Splintered Coral – Part Eleven

Important- Short and not my best, but it's an update, and I really don't feel like rewriting it, especially since I have a lot to do before camp... Blah.

Disclaimer- I own Kirara! [huggles her plushie happily]

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They were here.

Kagura could see the approaching, oblivious to her presence. It was amazing how having control of the wind, and being downwind from even the most exceptional nose could be so effective to her purpose. Well, not her purpose, but that didn't exactly matter anymore. She was here, and as much as she hated the distasteful thought of the idea, her life depended on her performance.

And so, with a smirk, Kagura peered down at the approaching group. Once they were just a little closer, she'd be able to attain what she needed... Her eyes narrowed as she assessed the distance.

They were close enough.

With a wave of her hand, the feather she kneeled on shrunk drastically, and she caught it in her hand as she fell. She could see Inuyasha's expression as her scent hit him, but she didn't give him time to take action. With a flick of her wrist, Kagura's fan snapped open, and she slanted it through the air as she neared the ground.

"Fuujin no mai!" she hissed, and blades of wind whirled towards the half demon and his two companions. As Inuyasha grabbed Kagome, dodging out of the way, Kagura landed on one knee, tucking the feather she had snatched out of midair into her hair. Rising to her feet, she jumped forward, unleashing another attack.

"Damn it! What do you want now, Kagura!" Inuyasha snarled, maneuvering around another blast of air. The wind witch laughed, easily noting the trouble he was having. She wasn't allowing him ample opportunity to set down the two he was holding, and Kagura knew that the large yellow bag Kagome was clutching wasn't helping him at all.

"You dead would be a wonderful start," she said. "It's horrible having to see your ugly face every time I go out. You obviously weren't blessed with the good looks of the family, were you? Nor the brains, for that matter..."

"Why you--!" He was cut off by a sudden ripping sound.

"Inuyasha! My backpack!" Kagome cried as various odds and ends tumbled out of the rip.

Amongst those items was a certain silvery orb that was exactly what Kagura wanted.

Without a second's hesitation, the wind demon plucked it from the ground, throwing a mocking smile towards Inuyasha. "Oh... Did you drop this?" She didn't even flinch as he finally set Kagome and the small fox demon on the ground and drew the Tetsusaiga.

"Give it back, bitch."

Kagura laughed, slipping her fan into the sash at her waist.

"Now, now, Inuyasha. You should be careful with that sword of yours. You wouldn't want to damage this pretty bauble, would you? It seems rather... Important, no?" He gave a growl of frustration. Kagura knew she was right, and he knew it too. Inuyasha couldn't attack so long as the orb was in her possession. Kagura's crimson eyes twinkled in smug delight.

"Well... I'd best be off. Naraku has a few plans for this thing, and I find myself obligated to assist him. Keep up if you can!"

With a half-expected gust of wind, Kagura was suddenly high in the air again atop her feather, speeding away. Infuriated, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and Shippou, ignoring any protests they made as he made chase.

=

Miroku couldn't help but heave a sigh as Sango dealt him another furtive look from where she walked beside him. Once he and Ansho had returned, the taijiya had set off ahead with Kirara again, doubtlessly to take some time to think. Sango had wordlessly fallen into step next to him, pointedly refusing to make any attempts at conversation. It wasn't that he had exactly tried to start one himself, but...

There it was again. Another sneaked glance from beneath those long bangs.

Miroku wasn't one to become annoyed all too often, but Sango was succeeding in grating on his nerves. What was even more irritating was the fact that she didn't seem to even be trying. She just kept looking at him like he was some foreign, unsolvable puzzle... Which he wasn't. After all, women were supposed to be the puzzles, for Buddha's sake!

Another glance. Miroku's eyebrow twitched.

Didn't she know he was just a man? Men were no puzzle! She should know by now, the cause of a man's actions could be explained in a word... Well, two words, actually.

Women and testosterone...and both were connected, so Sango figuring shouldn't have too much trouble figuring him out. That is, unless she was doing one of those things women tended to do where she was trying to figure out every minute detail about... Whatever. Did it really matter? If she wanted to ogle him and act like he was entirely ignorant of her doings, then so be it!

Okay. So, maybe not...

"Is something troubling you Sango?" he asked, managing to be equable in all appearances. Her gaze, which had inched away half a second before, snapped back to him before hurriedly retreating.

"No, nothing at all," Sango replied, sounding a bit flustered.

"Are you sure?" Miroku pressed, clearly disbelieving her initial answer.

"Yes," she said following a short pause. Miroku frowned slightly, still not convinced.

"So... You're not wondering to yourself about what happened while Ansho and I were away?" Ah... That was worded wrong. Now, she'd get defensive and jump to conclusions.

"What makes you think that?!" Sango snapped.

Yep. Defenses up and conclusions successfully 'jumped'.

"Sango," Miroku said despairingly, "as subtle as you can be sometimes, there are something about you that are a bit less... opaque."

"Just what does that mean?"

"It's nothing to take offense to, Sango. I merely mean to say that it is obvious that that is the reason you keep looking at me strangely from time to time. Typically, you dislike it when I wander off in pursuit of young ladies. Seeing as how this time, I ran off after Ansho, who is, in essence, yourself... You are not sure whether to be jealous, as you normally would, or not."

Sango's face flamed as his ended his explanation. When she next spoke, her voice had dropped to a hissing whisper, as if to keep her temper in reign and to prevent Ansho from overhearing.

"I am not jealous!"

Miroku threw her his most disarming smile and he wagged a finger at her. "Now, now, Sango. I didn't say you were. No need to get worked up."

That smile quickly faded when a slap rang across the monk's cheek, and he stumbled back, gaping at Sango. She looked downright livid.

