Splintered Coral – Part Six
Important: Honestly... I want to know why I'm
on the Author Alert lists of over 60 people, but only get half that number of
reviews per chapter! ^__^; You people all know I'm
OBSESSED with hearing from you all! Reviews give me the motivation to breathe. ^.^ So, when you don't review a chapter, you're suffocating
me... O.O;;; Uh-oh... *looks around at all the evilly
smiling readers* ...I'm gonna die...
Disclaimer: Well, I alternate between using Miroku and Sesshoumaru as
teddy-bear substitutes, but I don't necessarily own them, or any other
member of the cast for that matter. But I DO own the two-Sangos
idea, as I came up with it first... The result of my own, personal
personality-disorder! ^_^;
---
Miroku exhaled heavily, his eyes
flickering between the two Sangos. About two
arm-lengths to his side was Sango,
who seemed fairly introverted at the moment. She had hardly spoken a word all
day. As for Ansho... She was
in a temper, for some odd reason or another, insisting that she walk farther
ahead. Kirara rode her shoulder, occasionally hopping
off and coming back to check on her second mistress before returning to Ansho. At the moment, the deceptively tiny neko seemed to be the only company the hotheaded taijiya would accept.
For, indeed, fiery
tempered she was. For just a grope, he was getting a hot-springs-scenario
beating! To think of what might happen was she to ever catch him peeking... Miroku quickly changed that course of thought,
rubbing his most recently obtained bruise. Thinking of
In short, it would
probably involve a painful ending... For him. Ansho seemed to be the epitome of violent reactions. But then... What about Sango?
He looked towards her
again, this time curiously. In fact, he hadn't heard her say anything at all
since they had bid their farewells to the others. And that had been several
hours ago... He couldn't remember Sango being this
extensively silent for quite some time. But then, he was accustomed to
the authentic, two-in-one Sango, and in this
situation, the same standards didn't apply.
In that case, he'd just
have to evaluate the new standards, wouldn't he? All of them.
Shifting his staff to his right shoulder, he moved closer to Sango, arranging his features into a warm grin.
"I wonder how Inuyasha, Kagome-sama, and Shippou are doing," Miroku
commented lightly, causing Sango to start slightly as
she realized he was there. She colored slightly in embarrassment, shrugging.
"They're probably
fine, knowing them," she replied, staring ahead.
"Mmm...
Either that, or bickering, as usual." She looked over at him, surprised
for some unknown reason. Then, a small smile drifted over her face.
"Yes, that would be
typical of them, wouldn't it?" she said.
"Their
own, personal routine," Miroku said in
return, his free hand reaching out, and predictably landing on Sango's backside. He watched carefully as her eyes went
wide, and her face went pale before turning a glowing pink. She took a
shuddering breath.
"Houshi-sama,
please remove your hand from me, now," she managed, her voice low, yet
strained. She suddenly looked up, meeting his eyes, a devious grin on her face.
"Otherwise, I may have to scream."
...Scream? If she were to
scream, the only ones to hear it in this place would be him, her, Kirara, and...
Oh.
Miroku quickly removed his hand, a
newfound respect for Sango planted firmly in his
mind, and fully blooming at that. Though she was no longer her usual demon
exterminating, houshi slapping self, she obviously
had no qualms about using what resources she had to her best advantage. Ah, the
mind of a woman... It was yet one more riddle to solve in a world of unsolvable
riddles.
It figured.
Suddenly noticing that he
had been walking alone for a few steps, Miroku
stopped, stupefied. He turned to see his companion kneeling, riffling through
her shoulder pack determinedly.
"Sango?"
"One moment... Ah!
Here it is..." She pulled out what Miroku
recognized to be one of Kagome's pads of paper, followed by a pen. He watched
as Sango flipped open the paper, clicked the pen, and
then made a mark, finally putting everything back again and standing up. He
raised an eyebrow, a sense of foreboding coming over him.
"Sango...
What was that about?" he inquired nervously. It couldn't be, could it?
"What was what
about?" she asked innocently.
Ugh. Women...
"That paper. What
were you writing?" Miroku prompted.
"Oh, that? I was just
keeping track of your tally. Kagome-chan remembered
to write it all down before we left camp the first time."
It could. In fact, it was.
Curse it all...
"So, uh, just what
are you planning to do with that tally?" She shrugged nonchalantly,
adjusting the pack on her shoulders as she did so.
"I don't know... But
how about we keep this our little secret, ne? After
all, I don't think Ansho knows about it yet. But, if
the need ever arises, I may have to show it to her..."
