This one's bloody! I warn you!!
By Your Side
A slight blush came to Sango's face as he whispered that one word. It was as if her mind suddenly reminded her who was in front of her smiling fondly and the question she had just asked him. If he were willing to live or die for her? Her face went from light pink to deep cherry. Finding she couldn't keep looking into his kind eyes she dropped her gaze, horrified seeing her hands were still clutching his.
Before she could get any more embarrassed, she heard his voice, cleared and less tensed. "Is it your wish that I live for you?"
Her face fumed and suddenly she wasn't as cold as when she first came in, she was almost certain the water over her body was evaporating around her. What had he just said? Did she want him to live for her? She closed her eyes trying to dissipate the awkward feeling in her jumpy heart, opening them to find she was still holding his hands. Her brow twitched as she pulled them back like she had touched fire.
If she were willing to look up she would see the monk with certain amusement in his eyes, watching the girl stumble for words.
"Well I..." she began taking a finger to scratch her neck. She stopped with certain confidence that evaporated as soon as she looked up to him again. "Well if you recall you made a promise not too long ago. I just supposed you had intended to keep it, that's all."
She gave a small nod mostly to herself for thinking up something coherent. Then looked up expectantly to him, only to find him struggling against something she could only guess.
"I'm," he began with a strained voice "Trying my best..."
A worried expression overcame her seeing him let out a short breath and take in another. That was the third time he had done that.
"What's wrong?" she asked already leaning forward.
In spite of the pain in his lower back he looked up to her with a smile. "I'm... keeping my promise..."
Her brows furrowed "Nani?"
Having shut his eyes he was now taking in long relaxing breaths apparently deep in concentration. She waited not so patiently for his answer. Finally his eyes opened again looking somewhat grim.
"I'm sorry, about what I said to you when you first arrived. But I wasn't sure if I could do this with you here. Your lovely face is awfully distracting for me and I need a great deal of concentration to pull this off."
She would be flattered later, right now there were too many questions to be asked "What do you mean? What is it you're doing Houshi-sama?"
He offered her yet another smile. "Well as you clearly put it, I had a promise to keep; I would never break my word if I could help it, especially to you."
She was right were she had started, shaking her head she was about to ask again when he spoke.
"I decided if I did not have the written cure, I would have to make one myself." He continued glancing sideways "I would do anything to not let you down. This is, what I'm doing now..."
Sango's brows furrowed "But what are you doing?"
With his head he motioned behind himself. Sango looked passed him curiously and saw nothing, looking back at him expectantly.
"My back. You can tell me at least if I'm making any progress." He explained
Rather curious as to what the monk was doing, and a bit edgy after noticing the lingering metallic smell of blood in the room, she lifted herself from the swollen wooden floor. Shivering as some parts of wet silk her skin hadn't been against suddenly made contact with her barely drying skin and as others she had warmed, were suddenly pulled away. Ignoring his concerned look she walked behind him. Her hand rushed to her mouth.
He heard her give a loud gasp and suddenly drop to her knees behind him.
"What is it?" he asked truly intrigued. He had a faint idea as to what she might see but was it something she would worry this much over?
Sango didn't know what sickened her more. The sight of the many tentacle creature half way out of Miroku's body covered in his own blood or the scattered layer of deep red all over his back apparently where the small blades of the creature tried to dig in once expelled.
"Houshi-sama..." she whispered not being able to look away from the horrid mass of moving bleeding tentacles. "Are you...? Doesn't this...?"
"I don't think there's any other way to get this thing out of me without involving another host." He explained
"But it's... it keeps cutting into your back."
"Yes but it hasn't been able to get in again has it?"
Sango looked his back over with worried eyes "Well no but... they're very deep and you're loosing a lot of blood."
Miroku lowered his chin. "It won't take much longer, for now the superficial cuts are just a side effect and furthermore won't kill me."
Sango's brows dropped. There was nothing superficial about these cuts. He had quite a bit of blood over him; it had already seeped into his black robes and was staining the floor with small drops.
