Thousandfurs

Chapter 4: The Diplomat

Miroku sat on his heels in front of the king and queen, the tea table between them. The monarchs were quietly watching him as they finished their dinner. He was disturbed by their silence, a change from the queen's warm words and the king's attentiveness. The guards had been excused from the room, leaving the diplomat more nervous than he had been in the king's presence for awhile. He was certainly a benevolent sovereign, but he was still a demon and could tend towards some awful displays of temper.

Finally, the king set down his bowl. "Is your report ready, Miroku?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, bowing his head.

"Am I going to like it?"

Miroku lifted his head, thrown by the odd question. "Um, no. I don't think so, Your Majesty."

The monarchs looked at one another. The queen smiled softly at her mate and placed a small hand on his knee. "We have an idea of what you will say, Miroku," she said, looking at her human friend. "Please forgive the king though, because it still disturbs him."

"Of course, my queen," he murmured to the gracious lady. Izayoi could have asked the diplomat to jump off a cliff and try to fly and he would have done it though. People believed that this was because of his penchant for beautiful women, but that wasn't true. Miroku respected the king and the queen far too much to do anything that would question Izayoi's power. For him, it was sort of like being appreciative of the perfect sunset: you're just happy to be in its presence.

The king took a deep breath. "Very well, begin."

"You were correct in your suspicions, Your Majesty," Miroku began. "The Nakao kingdom has had an abnormal amount of activity in their ranks in the past couple of weeks. I have received intelligence from several demon kingdoms less… scrupulous than the Taisho kingdom about their spies' reports. The human kingdoms are getting restless as well. No one is quite sure what the king is up to."

"Could it have anything to do with the rumors I've been hearing?" said the queen. "All those horrible things about the king and his daughter?"

Miroku frowned a bit. "I don't believe so, Your Majesty. For one, it is just that – rumor. And for another, if the rumors were true, the girl has probably already lost her freedom. The Nakao king was never known for being patient, even in the days of his first wife. Forgive me, my queen, but I would like to know what connection you see between a corrupt king's marriage and the mobilization of his troops?"

She shrugged. "I don't. It's just an unusual coincidence don't you think? It's such a disgusting act, perhaps he believes other kingdoms will react?"

The king raised an eyebrow. "I suppose it is possible. Particularly after the last time a princess was supposedly taken by force," he said, exchanging a meaningful glance with his mate.

The queen placed her hand in his. "They were mistaken that time. But that poor girl might have to actually submit to her own father. It disgraces his throne. It disgraces humanity!" She squeezed her mate's fingers. "Perhaps we should help her?"

"We cannot," replied the king, looking at her with regret. "It is none of our concern what the humans do with themselves."

"I am human," said the queen simply.

He smiled at her. "You have not been truly human for several decades, my love. In fact, our friend Miroku is on the cusp of becoming one of us as well. We'll need a new diplomat soon enough. The humans don't like it when their liaison becomes one of the enemy."

Miroku blinked several times. "Um… yeah. Alright."

"Snap out of it, my friend," laughed the king. "You knew it would happen soon enough."

The queen cleared her throat. "We're forgetting ourselves. What about the Nakao princess?"

"She's been lost to civilized society," said the king, frowning again. "We cannot interfere in a legal wedding between two humans. They may have interfered with us, but we play by different rules. We have honor that they do not possess."

"Even so… that little girl…"

"The Nakao kingdom is extremely xenophobic," pointed out Miroku. "They don't even like non-Nakao humans within their borders. That is why it is so hard to know the truth of what goes on there. Console yourself, my queen, with the thought that we may have completely incorrect information about the entire situation."

Izayoi nodded and took a sip of her tea. "There must be a diplomat for the Nakao kingdom though. A demon counterpart to you and the other human diplomats for each demon kingdom."

Miroku bowed his head. "Yes, a flea demon was sent there fifteen years ago to replace the last one, who left because the Nakao king never listened to him. He was told that he would have minimal contact with the outside world and he would be less of a diplomat and more like an advisor to the king. He was even warned that the king would probably not listen to him, but the flea chose to take the job. No one else would do it, but our ancient laws demand that there must be a liaison. No one has heard from him since he left. Only reports from a few nobles that have managed to escape the Nakao kingdom's tyranny have been able to tell us that he lives. And they are very hesitant to speak about their lives there, as you can imagine."

The king frowned and looked over at his mate, who still appeared disturbed. "Enough of what we cannot influence. What of the Nakao army mobilization?"