"I do believe that
this is called blackmail, my dear Lady Sango,"
the monk said dryly, knowing that she had him very close to defeat.
"No, it's just insurance," she said lightly, smiling. It was odd; she
had never had a conversation like this with anyone before. This
back and forth bantering; this playful teasing. Well, she might have
with her friends back before Naraku had messed
everything up, but it hadn't been like this. And it hadn't been with a man. She
had been much too focused on other things to bother with that sort of thing;
she had always been that way. Up until now...
What was it called?
Flirting? No, it couldn't be that... Girls only flirted with those they
considered possible husbands, and in no way was she looking for one of those. Especially
not a husband who doubled a lecherous houshi whose
hands had an unbreakable tendency to land on the posteriors of random women.
She definitely did not need one of those- A husband that is. She already
had the houshi.
Sighing as she realized
she was just confusing herself more, Sango peered
ahead, seeing a certain someone waiting for them, and quite impatiently at
that.
"Just what took you
two so long to catch up?" insisted a waspish Ansho
as they came within a reasonable distance, her hands planted firmly on her
hips. Her eyes were narrow as she considered the distance between Sango and Miroku, which had
significantly decreased since she had last looked. Sango
blushed a little, avoiding Ansho's
glare as she fiddled with her sleeve. "Well?"
"My dear Ansho, I give you my deepest apologies. We were talking and
were not aware that we were travelling so slowly.
Maybe then, you could slow your pace a bit so that we can easily keep up, and
therefore, not be distracted?" Miroku proposed, smiling as he pulled one of her hands into his, causing
the taijiya to darken. Whether from embarrassment or
fury, one couldn't be sure. It was very possible that it was a mixture of both.
Either way, she snatched her hand back with no hesitation whatsoever.
"Fine," she
snapped. "But I stopped to tell you that there's a village up ahead. Since
we left so late in the day, it'll be dark soon. We could either stop now and go
through it tomorrow, or walk a little longer and see if we can get lodging
there." Miroku, easily recovering from her
rejection, shaded his eyes from the sun, estimating the distance they would
have to walk by the smoke tendrils that were floating lazily skyward- obvious
support to the idea that there was a settlement of some sort nearby.
"We could definitely
reach it before sundown, if we pick up our pace a little." Dropping his
hand from his forehead to let it instead rest on his shakujou,
he grinned broadly at the two Sangos. "And I'm
sure finding lodging would be no problem at all." Sango
smiled slightly, earning a reproving glare from Ansho,
who then sighed when Kirara, who had chosen to
observe until the moment, mewed. Kneeling down, she let the fire-cat jump into
her arms, and she stood again.
"Well, then, let's
get going."
*
"Damn that bouzo!" Inuyasha growled as
he burst from the final patch of trees, Kagome and Shippou
clinging to him for dear life. "'You three go west. We'll go to the east.'
Feh.
What a load of-"
"Inuyasha! Slow down! We're out of the forest now. You can stop
now!" Kagome pleaded, tugging on the hanyou's
sleeve. He grumbled petulantly, but skidded to a stop, throwing up dust as he
did so and sending Kagome and Shippou into a coughing
fit.
"Inuyasha,
why you do you always have to be such a pain?!" the kitsune whined as soon as he could breathe again. Inuyasha snorted, reaching up to his shoulder, picking off
the smaller youkai and unceremoniously dropping him
to the ground.
"Because I can
be," he snapped. Kagome rolled her eyes, clambering off of Inuyasha's back as she did so. He could act like such a
four-year-old sometimes... Abruptly, a thought popped into her mind.
"You know, speaking
of Miroku-sama, I wonder how Sango-chan
and Ansho-chan are holding up," she said,
effectively distracting the two boys from their heating argument. Inuyasha crossed his arms, snickering.
"Miroku
is probably grabbing at Sango every chance he gets,
and Ansho's probably beating the crap out of him for
it," he stated, as though it were the obvious...
Which it was...
Kagome scrunched up her
face in consideration, biting her lip.
"Not
necessarily." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow
skeptically.
"Eh? And why is
that?"
"Because! Kagome gave Sango
blackmail material!" Shippou shouted, jumping up
latching onto Inuyasha's shoulder. Kagome laughed at
the dumbfounded look on the hanyou's face.
"Come on, I'll
explain it to you ask we walk."
