it's just a little innocent perversion (honest!); a Kagome, Miroku pairing
Title: it’s just a little innocent perversion (honest!)
Author: gypso_child
Fandom: Inu Yasha
Pairing: Miroku x Hiigarashi Kagome
Theme Set: Gamma
Rating: R, to be safe
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha and company does not belong to me, and I am making no money off of this; there just needs to be lots more Miro/Kag, yo!
Notes: As this isn't a canon pairing, I think it's safe to say that this is AU. :] I've read a lot of the manga, and watched a lot of the anime. I have not, however, finished either, and I do not know the details of the later parts, plot wise. Forgive me if I have sinned, oh fellow fanatics.
1.
The entire group is moping, and Miroku is too irritated with Inu Yasha, and in too much pain from his kazaana to try and lift the mood, so when he hears the faint chink chink of his staff rings, and looks over his shoulder to see Kagome innocently playing with them like a cat, he is speechless.
2.
Kagome, at his bedside, cries, and Miroku smiles like it hurts, which it does, and he knows, as his fingers tangle in her hair, that he will have to sneak out in the morning, like his father before him; but first he must love this woman, and ensure that, in years to come, she will know the truth: that she was the hero who saved his heart, and that there could be no greater blessing than that; not even life.
3.
The well has been sealed for years, and Kagome has drifted through them like a stand in for a play that she has almost forgotten the lines to, and it is not until she chances a glimpse of a white, charming grin, and wickedly sparkling eyes, and a low, smooth voice that says, “Kagome-sama, it’s been a few lifetimes; how are you?” that her heart stops living in a land of memories, and comes back to the present.
4.
For a week straight, Miroku took great pleasure in teasingly calling her Pandora-sama, and Kagome began to regret, fiercely, ever bringing over that Greek mythology book; but she forgets to be irritated when Miroku pulls her close one day, and whispers in her ear that, if opening the box was what it took to get to hope, then he is damned glad that she tumbled her way through time to be by his side.
5.
Miroku sometimes thinks that Kagome must be masochistic, because he can’t understand why she isn’t running away, as far and as fast as she can get, because he’s nothing but trouble, and certainly not worth it, and all he’s likely to give her is his early death and a lot of heartache, but Miroku is just selfish enough not to care, and hold her all the tighter for it.
6.
Miroku’s kazaana is a little like a hurricane, and Kagome, sometimes, can’t believe that she ever dared to take that leap of faith to his side; but then she turns a corner, and sees him blessing a child, or making the elderly village woman laugh through their work, or sharing a cup of sake and a wry smile with some weary soul, an she remembers why.
7.
The sun is shining, and the sky is blue, and Kagome is saying that she’s always wanted wings to fly with, and Miroku smiles, and says, “You’d certainly make a cute fly, Kagome-sama;” it is all he can do not to laugh at her indignant expression, but he loses the battle when Shippou pretends to swat at her.
8.
Miroku was expecting it when Sango clocked him, even though it was a perfectly good idea for combating the cold and chill, and for the most part he ignores it, and wonders what else he could say that would turn Kagome that delightfully pink shade of sputtering, offended innocence.
9.
Miroku doesn’t like the color red very much, because the color red makes him think of dog demons and broken eyed girls who are too blind to see what’s right in front of them.
10.
They’ve only had a couple rounds of sake, but they’re already falling all over themselves, giggling enough to send Inu Yasha crashing through the trees away from them in disgust, which is just fine with Miroku, because Kagome is too cute a drunk to be shared, anyway.
11.
“I feel like Cinderella, only, instead of the clock striking midnight, the shikon no tama will be complete, and I’ll be sent home, and I’ll lose all of this, and I…I don’t know if I can survive that,” Kagome says, and her eyes show the darkness that is usually lost in the midst of her light, and Miroku’s mouth tightens that he can’t do anything to fix it; even kisses only chase it away, instead of obliterating it.
12.