"How long have you been here Houshi-sama?" she asked worriedly
She watched the muscles in his back tense as another tentacle of the small youkai seemed to be forcefully pushed out of his back.
"About an hour." He said in a strained voice
An hour with this thing cutting into him?! "Houshi-sama this is dangerous, you could bleed to death if that monster keeps sticking it's blades in you."
"I told you, it'll stop only when its last tentacle is removed. Don't worry it won't be much longer."
Sango's worried face turned determined "Well you don't have much longer either."
Noticing the sudden change in her tone he turned his head after hearing the soft tearing of fabric and slight whistle of a metallic object cutting through the air. He found Sango holding a blade to her hand that had apparently come from her fore arm, ripping the sleeve of the delicate silk kimono.
"Sango?" he asked watching her lean over his back "No keep away! What do you plan to do? If it touches your skin it could take you as it's host."
"Well then... I simply won't let it..." he felt a tug at his back "Touch me." She finished
With her hidden kodacchi she quickly grabbed a small tentacle of the youkai and cut clean through it taking away her hands immediately as the other tubes turned in her direction.
"It doesn't have to be alive while you expel it does it?" she asked snatching another tentacle and slicing it before the others reached her.
"No, but Sango this is dangerous, and there's no point to it. I'll be fine, you have no protection if it somehow manages to get a hold of you." He said watching what he could over his shoulder.
"Don't you start worrying about me now. You've got no--" she paused slicing away another member "right." She finished tossing it to a group where another two lay still wiggling occasionally.
"No right?" asked Miroku
"That's correct." said Sango not taking her eyes off her task. "Not after the way you had me worried out of my mind pulling off this stunt."
Miroku gave a deep sigh changing his worried face to a regretful one for a second "I'm sorry, I suppose I should have been more considerate." he paused wondering if he should mention what he had been about to say.
"But that kiss was... a bit off-putting."
He chose the wrong time to say this just as she was slicing through another tentacle. She hesitated a moment too long and was brought back to reality the second a thin tentacle cut into her left hand. She pulled back quickly slicing with a certain fear as the other small tubes began to make their way to her hand, fortunately she pulled back fast enough only for a second to achieve a skin deep cut.
"Sango? Daijoubu?" asked Miroku noticing the strain and hesitation in her acts.
Setting down her kodacchi she placed two fingers over the slender tentacle still trying to insert itself into her bloodstream even detached from the rest of its body. Winching as the thing came out bloody she felt it resist and cut deeper onto the path it had already made for itself under the skin of her hand. Frowning she looked at the tiny worm grimly once it was out of her hand and threw it with the rest feeling blood pump from the wound in her hand.
She shook it quickly trying to shake off the pain and then wiped it roughly on the fabric of her kimono, barely staining it as it was almost the same color of her blood.
"Sango?" he asked again
Her mind snapped back to the small shrine she was in, having remembered why she had gotten distracted enough to let that happen to her.
"How do you know about that?" she asked, her voice a little colder than she intended.
He looked back at her with shameful eyes and decided it was better if he looked away, staring at the wall directly in front of him, where the door stood barely ajar giving him a glimpse of the dark humid night.
"I had gone to look for you wanting us to discuss the situation, with Shinosuke-san. I needed to know how you felt about the transfer. I honestly didn't have any intentions of walking in on you or eavesdropping." He explained
"How I felt about the transfer...? What do you mean, if I wanted you to do it or not?" she asked trying to control the frustration she was feeling.
"Yes. I suppose... I wanted an easy way out of having to make such a decision."
Her fist clenched as her suspects to his 'discussion' were confirmed.
"You wanted me to choose who would live and die, you or my best friend, for you?" she asked
"I realized it was unfair but you have to understand I was frightened myself. I suppose I was selfish not to think of how that would affect you, but you also have to know that your word in this would have been taken as the most important."
"Why?" she asked loudly
"Because Shinosuke and I live for the same reason." He said quietly
Her heart suddenly felt as if it were being pushed in every direction at once. She had to be hearing him wrong.
