InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chained ❯ To Hell With It ( Chapter 67 )

A/N: Hey everyone.

No, despite common belief, I’m not dead and I haven’t given up on this story. ^_^

I know I’m going really slow, which is why I’m gonna try and spend some of the next month just writing. Not necessarily updating, just writing plain and simple. I don’t know how successful I’m going to be, but I’m really getting sick of myself taking so long with updates, so I’m hoping that I’ll get somewhere.

Wish me luck! ^_^

And don’t be afraid to offer up any ideas you may have for the future of this story either... I’m not saying I’ll use them, but it might help stimulate my muses and get me on the right track again. ^_^

Anyway, hope you like this chapter... I apologize beforehand for any OOCness there may or may not be in it.   ~*~   To Hell With It

Miroku and Sango remained silent as they watched Inuyasha help Kagome up onto the mare, before he himself moved to mount the stallion.

They didn’t say a word when Kagome quickly began saying goodbye, and didn’t attempt to make any motion to wave or bow or anything like that as their friends moved up into the sky at rapid-fire speed.

They had already said goodbye before, though not in words.

To say it now would make it seem like a true farewell-- like they would never see them again.

Nobody really wanted to admit the fact that they were scared right now. That there was a good chance that they weren’t coming back.

Turning slowly, Miroku caught the faintly distraught look on Sango’s face (which she let show now that their friends were out of sight) and quickly he turned and laced his fingers with her own using his uncursed hand.

The other one had gotten better-- was almost as good as new as a matter of fact-- but he had yet to actually attempt using it, and he didn’t plan to. Not for a while yet, anyway. His body was still fairly week, and one of Sesshomaru’s healers had warned him against too much exertion.

Sango’s eyes seemed to narrow slightly in confusion, and then she looked down at their clasped hands as though truly not understand who it was that could be touching her.

Her dark eyes trailed up his arm, past his shoulder, before finally coming to rest on his face.

The look on her own suggested she wasn’t really certain that he was there at all.

Miroku offered a small, comforting smile, and then gave a small tug on her hand, urging her to walk with him back toward the castle.

Sango hesitated for a moment, as if by staying there just a little longer she could somehow make her friends return safely, before moving and following after him, her feet shuffling slightly against the ground in a way that made Miroku seriously hope they didn’t encounter a rock or root of some kind along the way, because she would surely fall if they did.

Luckily enough, the short trip went mostly without incident as they made their way through the castle and back to the room Sesshomaru had provided them with.

It was still strange to him to think that the brother they had so often seen trying to kill their friend was now their greatest aid-- one of the only things separating them from Naraku. They owed him a lot.

But, now when he thought back on it, he had secretly been suspecting for the last few months of their freedom that the Lord of the West no longer had intentions to kill his brother.

The facade was a good one to be sure, but Miroku had made a living out of perceiving what were people’s weaknesses in order to trick them and let him “exorcise” their homes.

And he had decided, after seeing Inuyasha and Sesshomaru at hand-to-hand combat without swords to interfere that, if Sesshomaru had really wanted Inuyasha dead, he would have been dead a long time ago.

Not that the half-breed was weak by any means, no, but his power was just different from Sesshomaru’s.

The dog demon was a Daiyoukai.

He may not know much about youkai and their customs or titles or anything else, but he knew that, to achieve a title such as that, one had to be extremely powerful. It wasn’t just a title that came along with becoming the “Lord of the Western lands” or wherever else, since that title was inherited. It was one that had to be earned. And Sesshomaru very clearly had done that.

As far as he knew, there had only been about fifty or so Daiyoukai in the past few centuries, two of which were in Inuyasha’s family.

That fact alone would give the hanyou a formidable edge, but even more so would the fact that he had, actually, gotten the better of Sesshomaru a few times.

Which, he supposed, would make him something like... a Daihanyou.

Miroku smirked slightly at that thought and shook his head as he opened the door to their room.

Honestly!

He really shouldn’t be thinking about Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and their title’s and other whatnot right now-- when he had one of the most beautiful women in the world standing in front of him.

She seemed to be saying something, but Miroku couldn’t focus on her words.

His eyes had locked in on her lips, watching as they moved to shape the words slipping between them, and he couldn’t resist leaning forward and stealing a kiss from her.

In the last week they had definitely become closer, and he had managed to restrain himself from groping her (something which seemed incredibly pointless and childish to him now) and she in return had become much more relaxed around him.

They had even started sharing the same room.

But they had yet to actually kiss.

So he was not surprised when Sango’s face turned bright pink and her eyes went wide as she pulled back, away from him suddenly.

‘Miroku!’ She stammered, though it didn’t hold anger, but more uncertainty and embarrassment. Miroku smiled at her.

