Disclaimer: Oh. My. God. I'm not dead! But sadly, I still do not own InuYasha. -tear- Or Kagome. Or Sango. Or Shippou. Or -sniffle- cute adorable Kirara. -sniffles sadly- Or Miroku. If I owned Miroku, I'd sic him on people. Go, Miroku! Grope attack! Or would that be in he was a Pokemon...?
A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, minna ;-; Lots and lots of stuff been goings on, most of which I'd just as soon not get into. But everyone's been updating! Things that haven't been updated since January have been updated! All the authors are such an inspiration! I love reading their works, and I hope that someone out there gets some kind of enjoyment out of mine. So for the sake of those few individuals that actually like my random ramblings, I will not let this die! -strikes a dramatic pose-
Kitsuki: -grumbles and hurls a pencil at the wall- It's 3:25 in the morning! I have school in the morning! I have writer's block stiiiiiill! ;-;
Kai: There, there. -pats her head- You'll get it someday.
Kitsuki: -sniffles- You think so?
Kai: -nods- Yis!
Kitsuki: I guess...I guess it's not just me...none of the fics I have on alert have updated for over a month now...it must be a cosmic thing...
Chiidori: -catches little snatches of shoujo-ai from the air and keeps them in a jar- Must...stop...um...cheeze?
Shippou: -jumps from a nearby bush- CHIIDORI-CHAN!
Chiidori: OO HOLY SHIT MONKIES! -drops the jar which shatters-
Kai: Oooo, lookie! Shoujo-ai!
Miroku: Where!
Kitsuki: Everywhere! 3
OMFG! IT'S STILL THERE! THE SHOUJO! THE AI! THE SHOUJO-AI! GREAT GODS, IT'S STILL A BUNCH OF GIRL ON GIRL GOODNESS! SATAN BE PRAISED! XD
Miroku spent the next week wandering about in a daze, not having fully recovered from the mental trauma of molesting himself in his mind. The girls followed him, concerned.
"Houshi-sama..." Sango began, more than once with concern in her voice.
He'd turn red and spin around, hand clamped over his mouth. Just seeing either of them made him remember what had led up to the yaoi he hadn't known he was capable of imagining.
When Kagome tried to reach him with a concerned, "Miroku-sama...", he pointed an accusing finger at her and declared, "Next time I'll make sure it you and Sango!" She'd sweatdropped, turned, and left the monk to his own devices.
Days continued to pass without much event past the occasional tramautized Miroku making cryptic comments and the occasional youkai scare. InuYasha was more tense than ever now as they'd gone nearly a week with no encounters despite their being in a densely populated area. It showed in the stiff way he walked, muscles tensed for any kind of danger; the way his silvery ears twitched back and forth at imagined noises; the way one clawed hand always seemed to drift toward the hilt at his side. The hanyou had everyone else on edge as well; Miroku had finally ceased declaring he would make the girls make out with each other (not that anyone knew that was what he was saying), Sango's hand constantly inched back toward Hiraikotsu or tightened nervously on its strap across her shoulder, Shippou clung to Kagome's shoulder with anxious fear while Kagome herself had taken to carrying her bow in her hand rather than on her back.
Each night as they stopped to make camp, InuYasha prowled around restlessly, inspected every tree, boulder, dip in the terrain. After another week of it, Miroku finally told him to stop and just sit down already. He complied, grumbling rebelliously the entire time. A long while later, he fell into an uneasy, exhausted sleep. Miroku collapsed in a heap where he sat and mumbled a goodnight to the girls and Shippou.
"I almost wish we'd get attacked already," Sango mused, poking at their fire with a stick.
"I hate to say it, but we'd better or I'm going to attack him," the younger girl replied, jerking her head back toward the dozing hanyou. Unnoticed Shippou and Kirara watched InuYasha shiver lightly in the cold night air. Shippou traipsed a short distance into the trees, gathering twigs and bringing them back to stack quietly around his constant tormentor. Kirara mewed a question the small kitsune answer with a finger to his lips, signaling silence.
Sango sighed and tossed her poking stick to the side, lying back and pillowing her head on her hands.
"Ne...Sango-chan?"
"Mmm?" she replied, eyes closed.
"Y-you don't think...Miroku...I mean, he's been acting odd lately..or, he was until he stopped but...some of the things he's been saying...you don't think..." she stumbled her way through her words, eyebrows furrowed together in concern.
