InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When a door closes... ❯ The Surety ( Chapter 18 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Namiyo11 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.20.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 211 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.20.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 211 | Status: Completed
Chapter 18- The SuretyRecap: While Inuyasha and Kagome try to work things out, Sango and Miroku are being held as guests of Lord Sesshomaru, together again for the first time in months. What happens to them? Read on!
I don’t own Inuyasha or related characters in any way, shape or form. The original character of Onjou, however, is mine.
Miroku was...less than thrilled. While it was fascinating to see the inside of a major youkai Clan holding, it’s Lord was scrupulously following every rule regarding the care and treatment of...surety. Walking in the gardens of Lord Sesshomaru’s keep, he glanced behind him at the two guards that discretely followed him.
He and Sango were permitted the freedom of the castle grounds-under guard. Their weapons, even his ofuda, had been confiscated along with all of Sango’s tools and gear. Kirara was not permitted within the walls. She was lurking outside. They had comfortable rooms, were well fed and treated...but were prisoners. That they had helped Inuyasha with his raiding didn’t exactly make them popular ones, either. Sango in particular was shunned, now all but invisible to the castle staff and guards. They’d trusted her, as much as any human would be by them, and they didn’t appreciate her-helping the hanyou.
Not to mention how the Lord himself felt about the matter.
***
Inside, Sesshomaru listened to the two lesser inu argue and frowned, lifting his hand.
“You brought a minor matter to me,” he said, disapproval in his icy tone. Sesshomaru’s foul mood hadn’t lightened since Kagome had been collected.
Hmp. Stolen away was the thought that kept surfacing, by the jealous outcast baka cur! If he thought she was to be away from her pack leader permanently, mated to him or not, his half brother was a fool. His packsister would not tolerate that anymore then he, Sesshomaru, would. If Inuyasha harmed her...he would enjoy taking the penalty from the two humans and then, with great satisfaction and patience, from his half brother. Insolent, prideful bastard! He didn’t look to his right as he sat in the seat of honor in his audience hall, where his packsister would normally be when she was in residence.
Where she belonged.
Inuyasha did not know Kagome now, perhaps never had as his brother did. The female he had known was a mere mortal, not the wielder of the Hamayami, the feared and respected packsecond to a youkai Lord...his advisor, assistant, a most loyal ally. That was all she was, he reassured himself, but Inu needed to belong, to have something to guard-and she belonged with him now! Not the baka!! They stood together, protected each other and Rin, were pack! Not mere Clan, pack!
His family...stolen family...again that scum stole from him! First their Lord Father, now his packmate! He should never have allowed Lady Atae to be there as a witness, forcing him to accept the claim! Should have killed him long before this! His error, and now his adopted sister paid for it. Wanting to grind his fangs in controlled rage, Sesshomaru’s face stayed impassive as the worry filled thoughts swirled through his head. Kagome.
He stared through the pair before him and said coldly, “settle it among yourselves, or I will simply remove the problem by killing you both. Go.” They trembled, all but fleeing when he dismissed them. He then beckoned to Jaken, who bustled forward quickly.
“My Lord?”
“That was the last audience today. Do not bother me with trifles again.”
“Yes, my Lord,” the Imp bowed, and followed Sesshomaru as he swept out, ignoring the gathered youkai who offered respects as he left.
Jaken sighed, his Lord normally was quite diligent in attending to anything brought before him...but now that Lady Kagome was away, and not by choice, he wasn’t his usual self. He was...not worried, of course, nor did he miss her, the Imp was sure. If she was in actual danger, their packbond would alert him and his liege would attend to it. Lord Sesshomaru simply disliked the disruption to his household. Of course. At least, that’s what he’d said to the faithful imp who was his friend and servant the one time Jaken’d dared to ask, and his Lord’s expression warned him further inquiries were bad for his health.
