Well, you all asked for it my darlings; I humbly deliver. Limey goodness to follow. (And by Limey I mean the citrus, not the slang for an Englishman. Just in case you were confused) Anyway- Merry Christmas!



Dear Quickening - you make me blush. I worship at the alter of Joss Whedon. I am still very much grieving over the passing of "Firefly" and eagerly await the movie and the crow those soulless bastards who canceled it will have to eat... but I digress. Seriously, comparing my little writing attempts to the Great One's dialog and wit - I'm speechless. (Okay, so not speechless, but really, really touched.) And I will admit that there's one spot in the last chapter where Miroku sort of channels Willow, that I probably should have cut, 'cause not similar creatures those two, but I was overcome by the funny.



Chapter 6: In which our hero wears some masks and a game of dress-up occurs.



Tea at Lady Kaede's had never been so fun. Miroku relaxed against the wall and watched the small group interact and did his best to convey peaceful placidity. What he really wanted to do was laugh evilly and tease Kagome some more. Just a few whispered words, a tiny little reminder of what he could do to her, and she was so beautifully flustered.



"How nice," she murmured in response to Sango's way too detailed description of the effects of various demon poisons on humans. Miroku barely avoided snorting tea. Both Sango and Lady Kaede stared at each other with matching nonplused expressions, and Kagome didn't even notice. She was too busy shifting and blushing and not looking at Miroku.



"Ah... well... it's nice that we have the masks now," Sango faltered.



"Mmm." Kagome swirled her teacup and stared into it like the secrets of the universe were hidden within its heated interior. She was chewing her bottom lip, and Miroku eagerly waited to see what she would do next.



"Herbs!" she suddenly blurted out, and Shippou fell out of her bag, fists and cheeks stuffed with candy.



She leapt to her feet, ignoring the shocked stares directed her way. "You must be running low," she said to Lady Kaede. "I've been gone so long and I'm sure you need..." Kagome tapered off and looked around distractedly. Then she looked up and grinned brightly. "I'll just go and get some with Miroku. Some herbs. Yes. Collecting herbs. May take a while." She wandered out the door, her grin growing stale, and a flush blooming across her face.



Miroku rose smoothly to his feet, and with as little expression as possible, started out the door after Kagome. And was nearly knocked down by her when she rushed back in. "My bag," she said breathlessly. "I need my bag." She grabbed it up, and hooked her arm through Miroku's. "See you all later!" she chirped and dragged him outside.



Amused, Miroku let Kagome lead him at a brisk pace into the forest. Her hand had slipped down his arm, and now she gripped his hand in hers, apparently not noticing or maybe just not caring about the holy beads biting into her palm. She was muttering to herself as they went and he was pretty sure he was about to get a lecture. Which was okay with him. He was looking forward to interrupting it.



So it was a bit of a surprise when Kagome stopped suddenly, whirled around and pulled his head down to hers. She swept her tongue into his mouth with an urgency he was unused to being on the receiving end of. As she moaned and whimpered and pressed herself against him, Miroku wrapped his arms around her and decided that this was something he could definitely get used to.



Of course, at about that time, she pulled back and thumped him on his chest. "You are evil," she declared, glaring up at him.



"And irresistible," he added.



She hit him again. "See? Comments like that. And looking at me like that, with those - those - EYES!"



Miroku wasn't sure what he was supposed to look at her with if not his eyes so he just smiled at her.



"Gaahh!" Kagome grabbed his hand, spun on her heel and dragged him further into the forest. She seemed to have some idea of where she was going, and Miroku was quite content to let her have her way. So far her way had been very enjoyable.



"I know it's around here somewhere," Kagome muttered as she came to an uncertain stop, peering into the underbrush, then staring up at the tree tops. "Stupid trees with their stupid leaves," she complained, and dragged Miroku further along the faded, twisting path.



"If you tell me what you're looking for maybe I could help," Miroku offered. But Kagome wasn't listening.