The taijiya rolled to her stomach, propped her chin in one both hands, eyebrows following Kagome's.
"I don't think so. I think he's just a horndog that wishes he could watch girls make out," she replied reasonably, her answer eliciting a relieved sigh from her friend. She could understand that. It hadn't exactly become coherent to her conscious thoughts yet, but she sensed that the encounter of weeks past should remain their secret. Besides, hadn't Kagome said to keep it a secret? She blushed as the image of the slightly flushed, mischievously amused schoolgirl winked at her in her mind's eye, perfect lips mouthing the barely heard "hi-mi-tsu". Sango dropped her head, flushed herself and trying to hide behind her hair.
Shippou, meanwhile, continued trotting back and forth behind them, piling wood around the hanyou as the neko youkai followed behind him with the occasional small twig.
Kagome stared sightlessly at the starlit sky, alone with her thoughts. What if, depsite Sango's reassurances, Miroku had come across them that night? It would be just like him to simply sit and watch! She scowled, falling from her sitting position into a loose pile of Kagome sprawled across the ground. Inuyasha was so antsy all the time, maybe he suspected too! She sighed and rolled slightly to one side. But hadn't it been Shippou and Kirara to come looking for them? Kirara had simply mewled adorably at her partner and jumped into her arms. Shippou had latched onto one of Kagome's legs and demanded a "ride" back to camp. She made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and rolled to the other side. Shippou knew more than he let on though. He was a child, not stupid. Kirara couldn't tell anyone, so she was no worry. But then, what about the two boys? Had Shippou made some innocent erstwhile comment they'd deciphered? She rolled back and forth in ernest now, creating a path in the dirt. Sango looked up and blinked at her friend's actions.
"Kagome...chan?"
She stopped in mid-roll, looking guiltily at the other girl. The taijiya brought her hand to Kagome's forehead, gently brushing her bangs back and leaning close, face flushing unconsciously.
"You don't have a fever..." She made the mistake of looking down into brilliant hazel eyes and lost herself. It was so easy she didn't even notice it happening anymore. "Kago..me...?" she whispered, half to herself. The younger girl swallowed hard, her own flush painting her cheeks. The taijiya leaned in closer without realizing it
She was stopped halfway to her goal by a loud noise behind her. She gripped Kagome's arm and rose to a crouch, hastily shoving the younger girl behind her as she turned to face the source of the disturbance. The schoolgirl peered over her shoulder and immediately a "you're kidding, right?" look crossed her face, mirrored on her would-be lover's.
InuYasha was trying to stomp out a large pile of burning tree bits and leaf litter circling his former sleeping spot, alternating between attempts at grinding the flaming sticks into the dirt and trying to catch the kitsune cowering behind a less than adequate rock a short distance away. Shippou scampered the distance to the girls and launched himself into Kagome's arms, sobbing his side of the story.
"H-he was sh-sh-shivering so I though he might b-be cooooooold," he wailed, tiny hands clutching the front of her uniform. "He always w-wears the f-f-fire rat thing and it r-repels fire so I just...I just thought..." he burst into full-fledged tears of anguish and buried his face in her chest as InuYasha glared menacingly in his direction, surrounded by flames.
Sango sighed and threw her formerly disgarded poking stick at the hanyou, hitting him between the eyes. He turned his outrage to her, which she endured without change of expression.
"If you hadn't been paying so much attention to Shippou, trying to kill him by glaring at him, you'd have noticed it before it hit you," she stated, unconcerned as he stomped his way toward her, pushing his wide, slightly smoking sleeves up in preparation for a fight. Miroku jumped in to hold him back and Sango yawned, rising from her crouch and stalking to him. She poked his nose with her index finger, pushing him back slightly as he fumed. "Hush and go back to sleep, InuYasha. We'll make sure no one tries to roast you." She finished her sentence with an amused smirk that only made the hanyou twitch more and flex his hand in annoyance. He wasn't stupid, however, just angry. He'd noticed that, despite the nonchalant attitude Sango's own muscles were as tensed as his and her hand rested the entire time on the hilt of her rarely used sword. She'd put up a fight and while he had no doubt he could have won, he hadn't wanted to push it...especially not with the murderous glint behind her otherwise calm eyes. He huffed and stalked away to find somewhere peaceful to sleep.