InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Where Silence Meant Everything ❯ Shards ( Chapter 4 )

Kagome was struggling to breathe from a heavy weight that was bearing down on her chest. She wrinkled her nose as something tickled her nose.

She sighed contently and peeked open her eyes. Inu-Yasha, she found, had been the bearing weight, and the tickling sensation was being caused by his hair blowing softly in the warm breeze.

Her smile was small, but definitely not strained as it had been the last couple of weeks. Slowly, she untangled her hand from his silvery locks glowing in the faint sunshine of the first rays of morning.

`An Angel. Kikyou's angel…'

She didn't care though, not now… She simply rubbed his ear, content to be like this right now. Last night may have been a mistake for him… but for her…

Kagome had known it would be hard after the jewel shards had all been collected. The well was bound to be closed after the jewel was dispelled.

…Which was exactly why Kagome had not fused the last shard with the rest of the trinket. It hurt her to think of a world without Mama and Souta, but it was, perhaps, harder to imagine Inu-Yasha not with her or at her side.

She sighed again. If only this was how it could be always… He and her entwined, covered in each other's sweat and love…

“It'll get better Kagome…”

`So it did, Sango-chan… So it did…'

A small lazy smile crossed over her face.


~*~


Miroku awoke to Sango shifting beside him. He had never had her this close to him before and his eyes widened to see her curled up, her eyes a bit pink around the edges. Her face was scrunched up in sleep, and he reached out a hand to smooth the lines.

He smiled despite himself. `Sango…'

The sweet smell that was uniquely hers reached his nose and he couldn't help his face from burying in her chocolate coloured hair. He heard her sigh and breathed deep.

“Sango… We made that promise back then… do you remember?”

“Of course…” Her head dropped. “Kazanna… it's gone now?”

His gaze shifted to his hand, prayer beads catching a harshly bright ray of sun and casting it to his face. He smiled. “Yes, Sango.”

As if a thought suddenly occurred to him, he bent himself onto one knee and gathered her hands in his larger ones.

“D-Don't you dare, Houshi-sama!” She tried pulling away, but he stopped her gently.

“Bear my children. Our children… Sango…”


Her look then had been worth all the years spent hunting down the Shikon no Tama and defeating Naraku.

But since then, Sango had been staying away at the hot springs much longer than usual with Kagome and had seemed rather silent. To Miroku, it seemed as if Sango was trying hard to help her best friend the best way she knew how- by staying silent but beside her friend.

`Kagome had looked so frail then… Sango was just worried…'

Sango had stopped eating a little over three days ago; stating that maybe it would convince Kagome to start eating. He knew that Kagome could not stand to watch her friends suffer, and Sango had figured that the flaw would work to her advantage.


“Houshi-sama, you don't understand!”

Miroku whipped around to face the exterminator. “You're right, I don't! I don't get why you would starve yourself, just so you can prove a point!”

She apparently seemed genuinely surprised. Sure, she'd lost her temper with him before, smashing his head with Hirakotsu, but he had never yelled at her before. He'd always been the placid Monk. “I-If Kagome sees me… If she sees how I see her…” She swallowed hard. “Maybe she'll eat again… maybe she'll try harder…”

He groaned in pure frustration and stomped his way toward her. Stopping only an inch from her face, he snaked his arms around her, engulfing her whole body with his own. “Just for the record, I still think it's stupid.”

Sango blushed. “You'd do it for Inu-Yasha, ne?”

His cheeks pinked a tinge. “I would not do something so-”

“Right, and my name is Sesshoumaru.”

“Well he does kind of look like a woman when he turns his head just so an he-”

“Die.”


Miroku let himself fall in and out of a blissful state of rest.


~*~


Inu-Yasha could feel every curve of her under him, he whined.

Her hand was moving in slow, lazy circles over his ear and he had to wonder if she knew he was awake. Assuring his face was pressed firmly to the skin of her chest he let a small smile filter to his features. It was a lopsided grin at best, but he could not deny the absolute sensation of Kagome lying under him.

“Morning…” Her voice was tentative, but he caught the small smile that always laced her voice when she was content. He lifted his face from her chest, making sure his features had been set back to vague indifference before allowing her a small nod.

He knew that she understood. He buried his nose at her neck. “You… Sakura and… and you...”

He could feel her, struggling to shift his weight. He leaned up to alleviate her some, but there was no loss of their contact, just a small shift in his leg. That seemed to be enough for her though. He was lapping at her neck with his tongue, and she was moving slowly against him.

“It… That was the most beautiful mistake… That I have ever made…” Her voice was small, but soothing.

`Mistake… Does she… It was a mistake…?'

He stopped suddenly and slid off of her. She made a noise to show her displeasure in him. Not for the first time, he looked at her body as it was now.

She was so… thin. She was just a wan creature… so mystical in the morning light, her snowy skin glowing.

His gaze stopped at her face again and he saw that long look of pain again. That was the same look…

“I'll stay with you… Even if you still love Kikyou, I promise I'll stay with you.”

She'd taken his hand then, and they had been back to normal after that. He suddenly realized that was going to be no `normal' anymore. “Mistake?” His voice was low, husky.

“I-I knew you wanted Kikyou…” She sat up, her tiny frame shivering in the cool air. She wouldn't look him in the eyes as she struggled to dress herself still sitting. “I'm kind of selfish for it… I know that…” She sighed again.

Inu-Yasha was speechless. He'd pulled on his Hakama by now, but couldn't even think long enough to tie it. “Selfish?”

“I-We…” She trailed off, leaving an eerie silence between the two. She was the first to break the silence, though. “I needed it, Inu-Yasha… I'll go home today… and you'll never have to look at me again… You'll never have to think of your…” She stopped herself, but he knew what she was going to say.

“I'm okay with being just your `Shard Detector.'”

He suddenly pulled together the knot on his hakama and grabbed her shoulders almost violently. He didn't want her to go through the well, didn't want to forget about her. He knew that the desperation wasn't kept out of his voice. “Kagome. Kagome, it wasn't a mistake! I meant it to be you!” His eyes trailed down passed her face and rested again on the Shikon no Tama. It was slightly glowing… and he…

He could smell the tears behind her eyes before the hot liquid spilled over her cheeks. “No! No, I was supposed to be your Kikyou… just for the night I could stand it, I could! You can't keep me…” He jerked her forward, and her head snapped up to meet his. Her eyes grew. “No!”


Inu-Yasha let her go. He couldn't see her so adamantly refuse him like she was. She dressed hastily. Her frail form was shaking, but she turned around and was able to walk away with just as much grace as she'd always had. “K-Kagome…” His voice was weak and subdued.

She paused for just a second, but refused to allow her face to turn away from the ground. She wasn't going home, and he knew it. There was something she wasn't telling him, he could almost feel it.

When he didn't speak, she continued on back to Kaede's village running for good measure.


~*~




Original AN- I really enjoy writing Miroku, I'm not exactly sure why, but I always had a strong attraction to writing his character. He seems like the kind of guy that just puts on a mask to hide of pain that he really feels. It was easy to see why Takahashi would create these people the way she does!

InuGrrrl- I just wanted to let you know, you are the best.

Disclaimer- I don't own Inu-Yasha. I'm simply borrowing it until I can finish this fiction! Thank you Takahashi!!! *Kisses*


Original Post Date: November 30, 2005
Revised: February 26, 2008