Thousandfurs
Chapter 8: Abandon
Kagome's hair whipped around her face as she stood on the grounds, watching the last of the guard details and litters leave the castle gates. It was a chill, sunless morning, made worse by the icy wind racing over the grass. Because it was so early, the princess had very few companions, but Kagome had been unable to sleep. For two days her mind had churned over the matter of Inuyasha and Kikyo, waiting for a moment to catch Miroku alone, but every time she had seen him from afar, he was with the prince.
Sesshoumaru came out of the castle with his mate and child. Most of his entourage had left earlier, before Kagome had given up on trying to fall asleep, but the dragons remained. They snorted their discontent with being awake so early, smoke and spurts of fire coming out from their nostrils. Laying a hand on one of their flanks, the dog demon quieted them before helping his family into the litter. He said a quiet goodbye to his father and his stepmother, who were dressed much more demurely for this early morning send off than they had been for their greetings. Inuyasha was nowhere in sight. Miroku was leaning against the doorframe, his robes hastily thrown on and his hair unbound. He was rubbing at his eyes and did not look in her direction.
The litter was leaving the castle gates with Sesshoumaru riding the dragon behind it. The others who had been standing there left, but Kagome remained, watching as the king and queen went back inside. She stood there on the grass long after Sesshoumaru disappeared through the gate, after Miroku retreated back to his bed, as the sun began to rise behind the thick blanket of clouds. The sky became a hazy, dirty white.
She finally turned back towards the kitchens, walking into the wind. No one remained on the grounds. After all the activity of the king's birthday, it felt too quiet and still. Leafless trees groaned against each other in the wind and coldness grew in Kagome's heart. She hadn't felt this desolate since the day of her mother's funeral.
She remembered how cold it had been that morning, to the point that she and the other mourners had huddled together in clumps of sobbing courtiers. She and Sota had clutched each other while Myoga made soothing noises from his usual place in her hair. Her father was the only one that stood alone, silent and pale, as the pallbearers took the queen's body into the mausoleum. Kagome remembered the stench of decay that had assaulted her senses when they first opened the vault, a smell she didn't wish to associate with her mother, who had always smelled of tea and honey.
Even that morning, as despairing as she felt, she had known what was happening. She had no delusions about her mother's death. She was more than old enough to understand that it was a permanent separation of course, but she also knew that her life would always be altered in some way. Kagome accepted that part of her heart was gone, that every time she was happy, she would be thinking about how much happier she would be if her mother was there too.
But her current situation - her separation from everything she knew and loved, Inuyasha's ignorance of his servant's true identity, her constant suffering at the hands of Naraku – it filled her with more than desolation. It reached beyond heartbreak into emotions she didn't even have a name for.
And it was getting worse. Dancing with Inuyasha, surrounded by the people she was meant to be surrounded by, had not assuaged her pain, but increased it. Every moment her fingers itched to throw off her cloak, run to the prince and admit that she was his dancing partner. Part of her didn't care that she would be sent home to her father and to a self-imposed death, as long as Inuyasha knew who she was.
Kagome put her hand on the kitchen door, determined to lose herself in her work. The king had given half of the kitchen staff the day off, including the princess, but she had no desire to have the long day stretch in front of her when she had nothing to do.
"I should kill all of them."
Her hand stilled and fell back to her side. She didn't want to interrupt Naraku in one of his ranting fits. She had seen what happened to servants that did that.
There was a heavy, feminine sigh and Kagome realized that, once again, she was eavesdropping on the cook and his reluctant lover, Kagura. "They do this every time," she was saying. "They'll come in just in time to make the king's lunch, saying that they thought they were off today instead of tomorrow. Then things will get back to normal. You can't kill them for sleeping in one morning. And you can't fire them either."
Naraku's thick growl vibrated through the walls. "Fine, let them sleep. I'll work them all the harder for it when they get here."