‘Sango.’ He returned, one of his hands coming up to gently caress her cheek, seemingly making her more flustered than before. ‘She’s even shyer than Inuyasha.’ His mind supplied, and his smile widened ever-so-slightly.

Sango’s eyes narrowed slightly, her face turning an even deeper shade of red as she scowled at him, and then landed a light slap across his cheeks.

‘You lecher! What are you thinking about now that’s making you leer at me like that?!’ She demanded, clearly misinterpreting the small smirk.

Miroku was slightly stunned for a moment as he brought his hand up to the mark on his cheek, but he quickly recovered, silently revelling in the fact that that slap had not held any of the fire of her old ones as he smiled down at her.

‘You misunderstand, Sango.’ He said, staring down at her as she glared hesitantly up at him. ‘I was merely contemplating the similarities between you and Inuyasha.’

The girl’s eyes widened slightly and then she frowned again. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ She asked, not entirely certain she wanted to be compared to the half-breed.

Not, necessarily because she didn’t like him, she just didn’t like some of the things he did. The way he ate for example, like it was the last time he was ever going to see food in his life. She could understand that his childhood had conditioned him into that, but it didn’t make it any less unappetizing to watch. Sesshomaru seemed to have been training him out of that (and several other, and less polite habits) and she had to admit he had gotten better.

Still, there was still some room for improvement.

Besides, she was her own person.

She had never much enjoyed being compared to other people anyway. She was one of the only women to become a slayer in her village, she was one of the strongest fighters in her village, she was one of the only demon slayers to use a demon as an accomplice, and she was the only one who had survive out of their village when they had all been slaughtered.

Miroku stared at her for a moment after her question, before smiling again and shaking his head. ‘Nothing, my dear Sango.’ He said softly, turning to go over and sit down on his futon. ‘Nothing at all.’

For long moments Sango just stood there, staring in a vaguely stunned manner at the monk, her thoughts in a whirl about all that had just happened. Of course, they usually were when it came to Miroku.

After a moment of putting up with their chaotic nonesence, she quickly yelled at them all to shut the hell up, before moving over and tentatively taking a seat beside Miroku.

The monk didn’t really say anything, just wrapped his arm around her and let her lean against his shoulder.

They sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts, before Sango slowly cast a glance up at the monk. ‘Miroku?’ She said softly.

‘Hn?’ He replied, not looking down.

Sango hesitated a moment before speaking. ‘That kiss...’ She said slowly.

Miroku sighed and looked down at her. ‘I’m sorry Sango. I had no right to--’

‘Can we try it again?’ She asked quickly, cutting him off.

She watched as his eyes widened comically, and perhaps she might have laughed if her breath hadn’t gotten caught in a suffocating manner somewhere between her lungs and her throat as she waited for the answer.

Miroku stared down at her in stunned amazement for a moment, his mouth slightly open still from his cut-off reply, and Sango took advantage to lean up and press her lips against his own before she again lost her nerve.

It was really gentle at first, just her tentatively brushing her lips against his own.

When she finally got her courage up, she deepened the kiss, encouraged by the way his arms came up to wrap around her. A slightly startled noise escaped his lips when her tongue came out to prod at his lips, tapping gently, asking for entrance.

He had been fairly surprised when she had initiated another kiss, but he had not expected her to move ahead so quickly...

Sango mentally declared victory as his mouth opened and his tongue moved out to wage war with her own.

It was a strange (and vaguely slimy) experience, but not unenjoyable as they sat there, her practically straddling him, caught between his raised knees, their tongues exploring each other’s mouths. ‘This isn’t so bad.’ She thought to herself, and mentally chided herself for being so scared about something as simple as a kiss.

After a moment, air began to make itself known as a necessity again, and she drew back, breathing heavily and staring down at Miroku.

Now that oxygen was no longer cut off from her brain, she was beginning to function properly again, and was incredibly shocked as she realised what she had just done.

Miroku, however, didn’t seem to think anything was wrong, and he offered her a lazy smile, his breathing still heavy. ‘That’ he said breathlessly ‘Is something that I could quickly become addicted to.’

Sango’s eyes widened slightly, and she considered slapping him again (if for no other reason than to get rid of some of her own apprehension) before pushing that thought away quickly and in a rather disgusted manner. She had initiated that kiss. She had been the leader of it. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t deserve punishment of any kind.

She stared at him again, her emotions warring within her, trying to get her to back down, to move forward, to do anything other than just sit there.

And she remembered when they had been prisoners-- her promise to the monk then-- how worried she had been... how close he had come...

And she began to feel everything else fade away to nothing as she stared into his deep indigo orbs, which, like everybody else’s, had been darkened by all he had been through.

