Pure Breed: Chapter 12

Sango was the first of the ten in the group to wake up. She felt an unfamiliar warmth about her and noticed Miroku lying next to her, his arms around her. "What's he doing here? Could he of come back during the night? I must be dreaming." Her suspicion was confirmed when she saw Kohaku sleeping opposite her and Miroku. "I knew it was too good to be true." she thought with a sigh. "Oh well, I might as well enjoy it while it lasts." she decided as shecuddled up with Miroku. This movement woke Miroku up. Sango noticed, but didn't bother to apologize; he was just a dream image after all.

"Good morning beautiful." Miroku said to Sango.

"G'morning." Sango mumbled.Miroku was surprised. He thought Sango would be happier to see him.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Miroku asked.

"Yes," the huntress replied. "but knowing I'm going to wake up and you won't be there ruins it." Miroku grinned as he gave her a hard pinch. "Ow!" Sango exclaimed. "Why'd you do that? It-"

"Hurt?" Miroku finished for her. Realization dawned upon Sango and a smile crept across her face. She threw her arms around Miroku's neck.

"You're back! Where on earth were you? We were all so worried!" Sango cried waking everyone up. Shippo was the second to notice the monk's presence.

"Miroku!" the kit squealed, hopping over to Miroku and grabbing his robes in a death grip. "I thought you had left for good!"

"You won't get ridda me that easy." he joked back, giving the kit a wink.

"Hey, quit hogging Miroku Sango!" Kagome complained pulling Miroku into a quick hug once Sango released him. "Who do you think you are, running off like that, not saying a word to anybody? Sango and I have been worried sick!"

"Well, excuse me for working towards a cause for the greater good." Miroku said sarcastically.

"What greater good?" Koga asked, not really caring that Miroku's had returned. "You left and came back again."

"Aren't you the observant one?" Miroku said. "Maybe you folk might want to take a look behind you." All the heads in the group turned in unison, and they noticed Kohaku, who didn't want to interrupt Miroku's welcome.

"Kohaku?" Sango said questioningly, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. She ran over to her brother and embraced him. "This has got to be the best day of my life!" Sango said a tad too loudly.

"It's nice to see you to sis." Kohaku replied. Miroku's laid-back and humorous attitude had rubbed off on Kohaku, even though they had only spent a few hours together.

"You…you remember?" Sango asked, her expression of joy turning to confusion. "How?"

"Miroku here filled me in. I'm sorry about what I did, you know…to dad." Kohaku said, his face a mask of shame.

"You didn't do anything Kohaku. It was Naraku, and he will pay." Sango replied. Kohaku chuckled at this.

"Miroku said the exact same thing. I guess great minds think alike."

"That reminds me, I have a few things to say to the monk. Excuse me for a moment Kohaku." Sango said, walking over to Miroku. "Let's run through this, just to make sure I understand what you've been doing while you were gone. You found Naraku's barrier, broke it, rescued my little brother, and got him to remember his past. In short, you walked right into the jaws of the wolf."

"That about sums it up." Miroku said with a proud smile.

"You idiot! You could've been killed! Don't you ever think about your safety? There is such thing as being to selfless you know!" Sango yelled at Miroku, giving him a good chewing out.

"Humph. You're welcome." Miroku said huffily. Sango had a negative attitude toward Miroku for the rest of the day, despite the fact she was overjoyed to see her brother. Inuyasha however managed to break her mood, as afternoon approached.

"Hey, Sango. Can I talk to ya for a second?" Inuyasha asked early in their march.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Don't get too attached to your brother. You know what happened last time. As long as that jewel shard is in his back, he'll still do whatever Naraku tells him." Miroku overheard Inuyasha's comment, even though he was trying to be quiet.

"You mean this jewel shard?" Miroku said with a smirk, pulling the shard out of his robes. "Heads up Kagome." Miroku said as he tossed her the shard. "I found another way to keep him alive." Miroku began to explain, noticing the perplexed expressions on the faces of Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome. "Of course, I had to get a little help from our old friend Sesshomaru."

"How'd you ever convince my brother to revive a human? He's never considered anything other than a pure blooded demon worth dirt."

"It was easy. I just told him Naraku wouldn't like it." Miroku explained. Their conversation was cut short as a scorpion demon emerged from the ground in front of them. Koga prepared to strike, but Inuyasha stopped him.

"Lemme take this one wolfie. It won't be like last time." Inuyasha said, unsheathing the Tetsiuga. "Hope I still remember how to use this." Inuyasha said as he charged the scorpion. The scorpion had its tail stinger poised to strike, but Inuyasha managed to get out of the way. He decided to make this fight quick and attacked with the Wind Scar. The wind scar easily tore right through the scorpion demon, dividing it into several parts. "Hell, I forgot how easy this was." Inuyasha said cockily, putting the Tetsiuga back in its scabbard. "He have any shards?" he asked Kagome.

"Nope." the beautiful young priestess replied. "Not one." The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and it just so happened that an ominous black cloud was hovering over the finest residence in the area as night came. Miroku and Sango were the last two awake. Sango ran her finger up and down Miroku's chest seductively.

"What do you say you and I go somewhere a bit more private?" Sango asked with a suggestive tone. Miroku was puzzled.

"I thought you were mad."

"I was, but you did bring me back my brother. That deserves some kind of reward, don't you think?" Sango said with a sly smile on her face.

"I aint gonna argue with you there." Miroku said with a grin, as Sango dragged him by the arm to a spare bedroom.