***
Sango sighed as well. She walked along the hall, guards behind her, and noted that no one met her eye or even acknowledged her presence. Days now, and she knew the only reason she was unharmed and alive in this castle was the fact that killing her would invalidate the claim truce. A good number here were waiting for Inuyasha to fail utterly. They would gladly watch as she and Miroku were executed in retaliation for his daring to harm or insult a Lady of the Inu. Or worse-if the ritual was completed and Sesshomaru rejected Inuyasha, their vassalage and Myouga’s would be transferred to the offended pack in compensation, along with Inuyasha‘s territory.
She and Miroku would be at Sesshomaru and Kagome’s most likely nonexistent mercy.
Then the doors at the end opened, and Sesshomaru himself strode out.
“Tajiya,” he said coolly, seeing her.
“Lord Sesshomaru,” she bowed.
“You are well treated?” he inquired, as custom demanded.
“Yes, my Lord,” she said quietly.
“Very well.”
He nodded, walked past her, and...silence again. She wanted to cry. Sango wasn’t used to such treatment-and it was made worse by the fact that they had reason to feel that way. Yes, it was done for a good cause, Kagome and Inuyasha belonged together, needed each other, but she had still betrayed the Inu to help make that possible. Yes, she was Inuyasha’s vassal now, had been under her Lord’s orders, technically, but...she decided she had to see Miroku. Knowing him, he’d be poking around outside this time of day.
So she turned her steps, wreathed in silence, to the garden.
***
“Sango,” the monk took her hands under the guard’s eyes as they again shared a bench in a garden. The last time they had sat together, they’d parted. Now, he was her only friend here.
“Oh, Miroku,” she looked so upset, he tried to comfort her. It had been a mistake impulsively getting her involved, he knew it now. Her honor was dear to her, and she lacked the situational ethics the monk had in abundance.
“I’m so sorry, Sango,” he apologized, remembering...the day he’d finally seen her again...
They’d explained the plan.
“But-you’d need a pack! Wouldn’t you?” Sango asked, trying to remember what she knew of such customs.
“Well, yes and no,” Miroku answered slowly.
“I don’t understand.”
“Inu have-provisions for this. If Inuyasha has vassals and makes a strong enough display, he’ll have the right to court her like any Inu with a true pack.”
“Vassals? Well, you have Myouga,” Sango thought out loud and frowned. Oh, no.
“Sango...um, he needed-two. One to witness the courting, a youkai by preference, and, well, one for the surety,” Miroku had begun, and the hanyou had looked uncomfortable.
“Miroku! You didn’t! How could you, Inuyasha?! You can’t be serious!” she’d gasped.
“Uh, look-it’s only for the courting! I need her back, and nothing will happen to him, Sango. I swear it.”
“He’s still your vassal!” she’d snapped angrily.
“We have an arrangement, dear Sango. My Lord here,” the hanyou winced, “will only give me orders regarding helping him get Kagome to understand he’s not the same thoughtless, jealous, impulsive and childish cretin who threw her aside and will have to name their first son in my honor. That’s all, and nothing more.” Inuyasha’s scowl at that was cheerfully ignored by his vassal.
“Oh, no. You two are crazy!” she sighed. “If you go-I go. With both of us, Sesshomaru can’t ignore the claim, right? More vassals make it stronger. Besides, when we wed...I’ll be bound to Inuyasha anyway, remember? So-it’s just doing it early,” Sango declared firmly.
“Sango, are you sure? You don’t have to do this, you know,” Inuyasha asked. It wasn’t a small favor he was asking, and he’d be responsible for them if it failed.
“I’m sure. Miroku, do you really think I’ll let you do this alone? If I’m able to help-I’ll do it. After all, assisting a Lord is honorable.” A good way to avoid the words that sprang to mind if she helped them otherwise...like spying.
“Damn,” Inuyasha said, astonished at her decision. He’d half expected to be dodging a Hirakotsu about now! Not accepting an oath of fealty. He looked very nervous as she calmly knelt in front of him, her weapon held easily.
