I'm With Him - Chapter 7
By: Sakura Katsana
Disclaimer: .ashayunI nwo ton od I do not own Inuyasha.
Sakura's Note: I'm already miss this story even though I haven't even written the final sentence yet. I have really appreciated all the reviews I've gotten, they mean the world to me to know that you've enjoyed my work. I'll be off to high school August 30th, and all your encouraging words are really supportive.
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed or just read this story. I know sometimes just clicking the review button seems like a lot. So, thank you for enjoying this story, its truly been a great time working on it.
At the end of this chapter you can read the more detailed summary for my next fic, which will be posted directly after this one.
Thanks again, enjoy!
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Chapter 7: What Became of Her
"Miroku . . ." Sango's voice was barely even a whisper, and her throat felt painfully dry. She turned on her heel, racing through the trees away from the camp.
Inuyasha caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and realized who it had to be. He couldn't help but think she was right to run, to deny what was happening.
So he ran.
He would take care of Miroku later.
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Kagome's eyes were wide and her mind was reeling from shock. Her muscles were tense and she could feel a few succumbing to spasms. Amongst everything going on in her scrambled mind one word was louder than all the rest.
Inuyasha.
She felt Miroku quivering every few seconds. It'd already been seven. That was more than seven seconds too long. Suddenly all the shock was gone, replaced with anger. She knocked him away, her face set in a scowl and her body shaking. He hit a tree as Kagome turned, hiding her glassy eyes from his view.
"Miroku, how could you?"
"I'm sorry, Kagome . . ."
The miko's pearl gray eyes widened, more so than during the kiss.
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Sango clenched her teeth together. She would NOT scream, curse, or kill anyone right now. Most of all, she would not cry. She would definitely not shed a tear over this.
She wanted to leave, but without Kirara that wasn't possible. She'd have to stop off at the campsite.
Where am I running to? Which direction . . .? Sango stopped to look around, trying to use her natural instincts to find her route. The taijiya wasn't used to being so disoriented and confused when trying to find her way.
She was lost.
The trees blocked even most of the moonlight in this part of the forest and the clouds that she could see bid a warning of rain. She would have to turn back, try and find her bearings. Sango turned, walking into a tree.
"Damn it!" She screamed. Her knees shook before they collapsed beneath her. She sat there in a crumpled heap, too exhausted to stand.
"Sango?"
The tree was talking.
Yes, she had lost her sanity and it was all that damn monk's fault!
When she didn't respond the 'tree' turned, "Sango? What happened? Why are you in here? I told you I'd be back soon-"
He noticed she had frozen, her shoulders straight and her whole body rigid.
"Sango? What's wrong?" Miroku knelt down , putting a hand on her shoulder. Automatically he knew that was the wrong choice . . .
"Don't give me that . . .you two-faced, lying, playing, bastard!" Sango knocked him away, breaking down into tears. The dark-haired man had to blink for a moment.
"What? Sango, I-"
"How could you kiss her?" Sango hissed through tears, her next sentence blocked out by thunder.
"Kiss who?" Miroku frowned, considering all the possibilities of her cryptic question. "Sango! Kiss who? You're the only one I've-"
"I saw you." Her words were clipped, and her movements cold and reserved. "Inuyasha saw it too. You can't lie to everyone."
"I didn't kiss anyone!"
"You lie."
"Who are you talking about-"
"KAGOME!" Sango screamed to the ground. "It was just a plan, Miroku! How did you fall for her so fast? Is it that easy to replace me?"
"Sango, I didn't kiss Kagome . . .Whoever you saw wasn't me! I went to see what the noise was, they were deer, I was coming back and you ran into me. I haven't even seen Kagome." She shook her head, denying all his words access. The exterminator stood, leaving.
"I don't want to hear lies, Miroku." She whispered.
The monk jumped to his feet, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You don't want to hear lies, so I'm telling you the truth. Look at me and tell me I am lying."
"Let go of me, Miroku."
"Look me in the eyes."
"Let. Go. Of. Me."
"No."
She glared at him, and he took the chance to bring up her chin. "When you came along . . .I was going to ask you to bear my child."
