my staff, I could set up a barrier."
"It's what two buildings away?" Sango said formulating a plan.
"Yeah…" Miroku prodded.
"You can't open the kazaana, because we don't know where the buildings are, but…" Sango smiled, "…we do know where the buildings aren't." Her eyes glanced upward and then back at Kirara.
"Sango, you're a genius," Miroku commented as they mounted the cat youkai.
"All right Kirara, Miroku's going to clear a path for you, all you need to do is take us to the shrine house, okay?"
"Marr," Kirara roared in agreement.
"Now, are you sure that we won't be in any danger riding this close to you?" Sango asked.
Miroku raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, 'What? You've been closer to me than this and I haven't sucked you up yet.' He was about to comment to the like when he realized that she was speaking for the benefit of the shadows that didn't know how his void worked. "It'll be dangerous and a little bit risky, but it's better to die quickly this way then to be taken over by these angry beasts again," he said loudly. Then leaning closer he whispered, "Of course we'd really be in trouble if I fell off, perhaps you should hold on to me."
"Houshi-sama…" Sango glared.
"I was being serious," Miroku said ever so quietly.
"Alright, let's go!" Sango called out urging Kirara into the air as Miroku raised his right palm to the sky.
"Forgive me…" Miroku whispered to the shadows as he removed the rosary with his left hand and the kazaana opened sucking in the shadows between them and the sunlight.
Working like a charm, the shadows that hadn't been sucked in with the initial opening of the kazaana retreated in fear. Kirara had no problem finding the shrine house while the shadows were spreading to the outer parts of the village and away from the shrine. Miroku replaced his rosary but kept his hand poised in a threatening manner just in case any of the shadows were to come back. Once they had landed the three of them scurried inside to see Shippou hiding behind Sango's hiraikotsu. "What took you guys so long?"
Sango and Miroku ignored Shippou's question as they prepared for a fight. Lifting the satchel from behind her weapon Sango removed her battle armor and began changing. Grabbing his shakujou, Miroku turned his back to her and peered out the door. Noticing that the shadows were returning, he turned back to help Sango place all of her weapons and guards in their correct positions as quickly as possible. "I can do this on my own."
"Yes, I know, but we're running out of time," Miroku said tying her shoulder guard in place. "We still have to get back to the desecrated burial grounds before they return."
"Alright, I'm ready," Sango paused, "Houshi-sama, my rear will be perfectly protected without your hand on it."
"Sorry," he said removing his hand, "Just in case we don't make it." With those words he headed out the door staff in hand. Sango sighed, shook her head and dashed out after him.
They raced through the shrine grounds. As soon as their feet hit the dirt, the shadows began to quicken their return knowing that their existence was in danger. Running as hard as they could they fought past the cloud of darkness that moved almost twice as fast as they did, just seconds before their path was barred by the shadows Miroku and Sango entered the little burial shrine and shut the door behind them.
Breathing hard they paused to catch their breath. Miroku looked up and his face paled at the sight. Tapping Sango he gestured. "Wha…?" she began turning around. Before them stood a form that was not quite solid and not pure shadow. It could only be classified as a wraith, it had the shape of a giant animal though not one species but many all at once, and its consistency was made of thick gray fog so think one could touch it.
"The source of the shadows?"
"That'd be my guess."
**~**
Haruko and Rika fought their way through the fog as it changed locations. Making their way back to his home they found his family and their neighbors cowering behind his younger brother with his sword drawn. "Jiiro, what are you going to do? Cut the fog?" Haruko said as he assessed the situation. Rika rolled her eyes and shook her head before finally smiling.
"You've come home! You've come home to fight this demon!" Jiiro said.
"To break this curse," his wife Sachi echoed.
In a matter of seconds knocks came at the front and back doors. Before they could even be opened by members of the family, townspeople began to flood in all clamoring something about seeing that Haruko had returned after fighting his way through the evil mists. "Haruko will save us," one villager exclaimed. "He's untouchable by this curse. Surely, we will be safe here," another rumored.
