InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Methods of the Heart ❯ Of Strength and Courage ( Chapter 9 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Fanfic Connoisseur 
A near miss, an almost kiss... Snakes and lizard and demons. Oh my! This is just the last of the calm before the storm.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
A near miss, an almost kiss... Snakes and lizard and demons. Oh my! This is just the last of the calm before the storm.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
Wazzup wazzup WAZZUUUUPP! Been gone a while. Finals stink. Summer school (in college no less) sucks!!! (wince) I no longer have a life. I just study all the time. But above all else, I have NOT abandon my fic!!! Even if no one likes it, I’ll keep writing at least until the first part of this trilogy is finished.
Only three reviews last chapter (sarcastic sigh). Still... I’m having fun writing this. Time to up the romance a little. For all you waiting for the good stuff, I’m just warming up. It gets hotter (and a bit more angsty) from here on out. Someone asked basically, who ran away... It was the Uyeda. Uyeda was brought to Inu-Yasha and camp by Kikyo (remember I said she brings children who’s parents are killed by Naraku in the wars to the camp?) and he wanted to go back to his village for something. (You’ll find out what later)
Also note: The inspiration for the last part of this chapter came to me while re-reading chapter 3 of DQ Bunny’s “The First Year”. So if it seems similar, that’s why. If you’ve never read that, do so. It may not be finished but it’s still to-die-for-good!!!
Thanks goes to my beta reader for watching my facts and personalities and to my editor for being the grammar goddess that she is!!!
---
Chapter Nine: Of Strength and Courage
---
“Help!” Uyeda was standing on a deteriorating cliffside, apparently having fallen from the road a few feet above him. Below and waiting for his perch to finish crumbling were a pack of demons, hungering for young flesh.
Sango swore under her breath. “How did he get up there?”
Miroku willed himself not to start ranting about the long list of mistakes that had been made to create this situation. They didn’t have that kind of time. “He took the wrong path.”
The road the boy had taken was meant to mislead; it didn’t take anyone anywhere. It was a trap meant to disorient and confuse travelers when they got turned around on the more twisted parts. But a child was never supposed to go on these paths.
Later, when it wasn’t about life or death, he’d have to remember to have a long talk with Inu-Yasha about camp security and dangerous situations. But that would be much later. For now even the thought of that conversation was in the back of his mind.
His eyes narrowed, quickly taking in the situation. “I’ll go down and stop the demons. Get to him quickly, Sango.”
“Right!” Sango nodded, running up the road that would take her higher on the mountain and closer to the little boy. At the same time Miroku slid down to the path that led to the bottom.
Sango ran up the path cautiously, yet quickly. Her footing was carefully chosen; she never stepped anywhere too long. It was hard navigating, having to decide first where to place her feet while finding the fewest number of steps that would take her to the small life hoping she would save him. “Hang on, I’m coming!”
Miroku, meanwhile, had reached the night-crawling demons clamoring for Uyeda at the bottom of the mountain. He swung his staff back once and then forward into the horde. “Stay back, damn you!” he hissed.
Sango flattened herself on the broken road , having reached her destination but not her target.
“I can’t hold on!” Uyeda’s voice shook when he spoke. There were tears in his eyes. He was a little child and he was scared.
“Just a bit–”
The rock crumbled under him.
Her hand snaked out to grab him. “Gotcha!” She pulled him to herself, where he clung to her like a life preserver.
“I wanna go home!”
Sango smiled down at him, letting him know he was safe for now and that it would be okay. She was here to save him and soon this whole thing would be over.
Just as calm washed over Sango, it vanished, along with the road. The pair started tumbling down and went over the edge as the path disintegrated under them both, the ground looming closer by the second.
Through the rush of adrenaline and the blood pounding in her ears, as well as the child’s shattering scream, Sango saw an option. Her arms darted out and she grabbed a tree branch with both hands, abruptly stopping their fall.
