Bffimagine: Quite a few more shards to go. I guess I'll have quite a few more chapters to write…
Seconds dragged into minutes. Minutes melted into hours. Hours evolved into days.
The search for the 'Heart Shards' of the "Kokoro no Tama (Heart Jewel, or something to that effect)", became slowly longer, more tedious and much more straining. Every moment without a full heart made Miroku even more ill.
"His breath is catching, and his bleeding doesn't stop. I'm guessing he has pneumonia, leukemia and anemia. But that might not be all," Kagome was counting her fingers as she spoke.
"That doesn't sound very good," Sango commented somberly, eyes darting to Miroku.
'Hang on Miroku. I'll get your heart back together,' Inuyasha wiped away a stray tear and brushed his fingertips against Miroku's cheek.
"Word's already gotten out about Miroku's heart," Kagome warned, "Obviously, it has become highly prized."
"How can you tell Kagome-chan?" Sango stared inquisitively.
"Because…" Kagome pointed to the ground.
An almost full Shikon no Tama lay on the ground, only one shard missing.
"We have the last shard," Kagome whispered, pulling out the pink shard.
"She's right!" Sango gasped, "Naraku's thrown away the Shikon no Tama! Does that mean he's collecting Miroku's heart now?"
Kagome carefully picked up the Shikon Jewel.
"It's the real thing," she breathed in awe. Inuyasha watched intently.
Gently sliding the remaining shard into the Shikon no Tama, Kagome felt the flare of energy as it became whole.
As if magnetized to the full Shikon no Tama, fifteen crimson shards flew through the air. They stopped four centimeters away from the jewel itself, then fell onto the ground.
"Those smell of blood," Inuyasha sniffed, "They must've been ripped right out of some you-kai."
Sure enough, as the Inu-gumi walked through the woods from where the shards came, they saw bodies of desecrated you-kai all around.
"Just because these shards were pulled from their bodies, they ended up like… like this?" Inuyasha blinked in disbelief.
Sango was trying to put the shards back into Miroku.
"I can't get these in Inuyasha! How did you put them back?" Sango was growing frustrated.
Raising an eyebrow, Inuyasha swayed slightly in his steps.
"I… I don't know. They just went in."
He took the shards from Sango. Instantly, a flurry of memories flooded into him…
()
"INUYASHA! Are you alright!" Miroku was trying his hardest to keep the barrier erect, but it was fading fast. The poison cocoon was beginning to fall through and burn right through his skin. He tried to protect Inuyasha by covering him with his own body, but Inuyasha was taller and bigger than him and it proved futile.
Fatigued, Inuyasha finally managed to break out of Naraku's cursed illusions. He ran to Miroku's side.
Miroku's slender, pale form was shivering and trembling terribly. Inuyasha was hurt to see such fear in his eyes.
"WAKE UP!"
Inuyasha managed to slap Miroku over the cheek, waking the other boy up.
"M-my kazaana… it was swallowing me whole…" Miroku gulped and paled even more.
'I never noticed how naturally pale Miroku was…'
"Don't worry Miroku. You aren't going to get sucked in any time soon, definitely not if I can help it," Inuyasha assured him. He took one last glance to make sure Miroku didn't break down.
"Go look for Sango and Kirara. I have to go get Kagome," Inuyasha ordered. Miroku, regaining his composure, nodded and ran off.
The giant moth you-kai had everyone encased in silk cocoons. Inuyasha couldn't manage to break through any of them.
"MIROKU! SANGO! KAGOME!"
"None of you are weak humans! I know you can pull through!" Inuyasha clawed relentlessly at the gossamer thread enveloping Miroku.
Miroku's wind tunnel was going out of control. It had already sucked up Sango and Kagome, and was beginning to pull him in as well.
'I'm sorry everyone! I… I didn't want it to end like this! I should've just left and died alone!' Thoughts ran through Miroku's head and made his mind reel.
'This is unbearable!'
Inuyasha came into his fading, unfocused view.
"INUYASHA! DON'T COME NEAR! I… I CAN'T LOSE YOU AS WELL!"
Surprised, Inuyasha grabbed Miroku's Kazaana hand and aimed it away.
"Inu—Inuyasha?"
"Pull yourself together Miroku! We can get through this, you and I. We'll make it together." Inuyasha grinned.
"Thank you, Inuyasha. Arigato." Miroku smiled.
Everyone suddenly burst out of their entrapments.
"Miroku? Sango? Kagome?" Inuyasha smiled widely.
"I knew you all would make it!"
Inuyasha woke from his nostalgic trance.
"Inuyasha? Daijobu?" Kagome thoroughly examined Inuyasha.
"Hai, I'm alright." Inuyasha placed the shards over Miroku's chest and they began to pulse. They merged into the skin and merged with the rest of his body, mingling blood.
'Those memories… more vivid than when they actually happened!'
()
Continuing on into the forest, Kagome gaped in awe at the sheer vastness and density of the trees and foliage.
