InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Drinking Baby ❯ Dreaming of You ( Chapter 3 )

Drinking Baby

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Three: Dreaming of You

For Kagome it was Saturday, for Inu Yasha, Shippo, and Kirara it was just a normal day; but for Miroku and Sango it was another day full of undesired thoughts. He had done it again; Miroku had wormed his way back into Sango's life. He hadn't really left, but to him he had. But after their night at the inn, they had not spoken to each other. The atmosphere was extremely tense; With Miroku and Sango not speaking to one another, it made conversation between the rest of them rather difficult. Neither of them wanted to tell what was bothering them, but then, no one had bothered to ask. It was common for Miroku to keep things to himself, and Sango never wanted to burden anyone with her personal problems, so she kept quiet as well. By high noon, Inu Yasha had finally had enough. He spun on his heels, facing the solemn group behind him.

"Damn it! Just what is going on between you two?"

"It's nothing," Miroku said, chancing a glance at Sango, and saw her to be staring at the ground. If she wanted to tell them all about last night, that was her problem. He, for one, had no desire to share anything.

"Bull shit. I can sense your uneasiness, Miroku-and it's making me edgy!"

Miroku sighed; it was something he was becoming accustomed to. "Look. Inu Yasha, there are more important things to be worrying about other than my anxiety-like the jewel shards. And I'm sorry if I'm making you feel disquieted, but I've got my own tribulations to be concerned about, so if you could just leave me at peace, I would be very grateful."

Inu Yasha was so taken aback by the monk's proclamation, that he said nothing, and instead turned back towards their unknowing destination. The others seemed to be just as offended by Miroku's statement that they continued to say nothing for the remainder of the trip.

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It was well into the night before Miroku and his companions reached a village, used to stay at for the remaining hours of the night. But from what they could see, the village was deserted; there seemed to have been a battle there. Most houses had missing walls, others had collapsed altogether. They picked one of the lesser damaged huts to stay in.

They were rather lucky, as Kagome kept reminding them. Recently they had been spending all their nights inside, rather than out in the woods. It didn't really matter to Inu Yasha where they slept, but if he wanted to sleep peacefully, he was to keep his mouth shut.

It had not taken the girls long at all to set up the blankets and fall into slumber. Kagome slept inside her bag of sleeping, with Shippo curled up beside her head. Miroku turned his head towards Sango. She too had already fallen asleep, her cat youkai, Kirara, purring softly, eyes drooping.

"Inu Yasha...," Miroku breathed.

There was a moment's silence that made Miroku wonder if the hanyou had fallen asleep as well. But a sudden ruffling of robes, told him he was mistaken.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"About earlier.... There was something bothering me."

Inu Yasha snorted. "I already knew that."

And with the moonlight shining in through the smashed hut, Miroku thought he saw, what appeared to be a smirk, playing on Inu Yasha's lips. It was a rare sight to behold, he was just lucky he caught it when he did.

"But really, what's botherin' you, monk?"

Miroku shook his head, though it made him wonder if Inu Yasha could actually see him in the dark. "It really isn't anything," he said softly.

"You woke me up to tell me that same thing from this afternoon?"

"You were asleep?"

"No," Inu Yasha said bluntly.

Miroku let out a chuckle. It felt good making such a noise of happiness, even if it was forced. He sighed again, having regretted doing such an act.

"I can't keep up doing this charade anymore," he said finally. Inu Yasha opened his mouth in protest, but Miroku cut him off. "I'm leaving, Inu Yasha."

"I won't stop you then."

There was a moment of awkward silence as Miroku thought this over. He really had expected Inu Yasha to stop him from going. And also, somewhere deep inside, he wished Inu Yasha had stopped him.

"Thank you, my friend."

And with that, Miroku picked up his staff and walked out of the hut.

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The sun was rising by the time Miroku had found his way out of the abandoned village. And by that time, Miroku also found himself to be delirious. He was arguing with himself from time to time and even walked into a tree during his last episode. He'd checked himself for fever, but his temperature felt normal enough.

Maybe it was due to his exhaustion?

He remembered not being able to sleep for the last two days. And he had battled youkai for a jewel shard the previous day, so that made his exhaustion double. After walking a few more paces. He saw a nice spot to the left that looked inviting; he would have preferred to sleep back at the old, rundown hut, but this would have to do since he wasn't traveling with Sango and the others anymore.

This way, I can't get anyone else pregnant, and I'll be able to sleep without worrying whether or not Sango's all right. I can't worry about her if I'm not with her, right?

Wrong.

Miroku sat cross-legged, under a giant oak, trying to render himself free of these thoughts of Sango. He found it to be impossible. The further away she was from him, the more he seemed to worry for her safety. If Inu Yasha kept his promise, then he would not tell the others where he had gone, or when he left; if they knew when he left, they'd be able to figure out how far he could have traveled. He closed his eyes, just hoping that in his exhaustion, sleep would overtake him.

It was dark when Miroku woke, and the air was chilly. He felt a cold drop of water hit his cheek, so he checked to make sure he wasn't crying. He wasn't. Looking up, he noticed that the clouds lingering above him were an ominous shade of gray. It was just like one of those bad luck rain clouds.... How ironic.

