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Along Came a Serpent pt. IIII
Someone was watching me. I could feel it. Grimacing I turned over in my sleep, laying on my back. I squirmed restlessly against the invisible eyes, wishing to rid them. In the midst of it all my own eyes cracked open only slightly to gaze up and find the houshi sitting by my bedside. He looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes adding to his grim complexion. My eyes slid closed again, only to feel another pair of sinister eyes radiating red at the back of my mind. What was happening to me?
I forced my eyes open again only to stare up at the dark ceiling of my room. The outside moon gave just enough illumination to have the leaves play a shadowy pattern on the shouji door and dance across the room. Kirara sat curled at my side on the futon, undisturbed as I slowly moved into a sitting position. It seemed I couldn’t get myself to fall back asleep. Taking in a steady breath of air I thought long and hard about the past events.
For some reason, it felt as if I had never been so content in my entire life. My heart was so utterly relieved that my family was by my side, safe and out of harm’s way. And then there was houshi-sama. His sheer company was enough to leave me lighthearted for the rest of the day. He was so charming, so gentle with me. It was because of this I found it extremely hard to believe whatever InuYasha was complaining about this evening. I dismissed it in any case. As Miroku had said, he would take me with him. Keep me by his side …
At this I frowned once more. What to do … Shifting I stood and walked over to open the shouji leading to the inner hallway. It was dark, but squinting my eyes adjusted just enough to make it down to the guest rooms. We had suggested that the members of the group stay in their own individual rooms, for we had rooms to spare. Kagome-chan and Shippo-chan were in the room adjacent to Miroku’s, while InuYasha from what I believed was sleeping on the roof. My footfalls stilled as I faced a closed doorway.
My hand hesitantly reached out to open it, but stilled and drew back to my chest. What was I doing? Not even a day and here I was standing outside his bedroom. With a look of misery I spun and leaned against the door, sinking down to the floor. What was this feeling? Why wouldn’t it leave? My mind was obsessing over him to a degree that frightened me immensely. Once more brief flashes came before my eyes as they had often these past two days. Anger over flirtation, denial of affection, sacrifices, vows and promises. He was captured by a female youkai, I was downhearted by the waters, we clutched each other as youkai surrounded, he screams of claim to a prying catfish.
‘Out of all the women in my life, your concern means the most to me’
‘I wish you happiness’
‘If you can’t go on … then we’ll die here together!’
‘It’s not as if … as if I hoped he would love me. I never thought that …’
‘After that would you come live with me? … Would you bare my children, Sango?’
As these visions came so too did the pain. It struck my mind with grimacing jolts, causing me to clamp my hands tightly against my head and silence my groan behind clenched teeth. Sometime during the agony came the feeling as if I was falling backwards. Or maybe it had something to do with the door opening behind me.
A moment later I opened dark eyes to meet a pair of navy. My hair lay about my head, fanning in every which way direction and gleaming in the light of the moon. I was now lying half in and half out of the hallway and the room, while houshi-sama stood looking down, hand still planted on the door.
“Ano …” I murmured, blushing and not even bothering to get up.
He quirked an eyebrow down at me, “Are you alright, Sango?”
Vaguely I registered the fact that the pain had subsided, only to be replaced by a sudden embarrassment and lack of words, “Y-yes! I-I mean no … wait - no, it’s … I, I need to speak to you.”
“Does this have anything to do with what happened today?”
“W-well …” I fretted around the subject, still not quite grasping what had happened back there. “In a way. I have a lot on my mind.”
“As do I,” he responded, in a tone I associated with grimness though he held a placate face. “May we talk inside? I doubt I could take you seriously from your current position.”
I blinked up, acknowledging how odd I must have looked, and nodded. I took the gloved hand he offered, the rosary beads that touched my skin giving just the slightest sting as they had before. Once I was standing on my own two feet he placed a hand to the small of my back and guided me towards the other side of the room, where the shouji door leading to the porch opened to let in the night breeze. Though he wore his night yukata it was evident from his unwrinkled futon that he had not gone to sleep yet. There were also a few scrolls with an ink canteen and brush, set aside a small candle dish. My curiosity to see what said scrolls held was interrupted when the houshi began to speak.
“Tell me, Sango. What plagues your thoughts?”
“I …” I paused, closing my eyes with a small nervous laugh mixed with a sigh. “I’m uncertain of what is false and reality anymore. I close my eyes to open them lying in bed with you by my side, but blink once more and find myself back at the task at hand. My mind has never played such tricks up until now, and it frightens me. I flash back to things that have never existed – memories of you and I that have never been. Surely it is a result of whatever possession has overcome me. Please tell me this, and not that I am losing my sanity.”
