InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ By the Cycles of the Moon ❯ Reunited Strangers ( Chapter 7 )

A/N: Woo! Longest I've ever stayed with a story! Seven chapters! Wow! I feel very proud of myself, and I'm sorry for the horrible cliffhanger I left in chapter 6! Yes, yes, I hope you guys aren't too mad at me for it! I'll try to get the story moving a lot faster now, since I've got a good idea where this story is gonna go. But, this chapter is kind of slow. I'm really really sorry about how much I haven't been updating, but I still thank you for your support anyway!!

Warnings: Violence. If you don't like somewhat gorey stuff, well I guess you wouldn't want to read some of this chappie. Oh yes, I know nothing of the religion Miroku is, and I have some religious stuff in here, but nothing too serious. I don't want to offend anyone, so I'm warning you ahead of time.

Chapter 7:

"There is a new demon in the area? Why should I take notice to that?"

"He is a very powerful wind demon, sir."

"How does that matter?"

"He was once human, sir."

"…"

"Sir?"

"Well that is quite interesting…"

"Yes, sir."

"And how did this… transformation… occur?"

"Tainted needles from a poison demon."

"Very interesting. What does this demon call himself?"

"Miroku."

Dark eyes glittered with malice.

A smile traced the beholders face.

"Well this is turning out to be quite interesting…"

~*~

"I-I can't believe it! You're… you're really OK!" Sango cried happily, hugging her friend closer.

"I'm so happy to see you! It was like I was in prison!" Kagome wept as well.

"…What?"

"Never mind that, I'm happy that you're OK as well!"

"Lady Sango! Who is this woman?" A young voice piped up, causing both women too separate and look down between them. Kagome's blue eyes widened.

"Wow! He's a hanyou!" Yano winced at the word and his ear flattened to his head. Tears were on the verge of falling off his bottom eyelids.

"Uhm, yeah. He's a bit sensitive on the subject as well. People from his village taunt him," Sango explained, biting her bottom lip and trying to comfort the distressed boy. Kagome looked shocked, not really at the news, but at how her reaction had sounded.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry," Kagome cooed to the boy, crouching down and drawing him into a tight hug. His eyes - which had been tightly closed to hide tears - had widened in shock as his ears sprung up. The woman drew back with teary eyes.

"I didn't mean to sound so rude! A very close friend of mine's a hanyou and it doesn't bother me at all! It just seems so wrong for people to judge someone just by their looks or heritage or whatever!" Yano looked shocked and happy at the same time.

"R-Really?" He squeaked.

"Of course! I really am sorry for how I acted before!" Kagome drew the boy into another hug, making him blush.

"Is-Is this your friend, Lady Sango? The one you were looking for?" He squeaked again.

"Yes, Yano. This is Kagome, though she's usually not this dramatic," Sango replied, chuckling a bit.

"Oh shut up Sango! You're not the one who's been cooped up for two days!" Kagome cried back in defense.

"Oh that's right! Where… where is Inuyasha?" Sango asked, looking around a bit anxiously. Kagome narrowed her eyes for a moment at the fresh perverted memory in her mind, but then her eyes widened as she realized what she had done.

"Oh my gosh! I left Inuyasha back at the cave! Poisoned!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Cave? Poison? Kagome, what are you talking about?" Sango asked, peering closely at her friend as Yano clutched the demon exterminator's leg.

"I'll put it simply, Sango. Inuyasha took me to this cave when he kidnapped me. And a day later - yesterday - he left in the morning and came back later in the day poisoned and partially paralyzed from some fight he had. And this morning… well let's just say he tried something that was a bit too bold," Kagome explained darkly. Sango just then noticed how her friend had many scrapes and cuts all over her body, and how she favored her left arm.

"He… he didn't do that now… did he?" Sango asked gravely, paling as she pointed at Kagome's arm.

"What?" Kagome looked at the arm she held and noticed how frightened Yano looked as he gingerly sniffed at her. "Oh this? Oh no, no no no! This is from coming down from the cave! The trail was such a wreck you could barely count it as a trail. I fell a lot on the way down."

"Oh… well, good. I guess. I'm just glad Inuyasha didn't do that," Sango sighed, relaxing a bit.

"Yeah…" Kagome murmured under her breath, holding her upper arm where Inuyasha had sliced his claw through in punishment. She was sure there was going to be scarring.

