Okay, I keep forgetting these things, so here we go.
Disclaimer For All Chapters, Former and Future: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!
::Day Two Alone::
Sango woke up to the smell of breakfast. Miroku was already up, his shakujo lying next to him on the ground.
"Good morning, Lady Sango," he said cheerily. She grunted, and pulled herself into an upright position. Kirara nudged a bit of food on a leaf to her. Sango smiled softly and picked it up.
"Did you sleep well?" Miroku asked. Sango looked down at her food, avoiding the question. She had dreamed of her family last night. Except it hadn't been Kohaku killing them, it had been her. Miroku sighed.
"Neither did I," he said. This was true. After he and Kagome had parted ways, he had lain awake until the sun was rising; thinking about what he was going to do. This would be a hard topic for Sango to discuss, and with him, no less. Kagome had told him not to move forward if he didn't feel the timing was right. He didn't. So they moved through their day, not really saying anything. Well, that wasn't true. As they helped Kaede clean up, they chatted awkwardly. It was then that they both realized how little they knew about each other. But as the day progressed, the talk flowed a little easier. Miroku still knew very little about what happened before she met Inuyasha, but over dinner, he struck gold.
"You didn't!" Sango gave a squawk of laughter as Miroku nodded. He had discovered that the amusing stories from his childhood - up until his father died - amused her, and that she was more willing to talk after hearing a few. For a moment, as she laughed, he thought he saw the girl she could have been. The pretty young taiji-ya who could have been, if not for Naraku. He was pleased, knowing it was he who had brought her out, and continued his story.
"Yup, all the way to the top of the hut. It was hard! I couldn't have been older than maybe 6, and those obis are surprisingly heavy."
Sango shook her head. "You are truly one of a kind, houshi-sama. Only you would use a geisha's obi as a welcome home banner."
Miroku grinned. "You never did anything ridiculous as a child?"
"I was six when I started training. There was no time for amusement. Unless . . ."
"Nani?" Miroku blinked. Sango blushed and looked down, mumbling something. He sighed.
"I'm not Inuyasha, I can't hear that well."
"I said: Unless you count training as a geisha." Her face was bright red. Miroku spluttered. Sango -- his strong, stubborn taiji-ya -- trained as a geisha? She shook her head.
"It was my great-aunt's idea. She was my mother's aunt, and didn't think women belonged in a village learning to fight with a bunch of men. So she twisted my father's arm until he let me go."
Miroku patted Kirara absently. "Well, you're still a taiji-ya, so what happened?"
"Well, I spilt the tea consistently, I kept snapping the strings of my instrument, and my kimono was in a constant state of distress, to sum it up. I think my great-aunt could have lived with that. But she couldn't stand the fights."
The monk choked on a piece of fish. "Fights?"
Sango nodded sadly, still looking down. "Near to daily fights with other girls who insulted my family."
That was it. Miroku spit the offending piece of fish into a leaf and laughed. Sango smacked him in the arm, to no avail.
"It's not funny, you know!"
He shook his head. "Oh, Sango. I can see why you wouldn't have made a good geisha."
She glared. "And why is that, houshi-sama?"
"You have too much spirit. A geisha is expected to be gentle, graceful, and agreeable. You would fight the men about political views."
The girl looked down. Miroku mentally slapped himself. One step forward, two steps back. Of course she knows she's not like other women, it's probably a source of embarrassment. He brought out a sincere smile, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I never said too much spirit was a bad thing. I like your spirit," he said. It probably didn't mean much to her, coming from a hentai like himself, but he noted that she looked up. But she didn't look at him.
"Sango?" Miroku whispered. She was staring past him, shocked. Miroku turned to look.
A young man stood at the edge of their camp, his black hair cropped short. He wore the garb of . . . a demon exterminator? His sash was a brilliant yellow, his armor a lighter shade of the same. Brown eyes met Sango's and Miroku felt a stirring of annoyance. What was going on? Sango whispered something, and while Miroku wasn't entirely sure what she had said, he was certain that word was a name. The young man moved towards them, and Sango snapped out of her shock.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, standing. Miroku stood as well, grabbing his shakujo. She wasn't happy to see this man, whoever he was.