“Kikyou is a dark temptation,” Miroku says in her ear, suddenly, as they watch the pair, like a couple of somber-eyed voyeurs; Kagome turns to him, and her eyes plead, making him smile, self-deprecating, as he reaches a hand to her soft, tear-streaked cheek; says, “Inu Yasha will always be weak against those, but not me, no - it is heaven that is in possession of my soul.”
13.
Miroku doesn’t like climbing mountains very much, and it shows in his slow, meandering pace, and dark grumbles; however, he is very thankful for Kagome’s strange kimono, because then, at least, the view is nice.
14.
Miroku is not sure who decided that music would be a good idea, but he could kiss them (unless it was the lord’s old grandmother, because that woman was just fossilized), because Kagome is dancing, and it’s like watching light shiver in shades of ink and snow, and gray-blue and red like berries, and it is beautiful.
15.
It is a rare visit home, when she is not drowning in make-up tests and sleep-deprivation due to excessive studying, and she is out shopping with her friends, when she finds that, even in a different time period, she cannot escape him, because she has found a purple silk ribbon that would go great with Miroku’s hair, and she can’t resist spending the majority of her allowance on it as a gift, even if she’s more than likely to be teased as thanks.
16.
Sango can’t believe that she’s covering for them, but she’s seen them together, and there is no way that she can deny such comfortable, easy love, something safe and warm and incomprehensibly compelling; has seen the incredulous looks in their eyes as they look at each other, and realize, all over again, that they have fallen in love, and it is good, and she hopes that, someday, she can have something as ineffable as that.
17.
“Promise you won’t forget me,” he says, and Kagome feels her heart stutter in fear, because why would she ever want to be put into a situation to forget such an incorrigible, charming jerk, but Miroku is dancing around the words and questions again, so she just says, “I promise,” and hopes that it was the right answer.
18.
“Tell me your dreams,” Kagome demands, and Miroku considers telling her it’s to own a brothel, become filthy rich, and be perpetually drunk and satisfied, just to see her reaction, but he doesn’t; instead he rolls her over, and says, “You.”
19.
The storm is raging, and candles are lit everywhere, so that the abandoned hut they found is flickering in fire and shadows, and Miroku is by the window, standing, looking like something dark and hesitant and deep, and Kagome aches at his beauty, falls in love with him in that secret, accidental moment, away from the sun and happy things.
20.
Kagome has a talent in being able to find the good in everything, even if she has to roll up her sleeves and be stubborn to do it; but Kagome thinks that Miroku is the one with the real talent, because he doesn’t find the good, he is the good, and that makes Kagome’s job much easier.
21.
Love, Kagome decides, is a little like Miroku, a silent, smug thing that she finds reclining in her heart like it owns it, until she prods it and realizes that, yes, he does have a reason to be smirking like that, and she is lost in them, her heart the fuller for it.
22.
It has been a long journey, Miroku knows, through death and life and pain and betrayals, through several life times and quite a large chunk of time, but, finally, Miroku is in the right place, and there she is, and there he is, and maybe, this time, it can work like its supposed to, without stupid things like demons and kazaanas getting in their way.
23.
With Inu Yasha, Kagome felt love like a flash-fire, quick and burning, leaving devastation in its wake; with Miroku, it is more like the ocean, deep and never-ending, and perhaps the waters may be choppy one day, but it always smoothes out, in the end, and everything is peaceful and glorious, teeming with life and possibilities.
24.
Miroku’s hand is tight around Kagome’s as they jump through the well, and Miroku almost wishes to get lost in the magic of it, swept away to some different time period, because he isn’t sure if he has enough strength and charm to meet the family of the girl he loves; no doubt they’ll wonder the same damn thing he does, every time she throws a smile his way: why him?
25.
Sometimes, usually in geometry, Kagome daydreams about being at a ball, watching the couples twirl around the dance floor in awe; someone will tap her on the shoulder, and she’ll turn, but even with the mask concealing indigo eyes, she’ll know her prince charming when she sees him; and when the bell rings, all she’ll be able to think about is getting back to the past, where Miroku will say, “Hello, Kagome-sama, it has been a dark, dreary place without your sunny disposition to brighten all our days,” and Kagome will laugh and ask if Inu Yasha has really been that difficult, and Miroku will give her a look, and it will all be perfect.