"You sort of smell like him," Yano suddenly spoke up, standing next to Kagome, sniffing. Kagome blushed madly.

"Well he has been the only one I've been in contact with for a few days," Kagome muttered in embarrassment.

"It's Ok, Kagome, we, uh, know what you mean," Sango giggled.

"Yeah, well, you're aren't gonna let me live that down," Kagome growled at the girl, but smiled all the same.

"No, probably not. But we have to go back up the mountain. Yano and I are looking for a crystal for Keade. She needs it for a antidote, and Yano is showing me a quick way to get into the mountain," Sango explained, ushering Yano and Kagome through the shrubbery Kagome had just come out of.

"An antidote? What for?!" Kagome exclaimed, stopping to look at Sango.

"Uhm…" Sango looked around sort of sheepishly with an air of sorrow. "Miroku."

"Miroku?! What happened?!" Kagome gasped.

"He got hit by some of those needles from that poison demon Kagura sent. And he's…" Sango's voice trailed off.

"What?" Kagome asked in a hushed voice. Yano looked at Sango with wide eyes. He could hear her heart beating faster and faster and her scent rise.

She was in love with this man who was in trouble.

"…turning into a demon," Sango finished in a very small squeak.

"WHAT?!" Kagome and Yano yelled in surprise and shock. Sango nodded gravely. Yano wondered if this man would feel as much like a father as much as Sango felt like a mother.

"That's why we have to hurry up," Sango said, walking forward, trying to hide her emotions.

"Of course! Let's go!" Kagome exclaimed once again, ushering Sango forward faster with her good arm and looking at Yano to get him moving. His pale blue eyes looked up to both woman and he smiled slightly and blushed. Sila and Giji would never let him live it down that had a certain crush on two beautiful strangers.

And maybe his attraction to Sango was more than motherly.

~*~

"Hmmm… such a boring day, looking for Sango. Ahhh, a little action might spice up this day," A certain wind demon cooed to himself while floating on a soft twirl of air near the treetops. He really had no idea where Sango might be, except to the northwest. Not much of lead, but his body and mind still ached for her.

A sound rang in his ears. It was the sound of unusually high-mileage winds. The howling was somewhere off to his left in an area with lots of people from the sound of all the screaming. Most likely it was a village of some sort. That sparked Miroku's interest. Maybe there was something to do around here after all.

"Well now, that sounds like fun!" The demon laughed, springing up to form two tornados on his feet. With his staff in hand, he made it to the village to see people running in chaos, winds blowing from every which way, destroying buildings and ripping up small trees from their roots. A small piece of paper blew up and around to flatten itself to Miroku's arm. He peeled off the paper and read it.

`Festival of the Wind.'

`Well isn't that just ironic.'

Miroku looked up and tried to sense or sniff out the culprit of the massive zephyrs, but the criss-crossing way they came from in every and any direction made it impossible. He didn't think it was right to terrorize innocent people for no reason, even in his demon form. That one thing angered him greatly.

Cursing slightly, he made his way to the ground with great difficulty and looked around. The chaos of all the people made it hard, and the sudden stink of death rose in Miroku's nostrils. He may not have been a demon of any certain animal but his senses were still heightened enough so he could smell things such as death.

"Alright, now this isn't right!" Miroku shouted to himself in anger. Whoever was causing such winds in irony for the festival had no right to take life! Miroku's anger at this being caused his eyes to glow deep red, causing the people who saw him scream in terror and howl over the winds, "That's the demon! He's the one causing the evil winds!" But Miroku took no notice of their shouts and threw his hands out. A pocket of calm air enveloped him and the few people around him. Their screaming ceased and all they could do was stare at Miroku in astonishment, fear, and confusion.

"Get people to stay in this area of calm air! No flying objects can hurt you here. Hurry and do that while I find the bringer of these Death Winds!" Miroku ordered, walking out of the calm area. The people just stared at him in silence as he left the haven.

It was difficult to make his way through the criss-crossing winds. The smell of death became stronger with every step he took. Finally, he made it to the outskirts of the town again where the presence of another demon could be felt. Miroku sensed the demon was somewhere in the trees and was going to `calmly' let him know he was noticed when a small shout of a boy was heard over the winds.

"Daddy! I found the demon of winds! They're in the trees over here! They're right -!" The boy shouted, running toward the area where Miroku felt the demon.

