InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 152

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi


Chapter 151

Dinner over, and bath taken, a much more relaxed InuYasha lay stretched out on his futon. His hands were clasped behind his head, although they were hidden by the cascade of slightly damp hair that fanned out behind him over the edge of the bed. Not yet ready for sleep, he rested on top of the covers, dressed in his new kosode, as he watched Kagome finish her bath.

A small appreciative smirk touched his lips as he watched her.“You want some more hot water?” he asked. “There’s still some on the fire. It feels weird, having taken my bath first.”

Kagome laughed a little, and gave him a knowing smile. “It’s just fine.” Watching him watching her, she scooped some water in her hands and let it dribble over her left shoulder. “I thought you should go first tonight, the way you kept finding things in your hair.”

“Water was dirty enough,” he said, nodding. “That’s why I dumped it before letting you in. Who would have guessed how dirty you can get falling through a roof and onto the ground?”

“Most people,” Kagome said, “don’t get that experience. Or if they do, don’t bounce back nearly as fast as you do, you know.”

“Puny mortals,” he said, grinning, sitting up. “Wouldn’t wish it on them, though. I’m going to get a bad reputation if it keeps happening.”

Kagome ran a cloth along her neck, tilting her head to expose her neck. “Maybe Ryota was right. The roof kami may not like you.”

“At the rate I’m falling,” the hanyou said, “I’m not sure I like the roof kami. I guess the feeling’s mutual.”

“I guess,” Kagome said, nodding. She held up the washcloth. “Want to get my back?”

“I think, maybe, I’d like more of you than just your back,” InuYasha said, standing up. “But this might be good for a start.”

“Not much room in this tub for much more than a back scrub,” Kagome said, her lips curling into a teasing smile. “You’ll have to wait until I’m out of the water.”

“That could be arranged,” he said, walking across the room, stopping to take the extra water off the fire. He looked up at her as he bent over the kettle, and his eyes glowed amber-warm. “Unless, that is, you plan to spend the night there.”  

“I don’t think so. But I’m not getting out until you get my back,” she said, flicking a few drops of water InuYasha’s way.

Laughing, he took the cloth from her, and began to scrub her back as she leaned forward. As he scrubbed, her face grew serious for a moment. “I wonder how Miroku and Sango are doing tonight? It was a hard day, and from what you said, Miroku was as upset as Sango was earlier.”

“They’ve been through a lot worse than this,” InuYasha said, dipping the wash cloth back into the tub. “I bet they’ll put the kids to bed, talk a bit, and then enjoy some adult time alone.” He ran the cloth gently between her shoulder blades, letting a small stream of water slide down her spine.  Kagome shivered just a little at the touch. “I kind of suspect they do adult time a lot. One reason I wanted my own place. My hearing’s too good to hang around them too long.”

“Adult time?” she said. She turned her head to look at him, and there was a warm promise in the glance she gave him.  

He leaned forward, dropping the cloth back into the water, and breathed in her ear. “Adult time interest you?” His hand slid down her shoulder, caressing the skin under her arm, as he reached around to cup her breast. “Maybe you could find out about it if you ever get out of the tub.”

Laughing, she grabbed the walls of the tub, and pushed herself up. InuYasha watched the trickles of water outline her curves with some relish. “Enough bath,” she said, her voice warm and husky. “You want to hand me a towel?”

As Kagome let InuYasha help her out of the tub, Miroku, devoid of his purple kesa and black robes, sat next to the fire in his own house dressed only in a clean white kosode. He poked idly at the flames with a stick. For the moment he had the main room of the house to himself. Dinner was over, baths had been taken, and now Sango was putting the girls to bed for the night to join their sleeping brother. The tension he had managed to put away while eating and playing with his children had come back with a vengeance after she headed to the back and the room grew quiet once the solitude left him with only his thoughts to deal with.

The quiet left few distractions. The only sounds were the popping of the burning wood and the soft murmuring voice of his wife putting the children to sleep in the back room and his breathing as he tried to get his thoughts in order. He gave the burning wood an extra push with his stick and the light from the flames flickered, casting shadows that danced across the room.

“My stupid blindnesses,” he murmured, then tossed the stick onto the fire, where the flames quickly began to lap at it.   

The door to the back room slid open and Sango quietly closed it behind her and moved towards the monk.

He looked up, surprised. “They’re asleep?” he asked as she sat down next to him. “That was quick.”

Sango nodded. “It was a busy day for them, with a lot of excitement. I didn’t even get half way through their story.” She leaned against Miroku’s shoulder. “I think they had a good time.”
 
“It was a rather...intense day. I’ll say that for it,” Miroku said, wrapping his arm around his wife as she rested against him.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Sango said, taking Miroku’s free hand. She laced her fingers into his. “I’ve had enough for one day. I’m not used to so much excitement at a time any more.”

He sighed deeply and she looked up. His violet eyes looked back at her, serious and not anywhere near unwinding. “You need to relax too, Miroku.”

