Disclaimer: Unless Rumiko Takahashi decides to will her entire Inuyasha industry copyrights to a short, procrastinating, completely unknown American teenager in dire need of college money and a job, I don't own Inuyasha and company, and never will.

A/N: Yet another chapter! I find myself enjoying this, which is good. I've been a bit bored recently. By the way, the title stems from a line in Midsummer Night's Dream (I don't own it, blah de blah de blah…) A3 S2, if you were wondering. Or you could just see the movie. That rocks too.

Another thing: I require feedback on an idea of mine that involves a new take on a fairy tale, featuring—you guessed it—the Inu-Tachi. Something about a girl whose father dies and leaves her in the care of an evil, power-hungry social climber with two daughters… and, by the way, a prince's hand in marriage is at stake. . Yes, it's kinda old, but still good! I bet I can surprise you, too. No idea what I would call this 'borrowed' creation of mine; ideas are welcome.

Yes, Penthesileia, I know I'm evil. Mwahahahaha… but don't worry, I'm not THAT evil. Kikyou, as far as I know right now, will not be making an appearance. And I like happy endings. .

Oh, and a fluff warning for all you people who aren't fond of it… and please don't shoot me, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only. Or anyone else. (You'll see why. I would shoot me too if I were reading this… or at least scream long and loud at me.) Or at least read A Midsummer Night's Dream before you shoot me. .; It will get better, I promise!

8

In This Fierce Vein

Sango was on the ground. While this wasn't necessarily an unusual occurrence, her last memory had been of nestling into her bedroll. What had happened in between?

Miroku.

She shot upright, then gritted her teeth against a flood of invective as her head complained loudly, with bass drum accompaniment. "Aaagh…"

Headache. Yukata half-open. Memories of whispers that made her blush ferociously to think about—and not all of them had come from Miroku. Oh, Kami-sama… we didn't…?

Her panic subsided a little; as skilled as the houshi undoubtedly was, even he couldn't have done that without removing her clothes a good deal more than they were. Still, what about the headache?

We weren't drinking.

Then her attention snapped to the third Very Wrong thing with this picture: there was no monk in it. His bedroll was still by the dim campfire, but his staff and his person were not.

He went off without telling me? She scanned the darkened clearing as closely as she could with eyes and ears to make sure he hadn't just gone to sit watch outside the area—not that that was any smarter than wandering further afield. What had possessed him? At night, no less?

And right after we… almost… Automatic Brain Shut-Up discontinued that thought. She really didn't have time for this.

"Mrowr?"

"Kirara?" The little fire-cat leaped into Sango's lap, rubbing her black nose against one of the taijiya's hands. The girl stroked her pet's thick fur, then asked, "Did you see where Miroku went?"

Kirara blinked. Sango suppressed a sigh of annoyance; even if the nekoyoukai had been able to make herself understood, she probably wouldn't have bothered. Those red eyes were distinctly and purposefully blank.

"Where were you when all that was going on?" she asked ruefully, referring to the… erm, incident. Normally Kirara was an exceptional guardian, particularly where her taijiya was concerned. Kirara sneezed in response. Sango sighed, then shooed the cat off her lap and pushed herself to her feet. "Keep close. We might as well go look for him." And make him explain himself. And politely inquire whether he's gone insane. And then grab him and— Automatic Brain Shut-Up hastily snapped into place again. She banked the fire, gathered up Hiraikotsu and the rest of the gear, and pushed all less-than-demure thoughts of a certain houshi to the back of her mind, where they snickered and plotted their escape. She tried valiantly to ignore them, and set off through the foliage.

She had hardly gone anywhere at all when a shout from directly behind her arranged a fleeting introduction with coronary failure.

"Sango! What the hell were you doing?"

Fortunately she recognized that voice, or she might have taken his head off on principle. She nearly did anyway. Did he have to be so abrupt?

"Inuyasha, if you do that again, I swear—"

"You run off with the damn monk after a few spats, and you try to tell me what you'll do if I do that again?" the hanyou growled.

"I did not 'run off,'" she retorted icily. "Any more than your hourly ritual is 'a few spats.' The houshi-sama and I merely came to an agreement."