"Now, now, Sango. Is that any way to greet your fiancée?"
::Do you know how tempted I am to cut it off here? But no, Kat will kill me if I do::
Shock. All that Miroku would ever remember of that moment was shock. Fiancée? What was this man talking about? Sango's entire village had been annihilated, leaving her the only survivor - save for the puppet Kohaku.
"Houshi-sama," she whispered. "I think it's time we slept." With that, she turned around and lay out her sleeping mat. She looked up at him.
"Can you douse the fire?"
What was going on? Here was this man, claiming to be her fiancée, and she was acting like he wasn't here? The young man seemed to be thinking along the same lines, for he strode forward and knelt next to Sango.
"Same as always, aren't you. Still stubborn, and still beautiful," he said, almost to himself, as he looked at her. Sango still did nothing.
"Houshi-sama, have I hit you so many times that you've finally gone deaf? The fire, please."
Miroku moved to do as she asked. The young man's head snapped up to look at him.
"Who's this? A houshi? Well, it's the only male companion I would ever allow my fiancée to have."
Sango stood up, fists balled at her sides, shaking visibly. Miroku stepped forward in the twighlight.
"Sir, I cannot allow you to stay here when you upset Lady Sango so much. Either explain yourself or leave."
The man laughed. "She didn't tell you? Bad Sango," he purred, and stood up. His eyes followed the length of her body all the way up to the hair he reached out to touch. She jerked away. "Didn't you miss me?"
Miroku wondered idly if he should be the one to gut and kill this man, or if Sango would like to do it. Either way, he would die. He shifted his grip on his shakujo.
"No," Sango said. "Don't harm him. He speaks the truth."
Miroku stepped back. "Nani?"
"I'm tired," she said, laying down with her back facing them. "I'll explain in the morning. Raidon, leave. I'm going to deal with you later."
Miroku settled himself by a tree to meditate until he was to leave and meet Kagome. His skull was cluttered, and needed clearing out. He heard the man's footsteps fade away, and as he left, the man muttered.
"I'll see you tomorrow evening, Sango."
---
Kagome nodded as Miroku tried to explain what little he knew of the situation. She dug into her bag, and pulled out a ring. She put it on the top of Sango's Queen, and moved the Queen to the side.
"That'll be Raidon - whoever that is. Go get some sleep, Miroku, "she commanded. "We can't do anything until we know who he is."
---
Breakfast was silent, until Sango touched Miroku's arm. He looked up at her.
"Before . . . before Raidon gets here," she said, and he nodded. From underneath her Yukata she brought out a small ring on a chain. It hung around her neck, and she sat to let him see it better.
"He's from another village, they were our biggest rivals. It was a good merger, Father said," she explained. Miroku sighed.
"I think . . . you need to explain a little more fully."
Hesitating only for a moment, she told him. She told him about her mother, who died giving birth to Kohaku, who her friends and enemies had been, the day she started training as a taiji-ya. She talked about the day she killed her first demon, and how sick she had been after. Every little thing about her past came spilling out. He didn't stop her when she got off track, and he waited patiently as she cried, often letting her lean on him. Then she came to the day she had met Raidon. She sighed.
"We were fighting a boar demon," she started, "When out of the blue, two arrows appear in its throat. I caught Hiraikotsu on a rebound, and turned. Raidon was standing there. He fed me a line worthy of you, and I slapped him."
Miroku smiled. "So I am not the only man drawn to your beauty," he mused. Sango glared, and continued.
"We ran into him several times, and every time he took our kill. My father soon learned there was another village of demon hunters, who also performed duties for local villages. They were incredibly strong. I visited their village once or twice. Raidon is a lot like you, houshi-sama," she told him, and Miroku blinked. She sighed.
"He's a womanizer. Unlike you, though, he treats the women with no respect. He sees them only as warm bodies, and he caught the eye of many of the huntress' of his village and ours."
Her companion blinked, and began piecing things together. "But not yours, I take it."
She shook her head. "Iie. I despise him, and I told him so any time he tried to catch my eye."