She ignored the pain and immediately tried to pull them both up to safety, hooking her arms over the branch, but the momentum from their fall had its toll. While Uyeda’s grip had been practically spine-shattering, it wasn’t strong enough to stop him from losing his grip at their abrupt stop.
For the moment, Sango was dangling, her arms hooked over the tree branch. And Uyeda was down to gripping her around the waist…and slipping.
“Hold on!” Sango screamed.
Below, their fall had not gone unnoticed by Miroku. He knew he had to hurry and clear the way for them, but the demons were ganging up on him.
One jumped at him. Without hesitation he pulled open his wind tunnel, sucking it inside. That left five more. They moved apart, increasing his target so they wouldn’t be so easily taken in.
With a slight frown he gripped his staff tightly. It crashed into the head of first one demon, then another. They both roared in pain, but were not out yet. Panicked and hurt they scrambled all around him, knocking into the others. Miroku threw a sutra, said a brief prayer to empower the paper, and hit the monster as hard as he could in the head with his staff. The demon reared up as it felt the holy power rush through it, then keeled over.
This just served to frighten the others more. Though most likely not intentionally, one rammed into the tree in which Sango and Uyeda clung for dear life, causing it to shake. The boy screamed as he slid further.
Frantically, Sango looked down. Uyeda was barely holding onto her leg at this point. “I’m sorry,” he whimpered, and Sango knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. Her fierce eyes started into a pair ready to surrender for her sake.
It was far too old a look for one so young.
She felt his body relax and slip away, heard him let out a wail of anguish. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she watched him let go, watched him give up, watched him, unable to do anything but watch. She hadn’t stopped him. She hadn’t made him try just a little longer. She hadn’t saved him. She’d failed… She’d…
“NO!!!”
Her hand gripped his wrist so hard it was cutting off the circulation. Her fingers turned white and shook, her face red from the exertion of now having only one arm thrown over the branch and slipping.
“You don’t let go. You don’t give up! Do you understand? You don’t let go!” A single tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the boy’s face.
“I can’t hold on!” He was starting to cry. They didn’t have much time. She needed to think of something fast or they would both fall.
There was only one way out of this.
At least it was a fair trade.
Below Miroku was fending off the last demon - a giant lizard-like one - that obviously felt compelled to be a pain in his ass. It was so fast it dodged his sutras. He managed to shove it back with his staff.
“MIROKU!” The sound of his name made him look up. He paled with fresh panic at the sight of Sango, shaking, barely holding onto the branch with one elbow hooked over it, her other hand grasping at Uyeda’s wrist while he dangled below her. When had that happened? The last he’d seen they were at least holding out.
“SANGO!” He started to move towards her but the demon chose that moment to charge again. He barely managed to push it back in time. Getting distracted in battle was the quickest way to death. But how could he not be?
Sango screamed his name again. “Miroku!”
He only glanced at her this time. She couldn’t save them both from falling now. So she’d save Uyeda first. She told herself she’d be fine. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her elbow and swung her body, gathering momentum.
“Miroku! You’d better catch him!”
Miroku thought his heart would explode when he realized what she was doing and what it would mean. If she threw him just right, and he caught Uyeda just right, the boy would be fine. But Sango... Sango would be completely off-balance from the momentum of throwing him. Her arm would give out. She would fall through the branches and to the ground below.
“Sango, don’t!” Miroku shouted. There had to be a better way. A way that would let everyone walk away unharmed. She didn’t have to get hurt for this, she didn’t–
“I mean it! Two yards back. Ready?”
There was a scream as she hurled the child through the air. Watching him, Miroku felt every second that passed as an hour. With lightning speed he kicked the demon in the face, then ran back, opening his arms to catch the flying boy.
He caught Uyeda, spinning around once to absorb the momentum. Behind him, he heard the sound of branches being hit and broken and knew Sango had fallen. But there was no time for that. The demon had wasted no time in attacking again. He crashed his staff into the side of it and prepared for another attack.
