The Assignment, part two

Miroku, heedless of his current state of undress, swooped in to catch her fall and proceeded to awaken her as any young man in a fairy tale ought. Sort of. Kagome's slightly parted lips were certainly tempting, but the way she fell had placed even more enticing territory right within his grasp. He decided that he could not pass up this opportunity. He very thoroughly explored the curves of her delightfully soft bottom while he carefully kneeled and set her down against a tree.

That ought to wake her up! He sat back and grinned wolfishly at Kagome, waiting for the inevitable smack to his cheek. It didn't come though. Her eyes remained closed and her head tilted so that her dark hair spilled across her shoulders. His grin faded.

"Kagome?" he whispered. Fear began to creep down his spine when she remained limp and quiet. He knew perfectly well that he had caught her before she could have possibly hit her head on anything, but he decided to check anyway. Carefully, he ran his fingers under her hair, but there were no bumps of any kind. He couldn't help but enjoy the pleasure of her soft hair, and expected her at any moment to lash out at him for his familiarity.

When she still didn't respond to his touch, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. "Hey! Kagome!" he called, louder now.

He felt her body stiffen in his hands for the briefest moment, then relax again. Leaning her back against the tree, he studied her face. There was a slight twitch of an eyelid and her mouth seemed more tense than before. Suspicion replaced his fear of a moment ago. So, she wants to play? Let's play then!

Miroku reached out and pulled the ribbon on her blouse, causing her collar to gap open . "I should make her more comfortable," he said to himself, but just loud enough that she could hear him. With slow deliberation he pulled her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt. His hands brushed 'accidentally' against the bare skin of her stomach several times, trying to tickle her. How can she not react to that? Miroku wondered in amazement. If she was going to be that stoic though, he certainly wasn't going to waste the chance for more exploring.

"I wonder if she twisted her ankle when she fell?" he said softly. Skimming his hands down her thigh, he thought he heard a catch in her breathing. Her knee socks briefly distracted him with their odd stretchiness as he ran his fingers underneath the edge. Her foot definitely twitched when he wrapped his hand around her ankle. As he expected, it felt completely normal and uninjured.

He turned his attention to her other leg now. He slowly slid his hand up her calf and along the smooth skin of her inner thigh. Moving his hand under her skirt he wondered just how determined she was to maintain the appearance of unconsciousness. When he had just barely gotten a glimpse of her tantalizingly strange undergarment Kagome decided she'd had enough.

With a small scream she jerked away and landed a solid kick against his chest. Miroku was unable to catch himself before landing on his bare behind, struggling to catch his breath again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kagome demanded, scooting further away just in case. Miroku managed to get back to a kneeling position and just smiled at her in spite of her violence toward him. Kagome was debating the efficacy of smacking that look off his face when he finally answered.

"Why, I'm making sure that you are uninjured of course," he said matter-of-factly. The knowing smirk belied his show of concern and Kagome felt no compunction about slapping him as hard as she could muster.

He stood, rubbing his cheek and grinning while Kagome, kneeling now, glared up at him in fury. Until she took in the full view that is. She didn't know how she could have forgotten why she had pretended to faint to begin with; he was still naked.

It had seemed, in that moment of panic, like the perfect escape from the most embarrassing situation of her life. She would faint, Miroku would leave, then she would throw herself into the river and hope a water demon ate her and the sketch book before anyone else ever found out what she had been doing. Instead, here she was, nearly eye-level with male anatomy that definitely did not look like the small, black and white drawings in her biology textbook.

"Well, Kagome?" Miroku chuckled. "Any explanation for why you were spying on me? Or shall we just dispense with the excuses and go on from here? Seeing you this way gives me so many ideas!" He smiled suggestively down at her.

Kagome was sure she was blushing several new shades of red. Uncertain of how to respond to his teasing, she turned away to retrieve her sketch book, but it was still near the bushes. On hands and knees, she reached out to grab it, inadvertently giving Miroku an eyeful of the backs of her thighs under her skirt.

"This just gets better and better!" he crowed. Kagome looked over her shoulder to see him leaning over to the side for a better view. She positively growled as she scrambled to her feet, and pushed her skirt down. Miroku was laughing helplessly while leaning against the tree with one hand.

"Why you . . .you're not even a pervert! You're worse than a pervert! You're . . .I don't know what you are, but it's bad!" Kagome sputtered while stalking back over to Miroku and shaking her finger in his face.

Suddenly Miroku leaned in close to her, placing his other hand on the tree as well. With his arms braced on either side of her, Kagome gasped, realizing that she was well and truly trapped. Tree bark pressed against her back, and Miroku's very naked body was very nearly pressing against her front.

"Yes, I am bad," he told her in a low, serious tone that made her shiver. His smoky eyes bored into hers she began to feel a little afraid. For all that he was just a few years older than she, he was very much a man and not a boy. She wasn't sure she could get away from him if she had to.

