Daddy Dearest – Part Thirteen: Truth

Xandra: An update, OMG. Be happy! And thanks to everybody who reviewed and so patiently waited while demanding I update! (And thanks to Karen, who supplied my 300th review! THANK YUUU!)

****

The mangled group, led by Sango and Kagome, headed onward to the nearest village in search of medical help, a temple and a place to stay for the night. All who were conscious were in sad spirits. They had lost the Shikon jewel fragment, Mikiro had lost his necklace and now bore an active air-rip in his palm, Miroku had nearly killed himself to save his son and had spent most of his energy in the process and now they were helpless again. Naraku had really fixed them this time, sending Sakura to trick and use them that way.

"We're doomed, aren't we?" Shippo whispered from Kagome's shoulder.

She sighed, lowering her head to look at the sleeping fire-neko in her arms. "It sure looks that way...but...we can't give up hope just yet. There are still shards out there, and as long as we have a few, that's a few that Naraku DOESN'T have. He'll have to come after us, then, and maybe by then we'll be able to get him."

An indignant snort drew her eyes to Inuyasha, who was carrying Miroku on his back. Sango held Mikiro adjacent to his father, walking alongside him so the rosary would stay on both their wrists. "Feh. Naraku. You think we can beat him like THIS? Come ON, Kagome, be serious. We've got a toddler and a sick monk, a demon exterminator, a midget kitsune, me and YOU. What kind of taskforce are WE supposed to be? We've NEVER been able to beat him, even at our best. It's as good as lost, now."

She scowled. "I can't believe you'd say that."

"Well believe it, because I did."

Sango sighed. "Inuyasha, if you're going to be negative, you can be quiet too. We don't need you adding to this."

He glared at her, bitterly. "I'm not the one who went and slept with a princess to get us saddled with a kid," he spat, harshly. "That was Mr. Genius here."

A thick silence set in around them as they continued down the beaten dirt path, half their band being carried by the other half. This could NOT get any worse.

~

Kiori blinked as she peered from her hiding spot at the great lord she had been seeking these last few days. It felt like so much longer since she had left her dear child in the arms of the bastard she had allowed to trick her, but it would all be over soon.

As for the lord, he was as she remembered him to be--young and beautiful, with long, snowy hair and golden eyes, almost like the boy Inuyasha, but with more grace and no cute puppy ears. However, he was now in the company of two new creatures, ones she had not seen upon their last meeting, a small human girl and an even smaller frog-like toad-demon. The child was adorable, but the little green thing looked ready to be smote with her walking stick, like a walking bug with a beak. How sickening!

//I wonder if Miroku would look that way if internal beauty was external,// she thought, wryly. She shook the silly thought away and focused on the beautiful youkai lord and his band.

"But Sesshomaru-sama..." the girl whined. She sat on a fallen log, rubbing her little socked feet, her sandals discarded on the ground a few feet away, pouting cutely. "My feet hurt, can we rest more, please?"

"Don't argue!" the toad-thing shouted, pointing its head-covered staff at her. She stuck her tongue out at it in response and it scowled. "You little brat--"

The familiar, drawling voice she recalled from her childhood drew her eyes to the lord himself. "Rin, we must continue walking. I will summon a beast to carry you soon, but for now, you can deal with Jaken."

"ME?"

"You will carry her."

The toad-thing scowled, but Sesshomaru turned his handsome profile down to stare, penetratingly, at it and it quickly scooped the little girl up without argument, grabbing her little shoes with the tip of its staff.

"Yay! No more walking!" the child called Rin cheered, giving the ugly youkai's robe collar a good tug. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama!"

For a moment, Kiori almost thought she'd seen him smile, but no, that wasn't possible, so she shook it off. (It was a handsome thought, though!) She moved to intercede before they could depart, but a shadow cast itself over her and she froze, grabbing her walking stick up and whipping around to strike at what had come up behind her.

A wolf with a dark coat dodged the blow, ducking and bounding out of range, but it wasn't alone. There were others in the dead brush and creepers not too far from the rocky cliff she stood against, peering at her with narrowed eyes. She was well outnumbered.

//Damn it, the moment I get close enough to ask him the favor he owes me, something ELSE comes up to become a nuisance. That, added to the fact that I can't STAND mongrel dogs only makes my day worse!// With nowhere to run, Kiori stretched the hard wooden pole out in front of her, glaring menacingly at them. "Stay back, beasts, or feel the wrath of a HIGHLY annoyed woman! I warn you, this is not the best day to become a bother!"

The first one quailed a little, but the others slunk from their hiding places to offer a warning of their own wrath in the form of dark growls. They were youkai wolves, no doubt--no other dog smelled as bad--and if she hated anything more than normal mongrels, it was demon ones. Domestic dogs were fine (which was why she'd liked Inuyasha despite all his 'charm', or lack thereof), but wolves were disgusting, not to mention stupid. That last one would work in her favor.