"If you would have told us with true honesty that you wished for Shinosuke to live, we both would have accepted. And if you told us you wanted me to survive, again we would see to it that you obtained what you wanted to be as happy as possible. Now of course I realize a decision like this would have troubled you greatly, and the last thing I wanted to do was force you to give me an answer. I simply wanted to talk to you about my position and hope to get a hint as to what I should do."
Sango stared at the floor. She wasn't sure what to do to convince herself that this was dream. It had to be, what she was hearing couldn't possibly true. If so now would be a good time to wake up, at least to break the rather uncomfortable silence. Miroku spoke again even softer than before.
"I suppose the first thing that passed through my mind when I saw you with Shinosuke was that you had already made your decision. The right one in my opinion, as I can not give you half of what he can. And at least it left out the awkward conversation with you." He smiled bitterly.
Sango looked up to him sheepishly, anger gone and somehow suddenly feeling a bit guilty. She could understand in a way why he had acted the way he did. But that still didn't make his conclusions true or any less stupid.
"Houshi-sama... what you saw... was Shinosuke's emotions get the best of him. He did what he did out of impulse. And understood the magnitude of what he had done until he pulled away. Mostly because, I didn't respond the way he had hoped."
He looked down grimly at his hands holding in a fake smile. He still didn't want to hear this.
"He knew from the beginning my heart, belonged to...... another person." She paused feeling her face heat up. "So, what you saw, was nothing more than a small mistake on his behalf. And it was somewhat unreasonable to base a decision as important as the one you had to make on it. I suppose I have to admit that talking to me would have been better. I'm sorry."
His eyes turned to her direction. "Why?"
This caught her by surprise. She had said sorry... well because she had judged him for being selfish without knowing his side of the story, right? Or was it because of the...?
"Nandemonai." She said quietly going back to her work.
Miroku looked over his shoulder unable to see but the silhouette of her left shoulder occupied with what ever it was she was doing to the creature in his back. He certainly hadn't missed that long pause when she mentioned her heart was taken. He kept trying to push down the hope that had erupted inside saying it could be anyone she was talking about. Even so he couldn't help but smile as he decided to keep quiet after a relative silence finally turning back to the door. Neither of them spoke for a long while.
Sango was almost done with the parasite in his back, there were two tentacles to go and he seemed to have less than three still in his back. She sighed to herself; hopefully all this would end soon. She cut the last tentacle with a clean slice and tossed it to the others letting out a tired breath.
Another looked like it was about to be pushed out of Miroku's back. While she waited she flicked the sword rapidly hoping to get some of the blood off it, surveying her hands she found they were also covered with the thick liquid. Getting a better look however she found the wound made by the tentacle that had accidentally cut into her hand was still bleeding. She shook it roughly and then held it up above her shoulder hoping in some way that could help.
"Are you all right?" his voice called
She looked up to find him turning to see what she was doing and was now looking at her left hand with concern.
"Daijoubu, it's just a cut." She said
He tensed a bit as the tentacle she had been waiting for was expelled roughly. Catching hold of it before it so much had a chance to wiggle she sliced neatly through it, leaving a bleeding stump. Was this thing still alive? Setting down her kodacchi she couldn't stop the sneeze that was suddenly in her nose.
Miroku looked back at her hearing her sneeze three times in a row. And then sniffle lightly. He remembered now how she had arrived. Drenched to the bone. It had been a while but her clothes were probably still very damp, and the temperature of the room wasn't helping. If she got sick it would be entirely his fault.
"Sango." He called
"Nani?" she asked looking over his shoulder
"Are you feeling all right?"
Sango made a small noise of confusion and then understood. "Oh, no, I'm fine Houshi-sama. I just got a chill that's all." She smiled
He looked at her far from convinced. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly, wanting to call out 'What?' with those eyes he was giving her. His back was covered in blood, and from what she could tell he was in considerate pain and here he was worrying that she could get a cold?
