InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sachi ❯ Shogi ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

“Are you planning on hiding in this tree forever? Because it’s going to get very uncomfortable once the snow finally starts falling. And as cold as it gets up here, even a hanyou like yourself will feel it.”

Ten minutes. It had taken ten minutes for Miroku to break his silence. Ten minutes of doing nothing but staring up at his employer’s perch in the branches. His manager had gone to all the trouble of searching through the forest to find his favorite spots…and then he just stood there for ten long, annoying minutes of disconcerting, expectant silence. Damn monk.

He didn’t respond.

“You’ve been up there all day. Even you must be getting tired of it.” A pause, and still no response. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

He grunted, but otherwise ignored the offhand comment. He had one booted foot propped negligently along the thick branch that was his seat, while the other hung loose in the air. He was on his fourth tree of the day, his butt had gone numb about two hours ago, the temperature was dropping in rapid proportion to the fading of the sunlight, and still he felt no inclination to move. He just continued to stare into the cold, darkening sky.

The pale threads of light still remaining were of the faintest blends of pink and orange, dotted sporadically with the first bright pinpoints of the night. It was one of the things he liked best about Hokkaido. The clarity of the skies; the untamed wildness of nature here. It was so different from Tokyo--so different from the crazy patterns and fast-paced rhythms of the city. The peace and simplicity were things he craved.

Miroku waited a few moments, then sighed and leaned his back against the trunk of the tree companionably. “She’s a good cook. Kagome, I mean.”

His jaw clenched. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about her.

She was haunting him.

In the several days since their little encounter in the kitchen, he’d been doing his absolute best to ignore her. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to get away from her. Somehow, everywhere he went, she was there, smiling gently and asking little questions--offering a snack in the kitchen, a drink in the storage room, or watching him while he finished fixing the latest broken fixture in the bath. Even outside, as she was hanging the laundry while it was still warm enough to do so during the day without the cloth freezing, he felt her eyes following him.

And even when she wasn’t there, her godsdamned scent was. Her extremely unique smell was starting to linger in all the passageways, gathering in all the common areas as she left her touch on Sachi. It was driving him nuts.

He’d retreated to the forest for a little reprieve after he’d run into her this morning. She’d been on her way to the bath--disheveled hair tumbling around her shoulders, eyes drowsy with sleep, dressed in nothing but her yukata--and she’d still had the nerve to give him a warm, if somewhat self-conscious, smile. And she’d smelled so damned good. He scowled at the memory. Who the fuck takes a bath in the morning? She couldn’t take it at night, like normal people did after a hard day’s work?

Never mind the fact that the only reason he’d run into her was because he was on his way out of the men’s bath. He always washed early in the morning--an effort on his part to avoid the people who came later in the day. Everyone knew that.

Seriously, the bitch was haunting him.

“We’re having nabemono tonight. I don’t know what she and Kaede have put in it, but it smells absolutely delicious.”

He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated tone. Yeah, ok. He was hungry. He’d been away from Sachi all day. So what? It wasn’t like he was planning on starving.

“You really should try her food fresh, you know. I’m sure it tastes even better around the table with friends than it does sitting alone with a reheated bowl at midnight.”

His brows snapped into a frown, and he shifted from his comfortable slump to stare down at his friend. “Do you actually want something?”

Dark violet eyes drifted up as Miroku’s head tilted back against the rough bark. “I want you to get over it and stop sulking.”

“I’m not sulking.” Unfortunately, his tone was in direct contradiction to his words. He internalized a wince, and fell quiet for a moment before speaking in a much more rational voice. “You can’t tell me you trust her.”

Miroku sighed again, this time long and heavy. “Trust her? Honestly, I don’t know. But I can tell you that if she isn’t who she says she is, then the only way to find out why she’s here is to get to know her better. We’ll never find out anything by hiding.”

“I’m not hiding!” Again, he was using that petulant tone, and this time he couldn’t prevent his grimace. Damn. I sound like a fucking six-year-old.

“Uh-huh.” Deep violet eyes rolled. “Prove it. Eat dinner with us.” He considered for half a moment. “And after that, a few of the chairs in the front living room may have developed a…um…wobble.”

He blinked. A wobble? “Keh!” He scowled. Everything had been fine this morning. “What? You can’t function without me for one day? What happened?”

Amusement colored his manager’s tone. “Shippou decided that since you weren’t around, it would be ok to experiment with lighting the fireplace with his kitsune-bi. His aim was a little off.”

“What?!” He sat up straight.

Miroku chuckled. “It’s ok. We managed to put out the fire before it did too much damage--although, foxfire isn’t quite the same as regular fire, which was interesting. I had to pull out a few old tricks to get it all out.” He paused. “Kagome and Kaede patched up the all the burns, and everyone is fine. We’re giving everyone a free night’s stay to make up for the scare.” He sounded less than happy with that last bit.

InuYasha settled back against the tree, shaking his head. A wobble, huh? “That little brat.” What a pain. Then he sighed. “Oi, Miroku.”

“Hmm?”

He waited for a few moments, making sure he wanted to ask before he spoke. “What do you think of her?”

The answering silence told him he’d succeeded in surprising his friend with the question. Miroku’s dark, indigo gaze studied the ground at his feet, tracing absently over the slanted, rocky mixture of grass, twigs, and earth. “I think…that I’m surprised by how much I like her. I thought…I expected I’d have a hard time with her--looking as she does. But…most of the time, I don’t even think about it. I don’t feel uneasy with her at all.” He looked back at InuYasha, who was frowning--not scowling, but frowning--seriously, thoughtfully. His volume lowered. “Of course, I imagine it’s different for you. After all, you were the one who was directly involved. I only watched from the sidelines.”

