Akida- I've returned FINALLY to give you more of this saga! After surviving writers "mountainous" block, I have returned so you will wait no longer! Here it is the 8th installment of this semi-evilly dark story, and I cant believe I've gotten this far and the plot is still moving at a snails pace! We shall try to speed things up and make things happen. Read on citizens, read on!
Oh and a word about the previous chapter, when I say its a Sango/ Miroku fic it WILL STAY a Sango/Miroku fic. If I suddenly decide to declare it a Inuyasha/Miroku fic, or a Sessho/Kagome fic, or a Sango/Kagome fic, or a Rin/Inuyasha fic, or a Naruku/Sessho fic.....( ehhh that's just creepy . ), or any other pairing you can think of I will give you a --Warning-- so don't have a cow or a hippo about it! I'll warn you well in advance of any changes that I'll make to spare you of something that you would rather not expose yourself to at the moment. So that's it I have spoken!....or rather I have typed....
-:-Disclaimer-:- ...I do not own Inuyasha or any of Rumiko-sama's characters........but I do have plans to abduct Miroku and hold him for ransom.
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Kagome cracked an eye open as a ray of the early morning sunlight berated her to wakefulness, and she yawned and stretched rolling over on her side and draped her arm over something soft.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her free hand, she stared into the face of the one persons she would never want to wake up sleeping next; Miroku. She was about to raise hell and beat him senseless for having the nerve to slip in next to her, when she noticed his facial expression and worry replaced her annoyance.
He looked pained. Almost the same expression one would give if a large hole had been slowly and agonizingly bored into your chest.
She raised a delicate hand to his ashen face and stroked back a few raven strands from his forehead, and traced his jaw line which felt fragile and sensitive. He groaned twisting around uncomfortably until his body liked the new position it was in, and slipped into another interval of slumber.
Placing a hand over the travel worn robe on his body she kneaded a crease thoughtfully, contemplating the odd change in his behavior. She feeling that he was distancing himself from them as their journey wore on, and the slow moody demeanor he was acquiring was starting to match that of Inuyasha's.
Sighing she gazed into his face, the usual peacefulness that adorned it so often had now been replaced by a drained frailness, which etched its way progressively into his face. Yet for some reason this new frailness had somehow drawn him to her, and she leaned toward him thoughtfully trying to figure out where that feeling had come from.
"Geez Kagome why don't you just kiss him for crying' out loud," a gruff voice sounded from above.
Standing over her like a towering beacon the dog demon looked down at her with a mischievous grin, raising an eyebrow at her baffled expression.
"Oh please don't let me interrupt besides were all friends here right....at least I thought we were all just friends," he said repeating the very words spoken the night before.
"Oh g-gimme a break Inuyasha its not like I was going to....believe me I wasn't going to do anything," she said rising and straightening out her clothing her face emanating a deep red glow.
"Tch that doesn't sound very convincing when you say it with your face all red like that," he replied teasingly and received a glare at his retreating form as he went to rouse Shippo, Miroku and Sango.
Shippo protested to an extent to where waking Sango was not needed anymore, but the racket did nothing to awaken the death like monk still slumbering oblivious to the world around him. Rolling his eyes and slumping his shoulders Inuyasha dragged himself over to the prone body, letting a "why me" escape with an inaudible grumble. He began poking him lightly on the shoulder and when that failed he began jabbing his ribs, which still received no response he escalated it to jolted shaking.
After an excessive amount of shaking the monk which could have been mistaken for a cadaver, finally cracked a red tinged eye towards the looming mass of crimson and white, managing to pick out two half lidded amber orbs.
"You know the least you could do was make waking your dead body a little easier," he said sarcastically to the semi-conscious monk.
"Ah Inuyasha of all people to wake me on this fine morning, you having second thoughts about last night?" He replied with equal sarcasm and an impish grin, trying intently to mask the oncoming wave of fatigue.
Inuyasha grimaced in disgust.
"If you weren't half dead already I'd kill you for that right about now, but I think I'll let whatever that poison is get you instead," he spat the words out and rose swiftly dragging the monk up with him. This didn't go well with him and Miroku staggered hazily about, as the rock walls around him spun with the sudden unwelcome movement.
He had thought that rest was all that his aching body needed, but it seemed to him that the night passed too quickly for any kind of recovery. Surveying the area around him with a detached appearance, he found that he no longer lay at the caves entrance, and had been relocated to a space between Kagome's empty sleeping bag and Sango's unmistakable weapon lying nearby.