He stood up, having decided to get somewhere out of the rain. He didn't know exactly where he was heading, but he found himself walking down a dirt-covered path as the rain began to fall in heavier sheets.

For all it was worth, the scenery around him suddenly changed. It was like he had just walked in through a door...or somewhere to another dimension. He knew the latter was impossible, seeing as he now knew where he was. He was standing beside his father's tomb, just outside Mushin's temple.

Miroku walked down into the grave. He kneeled down, closed his eyes and put his hands together in prayer. It was almost a habit to prayer at Father's tomb every time he returned.

"Miroku...?"

Miroku spun his head around so fast, that he felt it snap painfully. Wincing, he looked at the one who had called out to him. It was Sango. She stood there, watching him as closely as a cat watches its prey. The rain was starting to become steady, but it didn't seem to faze Sango. She continued to stare down at him.

She called me by my name..., Miroku thought. What's going on here?

"Sango-chan, how did you know I was here?" Not even I knew where I was headed.

"Inu Yasha told me that you left. Miroku, I was worried about you."

"Inu Yasha told you I left, did he?" That lying bastard. "Sango-chan...please, there is something I need to tell you."

"I love you."

Miroku stared at her, mouth agape. He was dumbfounded; he didn't know what to say to such a confession. So, he stood there like a total moron, eyes wide in shock. Rain continued to fall down his cheek, until the liquid reached his lips, and he realized the salty water was from his own tears. His tears of joy.

Sango's timing couldn't have been better. With such a beautiful declaration of love, Miroku forgot all about being miserable. And he was just about to return Sango's feeling towards him...when he sneezed. It was then that he realized that his robes were soaking him to the bone. Sango seemed to take notice of this as well.

"Miroku-sama, you're going to catch a cold in those wet clothes."

Miroku laughed. This time it was not forced, but only pure, needed laughter. Sango's tone was just as a mother's scolding her child would be. He walked up, out of his father's grave site, and continued to walk with Sango to Mushin's temple.

When they reached Mushin's temple, both of them changed out of the wet clothes and into white, night robes. Mushin insisted on looking over Miroku to make sure he hadn't gotten ill during his prayer time outside. Miroku brushed it off, saying he felt fine.

After greeting Hachi, Miroku and Sango trudged on to bed. Truth be told, Miroku was feeling a bit sluggish, and when he told Sango, she avowed for him to lay his head in her lap while she stroked his hair. Smiling wearily, Miroku agreed to her terms.

He laid out a blanket, resting his head upon Sango's lap. She did as she said she would, and began to fondle Miroku's dark locks. He immediately began to feel his eyelids droop, and was comfortable knowing that his love was there playing with his hair.

But as they say, it was indeed too good to be true....

Not half a minute after Miroku closed his eyes, did he feel cold metal against his neck. His eyes snapped open, to reveal to him his current situation. Sango, the dear woman who had only declared her love to him twenty minutes prior, had one of her wrist blades (the weapon) pressed against Miroku's Adam's apple. And not only was the blade threatening to slash his neck, it was also cutting off his air passage.

He fought to breathe. To stay alive! But in his efforts, he only managed to awaken Sango's pursuit in killing him. He squirmed to try and free himself of the possessed taija-ya, but she only pressed the blade harder to his neckline.

Miroku sat up suddenly, struggling for breath. It took him a moment to realize that what had happened was all a horribly bad dream. He put his cursed hand up to his neck, as if feeling for a mark from Sango's blade. Never before had he been so terrified; he was covered with icy sweat and his whole body trembled profoundly.

Before he collapsed, he remembered taking one, terrified glance over at Sango's sleeping form.

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He swatted at whoever was shaking him. It was too damn early in the morning to be woken, and so rudely at that. When the shaking failed to ceased, Miroku turned over on his side, hoping that, whoever it was, would just leave him alone.

Finally fed up, Miroku turned around, eyes halfway shut, staring lazily at his wakeup call.

"Nani, Shippo-chan?"

"Ohayo, Miroku-sama!"

Miroku sat up, yawning and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "It's too early, Shippo-chan-"

"It's already eleven o' clock, Miroku," Kagome said, checking her watch.

Whatever that means....

"Let's go, Houshi-sama."

Miroku searched for the source of the voice. He knew that voice, but it had called him something different last night; something that left him feeling at ease.

"S-Sango-chan!"

Miroku was looking at her with utmost fear. His eyes darted around the room like a frightened kitten looking for an escape route. His breathing became more intense as he continued to stare at her.

"Houshi-sama, what's wrong?"

She was walking forward, a look of complete concern on her face. But it was all an act. Miroku knew that much for sure. She was such an actress-she should have been in a play.

"Stay away from me!"

Sango stopped dead in her tracks, the look on her face showing that of confusion and a tint of hurt.

"What's gotten into you?" Inu Yasha asked, unfolding his arms and taking a step towards the scenario.

"She t-tried to kill me last night!"

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A/N: Gah, there were so many places I wanted to end this chapter! Like directly after Miroku's dream, in the center of the dream, anywhere but where I just ended it.

I'll be outta town for a couple days, but when I return, you can expect another update from me. My friend and I are going to start our own manga, so maybe I'll get some ideas from that.