InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To know you is to know myself... ❯ Wolves, Monks, and Slayers ( Chapter 7 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Hentai / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.04.2006 | Updated On: 06.13.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 4.4K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Hentai / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.04.2006 | Updated On: 06.13.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 4.4K | Status: Completed
Blanket Disclaimer:
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chap ter 7 – Wolves, Monks, and Slayers
Kagome and Inuyasha both winced inwardly, as they passed each other respective glances of horror, as Koga ignorantly made his approach towards whom he believed to be “his” Kagome.
“Now’s not a good time, wolf.” The real Kagome hissed, trying to sound like Inuyasha.
But of course Koga just ignored him/her, and proceeded to take ‘Kagome’s’ hand, asking “How have you been Kagome?” as charmingly as ever.
For once, Inuyasha understood why Kagome always just stood there letting Koga take her hand without protest, for he himself was just standing there at the moment, staring blankly, not sure what to say, what he could say, that wouldn’t give away their situation by breaking character. Well, just standing there smiling stupidly was in character, right? So let’s go with that…..
“Has mutt-face been treating you well?” He heard Koga continue.
Inuyasha was just about to retort with something to his own defense, keeping it third person, but before he had the chance, he heard a distinctively threatening growl come from his previously owned throat, as Kagome instinctively warned Koga to back off.
“Grrrrr Hands off wolf!” Kagome growled, acting yes, but yet, sincere in the fact that she truly wanted Koga gone at the moment.
“Back off dog-breath,” Koga retorted, “I’m checking in on my woman.” He boasted confidently.
“Uh, Koga….” Inuyasha began, trying to sound like Kagome, yet, not really knowing where to go from there. He didn’t know what Kagome would say next, because he realized, he always would spout off….
“She’s not your woman!”
….yeah, that was it, and then she’d get mad, and sit him, which he wasn’t about to take the cue for, so now what? Kagome wasn’t about to actually go through with killing Koga either. They’d better think of something, fast. He hoped she’d forgive him for this.
“He’s right, Koga.”
“What?” Both Koga and ‘Inuyasha’ asked in unison.
“I’m not you’re woman.” The sentence was remarkably easy to form, he simply imagined he was speaking to Jakotsu for a moment.
“Ka…Kagome…..” Koga began, hurt evident in his face. “But I love you!”
“Do you?” Was ‘Kagome’s’ answer. “You don’t even know anything about me.”
“So that’s it then?” He pouted, “You’re just gonna choose mutt-face over me?”
“I…..I never said that!” The supposed Kagome responded with genuine surprise.
“Maybe not, but it’s obvious you love him…..” He trailed off, flashing a glance at whom he believed to be Inuyasha, who was blushing quite profusely at the moment, but yet somehow, it seemed to fit. “Somehow I always knew I never had a chance….” He said matter-of-factly, albeit with an air of depression. “Take care of her.” He added in ‘Inuyasha’s’ direction, and with that, he was gone.
They both just stood there dumbly watching the tornado disappear from view, and once it was out of sight, Kagome was the first to speak.
“What just happened here?” She asked, pointing a clawed hand back and forth between her old body, and the direction Koga had disappeared to.
“Did you…..” She began, “Did you just break up with Koga?”
“Keh, thought you said you weren’t interested in him!”
“I wasn’t!”
“Well then what’s the problem?”
“I……” Kagome paused, what was the problem?
Taking the initiative, it was Inuyasha who spoke next.
“Look,” He began, sounding as firm as ever, even using Kagome’s voice. “It was wrong to keep leading the guy on, it’s better this way.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She said, consenting. “Let’s get back to camp, it’s getting late.” She added.
Inuyasha agreed, and the two made their way back over to where they’d set up makeshift camp for the night, since they weren’t expected back in the village until the next day. Well, truth be told, Kagome wasn’t expected back until the next day, and they were probably wondering where Inuyasha had run off to, if they were checking in on Goshinboku or the well, and discovered he wasn’t there. But even if they suspected he’d stayed the length in her time, they still wouldn’t have a clue about their current predicament. Digging in her backpack, Kagome produced two cups of instant noodles, and quietly wondered to herself, if they were going to taste any different, considering how quickly Inuyasha always devoured his in the past. She hoped her human taste buds wouldn’t be a disappointment. But dinner the night before, and breakfast, had tasted about the same, she remembered. As it would turn out, the galactic greatness of ramen was, after all, all in his head, as he devoured his dinner just as quickly while in Kagome’s body.