Miroku's heart soared. She looked at him and continued.
"Then my father asked me to come to the kitchen one morning. Raidon was there. The other village wanted a merger, the daughter and son of the headmen. Raidon and I," she hissed bitterly, looking down.
"Why did you say yes, if you hate him so?"
"My father asked me to. It was a good merge, we would be stronger together. Kohaku . . . Kohaku seemed to think he was an okay guy, so I agreed."
Miroku nodded, standing to make lunch. They had talked well past midday, and he was hungry. Before he moved though, he looked down at Sango.
"There is no reason for you to marry Raidon."
Sango sighed and stood, with her back to him. "There is."
Miroku walked to her, and looked her in the eye. "Why?"
"I went last night, and I . . . I met with him. He is the new village headman, and has no wife of yet. He was waiting for me."
Miroku said nothing for a moment, shocked at her deception. Sango had always been forthright about things. Then he shook his head.
"Sango, I know his kind - I am his kind. He waits for you because you are the proverbial 'one that got away'. You -" he stopped. He had almost said 'you deserve better than that'. He suspected this to be moving too far, too fast.
"You what?" she asked.
"Nothing," he sighed, and went to make lunch.
---
Whew! This update only took forever! And I've decided to hold off review thanks until the end of the story, it's just a little easier for me *blushes*. What?! School is hard. So enjoy this little update, and huge thanks to onee-sama for her help with the awkwardness of talking to a stoic!
Vocab:
Hai: Yes
Nani: What
Gomen (nasai): Sorry
Arigato: Thanks/Thank you
Onegai: Please
Hentai: Pervert
Houshi: Low-level monk
Bouzu: Disrespectful term for low-level monk
Taiji-ya: (Demon) Exterminator
Hiraikotsu: Flying bone (Sango's boomerang)
Hanyou: Half-demon
Youkai: Demon
Miko: Priestess
Ramen: Instant noodles
Kitsune: Fox
Neko: Cat-Demon
Kazaana: Air Void (Miroku's Wind Tunnel)
Shakujo: Miroku's staff with the rings (it has little blades on it, I'm serious)
Disclaimer For All Chapters, Former and Future: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!
::Day Two Alone::
Sango woke up to the smell of breakfast. Miroku was already up, his shakujo lying next to him on the ground.
"Good morning, Lady Sango," he said cheerily. She grunted, and pulled herself into an upright position. Kirara nudged a bit of food on a leaf to her. Sango smiled softly and picked it up.
"Did you sleep well?" Miroku asked. Sango looked down at her food, avoiding the question. She had dreamed of her family last night. Except it hadn't been Kohaku killing them, it had been her. Miroku sighed.
"Neither did I," he said. This was true. After he and Kagome had parted ways, he had lain awake until the sun was rising; thinking about what he was going to do. This would be a hard topic for Sango to discuss, and with him, no less. Kagome had told him not to move forward if he didn't feel the timing was right. He didn't. So they moved through their day, not really saying anything. Well, that wasn't true. As they helped Kaede clean up, they chatted awkwardly. It was then that they both realized how little they knew about each other. But as the day progressed, the talk flowed a little easier. Miroku still knew very little about what happened before she met Inuyasha, but over dinner, he struck gold.
"You didn't!" Sango gave a squawk of laughter as Miroku nodded. He had discovered that the amusing stories from his childhood - up until his father died - amused her, and that she was more willing to talk after hearing a few. For a moment, as she laughed, he thought he saw the girl she could have been. The pretty young taiji-ya who could have been, if not for Naraku. He was pleased, knowing it was he who had brought her out, and continued his story.
"Yup, all the way to the top of the hut. It was hard! I couldn't have been older than maybe 6, and those obis are surprisingly heavy."
Sango shook her head. "You are truly one of a kind, houshi-sama. Only you would use a geisha's obi as a welcome home banner."
Miroku grinned. "You never did anything ridiculous as a child?"
"I was six when I started training. There was no time for amusement. Unless . . ."
"Nani?" Miroku blinked. Sango blushed and looked down, mumbling something. He sighed.
"I'm not Inuyasha, I can't hear that well."