“I believe you are very much in your right mind, Sango,” Miroku commented, raising his head to stare up at the ceiling. “For I have seen similar memories come before my eyes. Such odd happenings can bring one to a state of unease and paranoia, and lead them to seek help or try to control the uncontrollable. For what we are experiencing right now, it is better to leave things as they are. As said by the goddess of the moon Kaguya-hime, what is life but a fleeting illusion? Embrace what is good, whether it be fiction or real, or it will destroy you.”
“But that is just it …” I answered in a small voice, looking at him through my lashes. “Are you good for me?”
His calmness was broken for a short moment by shock, urgency straining to be kept out of his voice, “What are you saying?”
“Houshi-sama,” trailing off I leaned my arm against the shouji and faced the glowing moon, “I have seen some terrible things in these visions of mine. I remember hurt, jealousy, anger, despair … I remember running from you with my heart broken. Running – into the forest. Where … where …” I was beginning to lose my breath, feeling dizzy and uncoordinated as I clutched the shouji for support. Before the pain could come it was suppressed by a pair of strong warm arms that came to wrap around my shoulders and waist.
“Koibito,” Miroku hushed, his breath hot where he tucked his head in the crook of my neck. I shivered in response, my exhale shaky as he leisurely stroked my side and hip. “Do you think I lied about what I said to InuYasha?”
He placed a small kiss on my neck, encouraging me to bring a hand up to his head as I looked away, “It is much easier to say something then to act upon it.”
“It shouldn’t if you have the proper motivation. In which case, far exceeds the sacrifices.”
“Do you really mean it?”
He brought his ungloved hand up to gently turn my chin towards him so that our eyes would meet. “Would I lie to you?”
Would you? I asked to the emptiness of my mind. I frowned in response to his look of disappointment when I didn’t respond quick enough. “Perhaps not.” I looked down, upset by my suspicious nature. He had done nothing wrong, and nothing I could prove. There was no need to falsely accuse him.
His thumb rubbed lovingly against my cheek, his voice soft and sincere, “Then trust me, Sango. That’s all I ask of you.”
My eyes went up to meet his once more, reflecting the mutual emotion, “I trust you more then you would ever know. And as of now I trust you not to destroy me.”
I trusted you … the painfully frail whisper in the back of my mind was temporarily unheard as the houshi drew me closer.
“Consider it done, my love,” was his final statement before he claimed my lips.
The chaste embrace was made short by the intruding cough that sounded in the courtyard a fair distance away. In surprise I loosened myself from his arms, recognizing the voice outside, “Chichi-ue …” I’d forgotten again. I backed into the middle of the room, absently pacing as I thought on how to confront the issue.
“There is more that ails you?” It was more of a statement then a question.
“Hai, houshi-sama,” My hand rested above my chin, a nervous habit of mine. “Nothing would please me more then to accompany you in your travels – but I have a family and village whom I love very much. I fear I cannot simply leave so suddenly. My father. What would he think of me? How disappointed-”
Miroku put his hand on my shoulder to still my pacing feet, “It is the least of my intentions to drive you away from your family. Please, if I may speak to him …”
We both paused to glance towards the open shouji. The distant sound of shuffling and murmuring could still be heard. I turned back to the houshi with a weary eye, while he remained confident. Patting my shoulder once more he headed out onto the porch and down towards the fire chichi-ue was currently building up.
I observed from the shouji door as Miroku traveled down and neared my father. Without his shakujo to announce his arrival it would be hard for anyone to detect his silent footfalls. However, chichi-ue was the head of the village, and he didn’t even need to glance behind him to know the monk was there.
“Could not sleep, houshi-sama?” he asked in a casual tone.
“Along those lines, sir.”
When chichi-ue patted the log next to him, Miroku was obliged to sit. From what I could hear they were silent, merely staring into the swirling flames of the fire. With their backs facing towards me it was hard to identify any awkwardness or tension. With catlike swiftness I tiptoed a few feet closer and hid partially behind a support beam on the porch. I strained my ears to listen as I finally heard the houshi clear his throat.
“Sir, about your daughter …”
“Sango? That’s right, have you made any progression in the exorcism?”
Miroku’s head bowed slightly, “Unfortunately no. The spirit refuses to show any significant sign of its presence. Without any form of possession or haunting I cannot purify it from her.”
“I see. Is there any guarantee that the oni will ever leave her?”
