InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secret Weapon ❯ Chapter 1

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

Gaah! My first ever Sango/Miroku fanfiction, and here I thought I'd actually come up with a semi-original plot for it, only to find out that somebody else had already beaten me to it. I suppose I should try reading more M/S stories, elsewise I would have realized this before I even bothered to write it. Geh.

At any rate, as it's already (mostly) written, I might as well post it, but I want to say that I didn't mean to steal anyone's plot ideas. Really! It was an original in mymind, at least. So…er…think of it as more of a loan, instead. And hopefully the story itself is still good enough that nobody cares if it's been done before.

Please forgive any OOCness you might find on Sango's part. I hardly ever write about her, and I've never written a story featuring her, so I don't have as much a grasp on her personality as I do the others, which means she might come across as being…not quite herself. I hope I can do her justice.

Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Co. still don't belong to me.

Secret Weapon

by Quickening

Chapter One

Miroku had a very bad feeling.

The hunting party - consisting of ten strong men, including himself, and his traveling companions - had been tromping through the forest for most of the afternoon, seeking out and killing a swarm of centipede youkai that had been terrorizing a nearby village for the past several weeks. For once, there was no jewel shard involved, but the fact that the youkai had already made off with three of the younger village children had been enough of a reason for even Inuyasha to agree to put a temporary halt to their search for Naraku and help the village hunt down the beasts.

Of course, Kagome threatening to take away his beloved ramen for the rest of the quest might have also had something to do with Inuyasha's unusual willingness to help, but it was the thought that counted, right?

It had not been an easy search so far. The centipede youkai, despite their viciousness, were not very big - Sango was certain that they were newly-born spawn, having been hatched around the time the attacks to the village started - and therefore were much faster and able to slither easily through the trees and heavy, tangled foliage, thereby evading capture by the larger and clumsier humans. Even Sango's endless supply of tricks and traps to force hidden youkai to reveal themselves didn't seem to be helping much in this case, much to her frustration. To make matters worse, a chill, heavy winter drizzle had started around the same time their search had, making the woodland floor slippery and treacherous for even the most surefooted of them to walk upon, and making it difficult to see through the hazy mist that the rain created.

Most of the men were ready to give up and go back to the village, to their fires and their wives and children. Everyone was soaked through, cold, miserable, and frustrated to the point where bickering was breaking out among the group, creating even more tension. Even compassionate Kagome had to agree that the hunt was turning into a fruitless search, and that perhaps it would be better to go back and guard the village itself, at least until morning, in case of a sneak attack by any stray (and highly pissed-off) youkai. Besides, nobody would do anybody else any good if they all wound up coming down with a case of pneumonia or something.

Nobody really knew what pneumonia actually was (although the name sounded dreadful), but they agreed that going back was the best thing to do, and Miroku couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. His sandaled feet were beginning to ache, and his toes actually felt numb, they were so cold. He hoped he wasn't coming down with that disease Kagome had once described to him, that “athe-letus futo”, with the fungus growing on his feet and such. The mental image he had of mushrooms popping up between his toes was as disturbing as it was amusing, and it certainly sounded painful, although Kagome had assured him that it wasn't serious unless left untreated. All the same, he preferred his toes fungi-free, thank-you-very-much.

“What do you mean, you aren't going back?”

At the note of worry in Kagome's voice, Miroku turned to see who she was talking to. He was hardly surprised to see Sango planted firmly astride a fully-transformed Kirara, the expression of determination on her face speaking louder than any words of her intent to stay behind and hunt down the remaining youkai. “Sango-chan, I know you're a really good Taijiya and all, but are you sure it's a good idea to go looking for the nest all by yourself?” Kagome continued anxiously. “These are just the babies we're hunting and they're hard enough to catch. I'm sure the queen will be a lot harder to take down, assuming you even find her, and didn't Hiraikotsu get damaged?”

Miroku shot a glance at the huge bone weapon strapped across Sango's back; there did, indeed, seem to be a deep gouge in the tip that wasn't there before, surrounded by spidery cracks running several inches outward. He vaguely remembered hearing her curse after tossing it at - and missing - one of the youkai as it slithered up the side of a cliff. Apparently, it had struck the rock face hard enough to send a piece flying, which was a rather surprising thing considering how strong Hiraikotsu actually was. He frowned. He didn't like the idea of Sango going off alone even with a fully-functional weapon. With Hiraikotsu out of commission, the idea of her facing off with the queen youkai was…well…it was absolutely out of the question.