She glanced back a moment around the corner, recognizing with a heavy, annoyed sigh that Sesshomaru, his child--scary thought, that man having a child--and frog/bug servant had continued on their way, whichever way that was. She would have to continue playing catch-up. It was like someone was TRYING to keep her from getting to him! With an aggravated growl, she leered at the wolves, and one of them actually blinked at her in apparent surprise. A few others exchanged glances. "Now you've cost me my most recent chance to end my journey by presenting your dirty hides as obstacles in my path! I'll have a wolf-skin GOWN for this!"

Several of them were flat out cowed, as if they understood her--which wouldn't be all that remarkable, actually; even the stupid could comprehend a threat. They backed off, but the mass of them, a good ten or so, continued to slink closer.

Kiori was far from afraid. The first came at her and she brained it with her staff, flattening it into the ground with a frightened scream, so a few others split off to either side of her in hopes of pinning her down. Certainly, in many a man's eyes, she was an ugly, bitter old bitch, but she was still female and she still had some softened flesh on her from her more innocent days. Like most men, these things looked for weakness, beauty and vulnerability--she had none, but apparently they could see she had at one time had all three. "Come on, then!" she barked. "Come and make a meal of me--I dare you!"

****

...A lot of wolves were very unhappy that day.

Kiori headed off in the direction she had been going before in hopes of catching up to Sesshomaru--again. //Whoever thinks it's funny to delay me is in serious need of a good ass-whipping.// She tossed her limp, lusterless hair back, shouldered her walking stick and continued on. //I sense some crooked presence at work here, and if I must I will find it and set it straight. Nothing will keep me from attaining my rank once more and ensuring my son his own. Nothing and no one.//

~

"There, now, that should do it."

Mikiro peered at the black rosary entwining his wrist and blinked, then looked at Inuyasha, who smiled at the sweetly curious look on his little face. "This will keep the hole from pulling things in, won't it?"

He nodded and patted the boy's head. "Yep, I guess so."

The old priestess smiled benevolently as she dipped the cloth in the bowl once again and rung it out, then placed it on Miroku's forehead. "Your friend should recover soon--too much activity, I would assume, and too many injuries. Small as they are, he has been hurt several times recently, and it has drained him, fighting off the pain and weakness of impairment while drudging through such toils. He's running a high fever from exhaustion, but it will pass as long as he is allowed to rest. He just needs time to recover, that's all. A day, maybe two."

The hanyou peered at the unconscious monk as she left. Miroku really did look sick--he was pale, and cold sweat had broken out everywhere that was visible. //God, we're all really stupid,// Inuyasha thought, bitterly. //He's been through a lot since Kiori left Mikiro with us; he's fought, he's been hurt--hell, he nearly DROWN just a few days ago and yet he's still functioning like nothing's wrong. He's either the craziest or the bravest man in existence.//

"Inu-san?"

He looked at Mikiro, who was peering with him at his father, then frowned as the sad blue eyes were turned up to him. The kid looked forlorn again-- he'd just stopped looking so pitiful and now he was doing it again. "What is it?" he prompted, gently.

"Is he going to be all right?"

Inuyasha frowned and looked at Miroku. "Yeah," he said, uncertain of the truth in that one word. "Yeah, he'll be okay. You heard her, he just needs to rest."

Sighing, the little boy climbed into the dog-demon's lap, then cuddled against his chest. "I'm confused," he whined, softly. The older man looked at him, curiously. "Can you help me?"

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking a lot, and the more I think, the more confusing it gets. It makes me mad and scares me when I don't understand."

Frowning, the hanyou quickly got comfortable in his position, peering down at the little boy in his lap. Somehow, he had known something was wrong-- the question was, did Inuyasha have the right answers for him? "Go on," he said.

"It's about him."

//Why am I not surprised.//

Mikiro looked across the space between Inuyasha's position and Miroku's bed, and the look on his face made it seem as if he were staring out over the ocean...as if the distance between them couldn't be greater. "I don't know what to think, Inu-san. I was told he was my father by my Mommy, but until a little while ago, I thought that meant that he wasn't supposed to care about me. I thought a father was someone that made a child, but a Daddy was someone who loved that child--that's what Mommy said. She said Miroku wasn't my Daddy, just my father. But then he saved me all those times...he fought the mouth-demon the night there was no moon in the sky and he cut open his hands," he pointed to Miroku's left hand, which sat on top of the blankets, the fingers wrapped in gauze. Inuyasha could remember seeing him getting his hands treated at the kind lord's manor, but he'd never really known why, he'd been so caught up in battle that night. "And when the snake monster came and blew us into the air, he caught me and cut his back on the ground. At that nice lord's house, when you were human and he was hurt, he went outside to stop the bad things, and when I got us in trouble, he tried to protect me without thinking that he could get hurt. He keeps getting hurt and saving me and it confuses me. I mean, a father isn't supposed to care about their child, but he seems to sometimes, and other times I can't tell. I talked to Kouga after we left the lord's house and he and Miss Ayame explained a little bit about the difference between Daddies and fathers, but it only confused me more. I don't understand."