This time, however, instead of coming at Miroku with its previous futile pattern of attack, attack, and attack some more, the demon turned away from him. For a moment Miroku thought it was giving up.
Then he saw what it was turning towards.
Sango lay on the ground below the tree, unmoving and completely defenseless. The hungry demon saw its meal waiting for him. It opened its mouth wider than seemed possible. Little daggers for teeth prepared to rip her flesh from her bones.
“Get the hell away from her!” A sutra landed on it, followed quickly by a blow from his staff.
The demon vanished into dust. Miroku leaned on his staff and took a very deep breath.
Uyeda leaned over Sango. “The lady… Is she…dead?”
Miroku felt his chest grow tight. He leaned over her, checking for signs of life. She was breathing somewhat unsteadily, but her pulse was strong. She’d been knocked out, but not killed. “She’s fine. Just a little hurt.”
He sighed with relief. It was over.
---
Sango woke up in the middle of the night to a warm fire and a very sore body.
Immediately she checked and found that she could still move her neck from side to side and up and down. That was good. Her back must have collided with a few dozen tree branches, though, because she hadn’t felt like this since she’d nearly been beaten to death.
“Oh, you’re awake. How do you feel?” Miroku casually moved next to her.
“Awful.” She sat up. “Uyeda–”
“He’s fine. Fell asleep. I put a few wards up. It’s not the greatest but we should be safe from the forest demons. And prying eyes.” If Naraku doesn’t know where to look, anyway.
Sango looked around. They weren’t in the exact spot they had been in, but they were out in the open. Uyeda was nearby, fast asleep. There was also a small stream not far away. It made her realize how thirsty she was. Her throat was as dry as the western sands.
She licked her lips, pushing herself to her feet only to feel a sharp pain in her ankle. “OW!”
“Sango!” With a speed that would have made Inu-Yasha proud he was by her side, pulling her arm over his shoulder to support her. Luckily it wasn’t the arm she’d been holding onto the branch with. “Are you okay? Hold still.” The unworried nature he’d first presented her with evaporated at her smallest sign of pain.
“My ankle hurts. Probably a sprain.” She tried to pull away a little and get some space. At the same time she tried to turn her ankle to assess the damage.
“Don’t say that. It could be broken.” Insisting that she just accept his help, he picked her up, lifting her off her feet and heading towards the stream, where he assumed she had been originally intending to go.
“Hey! Now wait just a second!” Sango never could easily accept pity, charity, or help. This was all three. So she immediately started struggling.
Miroku gnashed his teeth just once to remind himself he was a calm person by nature. “Sango. Don’t argue, just this once. Please?” He looked directly at her, allowing her to see that he was not doing this to humiliate or pity her in any way. He was afraid for her, terrified, and he wanted her to get better. He wanted to help her get better. She frowned but stopped struggling.
Once she was still, he continued the short walk to the riverside. Once there he gently lowered her and helped her to sit by the water. He watched as she dipped her hands in the water, took a sip, and pressed her cool hands to her face. “That was fast thinking back there. You knew Uyeda would never make the fall and trusted that I would catch him.”
Sango blushed, her face suddenly much warmer then it had been a minute ago. “It was nothing, really. I–”
Miroku cut her off, a slightly bitter edge to his words. “But I’m sure you also knew that you would most certainly fall when you threw him to safety and that the fall could have killed you.”
Anger on Miroku’s part, however, served only to ignite Sango’s fury in response. The pitch in her voice rose as she said, “What was I supposed to do? Let him die so I could survive?! I couldn’t just–”
He placed a finger on her lips. It lingered a moment longer than it needed to as he contemplated in the back of his mind the question of how her lips could be so soft when the rest of her body was so rough in places.
Miroku pulled out a cloth from the folds of his robes, drenching it in the stream and putting the cool cloth to a bruise on her neck. She relaxed again and decided to give him her attention so long as he was careful about what he did and didn’t say next.
