Chapter Seven: Conspiracy
It was nearing noon at Miroku, Sango, and Shippou's campsite. Miroku made them lunch and not too long afterwards Sango finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had loomed over them since Inuyasha had departed sometime earlier.
"What could be taking him so long?" she asked worriedly. "He just went to go apologize to Kagome-chan and bring her back. Unless...houshi-sama, do you think that maybe Kagome-chan is still angry with Inuyasha?"
"Knowing Inuyasha," Miroku said patiently, "my guess is that he most likely caused another argument which he will also have to swallow his pride and apologize for."
Sighing, Sango nodded. "You're probably right."
"In any case," Miroku said, rising to his feet. "Inuyasha instructed us to move onto the village if he wasn't back by lunch, so I'd suggest we move on."
"Are you sure? What if Inuyasha is on his way here with Kagome as we speak?" Sango wanted to know.
"If that's the case, then Inuyasha will catch up with us," Miroku assured her. "We've learned to trust Inuyasha, right?"
Shippou fielded this question. "Of course we have. Mostly. Well, in stuff like this. If he says he'll meet us at the village, he'll meet us at the village."
Well, if Shippou-chan trusts Inuyasha, then I guess I should, Sango realized. "All right, all right. I give in. Let's go."
They quickly gathered their things, quite diminished by the lack of Kagome's and Inuyasha's belongings. So they turned out on the trail and after nearly six hours of walking, they reached the village. They had not seen a youkai since the day before Inuyasha's human night, and they were thankful for it. They weren't quite certain they would be able to defeat a youkai bearing a Shikon shard on their own.
"It's almost like coming home," Sango breathed as they entered the village. "This place has been home to me more than anywhere else this last year."
"I know what you mean," the monk replied. Shippou bounded ahead of them, knowing that Sango and Miroku liked time alone too. In an unperverted gesture, Miroku took Sango's hand and led her down to the village. Kaede stepped out of her hut and greeted Shippou happily. "Hello, Kaede-sama!" Miroku called. Carefully, Sango released Miroku's hand with a small, assuring smile.
"Hello Miroku-sama, Sango," Kaede called. "Hello again, Shippou." The old woman smiled at the kit.
"Good afternoon, Kaede-sama," Sango replied. They approached the hut and all four ducked inside.
"Where are Inuyasha and Kagome?" Kaede asked as they settled into the hut. With a steady hand, Kaede stoked the fire to life. "Even if they fight, they always come with you three to the village."
Shippou decided he wanted to answer the elderly miko's question. "Kagome came back to camp on Inuyasha's human night, smelling like Sesshoumaru. Then she and Inuyasha got into a silent fight. Then they got into a fight the day before yesterday and Kagome ran off with Kouga!" The kitsune started to growl. "He told her to choose between him and Sesshoumaru, so Kagome chose Kouga."
Kaede raised an eyebrow and looked to Sango and Miroku for a translation. "What does he mean?"
"A few nights ago, Kagome-sama stepped out for a little bit. We had all sensed Sesshoumaru's prescence around the camp, but we knew from before that he would not harm Inuyasha on his human night. When she returned, Inuyasha smelled Sesshoumaru on Kagome-sama. As far as I know, the next night, Kagome-sama was summoned by presumably Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha went after her. I only awoke because Kagome-sama said 'osuwari' and Inuyasha had hit the ground near me. The following evening, Inuyasha spoke with Kagome-sama and told her to choose between him and Sesshoumaru. Kagome-sama could not choose, spoke to Kouga, and came back to camp." Miroku sighed and took another breath. "Using the shards, Kagome-sama summoned Kouga while Inuyasha was yelling at her. Rather than choose Inyuasha or Sesshoumaru, she chose Kouga. That was the last we've seen of her since then."
Slowly, Kaede shook her head and heated up some food for her guests and surrogate family. "It's a shame that those two cannot resolve their differences and admit their mutual feelings." She divided up the food once it was warm enough to eat. "Perhaps they need some help."
The three absorbed that information and began to eat. An idea was already hatching in Miroku's head and he would have to share it with Sango. Under no uncertain circumstances had Kaede just practically told them to play matchmaker. Well, Miroku would definitely do that. Inuyasha and Kagome had had feelings for each other for the last year and some odd months, and it was time the feelings had culminated into something. Unless, this was what they had culminated into. In which case, Miroku didn't accept that.
"Sango, may I speak with you outside?" he asked, tilting his head towards the door. Hesitantly, she nodded. "Excuse us for a moment, Kaede-sama." He rose and held the door open for Sango, quickly following her once she went through.
"What's wrong, houshi-sama?" Sango asked as they sat down on the steps leading to the temple that once housed the Shikon no Tama long ago.
"Did you hear Kaede-sama? She basically told us to make Inuyasha and Kagome-sama let each other know their feelings." He looked over to the hut. "I think you and I should get them on speaking terms again."
Raising an eyebrow, Sango watched him as he traced the place on his hand where the Kazaana used to be. "I guess so. But how?"
"I have a couple of ideas." He shrugged then. Unnervingly, he fixed his gaze on Sango. "Would you stop calling me 'houshi-sama'? You can call me 'Miroku' like everyone else does."
"But...it's disrespectful," Sango protested.
Miroku sighed. "Not if you added the '-sama' suffix as Kagome-sama does."
"But she's a miko and you're--"
"Forget it, Sango." He stood and stretched. "Well, we'll begin brainstorming tomorrow, when Inuyasha returns with Kagome-sama. It's late already and I'm tired." He nodded and said, "Good night."
"Wait--Miroku!"
He paused, a smile spreading on his face. "Yes, Sango?"
"Shouldn't we brainstorm now instead of later? We should have a plan for when they get back," Sango told him. "Right? And shouldn't Shippou-chan and Kaede-sama be in on it so they can help?"
Miroku sat back down. "Valid points indeed. However, Shippou would interfere by protesting against Inuyasha and Kagome's feelings. He also doesn't keep secrets very well. Kaede-sama would take matters into her own hands and I have no idea what sort of tricks she has up her sleeves."
Agreeing, Sango nodded. "You're right, now that I think about it. So what are your ideas?"
"I was thinking that you could threaten Inuyasha with Hiraikotsu," Miroku admitted sheepishly. "And I with my staff."
Sango sweatdropped. "Miroku..."