And here we are again!

Gossamer Dreams

Part 23

"Mm, yes." Miroku smiled to himself, placing the spoon he had just used to taste the stew he was preparing back in its pot before turning to speak to his guest. "Dinner should be ready momentarily."

"That is wonderful." Sarcasm dripped thick from her tone as she seemed to attempt to bore holes in his head with the vicious nature of her glare.

"I am so glad you have come to visit, Sango." He told her in a polite and gracious tone, as though utterly unaware of his guest's annoyance with him. "As a Healer, I was once able to visit with you and your family quite regularly, due to the danger that was intrinsic in your work, but you have not spoken with me for some years now. I missed your change from delightful child to graceful woman entirely, but I am no less pleased to see you and know that you are still well."

"Your concern is duly appreciated, Healer." She pursed her lips tightly. "Now, would you please untie me?" she tugged at the bonds that attached her firmly to a chair, which she had almost hopped away on earlier that day, so that now Miroku had also secured said chair to the mantelpiece with a series of hooks he had hammered in place while cheerily telling her that he was sorry she was in such a hurry, but she really must stay for a while longer.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, dear Lady, but you must see my position. It took you precious little time to discover the whereabouts of your targets, and while I appreciate your unquestionable skill at the calling for which you have trained your entire life, I must protest that I would rather have this whole mess end with as few deaths and serious injuries as possible, so I must hold you here until the pair of them have well and truly disappeared from your detection." Miroku told her politely, as though he was explaining the condition of a patient to their rich family. "I will do my best to keep you comfortable while you are in my home, but if you persist on attempting to escape, you will have to remain safely tied to that chair."

"I could escape as soon as you're asleep. You might as well untie me now." She informed him, full of anger and frustration. "No matter how you try, I won't be stopped by a Healer. I am a Taijiya. I could kill you right now."

"Could you?" Miroku appeared intrigued. "Let me see, then."

"You are such a fool. If you knew the position you were in, you would not speak so lightly. One does not cage a dangerous beast, for that beast will only track them down when they inevitably escape." She threatened him, her tone struggling to stay calm.

"So you will come to see me again?" he turned again, stirring the stew once more. "That would be quite wonderful. Hopefully I will have time to prepare more adequate food next time. We shall see. Perhaps I can come to visit you instead? Or does your family still welcome my company?"

"No one blames you for what happened." She rolled her eyes, finding the idea utterly ridiculous. "You were not the one who injured her in the first place. If anyone was to blame, it was her partner."

"Sango, I find it hard to believe that you deserve responsibility for the mission that killed your dear sister." Miroku set the spoon back with a loud rattle, turning upon her quite suddenly. "I assumed that your family held to the idea that I was simply not skilled enough to save her, and that was the reason I was never again summoned. Last night, your brother's reaction to my identity only verified this suspicion."

"Kohaku is young. He understands little." Sango answered with a dismissive shake of her head.

"Yet he is old enough to kill." Miroku bent to remove the kettle from the fire as it whistled its readiness, carrying the steaming vessel over to where two teacups and a pot with leaves awaited the steaming liquid. "Do you not find that odd?"

"No." she answered without a trace of doubt in her voice. "I too killed others at his age. It is the way of our family, and it is our strength to handle such a burden that grants us a position above others of our kind."

"You refer to humans." Miroku eyed her as he set the pot to steep and then returned to check the stew.

"You speak of it as though you are separate from them all." Sango noted as she eyed the tea suspiciously.

"As do you." He replied easily, turning just in time to spot her speculative gaze resting on the steaming teapot. "I will not poison you. I am the Healer, if you will recall. You are the Taijiya."

"Too true." She turned to face him fully, a measure of her anger clear in the tightness of her expression. "And yet, here you have me, captured and bound as neatly as though you were a member of the guard and I nothing more than a petty thief."

"Make no mistake, Sango, I would not call the goods that you would steal from me petty. You shall not capture the girl, nor shall you kill her. The same is true for her prince. She is important to me, and while I understand that the Taijiya set no stock in the survival of their loved ones, I will die to protect her." He assured her, and she bristled, no longer making an attempt to hide the venom in her tone.

