A/N
Wow, that took a while! Sorry about that. College is fun and hard and...yeah. Can you tell it's final's season? Anywho, here is the second installment of my lovely story. It's not as long as the first chapter, but I think it's tighter and easier to read then the first one was. We'll see, I guess.
I had a lot of questions so... This is going to be an Inu/Kag story, but what good is that if Kouga's not around to cause mayhem? That's always a fun angle to play. :) I got the idea from the Alanna stories, but I'm going to branch off from that. I doubt by the end it will resemble anything close to Tamora Pierce. To those of you who thought they knew how it would end, sorry! Also, we are going to jump back and forth between Miroku and Kagome, but it will mainly focus on her. Eventually, both of them will come together again, but right now I have no idea when that will be. Any other questions? Just review! Or E-mail me. Whichever, I'm not picky.
~~~~~~~~
The Incomparable Value of This Teaching
Miroku had been sitting. And sitting. And sitting. His first day of classes, and it had been all about "how to position your body to amplify the effect of a spell." He didn't think he could ever look at sitting the same way again. At lunch, a rather squatty youkai sat with him, introducing himself as Hachi. They chatted for a while, and Hachi even gave him an herb to take away the pain in his back. A few more classes, slapped by a few more woman, and it was dinner.
Miroku had the incredible luck of being behind the girl from yesterday, Sango, when waiting for his food. He tried to start up a conversation wit her, but she simply ignored him and turned away. Obviously she was still sore over his little lapse of control. He'd have to fix that.
He followed her to her table and sat down next to her. When she glared at him, he merely grinned and held out his hand.
"Miroku."
"I remember who you are." She snapped, "Hands to yourself."
The other girls at the table giggled and whispered among themselves. Sango was caught between embarrassment and rage. She looked ready to order him from the table, so he reached out and snagged her hand, shocking her into silence.
"I wanted to apologize for yesterday." He seized a sweet roll off of his plate and plopped it in her hand. "Your beauty overwhelmed my common sense for a moment. Please, take this as a peace offering." He could tell she was scandalized, but she eyed the roll as he let go. The girls were now staring at her, waiting to see what she would do.
She glowered at him harder, but her stomach apparently won out because she took the roll and bit into it. Some of the girls started cheering, and she rolled her eyes when Miroku send them a dazzling smile.
"There, I accepted your apology. Go away."
He beamed in her general direction, stood up and bowed to the entire table, grabbed his food and swaggered off to sit with Hachi. Behind him he could hear the girls squealing, "Oh, Sango! He's cute!" "What a charmer! Where did you find him?" "Someone's got a thing for you!"
Miroku was feeling rather good about himself by the time he reached Hachi's table. The guys had been watching the entire exchange, and several clapped him on the back as he sat down.
"You faced the shrew and you're still in one piece." Cried a boy named Nobunaga, "That's impressive." Many of the boys chorused in agreement, several laughing.
"The shrew?"
"That's Sango's nickname around here." Hachi told him. "She's been here for a few years as Myoga-sensei's personal body guard." He took a sip of his drink.
Miroku tried to be casual, but he was egger to learn what he could about her. "Where was she before she came here? Where's her family?"
Hachi grew solemn and set down his food. "Sango lived in a Taijiya village not far from here. It's rumored she was the most skilled in her family, and I guess it must be true. A group of youkai attacked the village and everyone was killed. Well, everyone except her. She showed up on the shrine's doorstep with a scythe in her back and once she healed, Myoga asked her to stay and protect him."
"Old Myoga's not the bravest knight in the kingdom!" Jeered Nobunaga again. Hachi laughed, but it was half-hearted. Miroku didn't even bother, instead twisting the beads around his right hand and staring into space.
~
Kagome was asleep before her head hit the pillow, like most of the boys in her dorm. The day had been grueling and she had the feeling that the boys would have been complaining about the ungodly pace of the training if any of them had the energy to do so. As it was, they all stumbled into their sleeping clothes with eyes already half shut and fell into their cots with no more then a grateful sigh before the snoring started.
Kagome herself got a solid two hours of sleep before she was awakened by a sharp pinch to her upper thigh. She bolted upright, her cry of pain muffled when a hand clamped over her mouth. Struggling to turn herself around, she actually managed a sharp elbow to someone's stomach before she heard a raspy voice snap in her ear. "Shut up! I have orders to collect you, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Moonlight glinted off the sword edge that was suddenly very close to her windpipe. Her efforts stilled, and the hand was removed from her face. "Good. Now get up slowly." She did as she was told, and was immediately blindfolded. A hand shoved her forward and out the door.