"Sango."
She looked up to find he was no longer looking back at her but to his bottom right. Following his gaze she came upon his violet cloth folded neatly beside him. Her face felt hot.
"Take it." He spoke
Sango's mouth shrunk as her blush deepened. Dammit he had to be all sweet and what not. She turned to look down at his back noticing another tentacle had been pushed out, leaving only one in his back. She took her kodacchi and sliced it off trying her best to pretend he hadn't said anything.
"You only have one left Houshi-sama, this last one and you're finished." She told him
"It'll keep you warm at least, and cover you a bit more than your kimono." He added with a smile.
Her eyes widened in mild surprise and if it were possible she turned a deeper shade of red. Absentmindedly she looked down at herself to find he couldn't be more correct. First, she was still cold, goose bumps were still all over her body, and second, you could clearly tell she was cold. Her arms made their way over her chest quickly and she watched as he looked back at her with amusement and satisfaction.
She grit her teeth, as long as he didn't have that hentai smile of his... she thought.
"Just take the cloth Sango." He said half laughing
Pouting she stretched her arm over to the cloth beside him leaving the other protectively over her torso to cover as much of it as she could. Pulling it back towards her she took it in both hands and flipped it over her back.
Slowly pulling it across her shoulders she inhaled deeply letting his scent come over her. A sense of calm warmth overcame her senses as she pulled herself deeper into 'him'.
She snapped out of it a bit embarrassed as she heard him give a muffled groan. Looking down at his back, all she saw was something that looked like a black snake jump out at her and a blinding blue light. Trying to untangle herself from his cloth she placed her hands in front of her a second too late feeling a sharp pain in her chest. Before she could make sense of anything, something very large hit her across the back winding her.
Feeling a nauseating wave of pain and a light push in his back he saw the flash of light behind him and turned quickly. Sango flew against the wall of the shrine with great force as something black squirmed against her chest. 'No!' his mind screamed
"Sango!"
Springing from his position on the floor he intended to go to her, angry at himself for not remembering or warning her. He didn't however take more than two steps turning her way before another wave of pain made everything blurry. His body didn't respond and his senses disappeared, making it nearly impossible to feel the hard crash of his body against the floor. The pain was consuming and his vision went black a second before his eyes closed.
Trying hard to concentrate on something other than the pressure in her chest she cleared her thoughts opening her eyes against the pain. She had been pushed against the wall and her hand against her chest still clutched something tightly that was burning and fighting against it. Looking down she saw what seemed to be the last tentacle of the creature, still attached to the ball of bloody stumps she had cut off.
This last one however was very different from the rest. Hollow, slender and long just the same, but the small scalpel at the end was not flat and triangular like the rest. It had the shape of cone covered with many other small peaks all around the diameter where it met the hollow tube. She couldn't help but scream as it inserted itself deeper into her chest trying desperately and rapidly to get good depth. Winching she squeezed the ball of stumps even tighter with both hands and pulled hard before half the cone had entered her skin.
Her kodacchi not far, she out stretched her injured hand and took it, slicing the remaining tentacle in half. When it still wiggled she drew down her blade over and over until there were more than six pieces of it gushing blood over the humid wooden floor. She felt heat rush up to her hand as she saw the last evidenced of movement from the parasite. A bit paranoid she looked at the bloody stump beside the tiny massacre and sliced it in half, regretting it a second later as thick blackened blood oozed from the ball making the layers of skin collapse against each other.
She swallowed hard, the smell of blood making her nauseas already. Still panting and feeling pain against her chest she felt a certain wave of relief wash over her when nothing moved anymore. It was over.
Finally, this thing that had caused her so much pain, had died at her hand. Giving the best smile she could with her hands still shaking over her bosom she looked up at Miroku expecting to see him wearing a similar expression.
She gasped.
"Miroku!"
Don't freak out on me people!! This is far from over, and even though you should know I'm a sadistic little girl, I have my limits, ideas just sprang into my head and this story is going to be a few chapters longer than I had expected so. stay with me here!