Haruko sighed and looked at Rika, apparently their news would have to wait until after he'd gone back out and fought with this darkness. Haruko opened the door and returned to the outside world that was growing darker by the minute. He walked out into the shadows with his katana raised. 'This is pointless,' he thought. 'I couldn't fight off the shadows before, we got through because they lifted for a few minutes,' he sighed. He turned back to see that he'd lost sight of his father's house. 'Great. Now, what was the reasoning behind me not getting possessed by this?'
As he ventured further into the darkness he heard a rustle behind him. Listening to find the source he turned in its direction. Then he heard another as the shadows began to knock things over until he was so turned around he didn't know which way was which. Really confused as to which way to turn next Haruko decided to stand perfectly still and focus his attention until he could finally recognize something. 'It would help if I'd actually lived here the past few years…' he thought looking for familiarities in the ground and sides of homes that he could still see. Focusing all his senses on his teachings he began to isolate a steady sound directly behind him. Footfalls. Whoever or whatever they belonged to grew closer and closer. Counting down as the being neared he prepared himself to strike first, hoping that whatever beast this was couldn't see through the fog…
One…
Footfalls at two feet.
Two…
Footfalls at one foot.
Three…
He turned to find his katana inches from Rika's none to pleased face.
Haruko relaxed his stance, "What are you doing out here?"
"About thirty seconds after you left, someone had the brilliant idea that I, as a miko-in-training should be out here to give you some magical assistance."
"Do you even know anything about magical assistance?"
"Wouldn't you like to know…"
**~**
"So how long will this barrier hold?" Sango breathed as the beast slashed out at them again.
"As long as I do…" Miroku spoke through clenched teeth. Holding his shakujou parallel before him, he had created a small blueish-purple barrier around the two of them. "It's really angry and can materialize quite well…"
Sango rolled her eyes. This she knew…
They entered the room. The darkness had consumed the world behind them, but here in the candlelit room they were not safe. Before them towered a beast like none other. Its head had the shape of a weasel's with rabbit ears, its body was large and foxlike, it had claws like a kappa that were sometimes retractable like a cat's, and a tail that was long and narrow. This form lasted about two minutes until its shape shifted and its tail was now rabbitlike, its claws weasel, its body that of a cat, and its head became badgerlike while its ears became pointy like a fox's. It was an ever-changing creature and at first Sango and Miroku could only stare, then in one heartbeat they went from staring to fighting. The beast struck first, knocking the couple back with a swipe of its claws. Miroku positioned himself to take the blunt of the blow and his robes were torn. Blood began to flow beneath them before he and Sango had hit the opposite wall of that small shack. Sango pushed her way forward charging only for the creature to backhand her into the front wall, cutting her right sleeve open in the process. Receiving the backside of a blow her cuts were shallow, she stood again to attack when Miroku jumped in front of her and put up his barrier. "We need to keep away from its claws," Miroku always had a way of stating the obvious.
She was shaken from her annoyed reverie when Miroku collapsed to his knees in front of her. "Houshi-sama?"
"Sango…something's wrong." Miroku began to shake uncontrollably beneath the weight of the massive beast. "It's jaki is intense…more intense than it should be."
"It's probably being multiplied by its anger, we have to appease the animals to weaken this evil." Sango said supporting the houshi in her arms. Miroku nodded. "Okay. I'll distract it long enough for you to get over to those bones," she pointed to a back corner opposite from where they had been initially thrown. As Sango whispered her plan into Miroku's ear, he tried to protest, but she was gone before he could breathe out a word.
Sango dashed forward expecting a swipe which she deflected with her hiraikotsu. Positioning herself on the opposite side of the room from Miroku, she began her attack. She swung at the creature with all of her force and made contact knocking it back a few times.
