InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Minoue ❯ Worries and Revelations ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimers: I do not own InuYasha or any of the manga/anime characters. They belong to the wonderful genius Rumiko Takahashi. Any original characters do belong to me.

AN: Thank you very much to inufan625 for acting as my beta once again. An additional thank you goes to Knittingknots for her help as well. I greatly appreciate the time they've taken to help make me a better writer and this a better story. You will find both of their fics here at MediaMiner. You should check them out if you haven't already.

For responses to your reviews for the last chapter, please go to doggieearlover.livejournal.com/142741.html.

Minoue

Chapter 5: Worries and Revelations

Miroku had managed to stumble home and collapsed on the bed. It was the end of a very long day, hardly any of which had gone exactly as planned. No, that wasn't entirely true. He was fairly certain that the students from InuYasha's dojo would do well, though he didn't expect them to do as well as they did. That was not because they were not instructed well, but because they were not specifically trained for those kinds of matches as so many dojo did. In spite of that they had a very good showing, and Miroku was proud of all of them.

He had been happy to see that Sango had come to watch but was disappointed that he didn't get to spend any time with her. He was tugged from one student to the next as they either prepared to go onto the floor or had just come off of it. Miroku also realized that he had never actually been introduced to Sango and surmised that it was probably because everyone assumed that they already had been. It also looked like the girl had no other friends, but that would make sense if she were really that new to the area. However, Kagome, being the kind and gentle soul she was, had taken her under her wing and stayed with her throughout much of the day. Miroku sighed. He hoped that Kagome hadn't said too much about him and his hentai ways. Then again, it wasn't really like her to gossip.

Another unexpected event was the mother in the locker room. Miroku realized that it was not going to be easy to break himself from taking an easy fuck or from discouraging the ones who were used to using him to fulfill their needs. Maybe it was just as well that he didn't try to stop cold turkey. After all, if that was the same Sango signed up for his class, he wouldn't be free to pursue her until the semester was over. And even then, if she was training at the dojo, InuYasha would discourage it. His only hope was that if he could cut down on the frequent sex with whoever was available that the hanyou would realize he was serious about Sango and let him court her without too much opposition - well, opposition from the hanyou. He had the feeling that Sango wasn't going to be easy to catch - which made him desire her all the more.

Miroku could tell how uncomfortable InuYasha was at the tournament though he put on a good show in front of the students and parents. His own blood had heated when he saw Kikyou ascend those steps, but it had almost boiled over when she made her cruel remark for all to hear. The only good thing was that it had backfired on her. The hanyou did not cover his ears around the dojo, so none of those students or parents had been the least bit startled when the bandana was ripped from his head. If anything surprised the hanyou, it was the fierce loyalty that everyone showed to him. Miroku had to chuckle when he realized that the mother who slapped the sensei that had exposed the hanyou's ears was the one he'd just fucked in the men's locker room - the one that InuYasha had spurned. She still stood up for him in spite of the fact he'd rejected her advances. That was true loyalty.

Miroku had also ached for his friend when InuYasha finally revealed the truth of what had happened between him and Kikyou. It was difficult to believe that such a beautiful woman could be so cold and so cruel. If she couldn't deal with the fact that InuYasha was hanyou, she should have just dropped it and never spoken with him again. Instead she had manipulated and calculated to completely destroy him and had come mighty close to doing so. For days InuYasha had refused to leave his home or to speak to anyone. Miroku had finally barged in, thrown the man who was too distraught to fight him over his shoulder, stormed across the property and then tossed him into the pond that was there. When the hanyou surfaced, sputtering and cursing, Miroku had fished him out and marched him back to his home. He had then stripped him and forced him into the shower, since it was clear he had not bathed for days, and cooked him breakfast. Miroku stayed with him the next couple of weeks so that he could keep him from falling deeper into his state of depression and gradually pulled him back to the surface and to the dojo. He refused to let his closest friend self destruct and certainly not over a woman.