"Ansho was right," she growled, her voice icy, "you are a jerk, and an insufferable one at that." Having said that, she turned on her heel and left him to catch up with their other companions.

Miroku stared after her, his mouth agape.

Had Sango just slapped him!?

It took him several seconds to realize the irony of that idea. When he did, the houshi simply sighed and shook his head in defeat.

Women.

As much as he tried, he'd never understand them... Or their tempers.

=

Ansho raised a discreet eyebrow as Sango came up beside her, looking rather disgruntled. Wonderingly, she glanced over her shoulder towards Miroku. When she caught sight of the red mark on the side of his face, her other eyebrow shot up to join the first one. She turned to Sango.

"Did you... slap him?"

"Yes," came the terse reply.

"...Why?"

"Because. He was being a jerk."

Well, there was an answer that could be interpreted in a million different ways.

"What'd he do? Grope you?"

Sango's shoulders slumped as she shook her head, her expression downcast. "No... He was just being a jerk. If it was just him feeling me up, it'd be another thing... But..."

"But what?"

When all Ansho got was another shake of the head, the taijiya decided to give it up while she was ahead. After all, it was no use pushing the issue. If Sango didn’t want to talk, then so be it. She'd talk when she wanted to.

A few minutes down the line, Ansho's prediction turned out to be all too true.

"Ansho... May I ask you a question?"

She nodded. Sango twisted her hands together, seemingly nervous.

"What happened while you two were... away?"

Ansho blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Just tell me," Sango insisted, looking over to her. Her brow was creased, as though she was worried, and Ansho felt a bit of reluctance tugging at the back of her mind. Should she really bother telling...? Brushing that thought aside, she forced a slight smile onto her face.

"It was nothing. He caught up to me and apologized, and we talked about the... argument we had this morning..." She stopped talking as the road in front of them dipped downwards. A short distance off, Ansho could see the remains of a village. "Look. There it is."

Miroku appeared from behind, stopping beside the taijiya. He was momentarily silent as he took in the sight. "Shall we go then?

The answer he received was not from who he expected one to come from.

"Why would you go there? There's nothing there but broken houses and dead bodies. I made certain of that."

Four head snapped upwards to face the wind demon floating above them. Kagura smiled, casually raising the prize in her possession for all to see.

"The orb..." Miroku growled, clenching his fists. It was so tempting to open the Kazaana and try to draw Kagura into the void. But, he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk losing the orb...

He couldn't risk losing Sango.

"Wonderful observation, monk," Kagura said, saying the last word as though it were an insult. "You've been looking for this, haven't you? Well, you're in luck. Although as of now, it's Naraku's property... If you head to the forest a night's stroll north of here, you might be able to work something out." Withdrawing the ball, her feather began to gain altitude, causing the boomerang that had been launched her way to miss its mark depressingly. "Remember! He's expecting you!"

"Damn it!" Ansho hissed as the weapon returned to her. Kagura laughed, waggling her fingers at them as she began to float away. "Come back here!" Miroku caught her by the shoulder before she could run after the demon. "What, Houshi-sama?!"

His face was grim as he stared northward.

"Remember, if we follow her, we're heading towards Naraku, we can't be rash."

"Well, we know that!" Sango snapped, stepping towards them. "So what are we waiting for?"

Miroku sighed, a slight feeling of disapproval washing through him, but he pushed it off.

"Right. Let's go."

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Aamalie: Right. It sucked, kill me now. But make sure you vote for Love Me Not over at Yakusoku to Negai between Sunday and Friday... =D Give me something to be happy to write for! Else, I might start sulking and not update for another four months. Not a threat, guys. The simple truth. I'm only writing this for you guys!

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pNay iN a b0x- =P Well... I figured I should actually give Shippou a slight role in this... since I tend to ignore him... hee...

Zero27- x.x Yeah. Both Sangos are... Having a rather sucky time. They keep having mood swings, and I'm not even doing it on purpose. -.- Ugh. At least the ending is soon.

Ghoul King- Well... My family is special. And if you thought last chapter took a while to write, this one took four months to get to! ...How many failed plans does that equate to?

Corisu Li- v.v 'Hold one of their hearts'? Sheesh. In other words, you want something difficult to occur... Which would equate to another few months between updates. Just wait. You'll see what happens.

Lily Thorne- As you can see, threats really don't work on me. Like, really, really don't work.

orphius- Yeah... Miroku is clever, ain't he? [glomps him]

Queenizzay- x.x There. I updated. Now, I want SOMETHING from you to beta when I get back from camp, all right? Else I'll hurt you. -.- And it'd better be Mir/San. And not TWF. [Evil, I know.[

Lady Netiri- Man... I hate this chapter. I really do... Last chapter was good, but this one. Eww... Kill it!

Aprill May- Me? Productive? Pssh. If this is productivity, then I think my readers are getting ripped off... Just don't tell them that.

Sarcasm 397- Heh... [lands somewhere halfway down the Blockage Cliff] Well... At least I'm writing this now, eh?

Vilja- x.x I actually like Ansho better myself. Not a clue why... Maybe 'cause she turned out like I wanted her to, unlike Sango...

Amber Eyez- Well, I have to make him notice things! Otherwise it wouldn't be as fluffy! xD

LuClipse85- Agh! I'm trying, I'm trying!!! And yeah, Kirara probably does.

IronRaven- Chess... sometimes. I usually can't find anyone to play it with though.

Luvsdogz- ...why would I bring Sango back to normal? Sheesh... Don't you know? Angst is cool! =)

silentmiko242- I/K is sidelines here.

YoukaiTajaiyaSango- o.O Marry Naraku? Eww... But, then she'd have to deal with demon guts all over the floor every month. Ick.

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Review! Ja ne!