By Your Side
A slight blush came to Sango's face as he whispered that one word. It was as if her mind suddenly reminded her who was in front of her smiling fondly and the question she had just asked him. If he were willing to live or die for her? Her face went from light pink to deep cherry. Finding she couldn't keep looking into his kind eyes she dropped her gaze, horrified seeing her hands were still clutching his.
Before she could get any more embarrassed, she heard his voice, cleared and less tensed. "Is it your wish that I live for you?"
Her face fumed and suddenly she wasn't as cold as when she first came in, she was almost certain the water over her body was evaporating around her. What had he just said? Did she want him to live for her? She closed her eyes trying to dissipate the awkward feeling in her jumpy heart, opening them to find she was still holding his hands. Her brow twitched as she pulled them back like she had touched fire.
If she were willing to look up she would see the monk with certain amusement in his eyes, watching the girl stumble for words.
"Well I..." she began taking a finger to scratch her neck. She stopped with certain confidence that evaporated as soon as she looked up to him again. "Well if you recall you made a promise not too long ago. I just supposed you had intended to keep it, that's all."
She gave a small nod mostly to herself for thinking up something coherent. Then looked up expectantly to him, only to find him struggling against something she could only guess.
"I'm," he began with a strained voice "Trying my best..."
A worried expression overcame her seeing him let out a short breath and take in another. That was the third time he had done that.
"What's wrong?" she asked already leaning forward.
In spite of the pain in his lower back he looked up to her with a smile. "I'm... keeping my promise..."
Her brows furrowed "Nani?"
Having shut his eyes he was now taking in long relaxing breaths apparently deep in concentration. She waited not so patiently for his answer. Finally his eyes opened again looking somewhat grim.
"I'm sorry, about what I said to you when you first arrived. But I wasn't sure if I could do this with you here. Your lovely face is awfully distracting for me and I need a great deal of concentration to pull this off."
She would be flattered later, right now there were too many questions to be asked "What do you mean? What is it you're doing Houshi-sama?"
He offered her yet another smile. "Well as you clearly put it, I had a promise to keep; I would never break my word if I could help it, especially to you."
She was right were she had started, shaking her head she was about to ask again when he spoke.
"I decided if I did not have the written cure, I would have to make one myself." He continued glancing sideways "I would do anything to not let you down. This is, what I'm doing now..."
Sango's brows furrowed "But what are you doing?"
With his head he motioned behind himself. Sango looked passed him curiously and saw nothing, looking back at him expectantly.
"My back. You can tell me at least if I'm making any progress." He explained
Rather curious as to what the monk was doing, and a bit edgy after noticing the lingering metallic smell of blood in the room, she lifted herself from the swollen wooden floor. Shivering as some parts of wet silk her skin hadn't been against suddenly made contact with her barely drying skin and as others she had warmed, were suddenly pulled away. Ignoring his concerned look she walked behind him. Her hand rushed to her mouth.
He heard her give a loud gasp and suddenly drop to her knees behind him.
"What is it?" he asked truly intrigued. He had a faint idea as to what she might see but was it something she would worry this much over?
Sango didn't know what sickened her more. The sight of the many tentacle creature half way out of Miroku's body covered in his own blood or the scattered layer of deep red all over his back apparently where the small blades of the creature tried to dig in once expelled.
"Houshi-sama..." she whispered not being able to look away from the horrid mass of moving bleeding tentacles. "Are you...? Doesn't this...?"
"I don't think there's any other way to get this thing out of me without involving another host." He explained
"But it's... it keeps cutting into your back."
"Yes but it hasn't been able to get in again has it?"
Sango looked his back over with worried eyes "Well no but... they're very deep and you're loosing a lot of blood."
Miroku lowered his chin. "It won't take much longer, for now the superficial cuts are just a side effect and furthermore won't kill me."
Sango's brows dropped. There was nothing superficial about these cuts. He had quite a bit of blood over him; it had already seeped into his black robes and was staining the floor with small drops.
