Romancing the Enemy

Scroll Seven: Insanity is Catching

By: MeldaVeanarSuure

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, but I now have two DVDs, six manga, and the artbook!!!! (runs around, laughing maniacally)

Author's Note: Oh, about the message in this chapter? Really, if you think about it, monks and other religious people were really the only ones who knew how to write in the feudal times. Regular people weren't allowed to learn their letters, because their lords feared they'd be educated enough to revolt against them. So, Miroku, being the educated monk, was forced to write for Sango!

Feudal Times, a Week Later

InuYasha punched a tree, and kicked at another, snarling. 'ONE MORE DAY. I'M GOING TO GO INSANE!' He thought, clawing at the splintered bark on the tree he'd kicked.

It'd been thirteen days since Kagome had left. One more, and InuYasha was freed from his and Miroku's bet, and he was free to go and retrieve her. He was starting to go mad. Nobody to pick on, (Shippo was getting better at comebacks, it wasn't worth it much anymore), and both Sango and Miroku seemed to be off in their own worlds, and spent most of their time doing something else and ignoring InuYasha.

So, he'd been bored. Really bored. Really, really bored. Okay, so he'd gone and attempted to find Koga and pick a fight, just to get rid of some energy, but the wolf prince had refused, saying it wasn't worth it unless Kagome was there to see how powerful a true demon really was.

"Damnit, sun, just set already…" He muttered, glaring at the bright spot in the sky, which was nowhere near the horizon.

Kagome's Time

Kagome sighed, leaning on her windowsill. 'One more day… I can't wait to see InuYasha again.' She thought.

She really hadn't thought that staying in her own time for an extended period would be so hard. Sure, she'd gotten a lot done, she'd worked ahead so she wouldn't fall so behind, and she'd even talked future homework assignments out of some of her teachers, and gotten them done now.

So, Kagome was all set to go back to the past. But, she was going to wait to go back until the next night; she was going to give InuYasha the chance to come and get her. And-

'A Jewel Shard?!' She thought, her eyes widening.

She hurried downstairs and slipped on her outside shoes. She went outside, and hurried in the direction of the shard's energy: the well house. Kagome entered the building, warily went down the stairs, and looked into the well. A faint glow surrounded a piece of paper. Confused, Kagome jumped into the well, and grabbed the paper, shaking it out. A shard fell into her palm, shining faintly. Frowning, Kagome unfolded the paper, and recognized Miroku's writing. It was too dark to read it in the well house, so she climbed up out of the well, and sat on the front porch of the building. The note read,

Kagome, I'm sorry to have to endanger the fate of this one shard, but Sango has informed me that it is vital to get this message to you. She wants you to come back tonight for a few minutes, to discuss something with you. She refuses to tell me what, though. So, I am to tell you to come though the well an hour after the sun has gone down, (bring all of the shards of the Jewel that you have), Sango will meet you there, and after you both have spoken about whatever she wishes, you're to leave immediately and follow through with what she says.

Good luck with whatever she wishes you to do,

Miroku

Kagome frowned deeper, rereading the note. 'Well… I guess I'd better do as she says… and stick this with the others.' She thought, holding up the shard to the fading light.

Two Hours Later, Feudal Times

Sango was seated at the edge of the well, when she heard Kagome climbing up the side of the well. "Sango, what'd you call me back here for?" She asked, pulling herself to sit on the edge.

"I want you to give me all of the shards." Sango told her simply.

"What?! Why? And where's InuYasha, I'd've thought he'd be glued to one of those trees around here, waiting for me to come back."

"Miroku sent InuYasha on a wild goose chase after a demon. Shippo transformed into something to keep dog-boy busy. I want you to give me the shards for another little plan." Sango said.

"Tell me what the plan is and I might consider it. I don't want another episode concerning you trying to trade something in for Kohaku's life." Kagome retorted.

Sango rolled her eyes, and leaned over, whispering something into Kagome's ear. Kagome's eyes widened, and she gasped, pulling away. "Sango!! That's so mean! How could you even think of trying to pull that off?"

"I have thought about it, and we're doing it. Hand them over. Don't worry, you can come back in a few days." Sango said, holding out her hand.

