Disclaimer: Nope.
Author's Note: Well, I must say this was an unforeseen delay in the production of this story. I really hadn't planned to be away so long, but things turn up, you know? I had like five missing assignments in English (which I didn't know existed until they were late), an entire screenplay to write for US Survey, ideas for my novel, five books to read, a concussion, etc. All in all, October was not the best month of my life. But here's the next chapter, a little less than a month overdue. Sorry and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7, Guilt and Duty
At dawn, dark storm clouds rolled in from the west, casting the earth in a murky, gray light. Mist crept along the ground, stirring ponderously as if some giant ladle was being pulled through it. No wind swept across the snow-strewn lawns of the wilderness. The animal life had nestled deep within their burrows, the bone-chilling cold preventing the habitual scurrying. The mist swallowed every flutter of bird wing or crunch of snow greedily, leaving the leafless forests encased in eerie silence.
Due to the night's events, Sango and Tomomi had been too worried to build a proper campfire. Instead, Tomomi had managed a kind of makeshift oven with a few rocks. The smoke dispersed itself amongst the mist, and the girls warmed their backs on the hot boulders. With their meager supplies, they had succeeded in boiling water, which was used exclusively for Miroku.
Sango nibbled the tips of her fingers absently while she eyed Miroku. He slept fitfully, tossing and turning, muttering dark words. She and Tomomi had slipped in and out of their own nightmares, some times awakened by the horrifying images or sometimes by Miroku's screams. In the case of the latter, they had moved quickly to silence the houshi. Now, Miroku was more or less still, though his blue lips still trembled with mute curses.
Whenever she was awake, Sango tried to connect her vague images of the fight. The monster had burst into the hall while she waited anxiously for Miroku and engaged her in combat. Caught of guard, Sango had been thrown into the main hall easily. There, she made a defensive stand. However, the demon had been too fast, and no sooner had the real fighting begun than she was down. While unconscious, she had heard vehement shouts and harsh syllables, but none of what was said had been clear to her. She knew they had been talking about Kyoden, not being sure of the context, she could deduce nothing.
The only thing that was clear to h er was Miroku's venomously spoken, "Don't you touch her!" Sango flushed at the memory, a mixture of surprise, horror, frustration, and even a bit of flattery. The tone of Miroku's voice had scared her thoughshe never would have imagined such an icy voice could come from a houshi! The rest was unclear to her, so blinded was she by emotion and dizziness. She had heard Naraku's oath: that Miroku would pay for his humiliation. But what were the following words? She couldn't clearly remember.
And then there was thethat strange knot that had formed in her stomach. She could recount those moments very clearly. A strange blackness veiling the room, dark, haunting words that made the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.
Miroku had not screamed. Even as that terrible sensation that even Sango had felt enveloped him, he had not cried out. She had seen the torment and suffering reflected on his face though, and that was the image that truly frightened her. There were no words to describe the agony that contorted his face so. The black curse had taken somethingor left something.
Sango suddenly felt very cold, and she folded herself tighter, drawing her legs against her chest and pulling the blanket closer around her. She nestled deeper into the protective heat of the warmed boulder at her back.
Suddenly, there was the rain-like tumbling sound of prayer beads. Sango looked up quickly and two worn amethysts greeted her dark eyes. The face that contained them was ashen and tired, but the smile was reassuring. "Houshi-sama!" she greeted him with a sigh of relief.
Tomomi stirred on the other side of the fire, and rose quickly to her feet, brushing aside askew strands of dark hair. "Miroku-sama!" Tomomi exclaimed, a jovial surprise on her face. "How are you feeling?"
The smile didn't falter as Miroku answered, "Like shit."
Sango and Tomomi openly chuckled at the prince's bluntness. Sango blushed lightly at the colorful language, something Miroku couldn't help but chuckle at.
"What is it?" Miroku inquired, his smile growing at their warming sense of companionship.
Tomomi covered her mouth, unsuccessfully trying to stifle her giggles. She waved a hand on front of her face, and then looked at Sango. "You're right, he's not a very good houshi."
Miroku laughed too. The laughter quickly subsided though, and they were left in an affectionate and friendly silence.
Without warning, Sango turned away from Miroku, her brown eyes mournful. A wave of guilt shivered through her; what right had she to laugh with Miroku after what he had endured to protect her?
Miroku, however, did not understand her sadness. Was it a fault of his? Just when Miroku was going to inquire, Tomomi clapped her hands together decisively and a broad grin split her face. "Well then, we better get out of here before we catch our deaths of cold!"
Sango nodded to her friend with a smile and rose to her feet. Tomomi helped Miroku to his feet, flashing him an amiable smile. "We're going to take you to my grandfather. Sango said you were cursed or some such magic, anyway, my grandfather will know; he used to be a monk like yourself."
Miroku laughed edgily, but his thoughts were with Sango, who hung wraithlike on the edge of the clearing, her face downcast. The careless bearing was gone from her gait, and she kept glancing back at Miroku secretively. This newly opted behavior perplexed Miroku to no extent.
Then, a sudden fear gripped him. What if she had heard what Naraku had said? What if she knew that he was Kyoden's brother? Was the sadness in her step the sting of betrayal? He tried to swallow, but his fear had knotted inside his throat. "Sango?" he choked out when they were halfway down the hill.
