InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Exchange ❯ Compromising Positions ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: Um... let's see... at the pace I'm going I should be finishing the story around chapter 26 - but don't quote me on that because some times it stretches on (I original predicted it be only seventeen chapters... O_o)













S oul Exchange

Compromising Positions.



















"Sango - Sango!!" Inuyasha slid around a corridor corner, deftly ducking a heavy load of washing that one of the maids were carrying and raced on. All whilst trying to wrestle the sling off his arm. He arrived at her bedroom door with another skid. "Sango - I need to ask you something really-"

He stopped dead when he threw the door back and looked inside to see Sango wasn't even awake yet... six o'clock in the morning and she wasn't up yet? But there was a reason... since she was happily curled up with Miroku on the bed... in an unusually innocent position mind... but she wasn't getting up any time soon.

Inuyasha just clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes as he turned on his heel. "Should have known that lecherous moron would try and get her in the same bed as him within a week of coming back... of all the low, scummy things..."

He grumbled to himself as she stomped out of the room, forgetting to close the door behind him - perfect for a nice cold drought to enter and anyone who was passing, a nice view inside at the couple.

It only took a few moments, however, for the cold drought to reach Miroku first, who was on the side closest the doorway. He frowned and sighed as he started to wake, wondering why it had suddenly gotten so much colder. There was something beside him that was much more invitingly warm though... and he blinked open his eyes at once to see the back of Sango's head a foot before his own nose.

For a moment he didn't dare breathe or move, in case he might scare her away. But that was a stupid notion... they'd had a baby between them, of course she wouldn't run away... besides, she was asleep.

But she wouldn't be asleep for much longer if that drought got to her. So Miroku, being the unselfish and generous guy he was, quietly shuffled closer and protectively wrapped an arm around her middle, pulling her back against his chest. Sango didn't stir much... only mumbled in her sleep and accepted the new position without too much trouble. He was glad... he didn't want her to beat him over the head with a spatula like the first time he'd tried this in her sleep.

He had every perfect opportunity to cop a feel right then... and it was perfectly legal since she was the mother of his child and all. But the need didn't overtake him, and all he did was lean in slightly to smell her hair, before smiling and settling back down to close his eyes.

Though, despite Miroku's attempts to keep her from feeling the chill of the door, it still reached her and she murmured slightly as she began to wake up as well. Miroku carried on pretending he was asleep, he didn't want to spoil the mood just yet.

Something was wrapped around her middle... and at first she thought it could have been a snake (because of the dream she'd been having) and sharply glanced down as she became aware enough to register where she was. Instead of a snake, she realised a much warmer - but no less dangerous - arm belonging to Miroku was holding her close to another warm body behind her. And judging by the steady warm puff of air at the back of her neck... he was still asleep.

"Oh... bloody... hell..." she whispered to herself and wondered how the hell she was supposed to get out of the bed. What on earth had possessed her to sleep on there with him anyway? Oh yeah... because she was cold and the floor was too hard. "You git-faced fool..." she scolded... to herself or Miroku she wasn't sure.

Miroku's response to that comment was to groan slightly in his 'sleep' and move his hand further up her body so it then lightly rested against the curve of her chest.

Sango's breathing tangled in her lungs and she tried to force herself to keep very still. Instinct told her to press back, away from the hand, but if she did that she'd press into Miroku and wake him up. She didn't want to face him just yet in a position like this.

"I should have known you were still a lech after all this time..." She hissed to him, even though she knew he probably couldn't hear... but she couldn't see his smile either.

She held her breath again as she inched her hand slowly towards her chest, trying her hardest not to move anything else on the bed, including herself. She touched his touched his hand once... pulled back in cowardice... before reaching for his hand again to try and gently pull it away from her chest, by his little finger.

Miroku was having none of it. He sighed and rolled over 'spontaneously' onto his back, dragging Sango with him so she now lay on top of him. Sango stared at the ceiling in mortified shock as now both his hands were now firmly closed over her breasts.

She was going to give him the beating of his life when he came to his senses afterwards.

"Hey Sango?!" Kagome's voice sailed through the door, followed by the unusually chipper looking girl herself. Both Miroku's and Sango's heads shot up at her arrival. "Have you seen Inu... oh! God! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to see that! I'll be going now!"

Kagome flushed bright red and scampered away from the doorway - only to be followed by a short surprised cry. "No - Lady Inu! Don't go in there! Sango and Miroku are BUSY!"

Sango threw herself out of Miroku's hold and ran to slam the door shut so no one else could interrupt. When that was done she turned slowly and fixed a smouldering glare on Miroku who seemed completely unaffected by the intensity of her glare. He simply smiled at her and moved his 'busy' hands to clasp behind his head.