---
Aamalie: Ugh... I hate the way this chapter turned out. It
ended at least a page shorter than I wanted it to, and Sango
ended up more flirty than I wanted her to when she's
one on one with Miroku... Oh well. Even the shiest
person is more open around the people they love. ^.~;
Especially when they're getting help... *points at the Inu
& Kag part*
Taena: Well, if you weren't listening to such perky music
when you were writing the part with Sango, she
wouldn't have ended up so girly...
Maela: -.-;
Aamalie: ^^; Heh...
Well, the fluffy Michelle Branch songs are offset by the Evanescence songs...
And Tourniquet (which just ended) is about suicide... *blinks* Hey,
aren't you two supposed to be packing?
Maela: ^___^; I finished mine!
Taena: O.O; ERK! *races off*
Aamalie: I'm sending them on a world-tour so I can have some
peace... A daydream about P.E... ^^; Eh... We're doing a dance unit and I'm
paired with my crush. *goes starry eyed*
Chapter Finished: 01/17/03
Chapter Posted: 01/18/03
---
Mystical-Grace- Hee...
Well, I'm glad to hear that it didn't totally stink...
Hayzi- Hee... What
can I say? You'll see...
Wakadori Ramen- ^_^ Well, it IS a Mir/San fic... And there are two Sangos
to choose from... You'll just have to keep reading, ne?
chinita- There might be a little Inu/Kag... But they're probably gonna
disappear for a while... Haven't decided yet. And as for the Ansho/Miroku/Sango
thing... Mmm... Secret!
Corisu Li- ^^;;;
So, basically, you two liked everything, ne? Anyway,
sorry for the sucky chapter... I'll probably do
better once a certain someone dies in YOUR fic... ^^
Zero27- Eh... I've got so much planned, its not even funny... Let's see... *peers at her checklist*
Hmmm... Two Sangos, check. Seperation, check. Jealousy-
^.^;;; Hee. You get the
picture.
Sweet Chaos- *glomps*
Gomen! I didn't mean to ignore you... And don't worry,
it WILL get good!
Momentum- Yup yup!
LiL psYch0- Yeah. Those are the groups. ^^
Ghoul King- *sweatdrops*
Hee... Well, both chapters have been duds, so...
*sigh* Oh well. I haven't been writing my best recently... And it sucks. School
must DIE!!!
Blue Glowing Thing- Hee...
I think we all laugh when he gets slapped. It's just a law of nature, or
something. And I can assure you, MY world has gone to anime! ^.~
Terra Secora- Who DOESN'T like fluff scenes? ^_^ Don't
worry. I've got a bit planned for the next chapter... There IS a reason I'm
sending them into a village you know... =P
Seproth- Hmmm... Well, hopefully it'll get
better as we go along! ^_^; And please, do NOT rate
this chapter... It sucked beyond all possible extremes...
D3- Eh, well, she's got Kagome
looking after her... And I'm obsessed with that tally thing, if you couldn't
tell. ^_____^ I've already got the perfect ending for it too! *peace sign*
Naanaami- Hee...
Well, you'll just have to keep reading, won't you? Don't worry, there will be
both funny and sweet scenes... Though I think you're gonna
have to wait a while for the kiss. ^^;;; I've got
plans for that sucker!
Houseki- *sweatdrops*
Yeah... I do have a way with coming up with annoying cliffies,
don't I? Eh heh... *backs away from you, picking up
her tranquilizer gun as she goes- just in case!*
dEeYaN- Fanart? Fanart... Fanart is GLADLY
accepted. I'd like to see how people are depicting this...^_^
Amber Eyez- Hee... You guessed it! *freezes* Wait...
YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE DIGIHAMMER?! My darling Digital Sledgehammer... It's
my precious brain child, and my most handy, indestructable
weapon! FEAR IT! or else...
Queenizzay- Hee... Sesshy is mine though... He's my hubbie!
*holds up her ring hand* You shall not touch him!
*flames* ^.^ And Venn is cooler... More moody, and
hot, and... *drools* Erm, yeah... *whistles
innocently* Glad you reviewed! *glomp*
S@n-Ch@n- Yeah, well, whatever opinion you
had of my writing has been totally destroyed by this chapter... -.- Oh well... Sango turned out too
flirty... *mutters* Oh well. At least you reviewed! I can't write a chapter
'til I've read your review! *glomps you*
---
Aamalie: oO;;;
I spent the better half of a morning writing those... Agh. You people are figuring
out the "Ask a good question-Get a response" deal... And then there
are those that I almost always respond to, just because I practically know
them... ><; Oh well... I don't mind. ^^;
Well, don't forget to
REVIEW!!!