InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Expectation ❯ Chapter 3

Part 3

Miroku stood above the sobbing woman in Sango's lap, shaking his head in disgust. What he wouldn't have given for an heir, and now, here Inuyasha was about to become a father, and like the baka kusotare that he was, the hanyou had run off. What a waste.

"Kagome-sama," Miroku said, crouching down in the grass beside the women, leaning on his staff for support on the uncertain terrain of the hill they were sitting on. "I know that you're very upset, but I want you to tell me exactly what happened."

Coming around to his words, the young girl pulled her head from the demon slayer's breast, which by now was quite damp from her tears. Gasping for breath, her eyes red and on the verge of losing herself to her grief once more, she managed to choke out a brief account of what had taken place at the well. When she had finished, Miroku nodded his head sadly, and rose to his feet.

"Very well." he said decisively, straightening his shoulders. "Sango, would you stay here with Kagome-sama? There's something that I have to do." Sango stared up at him for a moment, looking him up and down as if assessing his capabilities, before she finally spoke.

"It would be better if I went after him, houshi-sama. I'm a better tracker, and I'm more familiar with youkai habits. I've had more training and experience hunting them. I'd find him much faster than you would."

"I don't doubt it, Sango." the monk said, bowing his head slightly to the demon exterminator. "But while it's true that Inuyasha is half youkai, he is also half man, and I have a feeling that it's that half that's feeling confused."

"That's true." Sango agreed. "A male youkai would never leave his mate unprotected, especially if she were carrying his offspring. A human male, however…" she trailed off, letting the hoshi know exactly what she thought about human males and their habits where women were concerned, without so many words.

"Oh what's the use?" Kagome gasped suddenly, breaking in on their well-intentioned conversation concerning her life that they had been holding without her. "There's no point in bringing him back if he doesn't want to be with me! You can't force him to care about me, Miroku-sama!" Kagome sobbed, burying her head back in Sango's lap.

"Kagome-chan…" Sango cooed softly, stroking the young girl's hair in an almost instinctually comforting manner. "Hush… Inuyasha does care about you! He cares for you very much! It's like hoshi-sama said, he's probably just confused."

"That decides it for me." Miroku said firmly, looking off towards Inuyasha's forest. "I will go and draw him out. It may take a few days, depending on how far in he's gone, but I promise to return with him. There may be some bruises sustained on either side, but I'll get him back in one piece." he said it jokingly, but he couldn't have been more serious. If Inuyasha were seriously agitated, he would not go quietly. A small part of the monk wished that he could take Sango up on her offer to go instead, as she wasn't kidding when she said that she was better equipped to deal with the hanyou than he was. But short of killing him, he knew that Sango would not be able to bring Inuyasha back. She wouldn't understand how it felt to be a young man who suddenly found himself stranded in an awkward and yes, even terrifying situation. She wouldn't be able to see past the hanyou's responsibility to Kagome-sama, and would only succeed in laying judgment upon the his head. He wouldn't be likely to return to the village if he thought that he was going to catch hell from everyone for his thoughtless actions. He would, of course, but he didn't have to know that until he was safely within Kagome's 'osuwari' range.

"Kagome-sama, you said that he left from the well?" Kagome nodded her head miserably, rubbing at her tear-stained cheeks.

"Very well then. That is where I shall begin. Don't despair, Kagome-sama, he couldn't have gone too far if what Sango said about male youkai is correct. Despite what his human emotions are feeling right now, he's still half youkai, and you are his mate, not to mention that you're carrying his child. His instincts will not have allowed him to run off altogether..." he trailed off, scratching his chin as he thought for a moment. After a moment, his eyes brightened with a look of sudden inspiration. "In fact, I think I have an idea that might make this whole thing go a little faster! Kagome-sama, if it meant bringing Inuyasha back sooner, would you allow me to cut your hand?" Kagome looked up at the monk uncertainly, and Sango's eyes narrowed. "Just a shallow cut," he assured them both. "enough to draw blood." Kagome hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded and held her hand out, palm up. Using the edge of his staff, he cut a shallow nick in the palm of her hand. As the crimson blood seeped up into a tiny pool in her cupped hand, Miroku ripped a small swatch of cloth from the sleeve of Kagome's white robe, and used it to sop up the blood. When the fabric was stained red throughout and was fairly moist with it, he knotted it to the top of his staff.