Inuyasha sat in silence for a long moment, contemplating this. Normally, any mention of the rock-headed wolf would have sent him into a fit, but the reference had earned the least of his attention. He had more important things to think about than his stupid nemesis. [1] //This boy is definitely no normal kid,// he thought, wryly. //How could any child of any age fathom something like this? I was a kid once, and all I knew was what people told me and what I saw--but he draws conclusions and has actual intelligent thoughts about them. No wonder he's so confused. Anybody would be confused when faced with something like that.// He looked down at Mikiro, who was still staring distantly at his sleeping father. "I really don't know what to say," he said, finally. It was the most honest thing he could tell him.

The boy sighed and slumped back against his chest. "Could you tell me something else, then?"

"I can try!"

"Why are his eyes bad sometimes?"

That made him pause again. He'd heard Shippo telling Sango something like that. Mikiro saying he was afraid of Miroku because his eyes were bad. //Bad eyes...// He thought on it a bit, then shook his head. "I have no idea."

He sighed again. "All right..."

Inuyasha frowned. //Yeah, I'm a lot of good, aren't I--*I* can't even understand all that's going through his mind. Poor kid, I wish I could help, at least a little bit.// Sighing, he ruffled Mikiro's hair and gave him a soft hug. "I'm not sure about the whole 'bad eyes' thing, but as for Miroku...I think he cares about you."

"What makes you think that?"

He smirked, wryly. "I don't think it, I know it."

The boy blinked. "How do you KNOW it, then?"

"He's a good guy, but when it comes to doing things for people, he's proven himself to be a little selfish. He wouldn't save you over and over again if he didn't care. He jumped over a cliff for you, kid. I think he really does care." Some of that was a lie--Miroku would save anyone in trouble, but it was doubtful he'd leap over a cliff to do it if he didn't give a damn. He knew for a fact the monk cared, but he had to have some kind of evidence for the kid, even if it was a little made up.

Mikiro was quiet for a long moment, but the silence wasn't eerie this time. It was calm. The boy finally smiled up at him, shyly. "Thank you, Inu-san."

He smiled back. //Maybe I'm not so dumb after all.//

~

Sango watched quietly as the children of the small village played a game together out in the road, kicking an oblong ball around and tackling each other for no apparent reason. Most of them were little boys, but a few girls were playing too. They would mostly run, though, and it started little giggling fits and bouts of complaints alike, all in good fun. //Children are such lucky creatures...// she thought. //So innocent and carefree...//

The kind old inn-keeper they had stayed with not too long ago returned to her mind. /'The innocence of a child is so precious...'/ What true words.

As she watched the young boys and girls play, two people came to mind; Mikiro and Kohaku. She wasn't quite sure which made her more depressed, now that she'd begun accept the loss of her little brother and learned to love Miroku's son. Kohaku was all but gone now, and his having spent most of his life in training to become a youkai hunter, he hadn't really had much of a childhood. As for little Mikiro, he was still very young and already he was trying to survive in the adult's world. It was very sad to her, the fact that he should be one of those little boys out there, squealing and rough- housing and having a good time, instead of sitting inside this little temple, watching his father suffer because he was a foolish man.

There was yet another problem that plagued her. Miroku's actions. She loved the little boy that had come of his and Kiori's meeting, but the fact that he existed was a tainted blessing. Because of the lecher, a child had been brought into this miserable world and a woman's life had been destroyed, and even now he himself seemed to play the victim. He was such a fool! First he'd ignored the child completely, then fallen into denial, then become paranoid, then guilty, then suicidal, and then he had started playing the fickle hero. It made her sick sometimes, watching how easily he rushed to the boy's rescue, but when he needed him just to be his father for him, how he hid like a scared child from a monster. It made her angry and sad, and it disgusted her, but she couldn't do anything about it. One of Miroku's past choices had finally caught up with him and he wasn't learning anything from it.

Though he hadn't paid much attention to women since the boy had been brought to him and the story told. Then again, that may have been thanks to his paranoia over the whole situation.

Sango lifted her head and sighed as she watched the white, cottony clouds roll high above. For now, it was clear, but there was a thunderhead in the distance, which no doubt would mean a storm was on the way.

A bad omen, considering their situation.

//I can't believe I never thought this would happen,// she thought, tiredly, lowering her head to peer at her feet. //I guess I was blinded by all I wanted to believe about him--I never considered that he could have been with a woman and conceived by her. But he has.// Slowly, her eyes slid closed. //Who knows how many other times it's happened. I wouldn't be surprised if Mikiro had brothers and sisters somewhere out there...suffering, because a young monk decided to use his charms to bed a foolish little girl.// Her anger and depression intensified as she felt the tears begin to build, but she refused to cry. She wasn't the hurt one here, Mikiro was. And Kiori. And the gods knew who else.

But not her. She had no right to be jealous, or angry...

...Or heartbroken...

