And the next chapter is up! You should all be impressed with the speed, 'cause I'm totally mad-dog crazy and volunteered to do Thanksgiving at my house this year. My brand new house. In which I am still living out of boxes. I did mention I was crazy right? But I digress...
This should answer the "Why didn't he go through the well with her?" and "He's about to be ripped to shreds by a pissed off dog demon, right?" questions. I hope so anyway. No leather though. Sorry.
Thank you Grizabella for the citrus breakdown. This has just a tiny hint of lime. A piquant if you will. (And yes, I've watched way too much FoodNetwork. ::insert crazy grin here::) But no jeans. Sorry.
I can't believe strict Inu/Kag folks are reading this! Yay! I love you all! And you will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. But I mean it in a loving way. ::insert crazy grin here::
Chapter 5: In which predictable things occur and our hero clings to his dignity.
Miroku was still staring into the well when he heard the wind rush of Inuyasha's full speed arrival. He knew he should have moved. Gone back to the village. Or better yet, gotten the hell out of the village. Anything to give Inuyasha time to cool down. But he had been so tempted to jump in after Kagome, and so afraid that the well wouldn't work for him because the whole damn universe thought she and Inuyasha belonged together, and he really didn't want that particular theory to be confirmed, so he'd just stood there, staring down into the well. And now he was here and Inuyasha was here, and he was about to die because he was a stupid, indecisive, sap.
"You better try and defend yourself, Miroku, 'cause you're about to feel pain," Inuyasha snarled.
With a sigh, Miroku turned away from the well and readied his staff. "I don't suppose it would help any if I pointed out that she would have left anyway, and you would've become very familiar with the soil content of that forest?"
Inuyasha screamed out a wordless battle cry and charged.
"Didn't think so," Miroku muttered, and swung his staff up to meet the attack.
They slammed together and Miroku could feel Inuyasha's hot, angry breath on his face as he used his staff to block the dog-demon's fists. With a roar, Inuyasha ducked down and threw his shoulder into Miroku's stomach, tossing him back several yards. Flipping quickly to his feet, Miroku brought his staff back up and desperately sucked air into his suddenly deprived lungs.
Inuyasha smiled grimly. "Humans are so damn weak."
"You sound like your brother," Miroku said with a fiercely cheerful grin as he regained his ability to breathe. "Found a role model?"
Inuyasha bellowed with rage and again Miroku readied himself. And this time he was damn well going to get a blow in; he'd show Inuyasha a weak human. But then a loud whirring sound filled the air, and suddenly there was a large pale object between the two men. Several small fires popped up around the object and Miroku stumbled backwards.
"Inuyasha, stop!" The cry rang out through the clearing and then Sango was there, grabbing up her bone boomerang and positioning herself protectively in front of Miroku.
Shippou scrambled off of her shoulder and leapt up onto Miroku's head, brandishing his toy top at the half demon. "Stay back Inuyasha! I don't want to have to hurt you!"
"This doesn't concern you two," Inuyasha said, and for once Miroku agreed with him.
"Of course it does," Sango said angrily. "We're all a part of the same team. We're supposed to all work together."
"Not where Kagome is concerned," Inuyasha retorted. "She belongs to me."
"She doesn't belong to anyone," Miroku said. And fuck the universe if it felt otherwise.
"Shut up, Miroku," Sango hissed. "Let me handle this."
"Yeah, Miroku. Hide behind the woman and the child and let them handle this," Inuyasha said with a taunting smile.
Miroku lunged at him, spilling Shippou off his head and forcing Sango to trip him up with her boomerang.
"Damn it! Would you two grow up!" Sango put a foot on Miroku's back to keep him down and pointed her finger at Inuyasha. "You. Go through the well. Talk to Kagome and get this straightened out." Miroku started to rise up in protest and she slammed him back down with her foot. "And you! Stay right where you are until Inuyasha is gone."
"Maybe I'll wait awhile before going," Inuyasha said. "It's starting to get entertaining."
"Go!" Sango sounded beyond exasperated.
"All right, all right. But this ain't over, Miroku."
Miroku decided to forgo any threats of his own. In his current position he had a feeling anything he said would sound ridiculous and he wanted to hang onto whatever dignity he had left. So he waited on the ground quietly until he felt the surge of power that told him the well had been used. Then he rolled out from under Sango's foot and climbed gracefully to his feet. He dusted off his robes and gathered up his staff as Sango and Shippou watched him silently. Without meeting their eyes he turned away from the well and started off towards the village.