“You misunderstand. I just find your strength of spirit touching, and perhaps a bit overwhelming.” He looked at the river, watching the ripples flow, then smiled, more to himself than to her.
“I suppose I’m trying to pay you a compliment. However, it’s getting tangled up in my constant concern for you and your regard for your own life. See, there I go again.” He shook his head. It really was useless for him to admire her actions and worry about them at the same time.
He held his cursed hand out in front of his face. “You’ll have a long life, Sango. That’s more than... well... There’s still a lot to live for and you’ve barely begun.”
He closed his eyes, trying to consider what to say next. Suddenly rough, calloused fingers stretched across the rosary covering his curse and interlaced loosely with his own. More than a little surprised that she was being so bold with him, he looked from their entwined hands to her face.
She was staring at his hand, locked with hers. “I’ll try, Miroku. I can promise you that.”
His stare lasted another moment. Good. She understood. He nodded his head, with a small smile. For a moment longer they were silent. Miroku considered how to proceed as Sango let his words sink in.
“I know I’m not Kagome, but how about I look at that ankle, hm?” He smiled at her with his usual cheery face. She nodded, the corners of her lips turning up into the smallest of smiles.
Permission having been granted, Miroku let go of her hand and slid down to her leg, letting his fingers trace along her scarred but still smooth skin. His hands, while usually of the wandering sort, never went above her knee. They were too far out for jokes and teasing. Besides, he didn’t feel like being a fool right now.
Miroku’s look was intense as his fingers passed along her ankle, looking for the injured area. Sango was getting terribly uncomfortable. How could a gaze heat her cheeks so? His hands passed over her ankle bone and she drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, her leg flexing back.
“Well, I think that’s the spot.” He smirked.
Sango willed the blood away from her cheeks. Quickly she changed the subject to anything else.
“S-so, what was it like for you when Inu-Yasha started, umm... Well, when he and Kagome…”
Miroku located two sticks, produced a long piece of bandage from his robes, and began wrapping her ankle up in a makeshift splint. “Torture. At the time I could think of a thousand people better for my sister than him. And no, I don’t mean myself.”
He shuddered dramatically. Kagome was the only thing he had that reminded him of the love of a family anymore, which is why he couldn’t even imagine loving her another way. It would be far too confusing.
“I knew he’d hurt her one way or another.” Miroku finished tying off the splint and moved to sit back next to Sango. He looked off into the distance. “I’d wished he’d proved me wrong. After all, he still does hurt her sometimes... But they have three kids, two their own.” He shrugged. Maybe they were happy that way.
Sango placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her at this but she was staring at her fingers on his shoulder. “Sometimes... that is... I learned in the arena sometimes you have to feel the pain.”
She caught Miroku’s inquisitive gaze out of the corner of her eye and clarified. “You have to feel pain to know you’re alive. That you’re not just living some empty existence, doing the same thing day after day. So... you know there is more than just the cold and the loneliness and the fear and the blood.”
She shook her head, removing her hand from his arm. “Sorry. I think I’m babbling.”
“No no. That makes sense, actually.” Miroku reached out, turned her face to look into his. The gaze he’d given her before had intensified to the point where Sango thought she’d burn to cinders. Her breath started to come in small puffs. She felt overwhelmed.
Miroku felt it too. Something wouldn’t let him look away from her. She was his friend. He’d come to trust her. Yet he wanted… he wanted...
At that moment he wanted to kiss her.
But he couldn’t move, couldn’t break this sweet moment between them even if it would be for a sweeter one. He realized HE was nervous. Him, of all people.
And somehow that gave him courage to move again. Forward barely an inch. Their foreheads touched, allowing for the most intense stare shared between them yet. Neither moved.
“Where is everyone?? Lady? Mister!”
