Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and I don't know what I'd do if I did.
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I woke up with an eminent feeling of dread that I was hard put to place. I stared unblinking at the ceiling above me, pushing thoughts out of my mind. I preferred this to trying to grasp them as my mind slowly woke. After a few minutes, I was snapped out of my light meditation by a loud sneeze from the corner. I sighed. The blizzard and the destination we had happened upon jumped back to my mind and made me want to groan.
I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. All in all, he looked pretty damn miserable. He had pulled one of the blankets off of the mat prepared for him and wrapped it around his shoulders. As usual, he still preferred sleeping sitting up in a corner rather than laying like a normal person. His face was pale and his normally clear and vibrant eyes were a kind of muddled, duller color than usual. He snorted when he caught me looking at him and turned his head away.
With a sigh, I pushed myself out of bed and stretched. Just as I finished dressing in my normal robes, there was a light knock on the door. I slid it open to reveal a refreshed looking Kagome smiling up at me.
"Ohayo, Miroku," she said cheerfully. "I was wondering if Inuyasha was feeling ok..." I stepped aside so she could see past me. She quickly passed me and was kneeling in front of the surly hanyou. She raised her hand to his forehead. "Inuyasha, you've got a fever! Why didn't you say anything? Come lay down."
It was at this I slipped out of the room. Kagome was more than a match for Inuyasha, especially if he was sick. I made my way down familiar corridors to the small kitchen where a welcome sight greeted me. "Sachi-sama," I breathed happily. She looked up from pouring Sango a cup of tea and gave me a smile.
"Miroku," she set the tea pot down and hurried over to give me a hug. Sachi was short and with petite and gentle features. About thirty years of age and a widower, she had a depth of wisdom that always surprised me. I had always found her to be easily approachable over any subject and had been my confidant while I had remained here years ago.
I returned the hug gratefully, inhaling the familiar soft scent of juniper that clung to her, and just for old time's sake, gave her bottom a nice squeeze. She squeaked as though scandalized even though she must have expected it. "Good to see some things don't change, hentai," she said with a grin and slap across my face.
I grinned, rubbing the now tender cheek. "It is good to see you again, Sachi-sama. My companions and I are doubly grateful for you hospitality."
She snorted and pushed me down to kneel in front of the table. "It's Sachi," she said firmly, pouring me a cup of tea. "Let's not have any of this "sama" business between us. And about my hospitality, you know you are always welcome in this house and your companions seem to be much better mannered than some." She lifted an eyebrow at me as she handed me the steaming cup.
I was aware of Sango watching this exchange with smiling eyes. She looked much better than she had last night, I though with relief. Pale and exhausted last night, I was pleasantly surprised to find her completely recovered and once again I marveled at her strength. With a sigh I put down my cup.
"Sachi-san has been telling me how helpful you were when you came here last," Sango said quietly. She was giving me an odd look, and I suddenly dreaded what Sachi may have told her. Of course, I should give Sachi more credit than that. She could read body language like a book and lie like the most shiftless street urchin. And I trusted that she would not reveal things I had not prepared my companions for without at least consulting me first. When Sango continued to give me that odd look, I thought, No, it's not Sachi giving things away; it's me.
"Miroku," Sachi said quietly, "Could I have a word with you?"
I looked up with a bit of surprise. "Of course, Sachi-sama. Sango-chan, if you'll excuse us." Sachi led me out to the small room where Udo had first let us in last night.
"Miroku, I know you probably don't want to talk about this," she said as soon as she slid the door shut. "But it doesn't snow this hard often and when it does, the snow is here to stay for some time. Which means so are you." She gave me a large hard look which I returned steadily. "You won't be able to avoid Leiko and it's obvious that you haven't told Sango about her."
"Sachi," I sighed. "There is no reason why I should have told Sango about Leiko."
"Bull shit," she said, cutting off my next comment. "I don't know how deep your relationship goes with the girl, but I'd have to be blind not to see the attraction at all. Leiko isn't blind either, as you well know, nor is she very kind when she feels slighted. That girl deserves some advance warning. And," she said, interrupting me as my mouth opened. "Don't even think you can avoid Leiko for how ever long you are here."
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You always were terribly blunt."
She shrugged. "I never got far with being coy, so I just dropped it." She paused, as though considering whether or not to speak her mind on something. Finally she said, "I take it your views have changed somewhat, just based on your traveling companions."