His lip curled slightly. “Feh. You never even liked her.”

“No. I was never quite…comfortable with her. There was always something off about….” Miroku shrugged a little deeper into the fleece of his jacket and shifted uncomfortably, leaving the rest of his words unsaid. He didn’t have to say them. They hung in the air as if someone had shouted them to echo off the surrounding mountains.

InuYasha bit back a snarl at the reminder. His fingers dug into the rough wood beneath him and he pushed back the memories, unwilling to deal with them at the moment. “And Kagome?”

Miroku’s hands stuffed into his pockets as he blew out a breath, watching the resulting cloud of moisture as it floated through the freezing air. “I wish I could tell for sure. She’s a hard worker. I don’t sense anything amiss about her--and she certainly is beautiful…but alas, beauty doesn’t always reveal truth. Although…. Perhaps if I were allowed to touch--” A sharp growl cut him off, and he cleared his throat. “Yes, well…. You said she’s not lying--has that changed?”

Irritated, he shook his head. “Don’t you think I would have said something if it had?”

In response, the other man pushed away from the tree, glancing up as he straightened from his slouch. “Well, then. Nothing more to do except keep on with what we’re doing. I, for one, am glad for our mysterious visitor. I’m extremely interested to see what happens next. It’s been getting kind of boring around here recently.” He turned to walk away. “You really should come to dinner.”

He growled again.

Miroku’s dark head gave a fatalistic tilt as he started making his way back down the steep ground, heading for where the Sachi sat nestled into the side of the mountain. “Suit yourself.” Then he shook his head, his expression mournful. “I never thought I’d see the day that you let a face scare you into hiding.”

“I’m not fucking hiding!” He yelled--but Miroku was already rapidly being swallowed up by the surrounding trees. He glanced back up at the sky, now a deep hue of purple, before murmuring to himself and the surrounding foliage. “It’s not her face that bothers me.”

************************************************************* *********

It was a surprise to everyone but Miroku when InuYasha joined them in the kitchen only a few minutes after they’d started eating. Conversation stopped as everyone paused in what they were doing. Shippou’s chopsticks hung in the air halfway to his mouth. Miroku glanced up from his contemplation of his food. Kaede’s hands hesitated in the act of smoothing out the napkin in her lap. Kagome simply blinked, halfway through the act of serving herself rice, a twist of nerves and the sudden impact of his presence making her feel clumsy.

All eyes turned to stare as the sliding doors scraped open and a disgruntled-looking hanyou stepped inside on a draft of chill air--feet bare, boots abandoned out on the porch.

He stopped when he found himself the center of attention, then glared in the general direction of the table, where all four of the Sachi’s staff had gathered around the large clay pot that held their dinner. “What?”

Shippou, sitting on a stack of books that had been placed on his chair so that he could comfortably reach his bowl, blinked wide green eyes. “It’s about time you showed up. Where’ve you been all day anyway?”

He snorted, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it over the countertop. “Out.”

“Humph.” Shippou gave an indignant frown and crossed his arms, only narrowly missing poking himself in the face with his chopsticks. “Some boss you are--vanishing without telling anyone, being unreachable for an entire day. What if something happened?”

Golden eyes sliced to the little youkai. “You mean something like some idiot setting a living room on fire?” A growl underlined his words.

Shippou’s impudence dropped away as he realized too late that bringing attention to himself was a mistake. He shrank back, trying to hide behind his bowl. “Eep! It was an accident, I swear…” He paused, then peered defensively over the food. “Who told you, anyway?” His eyes narrowed at Miroku, who sat in the chair next to his. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Miroku looked up with an innocent expression. “You mean I wasn’t supposed to? And here I thought that was part of a manager’s job.”

Shippou gave him a pathetic look. “You didn’t have to tell him right away!”

“Tch.” InuYasha grabbed a bowl of his own, then gave the little youkai a sharp rap to the side of his head as he took the seat beside him, completely ignoring the wail that resulted from the physical reprimand. Kagome winced for him. “I would have known the second I came anywhere near Sachi anyway. It reeks of smoke.” He scowled. “Dammit, Shippou, how many times have I told you to keep that shit in the forest? With all the wood everywhere, this place is a fucking tinderbox.”

He was already reaching for the food as he spoke. His head turned to follow the movement of his hand…and he froze as, for the first time since their slightly awkward encounter that morning, gold connected with gray over the clay pot in the center of the table.

Kagome found she couldn’t move, as if someone had paralyzed all the muscles in her body. She couldn’t even blink. His eyes…they were regarding her with the same peculiar intensity that they’d held that morning when he’d nearly run into her on her way to the bath. It had been a bit of a shock--the only thought in her head had been to get clean, since she’d been so tired she’d skipped her bath last night. When she woke up earlier than normal, feeling grimy and dirty, she’d decided to use the extra time to her advantage.

She honestly hadn’t expected to run into him coming out of the bath. The sight of him--dressed only in a yukata similar in style to hers, damp hair clinging down his back and along his shoulders, a shade darker than its normal white-silver--lingered with crystal clarity in her mind. She’d frozen this morning, too--stopped breathing, stopped moving, stopped thinking. She’d simply stood there in the quiet of the hallway as his eyes had drifted over her body with the same look they held now. She’d thought--or maybe imagined?--that she’d heard a growl. Then, to her surprise and dismay, he had turned away from her and stormed off.