But a sudden gust of wind flew out of the trees and blasted the boy head-on. The razor breezes sliced over his skin and clothes, blood flying off from his body as a screech of death echoed from his cut throat. His clothes and hair began to be snitched away in chunk when a large piece of wood came off of the wall of a building. It hurtled toward him, and as Miroku watched in horror - it was too late to do anything for the boy anyway - it came down upon him and with a sickening CRACK the boy was silenced forever.

After that, Miroku didn't really have control over his body from the rage searing through his veins. How dare that demon take an innocent child's life! How dare they!

Miroku screamed in rage as a tornado formed around his legs and pushed him forward into the trees. He punched the air in front of him and a bubble of vacuum flew into the trees, surrounded by a tremendous tornado; one bigger than the other winds around. A perfectly shaped circle appeared in tree after tree as the vacuum completely disintegrated the matter as it passed by. A scream was heard and a certain wind demon jumped out of her hiding place, her arm now also sporting a perfectly circle-shaped wound like that of the trees, the blood dripping from the top and running down her arm.

"Kagura… I should have known it would be you…" Miroku growled, giving off a fatal air. Kagura just glared at him and looked him up and down.

"And who might you be, demon?" She hissed in pain. Somehow, that demon looked slightly familiar…

"Your Death Bringer."

"Wha-?" Kagura questioned, raising an eyebrow at Miroku, when he was suddenly at her throat. He swiped at her, leaving rips in her clothes, but not damaging her at all. She was close enough now to figure out who this odd demon was.

"You're the monk that travels with the hanyou!" She shrieked, staring at him with wide eyes as she blocked more of his attacks.

"You're half right, bitch," Miroku hissed, sending another one of his vacuum-punches at the other wind demon. She whipped out her fan and created a wall of air to protect her from the vacuum.

"But how is this possible? To turn a human into a demon you would need…" Revelation shone on her face. "The poison!" She jumped away to land on a standing building, an evil idea coming to her mind. She had to act quickly to get the plan to work. Using the poor monk's morality to his undoing, she might be able to get rid of the two annoying human girls he traveled with.

"Now it wouldn't be very nice to hurt your creator now, would it?" Kagura called happily.

"You aren't my creator! You're just a ruthless child murderer!!!" Miroku screamed, pulling out his staff and pointing it at her. Rage filled his blood and his eyes glowed red. The rings on the end of his staff began to sing out a single high-pitched note and spin, glowing a dark purple. Miroku felt power brim from his chest and flow throughout his body to seep from his fingertips into the cold metal of his staff. The emblem on his forehead radiated with a purple and black light, and suddenly, a beam of pure violet power flew from the staff straight on to Kagura who had an unreadable expression on her face. The beam instantly vaporized the barn and supposedly Kagura and continued flying on, destroying everything in its path until it was out of range of sight. Miroku panted from effort, still glaring at the spot where Kagura had been a few seconds before.

"At least your murderous hands are gone from this world," Miroku growled smugly. But a snickering was heard from above him, and he quickly stopped chuckling and looked up.

"But the world still has your murderous hands, Miroku," Kagura laughed from her feather, flying off. Miroku was about to go after the mocking demon, but he now saw fully what he had done to the town. In the horrible destruction he heard a soft crying and Miroku strained his hearing and senses to find where the sobs were coming from. Miroku ran around the wreckage to finally find a torso of a girl in the brambles of wood. Miroku had a sickening feeling that it wasn't just that the bottom half of her body was under the debris; it was that it just wasn't there at all.

"Oh-Oh my god…" Miroku gasped, gently holding onto the girl's bloody arms, staring at what he had done. She looked at him with faded, clouded eyes.

"At least I'll be with Mommy…" She gasped for air. "…and Daddy…" She gasped again, coughing up blood with tears streaming from her eyes. "…and Giji."

"I-I bless their souls and pray for them," Miroku murmured, his eyes almost returning to their normal, violet human hue. He felt awkward to pray for the deaths of the girls family, knowing he was the one causing them.

"You… you killed my family… demon… why would you… pray… for them…?" The girl coughed. Miroku felt himself sadden and nearly all of the red hue in his eyes left.

"I was not always a demon, young miss," Miroku stated sadly, looking away from the dying girl. "I used to be a human. And a monk."

The girl looked up at Miroku.

"I'm Sila, Mr. Monk."