I don't believe it. I spent the entire night lying between those two, and they didn't even kill me for it! Maybe this whole get-attacked-and-poisoned thing isn't so bad after all.
"Don't press your luck there monk, I wouldn't make this a habit if I were you."
Miroku groaned. The irritating voice had returned.
"Oh go away, the last thing I need right now is you invading my thoughts."
"Well excuse me its not like I actually want to know what's going on in your head....half the stuff in here is plain creepy, I haven't seen one clean thought yet! Mostly its vivid images of women ha--"
"Shut up already!! If you don't like it fine that isn't my problem, but keep your comments to yourself! I don't need someone describing what I think about!!"
"...........Ok fair enough............ but I still think you need your head checked--"
"AUGH!!"
"Um Miroku?" Interrupted a shaky voice.
He jerked his head towards the direction he heard his name last, and found his four companions sitting in a tight circle half-way through their rationed meal. All of which were giving him looks of unease. Although he had yelled at The Voice inside, it appeared he had let it slip through his lips on the outside as well. 'Crap now I look insane' were the first few thoughts that came to mind.
"Hellooooo Mirokuuuu! Anybody home!!" Shippo said waving his small paws in the air.
"Eh?.....Oh forgive me, it seems these headaches are becoming too frequent and....err....painful," he lied trying his best to feign light-headedness.
Fortunately for him, Kagome wasn't the brightest crayon in the box when it came to distinguishing between a sickly monk, and a monk who yells at voices in his head. But hey can you blame her?
"Oh Miroku," she began empathy dripping in her voice. "You should've said something instead of suffering like that. I know I have some pain pills let me find them for you," she got up quickly and began a thorough dig through the Black Hole that was her bag.
Miroku let out an inward sigh of relief, glad to know that at least Kagome hadn't figured anything from that outburst......but the remaining members regarded him with scrutinizing glances. After almost an eternity of their staring he felt like a bug under the eye of a child, that was far too curious for their own good. It was agitating.
"W-what? What is it?....Quit starring at me like that!!"
Without so much as a word to him, all three stood from their positions around the dying flame, and went about the task of gathering things together for another journey in the usual loud manner. Miroku was dumbfounded by the lack of response.
What the?......
"Here Miroku," a pleasant female voice dragged him from his musings into the present. Kagome held a small wooden bowl of rice in one hand, and two Aspirin in the other. "You should get some food in your system before you take these, and remember to swallow them not chew them." She added handing them to him and touched his shoulder gently before assembling her belongings together as well.
After staring at the two tiny foreign objects he had been left with in his hand, he leaned against a high protruding rock and ate his meager portion in confused thought. He had a feeling that Sango, Shippo and Inuyasha weren't fooled by his excuse, but it wasn't like he was going to explain to them that a voice in his head was aggravating him to no end. No, that wouldn't be wise and if they didn't know there was something more to his state of mind, then they sure as hell did know now.
Upon finishing the rice and taking the "pills" he sought out his staff, and brought up the rear of the group as they exited their shelter.
The air was still bathed with the scent of rain from the previous nights storm, but the sky remained overcast much to Miroku's delight. At least this way he could evade the penetrating heat of the sun's red eye, but the cold was a different matter all together. Ah well you can't have it all your way. With that thought he trailed behind his companions hoping that their destination wasn't far off, for he felt the eyes of his unseen enemy watching him with a nauseating vigil. It was out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows, and all he wanted to do now was be as far away from it as possible.
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Miroku's body wasn't doing well again. Each step felt like walking through a bog waist high, and the ache in his legs had crept its way throughout his body. Fortunately, whatever it was that Kagome had given him had kept his headaches at bay, but now everything just felt fuzzy.
He had been trying to distract himself from the soreness by straining his focus on the conversations around him, but that worked for maybe fifteen minutes then it was back to trudging through the bog.
The one thing that discouraged him from crying out "the hell with it", and collapsing on the road was the thing that followed him. If he could he would've been way out front past Inuyasha, regardless of his protests, but for the life of him he didn't have the strength to speed up his pace.
He could feel the maddened, malevolent aura that pricked at his senses and kept him on edge. Miroku had a feeling the others couldn't sense it, not even the demons of the group, and it was meant for him to feel alone. It was meant to torment him, and whispered promises of homicidal acts upon his life. He gripped his robe tighter around him as he felt numbness begin to seep into his limbs, and tried in vain to block out the horrific images that came to mind.