“I’m not sure I want to go to sleep.” Kagome suddenly mumbled while stoking the fire.
“Keh, why not?”
“I dunno….” She began, speaking softly, but not too softly that his human ears wouldn’t hear her. “I guess I feel like I’ll be invading your privacy.”
“You think we’ll have the dreams again?” He asked, believing that if Kagome’s theory was correct, then in all likelihood, they would.
“I don’t know, probably.” She agreed.
“Keh, you need sleep, so….” He paused, and catching glimpse of her look of genuine concerns, he smiled, and as sincerely as possible, said “Don’t worry about it, alright?”
“Alright.”
***Kagome’s Dream***
He tries to struggle, but two adults are holding him down. They pull up on his ears in order to raise his head, and force him to watch, as villager after villager throws the stones they’d gathered in their hands. The headman tries to force his way through the mob, but by the time he would reach her it would be too late. Her only concern is for the safety of her son, as she cries out his name. He cries back…
***
“MOTHER!!!!!!” Kagome suddenly screamed while bolting awake, waking Inuyasha in the process.
It took him a second to shake himself from his dream, it was fairly uneventful he supposed, filled with stupid worries over stupid things, tests, homework, and he was finding the whole thing rather educational considering he’d remember what he learned when he awoke. But hearing his own voice scream that word, that way, he looked over to his side at Kagome, and everything he’d learned about math was quickly forgotten, seeing the tears streaming down her face. (Well his face, well, you get the idea by now)
No wonder Kagome didn’t want to sleep, so far these last two nights, it seems all she’s having are nightmares. But then again, as Inuyasha recalled, much of his life was one big nightmare, until he met her. There was no question what experience it was that she’d remembered, there was only one night of his life when he ever cried out to her in such agony, the night he lost her. Looking up at Kagome again, and seeing her eyes lock with his, he wasn’t sure exactly what to say, what he could say, to comfort her. Even though for him the memory was nearly two centuries old, to her, the pain was fresh.
Without words she pulled herself from the sleeping bag, and sat down closer to the fire, sitting up wide awake, and started tending to the diminishing blaze. Inuyasha then got himself up out of the bag as well, and walking up to the fire, plopped himself down right next to Kagome again. The two exchanged another look, before he snaked his arm around her, as he was about to do before she’d gotten up. Her response was to crash herself sideways, hugging him. He felt the impact a little more abruptly than he was expecting, due to the force of her body, but he embraced her back just as fiercely, as soon as he caught his balance. Neither slept the rest of the night.
````````````````````````````
Stumbling groggily back towards the village around noon the following day, they were greeted half way by a flying ball of orange fur that launched itself straight for Kagome’s body. Without his enhanced senses, Inuyasha hadn’t seem him coming, and Kagome was so distracted with trying to shake free those memories at the moment, and also at the same time being so used to Shippo greeting her like that, that she forgot to warn Inuyasha.
“Ooomph….” Was heard, followed by “Watch it brat!”
Shippo was stunned to say the least. Whether it was because Kagome had never before spoken to him like that, or had never before held him up by his tail as she was currently doing, he couldn’t be sure.
“Ka….Kagome?” Shippo asked nervously.
Remembering who he was supposed to be, he immediately dropped Shippo, and thinking fast, knelt down before him to quickly apologize.
“Sorry Shippo!” He spat out, trying desperately to sound sincere. “You just really startled me there, and I’m not in a very good mood right now.” That wasn’t really true, he wasn’t in a bad mood, but had sure seemed that way, so it was the best excuse he could come up with.
“Did Inuyasha do something to hurt you again?” He asked, genuine concern quickly morphing into sarcasm, as he stuck his tongue out at ‘Inuyasha.’
“No, he didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, flashing a glance up at Kagome, signaling her to jump on in here, any time she was ready……
“She’s just mad ‘cause I had to tell that mangy wolf to get lost again.”
Shippo sniffed Kagome’s hand, and sure enough it had Koga’s scent on it, so everything made sense now, and he let it drop, as he scampered back ahead of them to let the others know they were back.
“Are you really mad at me?”
