A/N: Moshi moshi, mi-na! A few days later than I had planned, but I'm glad to finally be getting around to uploading this chapter. Now, I know I said I wouldn't make Miroku helpless all the time, but I've yet to accomplish that, so I'm giving you fair warning that he will once again be helpless in this chapter. On the plus side, I don't think he's quite as helpless as he was in chapter 3. Man, at this rate, I'm going to reveal the whole chapter before you read it! Time to shut up now! Let's get on with the fic.

Disclaimer: I've decided to make my legal life easier by declaring that I have no ownership of the rights to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Miroku: Warriors, Friends, Lovers

Chapter 5: Kikyo

Rays of sunlight shined down through the cracks in the Kaede's medical hut, illuminating the two lovers' faces. Inuyasha's eyes fluttered open and he realized that he hadn't moved from the position he was in the night prior. Not that it bothered him as he was perfectly content holding the monk in his arms. That was, until he felt a sharp shoot of pain go through his chest.

'Must be from having him on me all night. Damn monk...' he joked in his mind.

A girly giggling interrupted his thoughts.

"Wow, look at Mr. Sensitive all curled up with his lover," Kagome teased.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha barked, unceremoniously throwing Miroku off of him.

The monk woke up and sent a glare Inuyasha's way.

"Whoops..." Inuyasha chuckled nervously.

"Anyway," the reincarnated priestess started, "Kaede is coming to treat Inuyasha's wound in a few minutes and she wanted me to inform you guys that she need to be alone with Inuyasha in order to treat him properly."

"Why is that?" Miroku asked.

"Well, we wouldn't want him getting distracted," Kagome added with a wink. Both men blushed a furious red.

"I'll wait outside," Miroku said upon seeing Kaede step through the doorway. He gave his lover a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

----Scene Change----

Miroku sat at the base of a large oak tree (A/N: They do have those in Japan, right?), deciding to nap after having lunch (which Inuyasha could not eat with the rest of them, giving way to complaints that lasted about an hour before Kaede calmed him down with herbs that made him drowsy.). Just as he was about to fall asleep, a gentle gust of wind blew across his face. He sensed the aura of a person who was neither good nor evil, not living nor dead, but somewhere in between. Looking up, he saw the very person he was thinking of a few feet away- Kikyo. She approached him slowly, a stony glare present on her face. He stood up and asked her what she was doing here in the nicest way possible.

"Do not play with me, monk. You know why I am here."

Miroku's face was one of bewilderment, not knowledge. Therefore, he asked, "No, I don't, why are you here?"

"Miroku, that is your name, is it not?"

Miroku nodded his head, still extremely confused. Kikyo gave a sadistic chuckle.

"I hear that you and Inuyasha have gotten.... together," she said as she smirked.

The monk just stared at her wide-eyed. "How did you find out about that?" he asked slowly.

"I have my sources," the long-dead priestess replied. She then drew her bow and arrow, aiming them at Miroku.

"What are you doing? Why turn your weapon on me? Is it because you still have feelings for Inuyasha? Or is it that that you're still spiteful of your death, even though you now know it wasn't his fault?" Miroku questioned, glaring at Kikyo.

"I realize that it is not the fault of Inuyasha, but as far as my feelings for him, they are not of love. They are of hatred."

"Why do you hate him?"

"I do not know the answer to that, monk. Perhaps it is because I went to the grave believing him to be the one who killed me. I will destroy all that makes him happy."

Kikyo shot her arrow at Miroku, who moved out of the way fast enough to have it stuck in the tree instead of him.

"Stop this senseless violence, Kikyo!" the passive monk shouted, trying to reason with his attacker, but she just ignored him and shot two more arrows at him simultaneously. Once again, he barely managed to dodge.

However, on Kikyo's third try, she shot four arrows at once in such a way that it was impossible to avoid all of them. One of them hit Miroku's right shoulder, causing him to collapse in pain. As he backed away, Kikyo drew another arrow to make the final blow, aiming it for his heart. He winced, knowing that with his sucking shoulder wound he wouldn't have a chance to escape.

Suddenly, Inuyasha came bursting out of the hut and ran fast as a speeding bullet past the clay woman, snatching the arrow out of her grasp and breaking it in half upon stopping.

"Inuyasha...." Miroku and Kikyo said in two very different tones: Miroku's thankful and Kikyo's threatening.

The hanyou walked over to his lover and checked the damage. When he saw the source of the blood he smelled, he became furious.

"What the hell did you do this for, Kikyo?!"

Kikyo remained silent.

"Well?!"

"As I have told the monk, my goal is no longer to kill you but to make you suffer as I did when I was killed."

"But you know Naraku was the one who killed you, so why do you hate me so much?!"

"I went to the grave with the thought of you as my killer. Even if I wanted to remove the seed of hatred for you planted that day, it is impossible. I will always loathe you."

On that note, the priestess caught between the world of the living and the dead stalked off.

"We've got to get your wounds treated. Do you have enough strength to stand?" Inuyasha asked his lover worriedly.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," Miroku replied, slowly getting up. He stumbled a bit as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

"Here, lean on me," Inuyasha said, draping Miroku's injured arm over his broad shoulders. The pair slowly made their way to the hut (A/N: Which really wasn't that far a distance now that I think about it, so maybe I should've worded that differently. Meh.).

As they entered the hut, Kaede asked what happened to them and what all the commotion was. Inuyasha explained as calmly as a hanyou with a hurt lover could, which wasn't very calm.

"Settle down, Inuyasha. Miroku will be fine," the old healer said.

Inuyasha did as he was told for once, although in typical Inuyasha fashion he did it with a huff. As he watched Kaede tend to Miroku's wound, he started thinking about all the crazy stuff that had happened in the short time the two of them had become boyfriends. It made him worry about what the future held. Would things always be this way? Would there constantly be people trying to steal their happiness away from them? He wondered....

Eventually, he came to a conclusion. The only way for him to assure that they would always be together no matter what, even after death, was to make Miroku his mate. While some may beg to differ, he didn't think it was too soon. Hell, most demons take their mates shortly after meeting them. This would probably be considered a long wait by the standards of the demon world. In any case, his reasoning had nothing to do with time constraints. He knew Miroku was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his days with and come soon, he would make that happen.

A/N: I added more to this chapter than I had originally written, but I'm still a little surprised at how short it turned out. Anyway, this isn't the end, even though I might have made it sound like it. I still plan on packing a few more chapters in before concluding this story. I will say, however, that I do no plan on making it anywhere near as long as my Sailor Moon chapter fic. It should still be a good length, though. Well, that's all for now! R&R please! Ja ne!