Kagome bit her lip, then reached into her pocket, pulling out the little jar of shards. Then she unclasped the necklace of combined shards from around her neck, and dropped it into Sango's palm. The other girl snatched it away before Kagome could reconsider, and tucked it all into an inner pocket of her kimono. "Okay, now that that's settled, go back to your time before InuYasha comes back."

Kagome pouted a little, but slid back into the well. "Bye…"

Smiling slightly, Sango got up and left, heading back to their camp.

Later…

A little later, Sango was throwing another stick on the fire, when a very angry hanyou stomped into the camp, fire and lightning seeming to spring out of his eyes. "Sango!!!" He roared, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her roughly over to him.

"Yes, InuYasha?" She asked, just as calm as Miroku might be in that situation.

"Where is Kagome?" He hissed angrily, gold-amber eyes glittering dangerously.

"Kagome? InuYasha, you must be going mad, Kagome's in her own time." Sango replied, trying to flex her biceps to get InuYasha to let go.

InuYasha shook her roughly. "No, she was here!!! Her scent and yours are fresh, over at the well!!"

Sango grabbed the little finger that was helping keep her captive, and bend it back against its curve. InuYasha howled, and wrenched away. "WENCH!!! THAT HURT!!" He yelled.

"Good, I was hoping it would." Sango said coldly, just as Miroku came back, Shippo riding on his shoulder.

The kitsune cub laughed and pointed at InuYasha. "Hee hee! Sango, what'd you do to InuYasha?"

"Bent his finger out of shape, by the looks of it." Miroku commented.

"He wanted to know where Kagome was, as if I was hiding her in a tree hole, or something." Sango muttered, giving InuYasha an evil look.

"Isn't she coming back tomorrow?" Shippo asked, hopping down from Miroku's shoulder.

Sango sat down. "Actually, she isn't."

"WHAT?!" InuYasha, who'd just had his hurt finger in his mouth, trying to make the pain stop, shouted.

"Kagome's not coming back." Sango repeated.

Even Miroku was shocked. This was not something they'd discussed. "But of course, she'll be back eventually?"

"Nope. Gone for good."

InuYasha had an odd look on his face. "Prove it." The demand came out as a hurt whisper.

Sango reached into the inside pocket of her kimono, pulled out the jar of shards and the necklace, and held them out for everyone to see. "She gave me these, and told me to tell you all good-bye." She said.

InuYasha took one look at the pieces of the Jewel, and left abruptly, disappearing into the forest. Shippo started crying, and ran up a tree, vanishing into the higher branches; a mushroom fell out of his shirt as he did so, and it cried as well, that being the only thing it could do. Miroku just stared in shock. "Sango, Kagome didn't really leave, did she?" He asked softly, while thinking, 'InuYasha thought that was what he'd heard… but I'll bet anything that's why Sango asked Kagome to come back, so she could pull this off well…'

Sango looked around for InuYasha, and then said quietly, "No, she'll be back in a few days, but I wanted to give InuYasha a little scare, and see what he does."

"Next time, try to give me a little warning. You gave me a scare too." Miroku replied.

Meanwhile…

InuYasha sat in the God Tree, staring at the sky in stunned silence. Kagome couldn't be gone. Why didn't she want to come back? Was it something he'd done? If so, what? If not, why? 'I did overhear…Back in the hot springs… But, Miroku said… And the bet…'

His thoughts were all confused. He couldn't even finish all of his thoughts, they kept tumbling one after the other. 'She… she has to come back… If she doesn't… I'll never be able to tell her…'

Kagome's Time

Kagome sighed, lying on her bed in her pajamas, and petting Buyo. 'I hope InuYasha isn't that mad when Sango tells him that big lie… It's so cruel, though! I should have refused… Oh well, too late now…'

She rolled onto her side, and flicked off the light. She crawled under the covers, and tried to sleep, but InuYasha kept popping into her head. First he was smiling. Then he was laughing. Kagome rolled over trying to think of something other than InuYasha. 'Maybe… Koga!'