"Where are you going?" Sango now sounded exhausted and a little defeated and Miroku knew he should feel guilty for leaving her alone all night with an angry Inuyasha, but Inuyasha was going after Kagome, probably having a happy little reunion with her at this very moment, so guilt was not among his current emotions.
"I'm sorry Sango, but that's really none of your business," he said. And without turning around, he walked into the forest.
Habit took him towards Lady Kaede's home, but the last thing he wanted was another little heart to heart with the old woman, full of knowing looks and I-told-you-so's. Instead he veered off towards the river, not stopping until he came to a little clearing that was usually deserted this time of year. There, he settled down for some quiet meditation. He needed to get himself under control. His emotions were raging through him in a chaotic torrent, and that needed to stop immediately. Before he killed someone.
After several fruitless minutes, he remembered why this area always became deserted as the summer months arrived. Every biting insect in creation lived here. And they were all starving for a little Miroku meat. With a few choice words for summer in general and this location in particular, Miroku climbed to his feet. And nearly took off Sango's head with his staff when she pushed her way through the bushes.
"Watch it!" Sango ducked away from his swing and glared at him. "Miroku, what is your problem!"
With a put upon sigh, Miroku walked past her and back towards the village. "I am sorry Sango, but -,"
"If you say it's none of my business I swear I'm going to remove one of your limbs." Sango fell into step beside him. "You've been in a foul mood for several days now and it's starting to effect us all. You and Inuyasha are at each other's throats; you can't tell friend from foe; and I caught you unawares without even trying!"
Miroku picked up his pace, but Sango matched him, stride for stride. "Something is bothering you and you seem unable to handle it on your own. So please," she skipped in front of him and put a hand on his chest, stopping him, "please, Miroku, let me help."
Miroku took a deep breath and looked down at Sango. She was looking at him with worry and compassion and, oh yeah, there was the guilt he should have felt earlier. Closing his eyes, he leaned wearily against his staff. "You're right, Sango," he said quietly. "I have not been myself." He opened his eyes and smiled gently down at her. "I appreciate your offer of assistance, but I CAN handle this on my own. In fact, I must handle this on my own."
"Are you sure I can't do something to help?" Sango moved closer to him, and Miroku really needed to be left alone and he realized there was one guaranteed way to both assuage her worries and achieve some privacy.
"Well there is one way you can help," he said with an obscenely suggestive leer, and then he patted her bottom.
Sango stared up at him in shock and then she reared back and whacked him on the head with her boomerang. "Pervert!" she said with that perfect tone of moral outrage that was quintessentially her. With a glare she flounced off down the path. "I can't believe I offered to help that creep," she muttered as she left. But she WAS leaving and there was definite relief in her voice, and Miroku decided it was worth the hopefully minor head injury.
Several hours later, after finding a better spot to meditate, Miroku felt up to joining the others. He felt more balanced and calm and less like the universe was out to get him. It was also helpful to see the amount of gravel embedded in Inuyasha's face, obviously the result of several big 'sits'. Not that Inuyasha would acknowledge that any such thing had occurred.
He'd approached the group cautiously when he saw that the half-demon had returned. But Inuyasha had ignored him, concentrating on petting the purring Kirara curled up in his lap, and Miroku figured that Kagome had somehow smoothed things over while she'd had Inuyasha plastered to the ground.
Sango looked him over carefully, from a safe distance he was amused to note, and seemed content with what she saw. Shippou approached him almost as cautiously as Miroku had approached Inuyasha, which brought its own sting of guilt. But soon enough, Shippou was nestled up against Miroku, happily showing him his latest drawings about a clever little fox outwitting a bullying, but not too bright, white dog.
The days passed uneventfully, though he and Inuyasha avoided each other as much as possible. Miroku was not happy about that. Inuyasha was arrogant, domineering and sometimes pretty bad-tempered, but he was a good man in a battle, single-mindedly determined to destroy Naraku and amusingly gullible at times. Miroku had come to enjoy his companionship and found himself actually missing the half-demon. So it was a relief when one evening Inuyasha brought up some rumors of bandit activity to the west.
"Without Kagome we won't know if a shard is involved," Sango pointed out.
"Yeah, but it'd be good to kick some ass, eh Miroku?" Inuyasha grinned at him around his food, which wasn't the most pleasant of sights, but he'd actually spoken to Miroku and a good fight could be a perfect way to purge the tension between them.