"I'm sure you will." A chair scraped across the flagstone floor and soft footsteps came towards the door. Kagome withdrew slightly, but no one opened the door. "Meanwhile, we can spend this time figuring out what went wrong yesterday," said the witch, now directly on the other side of the door.
"You lost it, you find it, Kagura," the cook snapped.
"Hey, there's two in this game, alright? I just keep the records. I haven't even seen any of it. For all I know, you lost it intentionally," she growled in return.
Kagome heard heavier footfalls move across the floor. "That's the problem, isn't it? There's not just two in the game, as you say. There are more players here than you can imagine."
"Well, it's not like you ever let me in on your little secrets," she spat.
Naraku laughed softly. "You'll know when you have to know. When I trust you to know."
"Kagome!"
The princess turned to see Shippo trotting towards her along the path from the stables, waving his little arm. She heard the kitchen occupants fall silent and she quickly walked towards the fox kit, trying not to look suspicious. "Shippo," she answered. "Are you working today?"
The diminutive demon shook his head. "Nah, I asked the king to let you off the same day as me, remember?"
"Oh, alright." Kagome looked behind her to the silent kitchen.
"I promised to take you into the city," prompted Shippo, his eyebrows raising at the princess's distracted expression.
The girl turned to the fox demon. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. I've been a bit off this morning," she said, rubbing at her eyes. She looked back at the kitchen and her heart dropped to see the dark figure of Naraku standing in the doorway. His blood red eyes pierced her, making her certain that the only thing stopping him from an attack was the presence of Shippo, the king's favorite stable boy. Behind him, Kagome could see the defeated figure of Kagura, sporting fresh bruises on her face and neck.
The fox demon followed her line of vision and frowned at the cook. "Come on, Kagome, let's go into the city." He took the princess's hand and led her towards the servants' quarters. "Sango is coming too, right? Let's get her."
The princess pulled her gaze away from the kitchen doorway, but immediately paused in her steps, jerking Shippo backwards. "Wait. I'd forgotten. Sango will not be able to accompany us."
"Why not? She has the day off too. I checked."
Kagome frowned. "How can a slave have a day off?"
Shippo pulled away, a deep expression of disgust playing across his face. "Slave? There are no slaves in the Taisho kingdom."
"But… she said she was a slave. She said that she was captured along the border and kept here. They can't let her go because she knows too much."
"Kagome," said the fox, setting his jaw. "Kagome, there are no slaves in the Taisho kingdom. It was outlawed a long, long time ago. The king's father freed all of them as one of his last acts before he died, hundreds of years ago. We even have a holiday for it, because we were the first kingdom to free our slaves. Sango cannot be a slave."
"But she said she was," Kagome repeated. "Why would she lie to me?"
The little fox shrugged helplessly and Kagome realized how often she forgot that he was considered exceedingly young by other youkai. He was still a child, not even a teenager, but he had been through so much, graced by the presence of a royal family even. "Maybe we should ask her," he said finally.
She nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. I can't believe that she would purposely deceive me," she said. Although I have deceived her, she added silently.
They walked into the servants' quarters, into a crowd of youkai slacking off from their work. The kitchen staff lounged around the fire, chatting and laughing about Naraku's anticipated frustration. Giving the group a cursory glance, Kagome went upstairs and slid open Sango's door without announcing herself and Shippo on her heels. One of the bedrolls was still undone and occupied. Kagome walked to the bundle of blankets and knelt down, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Wake up, Sango."
The blanket moved and the girl groaned as she pushed it away from her face. "I was asleep, Kagome."
"I know, but please, we wanted you to go with us into the city. Shippo promised to show me around." She tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice.
Sango sat up sharply, the sleep gone from her eyes. "I told you I wasn't allowed out of the castle gates, Kagome," she murmured, his gaze flashing over to the fox demon.
"Because you're a slave," said Kagome flatly.
The former demon slayer shifted uncomfortably. "After a fashion," she said softly.