Looking up momentarily he found that he was further behind then he thought, and could scarcely glimpse the retreating forms of his comrades through the fuzziness that clouded his vision. He slowed to a halt which his legs gratefully accepted and nearly gave out from under him. Squinting through the drowsy haze that enveloped him, he could just make out the recognizable shapes.
Wha-?.....How did they get so far ahead? I can barely see them now, surely they should have noticed by now that I'm not behind them any--.
"What are you doing!? Get out of here, don't make yourself a target for it!! Run!!"
Miroku wobbled slightly, as The Voice scattered the haze within him and forced itself into his thoughts once again.
"What?....Run......but why?"
"You must run Miroku! You can't let it catch hold of you!"
"What will?"
"I said run you fool!! It's almost upon you!!"
The urgency in which The Voice spoke told him this was nothing to be asking questions over, for whatever had caused its fear could now be felt by him. Dragging his body forward he stumbled forward feeling a heavy presence lurching at his heels, and the tangle of emotions that came with the knowledge that ones demise was close at hand wedged its way into his weakened body.
The unmistakably nauseating aura of the Hateful One clawed at him, and he ignored the burning in his chest as his breathing came in ragged gasps. The desire to turn and face his opponent was outweighed by the fear of his foe's appearance and the desire to run like a frightened rabbit.
It felt like a nightmare. The nightmare where no matter how fast you run, your enemy is always faster, and the horrible feeling of deaths clammy fingers upon you is erased when you awaken. This time around it was no nightmare, and Miroku found the same feeling of helplessness was about to play itself out in reality. He cried out his companions names over and over, but it only came out as a hoarse whine of one beyond his wits end.
If matters couldn't get any worse, his body took the most inconvenient of times to numb up and cease functioning all together. Time stood still for him as the earth rose up slowly to meet him, and frustration and despair lodged itself in his throat as his limbs refused to obey his minds will to escape.
N-no....I have to...move
His mind was willing to press on, yet his body had no will to do so. The muscles of his legs were stretched to their limits and would not comply to support his weight again. The arms refused to drag him out of harms reach, away from the heavy looming presence that descended on him then.
It wasn't fair. He had heard once that in a time of need, one can exceed their limitations and perform extraordinary tasks. That couldn't be true for all this weakened, tired body of his wanted to do was accept death and fade away. It just didn't seem fair to him, how such a lie would give him false hope.
Don't.....want to die....
Heavy mist entangled his limp form and the horrid feeling of suffocation before departure from this realm, played itself out as Miroku struggled in vain as breathing became more and more of a burden. His vision blurred as heated water spilled down his ashen face to dissolve in the earth below, and he dug his fingers into the beaten earth cursing whatever force was punishing him with this torture.
Its not........its not fair.....
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"What!! How can you not notice he wasn't behind us!!?"
"Well your the one who's always in the back with him, how come you didn't notice he wasn't there!!?"
"Inuyasha! Sango! Quite it already! We all didn't notice alright! Leave this until after we've found him again!"
Kagome's only reply were two angry mumbles from the exterminator and demon, and clutched Inuyasha's back tightly as he rose from the ground again into the air. She never thought, in all their travels, that she'd have to break up a fight between Sango and Inuyasha.
She understood an argument between Shippo or herself, but Sango just didn't fit the verbally aggressive type. She frowned slightly and hoped prayed that Miroku wasn't harmed in any way, or she could guess that Sango would raise hell again.
Before she could lodge the odd situation into further thought, another presence made itself known among her senses.
A demons aura, and its growing closer! Oh please...please be alright Miroku.
Praying for Miroku's safety she gripped her bow tensely, and kept her eyes pealed for their foe wherever it may be hiding.
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Sango was furious. How could Inuyasha be so oblivious as to not notice an allies disappearance? She let her anger boil up inside her and tightened her grip on her Boomerang, trying her best to focus on the matter at hand.
Although her irritation was fueled by Inuyasha, the emotions of worry and distress far outweighed it. He may be a lecherous creep, but she could never bring herself to actually wish for his death, no matter how many times she threatened him with it to keep him in line. No matter how you looked at it, he was there for the same reason that she and everyone else was there for; Naraku had twisted some sick scheme into their lives.
"There's something very large up ahead!" Kagome cried as her voice scattered Sango's thoughts.
