InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ours ❯ Sango ( Chapter 26 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
When Miroku and I first got engaged, we were busy searching for Naraku and didn't have the means to seal the engagement properly. But since all this had happened, we thought about what we wanted to do and had a yunio ceremony. Not much of a ceremony, since most of our family memberes were gone. It was only Mushin and Kaede that had attended.

Today, my face is painted white. A white cloth and veil cover my head, and a white shiromaku covers my body. My hair is done up elaborately in bunkin-takashimada, adorned with beautiful kanzashi ornaments, tortoise-sell combs and accessories. And on top of that I will wear a white tsuno-kakushi hood during the ceremony. I don't know if it matters though, since I don't have much time left to carry out with 'patience and serenity'.

I am nervous; a good kind of nervous. For good luck, I am carrying a hakoseko purse-style sack and a small encased kaiken sword. A fan is worn in my obi. It will gradually open to signify a happy future.

Hopefully the little bit of future I have, I will be able to carry out happily.

Today, I become a married woman.

Mushin had volunteered to conduct the ceremony in a shrine. Next to me, Miroku smiled, and I blushed. Please, please have enough sense to not grope me today!

He wore a black montsuki kimono with his family crest in white on the front and back of the kimono, tucked into his pleated hakama pants. A matching haori overcoat was draped over the entire outfit. On his feet were pure white sandals, matching the fan he carried. Several times, I had seen him in this attire in my dreams. Never once did my heart beat fast then as it was today, when he was right in front of me.

Raising a harai-gushi branch over our heads, Mushin called for the gods to bless us. Then were both presented with three flat cups stacked on top of each other for the san-san-kudo. Miroku took the smallest cup from the top, poured some sake into it, and took three sips.

My turn. I am not much for alcohol. I poured sake and took three sips from that cup. Trying not to wince, I set the cup down and then we repeated the process with the second and third cups. After we were done, everyone present drank a cup of sake to do the "signifying the union of two families" thing, even though Mushin was the only person who could be considered a family member for Miroku and I had no living relatives.

In my mind's eye, I envisioned Kohaku present, and my father gulping down his share of sake. I wonder if Miroku was envisioning anyone.

For the reception, I draped an uchikake over myself. Mushin tore up the food. I served fish with the tail and head forced up from the plate forming a circle, the symbol of eternity. Clams were served with both shells together, the two halves symbolizing our union. Lobster were served because of the deep red color of luck. For dessert I made komochi manju.

"What a glorious reception indeed." Miroku remarked, keeping a content, easygoing grin on his face. His first words to me as my husband. Oh God, my husband! My husband.

Gazing at our reception with a grand total of two guests, I knew some people would have disagreed. Usually the ceremony was held with the closest family members, and the reception had many guests and attendees. Usually, when couples looked forward to the rest of their lives together, they were thinking of decades. We had a few weeks at the maximum. But then again, it wasn't like all newlywed couples actually fulfilled their dreams. Some die soon after. Some don't even make it through the ceremony. The only difference is that they didn't see it coming.

People might laugh at us for this, but I was proud. This small gathering with people who actually knew us, supported us, and cared was worth more than any big party filled with shallow, superficial people giving fake blessings.

"Yes." I smiled at Miroku, nodding. "It's beautiful."

We looked into each other's eyes, and he understood my intent in the reply I gave him and I understood his motive behind his statement. I think he really was thinking along the same lines and came to the same conclusion as me.

Afterwards, I changed into a colorful unmarried woman's kimono. This is the last time I'll get to wear a kimono like this. I felt butterflies in my stomach; we were alone! We were finally here as a married couple, all by ourselves. My heart started pounding again, and my face felt a little heated. What to do? What to do? What to say? What is appropriate? I'd like for this to be special and romantic. This golden moment only comes once!

"Miroku." I manged to say, clearing my throat. "I-"

"No need to be nervous, Sango." He interrupted. "I am well knowledgeable about what happens on wedding nights."

He put his arm around me, and a familiar warm sensation of a palm covered me where I knew it would. I resisted the urge to groan. You know, as smart as he is, he never seems to realize that this isn't a particularly good move.

"Stupid!" I snapped, raising my arm to push his hand away from me and smack him on the head at the same time. "Not like that."

How unromantic. At least he managed to retrain himself during the actual wedding. He covered his cheek where I had hit him, and made that hilarious but cute embarrassed expression he makes, whining softly. I couldn't help but giggle.

"How many times are we gonna do this?" I asked, shaking my head at him.

He smiled. "Until the end of time."

God, he's so corny! Couldn't he have said something less cliche?

But I had to admit, he was a great lover. I guess massaging all that flesh taught him some useful skills.





Zearth's big weakness is being unable to spot the enemy if they're not in visual range.

My enemy is shaped like a giant oval with legs. On its face, it has fifteen slits, seven lights remaining lit. This meant they had won a good amount of battles, but to them, we should have been even more intimidating. Thousands of weird flying things-probably exclusive to this dimension-were floating next to the giant toy. I guess they came prepared with back-up.

Dammit. This makes it even harder for me. Those are innocent people willing to sacrifice their own lives to save this Earth and the other people in it. Can I do this?

"What you're trying to accomplish is gonna kill them anyway." Dung Beetle said to me, as if he read my expression. "What does one or two of them matter?"

I bit my lip as Kirara nuzzled me to try to make me feel better. "But...I don't want them to die painfully."

"At the very least, you have to kill the enemy pilot." he replied. "Are you saying you can't even do that?"

Suddenly, the people floating in a circle around the enemy pulled out some strange sort of weapons from which they fired thick, heavy and opaque smoke. Gas? What looked like little puff balls of clouds soon expanded throughout the area. Larger and larger they grew, until they completely blocked everything from our sight. I couldn't see. And from here, noses are useless.

"You can see the peoples' souls, right? They light up to you where the person is when you're the pilot." said Miroku.

"Yes, but..." I gulped. "There's so many souls in that area, I can't tell which is which."

At first when Koga mentioned he could "see lives", I was confused. I hadn't expected for the souls to be so beautiful. The animals have souls. Even the plants have souls, even though their lights are smaller. I guess that's why some plants can grow in the most unexpected places. My only choice now, short of killing all of them, was to randomly attack and until I got the right one.

I hate myself right now. I really do.