InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Sango's Wish ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: The concept of this fic may seem a bit far-fetched at first, but please, bear with me! The beginning is set during the episodes when Kagome has a fever and returns to her own time, with Inuyasha watching over her. The remaining chapters then fork off from that point into an A/U situation.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters within. I also don't own the idea of why Kirara has always appeared in cat form, I owe that idea to Catney - used with her permission!

 

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Chapter 1 - Sango's Wish

 

Miroku leaned over the old well, staring down into its murky depths. Shippo eagerly leapt up opposite him, leaning so far over the edge of the well, he almost fell right in.

 

“I hope Kagome is alright, they've been gone a long time!” Shippo said.

 

“Don't worry Shippo,” Miroku assured him. “Kagome will recover much faster back in her own time. And with Inuyasha by her side, nursing her back to health, I'm pretty sure she'll be back before we know it.”

 

Sango let out a soft sigh, hanging her head. Although her gesture was small, it did not go unnoticed by the others.

 

“Is something troubling you, Sango?” Miroku called to her.

 

“Oh, it's probably nothing,” she replied dismissively, her eyes wandering to her faithful cat companion Kirara.

 

Sango managed a small smile as Kirara, in her small cat form, began to purr sweetly and rub against her ankles.

 

“You seem sad, Sango,” Miroku began, turning fully towards her. “Perhaps I can help sooth your nerves-”

 

“Take one step closer Miroku, and you'll be wearing that staff!” Sango warned the monk as his hand began to reach towards her.

 

Miroku let out a short, nervous laugh, feigning innocence; but not even Shippo was convinced by his act.

 

“What's wrong, Sango?” Shippo asked, skipping over to her side.

 

“I've been thinking about Kohaku a lot,” Sango confessed, her eyes still on Kirara. “If Naraku has disappeared somewhere, did he take Kohaku with him? Or is Kohaku with that evil wind witch, Kagura?”

 

“I could read a sutra, or say a special prayer for him if you like,” Miroku offered.

 

“Really?” Sango asked, daring to smile as she lifted her head to look directly at Miroku.

 

“Why certainly, my dear Sango!” Miroku replied. “We can retire early tonight, and before we lie down together in bed, I shall-”

 

“Lie down together?” Sango growled through tightly clenched teeth. “You really are a lecherous monk, Miroku! But you have given me a very good idea. I think it's just what I need to help me find some peace in my heart.”

 

Miroku paused, his disbelief momentarily overwhelming him.

 

“Sango, I thought you'd never say yes!” he eventually said, opening his arms and walking towards her, his eyes closed and a huge grin plastered across his face.

 

Miroku closed his arms around and empty space, opening his eyes to find that Sango had turned her back on him and begun to walk away.

 

“Huh?” he muttered in confusion.

 

“Sango!” Shippo called after her. “Where are you going?”

 

“I'm going back to my village for a couple of days,” Sango called back over her shoulder. “Kagome and Inuyasha won't be back any time soon, so I'm going to use the time to return to my village. If anything happens I'll return early. If not, I'll see you in three days.”

 

“Bye, Sango!” Shippo called, waving a hand above his head.

 

“Sango…” Miroku moaned, dropping to his knees as he watched Kirara transform into her larger, fire-cat form.

 

“I'll only be gone for three days!” Sango called back to them as she leapt onto Kirara's back. “Nothing's going to happen in three days!”

 

Shippo watched Sango and Kirara depart until they had disappeared from sight. He then turned to where Miroku had been, his eyes doubling in size when he saw that Miroku was gone.

 

“Miroku?” he called, looking all around himself. “Not you too! Don't leave me here all alone! Miroku!”

 

Shippo started to run back towards the village, but skidded to a halt as he spotted Miroku standing with a young girl from the village. Miroku was holding one of the girl's hands in both of his own, an intense expression creasing his features.

 

“Would you consider having my first born child?” he asked her.

 

Shippo groaned, falling over backwards in despair.

 

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Sango was knelt low by the grave of an old friend, a girl who had been a few years older than her, who had helped her train when she was young. The last time Sango had seen the girl had been when they were collecting flowers from a nearby field. Sango's father had called her in to accompany him on a mission to slay a demon, neither knowing that it would be their last mission together.

 

There were so many dead, and it seemed like every time she returned to her old village, Sango remembered another face, another name, another friend, or another relative who had perished.

 

“It's just not fair…” she said aloud, her voice quivering as tears began to form in her eyes. “I'm all alone…”

 

Sango swiped a hand impatiently at her eyes, wiping away her tears.

 

“I have to be strong, I have to avenge their deaths,” she said to herself. “And I'm not totally alone, I have Kagome and Miroku and Inuyasha and Shippo… But it's not the same. I miss my friends. I miss my friends I played with when I was a child, I miss the friends I trained with for all those years, the friends who really knew me…”

 

Sango sighed, wiping at her eyes again with the back of her hand.

 

“I just wish that…” she began softly. “I wish that I had a friend who would always stand by me, a friend I could really talk to, a friend who understood what I feel.”