26.
They look ridiculous, and Miroku has no hope of staying on his feet longer than three minutes at a time, but when Kagome popped back over with the ice skates, and asked if anyone wanted a try, Miroku knew Inu Yasha would sneer and scoff, and that Sango would politely but sweetly turn her down; knew that he would be the one to give it a shot, if not because it sounded interesting and like an easy way to accidentally grope her on the way down, then simply because he loved to see her smile.
27.
Kagome and Miroku are enjoying an easy banter on the best way to get down the steep hill, each suggestion getting more and more implausible as they go a long, until, finally, Inu Yasha gets sick of their chatter and just shoves them down; at the end of the high paced tumbling fall, when they are both breathless with pain and laughter and glee, they crash together, and forget to let go, though Kagome doesn’t forget to yell out a quick sit in revenge.
28.
Miroku doesn’t realize that he’s done something weird until Inu Yasha sputters, and that’s when he realizes that he walked right by an entire group of young, pretty village girls with nary a glance; he blinks, jaw agape, because he believes that’s the first time since puberty that he has forgotten his mission, and when he hears the quiet giggle of his companion, he turns and points at her accusingly, still speechless.
29.
Miroku’s eyes are shadowed by his bangs, and his smile is not a happy one, and Kagome’s breath catches; his fingers tighten around her wrist, keep her from that one leap into the future; and Kagome figures that he doesn’t really have to say anything, because there’d be hell to pay if she caught him dancing with other girls; and so she kisses him, and says, “I’ll stay home, instead.”
30.
One day Miroku takes Kagome’s hand and places it on his chest, saying, “This is my body; please, use it any time you like,” and Kagome could swear that her brain explodes.
31.
“Let’s go defile something sacred,” Miroku says one day, quite grandly, and Kagome smiles a secret little smile, the kind that always makes Miroku’s heart tighten, and awe and fright to suffuse his being, because that smile is his, and he wonders if he really can talk her into having sex on the altar table.
32.
Kagome isn’t sure when her heart finally bid farewell to Inu Yasha, but she is glad that it moved on, because she couldn’t bear the thought of missing out on a life time of special tea breaks, and raucous children playing in the field outside the shrine, or waking up to that incorrigible grin and dark set of eyes.
33.
It is easy to forget that they live in separate worlds, because they are the same soul, miko and monk, fun loving and determined, soft sharp edged and dark-bright, and anyone who said that opposites attract may have been right, but that doesn’t mean that everyone needs to be completed, or that like repels like: sometimes, it is a case of the sum being more than the two parts added.
34.
For all their tease and flirt and fun, the two are oddly formal, and when Kagome slips one day, and shrieks “Miro-kun,” instead, Sango is amused at the shades of red that Kagome’s complexion can reach, and the shamelessly delighted, albeit shocked, look on the monk’s, as he begins the teasing anew; Sango leaves them to it, because she hears the edge to Miroku’s voice, and she thinks, maybe, the idiots might finally face up to the inevitable.
35.
Miroku and Kagome have become quite skilled in combating the common cold, in breaking fevers and curing sniffles; their children enjoy the rain too much for them to keep them indoors, and more often than not, they end up joining them, a family laughing through the storm, and the children have learned to make certain that mother and father take their medicine as well - icky as it is.
36.
Even if it sometimes hurts Sango to see the two together, still oblivious to the obvious, and even though she dreads the confrontation when Inu Yasha becomes aware of it, Sango cannot help but think that it will all be worth it, because she has never seen Kagome so relaxed as when she is with the monk, and Miroku, Sango knows, a little bitterly, only ever really laughs, genuinely, around the girl.
37.
“You were learning to cook oden,” Kagome accused, in surprised glee, and watched as Miroku shifted, awkward and a tad sulky, and when she asked why he had lied about it, he sniffed and brushed off his robes, haughtily informing her that it was meant to be a surprise, damn it, and did she have to be so curious?
38.