"Who are you?" She was proud at the sound of her whisper. Fierce, not at all sounding like a girl who was trying desperately not to cry. The man, however, wasn't impressed. She heard him snort behind her and then he was silent. He continued to shove her outside of the castle walls and into the streets. She staggered along for a while until he stopped to open a door and drag her through.
"Finally." The voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it until the blindfold was ripped off. The man from the street who had tried to pick her pocket. The Head-of-whatsit. He was sitting in a chair, next to a fire in a far corner. The room smelled of alcohol and incense, furnished with a table and a few chairs. He smirked at her and waved a hand to the man who had grabbed her. "Bankotsu, you took long enough." The man, Bankotsu, bowed a little sarcastically, but said nothing. The silver-haired man looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her bare feet, now cut and bleeding from being pushed over the dirt roads of the city. "You could have given him a chance to put on some shoes, at least."
"Highness, the boy put up a bit of a fight. Took an elbow to the gut before I got him to go along peacefully." He rubbed his stomach to emphasize his point. The silver haired man smirked again and waved his hand dismissively.
"Get out of here. You did well." Bankotsu bowed again and left. Kagome eyed the door as she watched him leave and swung her gaze back to the man. He gestured for her to sit down. She straightened her spine defiantly and he sniggered. "I'm not going to hurt you, for now. Sit down Kagome."
"How do you know my name?" Now she was really panicking. How much had Kouga told this man? It didn't seem like they were on very good terms, and Kagome didn't trust him at all. Something about him grated on her nerves, to say the least, and now he had kidnapped her in the middle of the night. It didn't inspire a lot of confidence…
"I got a visit from the Prince and a few of his closest bodyguards. Thanks for dragging me into your huge mess, by the way." He gestured again, and this time she sat down. He threw her a towel and she caught it without thinking. "Wipe off your feet, you're bleeding all over my floor." He paused, looking lost in thought for a moment.. "Not that it hasn't been bled on before…" The glint in his eye told Kagome that he wasn't kidding and she shuddered. He caught it out of the corner of his eye and smirked.
Kagome cleaned her feet, but she watched him dubiously. For his part, he simply leaned back in his chair and watched her in an unnerving way. His tawny eyes were more then typically piercing and they seemed to bore into her, picking her apart without any effort at all. When she was finished, she threw the bloody towel back at him and huffed when he grabbed it without flinching. He threw it into a pail of water behind him and leaned forward again.
She waited for him to say something, and when he didn't, she took it upon herself. "I've had a very long day. Is there some reason you needed to drag me out of my warm bed in the middle of the night?"
"Listen wench," he stood to tower over her, "you're the one who got me involved in this whole situation-"
Irrational rage flooded her veins and she flew from her chair. "Excuse me! You're the one who tried to pick MY pocket." She poked him in the chest with a finger. "You ran into ME." She poked him again. "You got yourself involved! Don't blame me because you're a roguish thief who fell into more then he could handle."
She turned and started toward the door. "I didn't ask anything from you! Go ahead and tell everyone if you like-" She cut herself off when he grabbed her by the arm and threw her back into her chair.
"I said to listen, not talk!" He slammed his clawed hands on each armrest and leaned in, his nose inches from hers. When he spoke, it was in a hushed and alarming tone. "I'm not going to tell anyone. However, not to protect anything that has to do with you. Kouga and I need to stay on good terms and I am being made to keep your secret." He leaned in even closer and glanced down pointedly. "You're lucky you don't lose that finger."
For a moment, there was silence. Then, quite suddenly, Kagome stood from her chair and promptly yanked his left ear with her thumb and forefinger. He yelped, a sound she was sure not many had heard, and was quick to stand when she wrenched him up alongside of her. He reached up to try and dislodge her abusive fingers, but she gave his ear another jerk. He actually started to growl at her, but she wasn't fazed. She dragged him a few feet for good measure and turned to face him.
"What's your name?" He glared at her for a few seconds and her fingers tightened again in warning.
"Inuyasha."
"Well listen up, Inuyasha. I admit that I didn't have a plan going into this. I admit I'm at your mercy when it comes to my secret and I admit that chances are I won't make it through this unscathed. Mark my words, however, that I will not allow myself to be treated in any substandard way due to my sex. By anyone." She let go and he immediately sprung to a far corner to address his abused ear. "This means you. Don't threaten me. If you're going to do something, then do it."