"I was on the path," she said, letting her bag slip off her shoulder and dropping Miroku's hand to walk forward a ways on her own. "And I saw one of those white flower bush things right, over," she spun around slowly, "there!" She ran to a large bush. There weren't any flowers, but Miroku decided it best not to point out that fact. "And then there was the funny squirrel on that tree there," she shaded her eyes and peered at a tree to the left of the bush. "Which means it should be..." she stepped carefully through the tangled thickets, disappearing into the wild, verdant underbrush. "Right here!"



She popped out of the bushes, and gestured to Miroku. "Come on, hurry up! We're going to lose the sun." She looked like an incredibly cute woodland sprite. A woodland sprite on a mission. "And bring my bag." Then she disappeared again.



Miroku leaned on his staff and tried really hard not to laugh. She was so beautifully crazy. He got himself under control and scooped up her bag, which was a lot lighter than it looked for some strange reason. "Yes dear. Coming dear," he said in his best put-upon voice. Well, probably not his best. He couldn't keep his laughter from bubbling out.



Using his staff to hold branches out of the way, he pushed his way through the undergrowth and found himself standing in a small clearing. "Kagome?" he called. Sunlight streamed over the trees, lighting the clearing with the sweet softness of afternoon light. He could see a rocky outcropping on the other side of the clearing, but there was no sign of his crazy sprite.

Crossing the clearing, he peered into the bordering trees. "Kagome?" Telling himself not to panic, he hadn't sensed any demons, heard any bandits, or felt anything with an evil impulse at all, he put his back to the low bluff, dropped her bag, and readied his staff. "Kagome?" Okay, so he was panicking.



Something grabbed his shoulder, and he spun around, his staff raised, only to find himself staring down at a laughing Kagome. "Your face," she gasped. "Oh my God, your face!"



"Crap, Kagome," Miroku was almost shaking with relief. "That was not funny."



"No," she shook her head as she laughed up at him. "Not funny at all. Very bad of me." Somehow her continuing hysterics made it hard for him to believe her sincerity.



Shaking his head he frowned down at her. "Because it's not like you've never been snatched away before."



"You're right." Kagome took some deep breaths and seemed to bring herself under control. "I shouldn't have scared you like that." Her mouth was twitching and she was trembling.



"I wasn't scared," Miroku protested. "I was worried."



"Of course." Kagome had a bit of a coughing fit and then shook her head and looked back up at him. "Anyway, let me show you the cave."



Seeing Kagome disappear into the rock face, Miroku realized that what he'd taken for a shadowed fold in the rock was actually a cave entrance. Ducking through the low opening, he stood still for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the dimness.



"I found it sometime last fall, then of course I completely forgot about it until right in the middle of my chemistry exam." Kagome shuddered beside him. "Do not ask me why. Isn't it perfect? "



It wasn't a very big cave. More of an alcove really. The ceiling was low enough that he had to stoop and it was not at all deep. But the dirt ground was fairly level, and the space bulbed out from the narrow opening giving it a feeling of privacy. There were no bones scattered around and that combined with the lack of smell led Miroku to conclude that no animal had made this place its den recently. Most importantly, there was space enough for two people to lie down comfortably without feeling cramped.



Miroku reached out and grabbed Kagome's hand. "It is perfect."



She squeezed his hand. "I have something for you." Slipping out of the cave, Kagome knelt by her bag and as Miroku sat down beside her, she pulled out a largish package, wrapped in a black and weirdly shiny material. She held it out to Miroku. "I didn't take the time to wrap it properly," she said apologetically.



Taking it in both hands, Miroku marveled at the material. It was very thin, but felt strangely tough and elastic where he would have expected papery fragility. And it was smoother than anything he'd ever felt before. With his handling, the package unfolded into a large square sack. Turning it over he saw that an unfamiliar white icon had been stamped on one side.



Kagome bounced up and down impatiently beside him. "Come on, Miroku, open it!"



Miroku grinned at Kagome and reached into the bag, pulling out its contents. Then he stared down at them, thoroughly confused.