"I don't need to hear this-"
"But, something in my head said something that gave me hope, and scared me. If you ask her, she'll never give you a chance. She's too good to be asked that. So I listened. I tried to get your attention everyday of my life since you came. And when you came up with this plan, I felt that it might work both ways. That while making him jealous, you would get jealous too . . ."
He noticed she had stopped fighting in his arms. That was a good sign.
"And then when I kissed you . . .gods, Sango. It was only on the cheek, but Kami-sama it was perfect!" She looked up at him skeptically, but when she saw his eyes glimmering the same way hers were, she couldn't seem to distrust him. "I didn't kiss Kagome, I don't know what you saw . . .but it wasn't me."
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Inuyasha stormed through the forest, branches slashing bloody lines down his cheeks. It had taken him ten minutes to realize he was bleeding at all.
His anger was building . . .
And he'd left his sword in the forest like an irresponsible idiot.
So, it wasn't a big surprise when he found his self control losing most of it's . . .control. Not now . . .I could kill anyone . . .I--Miroku kissed my woman . . . His vision was more a spectrum of red than the varied palette he was used to.
Without another clear thought he was chasing Miroku's scent.
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"Shippou?!"
" . . .yeah." The kitsune grabbed his head where it had hit the tree, rubbing the already painful lump there. "Sorry."
"What . . .how . . .why would you do that?! What were you thinking?" Kagome breathed, her hands over her heart. How could she voice what was running through her head right now? They weren't exactly child-friendly words or thoughts . . .
"I don't like seeing everyone so messed up . . .so I thought that if I looked like Miroku and kissed you then you--"
"Then I would call it off and tell Inuyasha everything . . ." The distraught miko's vision was a bit blurry from unshed tears.
"Well . . .actually . . ." Shippou trailed off, finally mumbling something under his breath. The few words Kagome could understand weren't calming her pounding heart at all.
"Could you repeat that please?"
"Inuyasha and Sango . . .they um . . .they came in and . . .t-they--"
"WHAT?!" Her voice carried through the forest, stirring birds from their nests in the treetops. "They . . .saw?! Oh my gods . . .Sango's heart will be broken, and Inuyasha's probably decided to try killing the real Miroku!"
"I didn't know they would come!" Shippou insisted, running toward the scent of the hanyou. "Uh oh . . ."
Kagome's head whipped around, looking at him with dread. "What?" She found her answer without his response when she followed his stare. "Oh gods . . ."
Shippou gulped, "Tetsusaiga . . ."
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"Who else looks like you, Miroku?" Sango asked bluntly, closing her eyes when the rain finally began to fall. She was tired of all this, if he could just tell her the truth.
"No one that I know of." the monk's lavender eyes stared back at her full of unchecked determination. Why was he so good at this? "We need to find Kagome, you must have seen someone else--"
"I can't see her without remembering. That's why I'm leaving." the demon exterminator sniffed, taking a deep breath. She wanted to sit there and believe him, and she had seen enough illusions during this one year to make her think twice, but it had been him. Hadn't it?
His usually calm exterior had already cracked a while ago, but right now it looked as if even his resolve was crumbling. He was losing her. "Sango, you can't go!"
She paused, "Why not? I don't enjoy having my heart broken, and unlike you, I don't break hearts either." With that out of her system, she straightened her back with dignity and brushed off her pants with shaky hands.
"Then you can't leave." Miroku whispered, only loud enough for her to barely hear it over the rain.
"Stop being so persistent. Groping random women was one thing, but kissing my best friend and then coming to me . . .no. There's no real reason I can't go. I've only stayed this long to hear you out because I'm a foolish lovesick girl who doesn't want to believe what's right in front of her."
"You said you didn't break hearts, so if you leave . . .that won't be true. Sango, I-"
"Monk . . ." He turned, faced with a problem he hadn't expected. Two red eyes glared at him, making him take a step back out of reflex. He knew those eyes all too well.
Sango looked back from the sodden path with wide eyes full of realization. He didn't have his sword, and he'd seen the same thing she had. And worst of all, he had seen Miroku kiss Kagome, which made this a very intrusive situation.
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"Come on, Shippou! We've got to hurry! Who knows what Inuyasha will have accomplished by the time we get there!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, Kagome." the fox demon huffed again, becoming tired already in his horse form.
