XLIII

Sancta Simplicitas

Kagome wakes early the next morning, not alone – there are always a few pups snuggled into her bed somewhere – but without Kouga behind her. She is disappointed, but also a little pleased; she needs some time to get her head on straight and try to figure out what this thing is that is growing between her and Kouga.

She is aware that if she were in her own time she would never get away with something as intimate as sleeping in a boy's bed, that she is crossing dangerous lines with good night kisses and good morning kisses - with kisses in general, really.
At the same time, despite the recommendations of good sense, she has no desire to stop; wants more, not less, even though she knows that it is far too soon to give in to such wants. She knows that he desires her; she's felt the hardness of his arousal prodding her back in the night, in the early morning; she's tasted needs and desires in those kisses, more and more frequent.

She's said nothing – because what is there to say? It would be awkward, and truth be told she likes the attention. She likes knowing that he wants her – that he finds her desirable, that his body reacts to her...

Kagome's cheeks flush and grow warm, and she tries to push the thoughts from her head. What is she doing! Kouga is the one who saved her...the one who is taking care of her despite the fact that she's mostly useless.

"Like a baby – I have to learn everything from the beginning -"

She gnaws at her lower lip and contemplates her limited knowledge.

"I don't know anything about hunting, or tracking, or tactics, or how to do things in the wild...I can barely make a campfire with matches."

Kagome lets her head thump back against the fur that serves as her pillow, and sighs a little.

"Well at least I can shoot the hama no ya, a nice miracle that was. And I can help Kouga if there's fighting, I suppose; he'll need me, if more youkai with shards attack."

Her quiet musing are interrupted by a yawn, and Kagome looks up and sees Kouga; he looks tired, and the yawn is his, and she's surprised by this. He sleeps with her sometimes but she's never seen him show any sign of fatigue. He crosses the room swiftly and slips behind her, and it is reflex now to turn and press her lips against his mouth, to rub her cheek against his cheek.

"Good morning, Kouga."

"Morning, Kagome."

His fingers stroke her cheek and then slip down her arm and hook around her waist. She falls back against his side and rolls into his embrace, and Kouga pushes her bangs out of her eyes and then leans against her with a sigh.

"That was a long night; I'm glad you're still in bed."

Kagome blinks at him.

"Long night?"

"It was the first night of the full moon last night; a running night. We went far to the north, and found someone interesting while we were out there. Well -"

Kouga grins.

"At least I think he's interesting."

Kagome smiles and shrugs as much as she can in Kouga's arms.

"So when do I get to met this interesting person, Kouga?"

Her eyes close, and she breathes his warmth. Kouga smiles, and she doesn't see the feral nature of it, the fangs that gleam down at her. She feels only his arms tightening around her and the warmth of the furs.

"You can meet him later, if you want to. He'll be alive at least until I wake up again."

"Ali...what?"

His eyes are already closed. He moves down at nuzzles against her throat.

"Later, Kagome. Sleep with me now, for a little while."

"I was just asleep, you know -"

"Just -"

He yawns.

"Just a little while."

His arms tighten around her, and Kagome wiggles to make herself comfortable.

"Alright. A little while."

Despite herself, Kagome dozes off before he does.

Well, I guess this is the penalty for staying up two nights in a row with those women, but what man could resist? Still, it's a bit of a hassle. Not a total loss, though, at least I'm still alive.

In a dark, damp chamber of the wolves den, Miroku sits tied with leather thongs at the wrist and ankle. He had fallen asleep against his tree, and the wolves had found him there, had smelled the scent of his fire or the scent of a lone human in the woods. Belatedly, he had realized that his danger was inevitable; that he should have at least climbed a tree, or found a more defensible position.

They'd caught him without trying, before he could even think about fighting back. The leader – the big wolf, who had become the cocky blue-eyed bastard with the insufferable smirk - had scented out the shikon shards that Miroku had hidden in his robe, and taken them away. He'd been brought here, tied up and dropped in the darkness...but he hadn't been searched other than for the shards, and Miroku hadn't survived this long without having a few literal tricks up his sleeves.

When he has been alone for nearly an hour, and the sounds from outside have faded to silence, Miroku wiggles his arm until the tiny blade he keeps in a sheath on his forearm drops out of place and into the cupped palm of his left hand. A little at a time he wiggles the edge of the blade into contact with the leather thongs that bind him, and then begins to saw at them, back and forth.

A little at a time, the thongs part and come free. Miroku stretches, and rubs some life back into his arms, and then bends and cuts the bonds holding his ankles. Slowly at first, then with some vigor, Miroku stands and stretches again. He wants his shikon shards back, mostly because it isn't be safe for that wolf to keep them, but also because he needs a lure, something to draw his old enemy to him.

"I suppose I'll have to take them back."

Miroku grins, and grips his right hand tightly around the beads that still his fearful power.

"They caught me unawares, last time – this time they've got no idea what they're dealing with!"

The guard outside is easy to dispose of. One hard strike to the back of the neck and he falls to the ground without a sound; Miroku finds his staff beside the fallen guard in a niche and takes it. He stills the jangling rings with one hand and turnsto face the empty passage in front of him.

"It would help if I knew which way was out -"

He shrugs and sighs and turns back and forth. Right – left – right -

He takes the left hand passage, and unwittingly moves deeper into the den.

A/N: And there you have it my dears, after a long bit of waiting, for which I apologize, we are now back on track for daily updates. My old laptop died, and this new one only arrived the day before yesterday; it took a while to get all the files and fwooms transferred, but all is well now as you can see! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; the title, "Sancta Simplicitas", translates to "Holy Innocence". A bit of pun, really...because Kagome is thinking of moving out of her innocence and Miroku...well. We all know that the meaning of hentai lives on in him. See you tomorrow, and

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