InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Small Moments ❯ Houshi-sama ( Chapter 2 )

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Sango had always hated bedrest. But for now, while her body was weak and refused to obey her will, she had no choice but to accept it.

She lay on a tattered old futon, covered by what remained of an old kosode that by chance happened to be hers. By some miracle, this hut had survived the demon attack that had slain the villagers and destroyed much of the town. The building was whole, even if its contents were in disarray and the air was stale and smelled of dust.

And so Sango lay listlessly on her side, so as to avoid putting pressure on her healing injuries, and let her attention wander. It was dim inside. Someone had hung a mat over the entryway. Sunlight filtered through, along with occasional quiet sounds from outside. There was the ever-present sound of a fire, the occasional rumble-scrape of something heavy being dragged along, a shouted exclamation... She half allowed herself to imagine that they were rebuilding the village, or at least trying to help.

They… Inuyasha, Kagome, the kitsune, and the monk.

The people she had at first thought to be enemies, to be responsible for the destruction of her village. Only now it turned out that they were… if not friends, then allies, at least. They had destroyed Naraku's puppet, and got him to reveal that everything that had befallen the Taijiya had been his doing. And then they had brought her home, and treated her wounds, and waited for her to heal.

And, she had to admit, there was little more she could do now. Like it or not, she had survived her family and her village, and there was nothing to do but rest, heal, and seek revenge if she could.

For the most part her new companions left her in peace, and gentle quiet reigned over what remained of the Taijiya village. The quietude was punctuated, a few times, by vehement arguments.

Sango recognized the voices as belonging to Inuyasha and Kagome. They were a strange pair, if she had ever seen one. Contemplating their strangeness – from Kagome's unusual clothing to Inuyasha's bizarre attachment to her – helped both to pass the time and to stave off the mind-numbing boredom of recovery.

They were both searching for shards of the Shikon Jewel, like the one that had caused her village to be destroyed, but beyond that she knew precious little. Kagome did not wish to burden her with their story while she was still healing. She would have loved to hear, if only to alleviate her boredom. How had such a strange, otherworldly girl come to travel with a half demon, and share the same quest for a jewel that was not supposed to exist? But she knew for now she would have to resign herself to curiosity.

The kitsune child, Shippou, was far more forthcoming with both his story and his willingness to spend time entertaining her. He sympathized with her, she gathered, because he had watched his own family be slain by vicious demons, just as her family had been destroyed. But his antics made her smile, however small the spark of happiness within her empty heart, and for that she was grateful.

The fourth member of their party was far more mysterious: a Buddhist monk, who she vaguely recalled having seen before engaging in battle with Inuyasha.

So fleeting was his presence that at first she wondered if she had merely imagined him. It was only as the days passed and he returned, occasionally, to check on the progress of her healing that she realized he was real. But by the time three days had passed, her wounds had healed enough that he left her care up to Kagome, and she saw him no more.

When she eventually worked up the courage to ask about him, Kagome informed her that his name was Miroku and that he was indeed traveling with their group, adding a grave warning that he was a lecherous man and prone to taking advantage of women… but by that point he was already 'Houshi-sama', and Sango could not quite believe a monk to be capable of such dishonorable actions.