"How long have you been here Houshi-sama?" she asked worriedly
She watched the muscles in his back tense as another tentacle of the small youkai seemed to be forcefully pushed out of his back.
"About an hour." He said in a strained voice
An hour with this thing cutting into him?! "Houshi-sama this is dangerous, you could bleed to death if that monster keeps sticking it's blades in you."
"I told you, it'll stop only when its last tentacle is removed. Don't worry it won't be much longer."
Sango's worried face turned determined "Well you don't have much longer either."
Noticing the sudden change in her tone he turned his head after hearing the soft tearing of fabric and slight whistle of a metallic object cutting through the air. He found Sango holding a blade to her hand that had apparently come from her fore arm, ripping the sleeve of the delicate silk kimono.
"Sango?" he asked watching her lean over his back "No keep away! What do you plan to do? If it touches your skin it could take you as it's host."
"Well then... I simply won't let it..." he felt a tug at his back "Touch me." She finished
With her hidden kodacchi she quickly grabbed a small tentacle of the youkai and cut clean through it taking away her hands immediately as the other tubes turned in her direction.
"It doesn't have to be alive while you expel it does it?" she asked snatching another tentacle and slicing it before the others reached her.
"No, but Sango this is dangerous, and there's no point to it. I'll be fine, you have no protection if it somehow manages to get a hold of you." He said watching what he could over his shoulder.
"Don't you start worrying about me now. You've got no--" she paused slicing away another member "right." She finished tossing it to a group where another two lay still wiggling occasionally.
"No right?" asked Miroku
"That's correct." said Sango not taking her eyes off her task. "Not after the way you had me worried out of my mind pulling off this stunt."
Miroku gave a deep sigh changing his worried face to a regretful one for a second "I'm sorry, I suppose I should have been more considerate." he paused wondering if he should mention what he had been about to say.
"But that kiss was... a bit off-putting."
He chose the wrong time to say this just as she was slicing through another tentacle. She hesitated a moment too long and was brought back to reality the second a thin tentacle cut into her left hand. She pulled back quickly slicing with a certain fear as the other small tubes began to make their way to her hand, fortunately she pulled back fast enough only for a second to achieve a skin deep cut.
"Sango? Daijoubu?" asked Miroku noticing the strain and hesitation in her acts.
Setting down her kodacchi she placed two fingers over the slender tentacle still trying to insert itself into her bloodstream even detached from the rest of its body. Winching as the thing came out bloody she felt it resist and cut deeper onto the path it had already made for itself under the skin of her hand. Frowning she looked at the tiny worm grimly once it was out of her hand and threw it with the rest feeling blood pump from the wound in her hand.
She shook it quickly trying to shake off the pain and then wiped it roughly on the fabric of her kimono, barely staining it as it was almost the same color of her blood.
"Sango?" he asked again
Her mind snapped back to the small shrine she was in, having remembered why she had gotten distracted enough to let that happen to her.
"How do you know about that?" she asked, her voice a little colder than she intended.
He looked back at her with shameful eyes and decided it was better if he looked away, staring at the wall directly in front of him, where the door stood barely ajar giving him a glimpse of the dark humid night.
"I had gone to look for you wanting us to discuss the situation, with Shinosuke-san. I needed to know how you felt about the transfer. I honestly didn't have any intentions of walking in on you or eavesdropping." He explained
"How I felt about the transfer...? What do you mean, if I wanted you to do it or not?" she asked trying to control the frustration she was feeling.
"Yes. I suppose... I wanted an easy way out of having to make such a decision."
Her fist clenched as her suspects to his 'discussion' were confirmed.
"You wanted me to choose who would live and die, you or my best friend, for you?" she asked
"I realized it was unfair but you have to understand I was frightened myself. I suppose I was selfish not to think of how that would affect you, but you also have to know that your word in this would have been taken as the most important."
"Why?" she asked loudly
"Because Shinosuke and I live for the same reason." He said quietly
Her heart suddenly felt as if it were being pushed in every direction at once. She had to be hearing him wrong.