That worked for all of two seconds. First there was Koga, and then InuYasha came in, fought with Koga, and then InuYasha ended up as the winner. Which was okay, but then her imagination started to run away with her. Actually, the InuYasha in her head was. She envisioned him sweeping her off of her feet and carrying her off somewhere. Once at… wherever, he gently placed her on her feet, before giving her the over-confident smile that made her so mad at him, but made her heart melt at the same time. The daydream went further, with InuYasha leaning down and brushing his lips against hers in a soft kiss, then deepening the gentle kiss by placing his hand at the crook of her neck.

Kagome sat up in a hurry, before the fantasy went any further, flipping on the light at the same time. 'I can't think about him! I can't, I can't, I can't!!! But, damn it all, I can't sleep, I need to get him out of my head… I just need to make myself tired… I'll go practice outside, that's it. Lots of hard exercise, I'll be tired before I know it, and begging for sleep.' She thought, and hurried out of bed, dressing in practice clothes.

Kagome went downstairs quietly, and left the house, barefoot, going to an unused building of the shrine where she'd set up equipment to use her hand-to-hand combat against. She started off with a few of the punches she'd been taught, then worked her way up from there, using her arm strength to the fullest extent. InuYasha was in her mind, telling her what to do; but she had to get him out, she couldn't think about him, she had to stay here in the present for a while longer.

Next she stretched out her legs, then began stances. From that, she started on the main kicks, then moved up to the slightly more complicated ones she'd forced InuYasha to teach her. And he was still in her mind, yelling at her mistakes, telling her how to go into the next kick. Kagome grumbled under her breath; she was tired, but she couldn't rest until he was out of her head.

After that, she went all out, using combinations of kicks and arm blows. She was starting to get very tired, she hadn't pushed herself this hard before, but she had to keep going. InuYasha was still in her head, still telling her what to do, ever-present. "Get out…" She muttered, shaking sweat from her eyes. "I'll see you in a few days, just leave me alone…"

Kagome forced herself to go faster, push her muscles harder. 'Just a little more… I'll be too tired… to think of him in a few minutes more…' She thought. 'Just a little more…'

Morning, Feudal Times

His head hurt, his heart hurt, and most of all… his hands hurt.

InuYasha had stayed up for a long time the night before, thinking a lot of things over. Soon, he couldn't take it anymore, and needed to work out his frustrations on something. So, he'd spent at least four hours clawing and punching at a tree, until it finally fell over, and then he'd continued the assault on the harmless and defenseless thing until his knuckles and some of the back of his hands had bled.

There was nothing like pain to clear your head, make everything seem like you're looking right down to the bottom of a fresh mountain stream. He'd thought about it more, slept on the idea, then finally decided to go with it.

InuYasha was going to go back to Kagome's time, and tell her. Today was the official end of the bet, so it didn't matter. Technically, the bet had been over the night before, when Sango had revealed that Kagome had come back to say she was leaving, and InuYasha had won anyway, but today still marked the official end. So, he was going to go back to the camp, attempt to gloat about winning and force Miroku to reveal his true feelings to Sango.

After that, InuYasha was going to the well. He'd make himself jump down it, and then he'd go and find Kagome. Even if she was at that… school thing. InuYasha would then find her, and tell her everything. He didn't want to think about what would happen after that, good or bad.

Morning, Kagome's Time

When she opened her eyes, Kagome was greeted with the sight of her practice equipment, and a very sore body. She felt like she'd been run over by a herd of elephants, and maybe a few rhinoceroses as well. 'What… Why am I in here- Oh… right, I wanted to get InuYasha out of my head… I worked myself too hard, I must have passed out from exhaustion…'

"Kagome!" Her mother's voice called.

"I-In… here…" Kagome called weakly, then sighed. It was useless, she was too tired. Unless…

She reached out with one leg, and knocked something over; she was too tired to look back and see what it was. It was heavy though: it made a very loud 'BANG' on the wooden floor.

Kagome's mother must have heard, because footsteps came hurrying over to the building, and the door was opened, revealing a very worried-looking mother. "Kagome! What are you doing in here? Why are you on the floor, are you all right?"

"A little tired." Kagome replied, trying to push herself up. "I… could really use a hot bath, my muscles really hurt…"

Her mother shook her head, and helped Kagome up. "Tell me everything, and I'll get you upstairs to the bath."

Later

Kagome sighed, feeling her muscles finally begin to loosen and relax. The bath felt so good. It had taken almost half an hour to wash in the shower, since she'd had to stop and sit on a stool every few minutes because she was so tired. 'Maybe I overworked myself…' Kagome thought, wishing she was in a hot spring.