"How are we going to get through this!" she almost whined.
More shards had been attracted to the Shikon no Tama.
"Sugoi! That has to be at least thirty or so!" Sango nearly giggled. The giddiness was probably from walking so long near you-kai blood.
Inuyasha held the shards tenderly in his hands, and once again the bout of memories came flooding into him.
Inuyasha and Miroku were simply having some fun; Shippo had gone with Sango to the demon exterminator village to pay respects to Sango's deceased kin and repair her Hiraikotsu, and Kagome had to go back to her time for pre-summer exams.
Miroku had taken off his robes he wore and was wearing some pants Kagome and brought him just in case of emergency. He was laughing and turning cartwheels and backflips.
Smiling, Inuyasha chuckled as Miroku turned a particularly impressive corkscrew turn and landed in a handstand. His slender legs separated into center splits and he arched his back so he could grab his feet and roll onto his stomach. He let go of his feet and used his arms to push his lower body over his head, and his feet were dangling in front of his eyes and above his head.
Allowing his feet to ground themselves, he twisted from underneath himself and pulled back up into a standing position.
'Miroku is an amazing gymnast,' Inuyasha thought contentedly, impressed.
"How did you learn that stuff?" the hanyo asked curiously.
"I had to pick up a few things when I was about four," Miroku replied cheerily, bending fluidly into a back walkover then melted into a front handspring and backflip as if he were made of water.
"Why?" Inuyasha tried to think of a reason such a young child would need such skills.
"Mushin liked to be entertained, and he also used me as a reason to had ladies come over to the temple." Miroku grimaced with sourness at the thought.
'Miroku was used to entertain people? That's sick." Inuyasha winced as if he tasted something outrageously nasty.
'Miroku's voice is so liquid and beautiful,' Inuyasha whispered to himself. Miroku was singing a quiet lullaby to Shippo since the kitsune refused to sleep.
Glancing around, Inuyasha could see Sango and Kagome drifting into sleep as Shippo had already done. Miroku's voice was very alluding. Very persuasive… Seductive… Sexy?
Inuyasha mentally slapped himself. How could he think that?
Miroku had a much realer, deeper self than he let on. Being a carefree lecher was a façade he played to make sure no one worried about him or got to attached to him, so once he died he wouldn't cause anyone pain. He didn't want anyone to endure the agony he had to suffer, mentally and physically.
Inuyasha saw through his mask. He saw through the acting Miroku did so well… If he was in Kagome's time he could probably become quite renowned for acting.
"You don't have to go through this alone."
Everyone said that to Inuyasha. But not to Miroku… and Miroku needed it most.
That's exactly what Inuyasha thought.
"You don't have to go through this alone, Miroku," Inuyasha uttered softly, placing a gentle hand on Miroku's shoulder.
"Inu—Inuyasha?"
"I'll be there for you. Just as you've been there for me so many times," Inuyasha looked Miroku straight in the eye as he said this.
Torrential tears flooded over Miroku's pale cheeks.
"Oh… Inuyasha… Thank you so much, demo ariagato!" Miroku was crying openly and Inuyasha took him into his arms. Allowed him to release all the bottled up pain. All the pain one could possibly feel.
All the pain Miroku suffered.
'I know what these are!' Inuyasha said to himself as he awoke from the memory trance, 'These are memories I hold dear to my heart! And chances are… Miroku holds them dear as well.'
Inuyasha let the shards mingle with the rest, and slowly Miroku's heart gained a weak but steadying beat.
"Please, hang in there Miroku."
The rest of the day was drifting by lazily, moments seeming to drag as eternities. Everything was slower, and even the very essence of time seemed to decelerate.
Miroku's breathing was shallow and rasping, but his pulse had begun to steady and his eyelids occasionally twitched. His fever had gone down considerably; before he was so hot his blood rushed throughout his body and he was dehydrating fast, not to mention he was beyond delirious, almost insane. Now his delirium was moderate, and his fever was very high but at least twenty-three degrees Celsius lower than it had been before.
Not too long after some shards of Miroku's heart had been restored, the heat of his pain began to subside very slightly. Every ache in his muscles seemed to dull a little; every tense strain on his body seemed to loosen just a pinch.
For a while Inuyasha contented himself with watching Miroku, but soon he began to try to get Miroku to drink water. Some had gone down Miroku's throat before he started choking and coughing, by which time Inuyasha relented and continued to watch over him.
Beneath the wheels of Kagome's bicycle there was a simple, unadulterated snapping sound, as well as the pure tones of nature. Melodies rolled out and soothed the group's stress slightly, and the plain simplicity set them all in high spirits.
A sudden twitch in Miroku's fingers set Inuyasha worrying all over again. He took Miroku's trembling right hand and examined it carefully. A quiet gasp of horror escaped his lips.
The Kazaana had reopened.
bffimagine: Well, see you guys soon!
Inuyasha: Cough cough Only if you review…