"They're clothes. For guys in my era." Kagome took the bundle from Miroku. "See, this is a t-shirt. It's a top." She shook out a dark blue, almost black, cloth and Miroku could see that it was shaped in a vaguely familiar way. "This is what got me started. It totally screamed you. Note the Buddah?" She turned it and there was a simple drawing of the Amida Buddah, sitting placidly, one hand raised, palm out, the other resting on his knee, palm up, sketched in a dark purple ink that was almost lost in the background color. It was nice, but -



"It's a little small."



Kagome shook her head in dismissal. "It stretches." She tugged on the material in demonstration, but Miroku still had doubts. He could see how it was supposed to be worn. But it seemed sized for a young boy. It would need to do a lot of stretching.



Unconcernedly, Kagome moved on to the next item. "And just to show you that I kept MY part of the bargain," she fixed him with a mock glare and unfolded the blue cloth. "Jeans."



So those were jeans. It was obvious how to wear them. Though again, Miroku was worried about the size. He was used to seeing a lot more material. And this time Kagome seemed to share his concern.



"I really hope these fit. I have a pretty good eye for sizes, but... well. We'll just have to see." She pulled the top of the jeans open. "Button-fly. 'Cause zipper's aren't for beginners. Poor Souta demonstrated that a few times." She put the jeans aside, and grabbed up the last item.



"Underwear," she said simply. "To wear under the jeans."



Miroku shook his head in amazement. He was a little overwhelmed. "You made all of this?" It must have taken her forever.



"Made..." Kagome stared at him blankly for a moment and then understanding dawned. "Oh, no." She laughed. "No, no, no. I just bought them. My friends and I went on a thank-God-our-exams-are-over shopping spree yesterday, and I saw the t-shirt, and then I went a little crazy, and long story short, my friends think I'm totally spoiling you."



"You told your friends about me?" Miroku felt oddly pleased.



Kagome flushed and looked down at the ground. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Was that okay?" She peeped up at him through her bangs.



"Yes! I mean, that was fine." Miroku found himself staring down at his hands. He was too pleased. He needed to remember that she was in love with Inuyasha. His hands clenched into fists, and he welcomed the pain of the beads bruising his left palm. They served as a reminder of his place in the universe; a reminder of the fact that he had less than nothing to offer someone like Kagome.



"So, did you want to try them on?"



Miroku looked back up at Kagome and her smile faltered.



"Miroku?"



He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Kagome," he said quietly. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.



She smiled back at him, tentatively at first but with growing strength. "Okay. You try on the clothes, and I'll be in the cave, um... doing stuff." She climbed to her feet, scooping up her bag. "Just call out when you're ready. And remember, the little white tags go on the back." She reached down and gently stroked his cheek then disappeared into the cave.



Miroku stayed where he was for a few minutes, trying to get a grip on himself. The future didn't matter. He had Kagome now, and that was enough. He could almost make himself believe it. Letting out a large breath, Miroku stood up and methodically stripped off all of his clothing. The gentle breeze felt good on his bare skin, and he stood there for a moment, enjoying the sensation. But, as Kagome had pointed out earlier, the day was only so long, so he turned his attention to the gifts she'd brought him.



The thing Kagome called 'underwear' was strange. It was a very dark shade of gray and, like the shirt, seemed far too small for him. But the material was remarkably soft. Not even the most expensive silks he'd felt, and he'd felt some fine silks during his travels, could compare to this amazing texture. And when he pulled it on, he was astonished at its fit. It hugged his body, and clung to his upper thighs, but it moved with him so well he could imagine actually forgetting he was wearing it.



And the thing Miroku decided he really liked, though there was no way he would ever admit this to Kagome, was that it clung very nicely to certain parts of his anatomy. One could even argue that it drew attention to that area and perhaps even gave a favorable indication as to size. Not, of course, that he needed any help in that particular arena. Still...