Finally, exhausted, Miroku drifted off to sleep. He tried to focus on the beautiful face of Sango, rather than the anguished one of InuYasha from that afternoon, as slumber finally took him.

~ ^~^ ~

Sango yawned and stretched as she lay in bed Sunday morning. She had only one last day of freedom before the new semester began. While classes didn't start until Tuesday, she was expected to attend the new student seminar on Monday. Afterwards they would be given a tour of the campus and shown where everything was. It would probably take up most of the day.

She was surprised that she had slept so late. Normally she awoke naturally at the crack of dawn, but from the amount of sunlight pouring through the blinds, it was well past that. She had no idea how exhausted she had been when she fell into bed the night before. Deciding that a shower might help wake her up, she first made her way into the kitchen and started the coffee pot. Once it had begun brewing, she headed back to her bedroom. Tossing her pajamas on the bed, she went and turned on the water for a nice, hot shower.

Sango felt much better as she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. The coffee was finished brewing, so she poured herself a cup, added cream and sugar, and then went and sat down in front of her laptop. Flipping it open, she started downloading her emails. In spite of the fact that she had not checked them at all the day before, she still did not have very many. She browsed through the ones from the college first. Most of them included information in one form or another regarding the New Student seminar, and some contained the syllabi from her various classes. She started going through them one by one, looking for anything that she was expected to do before classes began.

She stopped on the one regarding her class in Buddhism. It had the usual information: time, place, length of the course, required reading and textbooks. It also asked for the student to respond to a couple of questions before classes started: “Why did you sign up for Buddhism in Japan?” and “If you had to select one aspect of Buddhism to learn more about, what would it be?”

Sitting back and staring at the screen while she considered her answers, she sipped on her coffee. Finally, when she was ready, she set her cup down and began to type.

~ ^~^ ~

Kagome couldn't help but to worry about InuYasha throughout the day. She tried to keep herself busy helping Jii-chan around the shrine and then going through her emails looking for whatever had been sent regarding her classes. She had one more day since she did not have to report until classes actually started on Tuesday, but she immersed herself in them anyway. However, she found that she couldn't concentrate and eventually gave up. With a heavy sigh, she stood and went back downstairs to help her mother with dinner.

InuYasha had a standing invitation to Sunday dinner at their house and he rarely missed it. Kagome and Souta were both quiet and subdued as they ate their food and glanced at the clock. There had been no sign of the hanyou. Kagome was helping to wash the dishes as her brother brought them to her when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Kagome, Honey, I know you're worried about him. Why don't you take these leftovers to him and see how he is?” Mama said, the leftovers neatly packaged and in her hands.

“Thanks, Mama,” Kagome responded softly as she dried her hands on her apron.

“Can I go?” Souta asked. He was worried, too.

Mama shook her head. “You have to start school in the morning, and it's already getting dark. Besides, both of you might be a bit much.”

Kagome had to smile at that. Souta was a bit overenthusiastic about their sensei sometimes. “Don't worry, Souta. I'll tell him that you wanted to come, too. Okay?”

“Okay, Sis. I hope he's all right,” the young boy said.

“I'm sure he is, but since he doesn't have a phone, I'll go and make sure.” Kagome took the leftovers along with the car keys from her mother. “Thanks, Mama. I'm not sure how long I'll be.”

“Just use your cell phone and call if you need anything. Otherwise I won't wait up on you.” Mama winked at her.

“Mama!” Kagome exclaimed as she turned bright red and fled.

Mama just chuckled behind her. She could see the feelings the two of them had for each other, even if they both tried to keep them buried.

Kagome hoped that her cheeks were back to their normal color by the time she reached the dojo. She parked the car in the parking lot and then went through the gate to follow the path to the house.

She knew the way, even in the dark, since she was one of the few allowed in the hanyou's home. She didn't know when he had finally relented to her insistence that she was not doing enough to pay for her classes, and he allowed her to clean his house once or twice a week as well. Normally she came up when he was still teaching at the dojo. He had only been home a few times while she was there.