 

Sango stared at the wilting flowers laid on the grave in front of her until the tears in her eyes blurred them out of her vision. She closed her eyes and hung her head low, sighing again; but Sango's sadness was quickly replaced by shock and fear as she felt a hand touch her shoulder.

 

“Miroku?” she asked tentatively, lifting her head. “Is that you, Miroku?”

 

“What did you just call me?” a girl's voice asked.

 

“Kagome?” Sango echoed. “How did you get here?”

 

Sango turned her head towards the figure standing over her, squinting against the late evening sun to make out the face that was looking back down at her. But, thanks to the angle of the sun, all Sango could see was the silhouette of a young woman, dressed in what looked like very old battle armour, her long hair pinned up at either side of her head, and falling down over her shoulders.

 

“Ayame?” Sango asked, all thoughts of her sadness vanishing as confusion fully set in. “What are you doing here?”

 

Sango stood up, the hand slipping from her shoulder as she did so. Sango began brushing the dirt from her thighs, her mind momentarily preoccupied.

 

“If you're looking for Koga, I've got no idea where he is,” Sango began. “All I know is that he's looking for Naraku, just like we are.”

 

“Please, don't get me started on Koga!” the girl replied, in what sounded like a tone of disgust.

 

“But I thought you were in love with him, Ayame!” Sango said lightly, dropping her hands to her sides and looking up at the girl before her. “Wait a minute, you're not Ayame! Who are you?”

 

The girl frowned at Sango, looking as confused as Sango felt right then.

 

“Isn't it obvious who I am?” the girl asked.

 

Sango, deciding that since the girl had asked the question in such a way that suggested Sango must be stupid if she could not recognise the girl before her, carefully assessed her situation before replying. She was standing facing a girl who was slightly taller than she was, and who was slight in build. She was dressed in full battle armour, looking more like an army general than the waif of a girl that she actually was. And, despite her clothing, she carried no weapons.

 

Studying the girl a little closer, Sango saw that she had pointed, clawed fingernails, just like Inuyashas, and that she had a set of fangs just like Inuyasha's, and a pair of small, pointed ears, just like Shippo's. She was obviously some sort of demon, and she was either a very important demon, or simply a demon who thought herself very important, Sango thought to herself, as she again ran her eyes over the intricate designs carved out in silver over her body armour.

 

And yet the girl's face defied her proud stance and noble clothing. She had the face of girl around Sango's age, with large green eyes. Her hair was blonde around her head, but the sections she had tied back at either side of her head were black, making her look like a raccoon; and making Sango suddenly want to laugh at her.

 

“You have broken the spell, Sango,” the girl continued, smiling slightly as she spoke. “I've waited so long for someone to break the spell, I thought I would never be free again! And do you know, I always knew it would be you who freed me, Sango! You always were my best friend! And now we can be real best friends!”

 

“Best friends?” Sango repeated, meeting the girl's eyes. “Oh, I get it now! You're a demon, born of my longing and desire for a friend! Well, I already have enough strange demons as friends, and I did come here to be alone-”

 

“You did not come here to be alone!” the girl interrupted Sango, her eyebrows lowering as she scowled angrily. “You came here to get away from that lecherous monk!”

 

“Miroku?” Sango echoed, something inside of her becoming distinctly unsettled: how did this demon girl know about Miroku?

 

“That's right!” the girl replied with a nod of her head. “At least when Kagome is there he only touches you half as much!”

 

“But…”

 

“But nothing! And don't think I haven't seen the way you look at him, young lady! You know, you could do a lot better than that monk! What about Kuranosuke? He adores you, and he's a Lord!”

 

“How do you know all these things?”

 

“Weren't you listening to me? I said you broke the spell! You allowed me to take human form again! To talk again! I really missed talking. You know, it's amazing how much you miss talking when you can't do it any more.”

 

“You're starting to annoy me, demon!”

 

“What?”

 

“Kirara, take care of this demon!”

 

Sango pointed at the girl in front of her, remaining frozen on the spot as she waited for her faithful feline companion to leap towards the demon, snarling and bearing her fangs as reliably as ever. When nothing happened after a few seconds, Sango slowly lowered her hand, panic slowly setting in.

 

“Kirara?” she said softly, looking from side to side. “Kirara, where are you, girl?”

 

“I'm right in front of you, Sango!”

 

Sango gasped, locking her eyes onto the demon girl before her. Another quick glance over the girl told her nothing more, but her eyes locked back onto the girl's unusual, blonde and black hair.

 

`Fair on the top of her head, just like Kirara, and black at the sides of her head, just like Kirara's ears!' Sango thought to herself.

 

“But that's not possible!” Sango whispered. “How could you…”

 

The girl smiled softly, nodding her head in an understanding manner.

 

“It's very simple, really,” she said gently. “Long ago, I befriended a young priestess. We fought demons together, but she never truly trusted me not to betray her. In order to ensure that I would always remain faithful to her, she cast a spell on me, which meant that I could no longer take human form, instead being forced to turn into a small, two-tailed cat. She promised me that if I stayed good and true, one day a human would save me. If someone cared enough for me and needed me more in my human form than in my cat form, then I would be freed from the curse.”