“A little….well….no, I suppose not.” She said, scratching her head. “I just feel bad that his feelings got hurt, but you only did what I always knew I had to do someday.”
Making their way back towards Kaede’s hut, they were met just outside the door by Sango and Miroku. Miroku said that Kaede was concentrating on some potion she was currently brewing for something, though he didn’t know for what, but thought it best to leave her to her work for now. They both suddenly began looking Kagome up and down, having of course never seen her before, wearing blue jeans.
“What’s up with your outfit?” Sango asked rather bluntly, having picked up some moderate slang from Kagome’s time.
Fortunately, they had prepared for this contingency, as whom they believed to be Kagome promptly answered “All of my uniforms are dirty right now.”
That seemed to satisfy her, so she then asked her next question… “Did you want to head down to the hot springs?”
“What?” Both Kagome and Inuyasha jumped in unison, having not planed for that one.
“I said, did you want to head down to the hot springs…” Sango repeated, glancing back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Uh…..I….” Kagome began, before quickly remembering she was Inuyasha, and changing tactics, continued “…I want to get looking for jewel shards, Kagome’s already wasted two days.”
Believing she was coming to her friend’s defense, she squared off, glaring ‘Inuyasha’ straight in the eyes, and said “I’m sure that can wait another hour, Kagome would probably like to bathe.”
“I bathed in my time.” He said quickly, helping Kagome defuse the situation, though what he’d just said was a lie, and hopefully Shippo wouldn’t blow his cover by suddenly saying Kagome stank or something.
“Yeah,” Kagome continued, “She smells fine to me.” Which amazingly was true, which surprised her.
Apparently having Inuyasha’s nose, she was picking up her own scent however it was he smelled it, and apparently whenever she thought she started to stink from lack of bathing, while she could certainly tell now that her scent was stronger, it didn’t necessarily smell bad at all.
Sango flashed Kagome another look, which though Inuyasha didn’t understand necessarily, did take to mean that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer, at least not as easily as they’d hoped. Kagome caught a glimpse of the expression Sango made, and suddenly understood, she had some news or something that she wanted to talk about, that was why she wanted to go off with her to the hot springs so badly.
Oh well... Sorry Sango, Kagome thought to herself, you can tell me later.
“Let’s just hit the road already.” Kagome continued out loud, trying to sound grumpy and impatient. “We’ll head north, there’s that other hot springs a day’s journey from here, we can camp there for the night.”
She knew she was only buying them a little time, but they’d done the same thing with her mother. She’d have to come clean about her situation to her family back home before her math test next week, so she was pretty much coming to the conclusion that they’d have to tell the others, too.
Sango reluctantly agreed to the compromise, and followed behind Kagome and Inuyasha to say their quick fair wells to Kaede, as well as grab their other supplies. As she walked passed Miroku, she flashed the monk a look that could only be described as endearment. She did have news to tell Kagome, and she’d wanted to tell her right away, since it was all so new and exiting, but nevertheless, she would tell her friend her news tonight, Miroku proposed!
~Flashback~
It was around 10pm give or take, them not having, nor caring to have, modern time pieces, after all. Kagome went back to her time, and they weren’t expecting her back for another day. They weren’t sure where Inuyasha had wandered off to, but he was probably keeping a close eye on the well, as he always does, and probably just wished to remain unseen at the moment. That was, after all, a pretty close call. He almost lost her, hell, he almost lost himself, too. Which brought Miroku to his current train of thought. Though neither he nor Sango had been the target, this time, that could change at any given minute. That battle had pretty much come out of nowhere, and suddenly, he found himself desperately trying to save two of his closest friends from loosing their souls. What if the thing had decided to take his as well, to stop his chanting? Or worse, what if it had decided to take Sango’s? Apparently the youkai wasn’t as freely able to expel a soul as it pretended to be, or it would have simply taking all four of them with a single swoop, and been done with it. Even if some crazed youkai doesn’t end up killing him out of the blue one day, his curse very well may. If they don’t find and slay Naraku, the Wind Tunnel will take his life, it’s only a question of when.
Glancing up from across the blaze of the fire pit, he spied her, sitting there, also still awake, absent mindedly polishing her weapon, as her body seemed to function on auto pilot, as she too stared into the fire pit, apparently lost in thought.