Despairingly, Sango buried her face in her hands. //Sometimes I rue the day I became part of this.//

"Mew?"

She parted her hands and offered a soft smile as Kirara peered up at her, her wounds dressed and already up and willing to be a support. The neko hopped into her lap and gave her hand a nudge with her little nose. "Well," she sighed as the fire-cat got comfy and settled on her thigh for a nap, "No use moping. It doesn't help anything. I just wish I could understand him sometimes...that I knew what was going on in his head."

"Sango!"

She jumped as Shippo suddenly flew from within the temple and landed on her shoulder, drawing her eyes. He looked panicked. "What is it?" she asked, quickly, seeing the terror in his big green eyes. "What's the matter?"

"It's Miroku! You have to come quick--hurry!"

****

"He just up and started screaming!" Inuyasha hissed, tensely. "The priestess says he's delirious from the fever he's running, but he's not sweating it off the way he should be and his temperature is messing with his mind. I'm glad Kagome took Mikiro before he started in--something like that might have scarred the poor kid."

She peeked through the gap in the rice screen at the battle the temple mikos were fighting against Miroku, who was shouting and fighting despite his half-bound state. He was tangled in the sheets of his bedding and raving like a madman while the old priestess prayed over him. The younger ones tried to restrain him, but monk or not, he was about as robust as a young man his age could be. The battle between the girls and the injured monk primarily weighed in his favor.

"The first intelligible thing he shrieked was your name."

She looked at the hanyou, who stared back at her with tired but set determination. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to have to go in there?" she asked, wryly.

"I dunno, because you are gonna have to go in there. Like now. In with you." He threw a thumb at the door. "The old woman says the human mind is most open when the victim suffers from delirium, meaning that you're a big part of what he's thinking about. Therefore, you're obligated."

Sighing heavily, she squared her shoulders and pulled the door open, then padded in as quickly as she dared, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it made her to hear his raving. She couldn't understand a word of it--like he was speaking other languages, which was probable, considering his intelligence--but the very sound of his voice raised to an unnatural panic was unnerving.

One of the maidens looked at her. "Miss, you shouldn't be--!"

"Nay, it's all right," the old priestess said, shortly. "He calls for her."

"Oh..."

She didn't like the way that girl's voice dripped with awe, but she ignored it and hardened her heart to the pitiful and disturbing sight, approaching and kneeling down next to the bed. He continued to shout and fight, eyes closed tight, but she quickly put a stop to it the only way she could think to. She slapped him.

The mikos fell back as he stopped, the action sending them skidding across and tumbling to the floor in heaps. Slowly, he turned his vague eyes to her and she had to keep from wincing at the queer haze in them. An eerie smile crossed his face. "San...go..." he whispered, tiredly.

She glanced sidelong at the head priestess, who nodded gently, then carefully reached out and brushed his sweat-dampened hair from his face. It took all she had to keep from wincing at the bizarreness in his eyes. "Yes, it's me. Just relax, all right?"

"But how can I relax when you're going to die?"

Surprised, she jumped. The other girls squeaked in shock. "W-what?" she stammered. The exclamation may have been unreasonable, but it was disturbing nonetheless.

He grinned, strangely, then turned it on the mikos and priestess. "Get out," he growled through his clenched teeth. It was an odd combination, the dangerously large grin on his face and the tone of dark warning in his voice. "Now."

The girls quickly scampered out, but the old priestess didn't move.

Miroku's eye twitched.

Sango quickly decided that he was too unstable to be left to his own designs. Having had so much experience with hardship and disease from her life as a demon hunter, she had learned a few things about instability of the mind and how to handle it. He was disoriented and frustrated, and with power like his, that was deadly--like a rogue youkai, he had to be made to focus on someone that could handle him. She steeled herself and took his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Miroku, what's my name?" she asked, more as a ways to draw his attention than to hear his answer.

His eyes fell out of focus--she watched his irises expand with dull surprise--then he blinked slowly. "San...go," he answered, finally. Then, he chuckled and touched her hand with his left one; the right had been weighed down, tied to a heavy, padded block, so it would have time to heal without his using it...or making a weapon of it. "You shouldn't be near me, you'll die that way."

"I'm not going to die, Miroku," she said, gently fingering his jawline. The action made his smile all the more peculiar. "I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"Doesn't matter. You'll die. They always die."

This drew her interest. If he was truthful now... "Who?" she prompted.

"People. All of them. People always die."

"That's the natural order--everyone dies."

"Ha! Natural order...natural. I'm not natural. Because of me, people die. My mother, my father, my childhood friends, the youkai who face us..." He trailed off, that odd smile tired as he stared at her. His eyes drifted away from her and to the ceiling. "...and someday you will die too. And Mikiro. I'm sure by then Inuyasha will be dead, and Shippo too. Maybe even Kirara. Hopefully Kagome will go home before then, but she'll still die. And it will be my fault. Of course, EVERYTHING'S *MY* fault." His eyebrows knit and the smile twisted into an angry snarl. "Everyone dies, and it's my fault. I'll kill everyone."