However…he'd forgotten just how stubborn and determined Sango could be when it came to her calling. Before he'd even opened his mouth to protest, she'd noticed his approach and shot him a quelling glare. “Don't try to talk me out of it. I'm going,” she snapped, daring him with her eyes to challenge her. “We've been out hunting and killing the queen's children all afternoon. Do you really think she'll let us get away with that? I'd much rather find her before she decides to leave the nest and come find us instead.”

“Yes…but walking deliberately into her lair…assuming we can even find it in this weather…” he stammered, trying to make her see reason.

She shrugged and tossed her wet ponytail over her shoulder. “I already know where it is,” she replied calmly. “Kirara sniffed it out.”

“Sango!”

“I'm going,” she repeated, her lips thinning into a determined line. “I won't let any more children be taken for food for that monster!”

Kagome sighed heavily, realizing that it was pointless to argue with the Taijiya. “Just…be careful, okay?” she whispered, looking up at the older girl with pleading eyes.

Sango's eyes softened as she smiled down at her friend. “Don't worry, Kagome-chan,” she replied gently. “I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine.”

“That's right, Kagome-sama. She'll be fine,” Miroku cut in, “because I'm going with her.” And with that, he slid onto Kirara's back behind Sango's slim form, ignoring the way she stiffened in response to his close proximity. The big fire-cat turned her shaggy head to blink at him in surprise, then gave Sango a questioning look that clearly asked, “Should I shake him off?”

Sango was frowning as she twisted around to look at the monk. “Houshi-sama—” she began disapprovingly, but he silenced her with a finger against her lips. Her eyes widened in shock as a dark flush spread across her porcelain cheeks.

“There's no arguing with me about this, Sango,” he chided her gently, his dark eyes serious. “I'm not letting you go in there by yourself. It just isn't safe.”

“I'm not a child!” she snapped, clearly insulted by his lack of faith in her abilities. In response, he shot her an impish grin and a wink. “Of this I am quite aware, Sango-chan,” he purred, and her blush deepened, as embarrassed by the rare endearment as by the obvious suggestion in his tone. Trying, and failing, to hide her fluster, she turned around sharply - her wet hair smacking him smartly in the face - and ordered Kirara off the ground, leaving the group swiftly behind.

Kagome watched their forms become smaller and dimmer in the gloomy sky, worrying a lip absently. “Do you think they'll be okay?” she asked Inuyasha, turning to look at him. He was watching the sky, as well, but at her question, he turned amused, golden eyes to her and smirked. “Keh. Sango knows what she's doing with the centipede. It's the bouzu she's gotta worry about now,” he replied with obvious smugness in his voice. Kagome rolled her eyes at him and smacked him playfully on the arm, although inwardly she admitted that he was probably right.

Then again, she thought amusedly as she climbed onto Inuyasha's proffered back, maybe a little alone-time was exactly what Sango and Miroku needed to…get to know one another a little better. And who knew? Maybe…just maybe…they'd start to see each other in a whole new light before it was all over. Life-threatening situations did seem to have a way of bringing two otherwise incompatible people together, after all…

Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his skin when Kagome abruptly and for some mysterious reason began humming into his ear (what was commonly known as The Bridal March in her time), causing it to twitch repeatedly as her warm breath blew across the furry appendage. When he turned his head to either snap at her to knock it off, or to ask her what in the seven hells she thought she was doing, the words abruptly stuck in his throat as he found her staring off into space with a slightly-maniacal gleam in her eyes and a very unnerving smile upon her lips. He blanched slightly, decided then and there that he'd rather not know, and ran the rest of the way back to the village in complete (and slightly-freaked-out) silence.

~*~*~*~

AN 1: Yes. I'm aware these chapters are short. The reason being is that this was originally intended to be a one-shot, but has since then grown too large, so it's easier to post by separating certain scenes into different chapters. Plus, I'm a sadist who enjoys torturing my readers with evil cliffhangers.

(But you didn't hear that from me)

AN 2: Yes, there will be lemon…er…lime…stuff…in later parts, thus the high rating. There may be an even higher rating posted on Mediaminer. I dunno yet.

AN 3: For those of you who have had the misfortune to watch the dubbed version of the series, as opposed to the fan-subtitled version, as far as I know, Sango's two-tailed cat is named Kirara, NOT Kilala. So please don't leave any asinine reviews telling me I'm a moron for naming her cat wrong. That honor goes to Viz. Geh, I shudder to think how the hell they managed to warp thatone. Kilala? Come on, could a name getany stupider? This is exactly why I prefer fansubs. The people who put their hard work into them (and who don'tget paid obscene amounts of money to do it) actually careabout getting the facts straight.

Final AN: There may or may not be a glossary at the end of this story listing the original Japanese names I used for the weapons, just in case anybody actually cares.