"There." he said. "Now even if I can't track him, the smell of Kagome-sama's blood will draw him out. Whether he wants to hide from me or not, he won't be able to stay away if he catches the smell of his mate's blood."

"Be careful, hoshi-sama!" Sango warned, giving him a very grave look. "He'll smell Kagome-chan's blood on you long before he bothers to sniff out who you are. There's a good chance that he'll attack you, and if that happens, his instincts will tell him to kill you." Miroku nodded his head solemnly, before stepping forward to place his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"I understand. Sango is worried about me. Afterall, I still have no heir to carry out my revenge if I am killed too early…That is, Sango, unless-"

"Hoshi-sama," she said interrupted, cracking her knuckles, "It's been such a pleasant afternoon. Why spoil it?" Miroku sighed heavily, defeated.

"Oh very well…I guess I'll just have to manage to stay alive…" he muttered as he turned his back on the women and headed off in the direction of the dry well.

"See that you do hoshi-sama…" Sango whispered as he rounded the hill and disappeared from sight.

Hours later, with nightfall rapidly approaching, Miroku found himself deep within the thick gloom of Inuyasha no mori. Tracking the hanyou hadn't been as difficult as he had anticipated; he had simply followed the trail of splintered trees and wreckage that had lead him from the old dry well to the clearing that he had decided to settle in for the evening. He lit the smallest of fires, after a long debate with himself over the safety of doing so. Eventually, he had decided that if anything was going to attract youkai, it would be the smell of Kagome-sama's blood that was wafting off of him, and not the light of a small campfire. Ignoring the hungry rumble of his stomach, the monk sat with his back against a nearby tree and closed his eyes, focusing with zen-like concentration on the hushed, creeping night noises of the dark forest as he waited patiently for his assailant.

Not far from where the hoshi rested, the hanyou was waking from a fevered dream. …Sesshoumaru… he had seen his half-brother standing before his mate by the dry well where the hanyou had left her, and she had been just as alone and vulnerable. For some reason, he had been able to see them both quite clearly, despite that fact that he was also aware that he had run away, and was now too far gone to get back to the girl in time and protect her. Helplessly, he had watched as Sesshoumaru plunged his poisonous claws into the girls abdomen, ripping out the half-formed, mostly-human whelp that his mate carried, because it's accidental blood relationship to his half-brother had deeply offended the youkai. The hanyou had seen and understood all of this… had watched as the life drained out of Kagome's eyes, as she clutched at the gaping wound in her abdomen and the smell of her blood filled his nose and overwhelmed his senses. But he had been dreaming, hadn't he? As the hanyou slowly fought his way toward conciousness, he was becoming acutely aware of the fact that the smell of his mate's blood was not fading along with the other images of his dream.

Back in the village, tucked safely away in the miko Kaede's hut, two women and a kitsune shuddered in their sleep as a savage howl pierced the night air, ripping it's way through the hazy fabric of their dreams.

From his guarded position at the base of the tree, Miroku heard the bone-chilling sound as well. But for the hoshi, it was much closer…

A predatory animal was rapidly approaching the small campsite, and it wanted blood for blood.

The hoshi remained as still and as silent as death, his eyes closed. He sensed the youkai's aura long before he heard the snarl to his immediate left, perhaps less than two feet away. With a flick of the wrist, the binding scrolls appeared between Miroku's middle and index fingers. As the youkai pounced, the hoshi's arm shot out to the side, slapping the scrolls across the creature's eyes and mouth. Momentarily stunned, it fell to its knees, lashing out in pain and confusion. Miroku didn't waste a second. He leapt to his feet, kicking the youkai hard in it's stomach and knocking it to the ground to land flat on it's back. Instantly, he produced four more scrolls from within the folds of his robes and slapped one across each wrist and ankle, pinning his assailant to the ground. While his captive struggled against his bonds, the hoshi straddled his body and sat down with a hard thump across his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Smiling, Miroku reached down and peeled off the scroll covering his friend's eyes.