"They haven't crossed any borders, Your Majesty, not even into another human territory," reported the diplomat. "We may be worrying about nothing, of course. He may just be going through some war games."

"And why does a kingdom at peace need to run war games?" questioned the king.

"Agreed, but what can we do?" responded Miroku. "Until he crosses a border, it is strictly an internal affair. Of course, we will watch them closely."

The king nodded once. "Very closely. Station extra regiments along our shared border. Not in sight, naturally. Send the forest youkai if possible and make sure that they have some swift runners with them, just in case."

Miroku silently noted that it was probably a good thing that he was becoming immortal, because the king was beginning to push his job description past just 'diplomat' and into 'advisor'. "Yes, Your Majesty. I will take care of it." He paused and looked at the serious monarch. "Do you really think they would be so foolish as to attack the Taisho kingdom?"

"The current Nakao king has never experienced the devastation of a full blown war with youkai," said the sovereign. "So, yes, I believe that he could be that foolish."

"Overconfidence," murmured the queen, shaking her head. "We have seen it before."

The king set his jaw. "They were fools."

"They thought they were trying to protect me from the big, bad demon who had stolen me," she replied with a small smile.

"Perhaps if they had asked you, they would have realized their mistake," retorted the monarch. "It was overconfidence on their part, certainly. I hope that the Nakao kingdom does not repeat the mistakes of the past." He sighed and leaned back from the table. "I think that you can go, Miroku. If the situation changes, I want an immediate report."

The diplomat stood up and bowed to the royal pair. "Yes, Your Majesty." He began to move away, when the king cleared his throat. "My king?" he asked, turning back.

"If you stick me with Naraku for that long again, Miroku, I will be very displeased," said the king with a threatening quirk of his brow. "You have not yet given me compelling evidence that he is up to no good, my friend. Secure that and I'll be willing to overlook his excellent bread soup."

Miroku tried not to turn beet red and failed miserably. "Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed another time and escaped before the king could capture him again, listening to the queen laugh softly as he closed the door.

Shaking his head clear of his embarrassment, the diplomat moved through the corridors. He needed to get out of the castle for a few moments, after all the reports he had sifted through to present to the king. He would never tell the great monarch, but it was becomingly increasingly clear that youkai were capable of just as much bullshit as humans, and they were equally desperate for the attention of a monarch. He laughed as he remembered one report he had heard third hand that said the princess of the Nakao kingdom had demanded a kimono made of diamonds for her wedding kimono.

"The things they come up with," he muttered.

He left the warm, cream and chocolate colored castle and went into the icy wind of the back gardens. It seeped right through his winter robes and he took comfort in the fact that the stable kept a few extra cloaks just for him. Demons didn't feel the cold of course.

"Shippo?" He stepped into the stable, sighing as wind let up.

"Lord Miroku!" chirped a voice from above.

The diplomat looked up to the second level of the stable, where the hay was kept dry. "Who's looking good today, Shippo?"

The little fox demon appeared at the top of the ladder. "Well, Iva was eating well this morning, so she's feeling good. And Kanaye is always ready to go. A lot of them are chilled though. I wasn't in last night and the other guys didn't put enough blankets on them."

Miroku nodded, well aware of Shippo's barely suppressed disdain for the other stable boys. "No one can take care of them like you, little fox," said the diplomat. "I'll take Kanaye then. What about Raidon though?"

Shippo scooted down the ladder and began to gather the tack. "Inuyasha-sama's got him out right now. He just left a few minutes ago." He went to the stallion Miroku had chosen and began to brush him. "May I ask, my lord, why do you and Inuyasha-sama always want Raidon? He's a fine horse, but we have many just as good."

"Well," began the diplomat as he wiped down his saddle, "Raidon is a beautiful horse and beautiful women are attracted to that." He laughed at Shippo's wrinkled nose. "You'll learn how valuable that is one day, my little friend."

The fox didn't look convinced. "Okay, well why does Inuyasha-sama like Raidon?"

"Raidon is the son of Ryu," said Miroku, nodding towards the massive horse at the other end of the barn. Even in the poor light, the males could see the outline of the twenty hand high monster of a stallion that only the king could ride and only Shippo could manage. "Also, Raidon is the horse that Inuyasha was riding when he met the princess for the first time, although he would never say it."

"Kikyo," murmured the fox. "Forgive me, my lord, but who cares? Kikyo is…" He trailed off and bit his lip as he continued to brush down Kanaye.