“Mind you-same deal as Miroku, Inuyasha,” she warned him. Sango meant this was only to help with Kagome, of course...
“Ahhh. A daughter too? I rather like that, actually,” Miroku said with amusement as Sango blinked in surprise.
“Uh...do you mind?” Inuyasha asked him, and the monk bowed.
“Of course not, my liege,” he’d answered, just to see the look on the hanyou’s face.
Now...
“We should never have gotten you involved, dear Sango. Forgive me,” Miroku told her. “My fault. Maybe I am as honorless as you-”
“No! You didn’t do anything dishonorable. You helped your Lord. They’d have done the same for us, Miroku. I know it, and I chose to help them too,” she said, wishing the guards weren’t here, that they could be alone, something! The strain was too much, and Sango felt her eyes tearing up, wiping them away with the back of her hand and trying to keep calm.
“Tajiya?” a voice behind them made her look up. One of the guards gravely had approached, and offered a small cloth to wipe away her tears. She blinked. Not one youkai had so much as acknowledged her in days, and now this?
Sango took it cautiously and frowned, the youkai looked vaguely familiar.
“T-thank you.”
“My name is Onjou. You assisted my pack with the noble Lady Kagome against a Dokueki, before I was sent here for service to my Lord,” he gestured to the guards, who hesitated, and then backed up. The Inu did not feel it right to see a brave warrior weep. Unseemly, and unnecessary to subject her to their direct regard at such a time. He turned and walked back to them, giving them some scrap of privacy.
“Thank you,” Miroku said to his retreating back, then rose, taking Sango’s hand. He had to admit the Inu Clan had honor, prickly honor, but honor nonetheless. “Let’s go inside, Sango,” the monk suggested, and he walked her to the rooms assigned to her, next to his own. Opening the door, they went in, the guards taking up discrete positions outside as was now usual.
She fell into his arms as soon as they were alone, crying harder than he’d ever seen her do before. Miroku stroked her hair and soothed her, worried. It wasn’t at all like her to let anything get to her.
“Sango, Sango, it will be alright, I promise. Not much longer, I’m sure.”
“It-it’s not that, maybe I’m not...I just-ohh,” she released him and sank to the floor, wiping her eyes. “I told you I didn’t think you were honorable, and here I’ve betrayed these youkai, and Kagome! She used us against Inuyasha, Miroku! She drugged me! I woke up tied up in a room here under guard. How could I not notice she was changing so much? She’d never have done that before, and what if she-she-” Sango couldn’t say it. Let them get executed. No longer had enough humanity to care about her friends...to let herself be with Inuyasha...
“Kagome isn’t the same as she was, Sango, true. I know that. Inuyasha has as well. We all have. She has changed, but I trust her still, and so you must. We did force her into a corner, and she forgave us for raiding her Clan. If she had wished it-she needn’t have spared you when they took you. Kagome still cares about us, and Inuyasha as well,” Miroku held to that, he had to. He’d had some sleepless nights after that battle...
“Mostly. Maybe,” Sango said bleakly.
“Now, is this the tajiya who faced so much? Sango, I believe it will work out, and so should you. Kagome needs him as he does her. That much I am sure of.”
“She does, but will she allow him back? He broke her heart, Miroku, you don’t know how hurt she was. Now it’s as though there’s no Kagome anymore, just Lady Kagome of the Inu. Her family beyond the well doesn’t even hold her anymore,” Sango said worriedly.
“What?” he asked-and she told him what she knew. What she’d never gone into detail about. That Kagome had been withdrawing lately, had become-unstable in battle. Her fears that her friend would lose herself one day.
When she was done, Miroku held her close and shivered. Perhaps it was too late. Perhaps Inuyasha hadn’t just changed Kagome when he wished on the jewel, and then left her to fend for herself.
Perhaps he’d destroyed her.
The monk tilted his betrothed’s face up with a finger under her chin, and forced himself to smile into her eyes with confident amusement.
“If we go, my dear Sango, we go together at least.”