And she felt any inhibitions she may have had before begin to fade away as she realised how ridiculous she was being.

She loved him didn’t she? So why should it matter if she kissed him? If he kissed her?

Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship had been far more rocky than theirs for a lot longer, yet they had been doing this since... well, since they had gotten reunited. Even a couple times before that...

And she felt determination well within her at that, hardening her eyes slightly as she continued to stare down at Miroku, making her look slightly like a predator about to swoop down upon it’s prey as the last of her resolve not to slip away.

‘To hell with it.’ She muttered out, and then leaned down to steal another kiss before Miroku could protest or question her. ~*~  

Reviews:

-Punishment of the Inu/Tryst - Lol, thanks. ^_^ I’m glad you liked it. ^_^ And yep, Inu’s getting a better hold on his anger now it seems... Don’t worry about losing your train of thought though (as I’m sure you’ve seen) it happens to me all the time. ^_^

-elenacala - Lol, Nope, not quite off the face of the planet, more like into a really large hole that took forever to climb out of. I’m still climbing actually, but I decided to take a break and see if I couldn’t update again. ^_^

-Lamb - Lol, well thanks I guess. And yeah, you’re probably right, there are some times when people give too much leeway that author’s take advantage of. I try to keep it as close as I can, but it can be difficult at times, as I said. >_< -- Sigh, I know, they are short aren’t they? I think this one might be a bit longer, but I don’t know. I just try and write what I can when I can and hope for the best. Somehow this story always gets shorter chapters than the other ones. I’m not gonna get all stressed out though, don’t worry. ^_^ And don’t worry about babbling, I do it all the time...

-cloverfire19 - Lol, sorry! I’ll try and make a bit of progress in the plot next time though... I know it is getting long, isn’t it? Maybe I should just give up fighting it and go all out-- a hundred chapters! Lol, don’t worry, I doubt I’ll make it that far. Maybe 95, but I doubt I’d get to 100. ^_^ -- I’m glad you enjoy my writing too, and don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. Just takes a long time. Took me five years to get this far and I still need work. ^_^

-Snowfall - Well you’ve reviewed now, and that’s what counts so. ^_^ -- Yep, apparently he can speak with them, which definitely makes it easier to get where he’s going, neh? ^_^ -- Hm. Yeah, it might be tempting to stay in her own time, but I doubt she’d actually do it, when she knows all her friends are back in the feudal era fighting off Naraku. ^_^ -- Lol, yeah, Sess seems to have developed a mind of his own on this. He’s not doing what I want him to (AGAIN! stupid baka!) and I’m never entirely certain when he’s gonna pop up and do something strange. And thank you, but I’m afraid I’m already feeling the pressure. It’s been, what, 2 months since I updated? Yeesh. I wanted to go FASTER, and now I’m just going flat out backwards. Well, no, I guess technically, I’m not going backwards, but that’s hardly the point... *sigh*

-____insert user here - Lol, no I didn’t think I could get rid of you. Most people who read What Matters the Most though don’t read this. Probably because the genre’s are so different (yaoi, AU, inucest, mpreg compared to... well this ^_^) -- Lol, yep, giddy-hyper-sleep. Apparently lots of people get hyper off of lack of sleep (and here I thought I was the only one). ^_^ 2:30, and front to back. o.O Yeesh. Even with the short chaps, that would take a long time. -- Lol, well if I thought it would help my stories along, I suppose I could abandon all my writing skills... but somehow I don’t think it would make them progress. Thanks for the compliments though. ^_^ -- Lol, don’t apologize. the Lack-of-sleep-induced-mania is explanation enough for any weird behaviour. ^_^ -- Lol, okay, seriously, stop with the flattery already. It’s all going straight to my swelled head, and that’s never a good thing. ^_^ Lol, although I have to admit, I doubt Rumiko would use this story. Especially since I’m probably gonna come up with an ending that would, ultimately, be an ending to the series as well. Still, glad you have such faith in my abilities. ^_^ -- Don’t worry about ranting. As you’ve seen, I do it all the time. ^_^ -- Lol, believe me, you don’t bother me. None of the reviewers bother me, and you’re certainly no exception. You seem to have just the right amount of insanity to put a smile on my face most days. ^_^ So yes, I guess it is fun. ^_^

-Kiki33 - *sigh* you’re right. I know, it is ridiculous. Wish I could offer some kind of explanation, but really I’ve just been too busy/tired to write, and, when I do write, it always seems to be for just one particular story. I’ve been trying to write for this one, but nothing seems to come out right. Still, you’re very much right in you’re impatience. As I said at the top, I probably won’t be updating again this month, but I’m hoping that I’ll get enough written in that time to maybe start getting back on track. Arigato for your patience and gomen for taking so long. ^_^