"A righteous man is always grateful for an opportunity to stop wrong doing," Miroku answered piously. Then he lowered his voice. "Tell me, are these wealthy bandits?"
Inuyasha laughed. "Damn, monk! You are so predictable."
* * *
"That was too easy," Inuyasha groused as the group returned from victorious battle. "I didn't even have to draw Tetsusaiga." He kicked at a stone petulantly. "I thought you had to be tough to be a bandit."
"You have to be tough to be a good bandit," Miroku said from his place on the wagon seat. "By the paltriness of their treasure I don't think they were very good bandits." The wagon he was riding was only lightly loaded. It was barely worth the effort of finding someone willing to buy the goods; even the ox drawing the wagon looked like he was on his last legs. But Miroku didn't want to feel he'd completely wasted his time.
"Well that's one group of bandits that will no longer be terrorizing the countryside," Sango reminded them. "That's got to be worth something."
"I don't know if 'terrorizing' is the right word," Miroku mused. "Maybe 'pestering' the countryside. Or 'mildly annoying' the countryside." Inuyasha and Sango stared at him blankly, and he found himself really, really missing Kagome.
"Did you see how I scared them? Wasn't it great?" Shippou jumped up and down on the seat next to Miroku. "I was like, 'I will destroy you!', and they were like, 'aaaahhhh!'." Shippou climbed over Miroku as he reenacted the scene, waving his hands in the air and making faces. If he wasn't careful he was going to fall off the wagon and break his neck.
"That should have been our first clue," Inuyasha said. "If they were scared by one of your stupid tricks, they were obviously not worth our time."
"Hey! My tricks aren't stupid! You're stupid!" Shippou leapt from Miroku's shoulder onto Inuyasha and began gnawing on his head.
With a dark chuckle, Inuyasha grabbed the young fox demon by the tail and held him up at eye level. "Dumb move kid," he sneered as Shippou fruitlessly swung his tiny fists. "No Kagome here to protect you."
Shippou's eyes grew huge and he took in a deep breath. "Fox fire!" he screamed, and as a small fire popped in front of Inuyasha's face, he wriggled out of his grasp and scampered into the high grass growing along the roadside.
"Get back here runt! You nearly took my eye out!" Predictably, Inuyasha took off after him.
Miroku sighed. Without Kagome here to stop them this conflict could go on indefinitely. He was trying to decide if he should get involved when he suddenly sensed a malevolent presence approaching. Dropping the wagon reins, Miroku gripped his staff and looked around. A movement down by the river caught his attention and he stood up to better see what it was.
"Trouble?" Sango was already unharnessing her boomerang.
Miroku was finally able to make out what he'd been sensing. "I'm still trying to figure that out," he said quietly; then louder, "Inuyasha? You have company."
Inuyasha popped out from among the grass. "What the hell are you..." He looked where Miroku was pointing. The long silvery worms-like wraiths were almost lost in the sunlight glinting off the river, but they were unmistakable. "Kikyou," he breathed. And then he was off.
"What does she want?" Sango wondered.
"I'm not sure if she even knows," Miroku answered, then took his seat and flapped the reins of the cart, encouraging the ox to keep moving. There was no telling how long Inuyasha was going to be with his dead priestess, and he was afraid if the ox stopped he'd never get him going again.
They returned to the village without further incident, or sign of Inuyasha. As Miroku stored his spoils in an empty shed to await the arrival of the first passing merchant, he reassured himself that Inuyasha was more than capable of taking care of himself and that Kikyou did seem to care for him in her own strange psychotic way.
Suddenly a loud cry shattered his thoughts. "Kagome! You're back!"
Miroku sucked in a breath. Very carefully he put down the last item, making sure it was placed exactly right. He smoothed down his robes and walked with deliberate nonchalance out of the shed and into the sun.
Shippou was running at top speed, his bushy red tail flying behind him like a flag. The object of his excitement was walking down the hill towards the village waving enthusiastically at the young fox demon. Kagome was out of her usual uniform today and was instead wearing a short pale blue robe sort of thing that stopped halfway down her thighs. The neckline was low enough that Miroku knew he'd be encouraging her to lean over him for something as soon as he could think up a decent reason. And even better the robe was made of a material that clung deliciously to her body whenever the wind moved.