She loved his house and everything in it. It was full of antiques, including some her grandfather would have been envious of. It had modern conveniences, including satellite television, though one thing he had insisted on was no phone. He valued his privacy more than anything, and he considered a telephone an invasion of that. He had both telephones and computers at the dojo but not in his home. To him, it was still his safe haven from the world.

Kagome slid the door open and then closed it behind her. Leaving her shoes in their place in the cupboard in the entry way, she went first to the kitchen. She set the leftovers on the table and called out, “InuYasha? InuYasha! Are you here? I brought you some supper if you're hungry. We were worried about you.”

“I'm fine. Just leave it and I'll get it later,” she heard from somewhere in the house.

“InuYasha, please. I… I just want… I just want you to know that I don't think you're an animal. I like you just the way you are.” Kagome headed in the direction she thought the voice came from.

InuYasha sighed. He knew how stubborn Kagome could be, and she probably wouldn't go away until she had seen him for herself. He knew she was probably already searching through the house for him. Even in the dark, she knew it almost as well as he did. “I'm in here,” he finally responded, barely loud enough for her to hear.

Kagome appeared in the doorway a moment later. Apparently, she had headed first to the sunken room in the middle of the house. There was a lamp turned on this time since he had trouble seeing in the dark.

“InuYasha! What happened to you? Where are your ears? You haven't decided to wear a disguise in your own house just because of yesterday, have you? We don't care that you're hanyou. I like your ears…” Kagome had abruptly stopped in the doorway when she laid eyes on InuYasha with black hair, and human ears.

InuYasha chuckled as he rose to his feet. “Did you say you brought food? I'm hungry. You can heat it up and I'll explain.”

Kagome's eyes were still locked on the top of his head. Well, no doubt about it, she really liked his ears. She seemed quite upset that they were missing.

The girl in question just nodded and followed him to the kitchen. “I brought Oden. I hope that's okay.”

Kagome pulled a ceramic pot out of the cabinet and placed it over the gas burner. Once she poured the contents from the container into it so it could reheat, she turned to face him. “I don't understand. What happened to you? Why do you look human?”

“First, you have to understand you can't tell anyone this. You can't discuss it, not even with Miroku.” Kagome nodded in agreement, so he continued, “Being hanyou means that once per moon cycle I have a period of weakness where I turn mortal. For me, it's the night of the new moon. I'm like this from sundown to sunrise the next morning. I look human, because for the night, I am human.”

“Oh!” Kagome exclaimed as she sat down. “So you won't stay like this? You'll be back to normal in the morning?”

“As soon as the sun clears the horizon,” he answered. “You don't like me like this?”

“I… well… I mean you're cute and all-” Kagome slapped her hand over her mouth. “I'd better check on the Oden.”

Kagome was still pink when she filled the bowl with the steaming soup and placed it on the table in front of InuYasha. “I mean, well what I mean is… I love you- your ears. I've always liked you the way you are. That's what I meant.”

“Thanks, Kagome,” he responded softly as he picked up his spoon.

“I'll tell Mama you liked it. She was worried, too, you know. It was her idea that I come,” she said.

“Not just that, just, thanks,” he said again. He slurped up several spoonfuls before he added, “You know, you are the first person I ever met that reached up and rubbed an ear as soon as you saw them. I thought you were going to scream and run and then you did that.”

Kagome laughed softly as she gave him a glass of water and then got one for herself. Sitting across from him she said, “You know, I couldn't believe I did that, either. They just looked so soft and furry I had to touch them. I'm sorry I did that. Well, no, I'll take it back. I'm not. I never would have believed they were real, otherwise.”

“It's okay, I didn't mind. I was just surprised is all. Then, your mother went and did the same thing. What is it about you Higurashi women?”

Kagome just shook her head. “I don't know, but we were both worried about you. Souta was, too. So this happens every time there is no moon?”

InuYasha nodded as he continued to eat.

“Miroku doesn't know?” Kagome sounded surprised.