Sango stared, almost hating the words she heard. Did he really feel this way? "Miroku, you curse is controlled, and once we destroy Naraku--"

"HE doesn't matter, everyone I love dies. Everyone. Always, they die--they leave to get away from me. The gods make them die because I'm a poison. That's why the gods have fated me to die first, before others have to suffer for me. You can't save me, I have to die--to save you." His eyes darted to her and he suddenly caught her wrist in an almost painful grip, surprising her as he stared with wide, almost childlike eyes burning with confusion and fear. "Sango..."

"What?" The things he was saying were insane, but something in her wanted to hear them, to know what he really felt. His feelings were always so distant--he hid them. He couldn't hide them now, and she wanted to know, no matter how it hurt. "What is it?"

"Hate me."

"WHAT?"

"You have to hate me so you can live. Mikiro too--I can't save him from his fear, I can't, and he has to hate me so he'll live. YOU have to live. Everyone that loves me dies." His eyes flickered with something frightening. "...I want you to die."

Her heart stopped as her sharp mind instantly snapped to his direct meaning in that, not the words themselves. "You...want me to...?"

"I want you to die, but to live. I can't have both. People die because they love me, but you should be able to live. I'm selfish, I want you to die! That's why *I* have to die!"

"Miroku..."

"Sango, don't die for me. Don't listen to me. Don't care about me, HATE me!" His eyes went wild and the priestess suddenly looked nervous. His grip on Sango's wrist tightened further and she winced in pain. He was losing control again.

The rice-paper screen was pulled back and one of the mikos returned, looking agitated. "Aija-sama, he comes!"

"Praise the gods," the old priestess sighed.

Sango looked at Miroku, who was now focused on the maiden, like a starved tiger searching for new prey. //He...?// she wondered. She brushed it off and quickly began fighting for her wrist, which took his attention once again into a safer arena--where the prey had an actual CHANCE.

The miko stepped away from the door, suddenly, as a figure all in white approached from the opposite direction. He appeared, and the young huntress marveled at him. He looked so very foreign that it was astounding, as if he were made from light itself--pale golden hair and soft brown eyes, draped in an elegant white kimono that made him look angelic. The passion and feeling in his eyes was stunning--and he was scarcely older than the monk and exterminator in the room. Twenty-five at the most. He paused in the doorway, bowing to the temple maiden, who dropped to her knees in trembling reverence. He entered, then, and knelt down next to Sango, taking a moment to peer at her before taking her captive hand gently by the fingers and waving his own over Miroku's. He released her without pause.

"Soryo no shinsei Lu'Ráve, I thank you for coming," the old priestess said.

Sango stared. //Soryo no shinsei...?// she thought, amazed, //She summoned an exalted priest just for THIS? How ill IS he?//

The priest offered her a gentle smile and look of reassurance, then looked up at the priestess. "I apologize for my tardiness, there was trouble in Reja. I can sense that such happenings could have been disastrous, had this young woman not been present to soothe the pain of his soul."

She nodded. "My lady, this is Lu'Ráve-sama, the high priest of the temple in our neighboring village, Reja," the priestess explained. "He has come to help remedy what ails your friend. Lu'Ráve, this is Sango, a close friend of this man."

She blinked. "A-a pleasure..."

He smiled, briefly, then turned and looked down at Miroku, who was staring at him now. He lifted his hands, slowly, and placed them in the air above the monk's chest, then frowned. "I sense something is amiss here."

"I despise you," Miroku murmured, suddenly.

Lu'Ráve wasn't affected. "Rest, dear brother, your soul is weary, and weighed heavy with discord."

"The light in you used to be in me too."

Sango blinked. //The...light...// She brought a hand to her mouth in surprise. //Does he think himself unholy? I mean, certainly he isn't perfect, but--//

"The light within you is dim, but it is there," the priest said, then. He waved his hand gently over Miroku's eyes and they closed. "Rest and recover, houshi-sama. Be at peace, if only for now."

Before nodding off, Miroku managed one more comment; "Oh yeah, I hate you MORE now..." With that said, he fell asleep.

"You'd be advised to leave, Sango-san," Lu'Ráve sighed, wearily. So much holy power and influence no doubt weighed his soul down greatly, and it showed. "He is very much in pain, of his spirit if not his physical form, and it will take time for me to determine just why. When I discover the cause, however, I would be obliged to inform you forthwith."

Unhappily, she nodded and stood, then bowed. "Thank you, Lu'Ráve-kun." He nodded in acceptance and she left, closing the door after her.

She frowned as she mulled it all over, allowing her mind to slowly decode Miroku's insane words. They seemed to make no sense upon first thought, but then the bits and pieces fell together into an obscure picture. Still, as she headed off down the corridor alone, her mind continued to concentrate on one thing he had said. The thing that had stricken her most greatly.

