Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A/N: Here we go again...I suppose I should mention I was intensely sleep deprived when I wrote that last chapter...Naraku in a tutu...eh heh...Also, this chapter's a little more serious than the rest.
Chapter Five
On their way to find Miroku's cure, Kagome had sensed a shard. It turned out to be a giant leech demon that had been terrorizing a town for quite awhile. The group destroyed it after a long, hard battle, and in thanks had been given rooms in the home of the lord of the area. The lord was rich enough to have glass, and as such Miroku was able to look at himself in a mirror for the first time since the whole second curse fiasco had begun.
He stood before the mirror in nothing but his loincloth, (A.N. Drooooooolllll) regarding himself with a mixture of curiosity and resignation. He still looked mostly like himself. His hair was still the same color, as were his eyes. For the most part his body was still that of a young, fit human male. But there was no getting around the differences.
His human ears, gone. A pair of fox ears perched atop his head, poking through his unruly hair still in its usual pigtail. A long, silky foxtail swaying behind him, red furred with a white tip. The even line of his teeth had been disrupted by two overly long and sharp upper canine teeth. And of course the latest addition, the claws replacing his fingernails. Frankly, those in particular made him look more like Inuyasha than he'd ever dreamed he might.
And of course, the thing around his neck made the resemblance a little more apparent. Miroku touched the rosary and grimaced. The rest of the group had accepted Sango's proposal after a great deal of arguing, but not without a major concession on his part. The rosary around his neck was that concession. Kagome had insisted that their agreement might all be well and good, but there had to be a quick way to stop him if he decided to break it. Hence the rosary. The really interesting part was that Kagome had managed to key it to the person most affected by his – er – bad habit.
Sango.
The demon slayer now held the same power over the monk that Kagome held over Inuyasha. In his case, the dreaded word was 'down'. It had only been used once so far, to set the rosary, and it was probably the most embarrassing thing to ever happen in Miroku's life. When the word was said his legs went out from under him and he would sit down hard on his rear, hands pressed to the earth in front of him. The monk began to pull on his robes, thinking to himself that Sango had seemed to enjoy the little spectacle far too much for his comfort.
"Miroku?" Kagome tapped on the paper door of his room. "Dinner's being served."
"Thank you, Kagome-sama." He opened the door and joined her on the walk to the dining room.
"You've been on good behavior today," the girl from the future commented to him. He shrugged a bit wryly and fingered the rosary around his neck.
"This is an excellent deterrent. I understand now how it is so effective on Inuyasha."
She tilted her head curiously and looked him over. He raised an eyebrow.
"What's it like?" Kagome asked him. "To have those ears and tail and all that?"
"It is...different," he replied slowly. "To have parts of your body that were not present before. These," and he tugged gently on his ears, "are not just tacked on...they feel my hands as much as my hands feel them. That is disconcerting." She nodded sympathetically.
"Don't worry too much, Miroku. We'll get that plant and reverse it in no time."
"Assuming the bouzo manages to keep his hands to himself," cut in Inuyasha, having heard the end of the conversation as they entered the dining room. Shippo, Sango, Inuyasha and Kirara were already seated around the table. The demon slayer was feeding bits of sushi to her cat, and the kit had his mouth full of riceballs.
They were all too hungry to start any kind of argument, and without further ado the shard hunters dug into the generous meal. Almost immediately, however, Miroku ran into a problem.
The claws. He wasn't used to them; it felt like he was all thumbs. The monk found himself unable to use his chopsticks at all, breaking the first pair and repeatedly dropping the second. Miroku kept his face in its usual composed state, but inwardly he was getting frustrated. He snuck a glance at Inuyasha. The hanyou was using the chopsticks without any sign of difficulty, despite having claws just as prominent as the monk's. But he was used to them, surely; Miroku was not.
It happened suddenly. Struggling with the utensils, the monk accidentally flipped the piece of meat he'd been trying to maneuver into the air. With the supremest of bad luck imaginable, it landed directly down the front of Sango's kimono. Miroku blanched slightly; Sango gasped.
"I'm sor – ah!" The monk started to apologize, only to feel the now familiar sensation of something changing. His eyes burned, and the tie holding his hair back broke. As his freed hair fell around his face, he realized that the color was changing. "It was an accident – an accident!" Miroku growled, hardly realizing what he was doing. "This is unfair!"