Uyeda’s worried voice shattered the mood to stardust. Sango pushed herself back a foot, gripping her chest in panic. Miroku fell into the dirt of the river bank, his hands in the air and twitching.
When the child cried out again, Miroku quickly moved to his feet. “Yes. Yes. We’re over here.”
He turned around to help Sango walk back to the fire but she had already found a fallen tree branch to use as a crutch.
Well, it had been nice while it lasted.
Only three reviews last chapter (sarcastic sigh). Still... I’m having fun writing this. Time to up the romance a little. For all you waiting for the good stuff, I’m just warming up. It gets hotter (and a bit more angsty) from here on out. Someone asked basically, who ran away... It was the Uyeda. Uyeda was brought to Inu-Yasha and camp by Kikyo (remember I said she brings children who’s parents are killed by Naraku in the wars to the camp?) and he wanted to go back to his village for something. (You’ll find out what later)
Also note: The inspiration for the last part of this chapter came to me while re-reading chapter 3 of DQ Bunny’s “The First Year”. So if it seems similar, that’s why. If you’ve never read that, do so. It may not be finished but it’s still to-die-for-good!!!
Thanks goes to my beta reader for watching my facts and personalities and to my editor for being the grammar goddess that she is!!!
---
Chapter Nine: Of Strength and Courage
---
“Help!” Uyeda was standing on a deteriorating cliffside, apparently having fallen from the road a few feet above him. Below and waiting for his perch to finish crumbling were a pack of demons, hungering for young flesh.
Sango swore under her breath. “How did he get up there?”
Miroku willed himself not to start ranting about the long list of mistakes that had been made to create this situation. They didn’t have that kind of time. “He took the wrong path.”
The road the boy had taken was meant to mislead; it didn’t take anyone anywhere. It was a trap meant to disorient and confuse travelers when they got turned around on the more twisted parts. But a child was never supposed to go on these paths.
Later, when it wasn’t about life or death, he’d have to remember to have a long talk with Inu-Yasha about camp security and dangerous situations. But that would be much later. For now even the thought of that conversation was in the back of his mind.
His eyes narrowed, quickly taking in the situation. “I’ll go down and stop the demons. Get to him quickly, Sango.”
“Right!” Sango nodded, running up the road that would take her higher on the mountain and closer to the little boy. At the same time Miroku slid down to the path that led to the bottom.
Sango ran up the path cautiously, yet quickly. Her footing was carefully chosen; she never stepped anywhere too long. It was hard navigating, having to decide first where to place her feet while finding the fewest number of steps that would take her to the small life hoping she would save him. “Hang on, I’m coming!”
Miroku, meanwhile, had reached the night-crawling demons clamoring for Uyeda at the bottom of the mountain. He swung his staff back once and then forward into the horde. “Stay back, damn you!” he hissed.
Sango flattened herself on the broken road , having reached her destination but not her target.
“I can’t hold on!” Uyeda’s voice shook when he spoke. There were tears in his eyes. He was a little child and he was scared.
“Just a bit–”
The rock crumbled under him.
Her hand snaked out to grab him. “Gotcha!” She pulled him to herself, where he clung to her like a life preserver.
“I wanna go home!”
Sango smiled down at him, letting him know he was safe for now and that it would be okay. She was here to save him and soon this whole thing would be over.
Just as calm washed over Sango, it vanished, along with the road. The pair started tumbling down and went over the edge as the path disintegrated under them both, the ground looming closer by the second.
Through the rush of adrenaline and the blood pounding in her ears, as well as the child’s shattering scream, Sango saw an option. Her arms darted out and she grabbed a tree branch with both hands, abruptly stopping their fall.
She ignored the pain and immediately tried to pull them both up to safety, hooking her arms over the branch, but the momentum from their fall had its toll. While Uyeda’s grip had been practically spine-shattering, it wasn’t strong enough to stop him from losing his grip at their abrupt stop.
For the moment, Sango was dangling, her arms hooked over the tree branch. And Uyeda was down to gripping her around the waist…and slipping.
