The Princess and the Pauperess
Chapter 12
I love you
"I can't believe I let you talk me into staying at your place," she grumbled, almost too quietly for him to hear. He rolled his eyes.
"Where else could you go at this short of notice?" he asked reasonably.
"An inn," she replied flatly.
"Now, that wouldn't be very prudent. You want to save as much money as possible for your farm, remember?"
"Yeah, the farm. Now that Kohaku and I are free, we can start a real life and be a family again."
"That's wonderful, Sango."
"Don't mock me!" she exclaimed indignantly, throwing her shoe at him. He dodged. The shoe missed him by a mere inch with a bang against the wall. The neighbor hit the wall in retort, and Miroku sighed.
"I was being sincere. I am very happy for you. I'm just worried about Kouga," he explained calmly. Sango nodded her head.
"Yeah, me too."
"So, tell me about this farm, that should keep our minds off the bad."
"Okay," Sango agreed, and made her way to plop down beside him. He shot her a look. "What? It's easier to tell stories when you're sitting close," she informed him, blushing a little. He grinned inwardly as he made himself comfortable against the wall. She settled down as well.
"The farm," she started, "is on a green hill, with a creek below and forests on hills around. The house and barn are blue and white, and the house has two stories…"
"Is there a lounge?" Miroku asked when she paused.
"Why would we need a lounge?" she wondered. We? We? Had he heard right?
"I don't know. A lot of rich people have them." He shrugged.
"Okay, it has a lounge, with soft chairs and a couch, and three bedrooms, and a huge kitchen with a separate dining room. Everything is beautiful, and you can see the green grass out the windows. We'll have an herb garden, and fields of rye, and fruit trees and vegetables…" She trailed off again, a dreamy look in her eyes. Miroku couldn't help but notice how immaculately beautiful she was. "In the barn we'll have horses, and we'll have cows and goats, and pigs and chickens, and dogs and cats…Oh, it'll be amazing! The sun will set in the bedroom window, and rise in the kitchen, and we'll always have enough to eat." She turned to him, smiling.
"That sounds wonderful, Sango. Truly breathtaking."
"It will be." They were silent for a moment, until Sango tentatively put her arms around him. "I'm glad you're my friend, Miroku. I really am." What if he wanted to be more than friends?
"Me, too, Sango." He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her a little closer. Just a little.
"I know you could never be attracted to me," she said, pulling away, "but would you mind if I told you that I'm attracted to you?" He sat there, stunned into silence. His lack of response must've given her the wrong impression, for she said, "Please, don't be disgusted with me. It's just attraction; I'm sure it'll go away in ti--"
"Hey," he interrupted, locking eyes with her. "Didn't I already tell you that you could never disgust me?"
"How do you tolerate me so well?" she asked, turning away from him.
"I don't tolerate you," he insisted, turning her face gently to face him. "I, I…"
"What?" she demanded. Her defenses were clearly back in place.
"I l--" The door slammed open and Kikyou trudged in, glancing at both Miroku and Sango in turn.
"What?" she asked. "Did I interrupt something?" Miroku sighed dejectedly.
. . . . .
Inuyasha cracked an eye open and glanced at the bang blocking his vision. It was too early to get up, besides, he felt all snuggly and his legs were numb. Wait…why the hell were his legs numb, anyway?
"No!" a masculine voice bellowed. "I told you no a thousand times!" It sounded far away.
"Then why did I see you in the hallway with her?!" a feminine voice yelled back.
"Does your stupidity never sleep?!" the man demanded. A terrible crash resounded, followed by silence. Inuyasha wondered briefly if he'd just overheard a murder. He closed his eye again, preparing to drift off again, when he heard feet stomping. It sounded like they were coming toward the room.
"Goddammit, Kagura!" the masculine voice yelled again, and there were more crashing sounds. Inuyasha tried to sit up, but found there was a weight more-or-less preventing him from doing so. A decidedly female arm was draped over his chest, as well as a leg resting on his stomach. Confused, he turned his head to see inky black hair splayed over his arm. He followed the hair to a head, and found Kagome's peacefully sleeping face tucked against his ribs. The door was roughly jerked open, and Inuyasha hastily pushed Kagome from him. She landed on the floor with a dull thud.
"Oww…" she complained groggily.
"You slut!" Kagura screeched. "You whore!"
"Wha--?" Kagome wondered in response.
"I can't believe--Your ass is mine, bitch!" Inuyasha tried to stand, but his numb legs buckled under him. Sesshoumaru barreled into the room gracefully, somehow. "What happened to you?" Kagura asked, taking in his disheveled and slightly bloodied appearance.
