A/N: Moshi moshi, mi-na! I'm starting to think there is something up with this story. It seems that every time I upload a chapter, few MONTHS go by without an update. Mind you, there are various underlying factors that have prevented me from doing so (lack of ideas being one of them), but still, this bugs me. I do try to update, though. Anyway, since I've kept all of you on a cliffhanger for far too long, here's the fic!

Disclaimer: I think the series would be much more yaoi filled if I had the rights to it.

Inuyasha and Miroku: Warriors, Friends, Lovers

Chapter 8: Sesshomaru's Second Attempt Part 2: Retrieval

Miroku woke up feeling groggy with a throbbing headache.

"Ugh…" he groaned.

As his eyes adjusted themselves, he saw that he was in a large, dark room.

Where am I? he asked himself.

From what he could tell with the lack of lighting, the room was decorated with highly valuable ornaments, paintings, and furniture from around the world. The comfy bed he was currently laying on had to cost somewhere in the millions of yen. Without a doubt, it was a room suited for a king.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, all the events from the night before came flooding back.

"Sesshomaru!" he hollered and got up to go search for his captor. He was about to leave the room when he bumped into a tall, solid figure standing in the doorway.

"Is there something you need, monk?" the figure which revealed itself to be the demon lord in question asked.

"Yes, I do. I need you to let me go," Miroku answered sternly.

"I'm afraid that's not a service I can provide. Are you hungry?"

"Let me out of here. If you don't do it by will, I will have to force you to do it."

"Ah, monk, so valiant even when your in a no-win situation. It's one of the reasons I like you. However, as much as I do not want to harm you, I will if need be."

Miroku jumped back and raised his staff, then charged at the youkai. Sesshomaru caught his staff and used his poison to melt it, then kicked Miroku back and threw the gob of liquid metal on the floor.

"My staff!" the monk cried.

"As you can see, you are in no position to fight me. Now, like I've already said, I will not harm you provided you do not try to attack me or make an escape. I promise that you will be treated very well here, much better than you would have been treated on the outside of this castle. Every night you will eat delicious meals, bath in the finest, most soothing baths, and sleep in a comfortable bed with thousand thread count sheets."

"I don't want any of that! I want…"

"What? That hanyou? What can he offer you that I can't?"

Miroku thought about it for a moment before responding. "Love- something that I doubt you are capable of feeling," he said.

"I have already determined that I am in love with you. Do not try and tell me what I am and am not capable of feeling."

Realizing that his argument was going nowhere, Miroku heaved a heavy sigh and tried once again to get past his captor. Sesshomaru grabbed him by the arms and leaned in for a hungry kiss that he couldn't break no matter how much he resisted.

"I think I'll leave you here for now, monk," Sesshomaru said shutting the door and locking Miroku inside.

The monk almost crumpled to the floor in shame. Not only was he unable to get his lover's number one enemy next to Naraku off of him, the kiss was filled with nothing but lust so far as he could tell. He hoped that Inuyasha and his friends were able to save him before Sesshomaru marked him for life…

-Scene Change-

"C'mon, what are you guys doin'? Pick up the pace!"

In his haste to get Miroku back, Inuyasha had been running at a frantic pace for the past three hours, while the Kagome, Sango, and Shippo rode on Kirara behind him. Unfortunately, the cat demon had a nasty cold and was tiring out quicker than she would normally.

"What do you expect us to do, Inuyasha? I understand that you want to get to Miroku as soon as possible, but Kirara has a cold and we're not able to keep up with you on our own," Sango just barely got out without shouting at her friend.

"Sango's right, Inuyasha," Kagome said in a calm voice. "You just have to trust that nothing bad will happen to Miroku before we get there."

"Nothing bad? Nothing bad? What the hell are you thinking? It's my brother, of course something bad is going to happen! We don't have any time to waste!" Inuyasha yelled, his mind still clouded by thoughts of Miroku being harmed, or worse, dying.

Kagome could only look at her best friend sadly. She couldn't imagine what he could be going through, and she knew the only thing that would make him feel any better was getting Miroku back. Until then, he would remain as he was- panicked, angry, and frustrated.