"You were awake!" Sango cried accusingly. "That's called harassment!"

"It's called breaking the ice." Miroku sat up with his hands up like he was surrendering. "I was only trying to help."

"You... you..." Sango was so mad that she couldn't find the words to express how angry she was. So instead she looked around searching for a hard blunt object to express it better with. But that activity was short lived when a small cry sounded from the cot in the corner, before turning into a full-fledged baby howl.

Sango's anger vanished in an instant as she ran to see what the matter was. Miroku quickly followed her, unable to get enough of his new son. Thankfully Sango seemed to have already forgotten that she was angry at him... she even let him hold Fushi in a desperate last ditch attempt to get him to stop crying.

It worked at least.





^_^





Kagome smiled happily to herself as she mooched down the corridor, heading for the main entrance. She was especially happy that morning for several reasons.

Sango was back with Miroku - and back reminiscing in old times apparently. Naraku had set her free from his ownership over her and Inuyasha wasn't mad at her anymore. Well... not much. He was still a bit sulky but that was to be expected. He seemed to be making more of an effort to be nice to her now though.

That morning Kagome planned on going to see Kouga down in the forest. She'd heard some news from one of the palace maids that he'd been badly injured as well in the battle. Kagome may not have loved him anymore... but she still cared about him in a friendly sort of way. So she wanted to go see him and offer any help and comfort she could.

But good days always at some point turned into the worst days of your life. Several times Kagome had started a day, just like this, determined to be nice to everyone and help people and general improve the world around her, just a little bit. It was usually on those days that the world turned around and laughed at her and threw something nasty in her path that would just ruin all she had going.

It was the elastic band theory. Simply put, it meant the good things would build up on top of one another and the band would stretch and stretch. And when the world decided she'd had too much nice stuff - SNAP - the band would come flying back to hit her in the face. That was how bad days were made.

Today was a bad day after all.

Kagome headed towards the palace gates, intending to head straight through it. But just a few feet from passing through, the guards stepped up and held up a hand. "You're to stay in the palace, Lady Kagome."

"Uh... why?" Kagome frowned at him, slightly dismayed.

"Who knows what kind of spies and scoundrels are sneaking around there at a time like this." The guard said gravely. "Best for you to stay inside, where you're safe."

Kagome sighed heavily before nodding. "Fine..." she turned and headed back, but didn't go back inside the palace. Instead she headed around the side of the building, aiming for that hole in the wall that Inuyasha had made.

Kagome was never one for obeying the rules.

But as soon as she was out of sight and around the corner of the building, she found her way blocked by a fluffy white figure... She stopped dead and felt a cold seeping dread fill her as she raised her eyes to look up into Naraku's face... or of what she could see of it. He still wore that baboon mask, and all she saw was his lower jaw.

"What do you want?" she asked tightly, wishing he would just go away and leave her in peace.

"Inuyasha's not dead, Kagome Baby." Naraku said simply. He didn't sound so amused by her anymore. More like pissed. "Why isn't he dead, Baby?"

"He... his brother..." she didn't need to say it out loud... Naraku could still read her thoughts when she though loud enough.

"Revived him with a magic sword." Naraku snorted without humour. "How cheap."

Kagome took a small step back.

Naraku grabbed her chin to keep her from running... the surprise of the cold contact on her skin made her jolt back even further. How the hell had he managed to touch her? He was just an image... just a spirit... he wasn't solid!

"Oh didn't you know?" Naraku sneered at her. "When I get VERY angry I can materialise myself into this plane of existence... if I ever need to... handle... something myself."

Kagome swallowed hard. She suddenly didn't feel so sure around Naraku anymore.

"You broke your side of the bargain, Baby. He still lives. You soul is still mine." He said evenly, the malice barely concealed in his voice.

Kagome felt like she'd been punched and swayed slightly, fighting to keep the tears at bay. She didn't want to show him how weak she was... but the tears still slid down her cheeks, no matter how firm her face stood.

It was definitely one of those bad days.

Naraku smirked as he raised his hands and made a catapult gesture before her face, pretending to release the elastic string. "Snap..." he whispered before disappearing.





^_^





Inuyasha fanned his face lightly a few bunched up papers that he'd been given by the advisors to read through. It was all something about farms and villages... population counts and that sort of thing... A very useful statistics record for a king.

Inuyasha didn't understand squat of it and simply carried on using the papers as a fan as he paced in his room beside the window. He stopped and touched a hand to his neck. He was still feeling pretty warm... and it definitely wasn't the room - it was him. He absently tugged at the neck of his shirt, trying to cool down further.