“I’ve heard from fellow monks many tales of humans who have lived with dormant spirits inside of them. Like I have said, the oni cannot be vanquished unless it shows itself. These headaches that Sango experiences can just be her own soul trying to reject the intruder. For the most part, I do not sense any hostility in her aura. Which leads me to believe that this spirit is harmless.” He paused to rub at his shoulder, “In accordance to past experiences, it could very well be a confused soul who has not yet accepted death. Once it comes to terms with its fate it can completely cross over, and thus leave the victim at peace.”
“So you think that is what plagues my daughter?”
“That is my theory, yes.”
I nodded my head to the conversation. True, that did seem like an appropriate diagnosis to my possession. But it did not explain the visions. Despite of the issue I absently drummed my fingers against the wooden beam. I was both anticipating and dreading the conversation I knew houshi-sama needed to discuss.
“However …”
My ears perked once more at the sound of Miroku’s voice.
“I have come here on a different note …”
Chichi-ue remained silent, ready to listen as he picked up another log and threw it on the fire, causing small shimmers of sparks to float into the air.
“I’ve … I’ve never quite met anyone like her. It is odd to say that in such a short amount of time we have uncovered a connection within ourselves. It is one of the many things in this world that is complicated to grasp, but must be accepted nonetheless. Which is why I come to you with this question …”
“Hold your request, houshi-sama. I know what you are about to say.”
Both houshi-sama and myself seemed to be holding our breaths. I had the nauseating suspicion that chichi-ue would dismiss our hopes. However, he merely looked up towards the stars, with perhaps that content expression of his,
“I have seen it in her eyes. My daughter inherits her mother’s selflessness; she’s always thinking of how to help out someone other than herself. I have tried to tell her on multiple occasions that I want her to be happy, but I doubt she has grasped the concept.”
I leaned my head against the beam, reminded of a time when chichi-ue confronted me on the subject of happiness while I trained.
“I am not alarmed by this situation in the slightest, houshi-sama. Right when Sango exchanged glances with you at your arrival I knew exactly what was happening. So before you inform me I would like to guess. The two of you wish to pursue a relationship, yet my daughter is too worried about what I or the village will say if she should leave.”
The exactness of his presumption left me baffled, while Miroku let out a small chuckle. “You are correct, sir.”
Chichi-ue sounded smug, “Well of course I am. I’ve raised her on my own since she was five. I know her like I know the back of my own hand.”
I smiled to myself when hearing this. It was true. After my mother had died giving birth to Kohaku, father had raised the two of us the best he could.
“So, you will accept our request?” Miroku questioned.
“Well I am slightly disappointed in Sango’s ignorance. At times I think she does not know that all I want is for her to be happy, no matter what. And if that happiness is to accompany a houshi and his travel party in search of the Shikon shards then I have no qualms with that. Do you hear me, Sango?”
I jumped slightly, timidly peeking out from behind the beam as my father turned in my direction. I swear, he had the ears of a youkai or something. Having been discovered I stepped towards the two of them, sitting on the opposite side of chichi-ue. I leaned my head against his shoulder, “You’re not disappointed in me?”
I didn’t notice chichi-ue turning towards Miroku and amusedly roll his eyes. “Iie, Sango. If anything I am proud of you. I want you to think of yourself for once and not the welfare of others. The Taijiya Village can handle itself without its greatest fighter, and I am positive the villagers will honor you for going out and gathering the shards.”
With a feeling of relief I hugged my father’s arm, “Arigato, chichi-ue.”
“Think nothing of it.” He turned back to Miroku, “When does the group plan on leaving?”
“Now that this is settled, I would say sometime tomorrow. Unless, Sango would like a little more time to-”
The shake of my head silenced him, and I explained, “The village is used to me leaving on short notice. Aside from that my things are easy to pack, because there is not much. Tomorrow sounds fine.”
“Then it is settled,” Chichi-ue confirmed, “Now then, you two must go and get some rest. I doubt you would want to start your voyage with a lack of sleep.”
Nodding houshi-sama and I stood from our seats and walked onto the porch. We were halfway down the hallway before my father clearing his throat made us turn. With his hand still to his mouth his thumb pointed in the opposite direction of the hallway, “I believe your bedroom is that way, Sango.”
“Oh, right.” Blushing I murmured a soft ‘good night’ to Miroku before hurrying in the reverse way. Finding the shouji door leading to my room I open and closed it behind me swiftly. Quickly I leaned my back against it, giving a loud and reassured sigh. After that I couldn’t stop giggling to myself.
-*-
The tap on the shouji didn’t even make the houshi’s head turn. Hesitantly the headman’s plump wife came in with a small tray with a mound of rice, a small fish, and a cup of tea. She crouched and placed it next to the three other trays she’d brought throughout their arrival; one for last night, another for the morning, one in the afternoon, and now another for this second night. However, most of the meals remained untouched, the tea gone but the rice remaining. Two of the three fish were gone as well, their bones lying next to the sleeping Kirara.
