Quickening: *Playing with her completely awesome,
ridiculously expensive, full-color-screen cell phone that can download stuff
on it* Ooooo! Legolas
wallpaper! Yeah, baby! It’s all mine! Mwahahaha! *presses keys frantically*
Cellphone: Beepbeep beepbeepbeep beeeeep *Gasp…pant* beepbeepbeep…
Desiree: -_-; Ummm…shouldn’t you be writing right about
now? Story. Remember?
Quickening: Yeah, I know, I know. But…but listen to this! *Presses a key and holds up phone proudly*
Cellphone: *Begins chiming Chariots of Fire*
Quickening: *Sighs*
I feel so…so inspired!
Desiree: Great!
Does this mean we can write now?
Quickening: No wait, wait. This one’s even better!
Cellphone:
*Bursts into the Chipmunks theme song*
Quickening: BWAhahahahahahahahahaha!
*falls over and dies*
Desiree: -_-; You are too easily amused…
Chapter Six
Somehow, Miroku had managed to
convince Inuyasha not to go through
the well again and drag Kagome back to look for more shards. He barely even remembered the excuses he gave—something
along the lines of Kagome falling ill after being forced to spend the entire
night in a hovel of a cave—as he was too busy trying to look innocent and
faultless beneath the highly
suspicious gazes that both the hanyou and the little kitsune Shippou were
piercing him with.
But in the end he’d somehow succeeded in
keeping the hanyou away.
He’d ended up coming down with a bit of a cold himself by
the end of the day, having sat naked in the middle of the river for a good ten
minutes after dropping Kagome off at the well.
Maybe that had been overdoing it a bit, but he wasn’t about to take any
chances with Inuyasha’s sensitive nose picking up on any residual smells. True, he’d been so numb afterwards that he
could barely move to get out of the water, and he wondered if he’d ever be able
to get the full sensation back in his toes again, but at least he wouldn’t die
a slow and torturous death while Inuyasha flayed him alive with his claws.
His robes he would have cheerfully discarded altogether had
they not been the only ones he had. As it was, they’d also gotten a thorough
cleaning and were later thawed out and mended by the rebuilt fire in the cave,
while Miroku sat as close to that fire as he could and tried not to remember
every detail of the time spent there with Kagome. Like the little erotic sounds
she’d made in her throat when he found a particularly sensitive spot to
suckle. Or the way she’d writhed beneath
him and clung to him as he brought her to slow climax, over and over again. Or the way she’d touched him, her fingers
slowly trailing in shy exploration down his chest and stomach to softly caress
his…
After another long
dip in the river, he’d finally headed back to Kaede’s hut to face the music and
to keep Inuyasha as far away from Kagome as possible, until she had a chance to
compose herself a little, or at least clean herself up. It was the least he could do for her, after
all, after the trouble he had caused her.
The fact that he was saving his own ass in the process had absolutely nothing to do with it. Really.
At least so long as Inuyasha didn’t develop a sudden case
of brains and figure out that Kagome’s coming down with a sudden case of “Intercoursiotosis” didn’t have anything to do with a highly contagious disease of which only
plenty of…bed rest could cure.
*Cough*
But not having her there was driving him crazy.
She been gone for barely a full day, but already he felt as though he
hadn’t seen her in months. Inuyasha and
Shippou, sensing his unrest, kept shooting him curious glances, and if Kaede
noticed anything, she was keeping her mouth shut. He longed to go outside and meditate but he
doubted he’d be able to concentrate anyway.
At least, not on anything other than the way Kagome’s lips had felt
beneath his own, or the way they’d tasted…
After giving himself a hard mental smack, he then idly
wondered how long “a few days” would be until she returned, and decided that
she’d probably meant “whenever I damned well feel like it.” Meaning, he might not see her until next year if she so desired. And by then he could be a father.