I flinched visibly and felt the familiar remorse of the past. At first I did not think I would answer, but the words found their way to my lips unbidden. "I made a lot of mistakes in my naiveté. Perhaps I am just now learning a little from them." I shrugged. "It's a work in progress."
I grinned at her, which she returned, and we both stepped back into the kitchen. Kagome was now sitting with Sango. They both looked up as we entered. "Kagome-sama, how is Inuyasha doing?" I asked as I sat next to Sango.
The young miko rolled her eyes in with an exacerbated sigh. "He's being a complete idiot. He's obviously got a cold, and no wonder, what with walking around with no shoes and no coat in the snow, and he won't take any medicine. He won't use a Kleenex because he won't admit he's got a cold and he won't leave the room because he feels awful. He just refuses to do anything that makes any sense!"
There was a moment of silence after Kagome's outburst during which we all took long sips of the tea Sachi had provided. Finally it was Sango who broke the silence.
"Sachi-san, how long have you known Houshi-sama?" she asked with an intent look. Briefly, I wondered, suddenly a bit annoyed, why she had not asked me.
"Miroku wandered into town around seven years ago, now," she said with a smile at me. "He was so cute, you wouldn't believe. He could barely hold his staff upright; it was a good three feet taller than him then."
I tried to maintain my dignity as the three women promptly forgot theirs as giggling fits over took them. "Oh, he's blushing," Sachi said. I rolled my eyes. I was not blushing. And my staff had not been three feet taller than me.
"You must have been awfully young, Miroku," Kagome asked, clearly taking pity on me. "It couldn't have been very safe traveling by yourself."
"I was a year older than you are now," I replied. Besides, when you're sixteen and already prepared to die, you feel kind of anxious to start living. Unconsciously, I tightened my fist over the Kazaana. With a sigh, I said, "I had been trained to know how to look after myself and I always knew most of my life would be spent searching for Naraku. It seemed silly to wait."
"He says that," Sachi said with a wily look in her eyes, "but he stayed here for a year and a half."
"Why did you stay so long?" Sango asked.
"I didn't really plan on it, but I got trapped here after two days because of a snow storm," I explained remembering that that had been the most snow I had ever seen in my life at that time. "I made friends with Sachi and some others in the village. It was easy to stay."
I would have been questioned further, I was sure, if Shippou had not chosen that moment to join us. I felt quite frankly grateful for the interruption. He chattered to Kagome and Sachi mostly about the journey and just the things that most children talked about to new adults. Sango remained quiet though. I felt her eyes on me, but I avoided them.
It happened so suddenly that for a second I felt my lungs constrict in pure panic. There was the noise of someone sliding the outside doors open and a voice called into the house, "Ohayo, Sachi-san, I just came to check and make sure you were well after the blizzard last night."
The shoji to the kitchen opened just as I jumped to my feet. Leiko and I stared at each other for a moment. She looked much the same as the last time I had seen her. She was tall, taller than I, with a slender body. Her long hair hung straight and unrestrained around her pretty face. Her full lips parted in a small intake of breath. I had hoped to have more time to prepare for this inevitable meeting.
"Miroku!" she stammered, sounding pleasantly surprised. I wanted to believe her face and voice, but I knew better. She had always been an excellent actress. She would have fooled me if I had not known better.
I hesitated before bowing stiffly to her. "Leiko-sama." She flinched slightly at the honorific and the bow, but I was determined to meet her eyes steadily. This was going to be a profoundly uncomfortable afternoon. I only hoped I had a slight advantage.
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A/N: Yo, it's another chapter. Ok, I didn't say this in the last chapter, but this story is my sorry attempt at a romantic type story. I haven't seen all of the Inuyasha that's out there yet, but for what I have seen, it kind of seems as though much of Miroku's life is kind of glossed over. We see him when he's a kid and then in the series I'm guessing he's about 23-24ish. So I'm filling in some holes to my own liking. I'm trying to make my chapters a bit longer, because who doesn't like long chapters? Put your hand down.... Well, that's chapter 2 and I'm off to chapter 3 now. By the time this is posted I'll probably have a good bit down since my internet is down right now (probably at least a day or two from when you are now reading this.) Does that make any sense? Didn't think so. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.