“Don’t die,” she whispers, “stay with me forever,” and Miroku wonders if mentioning reincarnation would be the wrong thing to say; but he doesn’t want to lie, and the last time he tried to distract her with a kiss, she started crying instead, hearing, as others rarely did, the things unspoken said.
39.
Miroku knows that, if it weren’t for Kagome’s pert rear flashing him as the wind kicks up her kimono, he would be overwhelmed by the plethora of pleasure girls lining the streets, beckoning; he focuses, instead, on Kagome, and doesn’t understand why she slaps him for the inevitable grope that occurs, but takes it like a man, because if he had groped someone else, a slap would have been the least of his worries; he whistles, nursing his bright red cheek, as they leave the slum; Kagome is a goddess when she’s angry - a cute, rumpled, kitten like goddess.
40.
Kagome has long learned to ignore the pain of contempt from her peers, as she raises her indigo-eyed child all alone, with nary a marriage certificate in sight; it is the fact that the whispers crawl beneath her skin, wriggle deep into her heart to niggle at the reason for that contempt, a loss like a gaping wound, that keeps her up crying at night.
41.
Miroku, in the middle of dark, lonely, cold nights, takes comfort in the pair of panties that he snitched from Kagome’s pack one day; without the fantasies the tiny scrap of fabric entices, he knows that it would be an abominable wait, while Kagome is gone.
42.
Kagome, mid-sentence, is pounced upon, to land on her back, staring up into dark, wicked eyes that make things deep inside her shiver, and her breath to come out in ragged gasps, and Miroku, voice deep and rasping in her ear, says, “You talk to much,” and proceeds to kiss her.
43.
“Kagome-sama,” Miroku says, quizzical, “you are only wearing one sock, and I truly hope that this is not some new fashion statement from the future, because if so, I truly do fear-“ she cuts him off with a disgruntled look, and he tries to look innocent; finally, faced with his wide eyes, she throws her hands up in exasperated amusement, and says, “Oh, just help me search for the other one already, would you?”
44.
Miroku has often gotten lost in the dark before, and his tried and true plan has always been to wait it out, until it got bored with him; now, however, he stands boldly, because Kagome is there to chase the shadows away, and he finds the ability to hope for better things.
45.
Sometimes, it is like Inu Yasha is the sun, a god shining so brightly in her eyes that he eclipses all else, and Miroku grits his teeth and looks away, forward, his knuckles tight around his staff, and waits for it to pass, praying that he is, once more, strong enough to bear through it.
46.
One day, Miroku makes a comment that, usually, would have had him slapped, and its obvious in the reflexive flinch around his eyes that he’s waiting for it, but for some reason, instead of outrage, Kagome feels a little like she does when she jumps through the well, like the world has flipped, and up is down, and gravity is pulling her up to heaven, rather than down to earth, and she smiles at him instead.
47.
When they drive on the highway, Miroku makes sure all of the windows are up, and Kagome lets him with a soft smile, because the past is still painful, and though his hand is hole, their hearts aren’t, not quite, and sometimes the sound of whistling winds is frightening.
48.
The future is uncertain, unknown, and that is scary, but understandable, and so is Miroku holding her tight around the waist, absently mentioning a beautiful seaside cabin that they can run away too, and so is Kagome lightly asking if there are any cats there, and is the beach safe enough to play on; because they are scared, and even though they will not go through with it - because they understand duty and obligation, far too well - they like to pretend that they can see and know a better future, just lying out of reach; maybe, if they try hard enough, they’ll even find their way there.
49.
Behind him, Miroku “innocently” locks the door and loses the key in a convenient gap in the floor boards, and Kagome is wide-eyed and scandalized and hopelessly amused before him; “Whoops,” he says, grin unrepentant, “looks like we’ll have to stay here until someone realizes we’re missing tomorrow; hey, look, it’s a bed!”
50.
When it’s over, their hands are whole and newly tainted; shoulders slumped but unburdened; eyes darker but hopeful; they reach for each other, cling, and their foreheads press together, hard, so that they can feel each other breathing like sweet kisses; can feel each other living, with each gasping pant, with each murmured reassurance; and they begin to find, in each other, peace.
