- Kuromi, the Black Beauty -
"Inuyasha, will you father my child?"
The place was completely silent as the hanyou looked strangely at thenun holding his hands, then pulled away. Kagome was caught in a hard place, wondering if she should laugh, scream, or beat up the either thenun or Inuyasha (or both.)
"Eeesh!" he exclaimed. "What?"
"You heard me right," she said. "I'm sorry, were you offended?"
She looked sadly at her feet.
"I get it, you're already married..."
"No! No I'm not!" said Inuyasha. "It's just...I'm not the kinda guy to really want to...you know?"
"Ohhh," said the nun. "Drat...another reject..."
"Inuyasha, what's all this fuss about?" said a voice.
Miroku came walking up the crest of the hill, his staff jingling in the slight breeze.
"Oy! I got an idea!" said Inuyasha triumphantly. "Just the man you should see!"
"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" said Kagome, significantly cooled off since Inuyasha had declined the nun's preposition.
"Oy! Miroku! I think we finally found you the perfect woman!" said Inuyasha, grabbing the monk by the shoulders and showing her to Miroku. "What's your name, lady?"
"Kuromi!" said the nun. 'Oh! He looks cute!' she thought, looking Miroku over as he walked towards her.
'Hmm...she looks cute,' Miroku thought. 'A woman of the cloth too, huh? I wonder what Inuyasha went through to find her!'
"Hello! What is your name?" Kuromi asked Miroku, as he came to the base of the hill.
"Miroku, pleased to meet you," he replied.
"Charmed, I'm sure," Kuromi replied. 'Oooh! Heis cute!' she thought. 'Time to go in for the kill!'
'She is cute!' thought Miroku. 'I wonder...'
"WOAH!"
Miroku jumped back in suprise, finding that someone's hand was on his butt. Kuromi looked at him innocently, as Sango and the others looked on in shock.
'Unbelieveable!' he thought.
"Well, well!" he said. "Someone's awfully playful!"
Kuromi giggled.
"And I think someone enjoyed that," she replied. "Most men slap me if I do it to them!"
"A man slapping a woman? That's definately odd..." said Kagome.
"Waaaay more than odd," said Sango, scowling.
"We'll leave you two alone," said Inuyasha with a wry smile, winking. "We'll be back later,"
As they left, Sango looked back on Miroku, who was talking animatedly to Kuromi, almost sadly.
"Don't worry, Sango," said Inuyasha. "You know we're really just gonna watch 'em,"
Sango shrugged.
"Lecher..."
"Soooo..." said Miroku, sitting down on a grassy knoll with Kuromi. "Where are you from?"
"Around," she replied, supporting her back with one arm and running a hand through the whisps of raven hair not pulled back by a string. "I was raised by a group of traveling nuns, so I never really had a home"
"I see," said Miroku.
"So, what about you? What was your childhood like?" she asked him, smiling.
"Well, my dad died when I was little, so I was raised and taught by Mushin, my guardian," said Miroku.
"Oh, you poor thing," said Kuromi. "I never had any parent to begin with, though. But I always had my sisters by my side!"
The two of them sighed and looked in opposite directions.
Meanwhile, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sango looked on from a bush in a nearby forest.
"They look so alike, don't they?" said Kagome. "That hair, those eyes, even their robes!"
Sango haruphed bitterly, but inside she was confused.
'Houshi-sama never looked that truly happy before,' she thought. 'His eyes...they're different now...'
"Sango-chan?" said Kagome. "You okay?"
"Oh, yeah," said Sango, brushing off the feeling. "I'm fine,"
"Shh! They're talking again!" said Inuyasha.
The two of them turned together at the same time, saying the same thing.
"I-" they began, then blushed.
"You go first," said Miroku.
"I...I suppose you didn't hear what I said to your friend Inuyasha, did you?"
Miroku shook his head.
"Miroku...will you father my child?" she asked him.
For a brief second, there was silence. Then, a slight smile crept up onto Miroku's face.
"Kuromi..." he said. "For years, I have searched for a woman who would be willing to bear me a child and continue my legacy..."
"And for years, I have searched for a man to father a child of mine!" said Kuromi, her eyes lighting up. "To continue my family's legacy!"
"Holy cow..." said Kagome quietly. "They're practically made for each other!"
Sango watched sadly, feelings of jealous anger and true happiness fighting inside her.
"I will gladly accept, Kuromi," said Miroku.
"As do I!" said Kuromi, and hugged him. As Miroku returned her embrace, he couldn't help but feel something strangely familiar about the girl in his arms; he knew that somehow, he used to know her.
But how?