Manipulated – Part Five:  Secret

Corisu Li: Eheheheh. Whoo... *laughs sheepishly* Yeah. Well, Aamalie basically yelled at me to get off my lazy bum and write, so I did... Plus, I want the new chapter to Splintered Coral!!! *pouts* Gimme, gimme, gimme! I updated, now pay up! ^_____^

Disclaimer: I don’t own Burger King. (Yes. Random, I know. But I don’t! ^^;;)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Miroku stirred, he became aware of two things. One, his skin was moist with dew from the grass that cushioned his head.

Two, he was nowhere near his companions.

This last realization was made without the use of his eyes. There was no crackle of a fire burning as Kagome prepared the morning meal, no squeals as Inuyasha chased Shippou around the camp. There was just the gentle swish of trees in the wind and the placid lapping of water.

‘Water?’

Finally, he opened his eyes. The sunlight seared into them, and he closed them again automatically. Deciding not to chance that action again, he focused on sitting up. His arms were slightly wobbly, as if he had strained them the night before, but he had only minimal difficulty in rising to a kneeling position. A rushing feeling filled his head immediately, and his consciousness swirled. His balance failed him, and he swayed and landed hard on his right arm.

Miroku was now beginning to feel frustrated... and slightly sick. His stomach pitched and tossed as he lay on his side, trying to compose himself for another attempt at rising. He lay there for quite a few minutes, breathing deeply and trying to calm his raging insides. As he rested, he became aware that his face felt tightened; the front of his body felt slick and wet.

Unable to bear the enigma any longer, he forced himself back to his knees in one movement. His stomach was really churning now, and he clamped his teeth against the bile that was rising. He opened his eyes once more. This time, his pupils dilated properly, and the world about him came gradually into focus. He almost wished that they hadn’t.

The ground where he had been lying was coated in blood; the front of his robes was in the same state. He wondered hazily where his purple kesa was, then he spotted it lying near the water. Dimly aware that he was at the same place where he had tried to spy on the girls before, he began to crawl toward it, not trusting his legs to support him. Many times, he almost slipped on the crimson-saturated ground.

The cloth was folded over a sizeable lump, and Miroku was suddenly struck with foreboding. ‘What’s going on here?’ He slowly reached out a hand and flipped back the top fold of his kesa, as if desperate to get the motion over with.

Lying in the center was a dead white rabbit. Its tongue was lolling out of its mouth and its eyes were bulging. Its throat was apparently slit; thick, matted blood stained the fur at its neck.

Beside it lay a long, slender knife.

This was too much for Miroku’s momentarily weak constitution. He turned his head away from the corpse and heaved. When he felt utterly empty, he moved from the place with disgust. But not before noting that his vomit was the color of freshly-shed blood.

Miroku began to shake. There was too much blood... too much to have come from this small rabbit! True, it was cut at the place that would yield the most blood, but... but...

As much as he wracked his brain, he couldn’t explain away the copious amounts of blood without figuring the rabbit into his considerations. Maybe it really had come from the animal...

A jolt of terror ran up his spine when he realized that he was guessing about the origin of the blood. ‘Why don’t I know? Why don’t I... remember?’ He tried valiantly, but his mind refused to conjure up memories of the past night. He clearly remembered falling asleep... and he remembered waking up beside the lake. There simply was nothing else for him to remember.

His face still felt tight. Almost absentmindedly, he raised his left hand to his cheek and rubbed lightly. A few dark flakes fell into his palm and he stared at them in disbelief. Dried blood? Why was there-

"What..." he tried out his voice, but it came as nothing but a barely audible croak. After a few more efforts at speech, he halted. His voice would be fine, in time... he hoped. He sat for a while, staring alternately at his hands and the blood-stained kesa.

Finally deciding that the worst thing that he could do would be to stay alone in the woods, Miroku pushed himself to his feet in stages. He swayed slightly once his legs took his entire weight, but he managed to stand. ‘Where’s my staff?’ he wondered vaguely, then forced a harsh chuckle from between his lips. He was worried about the wrong thing...

