Sango awoke to warm sunlight, a light breeze, and a wide open plain. All this assured her that she had finally, however dishonorably, made it to the clearing at the end of the path. She had found heaven. However, a dagger-like pain in her knee and a pounding headache made her unsure of that. She sat up, and saw Kirara's bright and cute eyes in front of her. She thought Kirara had been in Kaede's village, but she didn't worry about that yet, she sat up, ready to call out to Miroku.
'I still don't trust him…My nose doesn't lie, Kagome.' Inuyasha.
'Inuyasha! How could you not trust him? He saved Sango's Life! He's hurt, and tired, and you want to kill him?'
Kagome shrieked on and on, but Sango stopped listening. She was sure she was alive now. How she survived was a mystery to her, but she didn't care, she laid prone and let disappointment wash over her.
Sango sat up and looked around. Sitting up against the tree next to her was the stranger she had mistaken for Miroku. The resemblance was still there, but his hair was longer and more ragged and unkempt, his skin less pale, and the fanglike teeth, well, they were sort of a giveaway. He was dozing, his arm in a sling. He looked pretty banged up, and his clothes were shredded.
'Kagome! Your human senses aren't screaming "NARAKU!" like mine are! He's just like Kagura!' Inuyasha was frantic.
'You know what? I think you're paranoid! Par-A-Noid! I don't see any reason why you aren't just overreacting! I think you are a pretty bad judge of character, Inuyasha! And on top of that, I think you've taken a few too many blows to the head to be the judge of anything!'
'Kagome! We have got to finish him now while we still can!'
'INUYASHA SIT, SIT SIT!' the Hanyou crushed into the ground.
'How could you be so heartless?' Kagome stormed off down the way, leaving Inuyasha lying unconscious on the ground.
And just like that, Sango was alone with him.
None of the noise had bothered him from his slumber. He dozed peacefully, like he had nothing to worry about. Sango was slightly nervous to be around him. He wasn't Miroku. He wasn't the love of her life. He was a stranger.
Then he opened his eyes, and she shrank back. They weren't Miroku's kind and happy violet eyes; they were a deeper, darker black. She could see many emotions raging like white water underneath the calm black pools.
'I am glad to see you're okay.' he said, looking her right in the eye.
'Yes….I'm fine,' she said back, looking away. Her katana was nearby, so if he tried anything he would regret it.
'Why did you want me to let you go?' he said, his voice genuinely and innocently curious.
Sango opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again. There was nothing redeeming about her choice to say. She didn't want to fall, didn't want to die. She wanted to have roots in this life, things to make her happy, to make her smile, but all of those things were gone. She chose to remain silent, looking away. Those eyes of his bored into hers, seemed to know more than she wanted to admit to.
He looked away, aware he was making her uncomfortable. He didn't know her, and she didn't seem to know him. But he didn't know himself. He had tried and tried to remember anything before the night before last, and he drew a complete blank. It was a euphoric, almost scary sensation. Like life was a dream he couldn't wake from.
'Can I ask you something?' he said, trying to be polite, he could smell odd mixtures of fear and awkward confusion in the air around them, and he wanted to clear that air.
'What?' she said, not looking at him. She didn't want to talk at all, she wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.
'Last night. You called me something…am I Miroku?'
The question blindsided her. It was the last thing she could have expected him to say. She snapped her gaze back to him, searching his features and the scorching fact that he still wasn't her lover pained her again.
He seemed calm, a perpetual half smile stayed on his face permanently, a common sign of good natured people. His fangs unnerved her, however. And his eyes would not leave her. Eyes that pretended to innocent and kind, but hatred boiled somewhere underneath, like he was lying to her.
After a short time she said: 'No, you aren't Miroku. I don't know you. That's a strange thing to ask. What, do you have amnesia or something?'
He blinked a couple of times, as if trying to decide the fact. Then he said: 'Yes, I think I do.'
He stood up and dusted himself off and removed the sling his arm was in. The long sleeved shirt he was wearing was stained with dried blood.
'Maybe I should go.' he said, looking back at the village with fearful eyes. Sango found him an entirely easy person to read. He either made no attempt to shield his emotions or simply didn't know he was so obvious.
'You're not going anywhere, pal.' Inuyasha said.
Sango whirled to see Inuyasha standing behind her, cracking his knuckles, staring at the stranger with hate filled eyes.
The mystery Youkai turned to face Inuyasha, his features suddenly blank, like he had shifted into hard ass mode on the fly.
'What do you care?' he said, again, no dry sarcasm or angry resentment were in those words. It was an honest question.
'I don't know what you're up to, you filthy bastard, but I won't stand for it.' Inuyasha said, taking an aggressive step forward.
The stranger didn't move, his arms hung loosely at his sides. He looked the Hanyou dead in the eye.
'I don't know what you are talking about,' he said.