Kagome had risen and was tying back his now longer and very red hair with one of her 'eelastiks'. Sango plucked the food out of her kimono and passed it over to Kirara, who took it gracefully.
"I know it was an accident; I saw you struggling with the chopsticks." Sango placed a hand on his forehead, much to his surprise, and peered into his face. "This is bad, houshi-sama. Not only did the curse act on an accident, but also it didn't just change one thing. Your hair is longer and red, and your eyes are bright green." Miroku swallowed hard. This had been vaguely amusing before, but it was starting to get out of hand. There was almost nothing of the human left in his appearance now. How much longer till he was entirely kitsune?
Shippo had been staring wide eyed at Miroku for several minutes. Abruptly the baby fox stood, pushing away his food.
"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." With those uncharacteristically curt words, Shippo left the room quickly. The others looked after him with surprise, but before anyone could go after him, the lord of the manor, Lord Dokugakushi, entered.
"I felt it my duty to see that your arrangements were satis – hmm?" His dark eyes looked at the monk curiously. "What happened here?"
"It's a curse," Kagome explained, finishing off the ponytail. "It triggered again, that's all. We're on our way to..."
"Ah, to find the hana no kenkou?" The lord, who wasn't much older than them at twenty or so, frowned and shook his head. "That is an exceptionally difficult task. Assuming you manage to pass through Lord Sesshoumaru's lands unscathed –"
There was a snort and something that sounded like a 'Keh!' from Inuyasha. Kagome glared and mouthed the word 'sit' threateningly at him. He subsided and resumed slurping noodles.
"Yes...assuming you pass his lands unscathed, the mountain on which the flower grows has lately been infested by youkai of many types, non intelligent. The one who seems to be giving them orders is said to wear a white baboon pelt –"The shocked looks, gasps, and muffled curses cut the lord off yet again. He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know of this creature."
"Better than we wish," Sango replied tightly. Dokugakushi nodded, inclined his head, and after murmuring his appreciation for their services earlier, left the room. Miroku also left rather quickly. He wanted to get a good look at his new features and assess how much further he had to go before it was irreversible.
He opened his door and was startled to hear soft sobs coming from the corner of the room. Cautiously he entered the dark room, was disconcerted to realize he could see too well in the dimness, and spotted a miserable baby kitsune of his acquaintance crying his little heart out. Miroku's eyes widened and he knelt beside the kit.
"Shippo, what are you doing in here? What's wrong?" The kitsune's head shot up and he stared at the monk with wide, watery green eyes.
"I – I – didn't pay attention, I thought it was my room, I'm sorry..." Shippo was babbling, and tears were still running down his face. Feeling sympathetic to an orphan who, like himself, had lost his father traumatically, he picked up the kit and sat him on his knee.
"It's okay, Shippo. But why are you crying so hard?" The kit's lower lip trembled and his eyes began to stream even more. Suddenly he flung himself against Miroku's chest, clutching him like a drowning man and wailed.
"It'sjustthatyoulooksomuchlikemypapaanditkeepsgettingworseandKagome'snicelik eshe'smymommaorabigsisterbutistillmissmypapaaaa!" The monk's heart broke at hearing this gabbled confession. He gathered the child closer to him, rocking him and muttering soothing words as his father had once done for him. His tail, as if seeking to comfort Shippo as well, came around and curled protectively over the kit.
It took a long time for Shippo to calm down. At one point Kagome came in and looked relieved that the kit was safe. Miroku managed to convey that he would handle it, and she left quietly. The little kitsune's sobs eventually died away, but he'd cried himself to sleep. The monk also was tired, and still holding Shippo, eventually fell asleep himself.
Sango came in sometime later, carrying a blanket. Her eyes softened at the sight before her, and she carefully covered them with a blanket so neither would catch a chill. As she left the room, the odd thought occurred to her that Miroku would eventually make a very good father. She shook her head at that strange thought, and left to her own room. Tomorrow they had to head into Sesshoumaru's main territory...
Translations
'eelastiks' - elastics. It's a futuristic word Miroku has some trouble with.
Hana no kenkou - literally, flower of health
Shippo's babble - 'It's just that you look so much like my papa/and it keeps getting worse/and Kagome's nice like she's my momma or a big sister/but I still miss my papaaa!
Bonus question: Anyone know where the lord's name came from? I'll try to plop your name in the fic if you can tell me. First reviewer who has it right wins!
