Chapter Three: Sloth and Diligence
"No," I spat, grabbing Miroku back by his collar, "no! Miroku, leave Sango alone!"
"I can't; I love her."
I released him, and he fell back to the glass, slapping his face to it like a sad piece of wet paper. Gripping my brow, I sighed long and loud, knowing nothing I said would do any good, but I had to try. "Miroku, she's this close to a restraining order!"
He wasn't looking, so I didn't hold up my fingers. But it was going to happen if Miroku started messing with Sango again. "That was an empty threat said in anger…."
"No, it wasn't!"
Just as I knew it would, my warnings fell on deaf ears, Miroku spinning and rubbing his hands together like a villain. "Alright, Inuyasha, I'm ready for my first wish!"
Inuyasha blinked at my brother, then slung his mouth to the side in a grin. "You're dumber than you look! Can't you count? This'll be your second wish!"
Now Miroku was grinning, and it had my stomach twisting more. "No, it's not."
"Look," Inuyasha roared, his finger in Miroku's face, "this ain't your first wish cause we didn't walk here. I brought you to your love. There, through the damn glass. We're out here on this street because I put us here. So that's one wish down, two more to go!"
I was sweating, contemplating wrapping myself around Inuyasha so he didn't swallow my brother's soul. He wasn't that type of Djin or demon, but Miroku had a talent for making people go against their comfort to get revenge.
Miroku, however, crossed his arms over his chest like armor and smiled back widely. "I never said 'I wish'. You brought us here all on your own."
Inuyasha's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Instead, it hung open, looking between Miroku and me; his eyes lingered on me like I would have the means to help him in this fight. But I had nothing, and neither did Inuyasha, stepping back and letting his anger simmer. "You wanker."
"What?" I sputtered through a laugh, shocked at his language and where it came from.
Inuyasha looked away from the two of us, glancing at passersby on the small sidewalk we crowded. "My last master was British. Speaking of which, where are we? I thought, given you two, that we were in Japan. But now outside, there is a general lack of almond eyes around…."
"HEY, watch it!"
"Let's try to keep it PC, please; we're in public."
Inuyasha turned back to us and our outburst, genuinely confused. "What? My owners almost always called me almond eyes! I thought it sounded nice!"
Oh great, he'd been owned by a bunch of racists. "Look, it's fine when it's just us but…be careful what you say in public. You'll offend people."
"Anyway, on to more important matters," I cringed and growled at Miroku for interrupting. Inuyasha needed to learn all he could about this world, and Miroku was greedy. "My first wish?"
Standing straighter (leaning slightly into me when I spoke), Inuyasha went back to business. He crossed his arms over his chest as Djin did in the movies, making me wonder how much of that was fake. Or was Inuyasha trying to hide somehow, his arms blocking most of his broad chest from view?
It was distracting, looking at the white sleeves of Miroku's shirt as they stretched around Inuyasha's wide biceps. The black centipede on his forearm pulsed like it was alive, and it made my heart shake in its boots. And wake me up, listening intently to Miroku and his 'wish'.
"I can't make someone fall in love."
"That's not what I'm asking!"
"Sure as shit sounds like you are!"
I got between the two, getting closer into one another's faces until people passing began to stop and watch, "guys, calm down. And speak softer."
My hands out, my fingers landed on Inuyasha's heart, and it pulsed hard under my touch. So much, I looked back at him just before he pulled away. Miroku did the same, so I didn't think much of it, letting it go as a strange coincidence instead of Inuyasha's heart going nuts over something.
"Okay, I have my wish. Inuyasha, I wish for you to turn me into the perfect man." I looked back at Inuyasha, who just blinked a few times. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"I just don't…can you elaborate? It's not like I know what makes a man perfect or not!"
Both men were looking at me now, and I could think of a few things, but that was for me. "It's relative!"