“Sango…” He said suddenly, breaking the silence between them.
“Yes Miroku, what is it?” She asked, pausing in her ministrations to give him her full attention.
“That certainly was a close call today, wasn’t it?” He asked reflectively.
“It certainly was….” She agreed, setting down her weapon. “Too close.” She added softly.
“It’s moments like those that just go to remind us that we must live each day to its fullest.” He stated next, sounding rather monk-like at the moment.
“I agree.” Sango said simply, thinking back on how she’d been raised, to fight youkai. She’d always known in the back of her mind that a battle may turn ugly one day, though she tried to never think about it. It wasn’t until the day of the slaughter, and the beginning of her mission against Naraku, that she truly understood the concept of how quickly yours, or someone else’s life, could be taken away.
“Then would you also agree…” He began, light nervousness beginning to become apparent in his voice. “…that if there is something you desire, you should not wait to acquire it, because later, it may not be there?”
“I…I suppose so.” She answered with slight hesitation. Where was this conversation going, anyway?
“Sango….” Miroku said next, sitting himself down right next to her, taking her hand. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for quite some time….”
“Miroku, if you’re about to-” He cut her off by playfully placing a finger upon her lips.
“I know what you’re thinking, my sweet, sweet Sango, but that question will come after you answer yes to my first one…”
“Which is?” she asked, the hesitation gone from her voice, replaced instead with jubilation.
“Be my wife?” He said simply, continuing with a smile when he saw her eyes widen, her smile grow…
“Be my wife Sango, and I will cherish you for all time. Do this for me, and you’re right, I will ask you to bare my children, but after we defeat Naraku, so that my curse will not be carried down to them.” Pausing momentarily, to kiss her hand, he again looked her in the eyes, and asked “Will you?”
A single tear of joy leaked down the side of her eye, as she closed them, and slowly nodded her head, the smile never leaving her lips, as she leaned herself into him, into his embrace, as he kissed the top of her head.
“I love you…” He said next.
Sighing into him, and permitting more tears to fall, she softly whispered “I love you too…”
~End Flashback~
Sango was pulled from her daydream when she realized they had stopped. Had they really been walking all day? Apparently so, she realized, as she saw the others going about setting up camp for the night. Good, that meant it was finally time for her and Kagome to go off for their little chat….
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chap ter 7 – Wolves, Monks, and Slayers
Kagome and Inuyasha both winced inwardly, as they passed each other respective glances of horror, as Koga ignorantly made his approach towards whom he believed to be “his” Kagome.
“Now’s not a good time, wolf.” The real Kagome hissed, trying to sound like Inuyasha.
But of course Koga just ignored him/her, and proceeded to take ‘Kagome’s’ hand, asking “How have you been Kagome?” as charmingly as ever.
For once, Inuyasha understood why Kagome always just stood there letting Koga take her hand without protest, for he himself was just standing there at the moment, staring blankly, not sure what to say, what he could say, that wouldn’t give away their situation by breaking character. Well, just standing there smiling stupidly was in character, right? So let’s go with that…..
“Has mutt-face been treating you well?” He heard Koga continue.
Inuyasha was just about to retort with something to his own defense, keeping it third person, but before he had the chance, he heard a distinctively threatening growl come from his previously owned throat, as Kagome instinctively warned Koga to back off.
“Grrrrr Hands off wolf!” Kagome growled, acting yes, but yet, sincere in the fact that she truly wanted Koga gone at the moment.
“Back off dog-breath,” Koga retorted, “I’m checking in on my woman.” He boasted confidently.
“Uh, Koga….” Inuyasha began, trying to sound like Kagome, yet, not really knowing where to go from there. He didn’t know what Kagome would say next, because he realized, he always would spout off….
“She’s not your woman!”
….yeah, that was it, and then she’d get mad, and sit him, which he wasn’t about to take the cue for, so now what? Kagome wasn’t about to actually go through with killing Koga either. They’d better think of something, fast. He hoped she’d forgive him for this.
“He’s right, Koga.”
“What?” Both Koga and ‘Inuyasha’ asked in unison.
“I’m not you’re woman.” The sentence was remarkably easy to form, he simply imagined he was speaking to Jakotsu for a moment.
“Ka…Kagome…..” Koga began, hurt evident in his face. “But I love you!”
