InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inoku ❯ Chapter 4

Part 4

After traveling a few miles from their previous camp, a vote was taken and the majority decided that they still needed to stop somewhere for the night. It had been early into the evening when their first camp had been demolished, and by now, everyone who hadn't been physically altered within the last few hours was too exhausted to go on.

"I don't see why you should be complaining…" Sango sighed wearily as she rested Hiraikotsu on the ground. "It seems to me that if anyone should be exhausted, it's you two."

"My apologies, Sango, but I couldn't sleep now if I wanted to. My mind is racing…"

Ah, polite conversation and a smooth manner… she noted, smiling to herself. That's Houshi-sama. I'm getting better at this.

"It's a lot to think about." she agreed, sitting a short distance from him; just far enough to be out of range.

"Yes it is…"

He fell silent, and Sango let her eyes wander around the camp so that they wouldn't have to stare at each other uncomfortably. Across the fire, Kagome was already curled up in her sleeping bag, with Shippou tucked snugly under her chin. She suspected that they'd been asleep from the moment they'd toppled gracelessly from Kirara's back into the camp. The unrolling of the sleeping bag had more than likely been an amazing feat of somnambulism. Not that she faulted them for it. She was eager to join them. Stifling the yawn that watching her snoring friends had prompted, she allowed her eyes to wander back over to the troubled face beside her.

"I take it you'll want first watch then?" she asked hopefully. It was obvious that he had been lost in thought, because it took him a while to realize that she had been speaking to him. When she could tell by his expression that her words had finally registered, she offered him a rueful grin.

"I don't want you to think that I'm being insensitive to your predicament, but if you're going to be up anyway…"

"No," he said quickly, "I agree. That's fine, I'm not tired yet."

"What about you, Inuyasha? Want to go next?" she asked, raising her voice. The young man's eyes lit up with amusement at this, and Sango began to feel rather embarrassed.

Baka! she scolded herself, It's not like he's underwater…

"I'm sorry, that was foolish of me." she apologized, lowering her lips to brush the tip of her knuckle. Miroku laughed softly and shook his head.

"You misunderstand me, Sango. I'm smiling because even though I am sitting here talking to you, Inuyasha is already asleep."

"Asleep?"

"Yes. I felt him go down a few minutes after we stopped moving."

"That's so odd…" she whispered, "It must feel so strange, houshi-sama. Like being possessed." Miroku nodded, his lips stretching into a tight, tense line as the smile vanished.

"It does. I'm actually quite surprised that he went to sleep first. You know how guarded he is. I wouldn't have thought that he'd feel comfortable leaving me in complete control of our faculties."

"That's true," Sango agreed, frowning. "and I've never known him to be much for sleeping, either. He almost always takes first watch. Do you think something might be wrong?"

"I don't know. All I can tell you is that whether he cares to admit it or not, he's feeling very drained. Maybe it's the shock, or maybe it's because there is so much human blood flowing through our veins. At any rate, I'm sure he'll be back to his charming old self in the morning. Why don't you get some sleep, Sango? I'll wake Inuyasha if I get too tired. There's no need for you to stay up, and if you don't mind, I think I'd rather be alone with my thoughts."

"Alright, Houshi-sama. But wake me if you need anything." she cautioned.

"That is very kind of you to offer, Sango, but I would be afraid of waking Inuyasha. Perhaps another time?"

"Youuuu…" She raised her fist above her head…and then dropped it back to her side ineffectually.

"You are very lucky that I am feeling sorry for Inuyasha tonight." she seethed, popping the knuckles on her fist in frustration. "He's already been pummeled once because of you, and I won't be the one to wake him with a second beating when he needs the rest!" Raising quickly before she could change her mind, Sango moved to the other side of the fire to sleep between Kagome and Kirara.

"Goodnight, hentai. I strongly suggest that you keep your hands to yourself."

