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Along Came a Serpent pt. VI
Miroku gripped the shakujo tighter, Kirara transformed and snarling by his side. It was obvious that he couldn’t use the kazaana in this battle, in fear of drawing in Sango’s soul as well. It would be troublesome to avoid those fangs, considering the hazard of so much shouki. He withdrew a few more sutras from the chest pocket of his robes, figuring that spirituality was possibly the only suitable way of fighting.
The sun was slowly beginning to rise, the faintest trace of gold peeping out from the mountaintops.
“Houshi-sama, what is happening?” Came the voice of the headman, who called from the house in a fretful voice. His two children were huddled against his legs, frightened at the sight of the monstrous thing.
“Take your family and hide someplace safe,” Miroku instructed, his eyes glued on the serpent. “Do not come out until I tell you it is alright.”
The headman nodded and obediently did as he was told.
The snake let out more thick laughter, “Wasted efforts.”
Miroku merely narrowed his dark eyes, observing the youkai as he thought deeply upon a strategy. He recalled one of the very first battles he fought beside Sango - the imprisonment and substitution of a water goddess by a lowly snake.
To kill these snake-like ones … she had said, You must rid the body of its head.
“Let’s hope you’re correct, Sango,” the houshi commented silently. With a flick of his wrist three sutras were hurled in the snake’s direction, two disintegrating against its youki while the third clung to the underside below its neck. Having it temporarily stunned Kirara sprung forth and sunk both claws and fangs into the flesh, thrashing her head and shredding the skin with intense ferocity.
The ofuda finally deteriorated into nothing but a scorch mark and Yuwaku regained his mobility, immediately bucking the neko off and smashing her against the guarding wall of the courtyard. It took less then a few seconds for her to recover, shaking her head and snarling, then taking to the air again to swipe at the back of the serpent’s head.
“Careful, Kirara,” Miroku called, unnerved as the snake reared its massive head back and snapped its venomous jaws at the cat. She averted the mouth with ease, slamming all four paws roughly down on one of the fangs. It cracked at the pressure and once she kicked off it shattered in half and hit the ground. Kirara swooped down again to heave the houshi onto her back and dashed into the sky.
Wind whistling in his ears Miroku held onto the cat by the scruff of her neck and twisted his back somewhat awkwardly to see the snapping jaws of the snake behind him. Taking out another ofuda he struck it onto the remaining fang, which electrified a blue light and fell out of the mouth in a fanning dust.
“Damn houshi,” Yuwaku cursed. “If I cannot poison then I shall crush you instead.”
The serpent thrust its tail upwards, Kirara dodging and diving under as it coiled and made for a second strike. At the close proximity Miroku jabbed his shakujo across the body, creating a large gaping gash that oozed shouki. The youkai hissed its pain, its last swing at the two missing and sending its tail thundering to the ground. Seeing the opportunity the houshi shot an abundance of restraining sutras towards the tail end of the serpent.
The demon unable to move, Kirara swung up into the air. At an extremely high altitude she made a swift turn and Miroku braced his arms with the shakujo poised ready to strike. Speeding down towards the youkai, the houshi raised his weapon higher and constricted his muscles.
Yuwaku howled out agonizingly as the shakujo connected with the back of its neck, cutting through the vertebrae, and completely severing the head from body as it pierced though the other side.
Miroku nearly let go of the staff, his arms aching from the strenuous amount of force they endured. He watched the serpent collapse, shaking the earth and forming large clouds of dirt and debris in its wake. Only until a few moments had past did Kirara touch ground again. The houshi observed as an unceasing amount of fragile souls began to rise from the fallen corpse and ascend into the heavens. He dismounted and made his way over to the fallen head of the snake. Its eyes still faintly glowed their menacing red, like a flame that seemed just about to flicker out.
“Why … houshi?” The words were breathy and frail. “To fight for something other than yourself … it’s irrational.”