Author: gypso_child
Fandom: Inu Yasha
Pairing: Miroku x Hiigarashi Kagome
Theme Set: Gamma
Rating: R, to be safe
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha and company does not belong to me, and I am making no money off of this; there just needs to be lots more Miro/Kag, yo!
Notes: As this isn't a canon pairing, I think it's safe to say that this is AU. :] I've read a lot of the manga, and watched a lot of the anime. I have not, however, finished either, and I do not know the details of the later parts, plot wise. Forgive me if I have sinned, oh fellow fanatics.
1.
The entire group is moping, and Miroku is too irritated with Inu Yasha, and in too much pain from his kazaana to try and lift the mood, so when he hears the faint chink chink of his staff rings, and looks over his shoulder to see Kagome innocently playing with them like a cat, he is speechless.
2.
Kagome, at his bedside, cries, and Miroku smiles like it hurts, which it does, and he knows, as his fingers tangle in her hair, that he will have to sneak out in the morning, like his father before him; but first he must love this woman, and ensure that, in years to come, she will know the truth: that she was the hero who saved his heart, and that there could be no greater blessing than that; not even life.
3.
The well has been sealed for years, and Kagome has drifted through them like a stand in for a play that she has almost forgotten the lines to, and it is not until she chances a glimpse of a white, charming grin, and wickedly sparkling eyes, and a low, smooth voice that says, “Kagome-sama, it’s been a few lifetimes; how are you?” that her heart stops living in a land of memories, and comes back to the present.
4.
For a week straight, Miroku took great pleasure in teasingly calling her Pandora-sama, and Kagome began to regret, fiercely, ever bringing over that Greek mythology book; but she forgets to be irritated when Miroku pulls her close one day, and whispers in her ear that, if opening the box was what it took to get to hope, then he is damned glad that she tumbled her way through time to be by his side.
5.
Miroku sometimes thinks that Kagome must be masochistic, because he can’t understand why she isn’t running away, as far and as fast as she can get, because he’s nothing but trouble, and certainly not worth it, and all he’s likely to give her is his early death and a lot of heartache, but Miroku is just selfish enough not to care, and hold her all the tighter for it.
6.
Miroku’s kazaana is a little like a hurricane, and Kagome, sometimes, can’t believe that she ever dared to take that leap of faith to his side; but then she turns a corner, and sees him blessing a child, or making the elderly village woman laugh through their work, or sharing a cup of sake and a wry smile with some weary soul, an she remembers why.
7.
The sun is shining, and the sky is blue, and Kagome is saying that she’s always wanted wings to fly with, and Miroku smiles, and says, “You’d certainly make a cute fly, Kagome-sama;” it is all he can do not to laugh at her indignant expression, but he loses the battle when Shippou pretends to swat at her.
8.
Miroku was expecting it when Sango clocked him, even though it was a perfectly good idea for combating the cold and chill, and for the most part he ignores it, and wonders what else he could say that would turn Kagome that delightfully pink shade of sputtering, offended innocence.
9.
Miroku doesn’t like the color red very much, because the color red makes him think of dog demons and broken eyed girls who are too blind to see what’s right in front of them.
10.
They’ve only had a couple rounds of sake, but they’re already falling all over themselves, giggling enough to send Inu Yasha crashing through the trees away from them in disgust, which is just fine with Miroku, because Kagome is too cute a drunk to be shared, anyway.
11.
“I feel like Cinderella, only, instead of the clock striking midnight, the shikon no tama will be complete, and I’ll be sent home, and I’ll lose all of this, and I…I don’t know if I can survive that,” Kagome says, and her eyes show the darkness that is usually lost in the midst of her light, and Miroku’s mouth tightens that he can’t do anything to fix it; even kisses only chase it away, instead of obliterating it.
12.
“Kikyou is a dark temptation,” Miroku says in her ear, suddenly, as they watch the pair, like a couple of somber-eyed voyeurs; Kagome turns to him, and her eyes plead, making him smile, self-deprecating, as he reaches a hand to her soft, tear-streaked cheek; says, “Inu Yasha will always be weak against those, but not me, no - it is heaven that is in possession of my soul.”
