Chapter 6: Pain and Hot Springs
Eva's and Miroku's jaws dropped simultaneously. Shock coursing through them as they stared bug-eyed at Inuyasha and Lauren. They gawked at the other two, at how close they stood, how tenderly their mouths met as they kissed so deeply.
Miroku pried his dark brown eyes away to glance at Eva, a sneaky smirk touching his pale, pink lips. The pig-tailed girl did not notice the eyes watching her until it was too late. The monk's hand suddenly shooting out to grab her hand, yanking her back against his firm chest.
Eva's wide eyes flew to his, confronting them. His smile broadened before he tipped her head back a little and pressed his lips to hers. Eva shivered as their lips molded together comfortingly. She pulled away abruptly.
"AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"
Eva shoved Miroku back to fall on his butt when he lost his already precarious balance. Lauren and Inuyasha spun around, very suddenly remembering that they weren't alone, to see Miroku looking up at Eva with wide eyes.
The taller girl stomped away from the monk to grab Lauren's hand. Then pulled her along up the wooden stairs to where the old wise woman, Kaede, watched with curiosity. Snapping out of it, the old woman motioned for the girls to enter the hut as she stepped out of the doorway. She waited until both teenagers were inside before turning back to the two males.
With her one good eye she regarded first the flushed Inuyasha then the smirking Miroku. She shook her head, motioning for the two to stay outside.
"Ye boys go down to the lake and cool off, now. I shall speak with those two girls. Ye," she pointed a gnarled, old finger at first Miroku then Inuyasha, "And ye, both, shall keep ye hands to yeself!"
She shot them one last warning glare and moved into the hut, letting the door flap close behind her. Inuyasha stared after her a moment.
"Shit!" Inuyasha muttered. He nimbly leapt into a tall, old tree and sat on a twisted, and gnarled branch. The monk once again climbed to his feet and quickly wiped away the dust from his black and purple robes. Miroku smiled up at the scowling Inuyasha.
In vain Inuyasha tried to ignore the monk that called to him.
"Come, Inuyasha. Kaede, was right about bathing, if for the wrong reasons. After you being 'sat' as many times as I was dropped, pushed, and thrown into the dirt, face it, we both very disgusting and dirty." Miroku picked up his staff from where he'd dropped it and moved to the edge of the clearing. The monk turned back to look up at the thinking hanyou.
Inuyasha stared back down at Miroku a moment, then glanced over at the hut. The silver-haired hanyou caught himself, snorted, and dropped quietly to the ground. He started to join Miroku, but he hesitated. After another glance back at the hut, he brushed past Miroku and strode down the path. With a smile, the monk followed.
Meanwhile, Kaede motioned for Eva, the pig-tailed demon exterminator, to sit down before the fire in the hearth. The old woman curiously giving the girl a once over before reaching for the tea pot. She poured two cups of tea as Lauren sank into her former seat.
A soft smile on her lips, Kaede offered the two girls the cups of hot tea. Eva took one quietly, Lauren also took the cup that Kaede offered her without even looking up. She raised a hand to her lips, but she caught herself.
Kaede couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face when the red-headed girl quickly took a sip of tea. Eva looked over a Lauren questioningly as she growled, her anger returning.
"I can't believe that fucking creep! The nerve! Kissing me like that! And out of no where too! I'm not even his damn woman!" Lauren broke the tense silence with her ranting.
"And dammit! I'm most definitely not his wife! Eva, remind me to 'sit' the damn hanyou next time he even so much as thinks about pulling another stunt like that!"
Eva grinned, sat the cup down, and jumped to her feet.
"Yeah! And I need a bigger boomerang to hit that damn perverted monk with!"
Kaede got to her feet with a smile.
"So I take it that Lord Inuyasha and Lord Miroku are not very good kissers?"
The two girls looked over at Kaede with wide eyes of shock. Lauren's pale flesh showing the blush in her cheeks brightly while Eva's darker face only deepened a mere shade or two. They glanced at each other almost warily before Lauren spoke again.