"I said: Unless you count training as a geisha." Her face was bright red. Miroku spluttered. Sango -- his strong, stubborn taiji-ya -- trained as a geisha? She shook her head.
"It was my great-aunt's idea. She was my mother's aunt, and didn't think women belonged in a village learning to fight with a bunch of men. So she twisted my father's arm until he let me go."
Miroku patted Kirara absently. "Well, you're still a taiji-ya, so what happened?"
"Well, I spilt the tea consistently, I kept snapping the strings of my instrument, and my kimono was in a constant state of distress, to sum it up. I think my great-aunt could have lived with that. But she couldn't stand the fights."
The monk choked on a piece of fish. "Fights?"
Sango nodded sadly, still looking down. "Near to daily fights with other girls who insulted my family."
That was it. Miroku spit the offending piece of fish into a leaf and laughed. Sango smacked him in the arm, to no avail.
"It's not funny, you know!"
He shook his head. "Oh, Sango. I can see why you wouldn't have made a good geisha."
She glared. "And why is that, houshi-sama?"
"You have too much spirit. A geisha is expected to be gentle, graceful, and agreeable. You would fight the men about political views."
The girl looked down. Miroku mentally slapped himself. One step forward, two steps back. Of course she knows she's not like other women, it's probably a source of embarrassment. He brought out a sincere smile, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I never said too much spirit was a bad thing. I like your spirit," he said. It probably didn't mean much to her, coming from a hentai like himself, but he noted that she looked up. But she didn't look at him.
"Sango?" Miroku whispered. She was staring past him, shocked. Miroku turned to look.
A young man stood at the edge of their camp, his black hair cropped short. He wore the garb of . . . a demon exterminator? His sash was a brilliant yellow, his armor a lighter shade of the same. Brown eyes met Sango's and Miroku felt a stirring of annoyance. What was going on? Sango whispered something, and while Miroku wasn't entirely sure what she had said, he was certain that word was a name. The young man moved towards them, and Sango snapped out of her shock.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, standing. Miroku stood as well, grabbing his shakujo. She wasn't happy to see this man, whoever he was.
"Now, now, Sango. Is that any way to greet your fiancée?"
::Do you know how tempted I am to cut it off here? But no, Kat will kill me if I do::
Shock. All that Miroku would ever remember of that moment was shock. Fiancée? What was this man talking about? Sango's entire village had been annihilated, leaving her the only survivor - save for the puppet Kohaku.
"Houshi-sama," she whispered. "I think it's time we slept." With that, she turned around and lay out her sleeping mat. She looked up at him.
"Can you douse the fire?"
What was going on? Here was this man, claiming to be her fiancée, and she was acting like he wasn't here? The young man seemed to be thinking along the same lines, for he strode forward and knelt next to Sango.
"Same as always, aren't you. Still stubborn, and still beautiful," he said, almost to himself, as he looked at her. Sango still did nothing.
"Houshi-sama, have I hit you so many times that you've finally gone deaf? The fire, please."
Miroku moved to do as she asked. The young man's head snapped up to look at him.
"Who's this? A houshi? Well, it's the only male companion I would ever allow my fiancée to have."
Sango stood up, fists balled at her sides, shaking visibly. Miroku stepped forward in the twighlight.
"Sir, I cannot allow you to stay here when you upset Lady Sango so much. Either explain yourself or leave."
The man laughed. "She didn't tell you? Bad Sango," he purred, and stood up. His eyes followed the length of her body all the way up to the hair he reached out to touch. She jerked away. "Didn't you miss me?"
Miroku wondered idly if he should be the one to gut and kill this man, or if Sango would like to do it. Either way, he would die. He shifted his grip on his shakujo.
"No," Sango said. "Don't harm him. He speaks the truth."
Miroku stepped back. "Nani?"
"I'm tired," she said, laying down with her back facing them. "I'll explain in the morning. Raidon, leave. I'm going to deal with you later."
Miroku settled himself by a tree to meditate until he was to leave and meet Kagome. His skull was cluttered, and needed clearing out. He heard the man's footsteps fade away, and as he left, the man muttered.