Miroku grimaced at the dying youkai, struggling to maintain his tempter and ease, “For someone such as yourself that may be true. There are many things in this world that I put before my own life. Sango is no exception to that. It is unfortunate that you cannot die in benevolence, but I will not allow you to manipulate humans and deprive their souls of the afterlife. Make peace with this world and leave humanity at rest.”
The serpent only chuckled weakly, its eyes losing the last of their light, “I will never understand the ways of morals. Having been defeated, it would be wise for once to take heed in the persuasion of another …” the crimson spark within Yuwaku’s eyes dulled down to a lifeless darkness.
Miroku’s wistful eyes drifted back towards the body, where the last of the souls made its slow ascension. Before it could make it above the height of a man Miroku reached out and curved it back down. It stilled and hovered almost obediently within the palms of the houshi’s cupped hands. Vaguely he acknowledged that the serpent’s body was fading into nothingness, though his eyes were focused on the purely shining orb in his possession.
“I almost lost you,” he said in a rather disbelieving tone.
Kirara watched him with a somewhat sympathetic growl in her throat.
The houshi kept the orb safe and guarded in his arms while he walked across the courtyard, the neko trotting beside him with the shakujo between her jaws. Placing the staff down at the bottom of the stairs she transformed into her smaller form, ready to follow him before he stopped her.
“No, Kirara. I want you to go find the headman and his family and assure them everything is fine. Please.”
She looked a bit reluctantly at the soul, but turned with her nose to the ground and began searching.
-*-
Silently the shouji screen slid shut behind Miroku. Dawn had awakened the birds in their trees outside and called to life many other slumbering inhabitances. All but one.
His eyes rested on the still woman in her bed, skin a much paler porcelain than usual. The somber air about her sent the houshi into a disconcerting sadness.
Almost thoughtlessly he made his way towards the futon, once there resuming his cross-legged position. The soul within his palms gravitated slightly higher, aware of its body’s presence. He held onto it for a moment longer, recapping all that had happened. Restraining his anxiousness for the delicacy of the situation, the houshi extended his arms and oh so gently released the orb above the taijiya’s chest.
The soul did not hesitate in descending back down into her body, its light vanishing once beneath the covers of the futon and clothing. It was too quiet afterwards, and Miroku found himself holding his breath.
Suddenly Sango’s eyes shot open, her back arching as she gasped for air similar to a surfacing diver. She lay breathing deeply, staring at the ceiling, auburn eyes filled with fear, trauma, and bewilderment. Miroku let out the breath he had been holding. The whoosh of air from his lungs caught the taijiya’s attention and sent her eyes in his direction.
“H-houshi-sama!!” she cried, hauling herself upright to nearly tackle him. She clung to him with her arms around his shoulders, head buried in the crook of his neck as she began to tremble with sobs. He whispered a soothing hush in her ear, his hands rubbing the smoothness of her back where it wasn’t bandaged or bound.
“It’s alright, Sango. You’re safe now.”
She shook again in her weeping, grasp tightening around his shoulders. “I thought you … that I …-”
The houshi hushed her again, a hand resting at the back of her head to toy with the silken strands of her hair, “Whatever Yuwaku has shown you was an illusion. Everything is fine, Sango. It’s over.” He repeated the last part to himself reassuringly.
Miroku held Sango to him until her sobs began to wear thin and die down. It didn’t take long until she became self-conscious of her lack of proper dressing and retreated back to the covers of the futon.
Despite his stress the houshi chuckled, “Who do you think undressed you in the first place, love?”
It appeared the carefree statement had somehow struck a nerve. He watched in discomfort as her dark eyes narrowed at him in silence. Knowing where the taijiya’s thoughts had traveled, he braced himself for the argument ahead.
“This was all your fault.”
He should have known. Miroku said nothing as she rolled around to stare bitterly at the opposing wall. The shift made the wound on her shoulder burn from the pressure applied to it, though she didn’t mind it much in her agitated state.
