Disclaimer: OW! Geez, not my fault you don't own Inuyasha... hmph. Sadistic freak.
I AM NOT! *chases disclaimer with flamethrower*
~*~
CHAPTER THREE:
Death by Kazaana
"Sango!" He sat up straight, sweating and shaking, whispering her name to the darkness. There was no sound-- everyone was asleep, even Inuyasha. Nobody had heard him. Nobody had seen the terror in his eyes. His nightmare...
Miroku lifted his right hand, palm up. His wind tunnel hurt. Bolts of numbing pain shot up and down his hand. It hadn't hurt this particular way since its manifestation. He could barely move his fingers. Why was this happening? Was it about to swallow him? If so, he should leave immediately, but... could he really leave them without warning again? He knew they would just come after him again...
If only he could see what was going on behind the rosary! He wanted to be able to see if it was growing, or splitting, or even shrinking. But there was no way anyone could do that, besides--
Mushin!
Yes, that was the answer. Miroku would find Hachi, leave a note for the others, and then have his kazaana looked at by Mushin. It was an ingenious plan, re--
Okay, he knew that wouldn't work. The others would get worried, come follow him, blah blah blah...
So what could he do?
"There's a demon coming. Wake up Sango," said Inuyasha, eyes flicking open.
Miroku put his hand down, walked across the camp and quickly shook Sango awake. She saw the seriousness in his face, and didn't slap him. Well, not until...
"I can't believe he'd do that at a time like this," Sango grumbled, picking up Hiraikotsu. Miroku followed, a familiar hand-shaped mark across his face.
"I know it wakes you up faster," he said. "There was a reason this time."
Sango nodded, going along with it even though she didn't believe him one bit.
"Uhm... no Shikon shards," Kagome mumbled, bags under her eyes and hair sticking every which way. "I'll just find a nice comfortable hiding place until you guys are done..." She proceeded to pick up a drooling Shippo and walk away.
Inuyasha looked at Miroku. "There's no Shikon shard, and I don't smell Naraku's venom wasps anywhere. Might as well just take it in the kazaana so we can get back to rest."
"It would be faster," Sango agreed.
Miroku looked at his hand. "If you want me to... I would advise getting a safe distance away from here. I'm not sure but... something's going on with the curse."
Inuyasha looked at him, worried. "It might... happen tonight?"
Sango looked stricken. "N-now? Tonight?"
Miroku turned away. "It's coming. Get back."
A large demon emerged from the tree line. It was some sort of insect-bird cross, like a feathered cockroach, with four insect legs and two legs such as the ones one might find on a chicken. It had a vaguely humanoid mouth where the pincers or beak would have been. "Shikon shards... give them to me..." it shrieked, as was the usual mantra.
Miroku quickly glanced at Sango (who would want a demon like that to be the last thing they saw?), braced himself, and tore off the pale blue rosary beads.
Nothing happened.
The youkai continued charging, oblivious to the fact that it should have been sucked into oblivion. Time seemed to slow down.
Miroku was in shock, having expected to be worse than dead. It is quite a shock to realize that something that one has wanted their entire life has happened without their noticing, and right when they needed it least.
Inuyasha was equally shocked. He had braced himself for Sango's tears, and the roar of a vacuum sucking his best friend into its empty, dark domain.
Sango--
"Hiraikotsu!"
Sango was the only one thinking clearly.
Kirara, flames licking at her paws, rushed by Miroku, snatching him up and pulling him from the demon's path just in time. The spinning boomerang struck the youkai, severing it. Its legs wiggled feebly before it flopped over, dead.
~*~
He was alive. He wasn't just alive, he was better than ever! He had a (pretty much) curse free palm! He had visited the temple earlier, where Mushin had told him that his kazaana was about the size it had been when he was four years old.
The only possible explanation was that Naraku had died, and come back to life. Miroku didn't care much about the details, all he knew was that his life span had been nearly doubled in the last two days. He had at the very least another fifteen years to produce an heir.
Though, it would be a shame to waste that entire time...
They were in a village near the temple. Miroku had "exorcised" the inn, and was now looking around for a pretty girl to put "the question" to.
There was one now! Pretty nose, glossy black hair, nice big--
"Houshi-sama!" Sango yelled. "Where are you going? Our food's ready!"
Sigh. "I'll be there in a second, Sango. You guys should start without me."
She looked at him suspiciously. "All right. But if you're not back soon, I'll come after you." And she left.