"You pushed me through the fucking wall," he informed her, crossing his arms over his chest. Inuyasha couldn't help but notice that they were both in their sleeping robes. He also made note that Sesshoumaru looked even more womanly than ever.
"Well, you deserved it," she huffed back. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. Did they wake him up so they could fight, or what?
"Whad're you doin in here?" Kagome slurred from her place on the floor. Kagura immediately snapped her gaze in that direction.
"Oh, yeah. I'm here for the royal whore's head," she spat.
"What? Why would you come to my room for her head?"
"No, your head! I was being clever!" Kagura snapped.
"Well, you weren't doing a very good job," Sesshoumaru chimed in.
"I'll kick your ass," she warned.
"Okay," he replied as he slung her over his shoulder, ignored her scream, and secured his grip at her knees all in one motion. "We'll do that over breakfast." With his final say, he sauntered from the room, an irate Kagura struggling to free herself from his grip. Inuyasha allowed his head to drop to the ground. For some reason, he was very comfortable. Aside from the tingling pinpricks in his legs, that is.
"Kikyou Dearest," a voice called in a creepily seductive manner, startling Inuyasha into looking toward the door again. It was Naraku, of course. Who else could be that weird?
"Yes, Naraku Honey?" Kagome called back without raising her head. Inuyasha didn't miss the smirk on the man's face.
"I've sent for Kohaku. He will be arriving about midweek next week."
"Okay, thanks a lot," Kagome said. Without a word, Naraku strode over to the bed, picked Kagome up, and tucked her back in.
"Sleep as long as you like," Naraku told her before leaving, shutting the door behind himself. Inuyasha fell back asleep.
. . . . .
Kikyou stood by the road, waiting for the messenger to come by. He always took the same route. Soon enough, a cheery man with an unnatural bounce in his step came merrily down the road.
"Excuse me!" Kikyou called, rushing up to meet him. He stopped courteously.
"Yes?" he inquired.
"Do you happen to have a letter for one Kagome?" she asked, panting a little as she stood in front of him.
"Why, yes. You must be Kagome," he said conversationally. Kikyou nodded.
"Yes. I am."
"Here you go." He handed her the letter and began bouncing off again, but Kikyou grabbed his arm.
"Could you stay as I read this? It'll only take a second."
"I suppose." He shifted his weight as she broke the seal and quickly read the short note.
Kohaku is to arrive midweek next week. We should switch that evening at nightfall.
Kikyou nodded and fished for a piece of charcoal in the pockets of her clothing. She found it and quickly scrawled her agreement below Kagome's note. She then refolded the paper and handed it back to the messenger boy.
"Here," she said. "Please give this to Princess Kikyou. It is urgent." He nodded and continued on his way.
"I will," he assured her over his shoulder, "upon my return to the castle."
"Thank you."
Midweek at nightfall it was.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Well, well, well…Another chapter for your viewing pleasure. I hope it was satisfactory, but if not, I will promptly come up with several excuses as to why. Haha, just kidding. I was actually trying for some closure in this chapter, believe it or not. Yeah, it didn't happen. But that's okay. This story has to end sometime; I can't keep procrastinating forever. And I know, Kikyou's part is terribly short. But I had to cut it short this chapter for anti awkward transition purposes…Anyway…
Dedications:
kag&inu: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! And what an awesome review! I've been beet red for days… Well, I hope this chapter is okay. Thank you so much for your review!!
Squishy: I was especially proud of my dramatic recap, too, thank you. And you're right. Kagome kissing Sesshoumaru is strange. I wasn't originally planning to do that, but it happened anyway. (Must be fate! Haha!) Thanks for your review!
WindSprite: Meisah!!! They are in denial! Thank you for the compliments, and I hope that I can save Kouga from execution!
M 'n' Ms: Of course it's okay if you're a month late! I'm a month late on every chapter…You're right about my dialogue. I've always had a problem with that. Thank you for pointing it out! It's such a deep-seeded problem that I don't even realize I'm doing it. I tried to remedy that in this chapter, I hope I did a good job! And I did note your wonderful use of vocabulary. Un-descriptive-y should be in the dictionary, but that Webster guy had no idea what he was doing. Anyway, thanks for the review! I love having an editor review and give me advice--it's the best.
You all rule! I get so many great reviews! Also, you people who are reading and not reviewing rule, too. Why? Because you're reading this story! That's awesome!
As always, I ask for constructive and/or critical reviews. I'm trying to be a decent writer, here--I need all the help I can get! Thanks again.