He rubbed the mistreated appendage and frowned at her pointedly. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that he was pouting.
"You have quite a temper, you know that?"
"Me!" He exploded, "Wench, you're the one who almost ripped my ear off!"
"Well, if you would be a little more cordial, maybe I wouldn-"
"I'm being unreasonable!? You think its okay to go around tugging-"
"Would you just shut up for a minute?" He did, albeit unhappily. She sighed wearily and sagged into a chair. Both of them were silent for a long while.
Finally, he took his hands from his head and flicked his ear back experimentally. He winced, but came out of the corner to sit in the chair across from her. "No permanent damage, thanks for asking."
"I'm sorry I twisted your ear." He looked shocked, and she giggled wearily. "You deserved it, but you ears look sensitive and I'm sure it hurt." The day was catching up with her, and her eyelids started to droop. She leaned forward in her chair and held out a hand. "Friends?"
"No." She drew back her hand dejectedly, but he grabbed it and shook it. "Associates." He stated firmly, and she nodded. That would have to be enough.
"Come on, let's get you back."
~
Dragging her injured feet, Kagome made her way back to her bed. Visions of pillows, blankets, soft fluffy clouds, cotton balls the size of a castle, anything she could curl up and sleep on really, dancing through her head. She didn't know what time it was, but she was pretty sure she didn't have much time life to sleep before they were all woken up for the next day's classes. Sometimes she hated her life.
Something clacked behind her, and she whirled around to see what it was. A boy, no older then thirteen with black hair and blue eyes, stood in the middle of the hallway. He had something long and sharp looking in his hand and he was gazing at her with a blank expression.
"Hello?"
"Hi." He waved.
"What are you doing?" She was backing up, slow and clumsy because she was so tired.
"Putting away the weapons. I work here."
"Oh." She sighed. It didn't occur to her to ask why he was putting away the weapons at such a sacrilegious hour. She was exhausted and he worked here. "Well, be careful."
"I will."
She shuffled off to bed, never seeing the dark figure that loomed in the shadows, watching her every move.
A/N
Dum Dum Dum! Cheesy I know, but it's a classic line, isn't it?
You know where de review botton is, mon. It's crying out, Click me! Click me!
* Grrrr...I can't get this formatting right. If anyone has a solution, I'd love to hear it!
Wow, that took a while! Sorry about that. College is fun and hard and...yeah. Can you tell it's final's season? Anywho, here is the second installment of my lovely story. It's not as long as the first chapter, but I think it's tighter and easier to read then the first one was. We'll see, I guess.
I had a lot of questions so... This is going to be an Inu/Kag story, but what good is that if Kouga's not around to cause mayhem? That's always a fun angle to play. :) I got the idea from the Alanna stories, but I'm going to branch off from that. I doubt by the end it will resemble anything close to Tamora Pierce. To those of you who thought they knew how it would end, sorry! Also, we are going to jump back and forth between Miroku and Kagome, but it will mainly focus on her. Eventually, both of them will come together again, but right now I have no idea when that will be. Any other questions? Just review! Or E-mail me. Whichever, I'm not picky.
~~~~~~~~
The Incomparable Value of This Teaching
Miroku had been sitting. And sitting. And sitting. His first day of classes, and it had been all about "how to position your body to amplify the effect of a spell." He didn't think he could ever look at sitting the same way again. At lunch, a rather squatty youkai sat with him, introducing himself as Hachi. They chatted for a while, and Hachi even gave him an herb to take away the pain in his back. A few more classes, slapped by a few more woman, and it was dinner.
Miroku had the incredible luck of being behind the girl from yesterday, Sango, when waiting for his food. He tried to start up a conversation wit her, but she simply ignored him and turned away. Obviously she was still sore over his little lapse of control. He'd have to fix that.
He followed her to her table and sat down next to her. When she glared at him, he merely grinned and held out his hand.
"Miroku."
"I remember who you are." She snapped, "Hands to yourself."
The other girls at the table giggled and whispered among themselves. Sango was caught between embarrassment and rage. She looked ready to order him from the table, so he reached out and snagged her hand, shocking her into silence.
"I wanted to apologize for yesterday." He seized a sweet roll off of his plate and plopped it in her hand. "Your beauty overwhelmed my common sense for a moment. Please, take this as a peace offering." He could tell she was scandalized, but she eyed the roll as he let go. The girls were now staring at her, waiting to see what she would do.
She glowered at him harder, but her stomach apparently won out because she took the roll and bit into it. Some of the girls started cheering, and she rolled her eyes when Miroku send them a dazzling smile.