Shippo hopped up onto Sango's coverlet, balancing on her bent knees. "You can't be a slave. I told Kagome about the king's father freeing all of them." He was frowning at her, but his face had the openness of a child's innocence. "Why did you lie to Kagome?"
Sango took Kagome's hand and quirked the corners of her lips into a sad smile. "I'm very sorry, my friend. You wanted to protect me and didn't let me make that soup for you. I should have returned that trust and told you about my secret."
"I can forgive the keeping of secrets," said Kagome, as she flipped back her hood. The friends shared a brief, knowing smile. Kagome hadn't told Sango all of her own secrets after all. "I just wish you hadn't lied."
"And for that I am sorry."
Kagome smiled and they embraced, ignoring the grime that covered their skins. Kitchen servants were far too accustomed to that. Pulling away, the princess looked at her friend. "Will you tell me?"
Sango nodded, smiling at Shippo to let him know that he could remain as well. The little fox jumped into Kagome's arms as the princess settled back on her heels. "What I told you was true, for the most part," began the taijiya. "I was a part of a mission into this kingdom and I was captured and I can never go back to the Nakao kingdom, as long as I value my life. The Nakao king will kill me, and my little brother, for my failure to escape undetected. But you're right, I'm not a slave of the Taisho kingdom. When the Queen Izayoi saw us and realized what we would face when we went back home, she begged the king to let us stay, to get employment in the city."
The princess laughed softly. "She has a kind heart."
"She was immensely good to us," said Sango. "But I didn't appreciate it. The others… well, you must understand that the Nakao king was cruel to us, using our lives like there were a million people with our skills. Not a week went by without a demon injuring or killing one of us. The others were thankful to be out, to have a reason to leave. Most of them didn't have family. But I did. I had my brother and no one else was back home to take care of him. The others might have been happy but I was terrified for Kohaku. I wanted to get back to him, make sure he was okay."
Kagome's eyes darkened, lowering to look at the fox sitting alert in her arms. "I understand that."
Sango sighed heavily. "Naraku caught me trying to sneak out of the city gates. I don't know why he was there. He normally never leaves the castle grounds, but he was there that night. He told me I was ungrateful. All the other demon slayers had gladly accepted positions as guards, cooks, gardeners - whatever they actually wanted to do – in other households. I was the only one who had not chosen my own work and the queen had let me work in the castle kitchens, a superior position. He said that if he told the king, I would be suspected of bringing information back to the enemy. As kindhearted as the queen is, the king does not take his kingdom's security lightly. I would have been imprisoned."
"So Naraku made you his personal slave," guessed Kagome.
"I didn't have a choice. Imprisonment meant that I would never see Kohaku again. Being subservient to Naraku seemed like the better choice at the time."
"But that's blackmail," whispered the princess. "You should have gone to the king. He wouldn't have accused you of trying to steal kingdom secrets if he knew that. Not to mention that Miroku would do cartwheels once he realized how crooked Naraku is."
Sango closed her eyes. "It isn't just that. Naraku's power… I don't know how, but it stretches beyond the confines of this castle. A month before I arrived, a servant came in from another household, the home of one of the king's oldest friends. He wasn't used to Naraku and he wasn't even from the city. He had been born in the country. He humiliated Naraku. I don't know how. The others were afraid to even speak of it. They did tell me that somehow, his mother fell off of a cliff near their home. And his brother's legs were broken. He still can't walk. As for the servant, he disappeared. No one knows where he is." She swallowed hard. "So you'll understand when I say that I allow Naraku to use me as he does for one simple reason. He knows where Kohaku is. He knows how much my brother means to me and I don't doubt that he would kill him in an instant."
Kagome's gaze turned watery. "Oh, Sango. I'm so sorry."
The demon slayer shrugged. "It was my choice. It may have been a poor one. Naraku could have been bluffing about knowing where Kohaku is, but I have a feeling he was telling the truth."