Sango did not turn, but merely halted. Tomomi stopped as well, waiting for Sango to continue. She cast a warning glance to Miroku, who still hung around her shoulders. "Sango" Miroku repeated.
"I'm sorry!" she shrieked. The echo rippled out across the surrounding mountains as Sango turned to him, tears sparkling in her eyes. Her hands were clenched in fists at her sides.
Miroku was in a state of utter shock and surprise and blinked at her stupidly. He had been about to apologize. But if she were apologizing, did that mean that she didn't know?! He suppressed the urge to grin.
Sango looked down again, seeing the surprise in Miroku's face was too much. She wanted him to be angry with her, to yell at her. Then, it would be easy. Then, she could fight back. She knew how to fight. What she didn't know was how to apologize for someone protecting her. This was the second time it had been necessary for someone to save her from thatthat Naraku, and she hated it. The first time the man that had kindled the fire in her heart had been extinguished, this time the man who looked so much like him had been a hairbreadth's from death eternal grasp. She couldn't stand it. "You almost diedbecause of me," she whispered.
Miroku shook his head. He couldn't believe it! This is what she was upset about. "I promised to help you," he said, laughing, "even at the risk of my life. I gave you my word." He paused and said, "It was my duty." As soon as the words left his lips, he wished they hadn't.
The laughing stung Sango, but even more biting was the word 'duty'. She felt the heat of anger and shame well up in her chest, and she looked up at Miroku again, her beautiful face contorted in pain. "Don't laugh!" she commanded him. Miroku shut his jaw tight. Sango took a step back, her face softening into pure misery. "When I thought you died" she bit her lip, cutting off the barely coherent syllables.
Sango pivoted on her heel and began marching back down the road.
Flummoxed, Miroku and Tomomi followed silently after.
Outside the room where Miroku and her grandfather talked quietly, Tomomi rested her back against the door. A sigh escaped her lips as her dark eyes came to rest on the door to Sango's room. Inside, the forsaken princess lay in utter depression, and it was Tomomi's unmerited chore to pull her out of it. Still, the chipper girl had always managed to pull her friend out of a slump, she had to try at least one more time. Detaching herself from the wall, Tomomi slipped into Sango's room.
Sango looked up as Tomomi strutted across the room, observed her friend's nonchalant smile, and looked away with a dejected sigh. Tomomi's first attack had failed. She ran a hand through her mass of dark locks, and then plopped down on the futon beside Sango. She looked at the closed shoji that led to a balcony exposed to the twilight, and whispered, "He didn't mean it."
Sango blinked and looked up at Tomomi. She was unable to mask the surprise on her face. "Who didn't mean what?"
Tomomi smiled and punched the girl companionably on the shoulder. "You know. Everything he said back there. He didn't mean it." Her dark eyes twinkling, she looked at Sango.
Sango shook her head and looked away. "He wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it. And it was his duty, nothing more. I was" She blushed furiously. "I was being ridiculous and selfish. I don't know what I was thinking."
Tomomi's smile grew. "Sango-chan," she said, chuckling. "You're the princess of this land, and yet I still think you're the simplest among us." She took her friend's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Anyway, forget it. Miroku-sama isn't the kind of person who would do something like that without knowing the consequences. And I'm sure he wouldn't throw himself into a fit if he didn't care for the person he was protecting."
Sango's blush deepened, but a smile pushed its way onto her lips. She nodded softly, and gave Tomomi a hug. "Thanks, Tomomi-chan."
Tomomi patted her back and then slipped from the embrace. She stood and walked across the room. That time, cheering Sango up had taken more than she had suspected. With a hand over her heart, she pushed open the shoji and let the frigid night air hit her face.
Sango grabbed her arms and rubbed them vigorously. "Tomomi-chan! Close the door! It's cold!"
Tomomi didn't respond. She just kept staring out across the dusky fields, her thoughts surrounding her in a protective shield, taking her away from the world. As Sango's hand came down upon her shoulder, Tomomi was suddenly ripped from her thoughts. She looked at the younger girl with a sweet smile, though she felt bitter inside.
"Tomomi-chan," Sango said softly. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Tomomi lied, lifting Sango's hand from her shoulder and holding it in hers. "I'll see you in the morning." She embraced her friend for a moment, then slipped from the room.
Sango moved to close the shoji, but paused as she spotted Miroku on the hillside, his figure stark against the darkening sky. His back was to her. In the swarthy mass overhead, stars winked into view. For a moment, Sango held her breath, so caught up in the scene was she. Miroku turned, not to her, but toward the plateau upon which Sango's palace and been built, and Sango caught a glimpse of immense grief in his face. He fingered the prayer beads secured around his palm thoughtfully. Something in Sango's chest tightened inexplicably, and she fumbled the fabric that hung across it.
For a moment, it occurred to her that she should go and comfort the houshi, but then Miroku did something strange. As she gazed upon his dark self, she reached into his robes and drew forth Kyoden's sword. It caught the moonbeams and scattered them across the lawn. Sango gasped as she watched the man move into a practiced stance, then swing the blade with terrible determination on his face. It sliced the air with a ripping noise, and Sango's jaw dropped. In that instant, he looked exactly like Kyoden.
She shivered and backed into the shadowed room, shutting the shoji behind her.
Ichimu
P.S. The review turnout for this story has ASTONISHED me so far, so please don't fail me now.