Absence
Chapter Fourteen
The days passed peacefully in the village. Winter turned to spring, spring warmed to summer. A year had passed since Kagome's final return to her world, and sometimes the thought was filled with longing, sometimes nothing more than a distant pang—as if he remembered something long ago, a bedtime story of danger and princesses, adventure and glory.
Sango and Miroku's child was born—children, actually, as it turned out to be twin girls, not one gigantic child as they'd initially thought. They were cute, Inuyasha admitted to himself from his post in the tree at the edge of the village, even if they did cry a lot. And make stinkies a lot. But it wasn't really their fault, and to Miroku's credit, he had yet to ask Inuyasha to change diapers.
Shippou was off at kitsune training camp. Inuyasha scratched an ear, thinking about the little fox boy. Shippou had changed in his absence. More mature now, more prone to think before he leapt. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he liked the changes. It wasn't quite as fun anymore to poke fun at him.
Sango pointed out another change that night when Inuyasha brought in a fresh hare he'd killed for dinner. "You're quieter," she said, murmuring thanks as she accepted the hare. He slanted her a glance, and Sango shrugged. "Maybe the time away from the village was good for you."
Snorting his opinion of that, Inuyasha crouched down beside where the twins lay on the futon. They stared up at him through wide, dark eyes and gurgled happily. He gave each a finger to hold and shake, grinning despite himself at their unequivocal welcome. "Got nothing now but time."
"You've got us," Sango reminded him. Miroku came in to the hut, and went right back out at Sango's instructions to skin the hare. "And Kaede says Sesshoumaru agreed to let Rin spend the fall and winter months here this year."
"Keh." But Inuyasha couldn't help the softening feel in his heart at the thought of the little girl who called him 'Inuyasha-sama'. "What's she going to do here?"
"Practice," Sango replied. "It'll be a chance for her to practice living in a village, around other humans. She doesn't get much human interaction while traveling with Sesshoumaru."
If Sesshoumaru had his way, Rin had no human interaction. For a girl who'd been chased out of her own village, though, Rin was awfully trusting of her own species—and others, come to think of it. "She agreed to that?" Trusting, yes, but clingy too.
"I think she's getting old enough to want to know more about her own kind," Sango replied. "And she understands there are things she can only learn from her own people—things like cooking, and setting up a better shelter. Things that don't cross Sesshoumaru's mind, but a small human would need to think about on a daily basis."
Miroku came back in as Sango was preparing the soup base for the rabbit stew. Sango deftly chopped the meat up and added it to the pot, while Miroku poured tea for them all. "No Kaede tonight?" Inuyasha asked.
"Kaede-sama is in the next village, helping with a difficult childbirth," Miroku replied. "We are very fortunate to have such a skilled healer among us." Inuyasha muttered noncommittally. His own firsthand experiences with Kaede's healing skills were much less pleasant. Foremost in his memory was the time she and Miroku had sealed him in a hut to recover from wounds inflicted from the forest wolf, Rouyakan. Just the thought made his hackles rise.
Reading his friend's thoughts, Miroku smiled placidly. "Good thing hanyou have little need of human remedies," he said. Sango laughed and went to feed the twins in the corner, leaving the two males alone.
The silence lengthened comfortably between them. Miroku sipped his tea before speaking as if there had been no break. "We are grateful you've come back."
"Keh." Inuyasha hunched his shoulders. Gratitude made his skin itchy. "Got nothing better to do."
"Nevertheless," Miroku continued quietly, his words for Inuyasha's ears only. "Although things have changed, some things will stay the same. You'll always be our friend."
Inuyasha understood better than Miroku that sometimes not even time could force change. He would always miss Kagome, wouldn't he?
Sensing Inuyasha's mind had wandered to unhappy territory, as it was wont to do, Miroku cleared his throat gently. "Actually, there was something I'd like to speak with you about. A business proposition, if you would."
Lifting an eyebrow at the monk, Inuyasha muttered, "Huh?" He'd never admit it aloud, but sometimes the way Miroku talked irritated him. As if he thought Inuyasha wasn't too dumb to understand those big words he used. Not that Inuyasha was dumb. Of course.
"You seem to have plenty of time to spare," Miroku continued smoothly, rolling right over Inuyasha's growled protests. "And I doubt you'll be happy to stay within the village confines for too long. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I often have to travel for demon purifications in other villages."
"I'm not stupid." Inuyasha hunched his shoulders in protest. He had noticed Miroku occasionally left the village for days at a time. He'd never cared enough to ask why.
Miroku made a noncommittal noise in response before saying, "These demons are most often of the small variety, more pests than serious threats. However, I thought you might like to accompany me on these trips. It would give you something to do, and it would also afford me the pleasure of your company."
Inuyasha laughed shortly. " 'Pleasure of my company'? You have to come up with a better lie than that. Even I'm not that dense."
"It would also allow me to charge double my usual fee," Miroku added complacently. The wicked gleam in his eye was completely at odds with his calm demeanor. "Of course, you would be welcome to your fair share of the proceeds."
Sango came back, a child on each hip, as Inuyasha let out a bark of real laughter. "You sure you a monk?" he asked of Miroku. He accepted one of the girls from Sango, balancing the small child in his lap and grinning as she chortled happily in his arms. "Isn't gluttony a sin or something?"
