InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Small Moments ❯ Deceiver ( Chapter 21 )

[ A - All Readers ]

Miroku was an accomplished deceiver; it was a gift he normally prided himself on. He could swindle even the stingiest lord out of the better part of his fortune - or talk his way into the bed of even the shyest of virgins - without breaking a sweat. He was putting that skill to the test tonight, although none of his usual motivations were to blame.

Tonight he was hiding something altogether unpleasant from his so-called friends. The same 'friends', he thought a little ruefully, that were so quick to assume he had been out picking up girls while they worked hard at demon-slaying. In fact, he had been doing much the same thing as they had: he had slain a praying mantis demon that had disguised itself as a beautiful maiden. He might have won the battle, but the damned mantis was having the last laugh.

The torn kazaana in his palm pulsed and burned.

This wasn't something he was going to be able to hide. It would be foolish even to try.

The only person that could help him now was Mushin, but seeking Mushin's aid meant he would have to abandon his companions, if only temporarily. And yet in spite of his ire, a small part of him was reluctant to do so. A much bigger part of him worried that this might signal the beginning of his end, that with this small injury the kazaana would grow inexorably wider until in only a matter of hours or days it became large enough to swallow him.

So he looked them over as they prepared to bed down for the night - kind Kagome, faithful Shippo, gruff Inuyasha, compelling Sango - and he knew his path was set. He could not stay with them. He must go, tonight, lest his doom become theirs.