All day, the incident had been intruding on her thoughts, random instances that rose up to distract when she wasn’t paying attention. All day, she’d been alternating between worry that she’d offended him, and indignation at his rudeness. And now…he was back, and he was staring at her again. Delicately, she swallowed, trying to settle the urge to squirm as her stomach knotted. From the slight shift of his gaze to her throat, she knew he hadn’t missed it.

For a scant second, neither of them moved--a hesitation not missed by one of the people sitting around the table with them. Miroku exchanged looks with Kaede, while Shippou just eyed the two curiously.

Oblivious to the interaction around them, and desperately fighting a blush, Kagome offered him a little smile. “Welcome home.”

At the greeting, he blinked; then he seemed to give himself a mental shake and shrugged. “I wasn’t gone that long.” Ignoring the slight frown that flickered through her gaze at his reply, he reached out and started grabbing meat and vegetables from the soup in the pot.

“Just all day.” Shippou decided that since InuYasha’s focus had shifted to food, he was safe to join in once again. “What were you doing, anyway?”

He rolled his eyes in obvious irritation. “Thinking up creative ways to punish young arsonists,” he groused.

Miroku raised an eyebrow and Kaede chuckled as Shippou’s head immediately swooped back down over his food. Kagome bit her lip to hold in a smile, and picked up her chopsticks. “It really isn’t that bad, you know. You can hardly tell that anything was burnt.”

“Indeed. Except for the two chairs that no one can sit on, the burn marks on the floor, and the persistent, lingering smell of smoke.” Miroku picked up his cup and shot a displeased look at the kitsune. “And then, of course, there are the Amigawas, who will be enjoying our hospitality for free tonight, thanks to some burns on their hands.” Shippou gave a squeak, and--for lack of anything better to do--started shoveling food into his mouth.

“Only slight burns, though,” Kagome added quickly, watching Shippou with some concern as he plucked up yet another slice of radish to add to his already stuffed cheeks. “They didn’t even require bandages.”

InuYasha gave another snort, eyeing the kit as he swallowed without chewing and nearly choked. “Oi, Shippou, be careful. If you die, you won’t be able to work off the damages.”

Shippou’s eyes rounded, and his chopsticks paused in his bowl. “W-work…off?”

Miroku gave a benign smile, brushing casually at the loose cuff of his dress shirt. “Don’t worry, Shippou. I’m sure it won’t be too bad. He’ll probably just put you on garbage disposal duty, or maybe roof repair--you know how it‘s been leaking.” His smile only widened when another choking sound emitted from the kit’s throat. “Nothing too difficult, I’m sure.”

The hanyou scowled and poked at his food. “Actually, I was thinking I’d lock him in the women’s bath until he’s cleaned it--with a toothbrush.”

Shippou paled, then glanced down at his food. His face suddenly seemed to take on a peculiar tinge of green.

Kagome almost choked herself. InuYasha sounded grim, and his expression looked sincerely furious. The idea that little Shippou could clean the women’s bath all by himself was patently absurd, yet he’d sounded so serious when he’d said it. If he hadn’t given himself away with the quick, sarcastic glance at the culprit, she might have believed him.

Poor Shippou obviously did.

Amusement welled in her throat, and she looked down, concentrating on her food. From the corner of her eye, the quick, twitching movement of one white ear caught her attention, and she looked up to find him staring at her again.

She gave him a tiny grin. His scowl didn’t budge…but for just an instant, she thought she saw a softening in his gaze….

Kaede chuckled again. “The possibility appears to be disturbing Shippou’s digestive system. Perhaps we should drop the subject of punishment until after our meal?”

And just like that, the brief hint of humor was gone. Swallowing her disappointment, Kagome returned her focus to her meal.

****************************************************************** ****

“Oi! That’s cheating, you bastard!”

“I assure you that move is perfectly legal. We have the rule book right here. Look it up if you like.”

A snort sounded, and then a disgruntled, “You’d find a way to cheat even if it wasn’t cheating.”

A put-upon sigh. “I’m hurt at the insinuation. I truly am. It’s not my fault you don’t remember half the rules of the game.”

“I know the damn rules,” came the dark reply.

“Actually, Miroku’s right, InuYasha. That move is legal.”

“Be quiet, runt!”

Out in the hallway, having just finished helping Kaede with the dishes and the cleaning for the night, Kagome paused, then smiled. She wondered if they were still playing the same game of shogi that they’d started almost an hour ago.

That had been interesting.

As soon as dinner had finished, InuYasha had headed for the doors, obviously intent on returning to his seclusion outside. Kagome had watched him go regretfully, figuring she wouldn’t see him again for at least another day. Miroku had surprised her, though, by stopping the hanyou with a casual challenge--which he had promptly rebuked. But to Kagome’s amazement, all it had taken was a few careful insinuations from Miroku, and some (rather unwise) outright taunts from Shippou before all three males of the Sachi had moved over to the empty dining room located one hallway over. The guests usually ate there, but the few they had at the moment had decided to eat in Sounkyo tonight.

“Check. Again.”

“Just shut up!”

“What? I’m supposed to tell you when you’re in check, you know.”

It sounded like the game wasn’t going so well for InuYasha--just as Shippou had promised it wouldn’t.

Pressing her lips together curiously, she walked the few steps to the entrance. She stopped just outside the open doors, blinking at the newest wooden sign on the wall.