Miroku climbed uneasily to his feet and began to edge around the beast towards the back corner. There were bones everywhere; they had just been dumped into piles along the back wall. The biggest pile was in the corner by a small wooden fixture that looked as if it could have been a sad attempt at a shrine to a few small animals, but not hundreds of wild, enraged, and slaughtered beasts. Miroku slunk along the back of the little room, careful not to disturb any of the scattered bones and not to make any noise to give away his position.
Sango continued to battle with the beast, after the first few hits it got wise to her and was prepared for her next swing. The hiraikotsu went right through its body without leaving any damage. The creature had softened its composure back to fog and Sango could do no more damage to it, but when it wanted to lash out at her it was as solid as a rock. Using her weapon as a shield she managed to hold the beast off long enough for Miroku to get with in feet of the makeshift burial shrine. She smiled at their would be triumph when she realized that the beast was completely unaware of his advancement. Her victory was short lived when the creature's claws gripped her boomerang and pulled it into the air. Sango let the hiraikotsu leave her grasp as its other hand scooped her out of the air. Pulling her sword from its sheath she began stabbing at the beasts forearm, but the blade went right through it.
Miroku was less than three feet from his goal when he heard Sango scream out in surprise. Her hiraikotsu clattered to the ground across the room and she was lifted into the air. Miroku watched her fight back to no avail. The beasts claws wrapped around her like a vice squeezing her body and tearing into her flesh at the same time. Looking at her face he could tell that she wanted to scream out in pain but wouldn't give the creature that kind of satisfaction. Miroku forgot about his goal and turned away from the small shrine to take a swing at the being. Its attention directed towards Sango it didn't notice the houshi's attack before it felt it. Miroku's shakujou swung true and smacked into the beast's knee area knocking it off balance. The creature roared out as it turned back to see the houshi near its home. Forgetting entirely about Sango in its grasps the creature released her when she stabbed into its arm.
Falling to the ground, Sango landed on her feet but her knees gave out on her after five seconds of standing. Apparently she had been bleeding more than she realized and that added to the exposure of this creature's intense and enflamed jaki made her weaker than she needed to be to fight. Collecting herself, Sango stood and bore through the pain. Picking up her wakizashi she lunged for the creature from her side while Miroku continued to fight it off on the other. The creature not pleased with either's advance created a unique solution of its own. Its ever-changing body morphed once again so that now the beast had two heads, one to direct towards each attacker.
The first of the two heads kept Sango cornered. With one hand the beast continued to fight her and keep her from reaching her larger weapon. The other head, which was more enraged, was focused on Miroku. Upon realizing that it had let the houshi get so close to its core the beast began attacking with a fury it had not yet unleashed. Miroku who was already bleeding profusely beneath his robes fought back to the best of his ability. Sango unable to help watched in horror as the beast ripped apart Miroku's robes and tossed his now battered body into the back corner opposite the shrine. Miroku not yet down for the count returned to his feet, shakujou outstretched before him. As he swung out the beast used its technique of avoiding the blows to allow the shakujou to pass through its body. However no matter how hard the beast tried to avoid injury, every passing of the houshi's staff stung it a little. Realizing that this intruder had the power to purify it made Miroku a bigger threat. In a final ditch effort the beast knocked Miroku back into the wall, breaking a few of the scattered animal bones in the process. Twitching in pain as the bones broke the beast continued its torrent. When Miroku no longer rose to his feet and blood pooled out around him, the beast was satisfied and returned its full attention to Sango.