 

“But…” Sango said weakly.

 

“Aren't you happy, Sango? This is what you wanted, wasn't it? We've been friends for so long, and now I can talk to you!”

 

“Ki-Kirara?” Sango asked, gulping after the word had left her mouth.

 

“That's right, Sango!”

 

Sango hesitated, eying the demon over sceptically.

 

“It must be true, I guess,” she said slowly. “After all, you know all about Miroku and Kuranosuke and Kagome.”

 

“And Inuyasha and Shippo and Myouga. Myouga… That little… Just let him try to suck my blood now!”

 

Sango yelped in fear as the girl smacked a fist into her open palm, baring her fangs.

 

“Oh, sorry, Sango!” she hastily apologised as she caught the fearful look on Sango's face. “It's just that there are so many things that I have longed for all this time, so many things that I have missed not having or being able to do!”

 

“Wow…” Sango said faintly.

 

“I guess now the only problem is going to be telling the others.”

 

“I guess so… So, all this time you've been able to understand everything we've been saying? I mean, absolutely everything?”

 

Kirara nodded cheerfully.

 

“Oh no…” Sango groaned. “This is just so… Unexpected… There are so many things that… Well first of all, I guess, we should head back to Kaede's village. Kagome and Inuyasha are probably still in Kagome's era, but Miroku and Shippo will be there - you better be careful around Miroku-”

 

“If he puts that “Cursed Hand” of his anywhere near me, I'll bite it off!” Kirara snarled, snapping at the air to demonstrate her seriousness.

 

Sango jumped, her eyes widening.

 

“Right, okay…” Sango said slowly, one eyebrow inching upwards. “And then of course there's Shippo…”

 

“Shippo is a sweet child, I am certain he will understand,” Kirara confidently replied.

 

“Well, I guess we should get going. If we have to travel on foot, the journey will take us much longer.”

 

“You can ride on my back if you like.”

 

Sango took a large step back from Kirara, her top lip curling and her cheeks turning red.

 

“Um, isn't that wrong now?” Sango asked nervously. “I feel so guilty now, if I had known you were human - well, humanlike, at least - all this time, I never would have sat on your back. And all those times all four of us sat on you… Oh Kirara, I'm so sorry!”

 

Kirara waved a hand dismissively in the air.

 

“Don't worry about it Sango, you are my friend, and I was always glad to help you in any way I could,” she insisted. “And you have given me the greatest gift of all, you have broken Midoriko's spell.”

 

“Midoriko's spell? The priestess who created the sacred jewel?”

 

“Yes, that's correct. Look, I'll explain it all on the way. Hop on my back, I'll carry you back.”

 

“Hop on your back?”

 

“I don't mean like before, I mean I can carry you in the same way Inuyasha carries Kagome!”

 

“Oh, right… Are you sure?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Sango paused, her mind racing as she eyed over the humanlike demon girl before her, the true form of her favourite pet for over twelve years. Inside her mind Sango heard herself calling to Miroku, telling him nothing would happen in the three days she should be gone.

 

“I'm not even gone three hours, and look what's happened already…” she muttered. “Me and my big mouth.”

 

Sango forced a smile, part of her finding it impossible not to smile when Kirara was grinning at her so earnestly. She took a deep breath and marched up to Kirara, momentarily wondering just how Kirara's slender body would manage to carry Sango and her weapon, and still manage to move faster than Sango would on her own.

 

“Hold on tight, Sango!” Kirara said cheerfully.

 

“Sure,” Sango replied, resting her hands on Kirara's armour-covered shoulders.

 

“Here we go!”

 

Sango let out a scream as Kirara took off, bounding out of the village at a speed that would surely rival Inuyasha's, and possible even keep pace with Koga. Gripping her fingers into Kirara's armour, Sango closed her eyes and screamed again as Kirara took a seemingly suicidal leap off of a ledge, letting out a cry of joy.

 

Sango groaned loudly as Kirara landed hard on her feet, but she did not get the opportunity to recover as Kirara ran on, leaping up onto the rocky hillside and soaring from rock to rock. Sango cautiously opened one eye, every muscle in her body still tense.

 

“I don't know how Kagome does this!” she muttered.

 

Sango's other eye opened as she caught sight of a cliff edge approaching.

 

“Kirara?” she asked nervously as Kirara sprinted towards the edge. “Kirara! Kira-raaaaaaaaaaa!”

 

Sango screamed out the last syllable of her companion's name as they plummeted through the air, her voice breaking as Kirara grabbed onto the branches of a tall tree, slowing their descent, before swinging herself around and pouncing onto the branches of the next tree along with the grace that only a feline could possess.

 

As they continued their journey, Sango continued to scream and groan in fear and shock, and Kirara continued to yell and whoop in joy and jubilation.

 

“I'm free!” Kirara yelled, propelling herself into the air from a flexible branch of a tree, spreading out her arms and legs as she flew through the air, oblivious to Sango's cries of despair behind her.

 

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Next Chapter: After Kirara explains her story to Sango, Sango finally accepts Kirara's new human form. But how will Miroku and Shippo react? Chapter 2 - Kirara's Tale.