‘Warning: Wood = Fire. In case of emergency, seek out the nearest Miroku’.

An involuntary grin curved her lips at the sudden memory of Miroku, looking slightly burned, slightly triumphant, and more than slightly irritated after the fire earlier that afternoon. She shook her head, marveling that Shippou actually had the guts to put something like that up for anyone to see.

Drawing a deep breath, Kagome peeked her head around the corner. The dining room was a small, square room, with painted walls, tatami matting, and low wooden tables. The only seats consisted of large, cushioned pillows grouped around the tables for guests to sit or kneel on. InuYasha and Miroku had set up their game on the table farthest to the right, near the shoji door that opened out onto another hallway on the other side of the room.

The two men sat opposite each other--Miroku with an arm propped casually on the table, InuYasha sitting cross-legged with his hands pressing down against either knee--both with their sleeves pushed up around their elbows, both staring intently at the pieces dotting randomly across the board. Or rather, Miroku stared. InuYasha glared. Shippou sat on top of the table and off to the side, alternating between watching them play, and consulting the small book that sat in his lap.

Still smiling, Kagome stepped inside.

Shippou saw her first, as he glanced up from his book to comment. “Kagome! Are you and Kaede done cleaning? Have you come to watch Miroku crush InuYasha?”

Miroku looked up as well, his expression brightening when he saw her. “Please, come in, Kagome. I always play so much better with a pretty face around.” He hesitated. “Where is Kaede?”

“She’s in the front living room. She said she had some reading she wanted to do.” She walked over and knelt onto a cushion a next to Shippou--which must have put her a bit too close to InuYasha for his liking, because his posture immediately stiffened. “Hello, Shippou. Miroku.” She hesitated. “InuYasha.”

He still didn’t respond. He’d been ignoring her since the topic of conversation at dinner had turned from Shippou to the guests and booking for the upcoming month. He hadn’t said a word to her since the few he’d growled upon his arrival to the kitchen. It was starting to get annoying.

She sighed. And she’d honestly been hoping he’d lighten up after dinner, too.

Giving a slight roll of her eyes, she decided not to let him bother her. For weeks, she’d been trying to get him to relax around her, and the only progress she’d made had been that one night in the kitchen, and--maybe--earlier at the table. If he didn’t want to be her friend, fine. But she had others, and his surliness wouldn’t prevent her from being with them. She turned to Shippou. “What’s the score?”

Shippou shook his head, scooting a bit closer across the table so that he was sitting by her arms. “You don’t keep score with shogi. You either win or you lose.”

Kagome blinked. “Oh. Well then, who’s--”

A growl interrupted stopped the words in her throat. Her eyes widened as she took a sidelong glance at the hanyou a few feet away from her. Shippou just smirked. “So far, InuYasha’s been in check four times. Right now, Miroku has more of InuYasha’s pieces in play than InuYasha does of Miroku’s. It’s InuYasha’s turn, but I don’t expect much.”

Kagome nodded, not really sure what that meant, other than Miroku was winning…she thought.

Miroku seemed to understand her uncertainty, because he grinned. “He’s putting up a good fight, though. He’s had me in check twice now. Not many people are able to come back and check me after I’ve put them in check once, much less multiple times.”

Feeling completely lost, she studied the board and the seemingly haphazard arrangement of flat, wedge-shaped pieces. Each piece was painted with various Japanese characters--representing their uses in the game, she was sure--most of which were black, although a few were red. As she watched, InuYasha reached out and moved another piece, flipping it over to reveal a red version.

“Oooo.” Shippou looked down at his book and flipped a few pages. “He promoted his bishop. That was actually a smart move--especially for InuYasha.”

Golden eyes flashed over in an irritated glance. “How many times have I told you to shut it, brat?”

Shippou blinked at him thoughtfully. “I don’t know. More times than I can remember.”

“And you’re still talking.”

“I know.” Shippou nodded, readily agreeing to the gritted comment. “You’d really think you’d learn to stop wasting your breath. Pretty stupid, if you ask me.”

With another growl, the hanyou made a swipe for the kitsune, but Shippou had already leapt behind Kagome, and was peeking around the scarf that she’d used to restrain the hair coming loose from her braid. Kagome found herself staring in surprise at wide golden eyes. She blinked. Almost reflexively, he blinked back, then turned away with a snort, anger disarmed.

Miroku watched from the other side of the table as he reached out and casually placed and extra piece on the board. InuYasha frowned at the move, and Kagome jumped when Shippou crowed. “Hah. Another drop. Now Miroku is in a much better position to take out some of InuYasha’s more powerful pieces.”

Kagome felt her brow furrow. “Drop?”

Miroku smiled at her. “A term used to describe a move in the game. It’s basically one player taking an opposing player’s captured piece and making it his own piece by putting it back on the board.”

“Oh.” That…actually made sense.

Shippou leapt from the table to the top of her head, landing so lightly she almost didn’t feel him. He leaned over a bit. “Kagome, don’t you know anything about shogi?”

“How the hell is she supposed to know that, runt? She doesn’t remember anything before the Sachi.”

Surprised, Kagome glanced over at the hanyou. It was only the second comment he’d made today that even acknowledged her presence. His gaze remained firmly fixed on the game.

She sighed again. “I don’t know, Shippou. I don’t…think so. It doesn’t feel familiar.”

“Oh?” Miroku once again looked up from his turn, focusing his dark eyes on Kagome. “Would you like to learn?”

She blinked at him. “Learn? Me?”