"A royal bitch," finished Miroku with a frown. "I know. We all know it. I think even Inuyasha knows it now, but I also believe he still loves her, in his own way."

Shippo sighed and began to saddle up the stallion. He would never understand the royals and their affairs. He was rescued from his bad memories by a fresh scent entering the barn, a familiar one that made him smile. He popped up onto Kanaye's head. "Kagome!"

The furry creature smiled. "Hello, Shippo." She spotted the diplomat and curtsied. "Good evening, my lord. I did not expect to see you again today."

Miroku grinned. "Well, that report I told you about was more work than I thought, so I decided to take a ride and clear my head."

"A wise idea," she replied. "Shippo, I hope I'm not interrupting your work. I finished my cleaning early, so I decided to visit."

"No problem," said the fox. "Sit down. I'm almost done here. But I can believe that Naraku let you out."

Kagome blushed a bit underneath her soot. "Well, he wasn't there to ask, really."

"Skiving off of work, is he?" asked Miroku.

The girl lowered her eyes. "No, my lord, I don't think so. He said that he had to talk with the guards' cook about some large feast coming up. I don't want to get anyone in trouble though, if that's not true."

"Damn," muttered the diplomat. When Kagome gave him an alarmed look, he shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything. Naraku must have been discussing the king's birthday feast. I had forgotten it was coming up so soon."

Kagome's eyes lit up. "So it's true? I heard a couple servants talking about the winter feast, but I couldn't really hear too much."

Miroku went over to the stall and stroked Kanaye's nose as he led him out. "Unfortunately, it's true. It won't be fun for you, Kagome. It's a lot of work for the servants. It's a lot of work for me too. All of the royalty and nobles from the surrounding kingdoms come to honor the king's birthday each winter. It's a diplomatic nightmare."

"I thought it would be the perfect forum for improved relations between everyone."

The diplomat sighed. "Normally, I would welcome the opportunity, but the human royalty comes as well. Although the Taisho kingdom continually tries to improve relations, the rest of the youkai aren't so inclined. As a supposedly neutral party, the diplomats from each kingdom are supposed to keep the peace."

Kagome's heart dropped. "Human kings come to this then?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Well, not many of them," admitted Miroku as he grabbed a thick winter cloak from the wall. "There are only two major human kingdoms nearby. Princess Kikyo will come with her retinue of course, as a representative of the Kobayashi kingdom. The Nakao kingdom doesn't even get an invitation, considering their constant hostilities against us. Sometimes, some nobles from other human kingdoms arrive, but that's rare."

Her heart beating again, Kagome smiled. She remembered the feasts from her days as a princess, where everyone glittered with jewels and silk. They moved like tropical birds, chattering and graceful as they danced and ate fine meals. She could recall her mother poring over every detail of the preparations, remembering each guest individually. Sometimes, she would help the queen make the soup or dessert. "I think I'll enjoy it, even if I am stuck in the kitchen."

"Whatever you say, Kagome," said the diplomat. He mounted Kanaye and smiled at her and Shippo. "Have fun, you two. Try not to burn down the stable."

He rode out into the wintry gardens and Kagome sat down on a small bench, shivering as Shippo closed the barn door behind him. "So what really brought you here, Kagome?" he asked as he moved to clean up Kanaye's stall. "You're not done with work."

"How did you know?" she asked, her eyes wide.

He tapped his nose. "Not as good as a dog demon's, but I can smell a bit of deception. Especially from you. Not used to lying, are you?"

"Not especially," she admitted. "I just needed to get out of there. Everyone was asking me what the king and queen wanted with me when they called me to the throne room. They weren't accepting that they didn't want anything really. They just wanted to meet me. At least that's what they said, you know? But they didn't believe me!"

"Whoa, whoa," said Shippo, holding up his hands. "I believe you. I believe you. I mean, what does the kitchen staff know? What the king likes to eat, and that's about it."

Kagome giggled and nodded. "You're right. Thank you."

Shippo grinned at his new friend. "Most of the kitchen is only interested in gossip. Don't get me wrong, I am too. There's not a lot to do around here except work and gossip but sometimes they look for it when it's not there."

"I'm getting that feeling," she replied, hugging herself. "It's suffocating sometimes."

"Well, you should have a day off soon after the feast. The king usually does that, to give the staff a break."

Kagome shrugged and looked down at the hay strewn ground. "Where would I go though? A day off just means that I sleep in and wander around the grounds. Not very exciting, especially if you or Sango don't have the same day off."