/'Everyone that loves me dies...I want you to die.'/

//He isn't lucid,// she reminded herself. //He has no idea what he's saying...he doesn't mean that at all, and even if he did, he wouldn't mean it in that way. He has no interest in me in that sense.//

As she passed the whispering mikos, who sat in a circle on the floor of another room, she heard their conversation stop upon her appearance. Omitting it and everything else in a desperate attempt to clear her mind, she ventured back outside.

**** ~

They remained at the temple into the night. Miroku didn't appear. As they all sat down with the mikos and their old high priestess for dinner, Inuyasha found he couldn't summon the hunger to eat. He was worried, and thoughtful, as he had been all day. Miroku was sick...sicker than anyone had thought...and Sango was very worried, despite how she denied it. Mikiro was scared--after all, in the mind of a child, if an adult could be reduced to helplessness, what help was there for him?--and Kagome and Shippo were troubled as well. Even he himself worried for the monk, though he wouldn't admit it openly. How had he managed to get so sick?

Sango had told Kagome earlier in the day that the old priestess, Lady Aija, had summoned a young high priest to attend to him. That was a startling thought...that he was so ill he needed holy attentions to recover. He'd never been so sick before, not even when poisoned by Naraku's insects. It was unnatural.

No one in their company ate much at dinner--all were too disquieted by the thought that one of their number was so unwell and had managed to hide his illness, if he had known of it at all.

Inuyasha was thoughtful. What could have made him so unhealthy suddenly? Yeah, he'd been fighting hard a lot, and falling off a cliff was no doubt scary as hell, but Miroku had always been a vigorous fighter.

Maybe he'd finally worn himself out.

Or maybe it was the curse in his hand, warning him that his time was up.

The hanyou shook the thought off. It scared him too much to think that. It was funny, really...he could resent and fight with and hate Miroku as much as anyone else that didn't know him could, but in truth, he cared a great deal for him. He was his friend. //We've already gone through this, you stupid lecher,// he thought, darkly. //How many times are you going to try and die before you buckle down and grow up a little? Letting yourself get sick isn't gonna help us--being healthy will. Why do you keep doing this? Do you really want to die so badly?//

He glanced over at Sango and Kagome, who were sitting silently side-by- side, the former of the two beginning to resemble a mourning widow. Mikiro and Shippo were with them, the human child sitting in the huntress' lap and the kitsune being cradled by the ex-priestess like a doll in the arms of a little girl. Everyone was so affected by this...

Suddenly, the old priestess looked up from her silent meditation, and the temple maidens looked up with her, growing wide-eyed and awed like little girls. Kagome did similarly, but she was less restrained--her mouth fell open.

Curious and vexed because of it, Inuyasha himself looked up at the form that stood in the doorway, then blinked as his moody feelings suddenly died away, leaving surprise as he sensed the heaviness of power in the air upon laying eyes on the man there. Benevolent, wise and ultimately innocent, but far from weak because of it, the pale man seemed to glow as he stood there in the plain interior light, seriousness on his face, and his feet seemed to glide above the floor when he entered a few paces. //He doesn't smell like an ordinary human,// the hanyou observed, //but his scent isn't youkai either...weird...//

"Lu'Ráve-sama," the old woman said, reverently, giving a small nod. All the mikos lowered their heads in deep respect.

Inuyasha blinked as the man bowed, then glanced at Shippo, who perched on his shoulder. "Who's this guy?" he whispered.

The kitsune blinked at him. "You don't KNOW?"

"Would I ASK if I knew, you little twerp?"

"That's Lu'Ráve Naoru-Yushi, the great high priest!"

Inuyasha blinked. //So HE'S the priest...// "Never heard of him. He famous or something?"

"No DUH! He's like the holiest person in the WORLD!"

He looked at the man, then raised an eyebrow. "I don't see what's so special about him." He paused, once again noticing the glow of him, the sheer majesty he carried and the oddness of his natural scent. //Yeah, that was a TERRIBLY pitiful lie!//

Shippo scoffed. "If you can't catch it with all your demon senses, you're really stupid."

Growling irritatedly, he palmed the fox off his shoulder, then focused his attention on the priest, who approached and bowed to Sango. He blinked. //Huh?//

"My lady," he said in a soft, airy voice, "I would have a word with you, if you please."

"Yes, your holiness," she said, quickly standing. She bowed to the old priestess and sent a worried look to the rest of her band, then hurried after Lu'Ráve as he turned gracefully and swept out with a small nod to them all. In moments, they were gone.

Inuyasha felt his curiosity building. "Why is L--er...'his holiness' here?" he asked the temple matriarch.

"Your friend is very ill of both body and spirit," she said, quietly. The reluctance and pity in her voice was clear. "Lu'Ráve is adept in the art of his holy influence, and only with his help did we discover the malady of his soul. We may have taken his ailment as merely something like a cold, or exhaustion, when in fact it goes deeper. Only the priest himself, and perhaps your friend the monk, know the full extent of what has occurred, and what damage may have been sustained."

