Disclaimer: Not mine. oo
Chapter 7 – Stop Pretending
"Kikyou…" Inu Yasha whispered as their lips broke apart. He slowly opened his eyes, still mesmerized by the feeling of her lips on his. Suddenly, he realized the situation and he let go of her, backing away. "No," he muttered, more towards himself than to her. "No," he repeated, louder this time, "I can't do this. You trapped me in a tree, you told me that you hate me, you wanted to kill me. What do you want from me?" Kikyou stood, emotionless.
"I-"she began, but was abruptly cut off.
"I gave you a second chance and you tried to kill me. I'm sorry, but the Kikyou I fell in love with 50 years ago is already dead," he said, signaling that that was the end of the conversation. Before she could say anything back, he had already turned around and left, leaving her there to sort out her thoughts.
"So be it, Inu Yasha," she whispered, her voice expressionless, clearly reflecting what she now felt inside; cold and empty. She let herself be consumed in the darkness, feeling herself disappear and her spirit carry on to where-ever the wind blew her.
Inu Yasha marched back to the camp, growling softly at how stupid he was to fall for Kikyou again. But this had happened before. Kikyou had come at the most random of times and pulled Inu Yasha from his partially peaceful slumber. She would say sweet nothings to him, and at the same time her heart would be planning his demise. Inu Yasha was a fool, a fool for falling into the same trap over and over again. He berated himself, giving himself a personal memo to forget about Kikyou. What he had told her was true, the Kikyou he had once loved no longer exists on this Earth. This was only a Kikyou look alike with a body made of dirt, surviving on the souls of the dead. Silently, Inu Yasha jumped back up into the tree and drifted off to sleep. He really needed his rest after all that thinking.
Everybody awoke to a cloudy gray sky the next morning. The group had packed lightly, walking with Kagome to the well and bidding a short farewell. When the remaining group members went back to the camp, Sango noticed Miroku acting rather quiet. Inu Yasha had realized that too, sending worried glances to Miroku every now and then. Miroku, the one who was being worried for, seemed not to notice as he was too wrapped up in own thoughts. His mind still wandered back to the scene that had happened the night before, playing over and over in his head, refusing to stop. He growled softly, half at what had happened, and half at how stupid he was for still caring about it.
Once they had all settled down, Inu Yasha decided to talk to Miroku. Something was obviously bothering him and Inu Yasha wanted to find out what exactly. He slowly made his way over to him, careful not to be too intruding. Lifting one arm up, he tapped Miroku's shoulder gently.
"Hey, Miroku?" Inu Yasha asked softly. Miroku's expressionless face turned to look at him. Inu Yasha was slightly taken aback at how guarded Miroku's eyes seemed, but continued anyway. "Can we talk? Um, in private?" he questioned again, almost faltering because Miroku's eyes were so different, it was almost frightening.
"Sure," Miroku replied, and made a move to get up. He walked into the forest, knowing that Inu Yasha would follow him. The two of them made their way deeper into the woods. There, Miroku sat down once more, waiting to hear what Inu Yasha had to say. Inu Yasha took a seat beside him and looked at Miroku anxiously.
"What's been bothering you?" Inu Yasha asked, slightly unsure of how to handle this situation. Shakily, he brought his hand up slowly, in an attempt to cup Miroku's face in his hand. Before his pale hand reached its destination, Miroku had swapped it away. A little shocked, Inu Yasha whipped his head around, sending Miroku a questioning look. Not wanting to meet his eyes, Miroku turned away, finding a pile of leaves on the ground much more fascinating.
"Tell me, what's up with you?" Inu Yasha asked, a little harsher this time. He got up and crouched in front of Miroku, whose head was still lowered, his gaze yet again staring at the pile of leaves.
"Inu Yasha," Miroku began, his voice barely above a whisper, "This isn't going to work." When he looked up, he met Inu Yasha's shocked yet hurt look. Miroku was about to soften up to Inu Yasha's sad look, until he was quickly reminded of the unfortunate event that had happened the previous night. Quickly, he glared at Inu Yasha. It's not Miroku's fault that Inu Yasha still loved Kikyou, right? It's not Miroku's fault that he felt someone betrayed, watching the one he loved kiss another person, right? So technically, Miroku had every right to be mad at Inu Yasha. He couldn't help that he was hurt.
"And why not?" Inu Yasha quickly asked back, his voice shaking. What had he done wrong? Nothing had happened between them. They had been at the campsite for these past two days. Then it hit him. Maybe, just maybe, Miroku had seen Inu Yasha and Kikyou in the woods and-
Oh God. Inu Yasha's eyes widened in fear. Taking this as a sign of realization, Miroku stood up swiftly, startling Inu Yasha.
"Yeah, now you remember. But I bet you'll never know how it felt, will you?" he said bitterly, "Well, you should be happy now right? You can have Kikyou all to yourself. There's not going to be anyone in the way." And with that, he began to stalk out of the woods. Sensing Miroku leaving, Inu Yasha jumped up and grabbed Miroku's wrist, pulling him back.
"No! Listen to me! I d-" Inu Yasha tried explaining, but Miroku was faster. He pulled his wrist out of Inu Yasha's grip with more power than Inu Yasha expected Miroku to possess.
"Look, I don't want to hear it. You know what you did and I, regretfully, do as well. I was never meant to love anyway," Miroku quipped, his hand gripping his Kazaana in an almost torturous way. "This curse, has been passed down from generations and generations. It's ruined everything that I wished I could have as a normal man. And now it's ruined this relationship. I don't care anymore. You are nothing but a battle partner to me now," he spat, leaving a stunned Inu Yasha in the middle of the clearing in the forest. Miroku walked quickly out of the forest, careful not to stumble. His eyes were welling up with tears. He can't let Inu Yasha see how much it had hurt him. How much it had pained him.
"God, I wish he'd just stop pretending," Miroku mumbled to himself as he slowed his pace. He didn't hear Inu Yasha's foot steps, so he didn't have to flee for his life. "It hurts to know that he's in love with someone else, but it hurts even more to know that he's lying." He sighed, slumping on a tree. The sky was still a bland colour, the clouds lacked of their normally exuberant colour and fluffiness. It was a gloomy day, bringing most people's energy down. Yet for this young monk, today matched his heart completely.
A/N: Ano, this is my belated Christmas and Happy New Year's gift to you? A little short, but I tried my best-ish. T.T. Ahh, KEEP ON REVIEWING AND I'LL UPDATE FASTER, NE? Oooh, might be some new fanfics coming from me soon, so give them a try too. Even though it might not be about Inu Yasha, or the rest of the anime people for that matter.