He reached down, as if to pull his kesa from under the rabbit’s body, but he paused, thinking. ‘I must bathe, first,’ he decided. ‘Inuyasha, Kirara, and Shippou will probably pick up on it anyway, but it’s worth a try...’

As he pulled away his robes, he realized again just how much blood there was. It had seeped through the layers of his robes to stain his chest a dusky red. Shaking his head slightly, he lowered himself into the water, then took to washing his clothing. First, he pulled his robes into the water and rubbed them vigorously between his hands. The black fabric would obscure any wayward stains, true, but he wanted them to be immaculate. When they were as clean as could be hoped, he spread his garments on top of a large rock near the lake to dry. After repeating the procedure with his kesa (ripping it from under the rabbit and the knife without looking at either), he tended to himself, moving deeper into the water and diving under, letting the water lift the stains from his skin.

When he was finally satisfied with his own level of cleanliness, he swam back to the bank. He was content to find that his clothes were nearly dry, thanks to the sun that cast a boiling heat over everything, even at this early hour of the morning.

Miroku couldn’t prevent his eyes from straying to the rabbit and the knife. Where had those come from? And why couldn’t he remember his actions of the previous night? Had he been sleepwalking, perhaps?

He rose from the water and dressed quickly, then looked back at the items that were still lying in the grass, close to the river’s edge. In a quick movement, he seized the rabbit by the foot. Regardless of its origin, it would be fine once cooked. His eyes strayed over the knife, but he turned toward the woods without it.

No.

He halted and spun back around, dropping the animal that he held. Stepping back to the waterside, he lifted the knife and dipped it into the water, cleansing it of blood and stroking the blade lovingly. When it sparkled and glinted, he smiled vacantly and tucked it deep within his robes. He once more turned into the trees, his own will back under his control, and strode back toward camp...

...leaving the rabbit on the grass...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sango’s arm moved methodically, almost mechanically, as she tended Hiraikotsu. Rubbing in the tallow that she had brought, the weapon slowly began to shine, leaving no dent or scratch to mar its smooth surface.

She wasn’t doing this because the boomerang needed it; on the contrary, she had just tended it days ago. She did it to keep her mind off a certain missing monk.

The group had awoken that morning to find Miroku missing. Inuyasha waved it off quite easily, saying that he’d probably gone to bathe or scout ahead. Kagome had frowned at this, saying that Miroku had never taken that course of action before, but a well-timed ‘Feh!’ from Inuyasha seemed to assure her and she had set about making breakfast.

The matter wasn’t as easily dismissed from Sango’s mind. ‘Where could he have gone? What if something happened to him?’ It took the utmost power of will (and the occupation of her hands with some task) not to hop onto Kirara and go scouting for him.

She scoffed softly and flipped Hiraikotsu, beginning to buff the other side. Inuyasha heard and turned his ears toward her, but she didn’t speak.

‘Why do I care so much?’ she wondered, absentmindedly rubbing the same area of her weapon as she gazed at her moving hand, apparently in deep thought. ‘I mean... it’s not like he’s anything more than a travelling companion to me, ne? And besides, he’s so lecherous tha-’

"SANGO!!!"

Sango squeaked slightly in surprise and instantly yanked up her boomerang and caught the figure in front of her in the chin. It was a very dazed and confused Inuyasha that crumpled to the ground in front of her. Shippou began to laugh hysterically from Kagome’s side.

Sango blinked. "Uh... gomen?"

Kagome stared at Inuyasha’s prone form, trying to hold back laughter. "He was just worried, Sango-chan. You haven’t said a thing all morning. And just now, you were polishing the same part of Hiraikotsu for a few minutes. He called you about three times..."

Sango blinked again. "Oh. Well, I’m fine, Kagome-chan... just-"

Inuyasha suddenly regained consciousness and sprang to his feet. "What was that for?!?!" He glared at Sango for a moment, then whirled on Kagome. "AND I WASN’T WORRIED!!!!"

Kagome sighed. "Whatever you say, Inuyasha."

