Pure Breed: Chapter 10
Miroku and Kirara had been traveling since yesterday night, and were still moving as the sun crept over the horizon. Miroku was terribly tired, having not gotten any sleep the previous night, but he was determined to get Kohaku back as soon as he could. He knew that Sango, Kagome and the others would be worried about him, having not told anyone where or how far he was going. Of course, Miroku had no idea how long this would take, or exactly where his destination was. All he knew was that the village he was headed for was by the sea, and being on an island didn't really narrow down his search area. But he kept pushing onward. He needed to seek out Shiori.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and the others were already searching for the monk. They knew they couldn't cover a lot of ground without Kirara, but Kagome had insisted they try to find Miroku anyway. Sango, at first had been furious. But know she was more worried and sad than anything else.
"Why would he just run off like this without telling anyone? Do you think anything happened to him?" Sango asked in a concerned tone.
"No." Inuyasha answered. "Miroku can take care of himself. But as to your question about why he left, your guess is as good as mine. It must be far away though, for him to have taken Kirara. And he definitely doesn't want us to follow. If he didn't care whether we went after him or not, he would've used Hachi for transportation instead of Kirara. So wherever he's headed for, it's probably dangerous."
"I don't understand." Kagome said, sitting down on a rock, a depressed expression on her face. "Why would he abandon us like this?"
"Maybe his wind tunnel got torn?" Shippo offered up. "That's the only reason he's ever left us before."
"No." Inuyasha said again. "Considering how he almost got his stupid self killed last time. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. But we won't find him any quicker by stopping and asking ourselves why. Get up Kagome, we gotta keep moving."
Miroku had stopped. Kirara was exhausted from the non-stop flight, so he decided to give her a resting period before they continued.
"I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea." Miroku said to himself. "We've been scanning the coastline all morning, and haven't found a single village. It was foolish of me to go off without telling at least my dear Sango." Kirara mewed as if to say 'I told you so.'
"Fine, you were right and I was wrong." the monk admitted. "Happy?" Kirara nodded. "I think we should keep going, but we can walk if you like." Miroku felt somewhat foolish talking to the cat, but she could understand him, which made it a little bit less degrading. Kirara leapt onto the monk's shoulder, a signal that she would much rather walk then keep flying.
After thirty minutes of trekking, they reached a village. The townsfolk were going about their normal business, and no one gave them a second look. Save for one woman. When she saw the odd pair she did a double-take.
"Lord Miroku?" she asked incrudiously. Miroku turned to the woman, perplexed, for he had never seen this woman before in his life. "It is you!" she exclaimed, running towards him, and giving him a quick bow. "How good it is to see you again! Where are your companions?" This was too much for Miroku. He had only been this confused once, and that was when the rest of the group met Koharu.
"Uhhh…do I know you?" he asked, embarrassed he didn't remember this woman.
"Yes!" the villager replied enthusiastically. "Do you remember Shiori? I am her mother!" Miroku couldn't believe his luck. The first village he had come across happened to be his destination.
"Of course I remember her! I am sorry I didn't recognize you at first, but in my defense it has been a while." Miroku happily replied, not attempting to hide his pleasure.
"Indeed it has." Shiori's mother replied. "Where is the rest of your company? Are they about?"
"No." Miroku answered gravely. "I fear I am alone today."
"What brings you to our village? Are you merely passing through?" Shiori's mother continued.
"No, I am not. In fact Shiori is the very reason I am here. Could I please speak with her?" Miroku asked courteously.
"Yes, of course. She is back at our hut. Come." She gestured for Miroku to follow. When they reached the hut, Miroku explained his predicament to Shiori and her mother.
"…and that is why I have come here." Miroku finished. "I need Shiori to help me seek out Naraku's barrier and break it, so I can free Kohaku from Naraku's spell. I realize this is an extravagant favor I ask of you and I understand if you don't-" Shiori raised a hand, signaling for Miroku to stop.
"I would be glad to help you. Thanks to you and your companions, my mother and I can live in this village without being discriminated against. Besides, I can tell you truly love this woman and would do anything to make her happy." Shiori said.