"You mean 'cause you're his sister?" Inuyasha asked
I chuckled slightly at him because I found his confusion endearing. "No, I mean, what I think is perfect doesn't matter because I'm not Sango. She will have different ideas of perfection, and I don't know what she wants."
"That's it then!" Miroku cried, making me jump back and closer to Inuyasha. "you have to read her thoughts or something and find out what she likes!"
I growled at my brother, "don't be so damn lazy! You should have figured out what she liked years ago when you were dating!"
Miroku released a sad huff and looked at the pavement. "I did. Everything I'm not, it seems."
"Oh, Miroku…"
"You two used to be together?" Inuyasha asked. "Then why aren't you together now? You ain't dead, and you want her, so why're we having this conversation?!"
I had to agree with Inuyasha, nodding along with his words and getting glances sent my way as a reward. My brother glared back at us, "just change me, jinni. Turn me into the man she wants me to be! I wish to be the one Sango depends on."
That sounded like he wished for love, so I didn't worry, but then Inuyasha crossed his arms and opened his mouth. Before I knew what I was doing, I had my hand firmly covering Inuyasha's, hoping that would stop his magic. "DON'T!"
"Kagome!"
With my hand still on his mouth, I turned back to my brother, concern dripping from my every pore. "That's not going to make either of you happy. You can't change who you are to be with someone. They either love you, or they don't, and I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear…."
Miroku stepped back, hitting the glass again but this time with his back as he slid down to the ground. My hand was still pressed to Inuyasha's mouth, and his wide eyes glowed back at me now. "If I let you go, will you not grant that wish, please?"
He slowly nodded as if he was the one scared, and I carefully lowered my hand. It wasn't until I had it far from his lips that I noticed the slice to my palm. I'd cut myself on something, looking up and getting a clear view of Inuyasha's fangs from my angle and his continued gawk.
I looked back to find Miroku still on the ground in a depressed slump. I knew he loved Sango; we all did. And I was sure she loved him too. But Miroku…how cold I put this. He's a dumbass, and he's terrible with women. Especially the one he loved the most.
Looking up from the puddle, formally known as Miroku, I watched Sango move around the café. It was where she worked now since Miroku had gotten her fired from her last place of employment with his continuous attempts to get her back. I didn't know the whole story, but apparently, Sango got tired of waiting for Miroku to 'man up' and take them to the next level. Then, Miroku bought a ring two weeks after Sango dumped him, and things only got worse from there.
Inuyasha hadn't distanced himself from me, so I whispered, tipping up on my toes to get closer to his ears on top of his head. They flicked back and forth either from irritation or to hear me better. "Can you…help him?"
He looked around me to Miroku and back, "not sure anyone or thing can help that."
"He's not a bad person; he's just stupid. And lazy…"
"While you're not."
It wasn't a question, Inuyasha calling me out on my diligence like it was known to all. I ignored it and focused on my plan. "You have great hearing, right?"
"If you mean you can get off your toes, then sure. I can hear inside this restaurant to the street behind it; you don't have to stand so close."
I took a step back with that, but Inuyasha just frowned. "Can you listen to Miroku as he speaks to Sango and then somehow tell him what to say?"
He looked around me again and back, "yeah, I can do that. But no more freebies."
I got to my knees in front of Miroku and smiled as best I could. "Listen, hoshin; we're going to help you, okay? Go in there and try not to get arrested, okay?"
"How do I do that? I can't stay calm around Sango!"
"Deep breaths! And listen! Do everything we say, down to the letter!" He sighed but got to his feet slowly. "Make a wish, asking to help you say the right things!"
Miroku did as ordered, and Inuyasha breathed out deeply, a long thin cord of red string floating out until it attached to Miroku's ear. When he stepped back, the cord stretched. Then, meekly entered the café. I watched from the window as Sango caught sight of my brother. There was shock, joy, then fear and anger by the time Miroku was close enough to see the emotion on her face. Her lips moved, and I didn't take my eyes off them. I could still see the red thread, but I couldn't hear a thing.