“How could you just flirt around as if you never had ties to another woman – behind her back, nonetheless?”
He tried to reply collectedly, “It doesn’t make it any less foolish of you to going out into dangerous woods without so much as a weapon.”
“You dare put me at fault?” the punctuation of her words jabbed at him deeply. “After all, houshi, was I the one who insisted on being rescued? By the way you were behaving with those women I thought you were having a fine time without my presence. I might as well have been doing you a favor.”
“Sango, that is enough,” he retorted sternly, the dark tone causing a shiver to run down her spine. “You know well that isn’t true.” The houshi found it slightly irritating to speak with someone who wouldn’t even face him.
“You also know that my actions at times may be far from saintly. However, you need to hear me out.”
Sango lay quiet, her posture quite tense as she awaited his explanation.
“I’m aware that I’ve hurt you, multiple times, because of my womanizing. And I can tell you that it was merely a cry for your attention, or that I was attempting to find a youkai in disguise, or any other excuse I can muster up on the spot. But quite frankly I doubt you’re in the mood to hear lies.”
Miroku saw the taijiya’s shoulder flinch at his comment, but continued, “I have bad habits. I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. And if one thing is to be said about habits it is that they are hard to break. I am not flawless, Sango. Sometimes I slip, it can’t be helped.”
The houshi’s gaze remained on her, the silence encouraging him to continue. “I am … not asking for your forgiveness. I do not deny that I was flirting with those women. I suppose I thought that if you didn’t know I was slipping up, you wouldn’t be upset …
As much as I care for you, I still need time to overcome my mistakes. It is difficult and I’m sure hurtful, but if you give me time I swear I will not fail you. For you I’m trying.”
Miroku’s confession fell into the silence between them. His cobalt eyes rested on her form, more relaxed than it had been. As relieved as he was to have brought down her anger he still wished to at least hear a reply.
“Sango?”
A small sniffle in the air notified him that she had gone teary again. Making a ‘tsk’ sound the monk shifted himself to lay by her side. His arms slipped around her waist, pressing her back to his chest. Sango brought a hand up to wipe away the tears, while the other fell over his as it comfortingly rubbed across her stomach.
“I’m sorry, houshi-sama,” she whispered, feeling secure yet defenseless in his arms. “You’ve spent all this time hoping to revive me. You succeeded only to have me shun you. I should be more grateful.”
“Hush, dearest,” Miroku responded, tucking his head against her shoulder to give her neck a quick kiss. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“But-”
She was quieted when his hand came to tilt her chin towards him. His lips captured hers in a fervent kiss, one that left her flustered and breathless after he pulled away. He chuckled, his breath tickling her ear. “You don’t have to blame yourself for everything.”
The taijiya bit her lip but slowly nodded her understanding.
With that Miroku flashed her a genuine smile and rested his head back against the futon, “Now you wouldn’t mind me taking a nap for a few hours, you would? I haven’t gotten much sleep these past days.”
“Mm-hm,” Sango replied, though she herself was wide awake. Feeling him snuggle up as if he couldn’t get any closer she smiled affectionately. Her thumb leisurely ran over the knuckles of his hand on her abdomen. Only when she heard his breathing slow did she close her eyes.
‘Did we learn anything from this?’ the taijiya questioned in the contours of her mind. Well, she finally got a confession out of the monk. ‘And I suppose I can be a bit more patient with him … just a little.’. She thought back on what Miroku had said. He was trying, for her sake. It was a comforting thought that made most of the pain eating away at her heart disperse.
It felt as if … as if she could trust him again.
She let out a blithe sigh, wondering if the houshi’s behavior would change in the future. ‘If it doesn’t I’ll just have to kick his a**.’ she giggled quietly to herself before sleep captured her again.
There she found dreams that held a promise. Dreams with a faithful husband. Dreams of the coming future.
OWARI ~
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