The miko jumped off, grabbing the now-kitsune by the hand. "We'll get there faster running." Shippou nodded an affirmative, allowing her to pull him through the trees.
"His scent changed here," Shippou informed, "From here on out he's been a demon."
"I should have never agreed to any of this. It would have all been avoided if I had just told him how I felt!" She dodged a low branch, jumped a log, and then stopped fully. There was a flash of red in the distance from Inuyasha's haori. It couldn't have been anything else--not that red.
"Inuyasha, I know what you are thinking." Miroku put his hands in front of him, showing he was unarmed. "It wasn't me. Someone else kissed Kagome." He didn't expect it to work, so it wasn't a big disappointment when the demon only advanced forward snarling.
This is what he deserves. He kissed your woman--Kagome. He had no right. Inuyasha barely had the strength to fight his demon blood, and he knew whatever regrets he carried tomorrow would be because of this. But there was no way to stop it, not now . . .
"Inuyasha! Sit!" Kagome knocked away a stubborn vine, stumbling on a rock on her way down onto the more distinguished path.
The demon was slammed to the ground, growling angrily. It only took him a second to stand again, and when he did Kagome was surprised to see no difference. The only change was he was now gaining on her.
"Inuyasha, it's me, it's Kagome." She inched forward, refusing to be scared. This was Inuyasha, her Inuyasha. He wouldn't hurt her, she knew it. "Miroku didn't do anything, he wasn't there."
The temporary demon paused, cocking his head to the side. There was something in his eyes that reminded her of doubt, but she couldn't be so sure. He was a youkai now, reason wasn't fond of staying with him during that time.
She couldn't tell him it was Shippou, not while he was like this. He had to calm down and change back to the lovable hanyou she knew and loved before he could find out. Otherwise he might go after the most defenseless one of them instead.
He took another step forward, his demon side practically having to force his body.
"Inuyasha . . ."
He growled, continuing ahead.
"I know it sounds wrong, but if you calm down I will explain." Kagome carefully placed a hand on his shoulder, watching as his breathing deepened. He was fighting it! Good. Kagome smiled, "It's ok, Inuyasha." She took another step forward.
She hated to see him like this.
Without another moments hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding on as tight as she could. There wasn't much else she could do, except let him know she was there for him.
Sango's eyebrows knitted together from confusion. This wasn't fitting together right. Miroku seemed confused enough as it was, and Kagome seemed to be backing up his words. She wouldn't had he kissed her like that . . .
But she'd seen someone out there, who was it?
No one looked like Miroku.
Thunder rolled overhead and the rain seeped through her clothes. She didn't notice Miroku looking at her, his eyes searching her. He wanted her to believe him, no matter how hard it was to do so.
Inuyasha's eyes slowly flashed gold, then red, and finally settled back to the stunning shade of honey Kagome had come to know and love. "I'm here, Inuyasha. It's ok."
The hanyou pushed her away just enough to look into her eyes, his own showing unbearable confusion.
"Shippou couldn't take it, he didn't like seeing everyone so mixed up." Kagome started, and could tell that he was slowly coming to understand. She continued though, the miko didn't want anymore misunderstandings to tear them apart. "He turned into Miroku, and kissed me, hoping that I would tell you everything that we've been doing. He didn't expect you and Sango to be there."
"I know what you've been doing." His words came out harsher than he had intended, although they portrayed his true feelings. "I overheard you at the springs."
Kagome blinked, shocked, "You were there? So you've known all this time? And you've still been playing along, putting me through all of this?"
"You tricked me, made me think I was some kind of damned fool. Not to mention so damn jealous I was ready to kill Miroku . . .Then your same plan causes Shippou to come in and cause me to think the monk had real feelings for you. I think we're far from even."
The stormy-eyed girl winced with regret, but it was soon replaced with dread. "So you know why I did it . . .don't you?"
"I . . .I do." his honey eyes locked with hers. Fear shot through her before reality finally sunk in.
The look she gave him then would have killed him any other time, but now he knew why. "I should have known the others were wrong. You want to die with Kikyo, not stay here with someone desperate enough to betray you to get you to admit your feelings." She was surprised to find that no matter how hard she tried she could not pull away from him.
He held her wrists tighter, "No. They're right."
"W-what?"