"She said, 'Go away'."
"Really? That's it?"
"I'm summing up."
Sango probably said, 'get the fuck out,' knowing her and how she felt about Miroku. And I couldn't blame her, but the truth was, they were hurting each other and themselves, acting like this. "What did Miroku say?"
"He said, 'Hello to you too, Sango.'" I tapped my head on the glass in irritation. Already, the two were combative, and that wasn't going to get them anywhere. "This woman seems to hate your brother. Why are we torturing her?"
I didn't look away, worried about what would happen if I did. "My brother loves her more than anyone. And he has for years. With them together through college, Sango wanted to get married while my brother…." I dared to look away, finding Inuyasha's eyes hotly on me as he waited for me to continue, "he wanted to have things like a house and a steady job first. The idiot told Sango nothing and lost her in the end, but I know he's lost without her. That he's the sloth he is today about love and his future because he doesn't see a point if Sango's not in it."
We both turned our attention back inside, and my breath caught at the anger on Sango's face. She was yelling, and Miroku had his hands up, trying to calm her down. "Shit."
"She wants the cops. Who are they?"
"Police," I flung up at Inuyasha, watching as people began to record the scene, "do something!"
"Like what?!"
"Tell him what to say! He can hear you, can't he?!"
Inuyasha looked lost, and my heart was in my shoes. "He can, but…I don't know what to say to a woman!"
"Oh GOD," I turned to Inuyasha, looking back and forth between him and the scene, "Tell him to put his hands down," Inuyasha repeated my commands to my brother, and I watched as his hands lowered slowly, "now tell him to take a deep breath," he did, "say, I'm sorry."
It was like magic, Sango's face falling as the words left Miroku's mouth. I was caught up in it myself, watching the two like a game or movie that I was in control of.
"I'm sorry, Sango; I should have told you how scared I was. Not of you, but of not being enough for you," I told Inuyasha what to say to Miroku and prayed there was no lapse in between, "I love you so much, and I wanted to make you happy. I wanted to be everything you ever needed, but I was afraid I would never be enough."
"You were always enough," Inuyasha spoke, telling me what Sango said in response.
"I know that, now," I told Inuyasha for Miroku.
"But you made me feel like I wasn't enough," Inuyasha said, and I looked up at him. I didn't know if he was repeating it exactly as Sango had or spoke with his own emotions. "Every day that I waited for you to say or do something…it hurt me."
I paused, looking at Inuyasha's lips as he spoke, and thought up the best response for the pain. "It was never you, Sango. It was never your fault; there's nothing wrong with you. You're a beautiful and wonderful person, inside and out."
Inuyasha was silent, and I looked back at the couple. Sango was crying. Sobbing before Miroku and I watched as my brother tentatively reached out for her. As soon as he touched her, Sango fell into his arms and sobbed. I didn't need Inuyasha's hearing to know what was going on or what was being said. There was only one thing left to say, and I wasn't sure it needed to be told to Miroku. But I wanted all the bases covered.
"I love you more than anything." Inuyasha was silent, so I looked back at him. His eyes had glazed over, and he was watching my mouth for some reason. I had a clog in my throat as well, pushing it out to finish the wish. "Tell him."
He coughed and repeated my words to Miroku. I watched as Mirkou said them, Sango crying harder than before then pulling back to kiss him. I looked away after that as anyone would when it came to family and public displays like these.
Inuyasha was watching me again, and I offered him a smile that felt weak. "You never answered the question," I cocked a confused brow towards him, and one side of his mouth twitched, "what's the perfect man for you?"
My breath caught for a second as Inuyasha's molten eyes seemed to swirl with colors. "It…it doesn't matter, right?"
"I'm askin'."
Trying to hide, I stepped back and found my back against the glass. Inuyasha didn't let me run, putting a hand next to my head and leaning over me. It had my heart (back up from its vacation in my shoes) off to the races. "I don't…I don't think it's about what they look like…." Even though it was hard to find any faults with how Inuyasha looked, ears and all.