“True. We won’t be parted again,” she smiled and leaned in to kiss him, surprised at her own daring. He’d said he wished to wait, to prove to her he was an honorable man worthy of her, but she already knew he was. Sango realized she’d allowed herself to fall into the same trap Kagome had, of being afraid. A true slayer feared nothing, not youkai, not humans, nothing.
Surprised, he returned it, and discovered she didn’t intend to stop there. Astonished, hesitant, he drew back, shaking his head, and she smiled.
“Miroku, we’ve wasted a lot of time waiting. I’m not Kagome. I know what I want, and who I am, and I don’t intend to let you go. I nearly lost you twice, and I’m not going to wait and see what happens next before I share with you. They aren’t going to bring dinner for hours yet, and there is nothing to stop us,” she rose to lead him to her bed, and the flushing Miroku let her. Even as she removed her kimono, he gulped, wondering if she meant it. Sango proceeded to do the most extraordinary things to convince him, things he’d never imagined...beginning one of the most educational and eventful afternoons of his life.
Then Jaken, overseeing the servant who brought in dinner...came in without knocking. And screamed.
“SCANDAL! INFAMY! OUTRAGE!! LORD SESSHOMARU!!!!”
They were wed within the hour by a bemused youkai Lord. Such behavior within his keep could not be tolerated outside honorable marriage. What a tajiya did was one thing, such was their custom-but Miroku was a monk. Most unseemly. Somehow, someway...he knew Inuyasha was to blame for this.
Author’s Notes-Ahhhhh. Very pleasing chapter! Sango gets her man at last! This chapter and plotline I had no doubts about. Miroku and Sango have their problems, but overall they’ve always struck me as the more normal and less issue filled pair by far. Sane, even. Plus-it was a lot of fun to make Jaken walk into that and dump it into Sesshomaru’s lap.
Don’t worry, I know there’s a lot of characters, thanks to making an entire Clan from whole cloth, but I will be posting a dramatis personae later on. Lastly, a note on names of lesser characters. Onjou means compassion, and Atae means gift, at least according to the online Japanese to English dictionary. Thought you might like to know! Thanks for reading!-Namiyo
I don’t own Inuyasha or related characters in any way, shape or form. The original character of Onjou, however, is mine.
Miroku was...less than thrilled. While it was fascinating to see the inside of a major youkai Clan holding, it’s Lord was scrupulously following every rule regarding the care and treatment of...surety. Walking in the gardens of Lord Sesshomaru’s keep, he glanced behind him at the two guards that discretely followed him.
He and Sango were permitted the freedom of the castle grounds-under guard. Their weapons, even his ofuda, had been confiscated along with all of Sango’s tools and gear. Kirara was not permitted within the walls. She was lurking outside. They had comfortable rooms, were well fed and treated...but were prisoners. That they had helped Inuyasha with his raiding didn’t exactly make them popular ones, either. Sango in particular was shunned, now all but invisible to the castle staff and guards. They’d trusted her, as much as any human would be by them, and they didn’t appreciate her-helping the hanyou.
Not to mention how the Lord himself felt about the matter.
***
Inside, Sesshomaru listened to the two lesser inu argue and frowned, lifting his hand.
“You brought a minor matter to me,” he said, disapproval in his icy tone. Sesshomaru’s foul mood hadn’t lightened since Kagome had been collected.
Hmp. Stolen away was the thought that kept surfacing, by the jealous outcast baka cur! If he thought she was to be away from her pack leader permanently, mated to him or not, his half brother was a fool. His packsister would not tolerate that anymore then he, Sesshomaru, would. If Inuyasha harmed her...he would enjoy taking the penalty from the two humans and then, with great satisfaction and patience, from his half brother. Insolent, prideful bastard! He didn’t look to his right as he sat in the seat of honor in his audience hall, where his packsister would normally be when she was in residence.
Where she belonged.