Shippou jumped down to the table so he could look her in the face. His blond pouf of a tail waggled with excitement. “Yeah! We could teach you, Kagome. You’re bound to be a better player than that hanyou is.”

A snarl sounded, and before he could react, he was snatched off the table and found himself dangling in the air, face-to-face with the previously mentioned, thoroughly irate hanyou. “I’ve had it with you, runt!” A swift cuff to the top of his head had the smaller youkai moaning and rubbing his head. When he returned the knock with a defiant glare, he got a second lump to match the first.

Kagome started to protest, but Miroku was already shaking his head. “Don’t start complaining now, Shippou. You’ve had this coming and you know it--you’ve been pushing his buttons all night long.”

Another growl rumbled in InuYasha’s throat. “Just what the hell is your problem, anyway?”

Shippou risked another glare through green eyes edged with tears of pain, indignation in every line of his body. “You’re going to make me clean the women’s bath with a toothbrush! The women’s bath is…filled with women! And it’s huge! I can’t do that all by myself--I’m just a kid!”

Surprise washed over the table. Kagome’s lips parted slightly, and she glanced first at Miroku, who had immediately ducked to hide his expression behind his clasped hands, then to InuYasha. A look of complete astonishment had overtaken the anger on his face as he stared at the child hanging from his hand.

Then his eyes darted to meet her wide ones…and this time she was sure of it. It was plain as day. Humor, a flare of amusement, gleamed in his eyes--a brief acknowledgement that the kitsune was the only one present who didn’t realize that the comment had only been in jest. For just an instant, a feeling of camaraderie mingled in the air between them. Kagome offered him a tiny smile, one she could swear he actually accepted, before his eyes turned away, narrowing back on the kit.

Reaching out, he dropped Shippou back onto the table with an irritated snort. “Keh. Would you rather clean it with your tongue?”

Kagome had yet to see Shippou looked so panicked. Again, she would have protested, thinking the threat cruel when he was already scared; but before she could say anything, Shippou’s eyes went huge, and he got down on his knees and kow-towed repeatedly. “N-no. Please don’t make me do that! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

“Huh.” InuYasha suddenly looked bored, resting an elbow on the table and propping his chin in his hand as he again turned his attention to the game. “Fine. You’re forgiven. But the next time you’re upset over something, don’t fucking take it out on me.”

Shippou’s bowing stopped, and he peeked up at the older youkai. “Really?”

InuYasha didn’t even bother to look back as he responded. “I just said it, didn’t I?”

Shippou sat up for a minute, looking very relieved and slightly thoughtful. “Do I still have to clean the,” he cringed, “women’s bath with a toothbrush?”

An expectant quiet fell among the adults at the table. Kagome bit her lip, but was unwilling to say anything. Miroku gave up trying to hide his reaction, grinning widely and giving a little shake of his head. Still, Shippou just looked at them. Finally, impassive golden eyes rolled. “I was never going to make you clean the bath by yourself, runt.”

Green eyes widened. “Really?”

Miroku gave another chuckle, then reached out and picked up one of the shogi pieces from the board. “You should have just apologized in the first place, Shippou. You know it’s never as bad when you do.” He studied the piece, his hold a little awkward with the stiff grip of his damaged fingers. “I believe the agreed upon punishment was you working for Kaede for the next few weeks.”

“Oh.” Shippou looked so shocked, that Kagome couldn’t resist the grin that curled her lips. Shippou glanced over at her, then back at the two men staring at the board. “Can’t I work for Kagome instead?”

Two sets of eyes--one pale, annoyed amber, one not-so-amused violet--turned as one on Shippou. He shrank back. “Never mind.”

InuYasha ‘keh’d’ while Miroku turned his gaze back to the game. After a moment, he brightened. “InuYasha?”

“Hm?”

The piece was set down on a square with a clack. “I believe that is check and mate.”

“What?” InuYasha straightened, looked carefully at the arranged pieces, then slumped back with a sigh. “Damn.”

Shippou edged back over to the board. “Wow. That makes Miroku’s eighty-third straight victory since we came to the Sachi.”

Kagome had leaned forward to see what a ‘check and mate’ looked like, but his words caught her attention before she could even attempt to decipher the board. She looked down at him. “Straight?” In response, Shippou nodded absently. “You mean InuYasha’s never won a game?”

“Not once.” Miroku grinned, his arms reaching above his head for a stretch. “But don’t think that means he’s a poor shogi player. Like I said, I’ve never had anyone nearly beat me after check before I met InuYasha. He’s just too stubborn to lose easily.” His grin widened. “Of course, he’d be an even better player if he’d learn to strengthen his defense properly instead of focusing so much on offense.”

“Keh.” InuYasha straightened, pushing away from the table and standing in one motion. “You make it sound easy. Damned monk’s been playing his entire life.” He turned away. “Fuck this. I’m going to bed.”

Kagome frowned, suddenly curious about something, but before she could say anything, her attention was drawn by the loud clatter as Miroku cleared the board and began separating the flat pieces into two piles. “Sweet dreams,” he called after the departing hanyou. “As for Kagome and I…the night is still young, so I believe we will have quite the good time learning the art form that is shogi.”

Kagome didn’t see InuYasha pause at the words ‘Kagome and I”, but Shippou did. He smirked, remembering the hanyou’s protectiveness when Kagome had been unable to wake up from her coma. “Yeah. Don’t worry about a thing, InuYasha. Miroku and Kagome will be fine staying up all alone here in the dining room.”