Miroku shook his head. “Not just yet. I fear...” he started, then swallowed. “I can’t relax yet. There are too many things I need to say.” He lifted their interlinked hands and rested her hand against his cheek. “I fear in all my effort to get us settled here that I have wronged you, my lovely Sango.”   

She looked at him, a little confused. “Wronged me?”

“InuYasha suggested that in my haste to get established here, I neglected you,” Miroku said, dropping Sango’s hand and wrapping both arms around here.

“Neglected me?” she asked. “How? You have your work but...” She rested her fingers lightly on his cheek. “I’ve never felt like you were neglecting me.”

“I don’t think he meant it like that,” he said, giving her a small, sad smile. “It’s more like he wanted to know why I didn’t try to find out why people weren’t making you feel welcome.”

“Oh Miroku,” Sango said, dropping her eyes a bit. A little color touched her cheeks. “How could that be your fault? I...I just assumed...”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head. “It wasn’t anything obvious. InuYasha didn’t even realize it was happening until I mentioned it to him.” The monk sighed. “Maybe that’s what I should have picked up on. People weren’t talking about you at all, not really. Sometimes they asked how you were doing, or once in a while wanted to know if you were going to show up for this thing or that. It was never disapproving. Except...well, you know.”

“It’s...it’s not your fault,” Sango said. She sucked on her bottom lip as she thought about what to say. “I...well, I didn’t realize what was happening, either, not really.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Some of it is me, what I thought would be normal. I’ve never really fit in that well with women who were raised like normal women. Learning to be a taijiya put me in a different place. And I’m not a farmer, either. I wasn’t surprised when a few of the women told me I made them uncomfortable.”

“Perhaps. Maybe you should have told me more about that,” he said. He leaned his cheek on top of her head. “Please don’t take such burdens on yourself. “

“I didn’t think of it as a burden,” she said, resting a hand on Miroku’s knee. “It was just how my life was.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You deserve not to be lonely. And InuYasha’s right in a way. If there had been any real bad feeling about you, I would have heard something, and maybe might have been able to do something about it. I’m afraid...I’m afraid I just put it out of my mind.” Miroku slipped his hand under Sango’s chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “We’ve been through so much together, my beloved wife. All this work, everything I’ve been trying to do in the village, even the exorcisms...it’s not because I need any of this. I do it because I want you to have a good life, so our children will have a good life. But if anything I do makes your life unhappy...” His eyes searched her face. “That has never been what I wanted. Please, please let me know if what – ”

His words were cut off as Sango put a finger on his lips. “I...I could have spoken up more, but what would that have accomplished? I have been happy, Miroku. Maybe I hadn’t made a lot of friends in the village during all of this, but I have you, our daughters and our son. Just because...that woman wanted to make me feel bad didn’t mean she really won. She can’t take away what I have, and that is the important thing.”

Raising herself up on her knees, she gave him a light kiss, and started to move back, but Miroku pulled her closer and returned the kiss, much more intensely. “My beautiful Sango,” he said, cupping her face in both of his hands. “There was a time I would have willingly died to save you. Now I want you to tell me when these things happen. I want to live to show you what you mean to me, and how happy your life can be. No donor, no patron to the temple, nobody should come between us again. Promise me.”

“Promise what?” Sango said.  

“That if anybody makes you feel uncomfortable because of us, or says hurtful things about our children, or thinks that because I accept their donation to the temple that you do not have first place in my heart, that you will tell me. Don’t think it’s because you were raised differently.  Don’t hold back because you think it might interfere with what I do. Tell me about it. Don’t protect them because you think that the temple is more important than you are to me. Don’t – ”

Sango cut him off again, reaching up and wrapping an arm around his neck as she gave him a much more inviting kiss than the first time. With her free hand, she took his and laid it to rest on her backside.

“We’ve talked too much,” she said, giving him a warm and inviting look that sent a shiver from his heart to his groin. “It’s time to put the day behind us.” As his hand stroked the curve of her bottom, she pulled open the collar of his kosode. “We have a few hours before Naoya wakes up. Can you think of something else you would like to do before he does?”

He gave her bottom a squeeze. “I’m sure we can think of something.”



After both Miroku and InuYasha had their adult time moments with their wives, and the village settled down to its midnight rest, someone knocked loudly at Kaede’s door.

It took Kaede several moments to realize the sound she was hearing wasn’t part of a dream. As she opened her eyes, the low glow of coals in her fire pit gave her just enough light to see by. The knocking continued, a bit louder.

“Miko-sama!” a man’s voice called out. “Please, Miko-sama!”

The old miko sighed. It had been a long, hard day. “Now what?” she said, too softly to be heard outside. “Hasn’t this old woman had enough for one day?” She stood up, and wrapping her blanket around her, she walked over to the front door.

Lifting the mat, she found Eiji standing outside, carrying a lamp. Next to him was one of Toshiro’s house servants, Asami.

“I am sorry, Miko-sama,” Eiji said, bowing.

“Nothing’s wrong with Chiya-chan, I hope,” Kaede said.

“No, no,” Eiji said.

“It’s Sayo-sama,” Asami said. “Her pains have started. The baby’s on the way.”

Kaede sighed.