A father…
His thoughts froze on those two words. He could be a father. He could have a son—or a daughter—to carry on
his fight whenever the Kazana decided to take him down. He’d no longer need to worry about losing the
battle before it had even begun. And if,
by luck, they found and defeated Naraku before the
worst happened…then he would be able to live to watch that child grow up and
become an adult. And then he could watch
his grandchild grow up. He could be there while his line continued
on, and actually see it
continue. The thought was enough to
steal his breath, and he realized suddenly that he was…scared.
What did he know about being a parent, anyway? He’d been raised by
Miroku frowned. She
would come back to them, he assured himself determinedly, and if…when…she did, he would be there to take
care of her. He’d promised her, had he
not? And maybe she didn’t believe in his
promises, but he’d prove to her that he was a man of his word. Well…at least where the important things
counted. And Kagome was very
important. There was no way he’d leave
her to raise a child by herself. He
would stay beside her and help her no matter what—no matter how…nervous he might be—even if she didn’t
want him there. He would prove to her that…that he was someone
that she could depend on, as much as—if not more
than—she’d ever depended on Inuyasha.
Releasing a deep and heartfelt sigh, Miroku lay back on
his pallet and closed his eyes, preparing to sleep for the night—as if he’d
actually be able to do so—only to
yelp in pain as a very heavy weight
abruptly landed on his chest, knocking the wind clean out of him. Gasping for breath, his eyes snapped open to
stare in shock into the burning golden gaze of one extremely pissed-off Inuyasha.
“What did you do to
Kagome, bouzu?!” the hanyou snarled, baring his
fangs as clawed hands fisted into the front of his robes, effectively tearing
several new holes in the worn fabric.
Eyes widening in slight panic, Miroku tried to voice a
response, but it was rather difficult with a hundred-some pound hanyou crouched
on his chest. “Wh-what
are you…talking…about…?” he finally managed to wheeze out…but Inuyasha
apparently didn’t like that answer, because his response was to grip the monk’s
robe tighter and shake him, hard, effectively slamming Miroku’s back and head
to the floor.
“Your breath, asshole! I can smell
her on your breath! What
did you do to her?! You’ve been
jumpy all day and now I get why!”
Miroku’s eyes widened.
Oh, hell. He’d never even thought about…it hadn’t even occurred to him that Inuyasha would be
able to…but…but hadn’t he eaten
something by then? Only…he hadn’t because Kagome’s furious
departure had left him too tense and distracted to even think of eating and…and now he…
Oh, yes. He was
dead. Very.
And then…just as he was ready to bid farewell to all
hope…a miracle came on the voice of an angel.
“Osuwari!”
Unfortunately, the angel failed to take into account that,
considering Inuyasha’s current position, the one she was attempting to save
wasn’t really saved, so much as
flattened beneath the force of the hanyou being flung on his face over his
victim’s helpless body with all the weight of a dropped boulder.
Ow…
Miroku actually pitied the poor hanyou, if that was what
he had to go through every time Kagome took it into her head to sit him. Nevertheless, he offered his savior a faint
smile, only to have it fade when all he received was an icy glare in
return. On the other hand…considering
that Kagome still seemed a little…disgruntled about certain things, his current
situation might not have been so accidental, after all…
“Kaaagooomeeee!” Inuyasha leapt up with fire in his eyes,
prepared to chew her out, only to stop mid-rant and blink at her
suspiciously. “What’re you doin’ back here so soon?” he questioned instead. “What happened to that…that…In-ter-coursi-typho-tis or whatever it’s called…?”
“My what?!” Kagome yelped, her face turning a dozen interesting shades
of red as she shot Miroku a glare of scandalized horror. Something in his eyes—perhaps the silent,
desperate plea for his life—must’ve gotten through to her, because she managed
to calm herself enough to mutter, “Miroku…sama must’ve overreacted. It was just a cold. A few hours of rest and enough meds to knock
out a moose and I’m perfectly healthy!”