"You know nothing of my heart, nor do you come close to estimating what importance I place on the lives of my family members." She hissed at him, clearly offended at his implication. "Do you think there is a day that goes by when I do not feel regret for the lives I have taken, or the lives that have been taken from me? Every calling has its drawbacks. You feel righteous, because you go about saving lives while I take them away, but if I can believe that the jobs I complete are for a better world, or that I am effectively saving someone else's life by taking this one, I will let myself believe that. There are many that hate the name of the Taijiya, and yet I go on. Do you not see, Healer? No more than you could give up Healing, knowing that there are those relying on you, and that you would have a hard time surviving in any other way, I could not betray my family and give up the business at which my father now tells me I am best. My family relies on me to put food on their table. My clients rely on me to do what they cannot. I am sure that I have killed innocents, but I am also sure that there are those that have died under my sword that were horrid people, killers and rapists with no regard for others. Do not make me out to be one of them, for I will not have it, Healer."

"If you like." He spoke after a while, his tone soft. "You may call me Miroku."

"I wish not to address you so familiarly." She turned her nose up in disdain.

"As you wish it." He sighed deeply, and then let another brief pause travel between them before speaking again. "I am sorry to have misjudged you."

"It does not matter." She answered, but it was clear in the tone of her voice that it was of the greatest import to her that he understand this situation correctly. "It has happened before, and I am sure it will happen again."

"Next time, I will hopefully not be the one to offend you." He offered her before filling her bowl and carrying it to her side. "And now for dinner, which I can only assume will be an exercise in patience for both of us. Shall I feed you?"

"I can feed myself." She told him assuredly, and he raised both eyebrows incredulously.

"I doubt that, unless you are hiding a third arm somewhere I cannot see." He spoke without any challenge in his tone. He was simply being honest with her. "Just suffer me for this meal, and perhaps in the morning, we will think of a more suitable arrangement." He assured her as he blew on a spoonful of food and then offered it to her with a hopeful look in his grey eyes.

"In the morning? You will make me sleep like this?" Sango affected a pout that Miroku immediately decided she must use on her father and mother when she wanted things her way. "Have you no sense of chivalry? Of propriety? Of hospitality?"

"The rules of how a guest is treated in my house are slightly different when that guest appears peacefully as opposed to when the guest attempts to kill someone precious to me in their time here. I am sure you understand."

"You know…perhaps we could make an agreement." She sighed after a while. "If you let me go, I will not chase after the targets."

"Would you swear, also, not to send anyone else after said targets?" he raised his brows nearly to his hairline, and she frowned at being caught out so easily.

"How did you know I would do that?" She wanted to know, and he smiled as he fed her another mouthful of stew.

"The same way I knew you would not lie." He winked at her and would not speak further on it. "Now, eat your supper like a good Taijiya so that you might grow up to be even more beautiful than you have already become." She choked on her stew, but did not offer complaint for the rest of the evening.

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"My children, I have news." Kijo spoke as she stood in the corridor of the Shichinintai Chambers, her voice drawing them all like flies to raw meat. "Two of you will be sent on a mission. The prince Inuyasha has turned traitor to the crown, and has left the Palace in order to rally support against his brother, the Emperor. He has taken a Gifted witch to aid him, and I will have you kill them both."

"Mother, which of us shall go?" Renkotsu spoke up, his bald head lowered in deference to her judgment.

"I have thought on that topic at length, and while you would each be capable of this mission, I am sure, the two that I feel are most suited for this assignment will be Jakotsu and Bankotsu. You may have to travel, and you will certainly have to do some searching. I need you to seem innocent. Jakotsu, as that sort of thing suits you, the female costume you wear will mark you as a new bride, and Bankotsu will, of course, pose as your husband. Play the part, as I know you have the ability to act rather convincingly when it is required of you. I have a sketch of your targets, as usual, and you will search for them under the pretense that they are cousins you have come to visit now that your honeymoon has ended. Jakotsu, please do not overact. You are feminine enough without needing to push it over the top."

"Thank you, Mother." Jakotsu was nearly bouncing on his heels. "I will be ready to leave in no time, I assure you."

"We appreciate your confidence in us." Bankotsu bowed to her solemnly. "We will not disappoint you."

"I know, my children." She smiled wickedly before handing him the sketch. "Have fun."

"We shall."

The End (Of Part 23, That Is)