Inuyasha did not know Kagome now, perhaps never had as his brother did. The female he had known was a mere mortal, not the wielder of the Hamayami, the feared and respected packsecond to a youkai Lord...his advisor, assistant, a most loyal ally. That was all she was, he reassured himself, but Inu needed to belong, to have something to guard-and she belonged with him now! Not the baka!! They stood together, protected each other and Rin, were pack! Not mere Clan, pack!
His family...stolen family...again that scum stole from him! First their Lord Father, now his packmate! He should never have allowed Lady Atae to be there as a witness, forcing him to accept the claim! Should have killed him long before this! His error, and now his adopted sister paid for it. Wanting to grind his fangs in controlled rage, Sesshomaru’s face stayed impassive as the worry filled thoughts swirled through his head. Kagome.
He stared through the pair before him and said coldly, “settle it among yourselves, or I will simply remove the problem by killing you both. Go.” They trembled, all but fleeing when he dismissed them. He then beckoned to Jaken, who bustled forward quickly.
“My Lord?”
“That was the last audience today. Do not bother me with trifles again.”
“Yes, my Lord,” the Imp bowed, and followed Sesshomaru as he swept out, ignoring the gathered youkai who offered respects as he left.
Jaken sighed, his Lord normally was quite diligent in attending to anything brought before him...but now that Lady Kagome was away, and not by choice, he wasn’t his usual self. He was...not worried, of course, nor did he miss her, the Imp was sure. If she was in actual danger, their packbond would alert him and his liege would attend to it. Lord Sesshomaru simply disliked the disruption to his household. Of course. At least, that’s what he’d said to the faithful imp who was his friend and servant the one time Jaken’d dared to ask, and his Lord’s expression warned him further inquiries were bad for his health.
***
Sango sighed as well. She walked along the hall, guards behind her, and noted that no one met her eye or even acknowledged her presence. Days now, and she knew the only reason she was unharmed and alive in this castle was the fact that killing her would invalidate the claim truce. A good number here were waiting for Inuyasha to fail utterly. They would gladly watch as she and Miroku were executed in retaliation for his daring to harm or insult a Lady of the Inu. Or worse-if the ritual was completed and Sesshomaru rejected Inuyasha, their vassalage and Myouga’s would be transferred to the offended pack in compensation, along with Inuyasha‘s territory.
She and Miroku would be at Sesshomaru and Kagome’s most likely nonexistent mercy.
Then the doors at the end opened, and Sesshomaru himself strode out.
“Tajiya,” he said coolly, seeing her.
“Lord Sesshomaru,” she bowed.
“You are well treated?” he inquired, as custom demanded.
“Yes, my Lord,” she said quietly.
“Very well.”
He nodded, walked past her, and...silence again. She wanted to cry. Sango wasn’t used to such treatment-and it was made worse by the fact that they had reason to feel that way. Yes, it was done for a good cause, Kagome and Inuyasha belonged together, needed each other, but she had still betrayed the Inu to help make that possible. Yes, she was Inuyasha’s vassal now, had been under her Lord’s orders, technically, but...she decided she had to see Miroku. Knowing him, he’d be poking around outside this time of day.
So she turned her steps, wreathed in silence, to the garden.
***
“Sango,” the monk took her hands under the guard’s eyes as they again shared a bench in a garden. The last time they had sat together, they’d parted. Now, he was her only friend here.
“Oh, Miroku,” she looked so upset, he tried to comfort her. It had been a mistake impulsively getting her involved, he knew it now. Her honor was dear to her, and she lacked the situational ethics the monk had in abundance.
“I’m so sorry, Sango,” he apologized, remembering...the day he’d finally seen her again...
They’d explained the plan.
“But-you’d need a pack! Wouldn’t you?” Sango asked, trying to remember what she knew of such customs.
“Well, yes and no,” Miroku answered slowly.
“I don’t understand.”
“Inu have-provisions for this. If Inuyasha has vassals and makes a strong enough display, he’ll have the right to court her like any Inu with a true pack.”