The wife stood and lingered in her spot for a while. She tugged her hands at the apron around her waist when seeing the intense look on Miroku’s face. His mouth was drawn in a thin frown, and the near purple coloring underneath his eyes told of his sleepless night. Nestled between his hands he held the taijiya’s, stroking it helplessly as he watched over her. He looked like a broken man. The wife loitered no longer, knowing from the past that if she should question the health of the female the monk’s response would be “not good”.
When the door shut again he still did not move. Only when Kirara lifted her head to sniff the air did he remove one hand from Sango’s to grab the tail of the newly cooked fish and place it in front of the neko. She mewed a low sound of appreciation before silently picking at it. Miroku absently nodded and brought his hand back to his fiancé’s.
He was losing hope. His eyes stung, his soul ached, his body pleaded for rest that his heart and mind would not give. He’d exhausted his tears on two occasions, but the dip of such tears did not revive her from her unconsciousness when they fell upon her skin. He’d seen her eyes briefly open perhaps three times, but they were dull and trancelike, and slipped closed shortly afterwards.
He was disappointed in himself, and he was disappointed in her also. He knew how irrational Sango got whenever she was upset, but running into the youkai-infected wildness was completely idiotic on her part – even if it was because of him. He was also frustrated in the fact that it appeared Sango was giving up. The lovely, brave, awe-inspiring and self-confident Sango was giving up. And it pained him to think that if she never woke up he wouldn’t be able to say he was sorry, or to explain himself, or promise to change.
He’d be damned to hell if she should succumb to something like this. The woman who survived being stabbed in the spine, speared in the stomach, shot with arrows, and still managed to crawl out of her own grave – simply could not end her story with her soul devoured by a feeble youkai, just because the man she loved made a stupid mistake. Hell – being consumed by the kazaana wasn’t half a bad as a life without Sango!
His body trembled with hatred, unsure of who to put the blame on as his hurt eyes narrowed on the taijiya’s face, “Why aren’t you fighting this?”
-*-
“Ane-ue. Ane-ue, wake up!”
I squinted my eyes with a small groan before opening them, looking up into the large and anxious eyes of my little brother.
“Kohaku, what are you – oof!” My question was cut off as he threw my yukata over my head and ran towards the shouji.
“Hayakku! You have to see what’s going on! Hurry!”
Alarmed by the urgency in his voice I hurriedly stripped out of my sleeping garb and donned the yukata and traveling skirt. We ran through the house and out the front, stopping only for a few seconds to slip on my sandals and grab hiraikotsu. With Kohaku leading the way he brought me to a large gathering of villagers, and asked them all politely to step aside as we nudged our way through.
“There’s no way!!” I heard someone shout in the center of the circle. That sounded a lot like Zushi.
We finally managed to make it to the inside of the crowd, and I looked around for anything out of the ordinary. “Kohaku, you baka,” I accused, pushing him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought a youkai was attacking the village with that tone you used.”
“No, ane-ue! There’s going to be a fight!”
“With who?” I glanced back in the circle and paled. Zushi stood clad in his full armor, his large three-bladed weapon unstrapped and clutched in his hands. His face was contorted in rage as his gray eyes leered at his opponent. Facing him a fair distance away and looking completely confused was houshi-sama. “What is going on here?” My voice didn’t carry far.
“You think I’ll just stand by as you cart her away?!” Yelled the male taijiya in fury. “Do you have ANY idea how long I have waited to marry Sango?! Kami-sama strike me down if I should let a damn houshi come into the village and yank her away from me in a mere two days!!”
The intensity of Zushi’s ferocity astounded me. I never knew just how determined he was to have me as his wife. Nonetheless the feeling was not mutual. As I wondered who would have told Zushi about our departure Miroku began to speak,
“It is unfortunate that you feel this way, but Sango has already agreed to accompany my traveling party. I will not fight a needless battle.”
“Needless? Well then, houshi – if you value your life I suggest you fight!” Immediately Zushi was speeding towards the monk with the horseshoe-like blames thrust forward.
Hastily Miroku dodged out of the way, ducking shortly afterwards as the taijiya swung his weapon at what would have been the houshi’s neckline. Seeing an opportunity as the large mace continued to swing Miroku struck his staff at Zushi’s gut, forcing him back with a pained grunt. He then pursued the stumbling man by striking him on the shoulder with his shakujo and then once more to his side. He then attempted to disarm the taijiya of his weapon but it was firmly planted in his grip.