'Really? I think you know exactly what I am talking about. You're not fooling anybody, pal. I am about to tear you limb from limb.'
Sango looked on, unsure about what to do or say. She had her suspicions, too. Going perhaps more than a little bit crazy hadn't dulled her warrior wit. Yet, she didn't have any reason to want to kill him either.
'Why?' the stranger asked. His weird questions bothered Sango, but infuriated Inuyasha.
'What do you mean why? Don't play stupid, asshole. It'll only make your death more painful!'
'I am not stupid. I don't know you, and you hate me. I want to know why.'
Inuyasha took another step forward, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. Sango moved out of the way, still attempting to figure out if she should try to stop Inuyasha or help him.
'But I do know you. You're the spawn of that fucking Naraku. I can smell it all over you.' Inuyasha stepped forward again, now within arms length of the strange Youkai.
'I don't know any Naraku.' the stranger said, unflinching.
'That's it! IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!' Inuyasha struck out at him at point blank range. Somehow, he missed.
Sango had always been amazed by Inuyasha's speed. As fast as Inuyasha was, this guy was much faster. The stranger sidestepped the attack like he had all the time in the world, and then with a blur like punch, sent Inuyasha reeling backwards.
'Leave me alone. I don't want to fight you.' the Youkai said, still calm and blank.
'Oh, now it's on!' Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga, brandishing it in the stranger's face. 'You may be fast, but you're still gonna die!'
'Inuyasha SIT!' Kagome' roared before the Hanyou could swing. She ran up to the stranger. 'He didn't hurt you, did he?'
'No, I am fine,' he said, sitting back down, exhausted. He hadn't fully healed from his wounds, and falling a hundred feet onto rocks hadn't helped that process.
'You're still hurt,' Kagome said, 'You shouldn't be moving so much,' She ignored Inuyasha's muffled curses and sat down next to the Youkai. She put her hand on his arm, meaning to ease his pain with a little of her Miko healing powers.
He leaped back, uttering a hurt yelp.
'Don't touch me like that!' he said, his voice suddenly aggressive and mistrusting.
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you,' Kagome said, but she was instantly wary of the stranger. Miko powers only hurt truly evil Youkai. She stood up, trying to act normal, but didn't make any sudden moves until Inuyasha had gotten up. Sango also realized what had just happened, and had her katana in her hand. All eyes were on the stranger.
The Youkai realized he had done something to scare everyone. He didn't know exactly what, but he knew that all three of them thought him hostile. Even down to the small and innocent young girl who had stopped Inuyasha from trying to kill him, all three stood in battle ready stances. Automatically, his mind whirled with complex ways in which he could kill each of them without getting hurt himself. Yet he had no reason to do such a thing. It was a misunderstanding, right?
'I am sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,' he said, speaking directly to the Miko. He tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject. 'Your name is Kagome, right?'
Kagome softened, slightly relieved. She was naturally trusting. Sango and Inuyasha still didn't let down their guard.
'Yes, that's my name. What's yours?' Kagome said.
'I don't know my name.' he said truthfully.
Sango chimed in, also eager to avoid fighting.
'Yeah, that's what he told me. You took a bad hit to the head, didn't you?'
'Yes, I guess I did…,' the stranger said. He decided to show nonaggression by sitting back down. He had no wish to kill any of them. The two women had been kind to him, and the Miko obviously controlled the half-breed, so he decided he would try to make friends. He needed them.
Kagome embraced the chance to avoid bloodshed as well, and slowly walked towards him.
'Don't worry, I won't touch you if you don't want me too,' she said, trying to calm him. 'Well, if you don't remember your name, we have to give you one. Can't go around without a name, eh?'
'How bout scum bag?' Inuyasha growled.
'Shut up, Inuyasha,' Sango said.
The Hanyou growled and stormed off to the other side of the clearing, separate from the situation but available to help if anything should go wrong. He still didn't like the Youkai.
'I guess not,' the stranger said. 'Please, if I must choose a name, call me Kazemei.'
Sango thought to ask for that name would be strange. If you didn't have a family name(which sometimes have interesting translations), you had a title. The black wind wasn't something people asked to be called. But Kagome didn't catch onto this.
'It's a deal, Kazemei,' she said, and without thinking about it, she offered to shake his hand, a custom he likely wasn't familiar with, or, in this case comfortable with.
He looked down at her hand, unsure of what he was supposed to do, and wondered if it was some strange greeting. The girl didn't dress like she was from around here, either.
'Uh, nice to meet you,' he said lightly touching her hand the way one might touch a stove that could still be hot.
'Nice to meet you, too, Kazemei. So, do you remember anything about who you are or what you were doing at the battle plain?'
'Not a clue,' he said.
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AU: keep reviewing, I'll keep keep updating, and no onehas to get hurt. Now review before I am forced to destoy you with my ninjitsu skills. Please, pretty please?