"Humph…" he grumbled under his breath, "Let's see if they remember that there are two people inside this body the next time Kikyo-sama shows up."

~

'Inuyasha'

There was that irritating voice again. Why wouldn't it go away and leave him alone like he'd already told it twice before? Persistent little fuck…

'Inuyasha,' the voice said patiently, 'I'm not going to stop.'

'mmmnnn… what do you want?'

'It's time for your watch. I need to sleep.'

'Fuck you bouzu. MY turn to sleep…' he mumbled, slipping back into the dark recesses of their shared cranium.

'Inuyasha?'

'Mmmmnnnn…'

'Inuyasha!'

'Wha…? Go away, Miroku, I'm tired…'

'INUYASHA!' The scream reverberated off of their skull, inciting the hanyou to pull himself out of the mire of his unconscious state.

'Rrrrrrr…Ok!…I'm up! Shit…don't yell like that.'

'Don't worry,' the voice inside of his head assured him. 'No one else could hear it.'

'I could hear it!' he grumbled.

'Good. Then it served its purpose. I'm going to sleep now,' the monk instructed, 'You have to keep watch.'

'Oh…right. Ok.'

'Arigatou…' The houshi's voice was already fading from their head, drifting off.

As Inuyasha slowly became more aware, he found that he was sitting up, his open eyes staring at the glowing embers of a dying campfire.

"How did I get here?" he whispered, looking around. Across the smoky little pit, he could just make out the dark silhouettes of his sleeping companions. He remained still for a few moments, shaking the last little bits of grogginess from his mind. A cool breeze blew through the clearing, and the few cinders that hadn't burned away leapt out to glow brightly, revealing themselves amongst the dark ash.

"Damn it, Miroku. You always let the fire die." he muttered in disgust. Now he would have to search around in the dark for more kindling. Hoping that he wouldn't have to get up, he patted the ground around him, searching for sticks. What he found instead were a bunch of wet, sticky leaves, lying to his immediate left.

'Slugs?' he alternately hoped and dreaded, bringing his hand curiously to his nose while he tried not to gag at the thought. One sniff, however, confirmed that it was not the work of those slimy little invertebrates. One sniff also confirmed that someone very close to him was about to die. He knew this scent, very well, in fact. There was no mistaking his own.

'Oi, Miroku!' He let his inner voice prod at the other presence lying dormant within his head, working in the same manner as the lecherous monk. He was just glad that the others wouldn't be able to hear this argument.

'MIROKU!'

'…hmmm? Nande?'

'What the hell have you been doing out here?!'

The houshi suddenly became very still, and if Inuyasha hadn't been able to sense his presence fluttering nearby, he might have thought that he was alone inside of his head once again.

'I know you're there, asshole.'

'…uh…listen…' Miroku managed finally.

'UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!' Inuyasha screamed, silencing the monk. He grabbed hold of their forearm and ran the claw of his thumb down the back, leaving a deep gash. The pain made him flinch, but it was worth it to hear the sharp intake of breath that accompanied, a sound that he hadn't been responsible for.

'I thought I told you to keep your hands off, bouzu?'

'Inuyasha!'

'You got a fascination with bodily fluids?! Fine! I'll make us bleed some more!'

'Stop right there!'

The wounded arm struggled out of the vise-like grip of it's partner's fist. Before the other arm could react, it shot out to the side and grabbed the monk's staff, proceeding to whack them both soundly on the head.

'It wasn't my fault this time!' Miroku protested, steeling himself against the pain as he forced the staff down upon their head a second time. 'I was cleaning up after you!'

'Nani?' Inuyasha growled, sending their other arm above their head to deflect the blows.

'That was one very intense dream, Inuyasha!'

The staff fell from their hands to the ground with a discordant jangle.

'wha- …bu-…' Inuyasha sputtered, before inevitably turning defensive. 'I don't know what you're talking about! Stop trying to throw me off! I know what you were doing.'