InuYasha looked serious again. “He does know, but he knows not to discuss it outside the confines of this house. If it is spoken of anywhere else, you could be overheard. I'm very vulnerable; I lose my senses, and my strength. I did not even know you had come in until you called out to me. There are people who wouldn't mind if I were dead, and if they caught me like this, it would greatly increase their chances. Some would do it just to strike a blow against my family. Of course they'd probably be disappointed to learn that my family would look at it as good riddance. I'm just my father's mistake.”

“InuYasha, that can't be true. I'm sure he and your mother loved you,” she said, wanting to reach across to him.

“He did his best to keep us safe and away from the others. Not even my half-brother knows when my human time is. It's my most guarded secret. Miroku knows and now you do. You can't even share it with your family. I can't afford for it to get out, even accidentally. Understand?”

Kagome nodded. “All right, InuYasha. You can trust me. I won't tell a soul.”

InuYasha picked up his bowl and drained the remaining liquid. “Is there any more?”

“Your appetite isn't affected, is it?” Kagome asked with a laugh. “I brought plenty. Give me your bowl and I'll get some more for you.”

InuYasha pushed the bowl across the table and when Kagome reached out for it, he placed his hand over hers.

“Hey, InuYasha? Where are you?” a male voice called out. “You aren't still sulking, are you? I brought more Ramen.”

InuYasha yanked his hand away and Kagome flushed a brilliant pink. Taking the bowl to refill it, she heard InuYasha call out, “We're in here, Monk!”

“We?” Miroku came to a halt when he reached the kitchen door way. “Kagome? Are you two playing house without me?”

“It… it… it ain't like that, pervert!” InuYasha stammered. “Just because you-” but he abruptly stopped himself. He didn't want to say anything about Miroku's extracurricular activities in front of Kagome.

Kagome hoped that he would think her face was the bright shade of red because she had been slaving over a hot pot. She placed the refilled bowl in front of InuYasha. “No, it's not like that. I… we… were worried, and I came to check up on him and brought some dinner. Would you like some of Mama's Oden? There's still plenty.”

Inwardly, Miroku was kicking himself. He suspected he had walked in on something just because of their interesting expressions and the color in their cheeks. Well, no helping it now. “Thanks, Kagome, that'll be great. I ate enough Ramen last night to choke a horse.”

“I'm sorry I didn't get your answers for class emailed back to you yet. I'll get them done tomorrow. I just couldn't concentrate today,” Kagome told him as she pulled a bowl from the cabinet.

InuYasha spit out his mouthful of soup. “Wait a minute - you're taking the pervert's class?”

She placed the bowl in front of Miroku and then got him a glass of water as well. Once that was taken care of, she sat back down at the table. “Jii-chan said that I really should. Shinto only deals with life. Burials and everything to do with death are mostly handled by the Buddhists. He thought I should at least learn the basics. He also said it is good to learn about other religions, so that I would know their similarities and differences from my own. Jii-chan says you are less likely to fear something you understand.”

Miroku looked thoughtful. “Your grandfather sounds like a very wise man.”

InuYasha snorted.

Kagome smiled softly. “Well, it's been a long time since he tried to banish you with sutra.”

“It's not like he has any real power,” InuYasha said. He almost added, “like you,” but stopped himself.

“So, Kagome, are you staying the night with us?” Miroku asked.

The girl really flushed a magnificent shade of red at that question.

Miroku waved his hands in front of him. “No, no, no… nothing like that. InuYasha doesn't sleep when he's mortal, so I usually come over and keep him company. We watch television and play cards all night.”

Kagome looked at InuYasha and said quietly, “You want me to stay?”

“Keh. I get tired of losing to the Monk all the time. Maybe you can beat him. It'd be a change, anyway.”

“Okay, I'll call Mama. She'll be worried if I don't come home,” she answered as she got up to rummage through her purse to dig out her cell phone.

InuYasha grinned into his bowl. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad, after all.

To be continued…