Unable to use the blades in such close contact Zushi struck his head against the houshi’s, causing Miroku to hiss out his pain this time. Having the monk caught off guard as he staggered backwards, Zushi finally managed to find his ideal chance. He rammed the top blame of his weapon into the houshi’s chest and charged forward. I gasped in horror as Miroku’s back slammed against a large tree, the thick wall of which stopped the blade from severing him in half. The houshi had his shakujo pinned between him and the blade, the struggle to resist the opposing force evident in his shaking hands. He clenched his teeth at the agonizing pressure that threatened to crack his ribs.
Zushi leered maliciously at him as he continued in his effort to slaughter the monk, “Now all in the village will know that I am to be the rightful husband of – ugh!”
His eyes rolled back and shut as the loud ‘thunk’ of a weapon connected with the back of his head. His grip on the three-bladed weapon loosened, and within a few seconds he fell to the ground, presumably unconscious. I stood facing houshi-sama in his absence, hiraikotsu raised from where it had struck down the taijiya. The crowd was silent.
I was still frozen, taking deep breaths to settle my racing pulse. Finally I lowered my arms and dropped hiraikotsu, instead taking the weapon, which still pinned Miroku to the tree, and with an effort pried it from its embedded home within the wood. I threw that weapon as well, and huffed slightly as I looked back at the monk. “Are you alright?”
“I will be,” he returned, one hand cupping his bicep, the only places where the blade cut into his flesh. The blood on each side trickled down his sleeves and onto the ground. Throwing hiraikotsu onto my back again and placing my hand on Miroku’s back, I turned to the villagers, “Minna-san, please go about your normal business. Someone see to Zushi’s health.”
As we began to walk away a familiar voice came to make itself recognized, “Oi, bouzo! Ain’t it just lika ya ta have your a** saved by a woman!”
Miroku’s only retaliation was, “It should make no difference.”
InuYasha jumped down from the rooftop he had been loitering on, “Come on, we’re going now.”
“Can’t you see he’s wounded?” I scalded the hanyou, earning a glare from those golden eyes.
“Keh! He knew we were leaving soon, so he shouldn’t a’been picking a fight.”
I rolled my eyes at the incorrigible half-breed and urged Miroku to keep walking by pressing on his back, “He’s not going anywhere until his wounds are dressed.”
InuYasha shrugged lazily in response and crossed his arms, “Fine, do whatever the ******** you want. The rest of us’ll be heading out now. Don’t wait up.” With a flash of red cloth he was gone.
Houshi-sama and I made our way back to the house, where I sat him down in the main room. “Don’t try to move your arms too much, you can lose a lot of blood. Stay here while I go get the herbs and bandages.” He nodded and said a small ‘thanks’, while I turned and walked down the hallway. I hopped off the porch and searched the small herbal garden in the back. Finding the necessary plant I hastily went to retrieve it.
“Ow!” I drew my hand back, forgetting that the stem had thorns. Seeing a small droplet of blood begin to form on my fingertip, my heart let out a sickening pulse. Everything seemed to get dark as what only could be described as lightening struck through my veins. The clouds were darkening, the wind was picking up, and the loud sound of a reptilian hiss echoed throughout the air. I stood, frightened, and glanced around in a panic. What was going on??
I nearly doubled over as the pain I had experienced from before came surging forth at such an intensity that I couldn’t even scream. It felt like I was being crushed, flashes of a serpent’s body coiling around and constricting me. It whispered in my ear something I could not understand though the ache.
The visions were coming back, but not the familiar ones associated with Miroku. These were vicious. A kusarigama cut through the bodies of two comrades, drenching the ground in their blood. It then plummeted into the neck of chichi-ue, immediately causing death. I followed the weapon to see none other than Kohaku standing there, a blank and possessed look on his face. Before I knew it the weapon was imbedded between my shoulder blades. More visions of Kohaku’s treasury flashed before my eyes – until an even more horrid sight replaced it. It was no longer Kohaku doing such things, but myself.
I fell to the ground, unable to resist or call for help. My labored breathing became more erratic as I faded in and out of consciousness. Everything was turning red - dark, dark, red.
-*-
Translations:
oni = ghost
koibito = lover
Iie = No
Kazaana = Wind tunnel
“Hayakku!” = “Hurry up!”
Minna-san = Everyone
Kusarigama = Chained scythe
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Community Member
you just proved one of my many points in our arguements thank you mrgreen oh an i must say your father is very quick witted, also remind me to stay away from taijiya men that are intrested in you sweatdrop
(( that was wondeful like always mrgreen minus a few parts on my half lol ninja ))