A/N: Here we go again...I suppose I should mention I was intensely sleep deprived when I wrote that last chapter...Naraku in a tutu...eh heh...Also, this chapter's a little more serious than the rest.
Chapter Five
On their way to find Miroku's cure, Kagome had sensed a shard. It turned out to be a giant leech demon that had been terrorizing a town for quite awhile. The group destroyed it after a long, hard battle, and in thanks had been given rooms in the home of the lord of the area. The lord was rich enough to have glass, and as such Miroku was able to look at himself in a mirror for the first time since the whole second curse fiasco had begun.
He stood before the mirror in nothing but his loincloth, (A.N. Drooooooolllll) regarding himself with a mixture of curiosity and resignation. He still looked mostly like himself. His hair was still the same color, as were his eyes. For the most part his body was still that of a young, fit human male. But there was no getting around the differences.
His human ears, gone. A pair of fox ears perched atop his head, poking through his unruly hair still in its usual pigtail. A long, silky foxtail swaying behind him, red furred with a white tip. The even line of his teeth had been disrupted by two overly long and sharp upper canine teeth. And of course the latest addition, the claws replacing his fingernails. Frankly, those in particular made him look more like Inuyasha than he'd ever dreamed he might.
And of course, the thing around his neck made the resemblance a little more apparent. Miroku touched the rosary and grimaced. The rest of the group had accepted Sango's proposal after a great deal of arguing, but not without a major concession on his part. The rosary around his neck was that concession. Kagome had insisted that their agreement might all be well and good, but there had to be a quick way to stop him if he decided to break it. Hence the rosary. The really interesting part was that Kagome had managed to key it to the person most affected by his – er – bad habit.
Sango.
The demon slayer now held the same power over the monk that Kagome held over Inuyasha. In his case, the dreaded word was 'down'. It had only been used once so far, to set the rosary, and it was probably the most embarrassing thing to ever happen in Miroku's life. When the word was said his legs went out from under him and he would sit down hard on his rear, hands pressed to the earth in front of him. The monk began to pull on his robes, thinking to himself that Sango had seemed to enjoy the little spectacle far too much for his comfort.
"Miroku?" Kagome tapped on the paper door of his room. "Dinner's being served."
"Thank you, Kagome-sama." He opened the door and joined her on the walk to the dining room.
"You've been on good behavior today," the girl from the future commented to him. He shrugged a bit wryly and fingered the rosary around his neck.
"This is an excellent deterrent. I understand now how it is so effective on Inuyasha."
She tilted her head curiously and looked him over. He raised an eyebrow.
"What's it like?" Kagome asked him. "To have those ears and tail and all that?"
"It is...different," he replied slowly. "To have parts of your body that were not present before. These," and he tugged gently on his ears, "are not just tacked on...they feel my hands as much as my hands feel them. That is disconcerting." She nodded sympathetically.
"Don't worry too much, Miroku. We'll get that plant and reverse it in no time."
"Assuming the bouzo manages to keep his hands to himself," cut in Inuyasha, having heard the end of the conversation as they entered the dining room. Shippo, Sango, Inuyasha and Kirara were already seated around the table. The demon slayer was feeding bits of sushi to her cat, and the kit had his mouth full of riceballs.
They were all too hungry to start any kind of argument, and without further ado the shard hunters dug into the generous meal. Almost immediately, however, Miroku ran into a problem.
The claws. He wasn't used to them; it felt like he was all thumbs. The monk found himself unable to use his chopsticks at all, breaking the first pair and repeatedly dropping the second. Miroku kept his face in its usual composed state, but inwardly he was getting frustrated. He snuck a glance at Inuyasha. The hanyou was using the chopsticks without any sign of difficulty, despite having claws just as prominent as the monk's. But he was used to them, surely; Miroku was not.
It happened suddenly. Struggling with the utensils, the monk accidentally flipped the piece of meat he'd been trying to maneuver into the air. With the supremest of bad luck imaginable, it landed directly down the front of Sango's kimono. Miroku blanched slightly; Sango gasped.
"I'm sor – ah!" The monk started to apologize, only to feel the now familiar sensation of something changing. His eyes burned, and the tie holding his hair back broke. As his freed hair fell around his face, he realized that the color was changing. "It was an accident – an accident!" Miroku growled, hardly realizing what he was doing. "This is unfair!"
