Review Responses:
Leena LeBeau: I think, in that case, you'll like the chapter.
Shadow-mai: Hmm... One of my favourite reviewers, you are. Always something new and interesting to say. :D
inu.-sess.fan: oO I did NOT understand that review. But I liked it anyway.
sheeshys-only-luff: Thanks for reviewing!
Tigeriskitty: I'm glad you liked it. I rather liked it too.
Irvin: Don't we all love the cliffies? XD
kag/sess4evr229: Thank you for the compliment =)
Princess Jasmine: Nah, unlikely she'll return to Inuyasha. oh shit oh shit I just told a reader the ending!!! No, seriously, that's not the whole ending. But she isn't returning to him, definitely.
tiggerlily1: Lol. You, dear, are only the tenth reviewer to say what a cliffy I've constructed.
Fushigionnanokoinahoodedcloak: Thanks. Nice name, did I type it right?
Himitsu Joonetsu: Awww. Tough luck. was on a roll recently, kicking lots of people off for mis-rating of stories and other crap.
Harmony8390: Thank you for the review.
AngelMiko69: Well... you just gotta read and see, no?
Sesshomaru13: Rofl, great review.
Dana Daidouji: Hmm... something better than a story which makes you laugh and smile wickedly is... Eating chocolate with a story which makes you laugh and smile wickedly.
PyslightlySycoh: Okies, this story is Sess/Kag. But not necessarily Inu/Kik. I'm neutral on that pairing, I'm not sure if I like it enough to make write on it. I'm not sure yet...
MoonlightPrincess003: Lol. I love the Sango/Miroku moments.
Mistress Koishii: Nope, never read Forget me Not, by Youkai no Yumi. Is it good? And enjoy this chapter =)
zeddy222: Yes, that's how you spell 'proposed'.
Messenger of Light: Lol, that's right, Kagome. Take all the credit for yourself. Just leave out this poor author, who was actually the one who came up with the plot idea...
CeCet: Cookies... donuts... croissants... danishs... you'd better bring them all!
SessGurl156: Tsk tsk, Inu gang! You're supposed to be watching Rin! Sigh, I'll have her appear in this chapter.
Inuyasha's Favorit Fan: shrugs I didn't see that coming, either.
Sw33t Vi3t: nods head in agreement
Sesshoumarugrl: Thank you for reviewing!
yuya2: Yeah, I gotta work on those modern expressions. Even they annoy me.
Inuyasha-Freak15: Yeah. Thanks for reviewing!
Author's Note: Hmm... it seems I get more reviews whenever I leave cliffies. Maybe I should leave them all the time... grins evilly P.S. Hit 300 reviews sometime ago and I forgot to mention it. So, thanks everyone for reviewing!
Chapter 17: Passing Time
"You're kidding," laughed Sango after a long silence. "You, want me, to marry you? And why are you on your knees?"
Miroku nodded.
"It's a modern-day thing," explained Kagome. She grabbed Inuyasha and Shippou, and headed away from Sango and Miroku. "Well, we'll just be going. When I come back, I expect good news, understood?" she commanded.
"What are you doing?" whispered Kaede she followed Kagome.
"Kaede, they're in love. They're just too proud to admit it. At least, Sango is. Miroku... I beat the hell out of him before he would confess. I just hope Sango doesn't notice the bruises on his back on their wedding night."
Kaede nodded, and smiled. "However did you get Miroku to commit?"
"Well, he probably won't. Running after girls is his second nature. But with Sango as his wife... I'd feel sorry for him if he tried to pull any tricks."
"You got a point there," Inuyasha said.
"Shippou, if Kagome adopted you, would you be happy?" asked Inuyasha when they were alone.
"Yeah, why not?" answered the little fox.
"And if she adopted you, and married... say, Sesshoumaru; would you be happy?"
"Sesshoumaru?" Shippou coughed loudly.
"And say she adopted you, and married me."
"Well... then you're not allowed to be mean to me. And why are you asking all these questions anyways?"
"Just wondering," said Inuyasha.
"Are you going to ask Kagome to marry you, like Miroku asked Sango?" demanded Shippou.
"I'm not sure."
Shippou leapt up. "I'm so telling her! She'll laugh."
"You're not saying a word, runt!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing Shippou by the tail.
"Oh?" taunted Shippou.