Mikiro gasped quietly, his little hands moving to cover his mouth in surprise. Kagome, who looked equally frightened by the words, snatched the boy from his seat and held him to her protectively. Shippo lowered his head, quietly.

Inuyasha was stunned, but he wasn't about to sit here and grieve for a man that was still alive. They didn't even know what was happening to him. //Aww, screw it! I gotta know!// I got up from the table.

"Inuyasha?" Shippo called. "Where are you going?"

"Nature calls, don't be nosy!" With that, he hurried into the hall and quickly paused to catch Sango's scent. It was easy enough to hone in on, and from there he followed it to a door, which led to the bonsai garden out behind the temple. Carefully, he slid the screen back ever so slightly, then knelt and peeked out.

Lu'Ráve was standing with Sango out in the garden, just far enough that any normal person wouldn't be able to make out what they were saying. Luckily for the dog demon, his hearing was much more acute than theirs was. It was easier to eavesdrop with such good hearing. He listened.

"Is he going to be all right?" the girl asked, faintly.

Lu'Ráve nodded. "By the morrow, he will be healthy once more. Aija-sama was indeed correct in assuming he was ill--he was; his body is weary and worn from travel and battle alike, injured and overstrained. However, it is his spirit and soul that are most troubled."

"What is it?"

The priest sighed and took a seat on a stone placed nearest the small trickling stream that twined through the garden, then gestured for her to do the same. She knelt before him, intently watching his every moment. "It seems," the man said, "that some great pain plagues him--guilt, doubt, or perhaps fear--and it weakens him day by day."

//Guilt...// Inuyasha swallowed, hard. //Could it be Mikiro...?//

"I have relieved the pain to the greatest extent of my abilities," he continued, "and he should be all right, but he is in very dire straits, so to speak. He has been ensorcelled recently, has he not?"

She nodded. "Yes. There was a small accident with a supposed sleep-aid--he was having trouble at night, so a friend was sent to bring him relief, but instead he brought something that wasn't quite what he asked for and Miroku took too much. He lost consciousness, and since then, he has been fainting without warning every once and again. He's been acting a little strangely as well." She paused, then. "Could that have distorted his mind?"

"Perhaps--his fever was merely the flint that started the inferno; it brought him to delirium, and from there it moved into almost sheer insanity. I believe a guilty conscience may have attributed to this. I will ask no questions of his honor, for it is not my place, but I would advise you to keep close watch upon him, and encourage him to overcome whatever fears and doubts he harbors inside, for they will destroy him with more haste than any malady. I am no expert, but I believe he needs you."

"He does?"

"More than you may ever know."

Inuyasha slowly moved away from the door, nudging it closed with his foot, then turned and headed off into the recesses of the temple. //How do I know this is going to end badly?// he wondered. //As if Miroku hasn't almost died enough times--but he always pulls through. Lu'Ráve said it himself that he'd be okay...so why do I feel like that's not true?//

He wandered along the halls for what felt like an endless amount of time, and before he knew it, he found himself kneeling at Miroku's bedside. The young monk looked awful, and something about him seemed older, more worn out than before. The hanyou could feel the heaviness in the air, not from power this time, but from grief. Some part of Miroku was suffering.

He sighed and shook his head. "Goddamn it, why are you suddenly the center of attention, huh?" he asked, quietly, more grief in his voice than the venom he'd meant it to have. He sighed. "You're impossible, y'know. Worse than me. Wha'd you to go and get sick for, anyway? Think it's funny when people worry about you, asshole? Yeah, that WOULD be you." The hanyou hardly knew why he was talking to the unconscious older man, but it somehow made him feel better, the thought of chewing him out without getting verbally bested or bopped with that staff.

Miroku stirred, then, and Inuyasha watched as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked, looking around ever so slightly, then brought his free hand to his forehead, weakly. "Ugh...where am I...?"

He didn't remember anything about his raving fit earlier. That was a positive thing. Who KNEW how he would react if he knew half the things he'd said to Sango.

What? He'd been yelling and Inuyasha had good hearing! Okay, so he was eavesdropping again. So?

"In a temple, on a floor, in a room, in the middle of the night," Inuyasha said, simply.

He blinked, then looked at him. His hazy eyes grew clearer. "...Yes. I remember now...vaguely." He turned his eyes to the pale-haired half-demon. "Inuyasha."

"Hmm?"

"I have to tell you something. You know, you are as close to a best friend as I have ever gotten. I trust you more than I've ever trusted any other."

He raised an eyebrow. //I already don't like this.//

"...Which is why I'm going to ask you to do something for me."

Curious, he kept his mouth closed, waiting as patiently as he could.

Slowly, Miroku closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked at him. "If anything happens to me, I want you to take care of Mikiro for me."

Inuyasha jumped, blinking. "Wha--?"

"In the event that I die, I want you to take care of him until you can get him back to his mother, and then I want you to kill Naraku--so he never has to. If I fail him, he will carry on my legacy and my curse until he reaches an age that he can fight." He closed his eyes again. "I don't want to risk letting him grow up as I did, fearing that every moment may be his last until he is so filled with useless hatred that he has no chance of overcoming it. Please, promise me you will."