Sango screamed out in pain for the first time that night. Not because the creature was hurting her but because as far as one could tell Miroku was lying in the corner lifeless. To come this far and then too loose him in just one day was too much for her to bear. Pulling from the deepest parts of her being, she called forth every ounce of strength she had left. Cutting into the beast with all of her rage it recoiled at first but then relaxed as it had learned to do. Sango continued to advance despite the fact that she was not bringing harm to her adversary. She pushed forward with one goal in mind: to reach Miroku. If the beast was going to be fog for her blade then she could walk through it behind the blade as long as she kept swinging. That was her rationale, at least. And for the most part it was working the beast was not any wiser to her plan. Or so she thought; once Sango was completely encased in the shadowy figure of the creature it tensed and hardened so that she could not move her wakizashi if she tried. Sango couldn't move forward or back; she was trapped. 'I should have seen this coming,' she thought as a burning sensation hit her lungs. Being encased in the beast was like being encased in stone, no air could reach her, and she was slowly suffocating.
Sango's body began to spasm uncontrolled as asphyxiation began to take place. The world around her was growing dark, this time because of something internal and not the shadows around her. Just as she was about to close her eyes and loose consciousness, the beast writhed in agony and split into a hundred little shadows of individual animals. As air hit her lungs again she collapsed to the floor taking it in painfully. Looking up she saw Miroku's outstretched arm fall to the bones again, but his eyes did not close right away. She crawled her way over to him to find two remaining ofuda clutched in his other hand. Turning back to look at the beast she saw a weasel's form drop from the air where the creature's head had been, an ofuda plastered to its head. Here she was trying to save him when in the end he saved her, and not a moment too soon.
"Houshi…sa…ma…" Sango breathed between gasps.
Miroku lifted his head to look at her, "Daijoubu darou," he whispered.
Sango nodded and cradled his head in her lap as he closed his eyes again.
The beast regrouped all but its one member and began charging towards the couple again. Sango looked up and held out her hand, "NO!" she screamed out. Tears streaming down her face she continued, "why are you doing this? We don't want to fight you. We want to help you." Sango stroked back Miroku's hair from his face, before wiping away her tears. The beast stopped and looked at her more confused by her actions than her words. In the past husbands, wives, or couples approached the shrine to destroy the bones of the beast that cursed them. Angry for their predicament they approached the beast and fled in fear at the sight of it. The braver came away with gouges and returned home to their new spouses for comfort. Never in all its years had this beast seen a couple willing to die for each other and more upset at the other's pain than their own. This was also the first time that a priest, priestess, or monk had entered the shrine save the old miko who added the animals to the piles.
**~**
Haruko and Rika had finally reached the shrine grounds together to find the elderly miko in her chambers idly sipping some tea. The miko seemed surprised to see that these two had returned to the village but not as surprised as when Haruko drew his katana on her and ordered her to explain her actions. Rika and he were convinced that she was somehow behind this whole mess. The miko returned to her tea sipping once he was finished accusing her. "What's done is done; what will be has come," she said cryptically.
"Just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rika got down to look her in the face.
Before the miko could answer Shippou and Kirara bounded into the little hut and rushed over to the herbal cabinet. Standing on Kirara's back Shippou opened the cupboard and pulled out a few things before the two headed back out into the midday light. 'Wait a minute,' Haruko thought following their actions. They had just fought their way through pitch-blackness and now it was afternoon again? Following the furry pair out of the shrine house Rika and Haruko found themselves being lead to a small building on the back of the grounds. Inside the taiji-ya was applying bandages to the houshi. The small kitsune and the neko-youkai had returned with medicinal herbs as well as ceremonial ones that the humans had requested. In a matter of minutes, the houshi was on his feet again being supported by his wife, and the couple said a prayer for the bodies and bones of what appeared to be a hundred animals.
After a moment of silence they turned to look at the couple that was still staring in silence. "You could help us bury them properly, if you like," Sango said leaving Miroku to support himself with his staff.
"We still have a bit of purification to do in here, but we'll take all the assistance we can get," Shippou said handing each of them a stick of burning incense.