“Do you?” Was ‘Kagome’s’ answer. “You don’t even know anything about me.”
“So that’s it then?” He pouted, “You’re just gonna choose mutt-face over me?”
“I…..I never said that!” The supposed Kagome responded with genuine surprise.
“Maybe not, but it’s obvious you love him…..” He trailed off, flashing a glance at whom he believed to be Inuyasha, who was blushing quite profusely at the moment, but yet somehow, it seemed to fit. “Somehow I always knew I never had a chance….” He said matter-of-factly, albeit with an air of depression. “Take care of her.” He added in ‘Inuyasha’s’ direction, and with that, he was gone.
They both just stood there dumbly watching the tornado disappear from view, and once it was out of sight, Kagome was the first to speak.
“What just happened here?” She asked, pointing a clawed hand back and forth between her old body, and the direction Koga had disappeared to.
“Did you…..” She began, “Did you just break up with Koga?”
“Keh, thought you said you weren’t interested in him!”
“I wasn’t!”
“Well then what’s the problem?”
“I……” Kagome paused, what was the problem?
Taking the initiative, it was Inuyasha who spoke next.
“Look,” He began, sounding as firm as ever, even using Kagome’s voice. “It was wrong to keep leading the guy on, it’s better this way.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She said, consenting. “Let’s get back to camp, it’s getting late.” She added.
Inuyasha agreed, and the two made their way back over to where they’d set up makeshift camp for the night, since they weren’t expected back in the village until the next day. Well, truth be told, Kagome wasn’t expected back until the next day, and they were probably wondering where Inuyasha had run off to, if they were checking in on Goshinboku or the well, and discovered he wasn’t there. But even if they suspected he’d stayed the length in her time, they still wouldn’t have a clue about their current predicament. Digging in her backpack, Kagome produced two cups of instant noodles, and quietly wondered to herself, if they were going to taste any different, considering how quickly Inuyasha always devoured his in the past. She hoped her human taste buds wouldn’t be a disappointment. But dinner the night before, and breakfast, had tasted about the same, she remembered. As it would turn out, the galactic greatness of ramen was, after all, all in his head, as he devoured his dinner just as quickly while in Kagome’s body.
“I’m not sure I want to go to sleep.” Kagome suddenly mumbled while stoking the fire.
“Keh, why not?”
“I dunno….” She began, speaking softly, but not too softly that his human ears wouldn’t hear her. “I guess I feel like I’ll be invading your privacy.”
“You think we’ll have the dreams again?” He asked, believing that if Kagome’s theory was correct, then in all likelihood, they would.
“I don’t know, probably.” She agreed.
“Keh, you need sleep, so….” He paused, and catching glimpse of her look of genuine concerns, he smiled, and as sincerely as possible, said “Don’t worry about it, alright?”
“Alright.”
***Kagome’s Dream***
He tries to struggle, but two adults are holding him down. They pull up on his ears in order to raise his head, and force him to watch, as villager after villager throws the stones they’d gathered in their hands. The headman tries to force his way through the mob, but by the time he would reach her it would be too late. Her only concern is for the safety of her son, as she cries out his name. He cries back…
***
“MOTHER!!!!!!” Kagome suddenly screamed while bolting awake, waking Inuyasha in the process.
It took him a second to shake himself from his dream, it was fairly uneventful he supposed, filled with stupid worries over stupid things, tests, homework, and he was finding the whole thing rather educational considering he’d remember what he learned when he awoke. But hearing his own voice scream that word, that way, he looked over to his side at Kagome, and everything he’d learned about math was quickly forgotten, seeing the tears streaming down her face. (Well his face, well, you get the idea by now)
No wonder Kagome didn’t want to sleep, so far these last two nights, it seems all she’s having are nightmares. But then again, as Inuyasha recalled, much of his life was one big nightmare, until he met her. There was no question what experience it was that she’d remembered, there was only one night of his life when he ever cried out to her in such agony, the night he lost her. Looking up at Kagome again, and seeing her eyes lock with his, he wasn’t sure exactly what to say, what he could say, to comfort her. Even though for him the memory was nearly two centuries old, to her, the pain was fresh.