-Scene Change-

Since Sesshomaru had left him, Miroku could do little more than think, both about his predicament and his captor. To his surprise, the latter of the two ended up taking up most of his thoughts.

Why would someone so cold-hearted as Sesshomaru say he was in love with anyone, much less a human? Did this mean that he wasn't as stony as he seemed? There was Rin, the little girl he had taken under his wing despite his disdain for the whole human race. He seemed to love her like a father would. So did that mean he could also love someone like a soul mate would? Were his intentions toward Miroku entirely what he made them out to be? Miroku couldn't seem to answer this question.

At that moment, Sesshomaru decided to enter the room. He strode over to the bedside on which Miroku was laying and sat down next to him with an almost serene look in his eyes.

Well this is certainly different, thought Miroku.

"I believe I scared you earlier, at least to some extent," the demon lord started. "That was not my intention. I do not want you to love me out of fear- I want you to love me in the exact same way you love that hanyou. I am not sure what that way is, but I do know that the light I saw in your eyes when you were talking about him is something that I want to see in your eyes when talking about me. Right now, all I see fear and hatred."

Sesshomaru leaned in slower this time and placed a gentle kiss on Miroku's lips.

"I will leave you now. If you are hungry, there is supper ready for you downstairs that can be heated whenever you desire."

Sesshomaru once again left the room, leaving Miroku stunned.

Maybe he really does love me… he thought.

-Scene Change-

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru!"

Sesshomaru looked toward the direction of the voice and saw Rin running up to him.

"What is it, Rin?"

"It's Inuyasha! He and his friends are trying to break into the castle!"

"What?"

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru, I saw them breaking through the front gates."

"I will go take care of this. Stay here."

-Scene Change-

Sesshomaru jumped down to the large front yard of his castle from the roof and drew his sword.

"There you are!" his brother screamed at him. "Give Miroku back!"

"No chance."

The youkai dashed at the speed of light toward Inuyasha, drawing his Tokijin. In turn, Inuyasha charged and him and unsheathed his Tetsaiga. The two swords clashed and wind encircled the adversaries. They both were charging their ultimate attacks when they heard a male voice shouting at them to stop. Looking over their shoulders with one eye, they saw Miroku running toward them. Hesitantly, they sheathed their swords.

How did he manage to get past my guards? Sesshomaru thought, making plans to kill his obviously incompetent henchmen.

There was a strange fire in the monk's eyes that matched the one Inuyasha had in his eyes when he was fighting to get his lover a few moments ago, a fact that Sesshomaru didn't fail to notice. The fire showed love, passion, and the need to protect a mate- that's right, a mate. As much as he hated to admit it, Sesshomaru could see that the two were kindred spirits who were practically mates already without having gone through the mating ceremony. In the demon world, it is unsaid law that no demon tries to get in between another demon and his or her mate. Because of this, and the fact that he was a proud demon lord, Sesshomaru decided to back off.

Looking into the eyes of his once love standing in front of his half-brother, he said, "I shall no longer interfere."

"What?" Kagome gasped, more than a little surprised.

"I did not believe these two to be true mates. However, when I saw a special fire in their eyes today that only kindred spirits possess. In the demon world, one does not get in between mates, no matter how in love he or she is with one of them. Therefore, I shall no longer pursue the monk."

Everyone was silent. Miroku stepped out from in front of Inuyasha and went to his side, clasping their hands together. He could tell that his lover was still suspicious of his brother's honesty, so he squeezed his hand and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru," he said, no anger present in his voice.

"There is no need to thank me. I am not doing this as a favor to you or your partner."

"I know, but I want to thank you anyway."

Sesshomaru merely went 'hn,' then returned to his castle.

"Are you okay? That bastard didn't do anything to you, did he?" Inuyasha asked his lover, slight panic still present in his voice.

"I'm fine, Inuyasha. Let's just return to Kaede village and finish making the wedding plans."

The group nodded and headed back to finish up all the preparations for the upcoming ceremony.

A/N: Yays! Done! I just realized that throughout this whole fic I made Miroku pretty helpless, even in this chapter. Sorry to everyone who was looking for a little role-reversal. Only two chapters left to go! Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to R&R! Ja ne!