"Then what do they act like?"
"I don't know." How did one explain something like this? "It's about how they make me feel, and I can't…quantify that!"
Inuyasha's other hand slapped to the glass behind me, but it didn't scare me. Nothing about him did, even his ears that were pressed back in either anger or submission. "How does the perfect man make you feel, Kagome?"
The line of questioning confused me, but I still felt inclined to answer. "Special. Like I'm the only woman in the world to make them feel like they do. And the only one that ever will. That there's no one in existence like me, and they can't live without me."
He stared, judging my sincerity or trying to understand; I wasn't sure. But then, Inuyasha did a push-up to get away from me. "I'm sure many have made you feel like that."
My nerves settled with a short laugh that exploded out of me. "Oh yeah, tons."
Inuyasha caught my sarcasm and opened his mouth. It slapped shut when cop cars flew up to screech to a halt on either side of the street. Three cops jumped out and sauntered briskly into the café…right up to Miroku.
"Oh no…"
"Someone called the cops on Master."
Miroku was still lip-locked with Sango, missing the manager or whatever pointing the police his way. They dragged him off her, and Sango was held back by one of the other servers. It was like only the two had heard the whole story while everyone thought my brother was attacking her.
Even as he passed us, Miroku wore a goofy smile and dragged harshly out with a burly cop under an arm. "Miroku! Make a wish!"
He shook his head at me in a daze. "Don't need to; I got the best life."
Inuyasha grabbed my shoulder and held me back. I glared up at him. "Do something!"
"Can't. He ain't wishing for it."
Miroku disappeared in the back of the cop car, and I was left with Inuyasha at my side, neither of us doing a damn thing to help my brother. I was still at a loss when Sango ran out of the café, the police and Miroku disappearing in the distance. Her eyes went from the back of the cars to me, and her eyes widened when they met me. "Kagome? What are you doing here?"
I wasn't really sure. After all, it was Miroku's wish to be at Sango's side. What the hell did I have to do with it, and why was I dragged along, to begin with?
"And where are your shoes?!"
I had forgotten, but she was right; I was barefoot on the street with my hair all over the place. It looked like I ran out of my apartment to Miroku's side. "I was…worried about Miroku. It looks like I had every reason to be."
"I didn't call the police; my manager did."
I wasn't mad at Sango; I was frustrated with the situation. Inuyasha's fingers grazed my spine as he gripped the back of my dress. "Sango, this is…Yasha."
"Oh, uh…hello." I saw him wave out the corner of my eye, and Sango's face changed to amusement, "are you into canines?"
I didn't know what I was allowed to say; were Djinn supposed to stay a secret? They had to be. Otherwise, all the world would search them out for wishes.
I decided to let Inuyasha answer. It was his life, and if he wanted Sango to know, I wouldn't stop him. He reached for his necklace, the one that hung just under the neckline of his borrowed shirt, and tugged on one of the white fangs. "Something like that."
"I hope you didn't hurt anyone to get those teeth?" Sango asked with a lift to her tone.
I was stunned; why were they talking about a necklace when Inuyasha had ears on top of his head?
"No, I didn't hurt any animals for these." Sango relaxed while Inuyasha tugged on the back of my dress. "What now?"
"Now, we wait for Miroku to call us with his location. But, unfortunately, we have no way of knowing where he'll be locked up at."
"I'm not waiting," Sango announced, "I'm going to every precinct in the area until I find him!"
"What about your job?!" I asked quickly.
Sango smirked, "quit. Can't work somewhere that locks up my boyfriend for kissing me."
She stormed off, calling a taxi as she ran. I got it; I did. If I were Sango, I'd do the same thing for the man I loved. But I also knew it would be an avoidable struggle since, by the time she found Miroku, he'd be given his phone call. I just hoped he called me and not Sango. I wasn't sure the cops would give him a second chance if the call didn't go through. And it wouldn't, either with her out of service or because she blocked Miroku and forgot.