13.
Miroku doesn’t like climbing mountains very much, and it shows in his slow, meandering pace, and dark grumbles; however, he is very thankful for Kagome’s strange kimono, because then, at least, the view is nice.
14.
Miroku is not sure who decided that music would be a good idea, but he could kiss them (unless it was the lord’s old grandmother, because that woman was just fossilized), because Kagome is dancing, and it’s like watching light shiver in shades of ink and snow, and gray-blue and red like berries, and it is beautiful.
15.
It is a rare visit home, when she is not drowning in make-up tests and sleep-deprivation due to excessive studying, and she is out shopping with her friends, when she finds that, even in a different time period, she cannot escape him, because she has found a purple silk ribbon that would go great with Miroku’s hair, and she can’t resist spending the majority of her allowance on it as a gift, even if she’s more than likely to be teased as thanks.
16.
Sango can’t believe that she’s covering for them, but she’s seen them together, and there is no way that she can deny such comfortable, easy love, something safe and warm and incomprehensibly compelling; has seen the incredulous looks in their eyes as they look at each other, and realize, all over again, that they have fallen in love, and it is good, and she hopes that, someday, she can have something as ineffable as that.
17.
“Promise you won’t forget me,” he says, and Kagome feels her heart stutter in fear, because why would she ever want to be put into a situation to forget such an incorrigible, charming jerk, but Miroku is dancing around the words and questions again, so she just says, “I promise,” and hopes that it was the right answer.
18.
“Tell me your dreams,” Kagome demands, and Miroku considers telling her it’s to own a brothel, become filthy rich, and be perpetually drunk and satisfied, just to see her reaction, but he doesn’t; instead he rolls her over, and says, “You.”
19.
The storm is raging, and candles are lit everywhere, so that the abandoned hut they found is flickering in fire and shadows, and Miroku is by the window, standing, looking like something dark and hesitant and deep, and Kagome aches at his beauty, falls in love with him in that secret, accidental moment, away from the sun and happy things.
20.
Kagome has a talent in being able to find the good in everything, even if she has to roll up her sleeves and be stubborn to do it; but Kagome thinks that Miroku is the one with the real talent, because he doesn’t find the good, he is the good, and that makes Kagome’s job much easier.
21.
Love, Kagome decides, is a little like Miroku, a silent, smug thing that she finds reclining in her heart like it owns it, until she prods it and realizes that, yes, he does have a reason to be smirking like that, and she is lost in them, her heart the fuller for it.
22.
It has been a long journey, Miroku knows, through death and life and pain and betrayals, through several life times and quite a large chunk of time, but, finally, Miroku is in the right place, and there she is, and there he is, and maybe, this time, it can work like its supposed to, without stupid things like demons and kazaanas getting in their way.
23.
With Inu Yasha, Kagome felt love like a flash-fire, quick and burning, leaving devastation in its wake; with Miroku, it is more like the ocean, deep and never-ending, and perhaps the waters may be choppy one day, but it always smoothes out, in the end, and everything is peaceful and glorious, teeming with life and possibilities.
24.
Miroku’s hand is tight around Kagome’s as they jump through the well, and Miroku almost wishes to get lost in the magic of it, swept away to some different time period, because he isn’t sure if he has enough strength and charm to meet the family of the girl he loves; no doubt they’ll wonder the same damn thing he does, every time she throws a smile his way: why him?
25.
Sometimes, usually in geometry, Kagome daydreams about being at a ball, watching the couples twirl around the dance floor in awe; someone will tap her on the shoulder, and she’ll turn, but even with the mask concealing indigo eyes, she’ll know her prince charming when she sees him; and when the bell rings, all she’ll be able to think about is getting back to the past, where Miroku will say, “Hello, Kagome-sama, it has been a dark, dreary place without your sunny disposition to brighten all our days,” and Kagome will laugh and ask if Inu Yasha has really been that difficult, and Miroku will give her a look, and it will all be perfect.