"I agree," said the princess, wiping away her unshed tears. "Naraku is too much of a coward to make threats that he can't follow through upon."
"So what do we do?" asked Shippo.
Kagome sighed. "We go on a tour of the city, as planned. Just because Sango and I are both on the wrong side of who is potentially one of the more powerful chefs in the world doesn't mean that we can't enjoy our day off." She stood up and set the fox demon down before nodding at the demon slayer. "So you'll come?"
"I suppose I can, considering Naraku can't exactly stop me."
Shippo and the princess waited outside patiently as Sango put away her bedroll and changed into her thicker – although still largely threadbare – yukata. When she emerged from her room, it was clear from the red corona of her eyes that the demon slayer had been crying, but her companions said nothing. They quietly walked down the stairs and out onto the cold grounds. Kagome worried silently for the state of Sango's undress, but the demon slayer didn't seem to feel the chill.
For the first time in weeks, Kagome stepped out of the castle gates. Although inside the gates it was calm, quiet and green, once she walked into the city proper, it was noisy, dirty and alive. Demons teemed the streets, shouting to one another, jostling their bodies through what was clearly market day. Peasants from the countryside yelled about their wares and the few produce items that grew in the winter. One demon was pouring thick maple syrup into grubby jars and weighing them against a heavy rock for each customer. Another pressed every passerby to look at his woven baskets, done with a delicacy that humans could not create. It was appallingly crowded and smelled of a thousand bodies. Kagome smiled. "It's beautiful. I love it."
Shippo snorted. "Only because you've been cooped up in the kitchen all this time."
Kagome turned to her other friend to get support, but Sango's face revealed all the joy that she needed to see. The demon slayer was breathing deeply and her fingers were moving through the air, wiggling through the open air. "It is beautiful," she said after many moments. "I can't imagine anything more beautiful than this."
"Come on, Shippo. You promised a tour."
The little fox jumped down onto the unpaved street. "Alright. Let's go see the market then," he said, seeing that the girls were drawn to the lively corridor of tightly packed demons and buildings.
They walked slowly, only forcing themselves through the crowd when it threatened to separate the three friends. Kagome bought little sausages for them to eat at lunchtime. "What?" she had asked as they had watched her counting out almost two week's wage for the morsels of food for the butcher. "What else would I buy?"
As they munched happily (if not a little guiltily) on their bits of meat, they emerged from the crowds of the market. Shippo told them what each building was: the inn, the tavern, the wheelwright's shop, the whorehouse. Kagome had nearly choked to hear the last description come from his mouth. "You know about those things?" she asked.
"Everyone knows where the disreputable whores are," he said, as they made a turn. They had reached the city walls and would walk up another street, parallel to the last one. "The geishas are on the main avenue of course, but this isn't the best part of town if you hadn't noticed."
Kagome looked around. The buildings were in disrepair and the few youkai around them were clothed shabbily. "I couldn't tell," she said quietly, wondering if she had become desensitized to squalor. "Does the king know about this?"
Shippo frowned slightly. "Yeah, of course."
"You must understand, Kagome. The king has many concerns, not the least of which are his people," said Sango, seeing the distress on her friend's face. "The poor of the Taisho kingdom are quite well taken care of, but they are for the most part invalids. He can only do much for them in a culture which prizes physical strength and fighting ability over everything else."
The princess spotted an elderly demon sitting in his dilapidated doorway with only one leg and severely scarred arms. "But some of these are surely war veterans? How can he forget them?" she asked, jarred by the idea that the king was not so benevolent as she previously believed.
Shippo averted his eyes from the old youkai. "He's one of the traitors. It's enough that the king took their kind in after they were exiled from all the other demon kingdoms."
"Traitors?"