Sango opened her mouth to continue what she had been saying when she felt a foreign touch... on her chest...

"HENTAIIIIIII!" Hiraikotsu flashed through the air for the second time in five minutes. A swirly-eyed monk was suddenly sitting (rather, standing on his head) beside a tree, obviously stunned stupid.

"Ah... the perfect way to start the day..." he murmured woozily.

Sango huffed. "I’m glad I just waxed Hiraikotsu... you don’t get that satisfying ‘thud’ with an untended weapon..." Though she was glaring at him, her face bright red, she was inwardly overjoyed that he had returned... obviously unharmed.

Kagome stirred the contents of her pot and beamed around at the group. "Breakfast is ready! After that, I think we should take off before Sango-chan concusses all of the male members of our group, ne?"

Sango spared Miroku one more glare before moving to accept her portion.

When everyone was well into their meal (and Miroku’s bump had gone down considerably), Inuyasha asked something that the entire group was wondering. "Oi, monk? Where have you been?"

Miroku looked up at the hanyou and smiled. "Bathing," he responded simply, then continued eating.

Inuyasha surreptitiously sniffed the air. He confirmed Miroku’s story; there was a definite scent of lake-water on his newly washed clothing... as well as something else that he couldn’t place. It was faint, very faint. Shrugging, he shoveled down the rest of his food. "Let’s go. The village isn’t far."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Inuyasha gazed uneasily down the point of a sword that had materialized under his nose.

Sango sighed. The suspicious type, huh? "We mean you no harm."

A young man stepped forward and lay his hand on the arm of the man who was holding Inuyasha at sword-point. "Wei, let them speak. They may have news." A cluster of men were behind the younger one who had just approached, but they didn’t attack just then.

"You’re sure, Sakai-sama?" Wei asked, not yet lowering his sword. When the man nodded, the sword dropped from Inuyasha’s face and he sighed.

"Are we going to have to go through that every time we go into a village?" Inuyasha grumbled. Kagome gave him a discreet kick in the shin.

The man who had been addressed as Sakai stepped in front of Wei and inclined his head to the group. His hair was short and deep brown, his eyes a penetrating sapphire. "I am Sakai Hiro. You must forgive the rudeness of our welcome, but there was a murder here last night."

"A murder?" Sango echoed. It didn’t sound like good news to the group.

"Hai, she was one of my closest friends." Now that the group took a good look at him, they could note the signs of stress in his face. His eyes were rimmed with red, as if he had been crying, and his eyes sported dark circles, as if he had gotten no sleep the previous night. His mouth was quirked upward in a polite smile, but the rest of his face remained downcast. Hiro eyed Miroku with mild interest. "Are you a houshi?"

Miroku nodded. Something had stirred within him at the word ‘murder’, and he found himself desperately searching for his lost memories once more.

"Would it be too much trouble to ask you to say a few words over her? She-" Hiro’s voice broke and he lowered his head for a moment. "She was taken from us in a most grievous way..."

"Hai. It is the least that I can do for your family."

Hiro smiled, a nearly genuine smile, and bowed again. "Please, follow me. On the way, you can explain why you have come to our village."

The guards tensed as Inuyasha sauntered by, but Hiro silenced them with a glance. Kirara had had the good sense to assume her smaller form before she had been seen, or surely she would have been targeted as well. Shippou was too small to be of any real threat, so it seemed to the guards, and he passed almost unnoticed.

The sun was now high in the sky, and the city wept.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She lay on a futon, under a thin white sheet. Hiro immediately moved to the side of the body and kneeled. The tachi felt uneasy, as if they were trespassing on some private moment. The thought struck Sango that he had probably been her suitor...

The young man placed his hand on that of the dead girl and turned solemn and stricken eyes to the group. "She was found in the forest. Her parents believe that she was out searching for her pet rabbit."

Miroku gasped inwardly. ‘It couldn’t be...’ Memories of how he’d found himself that morning came flooding back. The blood... the knife...

The dead rabbit...