“Vassals? Well, you have Myouga,” Sango thought out loud and frowned. Oh, no.
“Sango...um, he needed-two. One to witness the courting, a youkai by preference, and, well, one for the surety,” Miroku had begun, and the hanyou had looked uncomfortable.
“Miroku! You didn’t! How could you, Inuyasha?! You can’t be serious!” she’d gasped.
“Uh, look-it’s only for the courting! I need her back, and nothing will happen to him, Sango. I swear it.”
“He’s still your vassal!” she’d snapped angrily.
“We have an arrangement, dear Sango. My Lord here,” the hanyou winced, “will only give me orders regarding helping him get Kagome to understand he’s not the same thoughtless, jealous, impulsive and childish cretin who threw her aside and will have to name their first son in my honor. That’s all, and nothing more.” Inuyasha’s scowl at that was cheerfully ignored by his vassal.
“Oh, no. You two are crazy!” she sighed. “If you go-I go. With both of us, Sesshomaru can’t ignore the claim, right? More vassals make it stronger. Besides, when we wed...I’ll be bound to Inuyasha anyway, remember? So-it’s just doing it early,” Sango declared firmly.
“Sango, are you sure? You don’t have to do this, you know,” Inuyasha asked. It wasn’t a small favor he was asking, and he’d be responsible for them if it failed.
“I’m sure. Miroku, do you really think I’ll let you do this alone? If I’m able to help-I’ll do it. After all, assisting a Lord is honorable.” A good way to avoid the words that sprang to mind if she helped them otherwise...like spying.
“Damn,” Inuyasha said, astonished at her decision. He’d half expected to be dodging a Hirakotsu about now! Not accepting an oath of fealty. He looked very nervous as she calmly knelt in front of him, her weapon held easily.
“Mind you-same deal as Miroku, Inuyasha,” she warned him. Sango meant this was only to help with Kagome, of course...
“Ahhh. A daughter too? I rather like that, actually,” Miroku said with amusement as Sango blinked in surprise.
“Uh...do you mind?” Inuyasha asked him, and the monk bowed.
“Of course not, my liege,” he’d answered, just to see the look on the hanyou’s face.
Now...
“We should never have gotten you involved, dear Sango. Forgive me,” Miroku told her. “My fault. Maybe I am as honorless as you-”
“No! You didn’t do anything dishonorable. You helped your Lord. They’d have done the same for us, Miroku. I know it, and I chose to help them too,” she said, wishing the guards weren’t here, that they could be alone, something! The strain was too much, and Sango felt her eyes tearing up, wiping them away with the back of her hand and trying to keep calm.
“Tajiya?” a voice behind them made her look up. One of the guards gravely had approached, and offered a small cloth to wipe away her tears. She blinked. Not one youkai had so much as acknowledged her in days, and now this?
Sango took it cautiously and frowned, the youkai looked vaguely familiar.
“T-thank you.”
“My name is Onjou. You assisted my pack with the noble Lady Kagome against a Dokueki, before I was sent here for service to my Lord,” he gestured to the guards, who hesitated, and then backed up. The Inu did not feel it right to see a brave warrior weep. Unseemly, and unnecessary to subject her to their direct regard at such a time. He turned and walked back to them, giving them some scrap of privacy.
“Thank you,” Miroku said to his retreating back, then rose, taking Sango’s hand. He had to admit the Inu Clan had honor, prickly honor, but honor nonetheless. “Let’s go inside, Sango,” the monk suggested, and he walked her to the rooms assigned to her, next to his own. Opening the door, they went in, the guards taking up discrete positions outside as was now usual.
She fell into his arms as soon as they were alone, crying harder than he’d ever seen her do before. Miroku stroked her hair and soothed her, worried. It wasn’t at all like her to let anything get to her.
“Sango, Sango, it will be alright, I promise. Not much longer, I’m sure.”