Without words she pulled herself from the sleeping bag, and sat down closer to the fire, sitting up wide awake, and started tending to the diminishing blaze. Inuyasha then got himself up out of the bag as well, and walking up to the fire, plopped himself down right next to Kagome again. The two exchanged another look, before he snaked his arm around her, as he was about to do before she’d gotten up. Her response was to crash herself sideways, hugging him. He felt the impact a little more abruptly than he was expecting, due to the force of her body, but he embraced her back just as fiercely, as soon as he caught his balance. Neither slept the rest of the night.
````````````````````````````
Stumbling groggily back towards the village around noon the following day, they were greeted half way by a flying ball of orange fur that launched itself straight for Kagome’s body. Without his enhanced senses, Inuyasha hadn’t seem him coming, and Kagome was so distracted with trying to shake free those memories at the moment, and also at the same time being so used to Shippo greeting her like that, that she forgot to warn Inuyasha.
“Ooomph….” Was heard, followed by “Watch it brat!”
Shippo was stunned to say the least. Whether it was because Kagome had never before spoken to him like that, or had never before held him up by his tail as she was currently doing, he couldn’t be sure.
“Ka….Kagome?” Shippo asked nervously.
Remembering who he was supposed to be, he immediately dropped Shippo, and thinking fast, knelt down before him to quickly apologize.
“Sorry Shippo!” He spat out, trying desperately to sound sincere. “You just really startled me there, and I’m not in a very good mood right now.” That wasn’t really true, he wasn’t in a bad mood, but had sure seemed that way, so it was the best excuse he could come up with.
“Did Inuyasha do something to hurt you again?” He asked, genuine concern quickly morphing into sarcasm, as he stuck his tongue out at ‘Inuyasha.’
“No, he didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, flashing a glance up at Kagome, signaling her to jump on in here, any time she was ready……
“She’s just mad ‘cause I had to tell that mangy wolf to get lost again.”
Shippo sniffed Kagome’s hand, and sure enough it had Koga’s scent on it, so everything made sense now, and he let it drop, as he scampered back ahead of them to let the others know they were back.
“Are you really mad at me?”
“A little….well….no, I suppose not.” She said, scratching her head. “I just feel bad that his feelings got hurt, but you only did what I always knew I had to do someday.”
Making their way back towards Kaede’s hut, they were met just outside the door by Sango and Miroku. Miroku said that Kaede was concentrating on some potion she was currently brewing for something, though he didn’t know for what, but thought it best to leave her to her work for now. They both suddenly began looking Kagome up and down, having of course never seen her before, wearing blue jeans.
“What’s up with your outfit?” Sango asked rather bluntly, having picked up some moderate slang from Kagome’s time.
Fortunately, they had prepared for this contingency, as whom they believed to be Kagome promptly answered “All of my uniforms are dirty right now.”
That seemed to satisfy her, so she then asked her next question… “Did you want to head down to the hot springs?”
“What?” Both Kagome and Inuyasha jumped in unison, having not planed for that one.
“I said, did you want to head down to the hot springs…” Sango repeated, glancing back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Uh…..I….” Kagome began, before quickly remembering she was Inuyasha, and changing tactics, continued “…I want to get looking for jewel shards, Kagome’s already wasted two days.”
Believing she was coming to her friend’s defense, she squared off, glaring ‘Inuyasha’ straight in the eyes, and said “I’m sure that can wait another hour, Kagome would probably like to bathe.”
“I bathed in my time.” He said quickly, helping Kagome defuse the situation, though what he’d just said was a lie, and hopefully Shippo wouldn’t blow his cover by suddenly saying Kagome stank or something.
“Yeah,” Kagome continued, “She smells fine to me.” Which amazingly was true, which surprised her.
Apparently having Inuyasha’s nose, she was picking up her own scent however it was he smelled it, and apparently whenever she thought she started to stink from lack of bathing, while she could certainly tell now that her scent was stronger, it didn’t necessarily smell bad at all.
Sango flashed Kagome another look, which though Inuyasha didn’t understand necessarily, did take to mean that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer, at least not as easily as they’d hoped. Kagome caught a glimpse of the expression Sango made, and suddenly understood, she had some news or something that she wanted to talk about, that was why she wanted to go off with her to the hot springs so badly.
Oh well... Sorry Sango, Kagome thought to herself, you can tell me later.
