InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When the Truth Rings ❯ Understanding ( Chapter 7 )

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

AN: Well, I'm back with Chapter 7, and I hope everyone is enjoying my story so far. Thanks again to all my reviewers, your encouragement and opinions are what keep me going. Enjoy the chapter below, and review if you can.

Bright sunlight flooded into the room, and the welcoming cry of the morning birds awoke Inuyasha. His eyes fluttered open, batting away the remnants of sleep as he came into conciousness. He wanted to spring to his feet and stretch as he usually did, but something told him to stay put. He had forgot he was still holding Sango in his grasp.

Peering over her shoulder and into her face, he looked to see if she was still asleep. She was; that meant he would have a little more time to cuddle with her before they had to get up. Frankly, he could lay with her all day, but that wasn't an option. They still were on the hunt for shards, and wasting a day doing nothing wasn't going to help them.

Closing his eyes, he wanted to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. A problem lay in the way. Sango began to stir as if she were going to wake, and while she shifted her weight to find a good position in which to sleep, she inadvertently brushed against his lower sensitive areas. Inuyasha froze and prayed she did not feel the effects of her accidental movement. He decided then it was time to get up.

Slowly inching away from her, he climbed to his feet when he had enough space, and stepped into the main room. It was empty and quiet; either Miroku was still asleep or he left with the girl. Chances were, the idiot was still sleep.

Making his way into the tiny space that served as an eating area, he began to ravage through the cupboards until he found the fruit he and Sango had the night before. Plopping onto the floor, he enjoyed the sweet taste of a green apple in silence until he heard a door slide open. Turning to look behind him, he saw Miroku standing in the doorway. "Mornin', Inuyasha," he said softly, with a shy smile on his face.

Inuyasha didn't reply but watched Miroku sit next to him and grab an apple from the open cupboard. Biting into it, he asked, "Where's Sango? Is she still sleep?"

"Yeah," came a very cold response. "Is the girl still here?"

Suddenly coughing on a mouthful of food, Miroku looked at him, bewildered. "What?"

"Is she still here?"

"Who?"

"The girl," Inuyasha answered, quite annoyed with Miroku's play of innocence. "I know she was here. I'm asking you, is she gone or is she still in your bed?"

Miroku set his apple down and cleared his throat. "She's still here," he answered calmly. "But I plan to have her out by the time Sango wakes up."

"Why?"

"So she won't find out, of course..."

"Don't bother. She already knows."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, do you mind not yelling so loud?" Inuyasha growled. "If you wake up Sango..."

"Sorry," Miroku whispered. "But how does she know already?"

Finishing off his first apple and grabbing another, Inuyasha answered, "well, we happened to come in during your bedtime activities. She heard you and her... it wasn't very hard to figure out."

Looking down at his half-eaten breakfast, Miroku sighed. "You know, it's not like I have any feelings for Isane. It's just... I was hurting, and --"

"Yeah. I know. But still, it doesn't change what happened. I hope you know now that there's no chance of you and her getting back together. That's all out the window."

Miroku nodded. "I know. That's why I let myself give in to Isane last night. I realized it was really over... What other choice did I have?"

Grabbing a third apple and standing up, Inuyasha said, "not many at this point. But hey, when you meet that special woman, you'll see that all this was worth it." He stopped when he saw the bewildered look splash across Miroku's face again. "What?"

"Wow Inuyasha, that was incredibly... unlike you."

His anger rising, he shot back, "Y'know, sometimes I can be insightful too! I do have a brain!" Then the hanyou turned and stomped off to his room.

Sliding the door open and peeking inside, he saw that Sango lay awake on the floor. She was lying on her back, face turned away from him and toward the window. The illumination of the golden sunlight colored her face a light tan hue, and her hair a chestnut brown. She looked completely at peace with herself; she was utterly beautiful.

Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to say anything, he could only watch as she seemed to be enjoying the solitude she was in, the quiet she was immersed in. What he didn't see was Miroku watching him from his spot on the floor, wondering why the hanyou had such a soft look in his eyes as he gazed upon the demon slayer.

It all seemed clear to him now; Inuyasha wanted Sango for himself. The bastard let his relationship with Sango deteriorate and moved in to take his spot. 'I'm not going to sit back and let this half-breed take my woman!' Miroku thought with anger. 'I'm going to make sure that he never gets her; she is mine and I will fight until I can't fight anymore!'



"You hungry?" Inuyasha asked, sliding the door shut behind him and sitting next to Sango on the floor.

Not bothering to sit up, she only turned her head to look at him. "Not really."

"Fine then," he said and bit into the apple. "Miroku's up if you want to talk to him."

Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "I have nothing to say to him. Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't about anything important."

"I see," she nodded, sitting up. Deciding she was hungry, she grabbed the apple from him and took a bite. "Y'know, I think that maybe we should head back to Kaede's. Shouldn't Kagome be back by now?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. He couldn't believe he forgot about Kagome. 'How is she going to handle you and Sango getting together?' his mind screamed at him. Maybe he should ask Sango what she thought.

"Maybe we should wait another day," he suggested, looking away.

"Why?" she asked, placing her hand on his cheek and gently moved his gaze to her. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well... how do you think Kagome's going to take the news?"

The look on her face wasn't readable. Clearly, she hadn't thought of Kagome's reaction either. "... well, either way she's not going to like it. But prolonging the inevitable isn't the solution. Eventually, she has to find out."