26.
They look ridiculous, and Miroku has no hope of staying on his feet longer than three minutes at a time, but when Kagome popped back over with the ice skates, and asked if anyone wanted a try, Miroku knew Inu Yasha would sneer and scoff, and that Sango would politely but sweetly turn her down; knew that he would be the one to give it a shot, if not because it sounded interesting and like an easy way to accidentally grope her on the way down, then simply because he loved to see her smile.
27.
Kagome and Miroku are enjoying an easy banter on the best way to get down the steep hill, each suggestion getting more and more implausible as they go a long, until, finally, Inu Yasha gets sick of their chatter and just shoves them down; at the end of the high paced tumbling fall, when they are both breathless with pain and laughter and glee, they crash together, and forget to let go, though Kagome doesn’t forget to yell out a quick sit in revenge.
28.
Miroku doesn’t realize that he’s done something weird until Inu Yasha sputters, and that’s when he realizes that he walked right by an entire group of young, pretty village girls with nary a glance; he blinks, jaw agape, because he believes that’s the first time since puberty that he has forgotten his mission, and when he hears the quiet giggle of his companion, he turns and points at her accusingly, still speechless.
29.
Miroku’s eyes are shadowed by his bangs, and his smile is not a happy one, and Kagome’s breath catches; his fingers tighten around her wrist, keep her from that one leap into the future; and Kagome figures that he doesn’t really have to say anything, because there’d be hell to pay if she caught him dancing with other girls; and so she kisses him, and says, “I’ll stay home, instead.”
30.
One day Miroku takes Kagome’s hand and places it on his chest, saying, “This is my body; please, use it any time you like,” and Kagome could swear that her brain explodes.
31.
“Let’s go defile something sacred,” Miroku says one day, quite grandly, and Kagome smiles a secret little smile, the kind that always makes Miroku’s heart tighten, and awe and fright to suffuse his being, because that smile is his, and he wonders if he really can talk her into having sex on the altar table.
32.
Kagome isn’t sure when her heart finally bid farewell to Inu Yasha, but she is glad that it moved on, because she couldn’t bear the thought of missing out on a life time of special tea breaks, and raucous children playing in the field outside the shrine, or waking up to that incorrigible grin and dark set of eyes.
33.
It is easy to forget that they live in separate worlds, because they are the same soul, miko and monk, fun loving and determined, soft sharp edged and dark-bright, and anyone who said that opposites attract may have been right, but that doesn’t mean that everyone needs to be completed, or that like repels like: sometimes, it is a case of the sum being more than the two parts added.
34.
For all their tease and flirt and fun, the two are oddly formal, and when Kagome slips one day, and shrieks “Miro-kun,” instead, Sango is amused at the shades of red that Kagome’s complexion can reach, and the shamelessly delighted, albeit shocked, look on the monk’s, as he begins the teasing anew; Sango leaves them to it, because she hears the edge to Miroku’s voice, and she thinks, maybe, the idiots might finally face up to the inevitable.
35.
Miroku and Kagome have become quite skilled in combating the common cold, in breaking fevers and curing sniffles; their children enjoy the rain too much for them to keep them indoors, and more often than not, they end up joining them, a family laughing through the storm, and the children have learned to make certain that mother and father take their medicine as well - icky as it is.
36.
Even if it sometimes hurts Sango to see the two together, still oblivious to the obvious, and even though she dreads the confrontation when Inu Yasha becomes aware of it, Sango cannot help but think that it will all be worth it, because she has never seen Kagome so relaxed as when she is with the monk, and Miroku, Sango knows, a little bitterly, only ever really laughs, genuinely, around the girl.
37.
“You were learning to cook oden,” Kagome accused, in surprised glee, and watched as Miroku shifted, awkward and a tad sulky, and when she asked why he had lied about it, he sniffed and brushed off his robes, haughtily informing her that it was meant to be a surprise, damn it, and did she have to be so curious?
38.