Casting a quick glance at the cave entrance, and deciding there were no peeping eyes, Miroku planted his fists on his hips, thrust his pelvis forward a bit, and put on his best bad-boy grin. "Ladies," he said quietly, "The Legendary Monk, Miroku, has arrived."

He held that pose for a few seconds then, laughing at his own idiocy, he reached for the jeans. Again, he was surprised by the texture, though they weren't nearly as soft as the underwear. And they didn't stretch. He had to kick off his sandals just to get his feet through the leggings. The fasteners weren't much fun either. The material was so stiff, it was an effort to get each fastener through its hole. When he was done, Miroku moved around experimentally. He imagined it would be just as comfortable to have tree bark wrapped around his legs.



"Kagome?" he called out.



"Yeah?" She sounded a little flustered, and he felt bad about bothering her with this, but-



"I don't think the jeans fit."



"Do they fasten?"



"Um. Yeah."



"Can you breathe?"



"Yes." And how was that not a stupid question? If he couldn't breathe wouldn't he be dead?



"If you squat, do they feel like they're going to explode?"



Miroku made a face, but dutifully dropped down into a low squat. And now he had to figure out what about-to-explode-jeans felt like. He bounced up and down a bit.



"Well?"



Kagome could use a few lessons on patience. "I don't know! Maybe?"



"Oh, you would definitely know. It's no fun squatting in too tight jeans." Kagome laughed a little. "They're just a little stiff. Move around a bit and break them in."



Miroku frowned. Why couldn't she just come out and look for herself? With a huge sigh he hoped she heard, he rose to his feet and walked around a bit. Still felt like tree bark. He picked up his staff and went through a few basic maneuvers. And he had to admit the jeans moved with him a little better than he'd expected them to. Returning to his starting position, Miroku started a simple drill he'd learned as a boy and slowly added to it, picking up speed until his staff was a spinning blur and he was moving through the clearing in an increasingly complex series of deadly moves. To his surprise, the jeans did not impede him as much as he'd feared they would. He still didn't have the freedom of movement his robes allowed, but at least he didn't feel like he was wearing tree bark anymore.



Coming to a halt, Miroku planted his staff and took a moment to bring his breathing back under control. There was a thin sheen of sweat on his skin, and tendrils of hair had come loose from their tidy cord to cling damply to his face. Reaching up, Miroku went ahead and freed the rest of his hair, though he knew with the breeze it would become an untidy mop in a matter of minutes. He'd worry about a neat appearance later. And speaking of appearances...



Miroku eyed the cave entrance and then snuck a quick glance downward. Oh yeah. Not as obvious as the underwear, but still very much there. Of course he'd always done just fine in his shapeless monk's robes. Still, anything that enhanced his natural charms had to be a good thing.



So it was with a certain amount of swagger that he returned to the outcropping to cursorily wipe the sweat off his upper body with his outer robe and then turn his attention to the shirt Kagome had brought him. Its slippery texture was a little more familiar to him. But it still had a softness that he'd not experienced with the fabrics of his time. He didn't think it was made of silk. And it was certainly not linen. With a shrug he pulled it on over his head and was not incredibly surprised when it stretched out to fit him perfectly.



The Buddha, infinitely peaceful and placid, was centered on his chest, but the expanded purple ink faded even more into the deep blue of the shirt, making it a very subtle illustration. What wasn't so subtle was how well the shirt molded to his musculature. And with the way the jeans had settled to sit low on his hips the two pieces of fabric barely met. Any movement at all resulted in a flash of bare flesh. Did the men in Kagome's era seriously walk around like this? He hoped they all looked like Mushin.



It was with that less than appetizing picture searing its way into a permanent place in his mind that Kagome mercifully called out to him. "Are you ready Miroku?"



"I think so," he replied, tugging down on the hem of his shirt as he turned toward the cave entrance. "Should this shirt..." Miroku forgot how to speak.