It was no use... he was going to have to get out of the room. Besides, he should probably get out of there before Urami arrived back to tend his wounds again.

Throwing the important documents over his shoulder, he marched to the window and pushed it open with his stronger arm, slipping out with quick and efficient ease despite his current illness. Outside it was still naturally humid and warm... but it was better than being cooped up inside.

For a while he just closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to settle his uneasiness. Being King he had lots of new worries weighing down on him... troubles with worker strikes in some of the towns... some peasants that couldn't be bothered to work and so let themselves starve - something HE had to fix. His brother invading was another risk... everyone now knew his weakness was the new moon... he was screwed in one months time when it came around again. Some lucky bastard would come along and claim the throne by killing the weak little human king.

Inuyasha growled and slapped his hand against the rail.

Too many worries...

And still... through all that jumbled mess in his head, most of his time was caught up thinking about Kagome now. He sighed and relaxed... not noticing how just thinking about her made him calmer. Kagome was what kept him going through the day now... everything else was just crap... but Kagome made it all worth it. Conversations with her were like breaks in a hard days work... just being around her was like being in the presence of an enormous energy and spirit. How anyone like Naraku had managed to steal it off her was hard to believe...

And she was in love with him.

Just thinking about it made every other thought in his head cease as he stared out over the palace grounds... before smiling to himself and leaning on the rail. If Kagome was in love with him then she would undoubtedly stay with him... she'd said she would stay with him anyway. That meant he'd always have her amazing spirit nearby to give him the strength to carry on.

At the battle he'd lost her strength because he'd pushed her away... he realised that...Well... he'd learned from that mistake and he wasn't about to do it again.

An odd sound reached his ears and her perked out of his thoughts to try and determine what it was. Leaning over the rail and looking down below he could see Kagome wondering... or more like staggering through the gardens. She wasn't really looking where she was going since her face was buried in her hands.

Surprise rocked Inuyasha and for a horrible moment he thought he'd been the one to cause her to cry. But what had he done? It hadn't been about that whole trying to kill her thing had it? Because he hadn't meant it... he'd only tried to scare her away...

Without really thinking he swung over the balcony and dropped to the ground below, landing in Kagome's path. On hind sight that probably hadn't been a good idea, because Kagome seemed very jumpy right then.

A sudden figure appeared before her and alarm flashed through her as she gave a sharp cry and threw herself against the wall. It was only a few seconds before she realised it was only Inuyasha, but her heart still thundered in her chest. For a horrible moment there she'd thought it was Naraku again...

"Why are you crying?" Inuyasha asked bluntly. "Did I do something? Was it me?"

"Am I crying?" Kagome said, contriving to look bewildered at his statement. "I was just washing my face... that's all..."

Inuyasha frowned at her. "But your eyes are all red..."

"Well..." Kagome huffed indignantly. "So are yours when you go all fully bloody on us."

Inuyasha rolled her eyes. He was not going to be fooled by her aversion tactics. "What's the matter with you? Why are you upset?" he paused before he went on. "It isn't to do with me is it?"

Kagome opened her mouth to lie... to tell him something silly about seeing a hawk kill a mouse or something... before she quickly closed it again. Why did she need to lie to him? He knew the truth now. Lying would only make things worse... but she had to wonder if she could force herself to get the words out.

"It's... it's sort of about you..." Kagome stumbled over finding the right words. "He... I mean... you - being alive and all... um... Naraku... he's reinforced our deal... I'm not as free as I thought..."

Inuyasha stared at her, a familiar feeling of anger and betrayal sweeping through him, directed at both Kagome and Naraku. But he pushed it aside. "He still has you soul, huh?"

Kagome nodded, dissolving into more tears. "I'm... I'm never going to be free..."

"You might." Inuyasha was starting to get a bit hot under the collar again. He doubted it was the last of that fever... he was just at a loss of what to do.

"I won't..." Kagome smiled at him, like she knew he was just being optimistic for pity's sake. "I'll only be free if I get the jewel..."

Kagome was sending him through a guilt trip, and she didn't even know it. Inuyasha looked away, clearly angry at himself now. He'd thrown that blasted jewel into the lake... there was no way to retrieve it. The lake was too deep and the water too murky to see through...

"Kagome..." he sighed. "I'm sorry... I did bring the jewel back with me..."

Kagome blinked at him in surprise. The hope shining in her eyes right then made him feel like a pig for what he was about to say next.

"But I threw it in the lake when I heard your conversation with Naraku." He said slowly. "Sorry... I guess."

Kagome deflated slightly, looking upset again, but valiantly managing to hide it. "It's ok... no point crying over spilt milk."