Sango put a hand on Kagome's forearm, urging her forward. "When the demon kings were forced to go to war with the human kings ages ago over Queen Izayoi, it wasn't entirely split between the species. There were many demons that believed that a human queen was not worth the blood split, but there were a few that went so far as to join the human side because of that belief. They hated the idea so much that they were willing to take up arms against their own brethren. After the demon kings won, the humans gave no mercy to the demons that had fought for them and kicked them out."
"The demon kings weren't happy to see them though," said Shippo, picking up the narrative. "They punished them severely and then exiled them. Only the Taisho kingdom refused to torture the traitors and even took the others in. Every once in awhile, one of them acts up and the king is forced to execute them, but otherwise, he's been all too kind."
Kagome remembered her father and how he had probably long ago signed the papers for her arrest. She was guilty of treason in the Nakao kingdom, punishable by death, torture or the forced marriage to her own kin. "I suppose so," she said in response to their expectant stares. "But I think that there can be legitimate reasons for someone to act in a way others would say is irrational or wrong."
The demon slayer and fox demon looked unconvinced, but didn't say so as they headed down the next street, back towards the castle. Kagome searched for another subject to talk about. Hadn't her mother always warned her not to speak politics? Even your friends will become your adversaries, she had said.
"You really are turning into a demon," she commented, nodding at Sango's nearly bare arms.
The taijiya smiled uneasily. "Kagura says that all the time. I suppose she would know."
Shippo jumped up to Kagome's shoulder and turned to the other girl. "It's good to be a demon. You don't get sick or cold and you can survive a lot of stuff that would kill a weaker human body. You'll live a long time too."
Kagome watched as Sango's forehead crinkled. "Maybe she doesn't want to live a long time, Shippo," suggested the princess. "Not without Miroku anyway."
"Kagome!"
The little fox demon nearly fell off of his perch as he shook violently, trying to suppress his laughter. Kagome took him into her hands so that she didn't have to worry about him toppling over as she grinned at her friend. "I know that you're still sad about that note, but I think that you're being much too realistic. Things like this have a funny way of working out, you know? Otherwise, why would we bother falling in love at all?"
Sango shrugged. "Sometimes I think that the royals have it right, that arranged marriages are the best." She sighed as her shoulders slumped. "If I was home, I would have been married off by now."
"I thought you said you didn't have any family besides your brother. Who would have forced you to marry a man you didn't want?" asked Kagome.
"There are so few women in the demon slaying village with my skills that I would have been highly desirable," said the taijiya. "There was a match-maker who lived nearby. She would have seen to it that I would have been married off."
Kagome shook her head. "Well, I know that arranged marriages aren't exactly fun either, especially if you've been put with an unsuitable match."
Sango gave her friend a scrutinizing look and then softened. "Perhaps, but I don't think I would have minded terribly. It was the village pastime to talk about who would be placed with who and I wasn't entirely displeased with the man they thought would be my match."
"Who was it?" asked Shippo, leaning forward in Kagome's arms.
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Inuyasha let out a whoosh of air as the blunt end of the shinai hit him squarely in the chest. He back-pedaled a few steps and placed a hand to his breastbone. "Damn it, Miroku!"
"I cannot be blamed if you were not paying attention," said the diplomat, holding his bamboo sword lightly in his hands. "Considering how much longer you've been doing this and the fact that I usually fight with a staff, I'm impressed with myself that I even got a hit."
The hanyou prince grumbled and rolled his shoulders, lubricating the joints. "Alright. Again."
"Are you sure you want to face me?"
"Shut up and attack me, you pervert," snapped Inuyasha, trying to focus on the diplomat's movements. A second later, he was sitting on the floor and his shoulder stung with the promise of another bruise. "Oy! What's with you?"
Miroku shrugged. "It's not my fault that you refuse to wear armor for our little sparring practices," he said, shifting the breastplate of the kendo protective gear back into place. He removed the helmet and looked down at his companion. "Two hits for me. I should be asking what is wrong with you."
The prince growled as he got to his feet. "Nothing."