"No. . . it's not that," Lauren muttered softly, her face burning a bright tomato red. "I-I mean, Inuyasha is the. . . BestkisserIveeverkissed."
Kaede chuckled when she deciphered what Lauren had said before she had ducked her head. Eva nodded thoughtfully.
"But it's the thought that he didn't even seem to care how you felt towards him before he began to try and paw you," Eva stated sagely. Her eyes only narrowed and stared at her hands in her lap as she frowned.
"I . . . kind of felt the same way."
The two girls sat back down quietly, lost in their thoughts as Kaede went over to her wooden chest. And the fire in the hearth flicked, throwing distorting shadows over everything in the small hut. The old woman dug out three clean robes and tied them into a bundle. Kaede turned back to the silently sitting girls and cleared her throat.
Lauren and Eva looked up a Kaede.
"So that's how it is, is it? Well, I know just the thing to cheer ya both up. As well as ease my old, aching bones," she smiled. "Come now, there's an old hot spring near the lake on the right side among the woods. It's even protected by wards against evil demons."
Lauren's face lit up in excitement. Eva's eyes also twinkled happily at the prospect. Then, picking up the bundle of robes, Kaede stepped forward to douse the fire.
"Yes! A bath sounds wonderful. Besides," the girl blushed again, "I kind of smell like him, like Inuyasha."
Eva smirked, her expression most unsettlingly like a certain perverted monk's teasing grin. Kaede nodded and the two teenage girls followed her out the door of the little hut. They blinked at the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the tree leaves to brighten the tiny clearing.
Kilala stood from where she'd been laying in the sun and leapt into Eva's arms. The pig-tailed chuckled before placing the cat-youkai on her shoulder. Kilala's red eyes watched the three women from her perch as they walked together down the forest's dirt path.
The three humans talked softly, enjoying the brisk breeze in their faces. But they never noticed the pale face that watched them, following them at a distance downwind. Eerie golden eyes seemed mildly interested while the purple stripes under the eyes blended seamlessly into the deep shadows of the forest. The expression on the pale face was blank, however, and as motionless as a marble statue.
Lauren felt a cold shiver run down her spine, tingling and strange. Her tried to ignore it, doing nothing more than glancing back down the path and seeing naught out of the ordinary, she paid the feeling no more mind. Eva called her attention back to the conversation and Kilala pounced onto the red-head. Lauren giggled, hurrying after the other two as the path cleared the woods.
They crossed the meadow, laughing at Kilala's antics. The small youkai was playing with an even smaller rabbit she'd startled from the bushes. Eva called Kilala to her as they reached the lake's shore and walked along the sandy edge until the forest grew up around it again. Then following this second path they headed to the hot springs past the thick undergrowth and tall trees.
The small group turned the corner on the path and heard quiet laughter. Kaede raised an eyebrow, shrugging as they silently walked closer. Following another bend in the winding path, they stopped dead in their tracks. Kaede dropped the bundle of clothing when Lauren backed up into her with a gasp.
The laughter suddenly stopped as well, a very surprised hanyou and monk turned to stare back. The warm water of the hot spring only coming to the waist of the two males.
Lauren's bluish-gray eyes left Inuyasha's handsome face and slowly drifted downward. Her gaze followed the trail of a drop of water. Watching as it slid down the pale column of his neck, to flow down the creamy flesh of his firm and toned torso, then finally back into the warm water of the hot spring.
Lauren's cheeks burned as she quickly snapped her eyes away, trying to look anywhere but the almost nude males in the spring. Inuyasha's pale face also took on a reddish tone when he noticed Kaede's and Eva's wide eyes still roaming over him and Miroku. He turned away and ducked his head.
Eva suddenly whistled appreciatively, breaking the tense silence that had settled over everyone. Miroku merely laughed.
TBC. . .
Notes: Remember to review! I'll update and add more chapters when I can. Have questions? Email me at and I'll answer them.