She was taking it better than Inuyasha would have taken news like that. he saw her duck her head down as she began to cry again. He wanted to punch himself for causing her so much pain... if he'd just died and stayed dead she wouldn't be in this mess. God... why did he have to be so selfish?!

So instead of hitting his head against the brick wall (not a good thing since his skull was still recovering from being cracked) he did the next best thing. He awkwardly stepped forward and pulled her into a formal sort of hug, his expression strange since he wasn't sure if this would have the desired effect... to make her stop crying.

Well it worked for a few moments as Kagome went rigid with shock. But as soon as she got over her shock she took advantage of him... throwing her arms around his chest and burying her face into his chest, crying, for the first time in a long time, with all her heart.

Inuyasha winced at the pain that pinched his ribs, but he could endure that. It hurt more to actually hear Kagome cry harder than ever. He relaxed his arms around her shoulders and held onto her tightly as well, grimacing when she shuddered even harder.

It was nice for Kagome... for the first time she'd spilled her troubles and fears to someone... and now she had a strong shoulder (or chest) to cry on. It made her feel better... it made her feel safe, but that still didn't take away the problem at hand. Her soul was still controlled by Naraku... and her body controlled by Sesshomaru's poison.

Maybe she'd be ok if Inuyasha stood by her like this all the way.

But then she remembered he was still injured and drew back quickly. "Oh sorry - are you hurt - I didn't mean to squeeze that hard!"

"It's ok." He shrugged, not feeling much pain anyway. "I'm all better now. I don't even need Urami to dress my wounds anymore."

Kagome gave him a scowl as she reached up to his collar and tugged his shirt down to his shoulder. He glanced down at the shoulder she'd exposed and looked thoughtfully at the puss oozing wound. "Except maybe for that..."

"Why did that get infected while your head healed?" Kagome asked, dropping her hand from his shirt so he could pull it back up.

"Sesshomaru's poison I guess." He shrugged lightly. "It'll heal in it's own time."

Kagome sighed... wow... now they had even more in common with Sesshomaru having poisoned them both.

"So where were you heading off to?" Inuyasha swiftly changed topics.

Kagome decided not to tell him about her plans to see Kouga. "The lake... it's a nice day... I wanted to look out over the water and relax for once." Yeah... relax knowing she was looking over the place where her key to freedom lay unreachable forever...

"I'll go with ya." Inuyasha said suddenly.

"Really?" Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "Thanks."

"Not just for you of course." Inuyasha said quickly and pointed up the balcony above them as a voice sailed out of his room.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha where are you?" The voice belonged undoubtedly to Urami.

"Quick!" Inuyasha grabbed her hand and dragged Kagome off towards the previous hole he'd made in the palace wall. Kagome flushed slightly as she followed obediently, secretly revelling in the large hard hand that held her much smaller one.

Actually... he best let go before she was tempted to squeeze him and give herself away.

But Inuyasha surprised her as he flashed her a boyish smile and squeezed her hand gently as they cleared the hole and started for the tree. Kagome had trouble keeping up as her knees suddenly grew weak... and she couldn't give a damn about her troubles anymore as long as Inuyasha could smile like that at her.

He didn't let go of her hand until they reached the tree. He heard Kagome laugh behind him and glanced back at her in time to see her flop down beside the tree trunk. "She'll find us - you know she will." She still smiled anyway.

Inuyasha was at times, very oblivious to many things... but even now he could see that she looked at him in a special way that nobody else did. It must have been love that made her eyes shine... or just the remainders of the tears.

For a moment his own smile faltered slightly as a strange swelling feeling crowded his chest, making him slightly dizzy for a moment. He suppressed it... pushed it away into a corner to ignore and went back to enjoying this rare opportunity to be with Kagome alone... to enjoy her company... and bask in her energy.





^_^





Lady Inu smiled smugly to herself and tapped her fingers lightly against each other as she gazed out of the window of the throne room to look down on the couple under the tree. They'd bee holding hands... they'd been embracing... it was possible that when the Queen hadn't been there to see, maybe they'd kissed too?

And better yet, Kagome had reported that morning that Miroku and Sango were on their way to making up all that lost time between them. She'd dropped by later to find that Sango was actually letting him feed the baby... and they both seemed at ease in each other's company. If Fushi wasn't around then who knew how difficult it would be to get those two back together...

Well... all her plans were setting off rather nicely. In no time at all Lady Inu would be blessed with a biological grandchild and perhaps with another child from Sango - Lady Inu was automatically the god mother in any case.

"Excellent..." The Queen continued to tap her fingers together as her smile widened.












AN: Next Chapter - 'Fool Belief' Ooh... sounds ominous to me (I should know ^_^)