Miroku shifted the board so that it sat diagonally across the table, now facing Kagome. He pushed one of the piles in her direction. “Here. You be white. I’ll be black so that I can go first and show you how it’s done. Let me show you the pieces.”

He picked up a piece and showed her the character on the face. “This is a pawn. It moves one square forward, never back or to the sides. You have nine.” He paused. “I don’t suppose you have ever played Western chess? The concept is similar, but the play is a little different.” At her blank look, he sighed. “Never mind.” He picked up another piece and presented a character. “This is a lance. It moves…” He trailed off, his eyes widening as InuYasha suddenly dropped back onto the pillow that was his seat. “Oh? I thought you were going to bed?”

He was scowling. “Shut up, monk. There’s no way I can trust you alone with her.” He noticed Kagome’s startled gaze, and looked away. “Don’t expect me to help, though. I’m just going to watch.”

“I see.” Shrewd purple eyes turned back to Kagome, amusement glinting in their depths. “Well, then. Shall we continue?” He held up the piece in his hand. “This, is a lance….”

************************************************** ********************

After a few minutes of biting at her lip in thought, Kagome finally made her decision. Reaching out, she plucked up her rook, and moved it three spaces forward.

Off to her right, she heard a derisive snort. “You should have taken out his lance with the knight.”

From her left, a small orange-haired head starting shaking, the short, bow-secured ponytail waving slightly with the movement. “No way, InuYasha. Moving her knight would have left her gold general wide open.”

“But it would have given her a direct line to his king!”

“And left her’s defenseless!” Shippou pointed to the flat tile representing her king, illustrating his point as InuYasha scowled at him. “That was a good move,” he insisted.

InuYasha, having long ago abandoned his stiff seat on the cushion for a more comfortable arm-lean against the table, just turned his scowl on the game between them, waiting to see what Miroku would do.

Kagome sighed and looked across at Miroku, who was doing a very poor job of hiding his grin. Just how in the world did this become a three-on-one tournament?

It had taken about thirty minutes to explain the game and its rules to her. Miroku had made sure she knew each piece and exactly what it did before he explained the game play, with Shippou chiming in every other sentence or so, earning more than a few glares from her self-proclaimed teacher. Then, after they’d been sure she had the rules and pieces straight, he showed her how to set up the board, and they held a practice match.

InuYasha, true to his word, had done nothing but watch while she learned the mechanics. She knew, because she’d felt his gaze on her the whole time. He’d watched her as she separated her pieces by name, watched her set them out on the board, watched her as she moved each one according to its abilities.

His scrutiny made her nervous and excited all at the same time. She found the rules and the game interesting, and she really felt like she was learning something new--a rarity, as for the past few weeks she’d spent the majority of her actions feeling as if she was simply reviewing something she should already know. A sporting flush warmed her cheeks at the challenge and the proximity. InuYasha sat only about a foot away, and a ticklish shiver--faint, like a soft, warm breath--moved in a steady drift along her spine, a constant reminder of his presence beside her as the game play advanced and her confidence grew.

Of course, it hadn’t started out so smoothly. Shippou had disagreed vehemently with her first move, and Miroku concurred, explaining why, and showing what might be a better one. After which, Shippou had disagreed with his suggestion, and he and Miroku gotten into a ‘discussion’ over what her first move should actually be, and why.

After a few minutes and no clear decision from either the kitsune or the manager, Kagome had been absolutely shocked to feel the pawn in question plucked from her fingers and smacked onto the board--exactly where she had originally intended to put it. She jumped, her head jerking around swiftly to stare at InuYasha. He’d scooted his pillow over some, and was sitting closer than before, jean-clad legs and bare feet crossed beneath him, a look of exasperation on his face. “Oi, idiots. If you wanna help her learn, help her learn during play. She won’t learn anything if you never let her start playing.”

The arguing had stopped abruptly, and Miroku and Shippou exchanged identically sheepish looks before turning back to the game. Kagome gave InuYasha a small smile--which he’d ignored--then watched as Miroku made his next move, explaining what he was doing and why.

It had actually been fun, taking the time to think out every move, trying to remember what each piece did, and listening carefully as Miroku, Shippou, and eventually even InuYasha had vocalized varying opinions on strategy.

Somewhere along the way, though, their friendly ‘practice match’ of a game had become a serious test of skills. Somehow, in between debates, both InuYasha and Shippou had become invested in helping her beat Miroku. As the game progressed, and it actually appeared that they might have a chance at winning, play was becoming louder and louder as her two ‘advisors’ argued more vehemently over each move.

And currently, she was caught--quite literally--right in the middle.

“Why should she listen to you, anyway? You’ve never won a game against Miroku!”

Golden eyes narrowed at the kitsune across the board. “Have you ever even played a game against Miroku?”

“Well….” Shippou paused to think, but didn’t let the question deter him for long. “No. But I’ve watched plenty of them!”

“Tch. Since when does watching make you an expert?”

Miroku reached out and took another one of her pawns with one of his. “Shippou is very observant, InuYasha. Years ago, for instance, he was the first one to notice that you always move your left knight before your right one--which, if the right pieces are in place, leaves you wide open to attack.”

“What?” InuYasha started, then glanced from the board to Miroku to confirm he was telling the truth. He glared at Shippou. “And you never said anything to me?”

Shippou shrugged, still studying the board now that it was Kagome’s turn again. “You never asked.” He pointed again. “Kagome, you should use your rook again.”