His hands began to shake and he gripped his staff tighter to still the involuntary movements. His body tensed on its own as he grappled with fact and belief. ‘No...’

Hiro continued, unaware of the monk’s distress. "Do you truly think that the ‘black phoenix’ that you are hunting killed her?"

Sango slowly nodded. "It is a possibility. It is said to drink the blood of maidens."

‘Drink... blood....’ Miroku ran a hand across his face, almost as if he was afraid of finding a flake of dried blood that he had missed that morning.

And-

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Miroku remembered sleeping, he remembered waking, he remembered getting clobbered by Hiraikotsu. Hiro and Sango’s words bounced off him. There was nothing to fear... he remembered exactly where he had been...

And inside, it laughed. The minds of humans were so easily manipulated.

False memories were child’s play to insert. Its strength was steadily growing...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The group left Miroku inside to pray over the girl. They now stood at the side of the path, and Hiro was expressing his desire that they remain in the village, just in case there was another attack. Inuyasha scoffed at this, but Kagome and Sango nodded emphatically.

"We will remain," Sango affirmed. "It is our duty to destroy this thing."

All of the thanks that Hiro could muster didn’t seem to be enough. He offered a way that they could pay for their lodging - patrolling at night to prevent any other attacks. Inuyasha scoffed again, but the girls agreed.

Inuyasha stared at them in disbelief.

And so it was settled. The tachi would remain in the village, looking for any sign of the phoenix’s return.

Sakai Hiro remained unaware that he had just invited the fox to spend the night in the chicken coop.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Corisu Li: Mmmyeah. There you go! Review please! *puppy dog eyes* Oh, and the man’s name: Sakai Hiro? I kinda stole it from Iron Chef! Sakai Hiroyuki is my favorite IC of all time! WHEEEEEE! *waves ‘Iron Chef Furansu-jin’ banners*

~*~*~*~*~*

Review Responses:

Stripe: Yesh, creepy... *diabolical laughter*

Letitia or Teesha: I knowww.... I’m a closet sadistic... *more diabolical laughter* "Going somewhere good with this"? Define ‘good’. MWAHA!

Kitsune Bi 123: Well, you’ve caught up with me, and that’s all that matters! ^_^ Blood and guts, wheeee!

GinHasa: ^___^ Everybody’s beginning to *party* now! Fun! And loving to hurt Miroku? Of course not! *rereads ‘Two Months’* Eheheheh... well, maybe?

LadyDi: Of course I’ll continue! I’d never leave you guys in the dark... *begins to plot*

Kei: Well, the romance is coming... slowly but surely. There are just a few things to get out of the way first... *glares at the Phoenix and Kikyou*

SM Together: Here’s your update!

Aamalie: Hmmm... *frowns* She’s not coming into the fic as fast as I thought she would... but she will, eventually... *maniacal laughter*

Lily Thorne: That he is... *glares at him* Bad Houshi-sama! I made you do it, but still... bad!

Manofmanyfaces: Yes...death IS interesting, ne? And you’re not the only one to think so... *recounts how many people mentioned DEATH!, blood, or related subjects in reviews*

HJO: @.@ Ow.... why do you always hurt me? Ne, whoops? I didn’t even add it to my faves... maybe that’s why I forgot... *laughs sheepishly* Well, I was up to 30 by then... *pouts* Well, tell me when you repost, and I’ll pick up where I left off.

Vamps: Why would I do that to him? Mmm... because bishie torture is FUN! Hence the disclaimers! ^____^

Wakadori Ramen: What do you mean, unnecessary? WAAAIIIITTT... O.O;;;;; GAH! None of THAT!!! *cuffs you upside the head* HENTAI!!! Miroku: *pops up* Did someone mention me?

 

Preview of Chapter 6: Blood on the Wind

The light of the full moon gave them just enough light to make out something odd. One of the trees in front of them was undeniably dimmed. Gray.

A dark form was slumped against the ashen bark.

(Aamalie-chan, sorry... It’s not HER... *is still plotting...MWAHAHA!!!*)