"Is this nothing actually a something with long legs, the face of an angel and wrapped in a golden kimono?" the diplomat inquired with a grin.
"Shut up," the prince said again. He rubbed at his shoulder as he placed the shinai on the rack with the other practice swords. "I stood at the city gates all morning, watching every single noble leave. She wasn't there! How could I have missed her?"
Miroku shrugged as he began to shed his armor. Normally, the two friends stayed until he was about to drop from what Inuyasha called his 'weak human exhaustion' but he was barely sweaty this morning. Aside from which, when the prince began to actually speak more than two words at a time, the diplomat knew enough to listen. Something was weighing heavily on the hanyou's mind if he was willing to discuss it with his friend. "Perhaps she is the daughter of one of the city nobles," he suggested "Adopted, of course, as she is human. Or perhaps she is staying with one of them."
"I asked already," replied Inuyasha sullenly. "Besides, we would have heard about a human noble staying with anyone in the city."
"Then I have no idea," said the diplomat. "I thought your nose was never mistaken."
The hanyou tucked his hands into his sleeves. "It isn't! But it has to be." He frowned deeply. "And then there's Thousandfurs."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "What does she have to do with anything?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "I'm not sure, but maybe everything. I know she was lying when she told me that she had nothing to do with that arrowhead ending up in my soup. I could smell her fear."
"She may have been fearful because she was in your presence," said the diplomat. "You aren't very nice to her."
The prince waved away this suggestion. "No, that wasn't it. She was hiding something. I can at least tell that! She knows something. I think that whoever I danced with that night went to her for some reason, and asked her to put that arrowhead into my food. And then the girl escaped the castle grounds. I don't know how. That's what I think happened."
Miroku frowned in thought. "Perhaps…" He laughed at himself. "No, that's just too ridiculous. Why would anyone hide their own beauty like that? What would be the purpose?"
"You're talking to yourself, pervert," said Inuyasha, his eyebrow raised.
The diplomat smiled at his friend. "Maybe, but I think I agree with you, my prince. I think that Thousandfurs probably knows this new dancing partner of yours. The servant had been travelling for some time before settling here after all. I will ask Thousandfurs myself. You probably intimidated her."
The prince wrinkled his brow. "Alright. Do it now."
"Now, now?" asked Miroku.
"Yes!" snapped Inuyasha. "Do it before I get my focus back and smack you on the head with a real sword!"
Miroku sighed and bowed his way out of the dojo. "So touchy," he murmured, shivering as the cool air hit his heated skin.
A few inquiries later, the diplomat found out that the fur-covered servant had gone into the city with her two friends for the day, including the lovely Sango. Pleased that he would be serving his own purposes as well as the prince's that day, he quickly made his way to the market. It was already mid afternoon and so he figured they would be heading back soon. They wouldn't miss dinner after all. Especially not Shippo.
Wandering through the thinning crowds of the market, he finally spotted the russet fur of the fox demon, sitting in the arms of a distinctly fuzzy small girl. He smiled and raised his hand to greet them when he caught their conversation in his ears.
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"Takeda Kuranosuke," Sango replied softly. "He was the son of the leader of our village. Really, he was running it because his father was so ill."
"Was he handsome?" asked Kagome with a smile.
The demon slayer blushed. "Yes, very much so. And very kind as well. When Kohaku and I became orphans, he made sure that we had food every night and water brought to us from the well each morning. If it hadn't been for him, Kohaku and I may have died because we could hardly care about ourselves at that point." Her blush darkened even further. "When I had recovered from the loss of my father, he offered to marry me. He said he loved me and wanted a strong, trustworthy wife."
"Why didn't you marry him?"
Sango shrugged. "I could have, I suppose, but I was still too young. And then I got sent on the mission that brought me here… and well, you know the rest."
Kagome hugged Shippo closer. "Do you want to go back?"
"I want to see Kohaku again," she said.