“Don’t die,” she whispers, “stay with me forever,” and Miroku wonders if mentioning reincarnation would be the wrong thing to say; but he doesn’t want to lie, and the last time he tried to distract her with a kiss, she started crying instead, hearing, as others rarely did, the things unspoken said.
39.
Miroku knows that, if it weren’t for Kagome’s pert rear flashing him as the wind kicks up her kimono, he would be overwhelmed by the plethora of pleasure girls lining the streets, beckoning; he focuses, instead, on Kagome, and doesn’t understand why she slaps him for the inevitable grope that occurs, but takes it like a man, because if he had groped someone else, a slap would have been the least of his worries; he whistles, nursing his bright red cheek, as they leave the slum; Kagome is a goddess when she’s angry - a cute, rumpled, kitten like goddess.
40.
Kagome has long learned to ignore the pain of contempt from her peers, as she raises her indigo-eyed child all alone, with nary a marriage certificate in sight; it is the fact that the whispers crawl beneath her skin, wriggle deep into her heart to niggle at the reason for that contempt, a loss like a gaping wound, that keeps her up crying at night.
41.
Miroku, in the middle of dark, lonely, cold nights, takes comfort in the pair of panties that he snitched from Kagome’s pack one day; without the fantasies the tiny scrap of fabric entices, he knows that it would be an abominable wait, while Kagome is gone.
42.
Kagome, mid-sentence, is pounced upon, to land on her back, staring up into dark, wicked eyes that make things deep inside her shiver, and her breath to come out in ragged gasps, and Miroku, voice deep and rasping in her ear, says, “You talk to much,” and proceeds to kiss her.
43.
“Kagome-sama,” Miroku says, quizzical, “you are only wearing one sock, and I truly hope that this is not some new fashion statement from the future, because if so, I truly do fear-“ she cuts him off with a disgruntled look, and he tries to look innocent; finally, faced with his wide eyes, she throws her hands up in exasperated amusement, and says, “Oh, just help me search for the other one already, would you?”
44.
Miroku has often gotten lost in the dark before, and his tried and true plan has always been to wait it out, until it got bored with him; now, however, he stands boldly, because Kagome is there to chase the shadows away, and he finds the ability to hope for better things.
45.
Sometimes, it is like Inu Yasha is the sun, a god shining so brightly in her eyes that he eclipses all else, and Miroku grits his teeth and looks away, forward, his knuckles tight around his staff, and waits for it to pass, praying that he is, once more, strong enough to bear through it.
46.
One day, Miroku makes a comment that, usually, would have had him slapped, and its obvious in the reflexive flinch around his eyes that he’s waiting for it, but for some reason, instead of outrage, Kagome feels a little like she does when she jumps through the well, like the world has flipped, and up is down, and gravity is pulling her up to heaven, rather than down to earth, and she smiles at him instead.
47.
When they drive on the highway, Miroku makes sure all of the windows are up, and Kagome lets him with a soft smile, because the past is still painful, and though his hand is hole, their hearts aren’t, not quite, and sometimes the sound of whistling winds is frightening.
48.
The future is uncertain, unknown, and that is scary, but understandable, and so is Miroku holding her tight around the waist, absently mentioning a beautiful seaside cabin that they can run away too, and so is Kagome lightly asking if there are any cats there, and is the beach safe enough to play on; because they are scared, and even though they will not go through with it - because they understand duty and obligation, far too well - they like to pretend that they can see and know a better future, just lying out of reach; maybe, if they try hard enough, they’ll even find their way there.
49.
Behind him, Miroku “innocently” locks the door and loses the key in a convenient gap in the floor boards, and Kagome is wide-eyed and scandalized and hopelessly amused before him; “Whoops,” he says, grin unrepentant, “looks like we’ll have to stay here until someone realizes we’re missing tomorrow; hey, look, it’s a bed!”
50.
When it’s over, their hands are whole and newly tainted; shoulders slumped but unburdened; eyes darker but hopeful; they reach for each other, cling, and their foreheads press together, hard, so that they can feel each other breathing like sweet kisses; can feel each other living, with each gasping pant, with each murmured reassurance; and they begin to find, in each other, peace.