“Hold on!” Sango screamed.
Below, their fall had not gone unnoticed by Miroku. He knew he had to hurry and clear the way for them, but the demons were ganging up on him.
One jumped at him. Without hesitation he pulled open his wind tunnel, sucking it inside. That left five more. They moved apart, increasing his target so they wouldn’t be so easily taken in.
With a slight frown he gripped his staff tightly. It crashed into the head of first one demon, then another. They both roared in pain, but were not out yet. Panicked and hurt they scrambled all around him, knocking into the others. Miroku threw a sutra, said a brief prayer to empower the paper, and hit the monster as hard as he could in the head with his staff. The demon reared up as it felt the holy power rush through it, then keeled over.
This just served to frighten the others more. Though most likely not intentionally, one rammed into the tree in which Sango and Uyeda clung for dear life, causing it to shake. The boy screamed as he slid further.
Frantically, Sango looked down. Uyeda was barely holding onto her leg at this point. “I’m sorry,” he whimpered, and Sango knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. Her fierce eyes started into a pair ready to surrender for her sake.
It was far too old a look for one so young.
She felt his body relax and slip away, heard him let out a wail of anguish. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she watched him let go, watched him give up, watched him, unable to do anything but watch. She hadn’t stopped him. She hadn’t made him try just a little longer. She hadn’t saved him. She’d failed… She’d…
“NO!!!”
Her hand gripped his wrist so hard it was cutting off the circulation. Her fingers turned white and shook, her face red from the exertion of now having only one arm thrown over the branch and slipping.
“You don’t let go. You don’t give up! Do you understand? You don’t let go!” A single tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the boy’s face.
“I can’t hold on!” He was starting to cry. They didn’t have much time. She needed to think of something fast or they would both fall.
There was only one way out of this.
At least it was a fair trade.
Below Miroku was fending off the last demon - a giant lizard-like one - that obviously felt compelled to be a pain in his ass. It was so fast it dodged his sutras. He managed to shove it back with his staff.
“MIROKU!” The sound of his name made him look up. He paled with fresh panic at the sight of Sango, shaking, barely holding onto the branch with one elbow hooked over it, her other hand grasping at Uyeda’s wrist while he dangled below her. When had that happened? The last he’d seen they were at least holding out.
“SANGO!” He started to move towards her but the demon chose that moment to charge again. He barely managed to push it back in time. Getting distracted in battle was the quickest way to death. But how could he not be?
Sango screamed his name again. “Miroku!”
He only glanced at her this time. She couldn’t save them both from falling now. So she’d save Uyeda first. She told herself she’d be fine. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her elbow and swung her body, gathering momentum.
“Miroku! You’d better catch him!”
Miroku thought his heart would explode when he realized what she was doing and what it would mean. If she threw him just right, and he caught Uyeda just right, the boy would be fine. But Sango... Sango would be completely off-balance from the momentum of throwing him. Her arm would give out. She would fall through the branches and to the ground below.
“Sango, don’t!” Miroku shouted. There had to be a better way. A way that would let everyone walk away unharmed. She didn’t have to get hurt for this, she didn’t–
“I mean it! Two yards back. Ready?”
There was a scream as she hurled the child through the air. Watching him, Miroku felt every second that passed as an hour. With lightning speed he kicked the demon in the face, then ran back, opening his arms to catch the flying boy.
He caught Uyeda, spinning around once to absorb the momentum. Behind him, he heard the sound of branches being hit and broken and knew Sango had fallen. But there was no time for that. The demon had wasted no time in attacking again. He crashed his staff into the side of it and prepared for another attack.
This time, however, instead of coming at Miroku with its previous futile pattern of attack, attack, and attack some more, the demon turned away from him. For a moment Miroku thought it was giving up.
Then he saw what it was turning towards.