~*~
"--if you would be so kind as to bear my child?"
Sango flinched. She was hiding behind a house, listening to Miroku "socialize" with the village girls. The monk's prediction of death had scared her... shook her to the core.
Miroku never talked about the kazaana--it was only during battles that it was ever mentioned. He was so joking, so happy-go-lucky, so... alive, that Sango didn't believe it was even possible for the curse to swallow him. She... she didn't want him to die.
And now he was better than ever, and took the time to go ask girls to bear his children. Why hadn't he ever asked h--
Why hadn't he ever asked her? What kept him from asking his favorite groping victim the question? Was she too masculine? Too violent? Did he... did he just... not like her?
"Erk! Sango! What are you doing back here?"
Sango turned, hoping she was mistaken and it wasn't his voice she was hearing.
Oh, damn.
It was.
He looked worried. "Is something the matter, Sango? Are you feeling all right?"
How can I possibly be all right if you hate me?
"No, I'm fine." Her voice gave the illusion of contentment.
"Well then, I was just coming back... can I walk with you?"
No! Just admit that you hate me and leave me here to die!
"Sure, houshi-sama." Her feet moved on their own.
"Are you sure you'll be fine?"
Why would I be fine? Give me a good reason...
"Oh, don't worry about it, houshi-sama." Her mouth tilted up, barely smiling.
"Sango? Can I ask you something?"
Just tell me... you don't have to ask... you know I'd do anything for you...
"Yes, houshi-sama, go ahead."
"Uh... you don't have to call me 'houshi-sama' if you don't want to."
Feet stopping mid-stride, breath hitching, eyes wide.
"I couldn't do that, houshi-sama," Sango said, laughing forcedly. She continued up the path, ahead of him, head tilted so her bangs hid her eyes. Because her eyes would betray her without a second thought. "It would be disrespectful."
"Kagome calls me Miroku," he pointed out, jogging to catch up.
"Kagome is... not of this time. Her customs are different from ours." A reply sure to get her out of this mess.
He looked away. "But... I'd like it if you'd call me by my name," Miroku mumbled.
What--?
Sango ran. Slipping off her sandals, into the inn, past Inuyasha and Shippo (chowing down on the miso soup that had been provided for them), past Kagome (nose buried in something strange titled Contemporary Mathematics and Algebraic Functions... weird), into a small room at the end of the hall. She shut the sliding shoji screen door behind her with a snap.
Finally letting the tears leak from tightly closed eyes, Sango slid down the wall into a sitting position, bringing her legs up to her chest to lay her head on her knees. Crystalline trails flowed down her cheeks to soak into the pink fabric of her yukata.
Sango's sobs and hiccups muffled the noise of the shoji opening again, but she noticed the intruder when a hand wandered to her--
!!!
That PERVERT! How dare he do such a thing when she was in such turmoil over him? How dare he?
Sango promptly knocked Miroku unconscious.
~*~
Oh, I had too much fun writing that. It couldn't have been good for me. Anyways, I'm sorry this took so long. It seems that the chapter I had originally planned to be this one turned out to be twice as long... so I decided to split it in half and get it the heck out of here, because it was kind of rotting. u_u;;
I also made a happy typo when I was writing this.
What the writing was supposed to say:
"...braced himself, and tore off the pale blue rosary beads."
What my hands typed out:
"...braced himself, and tore off the pale blue rosary beards."
I swear it wasn't my fault! the 'e' and 'a' and 'r' and 'd' and 's' are all really close together! T_T
So, anyways, if I keep plugging away at this, I might have the rest of the Miroku/Sango chapter in a week! However... most likely not. It's got the first sentence written, as of now... n_n;;
Review responses!
Wakadori Ramen: Daijobu! It's okay, I know exactly how it is. Gomen to you about how long the stupid chapter is... ^_^;;
Love Child of Gehanna: Whoa... Your name changed drastically! And yeah, Obieru's supposed to suck. He's the bad guy, stupid!
FireDemond: T_T I'm soooooorry!! I didn'y mean to not-update for so long this time!
Mad-Cabbage: Uh... well, I guess I really blew the "quick update before you die of anticipation" part, huh?
Elyndewen Startree: Thanks! I went back and fixed it... heh...
SilverTailz: DON'T KILL ME!!!!
Inu: I didn't really think of the dream as "cute" when I wrote it... uh... but go ahead and think of it that way if you want to! ^_^;;