"I am Miroku, Sila. I-I am sorry," Miroku apologized looking with sorrow into Sila's eyes. He knew she was caught in the blast from his staff, and he was the one responsible for her soon death. Hot, angry tears fell from his eyes. Sila saw them and smiled a blank, dumb smile.

"I forgive you, diseased monk. I just hope that Yano will not forget us," She murmured softly and released her last held breath. Miroku stared at the small dead girl in his arms, his heartbeat roaring in his ears, silent tears flowing freely down his face. The small corpse was still warm, even though the demon-monk could no longer feel any life in it. Miroku sat there for an unknown amount of time, crying and praying until the body in his arms began to stiffen in place and cool in death. His blast had wiped out the entire village population, even the ones he had told would be safe in the haven of air from Kagura. He was a murderer. He was a liar and betrayed all of those innocents.

Miroku hated himself. No, loathed himself.

"I will never be forgiven!" He whispered hoarsely. His eyes were sore and red from all of the moisture that had left, and his throat was scratchy. "I will never forgive myself!"

(It would be cruel to end here, eh?)

~*~

"Come on! Hurry up! We're losing him!" Kagura hissed in a rushed whisper, watching the form of Miroku slowly shrink from his heightened demon form to its smaller human form.

"Oh shut up! I'm working as fast as I can! It'll only be a few more seconds!" A male demon growled back at Kagura, rubbing his hands together, but not having them touching. Dust began to emanate from them, and suddenly the demon cupped his hands together, as though he were holding onto a firefly and did not want to let it go. His face was contorted in pain but his mouth was twisted into a grimace. Suddenly, as if the powder within in his hands was red-hot, he threw the powder into the air and moved his arms into a gesture of a large arc. The powder, dissolving into the air, instantly began spreading out, creating a rolling fog front. The fog enveloped them and the human-turned-demon and for a few moments, the soft crying of the man was silenced. Minutes passed.

But suddenly, a wave of anger passed through all who were covered in the mist. It was unknown from where the anger came from for each creature, just that the anger was bubbling up inside of them, giving them nonexistent reasons for violence and blasphemy.

A growling was heard from the center of the mist, though, and Kagura and the male demon watched where the demon monk had once been. A small dome of floating particles kept them safe from the powder of anger. Kagura listened closely to what the monk was growling.

"She left me… she wanted to get medicine… she wanted to change me… she didn't accept me for what I am now… well she will learn from her disobedience… Sango, my dear, you will accept me now… even if force is needed…" The wind demon growled, anticipation felt within the area. Suddenly, violet-red eyes could be seen within the fog, and the damp air dissipated from the mere closeness of the power. The monk wind demon floated up into the air, scowling. Suddenly, without warning, he shot into the air, leaving a trail of purple smoke dancing toward the mountain. A large dent in the ground was left from where the demon had once been.

"Well that was a close one," The male demon sighed, reclining back against a tree, waiting out the power of his emotion powder to ware off. Kagura hissed at him and whacked him upside the head.

"No thanks to your stupid slowness, Hitachi!" She snapped. But she couldn't help turning and smirking from the ingenuity of the plan. Naraku was a smart hanyou, she had to admit.

Hitachi rubbed his head and cursed silently at the wind demon. God he hated how blackmail worked.

~*~

A/N: Ah, thanks for reading everyone!

I just need to thank Blink 182 for their song "Always" which gave me inspiration on this chapter and for demon-Miroku. That song completely reminds me of Miroku, so I'm gonna put the lyrics here at the bottom instead of putting them in the story. I have nothing against songfics, but for me they kind of break up the story and it doesn't flow as well otherwise. So, now that this is the end of the chapter, and it's optional if you guys read this part or not, here's Blink 182, "Always!"

I've been here, before, a few times

And I'm quite aware we're dying

And your hands, they shake

With good-byes

And I'll take you back if you have me

So here I am, I'm trying

So here I am, are you ready?

Come on let me hold you

Touch you

Feel you

Always

Kiss you

Taste you

All night

Always

And I'll miss your laugh, your smile

I'll admit I'm wrong if you tell me

I'm so sick of fights; I hate them

Let's start this again, for real

Come on let me hold you

Touch you

Feel you

Always

Kiss you

Taste you

All night

Always

I've been here, before, a few times

And I'm quite, aware, we're dying

Come on let me hold you

Touch you

Feel you

Always

Kiss you

Taste you

All night

Always

Come on let me hold you

Touch you

Feel you

Always

Kiss you Taste you

All night

Always

Always

Always