Kagome had risen and was tying back his now longer and very red hair with one of her 'eelastiks'. Sango plucked the food out of her kimono and passed it over to Kirara, who took it gracefully.
"I know it was an accident; I saw you struggling with the chopsticks." Sango placed a hand on his forehead, much to his surprise, and peered into his face. "This is bad, houshi-sama. Not only did the curse act on an accident, but also it didn't just change one thing. Your hair is longer and red, and your eyes are bright green." Miroku swallowed hard. This had been vaguely amusing before, but it was starting to get out of hand. There was almost nothing of the human left in his appearance now. How much longer till he was entirely kitsune?
Shippo had been staring wide eyed at Miroku for several minutes. Abruptly the baby fox stood, pushing away his food.
"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." With those uncharacteristically curt words, Shippo left the room quickly. The others looked after him with surprise, but before anyone could go after him, the lord of the manor, Lord Dokugakushi, entered.
"I felt it my duty to see that your arrangements were satis – hmm?" His dark eyes looked at the monk curiously. "What happened here?"
"It's a curse," Kagome explained, finishing off the ponytail. "It triggered again, that's all. We're on our way to..."
"Ah, to find the hana no kenkou?" The lord, who wasn't much older than them at twenty or so, frowned and shook his head. "That is an exceptionally difficult task. Assuming you manage to pass through Lord Sesshoumaru's lands unscathed –"
There was a snort and something that sounded like a 'Keh!' from Inuyasha. Kagome glared and mouthed the word 'sit' threateningly at him. He subsided and resumed slurping noodles.
"Yes...assuming you pass his lands unscathed, the mountain on which the flower grows has lately been infested by youkai of many types, non intelligent. The one who seems to be giving them orders is said to wear a white baboon pelt –"The shocked looks, gasps, and muffled curses cut the lord off yet again. He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know of this creature."
"Better than we wish," Sango replied tightly. Dokugakushi nodded, inclined his head, and after murmuring his appreciation for their services earlier, left the room. Miroku also left rather quickly. He wanted to get a good look at his new features and assess how much further he had to go before it was irreversible.
He opened his door and was startled to hear soft sobs coming from the corner of the room. Cautiously he entered the dark room, was disconcerted to realize he could see too well in the dimness, and spotted a miserable baby kitsune of his acquaintance crying his little heart out. Miroku's eyes widened and he knelt beside the kit.
"Shippo, what are you doing in here? What's wrong?" The kitsune's head shot up and he stared at the monk with wide, watery green eyes.
"I – I – didn't pay attention, I thought it was my room, I'm sorry..." Shippo was babbling, and tears were still running down his face. Feeling sympathetic to an orphan who, like himself, had lost his father traumatically, he picked up the kit and sat him on his knee.
"It's okay, Shippo. But why are you crying so hard?" The kit's lower lip trembled and his eyes began to stream even more. Suddenly he flung himself against Miroku's chest, clutching him like a drowning man and wailed.
"It'sjustthatyoulooksomuchlikemypapaanditkeepsgettingworseandKagome'snicelik eshe'smymommaorabigsisterbutistillmissmypapaaaa!" The monk's heart broke at hearing this gabbled confession. He gathered the child closer to him, rocking him and muttering soothing words as his father had once done for him. His tail, as if seeking to comfort Shippo as well, came around and curled protectively over the kit.
It took a long time for Shippo to calm down. At one point Kagome came in and looked relieved that the kit was safe. Miroku managed to convey that he would handle it, and she left quietly. The little kitsune's sobs eventually died away, but he'd cried himself to sleep. The monk also was tired, and still holding Shippo, eventually fell asleep himself.
Sango came in sometime later, carrying a blanket. Her eyes softened at the sight before her, and she carefully covered them with a blanket so neither would catch a chill. As she left the room, the odd thought occurred to her that Miroku would eventually make a very good father. She shook her head at that strange thought, and left to her own room. Tomorrow they had to head into Sesshoumaru's main territory...
Translations
'eelastiks' - elastics. It's a futuristic word Miroku has some trouble with.
Hana no kenkou - literally, flower of health
Shippo's babble - 'It's just that you look so much like my papa/and it keeps getting worse/and Kagome's nice like she's my momma or a big sister/but I still miss my papaaa!
Bonus question: Anyone know where the lord's name came from? I'll try to plop your name in the fic if you can tell me. First reviewer who has it right wins!