'Don't bother to deny it.' Miroku said calmly. 'I saw it all, quite vividly. It was most distracting. It certainly made keeping watch difficult; I practically had to sit on my hands.'

'Shut up! You did not!'

'We were sitting up in a tree, by a spring. Kagome-sama was bathing just a few yards below…'

'You're making this up! Stop it!'

'We had to be very quiet so that we wouldn't be discovered,' the monk continued unabashedly, 'but she must have known we were there all along, because she called out to us and asked if we wanted to… Well, I'll just say 'wash her back', but I think that you remember what actually transpired.'

'This isn't happening… I am NOT talking to you about this!'

'I wasn't going to say anything. I'm a man; I understand that these things happen. But you attacked us, so what else could I do?'

'You fucking pervert,' Inuyasha whispered venomously, 'if you ever breath a word of this to anyone I swear that I'll kill you! I don't know how, but I will! I'll find a way.'

'Say what you will about me, but it wasn't MY dream, Inuyasha. I don't generally climb trees.'

~

The following morning found the small band of travelers back on the road, plodding along in a silent, over-exhausted daze left over from the hectic events of the night before. Silent, that is, except for a certain dark-haired young man who couldn't seem to stop arguing with himself.

"I can no longer phhppt! abide all of this hair in my face!" he cried out, waving his hands over-zealously at an invisible stray hair that kept tickling at the tip of his nose. "I'm tying it back!"

"No!" he nearly shouted in protest, "I hate it! It makes my ears hurt!"

"That's ridiculous, it does no such thing!"

"What the hell do you want from me? It's the truth!"

"What do I want?! I want to tie our hair back!"

"Please!" Sango cried, having to yell just to be heard over the ruckus. "Can't you two stop bickering for even a minute? This is getting ridiculous!"

"Sango, how would you feel if you had to share a body with this irrational moron?" the young man snapped, turning to glare at the taijiya.

"Houshi-sama," she began tiredly, "I know that Inuyasha can be stubborn and irritating at times, but-"

"HEY! What the fuck?!" the boy screamed, "I am Inuyasha! I was talking about Miroku!"

"Oh!" Sango gasped, turning her head in embarrassment.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, 'stubborn and irritating'? At least I've never groped you! Why are you always so quick to jump to his defense?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome warned.

"Ha-ha! Why do you keep arguing with yourself, Inoku?" Shippou laughed, leaning over from Kagome's shoulder to tug at a stray lock of their hair.

"What the hell did you just call me?!" they demanded, turning to sneer threateningly at the kit, fangs at the ready.

"Waaah! Kagome!" Shippou wailed, scrambling around to the girl's other shoulder, the one farthest from 'Inoku' that offered the added protection of Kagome's head as a buffer. Kagome frowned darkly and scolded the young man.

"For crying out loud, it was just a joke, Inuyasha. Calm down!"

"I resent the implication!" he said angrily. "And why do you automatically assume that it's Inuyasha?"

Now it was Kagome's turn to suffer embarrassment. Picking up speed, she caught up with Sango, who in an attempted to escape the uncomfortable situation had gone up ahead.

"Those two are starting to rub off on each other." Kagome whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"I know." Sango whispered back. "I don't like it."

"I think they're going crazy." Shippou confided in them, adding his own two cents to the conversation.

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome whispered harshly.

"Honest Kagome!" the fox-child insisted. "Have you listened to what's going on back there?" Curiosity peaked by Shippou's words, the women paused in their surreptitious conversation to listen once more.

"I don't care if it usually works! Get it into your thick skull, we don't have dog ears!"

"Alright," said Kagome, "I'll admit that to the innocent bystander, that might sound a little strange."

"A little?" Shippou squeaked in disbelief, "He's provoking himself!"

"Shippou's right in a way, Kagome-chan." Sango said in a hushed voice. "If those two haven't learned how to either get along or keep quiet by the time we reach the next village, there could be trouble."