The little fox appeared thoughtful for a moment. "I'll ask the king for the same day off and I'll try to think of something to do. I'll take you on a tour of the city!"

She laughed. "Alright, that might be fun. It's a date."

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Miroku sighed in defeat as the snow began to fall on his shoulders. It looked as if the storm was coming faster than he had expected. Pulling up the cloak around his ears, he tried to keep on the path. He was from the north kingdoms, where foolish people froze to death quite often on the roads. Although he had barely gotten out of the city gates, the diplomat wheeled his horse around and began to head back. He would rest back in his room, in front of a warm fire, where the only threat was burning his tongue on hot tea.

"Oy! Pervert!"

The diplomat turned in his saddle to see Inuyasha riding up to him. "My prince," he murmured in greeting. "How are you?"

"Warmer than you," replied the prince, laughing. "Who gave you that cloak? Thousandfurs?"

"No, it's from the stable. You know, she's a very nice girl," said Miroku, frowning a bit as they began to ride back together. "You shouldn't be so cruel."

The prince scoffed. "Right, whatever." He gave him a critical gaze. "So what are you doing out here? My mother didn't send you to find me, did she?"

"Not everything is about you, Inuyasha," said the diplomat. "I was clearing my head."

The hanyou raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

Miroku shrugged as they went back through the city gates that he had left a few minutes earlier. "Nothing. Work." He looked at his best friend. "By the way, you have some princely duties to attend to. Your father mentioned it as soon as I saw him this evening."

Inuyasha's ears fell back against his skull. "I'd rather not. And whose side are you on anyway?"

"Yours," said the diplomat, "but one of my main concerns is the relations of this kingdom with the others. Choosing a mate would help us all enormously. Besides, the continuation of the line is important to demons, or so I hear."

"What am I supposed to do, Miroku?" the half demon snapped. "Just pick a girl at random? The only one that I ever wanted…" He trailed off and looked down, at the back of his stallion's neck.

A stab of pain went through the diplomat's heart. "I should tell you… she's coming to the feast. So is Prince Kouga."

Inuyasha slumped down in his saddle, ignoring the looks he got from the few demons in the cold streets. "Great. The girl that rejected me and my worst enemy. Please tell me that my brother isn't coming."

"Well, he hasn't sent word that he is," said Miroku, "but he hasn't sent word that he isn't either. He always comes. Come on, Inuyasha, is that really so bad? You know, he hates Kouga just as much as you do and he's not a fan of any human girl, especially Kikyo. Maybe he can be an ally this time. You haven't fought as much in the past years."

"Really, to have only knives instead of swords at each other's throats… that would be an improvement in me and Sesshoumaru's relationship."

Miroku rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"No."

"I give up." He nodded to the gate guards as they went through to the castle. "I will tell you one thing, Inuyasha. Your father is beginning to consider arranging the whole thing."

The prince closed his eyes, flattening his ears again. "Great. Now not only will this kingdom hate me, but whatever kingdom Father can con a princess out of will resent me too. And she'll detest me on top of it all."

"Maybe if you weren't rude to every female that crossed your path, the girl your father chooses will come to actually like you, maybe even love you."

"Do you think that really matters to me?" scoffed Inuyasha.

Miroku nodded. "Yes I do."

The prince made a rude noise and looked away for a moment before turning back sharply. "I'm not going to act like you, hitting on every female I meet."

The diplomat smiled as they approached the stable doors. He got down to open it up. "Women. They have such passion," he sighed, tugging open the heavy door. Gasps came from within the dimly lit barn as the cold air rushed in. Miroku squinted. "Kagome? You still here? Sorry about the wind."

His eyes adjusted to reveal the fur-cloaked girl sitting down on the bench, across the aisle from the fox demon, perched upon a stall door. But the diplomat's eyes were immediately attracted to the third person, a lean girl only a few years older than Kagome. She was dirty and poorly dressed for the cold weather, but somehow, her hair was still a river of black silk and no amount of grime could obscure her chocolate brown eyes.

Kagome's eyes danced between the diplomat and the stunned Sango. "My lord," she said, moving forward. "You surprised us. Have met Sango? She works in the kitchen with me."

Sango made a clumsy little curtsey as she blushed. "It is an honor to meet you, my lord," she murmured.

"Oy, pervert," said Inuyasha, still brushing snow off of his shoulders as he came in, "try not to feel up that one. She was a demon hunter. She'll kick the crap out of you." He looked up and smirked at the embarrassed girl.

Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, I was just being introduced to the lady."

Kagome smiled and circled back around Sango, whispering as she passed by, "Remember what I told you about him."

"I don't care," the former soldier whispered back.

"You say that now," murmured Kagome as she went across the aisle to stand in front of an empty stall. Shippo had jumped down from his perch and had begun to fuss over the horses.

"Cut it out twerp," said the prince. "They're fine."

Shippo put his hands on his hips, which was nowhere near threatening. "Inuyasha, you have to take care of them! Being out in that cold for even a few minutes is enough to chill one of them. But since you won't worry about them, I will." He draped blankets over both of them and led them further into the barn.

Inuyasha's eyes finally fell on Kagome, as if he hadn't noticed her before that moment. "What are you doing here, Thousandfurs? Shouldn't you be working?"

"No," she lied.

"Are both of you ladies done for the evening then?" asked the diplomat, who was still staring openly at Sango.

The older girl nodded, despite the fact that she had come to barn to tell Kagome that she had better return to work before Naraku came back. "Y-yes, my lord."

"Call me Miroku," said the diplomat softly. He started, remembering that other people were there. "You too, Kagome. I should have insisted before, but of course you can call me by my name."

Kagome grinned at him. "I'll try to remember, Miroku."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the three humans. "I am still the prince and both of you will call me as such," he affirmed.

"Yes, thank you for the reminder, Your Highness," said the princess dryly.

The prince shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Right. Let's go, Miroku. The little twerp's gotten the horses."

"Hey!" a voice called from the back of the stable. "I heard that!"

Inuyasha crossed to the doors. "Come on, Miroku. The wind is picking up outside. I want to get inside before the real storm arrives."

"Right," said the diplomat, still locking eyes with the elder girl. He looked back at the prince. "Right. But we should accompany the girls back to the kitchen, don't you think? The snow is deep. We don't want them getting lost in the drifts."

"You can see the kitchen from here!" protested the prince.

"But it's the honorable thing to do," said Miroku, looking down his nose at the hanyou. Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to the two women. "Ladies, please allow us to escort you back to safety."

Sango blushed as Kagome stepped forward. "Oh, that would be so nice of you." She looked over her shoulder to where Shippo was grooming the pair of damp horses. "Shippo! We're leaving! Thank you so much!"

"Bye!" he called back.

Inuyasha sputtered. "Wait just a second! I never agreed to anything!"

"But, my prince, we might need your youkai dexterity if the girls can't manage the snowdrifts," said Miroku smoothly.

The hanyou grumbled a bit but nodded. "Fine, but I'm not going in that sweltering kitchen!"

"Fair enough," said the diplomat. He opened the door to reveal the blanketed, white grounds and held a hand out. "Sango? May I assist you?"

The elder girl smiled and slipped her hand in his. "Thank you," she murmured.

Miroku looked back at Inuyasha and Kagome, who were gazing at each other uneasily. "The trick is," he whispered to the blushing girl at his side, "to know when to insult him and when to flatter him. And then there are times when you have to threaten him, of course, but you must use that sparingly, like a real puppy you're trying to train."

Sango laughed gently as they exited the stable and began to make their way across the gardens. Behind them, Inuyasha and Kagome were picking their way through the snow as far from one another as possible. "Does he really hate her?" asked Sango.

"No," said the diplomat. "But he doesn't like her either. Inuyasha doesn't like anyone."

"He likes you."

Miroku shook his head and smiled. "We are best friends, I admit, but the fact is that Inuyasha only dislikes me less than most people."

Sango stumbled and felt the diplomat's arms encircle her waist. Blushing, she looked up at him. "Thank you," she murmured, waiting for him to do something less than honorable. When it didn't come, she smiled. The kitchen staff and even Kagome must be mistaken. "I don't believe you though. The prince must like someone. It is very difficult to live without even liking someone." She began to walk again, pulling out of his grasp.

He sighed and followed. "You remember Princess Kikyo and that mess."

"I'd forgotten," said the girl, shaking her head. "Of course I remember. It was just as I arrived here though, so I was much more concerned with my own life at that moment."

"Understandable," said the diplomat. "This castle can be quite the culture shock."

Sango frowned at the nearing kitchen and purposefully slowed down. "How long have you been here?"