"Thank you." Miroku responded gratefully. "Then we shall leave immediately, if that is acceptable to you Lady Shiori. Every second that passes is another moment that Kohaku's soul may be completely devoured by Naraku." Shiori nodded as Kirara transformed to full size, ready to continue the quest.
Inuyasha and the gang had stopped at every village they came across, looking for leads to Miroku's whereabouts. They hadn't found any so far, and with every failure to find any clues to where Miroku may be, all members of the group became more and more depressed. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Shippo because they all were very fond of their companion, though Inuyasha didn't like to admit it, and the members of the wolf demon tribe because it was another extension of the time they had to spend on this seemingly pointless endeavor. Ayame however, was at least sympathetic, whereas Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku were generally indifferent. Sango was losing it, her thoughts of what he might be up to becoming more and more depressing every time she brought it up.
"I bet he's gone off to that Koharu girl again!" Sango sobbed. "I was such a fool to think that he could ever love someone like me!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He wanted to find Miroku too, but Sango's constant depression was beginning to get on his nerves. He tired to keep his temper level though, knowing a sit was impending if he let his fuse burnout.
"You know Sango, crying like this isn't going to make us find him any sooner." Inuyasha said nonchalantly. "Could you try to stop it?" Normally, Kagome would've scolded him for such insensitive behavior, but she knew he was restraining himself so she let it pass. Besides, even Kagome's seemingly indomitable patience was beginning to wear thin. She tried to comfort the distressed tajiya nonetheless.
"Don't talk like that Sango! I know Miroku loves you more than anything or anyone. He must've left for a good reason!" Kagome said convincingly. However, it was not good enough for Sango. The beautiful huntress acted as if Kagome had agreed with her.
"I bet he's asking her to bear his child right now. Damn that lecher! Damn him to hell!" Since Kagome's efforts had obviously failed, Ayame decided to try and console Sango.
"Come now Sango, I know you don't mean that! You love him the same as always and he loves you too! You know that just as well as I do, but for some reason, you choose not to accept it!" Sango's angry, tear-stained face turned to Ayame.
"And how do you figure that?" Sango yelled angrily. "You don't know him at all! He didn't love me. He saw me just like he saw every other girl. As an object. He was just putting on a big act as an excuse to satisfy his perverted desires."
Ayame and Kagome looked at Inuyasha, signaling it was his turn to try to convince Sango that Miroku has an albeit for leaving the team. Inuyasha gave them a look back that said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' The girls glare's confirmed they were dead serious. Kagome tapped the nape of her neck in warning. Knowing what that meant, Inuyasha decided he would try a little reverse psychology. "You're probably right." Inuyasha drawled. "That pervert doesn't love anybody. It's not his style. He just wanted to get into your pants." At this comment, Sango leapt on Inuyasha and began to bludgeon him over the head repeatedly with Hiraikotsu.
"How dare you accuse my Miroku of something like that!" she yelled infuriated, bringing down her over-sized boomerang down on the poor former hanyou's head over and over.
"Ow! I was just agreeing with you!" Inuyasha said in a vain attempt to cease Sango's relentless assault.
"Only I'm allowed to say he would do something like that!" Sango cried, continuing to abuse Inuyasha's head. Minutes later, Kagome was trying to revive Inuyasha by fanning his face. Sango had beaten him into unconsciousness.
"Sango, what did you do that for?" Kagome said. "I know he was insensitive, but that's the way Inuyasha is. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, he was right. He was simply agreeing with what you said!"
"What would you do if Miroku had accused Inuyasha of such atrocities?" Sango asked in her defense.
"Certainly not this!" Kagome cried. Sango 'humph-ed' and continued to think depressing thoughts of what Miroku might be doing, when at this very moment he was approaching the lair of his most dangerous enemy, simply to make her happy.
A/N: For those of you who don't know who Shiori is, she is a half bat demon who has the power to erect and disperse barriers. She is in episodes 73 and 74.