Miroku considered himself to be a bit of a connoisseur when it came to women. He knew what beautiful was. He prided himself on being able to spot true beauty in the meanest peasant girl and false illusion in the most gorgeously attired princess. He'd always known Kagome was beautiful. Even with her strange wardrobe and the many times she'd been sweaty and dirty and exhausted, her beauty had shone through.



But now her beauty was completely unveiled, shining more brightly than the sun, and Miroku realized that he was spoiled for any other woman. He would always end up comparing them to Kagome, and they would always fall far short.



She was a vision in creamy white. Yellow butterflies and blue dragonflies danced around her feet and climbed up her front to weave their way around her neck. Her slender waist was encircled by a wide blue obi, the color of a pure mountain lake, shot through with thread of silver. And as she moved daintily towards him, Miroku was overcome with how graceful and small and perfect she was.



"I know it's not what a princess would wear," she said. "But since you were such a liar about that I refuse to feel bad."



"Kagome," he said quietly and she smiled up at him, and his heart broke. Because she was not his. Not really. And it was killing him, and if he was smart he'd end this entire arrangement before it went too far. But he was afraid that it had gone too far already, because he knew there was no way he could push her away. Not now. Not for a long time now, no matter the pain.



"And you can't say a word about my obi, because they're next to impossible to tie by yourself, so it's a bit sloppy, but you get the idea." Kagome chattered on blithely, and Miroku forced himself to grin down at her as she stroked his chest and congratulated herself on her shopping skills.



"I swear you should be on a billboard somewhere. I can't believe you hide this under all those robes. How are the jeans?"



She blinked up at him and Miroku realized she'd asked him a question. "Huh? Oh, they're fine."



"Good. Because they do look a little tight, but in a really good way." She grinned up at him impishly, and pressed herself against him. "Oh!" Her eyes widened suddenly. "I almost forgot!" Pushing away from him, Kagome scurried back into the cave. She returned quickly, holding her bag.



"My friends have accused me of making you up," she said as she rummaged through its drastically reduced contents. "So I had this brilliant idea, and... Aha!" Kagome smiled triumphantly and held up a little yellow box. Miroku admitted to himself that he was completely lost. Kagome held the box up to her eyes. "Smile!"



The next few minutes passed in a confusion of Kagome having him smile at her like an idiot while she created clicking sounds from the little yellow box, and Miroku was getting more and more frustrated and he didn't know if he wanted to run from this clearing, from these lands, from this life, or if he wanted to rip the box out of Kagome's hands, and peel off her clothes and show her with his mouth and hands and body how he felt and make her choose, once and for all.



He must not have hid his emotions as well as he thought, because Kagome suddenly dropped the box into her bag and flung herself into his arms, and for a brief moment he could believe that she was feeling the same way he was, because she held him so tightly it was like she was afraid he was going to be snatched away. But that was a dangerous way to think, so Miroku nuzzled the top of her head, his hair falling into his eyes and blocking out the world so that he was in a little secret place filled with Kagome's scent, and he forced himself to enjoy the now and not think about the future.



"Come into the cave," Kagome mumbled to him, and they made their way slowly, each refusing to let the other go, into the cave where Kagome had laid out a blanket, and where the dying sun reached in with its bright rays leaving the rest hidden in dark shadow, and Miroku laid her down and unwrapped the obi and then the kimono, and she was wearing a kosode of dark blue so sheer that where the sun flowed over her body she was completely exposed.



Miroku sat back on his heels and gazed down at Kagome, her face in shadow, her body ablaze with light, and he tried to burn the image into his mind because he wanted to remember this forever, and then she arched up, the white silk slithering from her shoulders, and her eyes, when they caught the sun, were so intense he thought she would engulf him in flame just by looking at him and he decided that was exactly how he wanted to die.



"Let me," she murmured, and then she was kneeling in front of him, draped in blue light, pushing her hands up under his shirt, pulling it up and over his head, raking his chest with her nails, and then marking him with her tongue and her teeth, and he tangled his fingers in her hair, and she sank further and further down and he tried to stop her, but she just shook her head and smiled sweetly, and whispered, "I want to try this." And soon he was engulfed in heat just as her eyes had promised, and when he screamed her name to the heavens he really thought he had died. And it was perfect.