"I'll see you tomorrow evening, Sango."
---
Kagome nodded as Miroku tried to explain what little he knew of the situation. She dug into her bag, and pulled out a ring. She put it on the top of Sango's Queen, and moved the Queen to the side.
"That'll be Raidon - whoever that is. Go get some sleep, Miroku, "she commanded. "We can't do anything until we know who he is."
---
Breakfast was silent, until Sango touched Miroku's arm. He looked up at her.
"Before . . . before Raidon gets here," she said, and he nodded. From underneath her Yukata she brought out a small ring on a chain. It hung around her neck, and she sat to let him see it better.
"He's from another village, they were our biggest rivals. It was a good merger, Father said," she explained. Miroku sighed.
"I think . . . you need to explain a little more fully."
Hesitating only for a moment, she told him. She told him about her mother, who died giving birth to Kohaku, who her friends and enemies had been, the day she started training as a taiji-ya. She talked about the day she killed her first demon, and how sick she had been after. Every little thing about her past came spilling out. He didn't stop her when she got off track, and he waited patiently as she cried, often letting her lean on him. Then she came to the day she had met Raidon. She sighed.
"We were fighting a boar demon," she started, "When out of the blue, two arrows appear in its throat. I caught Hiraikotsu on a rebound, and turned. Raidon was standing there. He fed me a line worthy of you, and I slapped him."
Miroku smiled. "So I am not the only man drawn to your beauty," he mused. Sango glared, and continued.
"We ran into him several times, and every time he took our kill. My father soon learned there was another village of demon hunters, who also performed duties for local villages. They were incredibly strong. I visited their village once or twice. Raidon is a lot like you, houshi-sama," she told him, and Miroku blinked. She sighed.
"He's a womanizer. Unlike you, though, he treats the women with no respect. He sees them only as warm bodies, and he caught the eye of many of the huntress' of his village and ours."
Her companion blinked, and began piecing things together. "But not yours, I take it."
She shook her head. "Iie. I despise him, and I told him so any time he tried to catch my eye."
Miroku's heart soared. She looked at him and continued.
"Then my father asked me to come to the kitchen one morning. Raidon was there. The other village wanted a merger, the daughter and son of the headmen. Raidon and I," she hissed bitterly, looking down.
"Why did you say yes, if you hate him so?"
"My father asked me to. It was a good merge, we would be stronger together. Kohaku . . . Kohaku seemed to think he was an okay guy, so I agreed."
Miroku nodded, standing to make lunch. They had talked well past midday, and he was hungry. Before he moved though, he looked down at Sango.
"There is no reason for you to marry Raidon."
Sango sighed and stood, with her back to him. "There is."
Miroku walked to her, and looked her in the eye. "Why?"
"I went last night, and I . . . I met with him. He is the new village headman, and has no wife of yet. He was waiting for me."
Miroku said nothing for a moment, shocked at her deception. Sango had always been forthright about things. Then he shook his head.
"Sango, I know his kind - I am his kind. He waits for you because you are the proverbial 'one that got away'. You -" he stopped. He had almost said 'you deserve better than that'. He suspected this to be moving too far, too fast.
"You what?" she asked.
"Nothing," he sighed, and went to make lunch.
---
Whew! This update only took forever! And I've decided to hold off review thanks until the end of the story, it's just a little easier for me *blushes*. What?! School is hard. So enjoy this little update, and huge thanks to onee-sama for her help with the awkwardness of talking to a stoic!
Vocab:
Hai: Yes
Nani: What
Gomen (nasai): Sorry
Arigato: Thanks/Thank you
Onegai: Please
Hentai: Pervert
Houshi: Low-level monk
Bouzu: Disrespectful term for low-level monk
Taiji-ya: (Demon) Exterminator
Hiraikotsu: Flying bone (Sango's boomerang)
Hanyou: Half-demon
Youkai: Demon
Miko: Priestess
Ramen: Instant noodles
Kitsune: Fox
Neko: Cat-Demon
Kazaana: Air Void (Miroku's Wind Tunnel)
Shakujo: Miroku's staff with the rings (it has little blades on it, I'm serious)