I was now tasked with finding our way home; Inuyasha silently followed me as I walked the ten blocks back towards my apartment. All while still barefoot. It wasn't a problem until I missed the broken glass on the sidewalk, slicing my foot open.
"OUCH! Oh great, just GREAT! I'm going to bleed to death or get an infection now…."
I squealed as Inuyasha picked me up without warning, tossing me onto his back to carry me the rest of the way. A way he somehow knew, but he was the one to magic us to Sango's side.
Leaving so suddenly, I didn't have my keys, but I didn't need them as the door was unlocked. Inuyasha didn't hesitate to 'let us in', not stopping until he dropped me to my couch. I watched him for a moment in awe until pain reminded me.
Pulling my ankle, I got my foot up as high as I could to spy the bottom of it. Black from the walk, my blood had dried and mixed to make a disgusting color. "Ew…"
It was the first thing either of us had said, and yet, Inuyasha had procured one of my largest bowls and a washrag. They were both mine, so I knew he didn't magic them here. And I didn't ask, but he still dropped to his knees and started cleaning my feet. I didn't dare speak for fear it would change things. Either break the spell or cause Inuyasha to force himself to do something. I didn't have the lamp, I wasn't his master, and I never once said, 'I wish'—not even when my foot sang with pain.
I never wanted to force Inuyasha to do anything for me or treat him like a slave.
But, even without asking, him crotching before me and cleaning my feet bother the heck out of me. "You don't have to…."
"I want to."
It was like he read my mind, saying what I wanted to hear….or trained from years of experience to know how to speak to his master. "You want to wash my feet? Really? A hanyou and powerful jinni like yourself?"
"Neither of those things…" he paused, and my breath caught, "have anything to do with what I want." He looked up at me with a smirk twisted on his lovely lips, "Even that includes getting on my knees to care for a wench like you."
My face felt hot, and I was sure I was shaking. "I told you not to use that word!"
"You prefer bitch?!"
"NO!"
"Ima powerful jinni and hanyou, I don't take orders from you!"
He had lifted my injured foot, looking at the bottom where the cut was, then probing it with his claw. "AH! That HURTS!"
"BE STILL!" He roared, red flashing in his eyes. Inuyasha calmed quickly, probably from my pout as I flopped back to the couch, "I'm making sure there's no glass. Can you survive an infection, human? Fuck no, so lemme look!"
"Death by 'glass in the foot'. I can see my obituary now."
"Would you just let me take care of you? Dammmnnn!"
Inuyasha was annoyed, but so was I. My brother was in jail, and I'd spent the better half of the morning dragged around by him and a damn jinni. "Why did you bring me along?"
He was still probing my cut, so he must have thought I needed the distraction when he answered me with, "Whatchu takin' bout?"
I glanced at the blackened water at his knees then back to his face as he concentrated intensely. "This morning. No part of Miroku's wish included me. He wanted to go to Sango, and he didn't need or want me around for it. So, why did you bring me with you on his wish?"
"Did you…not want to be there?"
His eyes danced from my foot to me, but he kept them on his task mostly. "I did have things to do today."
"Like what," he asked with a snort as if knowing I had shit to do.
I leaned up just enough to swat his ear, then fell back out of reach while he growled. "I do have Miai to prepare for."
Inuyasha growled again, but I didn't know the cause this time, only that he knew what a Miai was, given his background. No way that was the cause because what did he care about that? "What the hell are you doing, going to Miai?!"
I rolled my head back, ignoring the twinging pain that was Inuyasha's claw inside my skin. Instead, I distracted myself by examining the cut on my palm from his fangs. It had stopped bleeding, but it was angry-looking. Maybe it would get infected too, then I'd die of hand, and foot disease…not that hand and foot worked that way. But it was more…exciting than death by boo-boos. "My mother and grandfather want me to start going on them. It means I don't have much time to get my career off life-support before I have to get married."