******

The sun had gone down far enough that their little cave was now completely in shadow. Miroku lay with Kagome twined around him, and he never wanted to move again. "That was pretty cool," Kagome said with a satisfied sigh.



Miroku tightened his grip. "You surprised me. I never expected you to do something like that."



"Did you like it?"



"Buddah, yes!"



Kagome giggled. "There was some conversation during the shopping. Ayumi can be surprisingly... frank. Anyway, she got me curious."



Miroku chuckled. "Remind me to get her a large and expensive gift. She has done me some good favors."



Kagome reached up and kissed him. "Will do." She ran her fingers over his chest. "I suppose the gift will have to be from both of us. I've gotten some pretty good benefits myself."



"Yes, well I wouldn't want it said that I don't fully reciprocate what I have so generously received," Miroku said, trying for pious but too relaxed and content and pleased with himself to hit it exactly.



"I'll post a notice. A praise filled notice. Everyone will be suitably impressed." Kagome stretched languorously and than settled back against him.



Miroku could feel himself slipping off towards sleep, and while part of him kept saying that sleep was a bad idea it couldn't come up with a reason why. And he made it a policy to never listen to incompetent parts of himself. Besides, it was warm, and Kagome was snuggled in his arms as she should be, and he'd recently performed to the best of his ability with notice-worthy results, whatever the hell a notice was, and damn it a nap was not undeserved.



"Mmmm, rain," Kagome mumbled beside him, and now Miroku could hear the soothing sound of small water drops bouncing on the tree tops and the leaves and the ground. And then it was the sound of medium sized water drops, doing more of a bossy tumble. And then the big boys came out to play, ready to beat the trees and the leaves and the ground into submission.



"Eep! My bag!" Kagome leapt up from her place beside him and scrambled out into the rain, managing to step right on Miroku's stomach as she went. "Ooh, sorry!" she replied to his surprised oof.



Miroku laughed at her fluster, rubbing his abused flesh, and then he remembered his robes. "Shit!" He scrambled out after her, and nearly collided with Kagome's naked form as she came dashing back in, bag nestled in her arms. It took a few moments for him to orient himself, but he soon recognized the sad looking pile that was his clothes, his sandals fallen nearby. Scooping them all up, and hoping that the outer robes had protected the rest, Miroku tried to duck back into the cave.



"Wait!" The alarm in Kagome's voice froze Miroku in place. "I have to find my kimono. If it gets muddy or wet or mussed I am dead!"



It was a little late, Miroku thought, to be worrying about the state of her kimono. And the rain, while invigorating for him, wasn't great for his clothes. But, wisely, he decided that this was one of those times it was best to suffer in silence.



"See, this is why I don't bring nice things to the feudal era," Kagome muttered from inside the cave. "Everywhere, mud. I know you're in here, I remember packing you, don't you hide from - aha!" A focused light suddenly beamed from inside the cave, blinding Miroku. Then it swept away from his face and all he could see was spots.



"Okay, Miroku, you can come in now!" Still half blind, and dripping with water, Miroku stumbled back into the cave. "Stand right over there."



Obediently, Miroku stooped in the indicated corner, clutching his clothes to his chest and trying his best to not look like a drowned rat while his hair dripped into his eyes and curled around his mouth and clung to his shoulders. Kagome was busy in the other corner, furiously wrapping up a bundle that he assumed was her more-important-then-him kimono.



As soon as she'd tucked the bundle away in her bag, Kagome turned to him. "Oh, Miroku! You're soaked!" With mollifying care she pulled up the blanket, shook out the dirt and started to wipe him down with it. "I'm sorry I made you stand out in the rain, but my mom has no idea I brought my kimono here and she's the sweetest woman in the world, she really is, but if she knew, she'd kill me. No questions. Just me, dead." She rubbed the blanket through his hair, squeezing out the excess water.