Sango lay on the ground below the tree, unmoving and completely defenseless. The hungry demon saw its meal waiting for him. It opened its mouth wider than seemed possible. Little daggers for teeth prepared to rip her flesh from her bones.
“Get the hell away from her!” A sutra landed on it, followed quickly by a blow from his staff.
The demon vanished into dust. Miroku leaned on his staff and took a very deep breath.
Uyeda leaned over Sango. “The lady… Is she…dead?”
Miroku felt his chest grow tight. He leaned over her, checking for signs of life. She was breathing somewhat unsteadily, but her pulse was strong. She’d been knocked out, but not killed. “She’s fine. Just a little hurt.”
He sighed with relief. It was over.
---
Sango woke up in the middle of the night to a warm fire and a very sore body.
Immediately she checked and found that she could still move her neck from side to side and up and down. That was good. Her back must have collided with a few dozen tree branches, though, because she hadn’t felt like this since she’d nearly been beaten to death.
“Oh, you’re awake. How do you feel?” Miroku casually moved next to her.
“Awful.” She sat up. “Uyeda–”
“He’s fine. Fell asleep. I put a few wards up. It’s not the greatest but we should be safe from the forest demons. And prying eyes.” If Naraku doesn’t know where to look, anyway.
Sango looked around. They weren’t in the exact spot they had been in, but they were out in the open. Uyeda was nearby, fast asleep. There was also a small stream not far away. It made her realize how thirsty she was. Her throat was as dry as the western sands.
She licked her lips, pushing herself to her feet only to feel a sharp pain in her ankle. “OW!”
“Sango!” With a speed that would have made Inu-Yasha proud he was by her side, pulling her arm over his shoulder to support her. Luckily it wasn’t the arm she’d been holding onto the branch with. “Are you okay? Hold still.” The unworried nature he’d first presented her with evaporated at her smallest sign of pain.
“My ankle hurts. Probably a sprain.” She tried to pull away a little and get some space. At the same time she tried to turn her ankle to assess the damage.
“Don’t say that. It could be broken.” Insisting that she just accept his help, he picked her up, lifting her off her feet and heading towards the stream, where he assumed she had been originally intending to go.
“Hey! Now wait just a second!” Sango never could easily accept pity, charity, or help. This was all three. So she immediately started struggling.
Miroku gnashed his teeth just once to remind himself he was a calm person by nature. “Sango. Don’t argue, just this once. Please?” He looked directly at her, allowing her to see that he was not doing this to humiliate or pity her in any way. He was afraid for her, terrified, and he wanted her to get better. He wanted to help her get better. She frowned but stopped struggling.
Once she was still, he continued the short walk to the riverside. Once there he gently lowered her and helped her to sit by the water. He watched as she dipped her hands in the water, took a sip, and pressed her cool hands to her face. “That was fast thinking back there. You knew Uyeda would never make the fall and trusted that I would catch him.”
Sango blushed, her face suddenly much warmer then it had been a minute ago. “It was nothing, really. I–”
Miroku cut her off, a slightly bitter edge to his words. “But I’m sure you also knew that you would most certainly fall when you threw him to safety and that the fall could have killed you.”
Anger on Miroku’s part, however, served only to ignite Sango’s fury in response. The pitch in her voice rose as she said, “What was I supposed to do? Let him die so I could survive?! I couldn’t just–”
He placed a finger on her lips. It lingered a moment longer than it needed to as he contemplated in the back of his mind the question of how her lips could be so soft when the rest of her body was so rough in places.
Miroku pulled out a cloth from the folds of his robes, drenching it in the stream and putting the cool cloth to a bruise on her neck. She relaxed again and decided to give him her attention so long as he was careful about what he did and didn’t say next.
“You misunderstand. I just find your strength of spirit touching, and perhaps a bit overwhelming.” He looked at the river, watching the ripples flow, then smiled, more to himself than to her.