"If you would have told us with true honesty that you wished for Shinosuke to live, we both would have accepted. And if you told us you wanted me to survive, again we would see to it that you obtained what you wanted to be as happy as possible. Now of course I realize a decision like this would have troubled you greatly, and the last thing I wanted to do was force you to give me an answer. I simply wanted to talk to you about my position and hope to get a hint as to what I should do."
Sango stared at the floor. She wasn't sure what to do to convince herself that this was dream. It had to be, what she was hearing couldn't possibly true. If so now would be a good time to wake up, at least to break the rather uncomfortable silence. Miroku spoke again even softer than before.
"I suppose the first thing that passed through my mind when I saw you with Shinosuke was that you had already made your decision. The right one in my opinion, as I can not give you half of what he can. And at least it left out the awkward conversation with you." He smiled bitterly.
Sango looked up to him sheepishly, anger gone and somehow suddenly feeling a bit guilty. She could understand in a way why he had acted the way he did. But that still didn't make his conclusions true or any less stupid.
"Houshi-sama... what you saw... was Shinosuke's emotions get the best of him. He did what he did out of impulse. And understood the magnitude of what he had done until he pulled away. Mostly because, I didn't respond the way he had hoped."
He looked down grimly at his hands holding in a fake smile. He still didn't want to hear this.
"He knew from the beginning my heart, belonged to...... another person." She paused feeling her face heat up. "So, what you saw, was nothing more than a small mistake on his behalf. And it was somewhat unreasonable to base a decision as important as the one you had to make on it. I suppose I have to admit that talking to me would have been better. I'm sorry."
His eyes turned to her direction. "Why?"
This caught her by surprise. She had said sorry... well because she had judged him for being selfish without knowing his side of the story, right? Or was it because of the...?
"Nandemonai." She said quietly going back to her work.
Miroku looked over his shoulder unable to see but the silhouette of her left shoulder occupied with what ever it was she was doing to the creature in his back. He certainly hadn't missed that long pause when she mentioned her heart was taken. He kept trying to push down the hope that had erupted inside saying it could be anyone she was talking about. Even so he couldn't help but smile as he decided to keep quiet after a relative silence finally turning back to the door. Neither of them spoke for a long while.
Sango was almost done with the parasite in his back, there were two tentacles to go and he seemed to have less than three still in his back. She sighed to herself; hopefully all this would end soon. She cut the last tentacle with a clean slice and tossed it to the others letting out a tired breath.
Another looked like it was about to be pushed out of Miroku's back. While she waited she flicked the sword rapidly hoping to get some of the blood off it, surveying her hands she found they were also covered with the thick liquid. Getting a better look however she found the wound made by the tentacle that had accidentally cut into her hand was still bleeding. She shook it roughly and then held it up above her shoulder hoping in some way that could help.
"Are you all right?" his voice called
She looked up to find him turning to see what she was doing and was now looking at her left hand with concern.
"Daijoubu, it's just a cut." She said
He tensed a bit as the tentacle she had been waiting for was expelled roughly. Catching hold of it before it so much had a chance to wiggle she sliced neatly through it, leaving a bleeding stump. Was this thing still alive? Setting down her kodacchi she couldn't stop the sneeze that was suddenly in her nose.
Miroku looked back at her hearing her sneeze three times in a row. And then sniffle lightly. He remembered now how she had arrived. Drenched to the bone. It had been a while but her clothes were probably still very damp, and the temperature of the room wasn't helping. If she got sick it would be entirely his fault.
"Sango." He called
"Nani?" she asked looking over his shoulder
"Are you feeling all right?"
Sango made a small noise of confusion and then understood. "Oh, no, I'm fine Houshi-sama. I just got a chill that's all." She smiled
He looked at her far from convinced. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly, wanting to call out 'What?' with those eyes he was giving her. His back was covered in blood, and from what she could tell he was in considerate pain and here he was worrying that she could get a cold?
"Sango."