"Ahh, Inuyasha!" the monk said happily. "How kind of you to visit me!" Inuyasha screamed muffled curses beneath the binding scroll, tossing his head from side to side as he tried with all of his strength the rip his body from off the ground.

"What was that?" Miroku asked conversationally, putting a hand to his ear. "I'm sorry, I can't quite make it out?" Inuyasha's eyes finally stopped to focus on the face that seemed to floated above his own. His eyes immediately filled with recognition, before an instant later when his eyebrows lowered and the look turned into an angry glare.

"Ah! I see you remember me now." Miroku chuckled. "Well that's good, this will save us some time. We are most fortunate to have run into each other like this, ne? I was just thinking about you, as a matter of fact. We have to have a little talk, you and I. Do you want to know why?" Inuyasha raised his head off the ground as far as his neck would allow and shook his head violently, trying to somehow inflict damaged upon the monk's body. "No?" Miroku said, feigning surprise. "Well, that's unfortunate, because I don't see how there's really anything you can do about it. If you don't want to talk, then I guess you'll just have to listen. Shall I sing you a song? I know lots of drinking songs… or I could recite some sutras from the Dharma, if you'd prefer. Oh, better yet, why don't I describe to you this little adventure I had the other day, when I happened upon some girls bathing in the river…" He stopped, a wide grin on his face as Inuyasha began to nod his head lightly up and down. "Oh, I see, you DO want to talk. Alright, you go first." Inuyasha glared evilly at the monk, while Miroku bit his lip, his body shaking as he tried to contain his laughter. "Oh, sorry about that!" he managed to choke out with a little difficulty. "Here, let me get that for you." The monk reached down again and pulled the scroll off, drawing his hand back quickly in case Inuyasha decided to bite.

"You're enjoying this WAY to much, bouzu!" the hanyou snarled. "Just wait until we're alone next!"

"Yes, yes, you're very angry and indignant…" the monk sighed wearily. "Let's not mince words, shall we? Why are you hiding out here?"

"Hey, you're the one sitting on me!" Inuyasha growled, suddenly twisting his body violently in an attempted to knock the monk off of him. Miroku wobbled slightly, but held his ground. "What the hell is it that you want, Miroku?" Inuyasha sighed when he finally realized that it was no use struggling. The hoshi's eyes suddenly lost their mirthful glow, and his face became very serious.

"Well, to start with, you could explain to me why Kagome-sama is under the impression that you have abandoned her and the child."

"N-nani?!" Inuyasha sputtered, his eyes going wide with shock. "Abandoned her? Why would she ever think that I would do that?!"

"Baka!" Miroku snapped, smaking the hanyou on the forehead with the tip of his staff, causing the golden rings on the end to jingle sharply. "Why wouldn't she think that? She tells you that she's carrying your offspring, and you run away like a coward!"

"It wasn't like that!" Inuyasha screamed. "I just couldn't bear to see her suffer like that, and all because of me!"

"So you leave her to suffer alone?!" the monk countered. "You call yourself a man? You're worse than an animal if you would abandon your own child!" Miroku's eyes flashed with anger as his Buddhist composure was momentarily forgotten. The child was a sore spot with him. Inuyasha sensed this, and rubbed some salt in the wounds.

"You don't care about Kagome!" he said, grinning wickedly. "You're just jealous that it's not yours. You know you're never even going to get a woman to fuck you, let alone bear you a son. That kazaan's going to swallow you whole, and you're scared shitless! Call me a coward!" Miroku stared down at Inuyasha for a moment, his elbows resting on his knees. Then, without a word, he rose to his feet and stepped away from the hanyou. With a quick swing of his staff, he severed Inuyasha's bonds. Then without stopping, he turned his back on the hanyou and started to make his way back through the forest, heading for the village.