Chapter 8

(Water)

Inuyasha and Miroku took it upon themselves to keep watch all the way until everyone went to sleep, which no one really questioned as they usually did so anyways. The moon was high in the sky by the time Miroku stuck his head out of the door at Inuyasha.

"Hey." He said, grabbing the hanyou's attention easily in the soft night.

"N? What?" Inuyasha murmured as he turned his head.

"The bath's open." He replied.

Inuyasha nodded and got up, turning to his left and walking through the door. He followed the figure through the hallway, past the girl's room door, which was slid up for the night. He watched the dark figure ahead, his heart racing at the idea of being alone with the monk. He must have looked quite calm and cool to the other man but Inuyasha was never more nervous in his life, other than the previous night.

They proceeded through the bamboo flap and into the enormous bath room, the flickering candles casting beautiful silhouettes of the bamboo curtain that surrounded the sunken hot spring. The heavy smell of incense mingled with hot water clouded the air and set his mind on fire as he watched the monk slowly walk to one side of the bamboo and heard a couple of garments drop.

Inuyasha took the hint and went to the other side of the hot spring and began shedding his own clothes, the sound of running water from the small waterfall filling his ears. His heart was racing and there was a strange feeling in his chest and throat, perhaps anxiousness?

He shed the final article of clothing, his pants, and headed around the bamboo patch, where he met the steps that led down onto the grassy bank that surrounded the hot spring. Inuyasha heard Miroku coming around his way and quickly headed down the stairs and into the water. The water reflected the candlelight from the candles that surrounded them and illuminated the seemingly secluded area. Inuyasha let a out deep breath as he waded over to where the small waterfall fell, feeling the wonderful and relaxing warm water swishing around him slowly .

When he finally reached a small carved out ledge good enough for swimming just to the right of the waterfall, he heard the water behind him swish and turned his head to meet the eyes of his monk companion. The deep violet eyes were just as beautiful in the dancing candlelit mist as they had been the previous night. Nevertheless though Inuyasha turned his body and relaxed it upon the stone bench, feeling the water move around as Miroku sat to his left.

It was peaceful, Inuyasha thought as he laid his head back on a grassy part of the bank that protruded from the rock facing. The sound of the nearby waterfall, the intoxicating smell of hot water and incense, and the feeling of intimate closeness rushed around him and skipped his heart many times as he lay there. Slowly he closed his eyes, letting the flickering candlelight play tricks upon his eyelids. Peace…, was the only thought within his head as he breathed slowly, letting the pain and stress melt away.

"You look relaxed." Miroku commented as he eyed his hanyou mate.

One amber eye opened and shot towards the smiling face of the monk. A soft smile played upon his lips as he chuckled slightly.

"What else am I supposed to do huh?" he muttered

Miroku looked ahead at the reflections on the water, his eyes slowly closing as he slid down into the water.

"Suppose you're right." He said.

A couple of minutes passed and Inuyasha shot a glance towards the monk who sat beside him, his face halfway submerged underwater. His hair was glowing in the flickering light and the steam around them made it seem almost magical, Inuyasha thought as his eyes grazed over his companion.

Miroku glanced in his direction, catching a flash of amber eyes and a blush as his response. He chuckled slightly and laid his head on the hanyou's shoulder.

Inuyasha felt a tingle run down his spine as Miroku's head hit his shoulder and almost sunk down into the water.

"What're you doing?" Inuyasha said as he turned his eyes to meet the top of the monks resting head.

"Does it matter?" He replied.

"Not really."

Inuyasha bent his head a little to the left so that it rested on Miroku's. The candlelight and the nearby waterfall were filling his head, causing images to flash by in his mind. The night was truly young and the aura that he had previously felt hanging around the castle was gone, giving him the sense of A purely blissful night.

He was about to drift off when he felt the presence on his shoulder move.

"Hn?" Inuyasha said sleepily as he raised his head up.

Miroku was swimming in front of him and turned and replied.

"We have to at least try and wash off right?"

Inuyasha chuckled slightly and nodded looking around. The candles were slowly dying and they needed to get a move on before they were completely dead, which explained the monks urgency to go ahead and finish up.

Inuyasha drifted off from the rock facing and swam a little ways to his right to where the waterfall was falling. Perfect! He thought as he swam directly under the waterfall, letting the water splash onto his silvery hair.

He had been surprised at first due to the fact that the water had not been cold, rather just slightly cooler than the hot water that surrounded them. Nevertheless he was quite thankful for it and began washing himself.

A few minutes passed as the two washed themselves, starting with the top down. He hadn't really bathed in a waterfall in quite a long time and Inuyasha slowly finished bathing himself and simply closed his eyes, letting the feeling of warm water flow over his head and body soothe him. He noticed that he was still only slightly sore from their encounter with Naraku the previous week and slowly felt them ease away as the water poured over his body.

A small unknown swirl of water swished him out of his trance and brought his darting eyes onto the face of Miroku, who's hair was now dangling wetly in his face. A blush flashed across his face as he stared at the monk who simply smiled and commented.

"You look nice when there's water flowing over you."

Inuyasha winced slightly almost as if these words had hurt him. Miroku swam over slightly and placed his lips upon Inuyasha's own. Few words could have described the familiar rush of joy that shot through his body, weakening him and yet making him stronger at the same time.

Water flowed over the two men as they kissed, parting the hair and leaving drops of mingled sweat and water upon their chests which reflected the candlelight only slightly in the night. Slowly and reluctantly they parted and swam towards the shore, both awaiting a sleepless night, without each other's company.

(((T)))