**~**
Hours later just before sunset, a new, larger shrine had been constructed to the animals. Their bodies and bones blessed and buried. Sango hand changed back into her travel clothes, Miroku's robes had been sewn back together by the village women, Shippou and Kirara waited patiently for them to return. Shippou's face had fallen because none of the village people would listen to his story. When they saw Haruko and Rika emerge from the shrine once the shadows had cleared, they all assumed that Haruko had saved them. Once again the golden boy of the town had proven himself to be golden. He wasn't sure how much longer it would last once he told them all why they had returned.
Miroku, Sango, Haruko, Rika and the miko stood at the foot of the shrine steps.
"What in the world made you come back here?" Miroku asked.
"Well…" Haruko smiled.
"We've decided to get married," Rika finished.
"Wha…?" the old miko said loosing her composure for a moment.
"We figured that the curse couldn't do us wrong if we were the only ones left…"
"…and that somehow we wouldn't let it. You see we figured that if we had a normal courtship followed by a ceremony of free will that we would break this curse."
"I guess you guys beat us to it," Haruko said sheepishly.
Sango smiled and looked back at Shippou, "It's what we do, apparently."
Rika laughed a little knowing what she meant and walked over to the little kitsune to try and cheer him up.
"So what would you have done if the curse got a hold of you anyway?" the miko asked once Rika was gone.
"Nothing. I don't know why you put up with it all these years. People have been doing worse things of their own power for years. I don't think that any of these marriages are valid seeing as how both parties were being controlled. So even if that had happened, Rika and I planned to see our arrangements through to the very end. Even if it meant marrying her a hundred times," Haruko laughed at the thought.
"You know, it doesn't matter what those people think," Rika said approaching the pair of youkai. "We know that it was your brains and their abilities that saved this village and not ours, and more importantly you know it. In years to come it will be the people that you know and care about that will know the truth." When this didn't seem to be enough she continued, "And the people here… the people here will have found a new person to worship, go on with their lives happily with their children and grandchildren, and deny that a curse ever existed. And do you know why?"
"Why?" Shippou asked looking at the dirt.
"Because you saved them," Rika said kneeling to look him in the eye. "Not some magical prince returned home with his golden sword, not some powerful miko with her arrows of justice, but a group of travelers lead by one fearless little kitsune. I'll be sure my children know the true story and pass it on," she winked.
Shippou smiled at this a little happier than he had been. Miroku and Sango approached with odd looks on their faces. When Rika turned around they put on phony smiles and said, "We should get going."
"We want to make it back to Kaede's village by nightfall."
Rika nodded stepping aside. She watched in amazement as the four strangers that had freed their village flew off into the distance with a metal contraption with wheels in tow.
"What's wrong with you two?" Shippou asked a little perturbed by the silence. Miroku and Sango each picked a spot in opposing distances to stare at. "Is this because you're married and you don't want to tell Kagome and Inu-yasha?" At that their heads shot up and their faces took on an ashen complexion. "Don't tell me you forgot," Shippou said shaking his head.
In truth they didn't forget at all. Each was more concerned with Haruko's last comment and contemplating the validity of their marriage, neither sure how the other felt and neither willing to ask. However, the prospect of telling the others had not yet crossed their minds.
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Author's Dictionary:
Torii: the archway outside of a Shinto shrine, usually depicted as red.
San-san-ku-do: Literally it translates as "three sets of three sips equals nine," or something like that… the practicality of this term is it's a process that couples and their family members perform during a wedding where each person drinks three sips of sake from three different cups signifying the union of families.
Ohashi: chopsticks. (with an honorific O, yea isn't it special!)
Kappa: a mythological creature that lives in the water, Jii-chan gave Kagome a Kappa hand for her birthday back in the very, very first Chapter of the series. And in the third or fourth people referred to her as a Kappa all because she took swimming lessons.
Jaki: ja (evil) + ki (energy) = evil energy. This is usually what Miroku douses four when searching out evil. Or what he pretends to douse for when searching out a good place to stay for the night.
Ofuda: the little slips of paper with writing on them that miko's, houshi's, etc. use to ward off evil.