Sighing, Inuyasha stood. She was right. There's no way they could hide their secret forever. Actually, it wasn't even intended to be a secret. They were going to tell Kagome... err, Sango was going to tell Kagome. If he did, the miko would 'Sit' him into oblivion. He never was good at wording things nicely.

Standing up also, Sango raised her arms above her head and stretched. "Let's get this over with."

"Right."



"Is everyone ready?" Sango asked, strapping on her Hiraikotsu. "Just so everybody knows, we are going back to Kaede's to get Kagome. Okay?" No objections. Preparing to mount the transformed Kirara, Sango turned and was surprised to see a kneeling Inuyasha before her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Get on," he said simply.

"I can ride Kirara," she told him, a little confused.

"But I want to carry you," he replied just as simply as his first answer. After that, he said nothing as he patiently waited for her to climb onto his back. "Now, was that so hard?"

As they carried on in their irrelevant conversation, neither of them noticed a fuming Miroku. He wanted to whack Inuyasha over the head with his staff, but he held himself in check. He decided to voice his displeasure once they were out of the town. Climbing onto Kirara, he readied himself to leave. He hoped Isane didn't come looking for him; saying good-bye to her was hard enough. Besides, he had too many things to think about other than Isane. Most importantly, getting Sango back.

He waited until they were in at a steady pace heading back to Kaede's before he said anything. Before long, he decided it was time, or rather, Sango did. "We need to take a break, I drank some water this morning, and...."

"All right," Inuyasha nodded, slowed to a stop, and let her legs go. Kirara followed suit, and bent down to let Miroku off. They watched her walk off to find some privacy, and Miroku realized it was time to have a talk with his enemy.

"So, I see that you are carrying Sango now," he started, glaring daggers at him, voice hostile. "Since when do you carry her?"

"Since today," Inuyasha answered, sitting on the ground and folding his hands into his haori sleeves. "Why does it matter?"

"It's just that I've noticed that you and Sango have gotten closer. What's going on?" he demanded.

Taking his time to really look at the monk, Inuyasha began to think something was wrong and he was being challenged. Standing, he looked Miroku straight in the eye. "I don't have to tell you anything. If you have something to say, then say it."

Squaring up and holding his staff in a defensive position, Miroku answered, "I think that you helped break me and Sango up so you can have her for yourself. But let me tell you, I will not let that happen. If I have to, I'll take you down, because I refuse to live without her!"

Coming back from her private time, the woman in question chanced upon seeing Miroku preparing to hit Inuyasha. She was thoroughly confused. "What is going on here?"

"I'm going to fight for you Sango," Miroku said to her, never taking his eyes off Inuyasha. "He broke us up so he could have you for himself! So if killing him is what I have to do to win you back, I will!"

Stunned into silence, she didn't know what to say. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and finally her voice willed her to speak. "I'm not sure if you want --"

But her statement was lost upon Miroku as he swung his staff at Inuyasha's head in a fit of rage. Dodging his attack, the hanyou didn't know whether to hit him or let him tire himself out. He looked to Sango as if asking what he should do, and she only shrugged at him.

"You won't get what's mine!" the crazed monk shouted as he went for Inuyasha again, intent to kill. He missed again, but he kept coming. Finally, he dug his staff into the ground as he had to stop to catch his breath. He hadn't hit Inuyasha at all, and he was getting frustrated. "Why... can't I.... do anything right?" he panted, and dropped to his knees. Burying his face into his hands, silent tears streamed through his fingers.

Inuyasha backed away from him to give him some space, but saw Sango walk and kneel next to her former love. In the softest voice he'd ever heard, she spoke.

"Miroku, you can't continue to carry on like this. I know you are in pain because things didn't work out between us, but you have to move on. Inuyasha didn't break us up; time did. We couldn't continue to live like we were, neither of us would've benefited. Neither of us were happy."

"But... I love you Sango," he muttered into his hands.

"I love you too, but not as I once did. I hope that we can always be friends, I care about you too much to be anything less."

His tear-stained face looked into hers with a longing that he knew he'd never obtain again. "You love him now, don't you?"

"Yes, more than I've ever known," she said, looking back and smiling at Inuyasha. Turning back to Miroku, she continued, "and I know that you'll find someone you love even more than you loved me. Don't lose hope." Finally, she stood, and walked over to Inuyasha. "Let's go. We should give him a moment alone. He'll catch up with Kirara later."

Nodding, he knelt again as she climbed on. Hooking his arms around her legs, he took off. Once they were back in stride, he asked, "did you mean all of that?"

"All of what?"

"What you said back there."

"Of course I did. Why would I lie?"

"Just making sure."

He continued to run in silence as he felt her lay her head onto his shoulder. 'This is great. But I hated to see Miroku like that. He was completely hysterical! I really hope he finds somebody. Because if he comes at me with that staff again...'

"Do you think he'll be okay?" he heard her ask, her warm breath tickling his ear.

"He'll be fine," he assured her. While he sounded confident, he wasn't. But he didn't expect Miroku to wallow in his sorrow forever.

A soft kiss on the tip of his ear made him jump in mid-air. "Thank you."


AN: Well, hello there. Glad to see you on the other side. Review if you can, and I'll be back with Chapter Eight soon!