InuYasha frowned at Shippou, then looked back at the board. “Oh, but Miroku did?” He shook his head. “No, she should move that pawn next.”

“Yeah, he did. It’s not my fault you don’t care enough to try and find out your weaknesses.” Shippou scoffed. “The pawn! What good would that do? They would only end up exchanging pieces!”

“It’s not that he doesn’t care. More like he doesn’t realize.” After taking in the set-up, Miroku spoke up again. “Actually, Shippou, that’s a better move than it looks like. It gives her both a pawn to drop in later, and a better position on the board.”

“And leaves her with a possible gap in defense!”

“Which she can always supplement by dropping a few pieces back on the board,” Miroku countered.

Shippou frowned while InuYasha smirked. “See, Shippou? Even the monk says I’m right.”

Kagome blinked, trying to follow the discussion/argument--as two different ones seemed to be in progress at once--then decided the best course would be to follow InuYasha’s advice. As she pushed the pawn up a space, she absently addressed a question that had been on her mind for some time now. “Why does InuYasha call Miroku ‘monk’ so much of the time?”

An abrupt, tension-filled silence was her answer.

Startled, Kagome looked up. The owner and manager of the Sachi had both gone very still--Miroku’s hand actually hung frozen in the air above the board--and were exchanging a strange, speaking look. A glance at Shippou showed the little youkai‘s head tipped down, his hair hiding his eyes. For several long, drawn-out moments, no one said anything.

Chewing at her lip, she let her gaze drift back over the table, taking in the impassive quality of Miroku’s eyes as he stared down at his lap, before settling firmly on InuYasha’s guarded frown, which seemed directed more inward than outward. Neither man would actually meet her eyes. The friendly camaraderie that had marked the last hour seemed to have been sucked right out of the room, leaving an uncomfortable strain in its wake.

She felt her brow furrow in confusion and dismay. “I’m…sorry. Did I…say something wrong?”

Shippou suddenly jumped up, shaking off the awkward mood with a toss of his head. “Don’t worry, Kagome. You didn’t do anything. It’s just a stupid nickname InuYasha has for Miroku.” He leaned over conspiratorially. “It’s cause he has a strong Buddhist heritage. He’s even got spiritual powers.” He considered for a minute, both he and Kagome completely oblivious to the look of alarm that passed between the other two males. “Not a lot of people know that, though.”

“Oh.” Kagome looked uncertain for a minute, not completely satisfied with the explanation. She glanced at Miroku, intrigued. “Really? Spiritual powers?”

He hesitated for just a breath before his tension melted into an easy nod and a smile. “Really. He’s been calling me that for years.” Another hesitation. “But, like Shippou said, I don’t tell many people. I’d appreciate it if…”

She was already nodding. “Of course. I’ll keep it to myself. Thank you for sharing it with me.” She tilted her head curiously. “Does that kind of power run in your family?”

Miroku nodded again, resuming the game by taking the pawn she’d just put in his path. “Oh, yes. In fact, we have a proud tradition of powerful monks in our lineage--another reason why our oh-so-kind employer calls me what he does. He seems to find it odd that I’m descended from a long line of holy men--although I can’t imagine why.”

“Keh. Holy men my ass. That’s not what I heard.” The sarcastic tone left no doubt what he thought of that statement.

Shippou cocked his head. “He does seem to have an awful lot of worldly, impure thoughts.”

“Now wait a minute,” Miroku objected. “That statement is completely unproven.”

“Keh. You want proof, monk? I can give you proof.”

InuYasha’s ‘offer’ gave Miroku pause, and for a moment, he looked extremely uncomfortable. “Ah…no. That won’t be necessary.”

It was her turn, so Kagome took Miroku’s pawn, then stole a look over at the InuYasha, who was currently glaring at the board, looking decidedly stubborn. She smiled faintly. “Your shop back in Tokyo must have been an interesting place to work.”

“Tokyo?” Miroku looked up sharply. “Ah…yes.” His eyes flitted over his employer, then back to Kagome with a tiny grin. “So he told you about our little store, did he? It was actually quite interesting. He used to call me monk in front of the customers. Can you imagine the looks I got selling bows and arrows while being addressed as monk?”

Kagome smiled, then resisted the urge to grimace as he dropped her own lance back onto the board to use against her. Now she was at a serious disadvantage--she thought--and she took a moment to study the board, hoping for inspiration. “So then…did you know each other well before working together?”

InuYasha shifted beside her, looking restless and displeased, but didn’t say a word. Miroku, after another glance at InuYasha, took a minute to think about it. “Well, you could say we knew of each other. Our families have known each other for years. We, uh…didn’t actually meet until after I decided to work with InuYasha at the store.”

“What made you decide to work with him?” She was very much aware that they were discussing the hanyou as if he wasn’t even in the room, but wasn’t sure what to do about it. He obviously didn’t want to be involved in the conversation.

Miroku shrugged, but Kagome caught the barest hint of a tightening around his mouth. “I needed to do something after graduation, and my father had been expecting me to maintain our families’ association since I was a child.”

Kagome blinked at him, plagued by the same feeling of oddness that had overtaken her the night that she’d spoken with InuYasha in the kitchen, and unsure why. “So, you started working together because of your father? That must have made him happy.”

Miroku’s easygoing expression didn’t change, but his right hand clenched into a fist, the pressure on his skin so tight that the circular scar on the back of his hand stood out in white relief. “Yes…I’m sure it would have.”