"There, I accepted your apology. Go away."
He beamed in her general direction, stood up and bowed to the entire table, grabbed his food and swaggered off to sit with Hachi. Behind him he could hear the girls squealing, "Oh, Sango! He's cute!" "What a charmer! Where did you find him?" "Someone's got a thing for you!"
Miroku was feeling rather good about himself by the time he reached Hachi's table. The guys had been watching the entire exchange, and several clapped him on the back as he sat down.
"You faced the shrew and you're still in one piece." Cried a boy named Nobunaga, "That's impressive." Many of the boys chorused in agreement, several laughing.
"The shrew?"
"That's Sango's nickname around here." Hachi told him. "She's been here for a few years as Myoga-sensei's personal body guard." He took a sip of his drink.
Miroku tried to be casual, but he was egger to learn what he could about her. "Where was she before she came here? Where's her family?"
Hachi grew solemn and set down his food. "Sango lived in a Taijiya village not far from here. It's rumored she was the most skilled in her family, and I guess it must be true. A group of youkai attacked the village and everyone was killed. Well, everyone except her. She showed up on the shrine's doorstep with a scythe in her back and once she healed, Myoga asked her to stay and protect him."
"Old Myoga's not the bravest knight in the kingdom!" Jeered Nobunaga again. Hachi laughed, but it was half-hearted. Miroku didn't even bother, instead twisting the beads around his right hand and staring into space.
~
Kagome was asleep before her head hit the pillow, like most of the boys in her dorm. The day had been grueling and she had the feeling that the boys would have been complaining about the ungodly pace of the training if any of them had the energy to do so. As it was, they all stumbled into their sleeping clothes with eyes already half shut and fell into their cots with no more then a grateful sigh before the snoring started.
Kagome herself got a solid two hours of sleep before she was awakened by a sharp pinch to her upper thigh. She bolted upright, her cry of pain muffled when a hand clamped over her mouth. Struggling to turn herself around, she actually managed a sharp elbow to someone's stomach before she heard a raspy voice snap in her ear. "Shut up! I have orders to collect you, so we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Moonlight glinted off the sword edge that was suddenly very close to her windpipe. Her efforts stilled, and the hand was removed from her face. "Good. Now get up slowly." She did as she was told, and was immediately blindfolded. A hand shoved her forward and out the door.
"Who are you?" She was proud at the sound of her whisper. Fierce, not at all sounding like a girl who was trying desperately not to cry. The man, however, wasn't impressed. She heard him snort behind her and then he was silent. He continued to shove her outside of the castle walls and into the streets. She staggered along for a while until he stopped to open a door and drag her through.
"Finally." The voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it until the blindfold was ripped off. The man from the street who had tried to pick her pocket. The Head-of-whatsit. He was sitting in a chair, next to a fire in a far corner. The room smelled of alcohol and incense, furnished with a table and a few chairs. He smirked at her and waved a hand to the man who had grabbed her. "Bankotsu, you took long enough." The man, Bankotsu, bowed a little sarcastically, but said nothing. The silver-haired man looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her bare feet, now cut and bleeding from being pushed over the dirt roads of the city. "You could have given him a chance to put on some shoes, at least."
"Highness, the boy put up a bit of a fight. Took an elbow to the gut before I got him to go along peacefully." He rubbed his stomach to emphasize his point. The silver haired man smirked again and waved his hand dismissively.
"Get out of here. You did well." Bankotsu bowed again and left. Kagome eyed the door as she watched him leave and swung her gaze back to the man. He gestured for her to sit down. She straightened her spine defiantly and he sniggered. "I'm not going to hurt you, for now. Sit down Kagome."
"How do you know my name?" Now she was really panicking. How much had Kouga told this man? It didn't seem like they were on very good terms, and Kagome didn't trust him at all. Something about him grated on her nerves, to say the least, and now he had kidnapped her in the middle of the night. It didn't inspire a lot of confidence…
"I got a visit from the Prince and a few of his closest bodyguards. Thanks for dragging me into your huge mess, by the way." He gestured again, and this time she sat down. He threw her a towel and she caught it without thinking. "Wipe off your feet, you're bleeding all over my floor." He paused, looking lost in thought for a moment.. "Not that it hasn't been bled on before…" The glint in his eye told Kagome that he wasn't kidding and she shuddered. He caught it out of the corner of his eye and smirked.