"Kagome, are you okay in there?" Her mother, knocking on the door, asked.

"I'm fine, Mom!"

"Okay…"

Feudal Times

Miroku was looking quite uncomfortable. "InuYasha…"

"You're going to do it."

"But-"

"Don't 'but' me. Go find her and tell her, before I find her, drag her back here, and make you tell her in front of me."

"It is a blessing, not making me tell her in front of you…" Miroku admitted.

InuYasha smirked triumphantly, crossing his arms inside of his haori sleeves. "Well then, if it's such a blessing, use it wisely, before I take it back."

Miroku made a rude gesture not commonly used by monks, and left, going to find Sango. InuYasha chuckled a little, unfazed by the gesture, and sat back, debating to himself. 'Maybe I should follow… just to see if he actually has the balls to do it…'

He wouldn't need to if Shippo had been anywhere near there, he could have made the cub use his little spying acorns, but the little kitsune cub had gone skipping off to the village to help Kaede with her herbs.

But, then again, he wanted to go see Kagome. He sighed, hating it when he was at odds with himself. It was either go and entertain himself by watching Sango reject or accept Miroku, or go and be hit by Kagome's fury. Gulping, not wanting to get a sitting this early in the morning, InuYasha leapt into the trees, silently following Miroku.

Sango was practicing with her Hiraikotsu, using Kirara as a moving target. The cat-demon managed to move out of the way, just in time, every time the bone weapon came her way. Sango smiled at her partner, wiping her forehead after she caught her weapon, and walked over to the stream to splash her face and get a drink.

Miroku watched her from the trees. Unknown to him, InuYasha watched both of them from two trees back, high up in the branches. The monk took a deep breath and let it out slowly, walking over to the demon slayer. "Sango, would you honor me with a word?" He asked.

Sango started, then turned around, water dripping down her face. "Miroku?"

"Would you walk with me, please?" Miroku asked, offering his arm.

Sango looked curiously at him, then down at the arm. Hesitantly, she took it. "Miroku, what's all this about?" She asked, looking thoroughly confused as she thrust her weapon into the ground with ther free hand, and ordering Kirara to stay where she was so it wouldn't be taken.

The monk didn't say anything as they left, and this made Sango even more confused. They walked in silence for a while, the birds twittering around them. Finally, Sango couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, would you mind telling me what all of this is about?" She demanded.

"Sango, I… I feel I must admit something to you…" Miroku began, finding this a lot more difficult than he'd imagined it to be.

The younger girl looked up at him with questioning eyes, leading him to go on. He sighed, feeling heat rise into his cheeks. "I… Sango, please understand. I have… never meant to hurt you, by asking all of those women we have encountered in the past to bear my child. The truth is… I only did because I was… too cowardly. Too afraid of rejection… to ask you."

Sango's face was also turning a nice shade of red. "M-Miroku…"

"Sango. I… care for you. A great deal. After… Naraku is beaten… will you live with me, and bear my children?" He asked her softly, taking both of her hands in his.

InuYasha was watching from a few trees away. He saw and heard everything. 'So… he had it in him after all…'

A tear fell down Sango's face. Miroku took it wrongly. "Sango, forgive me, I only wanted you to know my true feelings, I never meant to offend you-"

His excuse was cut off my Sango's mouth covering his. Miroku's eyes widened, then closed, as he kissed her back. Somehow, his hands found their way to the back of Sango's neck and around the small of her waist, and kept off of her butt. Sango's hands found their way up to his hair, and worked the tie out of his horsetail, letting the short locks fall around her hands.

Miroku dared to go a little further, and touched his tongue to her lips, pleading for entrance. Sango complied, and the kiss was deepened, their tongues exploring each other's mouths.

InuYasha was a little disgusted, but then again, he was imagining himself and Kagome following the same procedures and going even further than that. Satisfied that Miroku had done his half of the deal, the hanyou left, not really wanting to be around if the two decided to explore anywhere other than each other's mouths.

He bounded off through the trees, going to the well and to face the music. InuYasha would find out why Kagome was refusing to return to him, or else something was going to be hurt.