Kagome froze, her next question evaporating before it had completely formed on her tongue. Would have. Gray eyes widened in dismayed realization, and she looked down, contrition in the set of her shoulders, her voice subdued. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be prying.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Miroku who responded, but a much younger voice beside her. “Don’t be upset, Kagome. It’s only natural to be curious, isn’t it? After all….” A slim fox-paw kicked out self-consciously, coming just shy of knocking into the board. “You don’t really have any past of your own, so it makes sense that you’d wonder about the people around you.” He paused, his voice lowering, his eyes still hidden by his hair. “It’s not your fault some of it makes us sad.”

That really didn’t do anything to make her feel better. She shook her head. “Still, I shouldn’t have been asking questions that are,” she risked the barest sidelong glance to her right at InuYasha, who had yet to move a muscle from his intense glare at the board, “none of my business.” She sighed and started to push up off her knees. “It’s late. I think I’ll go to bed now. Shippou, you and Inu--”

Her voice and movement came to an abrupt stop as a hand snagged at her arm. Long fingers wrapped around the slimmest part of her wrist; the lightest prick of claws pressed into the delicate skin. Shocked at the contact, her heart doubled its tempo in her chest, and a faint blush heated her cheeks as her eyes followed the arm back--along a bare forearm, past the cream-colored sleeve bunched at the elbow--to its owner, who had yet to turn and look at her. He still stared down at the table, and his mouth was set in a grim line. The rest of his expression was hidden by the loose fall of silver hair.

His grip on her arm was warm and firm, and she was well aware that it would do her no good to try and shake it off. So, she just stared at him, both tense and curious to see why he had stopped her.

“Move your rook.”

She blinked at him. “What?”

“It’s your turn. Move your rook.”

“But--”

He finally looked at her--an impatient flash of gold that froze the breath in her lungs--before turning away again. “You started the damn game. You wanted to learn how to play. Why would you quit so close to the end?”

She stared. He still hadn’t released her wrist. Her lips parted as she drew a slow, deep lungful of air in between them, hoping to calm the deep thudding of her heart and even out her breathing. “It’s…” She paused, listening to her own voice to make sure it was steady. “It’s ok?”

He rolled his eyes and gave a sharp tug, pulling her from her half-rise back onto the pillow that was her place at the table. “It’s your game.”

“Of course it is,” Miroku agreed dryly. “Obviously.”

While InuYasha sent him a dirty look, Shippou jumped onto her shoulder. “Of course it’s ok, Kagome. We want you to stay and play.” He studied the pieces for a moment. “But don’t move your rook. That’d be a real stupid move, because no matter where you put it, you’d just lose it without gaining anything.”

“It ain’t a stupid move.” InuYasha shot back immediately. His eyes had narrowed in annoyance, but his voice was even, and held a surprising note of confidence.

Shippou gave him a skeptical look. “Are you looking at the same game I am?”

Miroku frowned, then shook his head. “I can’t see anything good coming out of that move. Shippou’s right. It’d just be a waste.”

“Heh.” He turned to her, his manner suddenly, unexpectedly, completely devoid of hostility. “Look, it’s your game--we’re just advisors. But I’m telling you that you should move your rook four spaces to the right.” One of his ears gave a slight twist, and a gleam of pure enthusiasm shone in his eyes. “Trust me.”

She blinked, his expression prompting the corners of her mouth to tug upward. Her eyes dropped down slowly, to where his hand still held her wrist captive in the air between their bodies. His gaze followed hers, and his eyes widened. He dropped her arm like it had suddenly burned his palm, and turned away with a huff.

Trust me. Unable to curb the full-blown smile that blossomed across her face, Kagome turned back to the game. Reaching out, she picked up the rook…

Shippou shook his head. “Don’t do it.”

…and moved it four spaces to the right. Ignoring Shippou’s cry of dismay, she tipped her head at Miroku. “Your turn.”

Throwing a suspicious look at the now smirking InuYasha, he studied the board again, looking carefully for whatever had convinced the hanyou that this was a good move. Then, with a shake of his head, Miroku took her rook--a move which put him dangerously close to her king.

With a fatalistic shrug, Kagome looked back at InuYasha. “Now what?”

“Yeah,” Shippou joined in sarcastically. “Now what?”

*********************************************************** ***********

Oops…almost forgot these…..

Nabemono: Basically, it’s a dish with a whole bunch of different ingredients cooked together in a pot, where everyone at the table can choose their favorite ingredients. The Japanese believe that eating from the same pot leads to closer friendships from those at the table.

Shogi: (Yes, this particular game took some research before I felt comfortable using it.) Sometimes called Japanese chess, this game is very similar to western chess, and although the rules are a little different, the objective is still the same--get the opponents king.

A/N: Hehe. Bet you thought this one was on hiatus by now, didn’t you? *blush* So sorry. I know the updates are few and far between, but I’m really trying to make sure I don’t mess up on this one (plus, I have other projects that take up my time as well).

I promise, this story will never be suspended without a specific author’s note from me letting everyone know. It’s just a little slow right now--especially since school started, and I’m up to my eyeballs in homework and reading…not to mention work. But I never give up on my writing.

On a lighter note, I know the ending here is a little abrupt, but I felt it necessary to do that, since the chapter I was working on got too long. But that means that the next chapter is well on it’s way to being done, so I’m hoping to get it out sometime in the next week (note: hoping).

Please let me know if you see any grammatical mistakes or inconsistencies. I’m always open to communication. I absolutely love to hear from people about what they think.

Cheers and blessings, from your friendly neighborhood Quill ^_^