Inuyasha scowled, then raised his eyebrows. Sango tensed as his nose twitched. If you say one word, Dog-boy…

"Agreement, huh?" A smirk tweaked the hanyou's former glower. "Keh. Since when does 'agreement' mean crawling all over—"

"Finish that sentence and I will ensure that you never sire children," she informed him sweetly through clenched and bared teeth. Inuyasha gulped at her expression, and wisely did not continue.

"Speaking of him, you haven't seen him, have you?"

"What, you lost him already?"

She didn't dignify that with a response, though her eye twitched a few times in involuntary threat. "I was thinking he found something out of the ordinary and..." …what? Couldn't take the time to wake me? Didn't want to disturb me? Thought I'd get in the way? No, not that. He's not stupid.

…mostly.

"He can't have gone far," Inuyasha offered when she made no motions toward completing her sentence. "You humans don't cover much ground on your own."

Spending time with Inuyasha had gotten the taijiya well used to backhanded attempts at reassurance. For him, that was as close to a 'there, there, it'll be all right' as she'd ever seen. She smiled a little at the hanyou. "Do you think you could find him?"

"Keh." It was Inuyasha's turn to pretend that the question hadn't been asked; he just bent to the ground, rather as if he were Davy Crockett with dog ears. Sango could hear him sniffing, though. She kept her giggling silent with an effort. All right, now, come on. Bad me. Stop that. It's not his fault he sounds… like a… puppy… She bit the inside of her cheek to stifle a fresh wave of snickering.

"Got him." Inuyasha straightened. "He went that way—" Black brows suddenly crouched like very startled cats. "—with Kagome?"

That cured Sango's laugh attack. "Kagome-chan? What's she d—oh." Stupid question. If Inuyasha went somewhere, Kagome would think up some reason to follow him. It was kind of sweet, but Sango privately thought her friend was fooling herself more effectively than anybody else. Well, except maybe Inuyasha.

"I told her to go back to Kaede's!" the hanyou growled, stalking forward and nearly leaving Sango eating dust in the process. "But oh, noooo, she had to follow me in and then use the damn necklace and run off and get herself lost in the damn woods and run into the damn perverted bouzu—"

"He wouldn't do anything," Sango snapped, practically running to keep up with Inuyasha's indignant strides. Kirara was clinging to her shoulder with a tenacity she rarely displayed this far away from bodies of cold water. Bloody hanyou going too damn fast for his own good—

"That's what she said about him and you!"

The taijiya wondered if Kagome really needed her doggie-eared loudmouth crush back in one piece. Surely she wouldn't mind if he got dented in one or two places… or six or eight…

…………………………………

"Would you care for some gyoza, Kouga-chan?"

"Mmbfrghth!"

"No? Some tako, then?"

"Fgrthbmmmmmf!"

"Mind your language around the child. I really hate having to do this to you, but with those legs of yours…" A highly appreciative scarlet gaze glided along the limbs in question. "…there really aren't that many options. I can't have you running away, and you aren't being cooperative."

"Khhhfmwthmft!"

Kagura sighed and moved his bowl out of upset range. He wasn't taking captivity very well; she'd had to resort to actual physical ropes to supplement her wind-magic, in order to keep from tiring herself out. Her little nest, though safe from Naraku's prying spies, wasn't all that deep; she had to keep him in the center to ensure he didn't fall out. And feeding him was another thing entirely, even without the gag (to protect Rin's virgin ears from her beloved prince's vernacular). The way he was thrashing about, it would probably be better to hand-feed him.

Say, that was a good idea. In more ways than one…

"You must be hungry, koishii," she coaxed, scooping up the rice bowl in one hand and running the fingers of her other one lightly over his cheekbone. He stiffened, but didn't try to bite this time. That last attempt had rather embarrassed him, she surmised. She'd quite enjoyed it. She couldn't remember the last time anything had fallen facedown into her lap, much less something so gorgeous. "If I take off the gag, will you promise not to swear in front of the girl?"

"Can Rin-chan feed him, Kagura-sama?" the little girl asked, bouncing eagerly up and down in front of her own empty bowl.

