InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heaven ❯ High Noon ( Chapter 11 )

Dark Heaven

 

I hadn't foreseen it when I started, but this chapter became heavily Miroku/Sango centric, so enjoy the change of pace!

 

Cookies to all who can not only spot my latest OC, but can translate their name for me.

 

Chapter 11

 

High Noon

 

Kagome sat back on her old sofa and tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling. She had called in sick again, and planned to spend the day alone at home. Tsubaki had advised her to set some higher goals so she had something to reach for. The problem was that Kagome was content with what she already had. She didn't need a better job, she had perfectly acceptable living arrangements. She…

 

Kagome groaned and slapped her forehead. Of course, she was content. Tsubaki herself had said that she wasn't happy, merely content, and that that was part of the problem. Content wasn't an option.

 

“So, what would make me happy?” Kagome mused. She looked to the side at the feathery white wings spread out along the sides of the couch. She briefly considered forgetting her unique abilities, but brushed the thought away as soon as it came up. She had learned from experience that no happiness came from denying her gift. So by process of elimination, she had to find a way to be happy by embracing her wings. But that would mean coming out to the public, and that was something she also knew from experience, would bring pain.

 

“I'm too little human to be one,” She whispered. “But I can't live a youkai life when I know I'm not one,” She groaned and held her head in her hands. “So where the hell do I belong?”

 

The doors to her apartment thudded loudly, and Kagome jumped to her feet. She composed herself, withdrew her wings, and unlocked her door, opening it the slightest bit.

 

“Hi,” Kagome said, surprised.

 

“Hey,” Inuyasha replied, lifting a hand in greeting. “Can I come in?”

 

“NO!” Kagome shouted. “I…I'm naked, just had a bath.” She lied. Inuyasha shrugged.

 

“Fair enough, I'll stay out here,” He said. “Look, I'm sorry about ducking out on you last night, I got called and had to go.”

 

“Don't worry about it, I was fine,” Kagome laughed.

“Well, I'm not, I feel bad about you being stood up, basically. So I came to ask you to lunch.” Kagome looked at a clock on her wall with a crooked minute hand.

 

“It's that late already?” She mused. “Okay, sure, just let me get dressed.” Inuyasha nodded as Kagome closed the door. She sighed and looked over her shoulder at her wings.

 

“Okay, round two,” She muttered, heading to her room to get dressed.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“I'll just have fries and gravy,” Sango said, staring down at the salt shaker she was kneading around her fingers on the table.

 

“Cheeseburger with ketchup and mustard,” Miroku said. The waitress at the small diner Miroku had taken her to nodded and walked away. Sango looked up through her bangs and scowled as she noticed Miroku watching the waitress' skirt as she walked away.

 

“Typical,” She muttered.

 

“Huh?” Miroku asked, looking back at her.

 

“Nothing. You got me here, so what's up?” Sango asked, sitting back. Miroku shrugged.

 

“I just wanted to talk to you.”

 

“You just talk to a woman?” Sango snorted. “Can you handle that?”

 

“I'll try,” Miroku replied dryly. “Sango…are we friends?” Sango rolled her eyes.

 

“Are we friends? We've been friends since we were four and I beat you up and made you eat dirt.”

 

“Yeah, and we were friends in grade and middle school. It's high school I don't get,” Miroku agreed. “You never talk to me anymore, every time we even see each other, it's because I came to see you. What happened to us?” Sango looked out the window and crossed her arms.

 

“”You were my neighbor, Miroku. Do you know what I thought when it seemed every week you brought home a different girl? What the hell was I supposed to act like?”

 

“So what, you think I became some sort of playboy?” Miroku asked, surprised. “It's not like that Sango. I dated them, I didn't screw them or anything Sango. They were just flings, they meant nothing to me.”

 

“So you didn't sleep around, you just had mindless one-night stands, that makes it okay then,” Sango growled.

 

“What is it that's making you mad, that I dated all of them, or that I never dated you?” Miroku asked suddenly.

 

“What the hell does that mean?”

 

“It means that maybe what's getting you pissed off is that I never expressed interest in you, just everyone else. We've been friends for over a decade Sango, you can't tell me you think of me as just a friend.”

 

“What does my mindset of you have to do with anything?” Sango snapped, annoying. “Why does it matter if I think of you as a friend?”

 

“Because I don't think of you as one!” Miroku shouted suddenly. Sango's eyes widened as the diner patrons turned to stare at him. Miroku glared at them. “What, it's not like I'm fucking her, what's the deal?” He yelled at them. Once everyone had gone back to their own business, or at least pretended to, Miroku turned back to Sango. “I dated those women because I was looking for something, something I knew I wouldn't find but had to try anyway.”

 

“What?” Sango whispered.

 

“You,” Miroku replied, reaching for her hand. She didn't pull away, but didn't squeeze his palm reassuringly either. “Sango, remember when you graduated middle school and you wanted to go to the dance, but you refused to have your parents take you because you said you were old enough for a date? And you didn't have a boyfriend so I said I'd take you?” Sango nodded.

 

“I think about that all the time. You wore those jeans you got for your birthday two years before with the hole in the ankle you got from rollerblading, and that peach sweater with the one sleeve that stretched a little longer than the other because we played tug of war with it when I gave it to you,” Miroku said. “And I swear to God, you were beautiful. You had smeared a bit of lipstick because you had never used it before and you were fighting off a cold. I took you, I danced with you when you wanted to dance, I had three packets of tissues stuffed in my pocket for you. And the last song was `When I Look Into Your Eyes'. And we danced for it, until halfway through someone pulled the fire alarm. And I used my jacket to keep you from getting wet as we ran out of the building. My jacket and my shirt got soaked, but you were dry, so it was worth it.”