“I suppose I’m trying to pay you a compliment. However, it’s getting tangled up in my constant concern for you and your regard for your own life. See, there I go again.” He shook his head. It really was useless for him to admire her actions and worry about them at the same time.
He held his cursed hand out in front of his face. “You’ll have a long life, Sango. That’s more than... well... There’s still a lot to live for and you’ve barely begun.”
He closed his eyes, trying to consider what to say next. Suddenly rough, calloused fingers stretched across the rosary covering his curse and interlaced loosely with his own. More than a little surprised that she was being so bold with him, he looked from their entwined hands to her face.
She was staring at his hand, locked with hers. “I’ll try, Miroku. I can promise you that.”
His stare lasted another moment. Good. She understood. He nodded his head, with a small smile. For a moment longer they were silent. Miroku considered how to proceed as Sango let his words sink in.
“I know I’m not Kagome, but how about I look at that ankle, hm?” He smiled at her with his usual cheery face. She nodded, the corners of her lips turning up into the smallest of smiles.
Permission having been granted, Miroku let go of her hand and slid down to her leg, letting his fingers trace along her scarred but still smooth skin. His hands, while usually of the wandering sort, never went above her knee. They were too far out for jokes and teasing. Besides, he didn’t feel like being a fool right now.
Miroku’s look was intense as his fingers passed along her ankle, looking for the injured area. Sango was getting terribly uncomfortable. How could a gaze heat her cheeks so? His hands passed over her ankle bone and she drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, her leg flexing back.
“Well, I think that’s the spot.” He smirked.
Sango willed the blood away from her cheeks. Quickly she changed the subject to anything else.
“S-so, what was it like for you when Inu-Yasha started, umm... Well, when he and Kagome…”
Miroku located two sticks, produced a long piece of bandage from his robes, and began wrapping her ankle up in a makeshift splint. “Torture. At the time I could think of a thousand people better for my sister than him. And no, I don’t mean myself.”
He shuddered dramatically. Kagome was the only thing he had that reminded him of the love of a family anymore, which is why he couldn’t even imagine loving her another way. It would be far too confusing.
“I knew he’d hurt her one way or another.” Miroku finished tying off the splint and moved to sit back next to Sango. He looked off into the distance. “I’d wished he’d proved me wrong. After all, he still does hurt her sometimes... But they have three kids, two their own.” He shrugged. Maybe they were happy that way.
Sango placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her at this but she was staring at her fingers on his shoulder. “Sometimes... that is... I learned in the arena sometimes you have to feel the pain.”
She caught Miroku’s inquisitive gaze out of the corner of her eye and clarified. “You have to feel pain to know you’re alive. That you’re not just living some empty existence, doing the same thing day after day. So... you know there is more than just the cold and the loneliness and the fear and the blood.”
She shook her head, removing her hand from his arm. “Sorry. I think I’m babbling.”
“No no. That makes sense, actually.” Miroku reached out, turned her face to look into his. The gaze he’d given her before had intensified to the point where Sango thought she’d burn to cinders. Her breath started to come in small puffs. She felt overwhelmed.
Miroku felt it too. Something wouldn’t let him look away from her. She was his friend. He’d come to trust her. Yet he wanted… he wanted...
At that moment he wanted to kiss her.
But he couldn’t move, couldn’t break this sweet moment between them even if it would be for a sweeter one. He realized HE was nervous. Him, of all people.
And somehow that gave him courage to move again. Forward barely an inch. Their foreheads touched, allowing for the most intense stare shared between them yet. Neither moved.
“Where is everyone?? Lady? Mister!”
Uyeda’s worried voice shattered the mood to stardust. Sango pushed herself back a foot, gripping her chest in panic. Miroku fell into the dirt of the river bank, his hands in the air and twitching.
When the child cried out again, Miroku quickly moved to his feet. “Yes. Yes. We’re over here.”
He turned around to help Sango walk back to the fire but she had already found a fallen tree branch to use as a crutch.
Well, it had been nice while it lasted.