“It-it’s not that, maybe I’m not...I just-ohh,” she released him and sank to the floor, wiping her eyes. “I told you I didn’t think you were honorable, and here I’ve betrayed these youkai, and Kagome! She used us against Inuyasha, Miroku! She drugged me! I woke up tied up in a room here under guard. How could I not notice she was changing so much? She’d never have done that before, and what if she-she-” Sango couldn’t say it. Let them get executed. No longer had enough humanity to care about her friends...to let herself be with Inuyasha...
“Kagome isn’t the same as she was, Sango, true. I know that. Inuyasha has as well. We all have. She has changed, but I trust her still, and so you must. We did force her into a corner, and she forgave us for raiding her Clan. If she had wished it-she needn’t have spared you when they took you. Kagome still cares about us, and Inuyasha as well,” Miroku held to that, he had to. He’d had some sleepless nights after that battle...
“Mostly. Maybe,” Sango said bleakly.
“Now, is this the tajiya who faced so much? Sango, I believe it will work out, and so should you. Kagome needs him as he does her. That much I am sure of.”
“She does, but will she allow him back? He broke her heart, Miroku, you don’t know how hurt she was. Now it’s as though there’s no Kagome anymore, just Lady Kagome of the Inu. Her family beyond the well doesn’t even hold her anymore,” Sango said worriedly.
“What?” he asked-and she told him what she knew. What she’d never gone into detail about. That Kagome had been withdrawing lately, had become-unstable in battle. Her fears that her friend would lose herself one day.
When she was done, Miroku held her close and shivered. Perhaps it was too late. Perhaps Inuyasha hadn’t just changed Kagome when he wished on the jewel, and then left her to fend for herself.
Perhaps he’d destroyed her.
The monk tilted his betrothed’s face up with a finger under her chin, and forced himself to smile into her eyes with confident amusement.
“If we go, my dear Sango, we go together at least.”
“True. We won’t be parted again,” she smiled and leaned in to kiss him, surprised at her own daring. He’d said he wished to wait, to prove to her he was an honorable man worthy of her, but she already knew he was. Sango realized she’d allowed herself to fall into the same trap Kagome had, of being afraid. A true slayer feared nothing, not youkai, not humans, nothing.
Surprised, he returned it, and discovered she didn’t intend to stop there. Astonished, hesitant, he drew back, shaking his head, and she smiled.
“Miroku, we’ve wasted a lot of time waiting. I’m not Kagome. I know what I want, and who I am, and I don’t intend to let you go. I nearly lost you twice, and I’m not going to wait and see what happens next before I share with you. They aren’t going to bring dinner for hours yet, and there is nothing to stop us,” she rose to lead him to her bed, and the flushing Miroku let her. Even as she removed her kimono, he gulped, wondering if she meant it. Sango proceeded to do the most extraordinary things to convince him, things he’d never imagined...beginning one of the most educational and eventful afternoons of his life.
Then Jaken, overseeing the servant who brought in dinner...came in without knocking. And screamed.
“SCANDAL! INFAMY! OUTRAGE!! LORD SESSHOMARU!!!!”
They were wed within the hour by a bemused youkai Lord. Such behavior within his keep could not be tolerated outside honorable marriage. What a tajiya did was one thing, such was their custom-but Miroku was a monk. Most unseemly. Somehow, someway...he knew Inuyasha was to blame for this.
Author’s Notes-Ahhhhh. Very pleasing chapter! Sango gets her man at last! This chapter and plotline I had no doubts about. Miroku and Sango have their problems, but overall they’ve always struck me as the more normal and less issue filled pair by far. Sane, even. Plus-it was a lot of fun to make Jaken walk into that and dump it into Sesshomaru’s lap.
Don’t worry, I know there’s a lot of characters, thanks to making an entire Clan from whole cloth, but I will be posting a dramatis personae later on. Lastly, a note on names of lesser characters. Onjou means compassion, and Atae means gift, at least according to the online Japanese to English dictionary. Thought you might like to know! Thanks for reading!-Namiyo