 

“You remember all of that? All that mindless detail, you remember?” Sango asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

 

“Every second. Sango, that night was the greatest night of my life, and I knew you were what I wanted. But you were my neighbor and my friend. I wanted to find someone else, maybe find someone to take my mind off you, but it never worked. I must have dated half the girls in our high school, none of them compared to you. Every date was a living hell because it wasn't with you. Sango, it was that day when I danced with you and looked into your eyes that I realized something, and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to act on it…” Miroku leaned over the table as Sango paled.

 

“Miroku, please don't, don't say it, stop now,” She pleaded, tears running down her face.

 

“I love you Sango,” Miroku whispered, leaning towards her and pressing his lips against her. Sango froze as Miroku closed his eyes and brought a hand up to cup her chin. She barely had time to register what he was doing before he backed off and stared at her as he sat back down. Sango stared at him, eyes wide, before she slowly stood up.

 

“Sango?” Miroku asked.

 

“I, um…I have to go,” She stammered, grabbing her purse. Miroku's face fell as his childhood friend kept her head low as she briskly walked out of the diner. Miroku curled an arm on the table in front of him and let his head fall down.

 

“What the fuck have I done?” He whispered.

 

- - - - - - - - - -

 

“I have called you all here to discuss the recent activity in the human gangland. They have made attacks that would seem to indicate they have some knowledge of the Sealed One,” Toga said, looking over the table as the currently available members of the House of Taisho. Raijin Raimei was one of Toga's oldest friends, and was a lightning-youkai with the signature yellow hair and eyes of the element. Beside him sat Kurama Youko, a kitsune youkai with green eyes and bright red hair. Kurama was relatively young as youkai went, barely over a century old, but Toga trusted him, and so far Kurama had made an excellent Tenant. Opposite them sat Kurobi Kai, a koumori-youkai with light-blue hair and dark blue eyes. She was the only female member of the House throughout its century-long run. But she served the youkai community as well as any of her male counterparts. Sesshomaru sat beside her, where Kagemusha would normally sit had he been there.

 

“Surely there is no way, Inu-no-Taisho, that the human underground could know of our most treasured secret,” Raijin protested.

 

“Agreed, under normal circumstances,” Toga nodded. “However, I believe there are a series of information leaks within both our own beloved House and the Council of Thirteen. Bankotsu Shinchinintai in particular has fallen under my suspicion. He has relatives in the human gangs. But he is not our only problem.”

 

“If Bankotsu is not their informant, then we must look to the other likely suspects,” Sesshomaru explained, picking up his father's lead. “And of all of the House members, who is not here? Who of us was not here when the first attack happened?”

 

“Do you believe Kagemusha has betrayed us?” Kurobi asked, her eyes widening slightly.

 

“I sincerely would like to disbelieve that, but there is evidence that states otherwise,” Toga said. “As it is, our suspicions will have to wait. Kagemusha is absent from his seat on a trip to Haven. When he returns, he will be questioned extensively, and if I even get a hint of an indication that he has betrayed us, I shall kill him myself.”

 

“Are you serious Inu-no-Taisho?” Raijin gasped.

 

“We have all born witness to the horrors of the last time the Sealed One's power was unleashed. Even you, Kurama, though a mere child, saw the devastation it brought to both our races. That tragedy can never, and will never, be repeated,” Toga growled. “Believe me when I say that I will do whatever it takes, even slay a Tenant, to ensure the Sealed One stays sealed.”

 

“You speak the truth father,” Sesshomaru muttered. “We cannot allow the Sealed One to escape. But it is not only your crusade to protect it. The Council of Thirteen and ourselves, the House of Taisho and I, it is all our duty to protect the Sealed One. Please do not forget this.”

 

“You too, speak the truth my son. Forgive me,” Toga nodded. “For now my Tenants, you are dismissed. Thank you for your time.” The three nodded and stood up to leave Toga with Sesshomaru.

 

“Father,” Sesshomaru asked. “What sort of threat do you believe Haven's so-called `Angel' may pose to us?”

 

“Angel…is a mystery to me,” Toga admitted. “She is an interesting situation, indeed. Had I have the time to investigate her myself I would. Her battles against the human scum are well meant, and if she proceeds to battle Haven's dark denizens, then I have no qualms with her, let her fly about the city playing superhero. But if we find out that her intentions are not entirely pure…” Toga smiled slightly. “Well then, our Ambassador shall take care of her.”

 

“Ambassador,” Sesshomaru spat. “The word, father, is abomination.”

 

“Do not let your petty feuds interfere with business, Sesshomaru. Hate him you might, but you cannot deny that of all our operatives, he was the most, nay, the only one qualified to handle Angel. Even if he does not kill her, his unique powers will allow him to reason with her.”

 

“True, I have to admit,” Sesshomaru sighed. “He may be disgusting, but he would also understand Angel in a way we never could.”

 

“Yes…Angel. Human, but with a gift no human has. The strength and wings of a youkai, but not the blood,” Toga whispered. “Two halves of two worlds that cannot fit into either…such is the nature of a hanyou.”