"I know, but what about Kuranosuke?"
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Miroku leaned forward as much as he dared to from his hiding place. No one seemed to be recognizing him at the moment, which was divine providence, but one demon with a bunch of spices in little jars was looking at him eagerly. He could expect a full-blown sales pitch in a few minutes. But what about this Kuranosuke, he screamed in his mind. Did she love him?
Sango was looking nervous, biting her lip in an endearing way that only made him think lewd thoughts, but just as she was about to answer, the merchant came up to him. "Sir, you should take a look at my fine collection of spices. Sesame! Peppercorn! I even have saffron today, sir! A rare find! No one else has it today, I can assure you!"
The diplomat tried to wave the demon away. "I don't cook," he said shortly, watching Sango's lips moving and cursing his inability to hear them. They were moving away. He had to keep up with them and not be seen!
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Sango bit her lip. "He was kind and he loved me, or so he said," replied the girl. "But I couldn't love him back. He could be very arrogant sometimes. He acted as if I was meant for him from the moment I was born. I felt like a prize sometimes. And on more than one occasion, a male friend I made during practice or on a mission would suddenly be reassigned to another team. It was rude."
Kagome nodded her understanding. "And you love Miroku now."
They began to walk towards the castle gates again. "Sometimes I love him more than I can even express," said the demon slayer. "And sometimes, I hate him for the situation he has put me in." Her face softened. "Mostly, I love him, even when I do hate him. Isn't that ridiculous? But I don't think I could be with any other man after he has expressed his love for me."
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Miroku finally shook off the merchant and raced forward, dodging the youkai and pressing himself up against the wall as best he could. The three friends had reached the end of the avenue and soon he would be without cover as they traversed the wide path between the city buildings and the castle gates. His heart dropped to see Sango's face gentle and loving. Were they talking about this other man still? He prayed to Kami that it wasn't true.
He hid in the last crevasse that the ancient building afforded him before he would have to go out into the open. A moment later, he wished that he hadn't been so successful.
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"You should go to him," said Kagome. "Tell him that you love him in return."
Sango laughed. "He may as well be a thousand miles away, my friend. I'm not a demon slayer anymore. I have no status in this world whereas he remains important and revered. Even Takeda, as much as he proclaimed to love me, would not accept me as I am right now even if I bowed down at his feet."
Kagome shook her head. "Once again, you're not being…" She trailed off and turned around sharply. "Did you see that?" she asked, her eyes flashing across the crowds in the market street.
"See what?" asked Shippo, hopping up onto her shoulder. "What are we looking for?"
"I could have sworn… I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of Miroku out of the corner of my eye. Right there, where the buildings end. I thought I saw him turn out of the shadows and go back down the street." She craned her neck, searching for the purple and blue robed diplomat.
Shippo lifted his nose to the air but shook his head. "I can't tell. There are too many demons here for the scent of one human to get through."
Sango was pale. "If it was him… you don't think he heard us, do you?" She covered her face with her hands. "It would be mortifying if he knew how I felt about him."
Kagome was frowning. "I don't know. I seem to think that he didn't look entirely pleased." She turned to her shaking friend and lay a hand on her wrist. "Which means that he didn't hear us. If he knew how much you loved him, he would have pranced right up to us and given you a kiss and a grope!" She laughed, more at her own crude words, unsuitable for any princess, than the idea of Miroku groping her friend. That was an idea she had long become accustomed to.
"If it was even him," said Shippo, his emerald eyes still searching the sea of youkai. "There must be a lot of demons who wear purple and blue, right?"
"Of course," replied Kagome with a smile. "Come on, it's getting dark. It's time for dinner."
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A/N: I hope that last bit wasn't too confusing! Basically, Miroku heard all the wrong parts of their conversation. (I would hope you at least got that! Haha.) Anyway, it's a tad shorter than usual – like, a page, so I don't want too many complaints – but I thought it went decently well. Read and review! Please?