"Does it have a Jewel Shard?" Was the impeccable timing of Inuyasha's one-track-minded question.
"How can you even ask something like that! Miroku's life is in danger and your worried about the Jewel Shard?!" Shippo barked from his perch on Kagome's shoulder.
"Oh come on already were not starting up another argument!" Kagome cut in and wobbled as the dog demon made another graceful bound over the earth. "No, it doesn't have a Jewel Shard....but...I can't really tell exactly where it is..."
"What the- Whaddya mean you can't tell where it is. It must be in front of us obviously," Inuyasha replied.
"No it's not...its." Trailing off she closed her eyes focusing the miko strength she was blessed with, swallowing hard when her sight combed out the presence. "Its.....its everywhere."
In the instant those words were released from her lips, all motion ceased and all were still. Unfortunately, Kagome's findings, without a doubt, had been confirmed as the thick dark haze could be seen wreathing around them. Forming a tight circle with weapons facing the fogged mist, Sango strained her vision to see out past the inky blackness. The heavy silence and chilled winds that swept along the ground, had the name "Naraku" written all over it, yet somehow this didn't quite fit.
Naraku definitely has a thing for mind games and this seems like something he'd conjure up but.....
"I get the feeling this isn't one of Naraku's works," Inuyasha whispered voicing the remainder of Sango's thoughts. "There's something different about this situation."
"Your right, something should've happened by now," Kagome mumbled agitation pricking her voice. A long moment of silence hung in the air, and the weight of it crushed down on the group in a suffocating pressure. The constant stillness without movement and the eerie hush unbroken by sound, clawed slowly at the patience and even-tempered Sango.
"I can't take much more of this," she grimaced through clenched teeth. "I swear if something doesn't happen soon I'm going to--Ah!"
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Inuyasha could smell it before the others could see what approached through the blanketed haze, and his body stiffened tensely at the nauseating scent that attacked his nose. Taking a step forward, he gripped Tetsusaiga but kept his focus on the spot where a figure began to take shape, and let a low growl rise from his chest as it became more distinct.
He frowned. There was something about the shape of that thing that seemed unlike any demon, yet whatever it was that god-awful aroma emanated from it. Moving closer it took on a more human shape, and upon reaching the cleared area that surrounded the group, Inuyasha felt his eyes had deceived him.
Miroku stood before them, not as monk they all knew so well, but as something else, something different. He still looked the same, the same ashen skin and fatigued build, but his expression was a different matter. His eyes held a threatening and inviting gaze, one that could bring you shaking to your knees and let you linger in mystery behind their true meaning. Either way you look at it, these eyes did not belong to Miroku.
He let his scrutinizing gaze roam over each member the group, until finally he rested his attention on Inuyasha. The dog demon flinched slightly. He could feel the monk looking through his body, past the flesh and bone and into his soul, breaking down everything that made him tick. The cold shiver that ran up his spine brought him back to reality, and forced the idea form his mind that Miroku may have been picking him apart from the inside out. That was foolish, he couldn't do that.....right?
Blinking once for the first time he had been there, he looked about as if seeing his smoggy surroundings for the first time with an impassive air. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply and with the release of breath, came a soft mist lighter in hue to the inky dark smoke surrounding them. Mildly smoothing a wisp of raven hair from his face and dragging his fingers along his neck to rest on a shoulder, he tilted his head with its same detached expression and spoke as loudly as water flows in a forest stream.
"So, this is what it means 'to be'. "
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Akida- Wow, now wasn't that a bizarre ending? I have no idea where that came from, I swear it was completely spontaneous, I think my fingers wrote it while my mind was off in La-la land or something. Anyways...yes I have FINALLY UPDATED, and I do hope most of you are still with me. Ever since school started I can't write as much as I want to, and I regret that updates will be a little spaced....hopefully not as spaced as this chapter was. ::bows:: But I must thank you the reviewers for sticking with this Akida, and waiting till Dooms day for me to update.
Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you'll stick with me longer!:
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Elizabeth
NoZaMi aNd HoTaRu
Kyosnekozukigirl
lilhillbillie
Kaylana
Tsunami
Aurora chan
Kitai Matsuru
Kari
Evil Pixi Stick Spork Goddess
Kitsune Akira
Psyko Neko-Chan
CerseiTear
Amara Aquilla
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Once again I thank you for putting in a line or two on this story, and if you don't see yourself above this time...well there's always the next chapter!!
So now that that's over and done with, how about some reviews?