“Let’s just hit the road already.” Kagome continued out loud, trying to sound grumpy and impatient. “We’ll head north, there’s that other hot springs a day’s journey from here, we can camp there for the night.”
She knew she was only buying them a little time, but they’d done the same thing with her mother. She’d have to come clean about her situation to her family back home before her math test next week, so she was pretty much coming to the conclusion that they’d have to tell the others, too.
Sango reluctantly agreed to the compromise, and followed behind Kagome and Inuyasha to say their quick fair wells to Kaede, as well as grab their other supplies. As she walked passed Miroku, she flashed the monk a look that could only be described as endearment. She did have news to tell Kagome, and she’d wanted to tell her right away, since it was all so new and exiting, but nevertheless, she would tell her friend her news tonight, Miroku proposed!
~Flashback~
It was around 10pm give or take, them not having, nor caring to have, modern time pieces, after all. Kagome went back to her time, and they weren’t expecting her back for another day. They weren’t sure where Inuyasha had wandered off to, but he was probably keeping a close eye on the well, as he always does, and probably just wished to remain unseen at the moment. That was, after all, a pretty close call. He almost lost her, hell, he almost lost himself, too. Which brought Miroku to his current train of thought. Though neither he nor Sango had been the target, this time, that could change at any given minute. That battle had pretty much come out of nowhere, and suddenly, he found himself desperately trying to save two of his closest friends from loosing their souls. What if the thing had decided to take his as well, to stop his chanting? Or worse, what if it had decided to take Sango’s? Apparently the youkai wasn’t as freely able to expel a soul as it pretended to be, or it would have simply taking all four of them with a single swoop, and been done with it. Even if some crazed youkai doesn’t end up killing him out of the blue one day, his curse very well may. If they don’t find and slay Naraku, the Wind Tunnel will take his life, it’s only a question of when.
Glancing up from across the blaze of the fire pit, he spied her, sitting there, also still awake, absent mindedly polishing her weapon, as her body seemed to function on auto pilot, as she too stared into the fire pit, apparently lost in thought.
“Sango…” He said suddenly, breaking the silence between them.
“Yes Miroku, what is it?” She asked, pausing in her ministrations to give him her full attention.
“That certainly was a close call today, wasn’t it?” He asked reflectively.
“It certainly was….” She agreed, setting down her weapon. “Too close.” She added softly.
“It’s moments like those that just go to remind us that we must live each day to its fullest.” He stated next, sounding rather monk-like at the moment.
“I agree.” Sango said simply, thinking back on how she’d been raised, to fight youkai. She’d always known in the back of her mind that a battle may turn ugly one day, though she tried to never think about it. It wasn’t until the day of the slaughter, and the beginning of her mission against Naraku, that she truly understood the concept of how quickly yours, or someone else’s life, could be taken away.
“Then would you also agree…” He began, light nervousness beginning to become apparent in his voice. “…that if there is something you desire, you should not wait to acquire it, because later, it may not be there?”
“I…I suppose so.” She answered with slight hesitation. Where was this conversation going, anyway?
“Sango….” Miroku said next, sitting himself down right next to her, taking her hand. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for quite some time….”
“Miroku, if you’re about to-” He cut her off by playfully placing a finger upon her lips.
“I know what you’re thinking, my sweet, sweet Sango, but that question will come after you answer yes to my first one…”
“Which is?” she asked, the hesitation gone from her voice, replaced instead with jubilation.
“Be my wife?” He said simply, continuing with a smile when he saw her eyes widen, her smile grow…
“Be my wife Sango, and I will cherish you for all time. Do this for me, and you’re right, I will ask you to bare my children, but after we defeat Naraku, so that my curse will not be carried down to them.” Pausing momentarily, to kiss her hand, he again looked her in the eyes, and asked “Will you?”
A single tear of joy leaked down the side of her eye, as she closed them, and slowly nodded her head, the smile never leaving her lips, as she leaned herself into him, into his embrace, as he kissed the top of her head.
“I love you…” He said next.
Sighing into him, and permitting more tears to fall, she softly whispered “I love you too…”
~End Flashback~
Sango was pulled from her daydream when she realized they had stopped. Had they really been walking all day? Apparently so, she realized, as she saw the others going about setting up camp for the night. Good, that meant it was finally time for her and Kagome to go off for their little chat….