Chapter 24: No Such Luck
Eri (insert Wicked Witch of the West theme music) scanned the hallways for her next 'target'; Inuyasha. She would've asked Kagome, Miroku, or Sango if any of them had seen the hanyou, but Kagome and Miroku were avoiding her. They didn't want to play any more of her stupid mind games. And Sango, well, Sango just plain didn't like her. Eri's face lit up when she spotted Inuyasha slinking along the corridor, looking as angry with the world as ever. "Good morning Inuyasha! How are you today?" Eri asked, sounding innocent enough to the casual bystander. Inuyasha responded with a grunt. "I'm doing fine thanks. How is Kagome?"
"You're asking the wrong person." Inuyasha mumbled in response. "Why don't ask her?"
"Yeah. Or I suppose I could ask Miroku, couldn't I?" Eri said.
"Miroku? What makes you think he'd know?"
"Well, Miroku ought to know how his girlfriend is doing." Inuyasha stared at her blankly.
"Back up a second, you lost me. Did you just say Kagome was Miroku's girlfriend?" he asked.
"Well, it's not official yet, but it will be fairly soon." Eri told him with a smirk.
"What happened to Hojo?" Inuyasha asked.
"Him? She dumped him the other day. Didn't you know?"
"So what you're saying is Kagome is available now?" Inuyasha continued with his questionings.
"Yeah, technically, until Miroku…"
"Aw, hell no!" Inuyasha cut her off. "Miroku isn't going to be doing anything!" Inuyasha declared as he turned around and marched off in the opposite direction.
"Wait, what do you mean Miroku isn't going to be doing anything?" Eri asked, chasing after him.
"Kagome is my girl! I'll be damned if I'm going to let him go and snatch her right from under my nose." Inuyasha growled.
"Two problems with your plan. First of all, Kagome is not your girl. You speak like she's an inanimate object one can own, which she isn't. Second, you can tell they totally have it for each other. Kagome isn't going to give up a chance with Miroku, no offence to you of course." Eri explained.
"None taken and I happen to have a solution for both of those problems. I didn't mean she was my girl the way you interpreted it, and I'll rip Miroku to shreds if I have to. I'll do whatever it takes to remove any obstacles." Inuyasha countered.
"Ripping Miroku to shreds won't improve Kagome's opinion of you." Eri reminded him.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Inuyasha said.
"This is going all wrong! Telling Inuyasha they were practically a couple now was supposed to discourage him, not provoke him!" Eri silently said to herself. When Inuyasha came across Kagome, she was indeed in the company of Miroku. He was about to tell Kagome the little secret he had been hiding when she was seized by the shoulders and spun 180 degrees to face Inuyasha.
"Oh." Kagome said upon seeing who, uninvited, had grabbed her and turned her away from who she was talking to. "It's you. Do you mind waiting a moment? I'm kind of in the middle of something here." Kagome snapped.
"This can't wait." Inuyasha suddenly put his arm around her waist, pulled her in and kissed her. Before Kagome could even recover from the initial shock Eri broke the two apart.
"Time out!" she turned on Inuyasha, anger present in her facial features. "Who do you think you are? You think you can just strut up to Kagome and violate her like that? I ought to-"
"Eri," Kagome began cutting her friend off. "I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing, but I think I can handle it. However, I would like to know what that was all about."
"Kagome, I'm sorry for what I said and anything I may have said or done that has annoyed or angered you in the past. I know it was kind of presumptuous of me to jump to a stupid conclusion like I did, but…well, I guess I don't really have an excuse it's just that I can't help being a little jealous because I…" Inuyasha trailed off.
"Because you…?" Kagome asked, cueing him to continue.
"Because I, uh I-I l-lo, uh…" Inuyasha stuttered.
"I think what he's trying to say is he loves you." Miroku interrupted.
"Is that what you're trying to say?"
"Yes." Inuyasha admitted, his ears drooping. "Surely you can find it in your heart to forgive me?" Kagome looked down and stroked her chin as if seriously considering it.
"I guess, but before I do can you do one thing for me?" Kagome asked.
"You name it."
"SIT!" Kagome shouted, and Inuyasha found himself in an all too familiar position. It took all of Inuyasha's self-control to not leap up and start shouting at Kagome, but he knew that would just be blowing his chance at resolution.
"There." Inuyasha said with a regretful smile on his face, despite the blood began to trickle out of his nostrils. "Feel better?"
"A little." Kagome answered with a big smile. She turned back to Miroku. "So what was it that you had to tell me that was so urgent?" What he was about to tell her was that Inuyasha had been fooling around with Kikyo long before he and Kagome had their fight, but Inuyasha's choice timing left Miroku deciding he could handle the guilt of keeping something from his friend.
"You know, it's not really that important. Just forget about it."
"Okay, if you're sure." Kagome conceded. She took off towards class. Inuyasha was about to follow, but Miroku grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"Look buddy, I'm taking a hit for you, but if you continue anything that may be going on between you and that Kikyo chick I won't be able to let Kagome go on without knowing about it. And if you break her heart I will break you. Is that clear?" Miroku hissed into Inuyasha's ear.
"Crystal. Thanks for helping me out." Inuyasha said gratefully.
"I'm not helping you out. You owe me big time now." Miroku joked as Inuyasha took of after his reclaimed girlfriend.
"Miroku! Kagome forgave him!" Eri frantically complained. "You're just going to let her forgive him like that? You have to do something about it!"
"Why? What would I want to do about it?" Miroku asked.
"Kagome's life is going to be a mess if she sticks with that jealous two-timing dog! Why can't either of you see that you and her are like this?" Eri wailed, crossing her index and middle fingers. "You two deserve each other!"
Miroku sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, we're both happy the way we are now. Can't you just deal with it?"
"But think! You're too good for that Sango girl you're with now!" Eri continued to complain.
"Maybe, but the heart seldom listens to reason." Miroku responded ever so wisely.
"But Kagome loves you! She said so herself!" Eri attempted to convince him in a last ditch effort. "She told me so yesterday, I swear!"
Miroku grinned sheepishly and shook his head. "Eri, if that were true do you really think she would've accepted Inuyasha's apology? Besides, I have that effect on many women, and they still manage."
"The only reason she accepted Inuyasha's apology is because you are with Sango. I bet its killing her inside."
"Eri, there's no way in heaven or hell I'm going to be forced to choose between Sango and Kagome. If it ever came to that, I'd kill myself before I'd sacrifice one's happiness for the others." Miroku claimed.
"So you'd rather die and hurt them both than hurt one and make the other blissful? I don't see the logic in that at all." Eri commented.
"I have to admit, I'd never thought about it from that point of view, but that's going off-topic. Just leave her be. If she's truly unhappy I'll be able to tell soon enough and if it comes to that, I might give an iota of consideration the aspect. For now, just go away and worry about your own love life rather than that of others." Miroku decisively ended the conversation and left to his class, leaving Eri very dejected.
A/N: There. I hope all of those who were fearful I would make this Mir/Kag are satisfied. As tempting as the thought was, that was never my original intention and making this a Mir/Kag fic now would make my world perspective pretty twisted. I might change it later, or just write and entirely different story with a Kag/Mir pairing, but San/Mir is my overall favorite, and making that pairing how it is in the series compels me to do the same with Kagome and Inuyasha. If you support me making it Kag/Mir, or would rather I keep it how it is; feel free send a review with your opinion.