"Almost four years," he replied. "I was the youngest diplomat ever chosen. My father was the king's personal spiritual advisor and when the need for a liaison to the Taisho kingdom was made known, the king sent me. I was hesitant, but my father reminded me that this was the best chance I would ever get. He was right."

"Do you miss your parents though?"

Miroku shrugged. "My mother died when I was very young. I suppose I miss my father, yes, but for a different reason. He followed my mother into the afterlife shortly before I came here."

"I'm very sorry," said Sango. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Don't be. I'm not. I would like you to know me," said the diplomat with a smile. "I would like to know you too. Do you have any family?"

"A brother," she replied. "Back at my old home. I haven't seen him for a couple years, since I left. I expect I'll never see him again, but he is very strong in mind and body. I know he's all right. He doesn't know that I'm all right though."

He laughed softly. "So neither of us have very happy stories, do we?"

She shook her head and gave him a small smile. "Apparently not." They had reached the door of the kitchen and she reluctantly pulled her hand out of his. "What is that?" she asked, rubbing her fingers over the thick scar tissue on his palm, trying not to look at his intense gaze.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Miroku saw Inuyasha disdainfully pulling a mired Kagome out of the snow. Convinced that they were suitably occupied, he smiled at Sango. "When I was very young, I was attacked by a demon when I wandered away from my father. My father arrived in time to grab me and destroy the demon, but not before the youkai shot a spike through both of our hands. He had a scar just like this. He joked that it was a family curse, but I think it bothered him very much that he didn't get to me before I was injured." He laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Sorry, I must be depressing you, my lovely Sango."

The girl blushed again. "Not at all." She turned and maneuvered herself to point to the center of her back. "My brother once accidentally hit me with his scythe, right there." She turned back and smiled at his shocked expression. "He felt so bad about it, but of course, it wasn't his fault. It was a fight with a spider demon and they can manipulate a lot with those webs of theirs. And I recovered, although it was doubtful for a few days there."

"I'm glad it worked out," murmured the diplomat.

"So am I." She lowered her head as a now snow covered prince and Kagome approached. "Are you all right, Kagome?"

The princess huffed and pushed her hair out of her face. "Yes. Inuyasha-sama was very helpful getting me through the snow," she said, sounding like she wanted to say the exact opposite.

"She was completely irritating," groused Inuyasha.

Kagome took one look at the lovely pair in front of her and smiled. "Well, be that as it may, I should probably check in on everything." She gave a curtsey to the diplomat and an evil eye to the hanyou. "Thank you for the assistance, Prince Inuyasha. Goodnight, Miroku." She winked at Sango and then escaped into the heat of the kitchen.

Inuyasha appraised the pair as well and rolled his eyes. "Right. See you later then." He walked off towards the castle in the fading twilight.

The diplomat and the girl looked at one another again and smiled. "You should go inside before you freeze. I've seen it happen. You wouldn't be nearly as attractive with blue lips."

"I should," agreed Sango. "Thank you… Miroku." She turned to open the door and suddenly felt a hand on her rear. She spun around and slapped him hard across the face and then stepped back. "Oh! I'm so… I mean… You…"

He rubbed the red mark and grinned at her. "I'm used to it."

The girl pressed her hands to her own face, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I'm… I'm not that kind of girl," she said.

"I know you aren't," he replied.

"Then why did you…?"

He shrugged. "It's a compulsion. You've been very shy, you know, Sango, but I know that's not the real you. Now I have proof. You have the same passion as any youkai." He smiled at her scandalized look. "What? You've been here for years, but you don't know about me?"

She stepped back again, pressing her spine against the door. "I had heard, but I didn't believe it. I thought that you being a diplomat…"

"I'm not a monk," he replied. "Aren't I allowed to appreciate beautiful women?"

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't appreciate so many at the same time!" said Sango. "Now, I must get back to work."

Miroku smiled at her, seemingly unaware of her annoyance. "Of course. Goodnight, my Sango."

"Goodnight," she replied shortly. She watched him wave and walk back towards the castle, stepping in the footprints that Inuyasha had left. Opening the door, she was not at all surprised to find Kagome waiting on the other side, with a catlike grin on her face. "What?" she asked with a smile forming on her lips.

"I told you he was a pervert."

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A/N: I think that's one of my favorite chapter endings I've ever done. I can't believe I stretched what was supposed to be a shorter bridging chapter to twelve pages. Haha. I know that Shippo seems a bit grown up at times, but I figured that his different situation would result in a different attitude. He comes into regular contact with a king after all! LoL. Well, anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Thanks and review!