She looked up to find he was no longer looking back at her but to his bottom right. Following his gaze she came upon his violet cloth folded neatly beside him. Her face felt hot.
"Take it." He spoke
Sango's mouth shrunk as her blush deepened. Dammit he had to be all sweet and what not. She turned to look down at his back noticing another tentacle had been pushed out, leaving only one in his back. She took her kodacchi and sliced it off trying her best to pretend he hadn't said anything.
"You only have one left Houshi-sama, this last one and you're finished." She told him
"It'll keep you warm at least, and cover you a bit more than your kimono." He added with a smile.
Her eyes widened in mild surprise and if it were possible she turned a deeper shade of red. Absentmindedly she looked down at herself to find he couldn't be more correct. First, she was still cold, goose bumps were still all over her body, and second, you could clearly tell she was cold. Her arms made their way over her chest quickly and she watched as he looked back at her with amusement and satisfaction.
She grit her teeth, as long as he didn't have that hentai smile of his... she thought.
"Just take the cloth Sango." He said half laughing
Pouting she stretched her arm over to the cloth beside him leaving the other protectively over her torso to cover as much of it as she could. Pulling it back towards her she took it in both hands and flipped it over her back.
Slowly pulling it across her shoulders she inhaled deeply letting his scent come over her. A sense of calm warmth overcame her senses as she pulled herself deeper into 'him'.
She snapped out of it a bit embarrassed as she heard him give a muffled groan. Looking down at his back, all she saw was something that looked like a black snake jump out at her and a blinding blue light. Trying to untangle herself from his cloth she placed her hands in front of her a second too late feeling a sharp pain in her chest. Before she could make sense of anything, something very large hit her across the back winding her.
Feeling a nauseating wave of pain and a light push in his back he saw the flash of light behind him and turned quickly. Sango flew against the wall of the shrine with great force as something black squirmed against her chest. 'No!' his mind screamed
"Sango!"
Springing from his position on the floor he intended to go to her, angry at himself for not remembering or warning her. He didn't however take more than two steps turning her way before another wave of pain made everything blurry. His body didn't respond and his senses disappeared, making it nearly impossible to feel the hard crash of his body against the floor. The pain was consuming and his vision went black a second before his eyes closed.
Trying hard to concentrate on something other than the pressure in her chest she cleared her thoughts opening her eyes against the pain. She had been pushed against the wall and her hand against her chest still clutched something tightly that was burning and fighting against it. Looking down she saw what seemed to be the last tentacle of the creature, still attached to the ball of bloody stumps she had cut off.
This last one however was very different from the rest. Hollow, slender and long just the same, but the small scalpel at the end was not flat and triangular like the rest. It had the shape of cone covered with many other small peaks all around the diameter where it met the hollow tube. She couldn't help but scream as it inserted itself deeper into her chest trying desperately and rapidly to get good depth. Winching she squeezed the ball of stumps even tighter with both hands and pulled hard before half the cone had entered her skin.
Her kodacchi not far, she out stretched her injured hand and took it, slicing the remaining tentacle in half. When it still wiggled she drew down her blade over and over until there were more than six pieces of it gushing blood over the humid wooden floor. She felt heat rush up to her hand as she saw the last evidenced of movement from the parasite. A bit paranoid she looked at the bloody stump beside the tiny massacre and sliced it in half, regretting it a second later as thick blackened blood oozed from the ball making the layers of skin collapse against each other.
She swallowed hard, the smell of blood making her nauseas already. Still panting and feeling pain against her chest she felt a certain wave of relief wash over her when nothing moved anymore. It was over.
Finally, this thing that had caused her so much pain, had died at her hand. Giving the best smile she could with her hands still shaking over her bosom she looked up at Miroku expecting to see him wearing a similar expression.
She gasped.
"Miroku!"
Don't freak out on me people!! This is far from over, and even though you should know I'm a sadistic little girl, I have my limits, ideas just sprang into my head and this story is going to be a few chapters longer than I had expected so. stay with me here!