"It's okay, Kagome," Miroku said. "I've been wet before." Not that he wanted her to stop of course. It was always good to be on the receiving end of Kagome's nurturing instincts. Fortunately, Kagome ignored him, and kept on with her task until he was thoroughly dry, and full of ideas of how they could pass the time waiting out the rain.



As if she'd read his mind, Kagome looked up at him wistfully, reaching up with one hand to play with his hair. "Don't you wish you could stop time, sometimes?"



"Take a break from life for a moment? Put down all the burdens you've been struggling under and just breathe for a while?" Miroku smiled gently down at her and traced her cheek with his finger. "No. Never."



"Yeah." Kagome laughed tiredly. "Me neither." She shrugged her shoulders. "We should get dressed."



"Right now? Why? I mean, with the rain..." Miroku gestured wordlessly.



"Yeah, you'd think so, but I've just realized I'm standing in a puddle."



With a start, Miroku looked down at the ground, and it was suddenly apparent why no animal had made this little alcove its den. A steadily growing pool of water was creeping its way into the cave. He sighed. "I'll hold the bag. You get dressed first."



Miroku juggled her bag, his clothes, and Kagome's strange, fireless torch. The torch with the nicely focused light. That he could focus on anything. Kagome accused him and the entire male species of having the mind of a twelve year old, but he had fun. And he noticed that when it was his turn to get dressed, Kagome pointed the torch's light in some interesting directions herself.



"I should go home for tonight," Kagome said, when they were both dressed and staring out at the rain. "Return the kimono. Change into more feudal friendly clothes."



"When will you be back?"



"Tomorrow morning."



Miroku nodded and slipped his arm around her waist. "I don't think the well is too far from here. Did you want to run for it?"



Kagome grinned up at him. "We can use the blanket to keep the worst of it off of us."



When they reached the well Miroku didn't want to let her go. They stood under the blanket, the rain sheeting around them, and it was so easy to pretend they were the only two people in the world. But having left the nominal protection of the forest's canopy, the blanket was fast becoming saturated with water. Soon it would be no protection at all. Telling himself the faster she left the faster she'd return, he helped Kagome onto the well ledge.



Kagome brushed his cheek with her hand, smiled at him, gave him a final kiss and started to push off from the ledge.



"Wait!"



Startled, Kagome looked back at Miroku. "What?"



"My gift. It's still in your bag."



Kagome rummaged through her bag and brought out the clothes she'd bought him, bundled back into their black wrapping. As she handed them to him she tilted her head in curiosity. "You think you'll ever wear them here at all?"



Tucking the bundle into his robes, Miroku quickly contemplated an answer. The truth was probably not. He was not ready to put aside his monk's robes, and all they represented. Besides, at times it was handy to blend; be one of many destitute monks traveling the countryside. But he did not want Kagome to think her gift was unappreciated. "It would be nice to have different clothing options," he answered carefully.



"Which means, no," Kagome concluded. "So why do you want to keep them?"



The answer to that question was one he could never share with her. They were a gift from her to him. Something she'd picked out and purchased because she was thinking about him. For that reason alone he would cherish them always. Miroku slipped on an easy, good-humored grin. "I like the Buddah."



"Of course." Kagome grinned back at him, but for some reason it seemed a little off. Before he had chance to say anything else, she pushed off into the well, the familiar feeling of ancient power surged, and she was gone. This time, with the certainty of her quick return, not to mention the pounding rain, Miroku did not linger.



He still had the blanket and was using it as a shield. That may have been one reason why he did not notice the danger until it was far too late. He'd just reached the forest wall when something slammed into him, propelling him face first into a large tree trunk. The stun of the blow knocked his staff from his hand, and then he was pinned.



A powerful grip on his left wrist prevented him from accessing the power of his wind-tunnel. Something was pushed against him, pressing him with inexorable force into the gnarled bark of the tree. And a voice, thick with rage, whispered in his ear. "No one's here to protect you now, you little fuck. And this time, I'm going to kill you."