"Kikyo was my first love, but it was conditional. She wanted me as a human, and disowned me otherwise. Then she wanted me to give up life to be with her when she wanted me. I was a toy to her. She played with me when she wanted to. You never did that."
"Whatever form I'm in, you accept me without disgust. You cry for me, tolerate me, and are the first thing in my mind every morning. Although your plan was the dumbest piece of shit you've ever pulled . . .You did it to be with someone as undeserving as me."
Kagome gave a watery smile, "You'll never be undeserving, Inuyasha."
"Keh. Let me finish, woman." She giggled at his loving tone.
"I'm sorry, go on."
"I love you, Kagome Higurashi. And it took me a year and a half to say it out loud once, so don't pretend you didn't hear it. I'm not--"
Kagome rolled her eyes playfully, lightly yanking on a strand of silvery hair. "Inuyasha, shut up and let me do something it's taken me a year and a half to do . . ." With that, the futuristic girl rose up onto her tip toes, capturing his lips with her own. "I love you, my Inuyasha." She resized his lips passionately, running her hands over his velvet ears.
Needless to say he refused to stop just to breathe.
Really, who needed to breathe anyway?
Sango gave a rigid sigh. She hated being wrong, and more so she hated having accused Miroku of something her heart had told her he could never do all along. "M-Miroku, I--" The seventeen year old blushed automatically when she noticed he was staring at her. There was a look in his eyes, something that made her uneasy but excited at the same time.
"No need to apologize, Lady Sango." Miroku didn't miss the flinch when he called her formally. "Shippou does transform quite remarkably into others. My past experiences didn't help the matter much either. But" --The monk walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder-- "there is one thing you should know."
Sango waited, annoyed that he chose now of all times to pause for dramatics.
"Although I grope a lot of bottoms . . .I've never kissed any of those bottom's owners. Except for one."
The taijiya really didn't see why he was rubbing it in her face like this. It wasn't funny, only embarrassing. Not to mention it was already awkward with the kissing couple in the background. She definitely didn't want to know about his past escapades with women luckier than her.
"Where is this going, Houshi-sama?" He was using formalities, she assumed it would only be right for her to do the same.
"The one girl I did kiss . . .Well, she was a fiery one, most likely still is. I pursued her for a while before I got to kiss her. Beautiful girl."
Sango felt her fists clenching. What did this girl have that she didn't?
"Had the most gorgeous eyes a man could ask for, and the hair of a goddess."
Ah.
She'd always known her hair wasn't silky, nor were her eyes all that beautiful. No wonder he'd kissed her . . .
"So, when I got that kiss I was basically floating. It had erased all the pain she'd given me with rejection. Do you know what became of her?"
Sango whirled around, flames blazing in her pomegranate eyes. "No, Houshi-sama, I do not. And, I don't give a--" She gasped, stunned when she felt someone's lips on her own. Then the heat was gone, and two lilac orbs opened in front of hers.
"I kissed her again . . .right in front of a very passionate couple that's been going at it for about five minutes a few feet away."
Shippou sighed from his perch in a nearby tree. "I knew my plan wasn't going to backfire . . ."
She stuttered, happy when she found her voice to speak. "But that's not all that happened . . .Miroku." He raised a curious eyebrow, waiting for her explanation. She darted forward, kissing him blissfully. When she let go it was all Sango could do to not laugh at his dazed smile. "She kissed him back."
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::sniff, sniff:: I love sappy endings! It didn't continue on to weddings or children, but I don't care. You can imagine those things better than I could tell them to you.
Once again, thank you to everyone who read this story, and a special thanks to all of those who reviewed.
Like I said, I'll be posting my next story directly after this. Here's a more detailed summary:
Thief of Hearts: Inuyasha leads the powerful band of thieves known as the Sengoku Jidai. Feared by everyone, the treacherous men raid the cities of the desert for countless treasures, although none are as sought after as the Shikon Jewel. With their King's command, they finally raid the city of Shikon in hopes of gaining their precious prize that would make their dreams of ultimate riches true. But, when their fearless leader meets the jewel's royal--and fiery--protector, the Jidai's worst fear arises. Could Inuyasha, their valiant chief, put them at risk . . .for love?
Sunny days, and breathtaking dreams,
Sakura Katsana