"Oh, come off it, Miroku," the hanyou spat, forcing himself to sound annoyed despite how the words had affected him. "You're--you're not gonna die, don't say stuff like that. You're just sick, that's all. They said you're gonna be fine, so don't act like you're dying or anything."

Miroku winced at the term and Inuyasha tensed. "...Of course not, but just to be safe, I want to know you will do this for me. Humor me; give me your word."

He stared at him for a moment, and in that short amount of time, it occurred to him that the monk really thought he was going to die soon. That unnerved him. However, he decided that torturing his soul further would do more bad than good, if it did any good at all. "I promise, if anything happens to you--which nothing will--" he added, quickly, "I'll...I'll take care of Mikiro and get him back to Kiori, and either way I'm gonna kill Naraku. Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Standing, Inuyasha turned for the door, then paused and glanced back. "Go back to sleep, we have to leave tomorrow, and I want you healthy. I'm not carrying your heavy ass anymore."

Miroku offered a weak smile and nodded, then closed his eyes again and almost immediately dropped off to sleep.

The hanyou exited the room and closed the screen after him, then sighed and looked off down the empty hall, thoughtfully. //What makes him think he's dying?// he wondered. //Could being sick really hurt that much...or is it something else?//

The thought was unsettling. Quietly, he crept back down the hall.

//He can't be dying, not so soon...Mikiro still needs him.// He stopped and fisted his hands at his sides, slowly lowering his head. //We all do.//

****

To Be Continued

[1] "...rock-headed wolf..."

Inuyasha: Rock-headed. Yeah, I agree with that.

Xandra: Gomen nasai, Kouga! ^-^0

Kouga: *scowls* I missed the humor in that, Author-sama.

Inuyasha: I didn't. ^n____n^

Kouga: Don't start with me, dog shit.

Inuyasha: Oh you are SO dead. *jumps on him*

Kagome: Not AGAIN! I'll get the hose. *shuffles off*

Xandra: (((~_~))) Every time I have one of these, someone gets hurt. Well, at least it isn't me. *nods*

Miroku and Shippo: *nod*

Xandra: Yeah, long time no update, but nothing in comparison to the last non-updating interval. It took me a while to consider whether or not to have Kiori catch up to Sesshy-sama, but it seems she's still playing catch- up. Oh well. *shrugs*

Rin: I was in the chapter! Thank you, Sandra-sama!

Xandra: ^^, Dun mention it. *pats her head* I love her, she's so cute, and she makes Sesshomaru be cute too.

Sesshomaru: I am not now, nor will I ever BE, cute, human woman.

Kagome: *finishes hosing off the fighting canine demons, who are pouting in their respective corners* I beg to differ, man!

Female cast and select reviewers: HELL yeah! *waving pompoms in honor of Sesshy* *=^-^=*

Sesshomaru: Hn.

Xandra: *pats his shoulder* Wasabi, Sesshy-baby, wasabi.

Miroku: Do you even know what that means?

Xandra: Yes, but I don't care. It's fun to say. =P So there.

Miroku: Logically, you can't go changing the meanings of words and terms from other languages--

Xandra: Speaking of terms, does the term 'Kiori with a battle-ax and a hog- tied, dark-haired lecher in blue' hit any cords, my dearest monk?

Miroku: ...! *nods violently and zips his mouth shut* //o...o\\< *holds up sign, reading: POINT TAKEN! APOLOGIES!*

Xandra: Good boy. *pats his head* I love a man that knows how to grovel.

Miroku: //~...~\\<

Kagome: Random comment--Lu'Ráve is MEGA hot!

Sango: I agree. Too bad he's a priest and all.

Kagome: All the good ones are. The others just end up monks.

Miroku: *unzips his mouth* I am EGREGIOUSLY offended.

Xandra: Ha ha. Okay, okay, enough y'all. Review, people! Kouga, don't do it.

Kouga: *hides a pair of scissors behind his back and acts innocent* I wasn't doin' anything.

Inuyasha: Hey, were you trying to sneak up on me?

Kouga: Noooooo, why would I do that? Hey, what's that over there?

Inuyasha: Huh? *looks around*

Kouga: *moves to cut his hair*

Xandra: KOUGA! Gimme the scissors, NOW.

Kouga: Aww damn. *hands them over*

Inuyasha: What am I lookin' for anyway?

Kagome/Sango/Xandra/Miroku/Shippo: *group sweatdrop*

Xandra: So review already people. I updated. *nods* Now SHOO! The more reviews I get, the faster I write. So GET GOIN' AND HELP THE CAUSE! Until next time! (((^_~)))

(PS: If anybody was wondering--because I know I would be--Lu'Ráve is pronounced loo-RAH-vay and his last name, Naoru-Yushi, roughly translates into 'to heal' and 'hero'. Y'know, just as a random note. ^^)