"Ok, ok, fine." Inuyasha dug in his haori jacket for a chocolate bar. "Here, it's not too melted."
"This is very... very... unexpected," Sango said.
"I know," said Miroku, grinning boyishly. What he didn't add was, what Kagome had done to make him realize his feelings.
Flashback
"Kagome, when you're done giving the massage..." began Miroku.
"Shut... up...! You are one damned perverted monk, you know?" panted Kagome, whacking him blindly on his shoulders and head.
"If this is supposed to hurt, you aren't doing a good job," teased Miroku.
Two minutes later...
"Kagome, this isn't funny anymore," warned Miroku. His ponytail nearly brushed the ground, while Kagome sat in front of his head, glaring at him. The blood was rushing to his head while he swayed by his ankles from the trees.
"Now, you can think about your actions while I take a little nap," said Kagome.
End Flashback
"Well?" asked Miroku. The taijiya blushed bright red.
"You know my answer," she said after a long silence.
"You don't say!" exclaimed the houshi. "Sango, you would really marry me?"
"Hell, NO!" yelled the taijiya. "Whatever possessed you to think I would?"
"So you won't?" the houshi said, looking crestfallen.
The taijiya skipped towards him with a lilt in her step she hadn't shown for years. She picked up his hands and enclosed them in her own.
"Marrying you? No. Every couple needs a courtship first..." she said, blushing even more.
His face lit up as he understood her meaning.
"Does courtship include bedchamber activities?" he asked innocently, ready to duck and run should the situation arise.
Instead... the taijiya smiled.
"Maybe..." she drawled.
Day 1... Kagome's POV
"Kagome, when's he coming to take me home?" asked Rin.
I didn't quite know what to say. He had barely been gone for a day, and already Rin missed him.
It's silly, but I can't quite say his name. It sounds awkward to my ears.
"Very soon, Rin," I promised. I do lie; I'm not the perfect miko everyone thinks I am.
We made our way to a river nearby. There aren't any hot springs around the area, but a river will do fine. Actually, it's not quite a river. There's a beautiful waterfall that crashes down. As it flows, it gets divided into sections by large rocks. There's little hope of anyone peeking.
The water was pleasantly cool, and a completely clear. It's a pity my soaps and shampoos will turn the water into a lathery solution. The rocks have been naturally carved into a small ledge with a higher rock back. Water falls in just the right amount from over the top. I sit, Rin following suit.
Even just sitting quietly, letting the water rush around me, is strangely comforting in its own way.
Besides me, Rin sits quietly too. She has her own thoughts – I wouldn't dream of asking her about them. I suppose we all carry some thoughts we don't want to share with anyone.
From behind us, I can hear things. Not all are right for children's ears.
"Is this really your first time? I didn't know..."
"And what did you think? I slept with the youkai I exterminated?"
"Now, now, I wasn't saying that."
"You were! No, stop that! Not there! What if someone sees? You are one perverted houshi Miroku, if you don't stop that this moment..."
Maybe it's time Rin learned about the birds and the bees. I bite back smiles and she glances at me, puzzled.
Alright, so what if the taiyoukai freaks out on hearing his innocent Rin knows that men have certain organs we girls don't?
Today, I feel like causing trouble.
"Rin-chan," I begin. "Did you know..."
Day 2... Sango's POV
Damn... that houshi left me sore.
It's all boring. No fighting, not even a measly worm youkai. Not that I'd like to see a worm youkai... but still.
Shippou sits around, eating snacks brought from Kagome's time. Inuyasha goes around looking dazed and out of place. Miroku confides that Inuyasha wants to win Kagome from Sesshoumaru. What Sesshoumaru? How come the taijiya's always the last to find out?
Kaede's approaching.
She talks for a bit. I nod and barely listen. It's been, maybe, two days since Miroku gave his offer of marriage. I still have yet to give him an answer.
Wait... what's Kaede saying?
"Sango, I know we seldom speak like this. Maybe of the whole group, I've spoken the least to you. But here's some silly advice from an old woman. Childbirth is no easy feat for a woman to accomplish, and..."
I stop listening for a bit. Hold on. Who's talking about having children?
"Has Miroku been talking to you?" I ask suspiciously.
Kaede ignores me and continues. "There are many herbs that you can use to ward off children."
Oh, save me.
Thank goodness. Shippou comes bounding out of the woods, Inuyasha close behind him.