Unfortunately, she was also wearing a type of pale green outer robe that just skimmed her hips and did not respond so readily to the elements. But the days had been getting warmer, and even with its short sleeves, surely Kagome would remove her outer robe at some point. Plus, she wasn't wearing socks, which brought to mind the time she was wearing only socks, and most importantly she was back, and soon he'd be able to touch her and smell her, and in the end it didn't really matter what the hell she was wearing.
Miroku had to consciously restrain himself from grinning too widely. Which led his thoughts into a tangled maze of how wide was too wide, and, for that matter, how fast should he be walking? Because while an outright sprint like Shippou's would be bad, it wasn't like he was leading a funeral procession.
Miroku was suddenly struck by a horrible fear that he was walking with a strange hiccuping combination of a jog and a walk, and now he had no idea how to hold his staff without tripping over the damn thing. He'd just about made up his mind that it would be best to cling to dignity and wait for Kagome to come to him, when, finally, she was standing right in front of him. And she was grinning up at him, and he was grinning down at her, and it physically hurt to not crush her in his arms and rediscover what she tasted like.
Instead he contented himself with staring at her, while Shippou dug through her overstuffed bag, mumbling about candy, and Sango (when the hell had Sango arrived?) filled her in on the nothing-much-at-all that had happened while Kagome was gone. Fortunately, Sango did not mention the altercation at the well. And she somehow managed to make the fight with the bandits seem like a noble endeavor instead of a desperate way to fill the time.
"Inuyasha fought quite bravely," Sango concluded with a meaningful look at Kagome that Miroku thought completely unnecessary, and honestly he'd fought just as hard as Inuyasha, maybe even more so since Inuyasha had grown so disgusted by the obvious rout he'd gone to sulk in a tree while Miroku and Sango did cleanup, which, granted, mainly consisted of making sure the fleeing bandits weren't running in the direction of the nearest village, but could have been dangerous, because you never know with bandits.
"Where is Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, looking around curiously.
Sango flushed and looked desperately at Miroku. "Oh! He's... uh... He's..."
"He's with Kikyou," Miroku said smoothly and Sango stared at him in shock.
"Oh." Kagome had an odd look on her face that Miroku was hard pressed to define. "I'm sure he'll be okay. I don't think she wants to hurt him. Not really."
Sango patted Kagome's shoulder while glaring at Miroku. "He was very reluctant to leave," she said soothingly. "He was so hopeful you'd be back today."
"He shouldn't have expected me until tomorrow," Kagome said with an air of righteousness. "I made it perfectly clear that for each day he pestered me to come back I'd make him wait a day." She grinned. "But then I couldn't wait to get back, myself!"
"Because you missed me?" Shippou pulled his head out of Kagome's bag and gazed up at her winsomely.
Kagome giggled and crouched down to give him a hug, and her neckline gapped as predicted and, ooh hey - pink. "Yes, Shippou, that's why I came back so quickly." She looked up at Miroku. "Because I missed you."
And now it was all he could do to not sweep Kagome into his arms and take off at a full run for the first secluded anything he could find. Somehow he maintained control. But, as the group started to meander their way back to Lady Kaede's and he fell in behind everyone, he was clutching his staff so hard his fist hurt.
As they settled into the cottage Kagome took a moment to pull Miroku aside. "So? Did you fulfill your task?" she whispered.
Miroku looked at her blankly, but when she frowned up at him he could not contain a smug grin. "I must confess, Kagome, that I did not picture you in a princess's robes."
"Ooh boy," Kagome looked at him warily, "I know I shouldn't ask, but..."
Miroku leaned down until his lips were almost touching her ear, delighting in the little shudder she could not completely contain. "I pictured you on the floor over there, body stretched tight as a bow, your skin flushed and heated, as you panted and pleaded and cried out my name while I -,"
"Kagome, did you want some tea?"
Miroku stepped back as Kagome looked wide eyed at Sango. "Wha...?" she said, and then, gave herself a shake. "I mean, yes. Of course. I'd love some tea." With a glare at Miroku who returned it with a look of bland innocence, Kagome knelt gracefully beside Sango and accepted the proffered cup.
Miroku sank down where he was standing and arranged himself comfortably against the wall. Whenever he caught Kagome looking at him she would flush and glance away. So he felt the pride of a job well done and was pretty damn sure that the two of them would be alone together in the fairly immediate future, Buddah willing and if Kagome had her way. One thing was certain: in the entire time he'd known Kagome and Inuyasha, Kagome had never been so inflamed by the half-demon. Even the universe had to give him that.