She demonstrated said health by pumping her arms up and down in the
air. “See?” Under her breath, she added, “And I thought
my grandfather was nuts…”
If her smile was a little too forced, Inuyasha didn’t
notice, and the sudden arrival of one very cold, wet, and hyper Shippou—who
promptly flung himself onto Kagome’s back and began chattering about the
massive snowball fight he’d gotten into with the village children—was enough to
distract his attention for the time being.
At least, until he suddenly remembered
just why he’d been about to murder
Miroku in the first place.
Before Miroku could make a break for it, he found himself
being hoisted by his robes and subjected yet again to Inuyasha’s narrowed
gaze. He briefly considered pretending
to be asleep, but highly doubted that’d be enough to stop the hanyou from
flaying him, anyway. And besides, Kagome
was watching. According to the Male Code
of Honor, he had to look macho and
unafraid in front of her, even if he did
feel like pissing his…oh wait. He didn’t have
pants anymore, did he?
“Inuyasha, what
are you doing?” Kagome sighed in a tired sort of
voice. “Do I need to sit you again?”
“What did he do to you, Kagome?” Inuyasha
growled, still glaring at the monk. “His
breath reeks of your scent!” He
completely missed the way Kagome’s face turned red, then completely white, and
the way she swayed slightly as though about to fall. Miroku would have gladly caught her had he
not been…hung up at the moment.
Luckily, though not without a great deal of
effort, she managed to gain control of herself.
“He kissed me,” she replied calmly, ignoring Inuyasha’s outraged gasp or
Miroku’s audible gulp. “Just once, and I
nailed him for it…” Here, Miroku nearly
choked at how many…accurate ways that
statement could be taken. “…and he
didn’t do it again.”
Um…he wouldn’t tell if she didn’t…
“It must’ve been some kiss, if you’re still on
his breath,” Inuyasha growled, eyeing
her sulkily.
She squirmed.
“Well…he…caught me by surprise.
He was…trying to prove a point.”
“What point?”
She winced.
“I don’t remember. Could you…put
him down now? Please?”
He blinked at her—that “please” had obviously
caught him by surprise—and dropped Miroku into a heap at his feet, before
padding over to Kagome and laying both hands on her shoulders. “If he…or anyone else…ever tries to take advantage of you like that again, tell me,
and I’ll deal with them,” he growled.
To Miroku’s utter disgust, Kagome’s eyes took
on a limpid gleam as she gazed up at the hanyou, nodding in silent agreement as
a positively dreamy smile crossed her features.
Inuyasha blinked at her, and then—apparently realizing that his
I’m-too-big-an-ass-to-care attitude was in serious
danger of being crushed beneath the weight of that frighteningly sugar-coated
gaze—abruptly released her and turned to stalk out of the hut, muttering
something about the need for some fresh air.
Miroku watched him go, thinking up the many, many ways that Inuyasha could possibly
die out there in the wilderness, and Kagome—after managing to calm down a
still-grumbling kitsune (whom basically everybody had forgotten about)—settled
down on her pallet for some well-deserved rest of her own. Obviously, she wasn’t about to give Miroku
any of the answers he craved tonight.
And in her own little corner
of her hut, wondering just when and how she’d managed to become so completely
invisible to the naked eye (and yet, somehow, not really caring, as she was far too entertained to end this little
drama just yet), Kaede sat and wondered when—if ever—the author was going to
give her a part in this insane little
story.
And, at least
for the moment, all was at peace in the universe.
Well…aside
from the two planets that were busily colliding far, far away, effectively
blowing the thousands of helpless alien residents into space dust…
But that’s another story for another time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And
no.
The story ain’t
over. Stop panicking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Desiree: And just what was that
all about?
Quickening: *Blinks innocently* What was what?
Desiree: That! *points to the end of the chapter*
Quickening: Oooohhhh. Right. That was the result of waaaay too much caffine at work last night.
And lots of rubber gasket fumes. Funny, ne? *grins insanely*
Desiree: -_-;; Let’s see…I know the help wanted ads are
around here somewhere…