"Help me, Kagome!" Shippou screams.
A simple whack on the head with my boomerang sets Inuyasha straight.
Kaede sniffs in annoyance and marches away.
Day 3... Shippou's POV
Inuyasha wants Kagome. Kagome's not telling who she wants. Sesshoumaru hangs around, making everything even worse.
How complicated. Can't they just be friends?
Right now, they are arguing. Kagome isn't using the sit necklace command just yet, partly because she couldn't be bothered to. It's a hot day, you see. Kagome wants to learn to climb trees like Inuyasha can. She says the breeze is cooler up there. Inuyasha doesn't want to teach her, because he's too lazy up on the treetops enjoying the wind.
If Kagome says 'sit', Inuyasha will come crashing down on top of her.
SIT!!!
CRASH!!!
Ok, I guess Kagome did say 'sit' afterall.
Kaede's drying herbs (she's ALWAYS drying herbs, how boring), and Sango is practicing her moves on a dead tree trunk. Miroku's with her, for what I don't know.
Kagome has given up talking to Inuyasha. She's gone off to make lunch. From what I gather from her yells, she says Inuyasha isn't getting any.
Nobody can see me from where I am, curled up under a giant youkai toadstool. This toadstool is very friendly, and allows me to hide from the sun under it.
Wish Sango would hurry up and marry Miroku. Then at least we could have an excuse to celebrate, instead of sitting around sweating and doing nothing.
Strange, Inuyasha's not even hounding us to look for Shikon Shards. I suppose it's too hot.
Here he comes now. But I'm safe under my giant youkai toadstool. If Inuyasha tries to catch me, he'll have the toadstool to answer to. Toadstools can be very, very, very, scary sometimes.
Day 4... Inuyasha's POV
Kagome's bugging me to teach her to climb trees again. Feh.
I hop down, scoop her up and jump up again.
Much, much easier.
She settles on a branch. The wind's making her skirt blow and if she's not careful, the entire Japan will see she wears black undergarments. Not that I'm about to warn her, seeing as she'll 'sit' me to hell and back.
Should I hustle the group along to go searching for shards? Probably not. I get the feeling that the heat's making everyone slow and dreary. You could probably put a naked woman in front of Miroku and he'd be too lazy to touch her.
I just realized. If the Shikon no Tama is ever made whole again, I wouldn't become human. It's actually not a bad idea to be a demon... Think of all the things you hear with your hearing. I could hear Sango and Miroku last night. Quite interesting, the things they were discussing. I won't tell anyone though – Shippou will tell tales to Kagome and Kagome will plain and simply 'sit' me. Sango would let her boomerang fly and Miroku would probably suck me up in his wind tunnel.
Mmm... Someone's cooking ramen...
Day 5... Miroku's POV
She said yes. She said yes!
Heard that?
She said yes, just two seconds ago.
She said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 6... Kaede's POV
Finally! Something to do besides drying herbs.
I wouldn't have believed that the youkai exterminator would marry the houshi, but at my age, people their age seem to be full of surprises. Anyways, Kagome's in her element. Seeing as she's the only girl besides Rin, she gets to order the guys around and lecture on proper wedding etiquette. From the bottom of her yellow bag she dug out a book on Japanese weddings. According to it, Miroku can't see Sango anymore until the wedding. So Kagome has him under her eye, making sure there are no sneaky last-time visits to brothels or whatnot.
Sango and Miroku's 'courtship' was the shortest I've ever seen. Was it four days or so? I'm not complaining. I'm just surprised.
Really, really, surprised.
Well, Miroku wants to get married as soon as possible. Sango wants to kill Naraku first. They settled on a compromise – when Sesshoumaru returns. No one knows when that will be, so I've been at my wit's end, trying to find appropriate wedding clothing ensembles.
Now, where's that Inuyasha? I asked him to collect the white silk from the village weaver's long ago. Don't tell me I'll have to make the trip myself...
Day 7... Kagome's POV
Caught that houshi sneaking off for sake last night. Sigh... Sango's going to be the envy of the village. I can hear the girls, as they walk past, mutter and sigh and whisper how 'if only the houshi had given them a chance...'
Hey, Rin's calling. Better go and see what she wants.
Gulp.
Eeek.
He's back.
A/N: Ok, now I feel terrible. The review responses took up a fifth of the chapter! I'll make it up to you guys, somehow.