Miroku actually felt a little sorry for Kagome. It was obvious that she was in way over her head and he hadn't meant to frighten her. Moving back a little, he flashed her his usual disarming grin and she visibly relaxed. Still, he wasn't going to let her off quite this easily.

"What an unusual turn of events this is! Being the one that's spied upon while bathing is certainly a new experience for me," Miroku said, smiling even more broadly when Kagome blushed adorably.

"There I was, trying to meditate and forget worldly cares when I sensed a presence behind me. Little did I dream it would be the innocent-seeming little Kagome, come to spy on me in my moment of vulnerability!" Miroku's eyes positively sparked with glee and he shifted his position so that she could feel his thigh brush against hers. At least she really, really hoped that was his thigh. She was not going to look to find out!

"I, umm, I wasn't . . .that is. . ." Kagome stumbled over words as her mind refused to accept that her current situation was entirely her own fault.

Miroku was continuing his story however. "I finished washing, remembering how you said that you wished to sleep in comfort tonight," He winked at her and went on, "Then, thinking that you must have surely fled by then, I came out of the water only to find you still here . . . and still watching me!"

Kagome's mouth opened, but nothing came out. All of her concentration was focused on Miroku's nearness, and the necessity of not looking down. There was simply no room in her head for thinking of something to say.

Miroku, although enjoying his teasing of Kagome immensely, was beginning to have difficulties of his own now. The residual effects of the river's cold water and his concern about Kagome's unconsciousness had dampened the physical evidence of his enjoyment at first. Now however, things were getting much more lively, in all respects. Nevertheless, he was having too much fun to heed any cautions from the rational part of his mind.

"Kagome, you surprise me," Miroku said, now with a mournful expression. "I had no idea you were such a naughty girl! I was under the impression that in your world you are too young to be looking at naked men!"

Seizing on her obvious excuse, Kagome cried out, "But, I had to! For school!" Miroku glanced at the sketch pad she pointed out, abandoned on the ground. Kagome looked at it as well, her eyes involuntarily moving down Miroku's body as she did so. She squeaked and squeezed her eyes shut when she noticed that he looked quite different now from when he first came out of the river.

"Miroku!" she cried out, "Would you please just put your clothes back on!" her voice grew louder and more shrill with each word. She pressed her hands over her eyes and slumped weakly against the tree. Miroku laughed, but she sensed him move away from her.

She could hear him moving around, hopefully getting dressed, then there was silence. Did he leave already? She mentally kicked herself for feeling disappointed. Kagome opened her eyes and resolutely took a step, intending to retrieve her pad and what was left of her dignity. Fate had other ideas however and she immediately crashed into Miroku's chest. At least it's a fully clothed chest, she thought. A very broad, warm chest which she already knew was well muscled. Under her curious hands it felt very firm and well muscled too. Stop that! she told herself sternly.

"Stop that!" she yelled at Miroku for good measure.

"I'm not the one who's doing the groping this time!" He waved his hands at her to prove it and grinned. Kagome gasped and jolted away from him. Miroku had to help extricate one of her hands from where the traitorous thing had slipped under the opening of his robes.

It wasn't until they were finally separated that Kagome noticed how dark it was suddenly. Under the trees she could hardly see anything. Behind Miroku, the river was still glowing with the reflection of the sky's last light, but soon it would be dark as well. She was torn between putting as much distance as she could between them, and reaching out to hold his hand for comfort. She didn't think she would ever get used to just how dark the Feudal Era was at night.

They stood for a moment together and Kagome felt even more intimately aware of him in the darkness than when he had been naked. She heard him inhale as if about to speak, but whatever it was would remain forever unsaid as they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Kagome! What is taking you so damn long?" Inuyasha called as he crashed through the trees toward them. Paralyzed by embarrassment and guilt, Kagome couldn't reply. Inuyasha's grumbles about women and cleanliness and water in general were closing in fast.

"Let me know the next time you need help with your schoolwork," Miroku whispered in her ear at the same time that she noticed the now familiar feel of his hand under her skirt. Automatically Kagome lashed out to slap him, but he had already disappeared into the shadows. She overbalanced and fell into the bushes.

It wasn't until she was back at the campsite and in the circle of firelight that she noticed the damage her fall had inflicted on her hair and clothing. Inuyasha noticed as well.

"What was the point in all of us washing if you come back even filthier than before?" he grumbled, not unreasonably he thought. Kagome's "Inuyasha, SIT!" echoed all over the forest.

Author's Note: Well, here it is finally. This conclusion went through several incarnations before I settled on this one. So many of you lovely reviewers wanted the continuation that I felt compelled to make it the best I could. Yes, I know that many of you naughty readers wanted a lemon, but that's just not something I can write! I hope this is a satisfactory ending anyway, though I myself liked the ending of the first part. It leaves so much to the imagination! Review and let me know what you think!

-Neg