"I have a family to provide for," was the smooth retort. "Think about it, Inuyasha," Miroku urged more seriously. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning to the northwest. I received a plea for help just this afternoon. It seems there's an infestation of centipede demons in the lord's house."
It was always the lord's house, Inuyasha thought the following morning as he and Miroku set out at dawn. Sango sent them off with a sleepy good-bye and a light travel lunch of rice balls and pickled vegetables. The sun rose with glorious reds and golds as they followed the main path out of the village.
"It would go faster if you rode," Inuyasha finally commented. The pleasant scenery wasn't pleasant enough, and he was bored with the walking.
Miroku glanced over, jangling his staff idly. "Are you in a hurry?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You got a family waiting for you. Aren't you in a hurry?"
Miroku feigned disinterest. "Sango can fend for herself."
"Your girls won't recognize who you are when you come back."
"That's why I always bring them presents," Miroku smiled. "Bribes."
Inuyasha snorted a laugh and folded his arms into his sleeves. "People like you shouldn't be fathers," he commented gruffly. "You're the reason people in Kagome's time act the way they do. Degradation of morals." The comment slipped out unexpectedly, and for a moment, Inuyasha's throat snapped shut. But the moment passed, and it was suddenly easier for him to breathe again.
Miroku smiled, as if reading and understanding Inuyasha's inner turmoil. "I do what I can," he admitted easily. That teased a rare smile out of Inuyasha.
Patience ran out around midday, and Inuyasha grabbed Miroku into a piggyback ride and took off down the path. They startled a pair of farmers with ox-drawn carts laden with bolts of cloth and sacks of rice. Miroku whooped excitedly at them as they passed.
"Keh, monk, it's not for fun," Inuyasha growled. His ears picked up the dismayed cries of the farmers as their oxen spooked and their goods fell onto the dusty path.
Miroku couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. It had been a long time since he'd hitched a ride, and he'd forgotten how much fun it really was. No wonder Kagome had enjoyed it so much. "It's like flying, like a bird," he yelled, carefree.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes but, grinning, indulged the stalwart monk by performing a series of high-speed acrobatics through the roadside treetops. They startled more than their fair share of nesting birds, and their passing was heralded by outraged squawks and dismayed cheeps of various species of feathered creatures. Inuyasha was surprised by the grin that curved his lips up at the pure, unadulterated fun it was to flush birds out of nests. It had been a long, long time since he'd last done anything like this just for laughs.
They covered the distance rapidly, and Inuyasha finally set Miroku down on the dusty main path just on the other side of a hill from the village he scented. Miroku straightened his robes, but his cheeks were flushed and his eyes gleaming with amusement. "You got a reputation to uphold," Inuyasha commented as he stretched lightly.
"Indeed," Miroku replied complacently as he turned towards their destination. They had made better time than he'd anticipated, which posed a minor problem. By his schedule, he would have arrived just as the evening meal was ready to serve. Now, they could be done by dinnertime and sent packing.
Inuyasha read Miroku's face and snorted in disgust. "It's always another game for you," he complained, but good-naturedly.
"You might enjoy night travel," Miroku said, "but for some of us, there are real dangers on the road. Laden down with our payment, we would have to walk in the open through the night if they do not offer us hospice until morning." He slanted Inuyasha's distinctive ears a knowing glance. "I hadn't thought of the difficulties that might arise in procuring sleeping arrangements."
"Keh." Inuyasha hunched his shoulders, said ears twitching in discomfort. "Then, what? We stall until it's late enough we have to stay."
Miroku's grin spread slowly. "My friend, you do occasionally have brilliant ideas. I'm thinking of a certain ogre-mask demon that we once took care of."
"And a sham exorcist," Inuyasha muttered, thinking of the old lady who had been so incompetent she couldn't even sense the evil aura around the manor. He fixed Miroku with a dark glare. "And a certain pretty lady of the manor. You're not a free man anymore. Sango would beat the living crap out of you if you do that."
"Only if she found out." Miroku sent Inuyasha an even look, grinned when the half-demon swore. "Someone's going to tattle?"
"I will if you keep this us," Inuyasha barked, struggling with his own amusement at the whole situation. Like bird chasing, this was fun. He'd forgotten fun, and he hadn't even realized he had until now. "We'll keep it between us."
Miroku started off down the path, staff jingling idly. "Good." As if he'd known the outcome of the argument the entire time. Inuyasha stifled a growl. Damn monk, probably had known the whole time.
He shoved his hands into his sleeves and stalked down the path after Miroku. It wasn't quite the same as hunting for Shikon shards; nothing could come close to replacing those days long over. Inuyasha might not have been as astute as his human friends, but he was far from dense. He understood what Miroku was offering, what he wanted for Inuyasha by inviting him on this demon-exorcising trip.
It wasn't a replacement of the way things used to be. It was a hint of the way they could be, looking towards the future. Even as Inuyasha's mind grasped the fact, acknowledged the truth, and made it part of his understanding, part of him recoiled.
So much of him was focused on looking back. Whatever Miroku or Sango or anyone thought about it being time to move on, when so much of who he was still focused on what had been, how could he think about looking towards tomorrow?
~3.14.10
NOTES: Another long delay between postings. I'm at the point where something has to happen, but I haven't quite decided what that something will be. Hopefully more things will happen in the next chapter, but no promises. Coming to the end soon, though.