"Daijoubu darou": Well I've already defined Daijoubu as "I'm (It's) alright." Darou is simply the probable ending… meaning that he "Will be…" So effectively Houshi-sama said, "I'll be alright." (Or at least that's what I was shooting for… if I'm wrong buy me a grammar book and highlight the page that says so [you know so I can find it, dogearing the pages works too] if I'm right, yea me… anyway… now at least you know what I meant for him to be saying.)
Author's notes:
Ooooh… I found a spelling mistake that I made back in Chapter two. I called Sango's short sword a wakizashu instead of a wakizashi like I did in this chapter. Many people misspell it in this manner but the second is actually correct.
Hmm… should I define the process of san-san-ku-do better here… or in the next chapter? I think I'll wait… get this chapter up sooner, ne? Yes… I did say next chapter… this does seem kind of final… so we've broken the "curse" and left the village… but do things seem to be over between Sango and Miroku? And just what would Inuyasha and Kagome say when and if they find out what happened while they were gone? "I swear, we leave you alone for just three days and look at the mess you get yourselves into." (Okay, enough motherly Shippou imitations…)
I realize that at the end of Chapter Four… I listed a Preview for Chapter Five: The Curse or whatever lame name I gave it. At that time I hadn't written anything, which is why you won't find that scene word for word in this chapter… yet strangely enough that scene is pretty close to what I actually did write and I hadn't gone back to look at my Author's Notes until after I was finished and ready to post this Chapter. Weird. Huh.
Um… I want to apologize profusely to all of those who have been patiently waiting for me to update, and thank you all for not loosing interest. The first gap between chapters occurred because I was playing the main character in a play, this one could only be excused due to writer's block, followed by a severe case of finals and research papers and then holiday work schedules… this past week whenever I wasn't in school or at work I wrote a scene… and look… a week later it's ready to be updated. Hopefully the next chapter will work out that way too, though honestly…it'll probably be at least two for me to re-look up all the research I did for this scene back in September.
Okay that being said… review now… and tell me that you'd like me to email you when I update and I will. I'd also like to thank Shannon for pestering me over the past few months so that I wouldn't forget to write. Oh and to thank Sango-sama and celestina becerra for helping Princess find my stories when she couldn't remember the titles. Umm… and to Queen for everything, especially telling me to read my sango/miroku updates so that I know I've been nominated for something or that someone is out there looking for my stuff (I would have responded, but I figured three responses, two with the answer seemed like enough.)
Now what we've all been waiting for… the fake preview, for the fakely titled upcoming chapter. Well no… this is it's title… and … we'll you'll just have to wait until next week to find out if this is in it!
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Coming up in Chapter Six: The Wedding
Sango was sitting off by herself when Kagome approached.
"Sango-chan, what's wrong?" she said sitting beside her friend.
Sango turned to her revealing hot tear trails on her cheeks. "Have you ever been so involved in something that you couldn't see it until someone else showed it to you?"
"Um…I think so. Or at least I know what you mean. Sango?"
"I've fallen in love with the most hopeless excuse for a boyfriend let alone a husband and it took being possessed by distraught animals for me to realize it."
"Well… at least now you know how you feel, right?"
Sango laughed a little, "Yes, but what if you find out that he doesn't feel the same way back?"
"Oh come now, Sango, that can't be true. Take it from an outsiders perspective."
"Then why doesn't he want to marry me?"
"What?" Kagome suddenly realized she had no idea what was going on in Sango's mind. "You want to be married to Miroku?"
"I didn't at first, but now the more that I think about it I can't just forget it happened. Which is exactly what he wants, but I can't. And yet…I can't remember it either."
"Sou ka," Kagome said smiling.
"What?" Sango said finally coming to recognize Kagome's 'I've-got-a-plan-tone.'
"Don't worry, leave everything to me," Kagome said getting up and leaving Sango bewildered.