Kouga blanched and shook his head jerkily.

"No, Rin. Maybe another time." She had no intention of allowing anyone to play with her precious wolf prince anytime soon. It was long odds against her allowing him to see any more human girls, since it seemed he had a weakness for them.

Well, she'd soon cure him of that.

"Well? Do we have a deal?" she prompted her pinned paramour.

He eyed her warily, then gave a grudging nod. She smiled brilliantly at him, and tugged the cloth free. "There. Are you sure you don't want gyoza?"

"Why the he—" He glanced at Rin, then the abandoned gag, and corrected himself. "—eck are you doing this to me, b—wench?"

She gave him a hurt look for the name, but answered readily. "Because you want to run off."

"No, da—drat it. Why's it such a f—big deal if I run off?"

"Because I love you," Kagura said simply.

For a moment she wanted nothing more than to glomp him until he couldn't breathe. How could anyone look so unbearably adorable when they were clueless? His expression resembled that of a wolf puppy whose favorite bone had been stolen by a grossly oversized chipmunk. Possibly one with two heads. Must… not… cuddle to… death! She smirked faintly to herself. Well, not right away…

"Wh—wha—w—" He seemed to be having trouble speaking. Kagura waited patiently, though the impulse to huggle him to within an inch of his life was beginning to win. She settled for stroking those furry leg-warmer-boots he always wore. Wonder if I can get to his tail next…?

"Are you fu—totally insane?" he managed to gasp. "Y—you killed my entire pack! You work for Naraku! You keep trying to steal my f—stupid shards!"

She bit her lip, guilt washing over her. Her hearing was as superb as any true-born youkai's; she could literally feel the pain in his voice over his dead packmates. "I'm so sorry for your pack, Kouga. I really am. It—there's really no excuse, is there? Except—well, I can't choose who my father is." May he rot in the lowest hells in existence sometime very soon. "He controls me totally," she added with great reluctance. Unless I can find a way to kill him.

She briefly considered pitting Kouga against Naraku, but immediately dismissed the idea, with no small amount of horror. She could easily imagine Naraku tearing the wolf prince into fish bait, simply to make her scream. You're strong, koishii, but even you can't match my bastard father.

Out of nowhere, an image of arctic golden eyes under a blue crescent and long, silky ice-white hair popped into her mind. She blasted it away, unnerved. Where the hell did THAT come from?

"So… that whole 'ha ha you're helpless against me' thing was an act, was it?" Kouga inquired, his tone sarcastic but still unable to disguise the waver of anger in his voice.

Kagura frowned. She remembered that too… when had she first realized…? "No… but… I've been thinking about you since we first met." Yeah, that sounds about right.

Kouga blinked. "Hn?" Kagura smiled, the expression growing as she noticed a faint pink tint spread over his cheeks. Ooh, I need to do that more often… my gods, you're practically edible, koishii.

"Er… eh…" The wolf youkai stammered for a bit, then hauled the conversation back to more familiar ground. "How do I know you're not just trying to f—jerk around with me?"

The question stung; she didn't have any proof, and in his situation she might have said the same.

Um… wait… She mentally snapped her fingers. What the hell, it works in fairy tales…

She didn't hesitate for more than a breath, because otherwise she would've wondered why she thought this had a chihuahua's chance in a lion den of working. Easing herself up from her sitting position, she placed both hands on either side of his face and gently pulled him down until she could press her lips to his own.

For half a second it was like kissing a block of marble. Then, to Kagura's utmost delight, Kouga began kissing her back.

Why the hell was she thinking about crescent moons right now?

She reluctantly pulled away from the wolf prince, fairly certain that not only was her lipstick smeared and her face powder smudged, but that she was blushing just as much as Kouga.

Well, damned if she was going to sacrifice all her dignity in one breath (or lack thereof). She sat back on her heels, cocked her head, and pushed a small smile onto her face. "Believe me now?"

Then she lost it again when Kouga bent down to kiss her.

A/N: Yes, I know, you're all trying to kill me now… —ducks heavy weaponry— eep, I promise I'll fix it!