Kagome cleaned her feet, but she watched him dubiously. For his part, he simply leaned back in his chair and watched her in an unnerving way. His tawny eyes were more then typically piercing and they seemed to bore into her, picking her apart without any effort at all. When she was finished, she threw the bloody towel back at him and huffed when he grabbed it without flinching. He threw it into a pail of water behind him and leaned forward again.
She waited for him to say something, and when he didn't, she took it upon herself. "I've had a very long day. Is there some reason you needed to drag me out of my warm bed in the middle of the night?"
"Listen wench," he stood to tower over her, "you're the one who got me involved in this whole situation-"
Irrational rage flooded her veins and she flew from her chair. "Excuse me! You're the one who tried to pick MY pocket." She poked him in the chest with a finger. "You ran into ME." She poked him again. "You got yourself involved! Don't blame me because you're a roguish thief who fell into more then he could handle."
She turned and started toward the door. "I didn't ask anything from you! Go ahead and tell everyone if you like-" She cut herself off when he grabbed her by the arm and threw her back into her chair.
"I said to listen, not talk!" He slammed his clawed hands on each armrest and leaned in, his nose inches from hers. When he spoke, it was in a hushed and alarming tone. "I'm not going to tell anyone. However, not to protect anything that has to do with you. Kouga and I need to stay on good terms and I am being made to keep your secret." He leaned in even closer and glanced down pointedly. "You're lucky you don't lose that finger."
For a moment, there was silence. Then, quite suddenly, Kagome stood from her chair and promptly yanked his left ear with her thumb and forefinger. He yelped, a sound she was sure not many had heard, and was quick to stand when she wrenched him up alongside of her. He reached up to try and dislodge her abusive fingers, but she gave his ear another jerk. He actually started to growl at her, but she wasn't fazed. She dragged him a few feet for good measure and turned to face him.
"What's your name?" He glared at her for a few seconds and her fingers tightened again in warning.
"Inuyasha."
"Well listen up, Inuyasha. I admit that I didn't have a plan going into this. I admit I'm at your mercy when it comes to my secret and I admit that chances are I won't make it through this unscathed. Mark my words, however, that I will not allow myself to be treated in any substandard way due to my sex. By anyone." She let go and he immediately sprung to a far corner to address his abused ear. "This means you. Don't threaten me. If you're going to do something, then do it."
He rubbed the mistreated appendage and frowned at her pointedly. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that he was pouting.
"You have quite a temper, you know that?"
"Me!" He exploded, "Wench, you're the one who almost ripped my ear off!"
"Well, if you would be a little more cordial, maybe I wouldn-"
"I'm being unreasonable!? You think its okay to go around tugging-"
"Would you just shut up for a minute?" He did, albeit unhappily. She sighed wearily and sagged into a chair. Both of them were silent for a long while.
Finally, he took his hands from his head and flicked his ear back experimentally. He winced, but came out of the corner to sit in the chair across from her. "No permanent damage, thanks for asking."
"I'm sorry I twisted your ear." He looked shocked, and she giggled wearily. "You deserved it, but you ears look sensitive and I'm sure it hurt." The day was catching up with her, and her eyelids started to droop. She leaned forward in her chair and held out a hand. "Friends?"
"No." She drew back her hand dejectedly, but he grabbed it and shook it. "Associates." He stated firmly, and she nodded. That would have to be enough.
"Come on, let's get you back."
~
Dragging her injured feet, Kagome made her way back to her bed. Visions of pillows, blankets, soft fluffy clouds, cotton balls the size of a castle, anything she could curl up and sleep on really, dancing through her head. She didn't know what time it was, but she was pretty sure she didn't have much time life to sleep before they were all woken up for the next day's classes. Sometimes she hated her life.
Something clacked behind her, and she whirled around to see what it was. A boy, no older then thirteen with black hair and blue eyes, stood in the middle of the hallway. He had something long and sharp looking in his hand and he was gazing at her with a blank expression.
"Hello?"
"Hi." He waved.
"What are you doing?" She was backing up, slow and clumsy because she was so tired.
"Putting away the weapons. I work here."
"Oh." She sighed. It didn't occur to her to ask why he was putting away the weapons at such a sacrilegious hour. She was exhausted and he worked here. "Well, be careful."
"I will."
She shuffled off to bed, never seeing the dark figure that loomed in the shadows, watching her every move.
A/N
Dum Dum Dum! Cheesy I know, but it's a classic line, isn't it?
You know where de review botton is, mon. It's crying out, Click me! Click me!
* Grrrr...I can't get this formatting right. If anyone has a solution, I'd love to hear it!