"Why do you have to? Aren't you young?!" I traced my cut when Inuyasha snatched my hand away, glaring at the wound like it was my fault. But I guess it was? "I'll get this next. Stop touching it!"
"Oh, like you know? What, you got a medical degree in your back pocket?!"
"What the fuck is that?" I rolled my eyes, and he huffed, "I know how to take care of wounds, that's all. Trust me."
He was already back to caring for me, and I felt like such an ass. In part because I was complaining about getting cared for and because the man before me had suffered far more than I ever would. "I trust you."
Inuyasha's ears flicked back and stayed pinned. I kept quiet, biting my knuckles when he dug his claws in again and plucked out a tiny piece of green-colored glass. "And there we have it, the thing that would have killed you."
"It wouldn't have killed me," I laughed, "they would just amputate." He cocked a brow, and I quickly explained, "cut my infected foot off."
He patted my shin affectionately, "no hobbling for you, Kagome. I won't allow it."
I smirked through my flush, and Inuyasha grabbed my hand. He didn't keep it long because there was nothing to do about it. Both feet clean, I was pondering over my bandaids, wondering if I had one that would work for my foot when Inuyasha ripped the bottom of his shirt into a strip.
By the time I got my mouth to work, the sight of Inuyasha's abs (that I had missed since catching them that morning) gummed it up for a moment. "What are you doing?!" His answer was to use the strip to wrap my injured foot. "I have bandages!"
"This is better."
"What about your clothes?!"
"I don't need them."
I jumped away, my foot tightly bound, and twerked my way towards my room. "I might have something. Gah, I should have made Miroku bring over more than one outfit!"
Guilt burned my belly because, of course, Inuyasha would need more than one shirt and pants. He definitely needed more underwear. I was a terrible person, why didn't I think about this before? I was just as bad as his past owners, thinking of him like an object and not the living thing he was. Otherwise, I would have gotten him plenty of clothes, enough to last him…
I knew he was behind me, following me to my room and standing in the doorway. But, even if he wasn't, I suppose he would have heard me anyway as I asked, "How long are you going to stay?"
"Only as long as I…have to. And that depends on you, Kagome."
"Me?" I spat, spinning.
He was leaning against the door frame, arms over his chest and looking at the floor. "If you become my master after your brother, then how long I stay depends on how long it takes you to make your wishes." Inuyasha pulled his eyes from the floor, then pulled his ruined shirt off and to the floor, "you shouldn't worry about clothing me. Ima jinni, and I don't use them."
"You should."
It was a symbol; no clothes made him lesser. Because he didn't have anything to protect his body from the world if he was naked, it took away his choice and made him more like an object for people to look at as they pleased…instead of what pleased Inuyasha.
"If it others you, I'll go back in the lamp until Master gets home…."
"No! Don't do that!"
He stared at me in shock, I was a bit in shock myself, but the thought of him going back into that vase made me ill. It was visceral, my need for him to stay out of that damn lamp. And Inuyasha caught it, looking back at the floor. "I'll go back into it eventually. And then on to someone else to grant their wishes. It's my life until it isn't."
"What does that mean, until it isn't?"
He shrugged and kicked nothing that was on the floor. "Until I finish my curse."
I didn't know what that meant, staring at his arm that had the centipede on it. Somehow, I knew that tattoo had something to do with Inuyasha being a Djin in a lamp. I stared at it hard, memorizing it. It wasn't complete; a part of the centipede was missing as it stopped in the middle of his bicep. And, for some reason, I was glad it didn't cover any more skin than it did.
My eyes were still on the black ink; I pushed Inuyasha to tell me more. "What happens when you finish your curse?"
Inuyasha was silent, and I didn't think he would tell me. But then, he took a deep breath and looked at me. I gave him my eyes immediately, watching them swirl again, this time with red and gold. "I die."
