T.Y.O.M. Chapter 12: Two-Person Bow Action

T.Y.O.M. Chapter 12: Two-Person Bow Action

Pairing: Miroku x Kagome

You could say Kagome’s arm was subdued at the moment. Her ramen eating, hair brushing, cheek pinching, monk-slapping, bow holding arm was badly sprained---or dislocated, or broken, who knows. 

But… it wasn’t Kirara or Sango’s fault for jamming the Hiraikotsu in the eye of the large demon who squeezed her body to the brink of explosion like their life depended on it. It wasn’t Miroku’s fault for thrusting his golden-pointed staff head into the demon’s calf, who’s feet almost trampled him in it’s sudden blindness. It wasn’t Shippo’s fault for landing a fast one on the demon’s head and it definitely wasn’t Inuyasha’s fault for cutting off the demon’s hand that held her without a second thought.

Kagome would have to say that it was her own fault for falling---well, dropping---like she did. The demon’s dismembered hand wouldn’t let go of her small body and she tumbled hard over the teetering hill of a tall ledge, a pop and a crack following her every roll until she was airborne. The demon’s unconscious, overgrown body had followed after and the trip down the ledge never seemed as slow as it did in that moment. The collective expressions of horror on each team member’s face as they followed the shrinking form of Kagome falling stuck in her head but the battle wasn’t done. The looks shifted as quickly as they came as waves of demons and possessed villagers clawed at their last defences, leaving no free hands to spare for the falling girl.

Kagome knew they had no choice but that didn’t stop the cold grip of fear twisting her heart as the final crash failed to come. She just kept falling. 50 foot fall. 50 percent chance of survival. What if she died? What odds would Kagome’s luck grant her? 

She couldn’t take that chance, so her hand reached out. Desperately. Selfishly. Her nails cracked and peeled but her fingers caught onto an impossibly small ledge, her body stretching from the momentum as her other arm dangled beside her. It was only for a split second but she heard a spine-tingling pop, one made from a stretch too far and too fast, but couldn’t be relieved lest she wanted to risk cracking her skull at the bottom of the mountain. It hurt to hold on but she forced herself to dig her fingers into the ledge, urging herself to bear with it. Burn. Burn. Burn. Sting. Sting. Sting. Kagome’s eyes welled up but melded into an inaudible scream that escaped from her lips as she closed her eyes. 

She couldn’t let go of the ledge holding her but she could feel the strength slipping from her arm. One second more. Please. In her pain, she didn’t bother moving as dismembered carcasses rained from off the ledge where glimpses of Kirara’s flying form, Sango’s Hiraikotsu, and Inuyasha's sword swings flashed by.

God, why am I here? At 17 years old, in a psych-ward-worthy trip to the past, fighting demons and dead people, with no one to tie her here. Yes, the shards were partially her fault and, yes, her whole existence circled around the fact that she was the reincarnation of a hanyou’s booty-call but that didn’t really give her a reason to stay. Maybe she was being angsty but… 

She could’ve had a normal life.

A couple of clawed fingers, rocks, and blood pelted down beside her head from above.

With normal friends...

Inuyasha’s growls and Kirara’s roars, mixed with various chants and cries of battle moves, echoed into her ears. 

A normal body...

Her muscles abnormally toned and body scarred for a girl her age, from years of P.E. and time traveling in the valleys and grasslands of Edo-Japan, had gotten her one too many disapproving comments. She could still feel the tingle in the scars littering her body and words they sparked from passerbyers.

A normal innocence for her age...

Her eyes shone differently and her posture was more defensive, she was told but brushed it off with a practiced smile.

A normal love life...

Saturated red filled her mind before a swirl of something dark and rich flashed by. Kagome did a double take. Dark? Purp---?

“Kagome-sama!”

“Kagome!”

Kagome whipped her head to the side, hair obscuring her view as a flash of deep purple and bright orange, blue, and golden greeted her. A teardrop fell down her cheek. Her heartbeat picked up. Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara were miraculously, unbelievably there, right in front of her. Their eyebrows scrunched with worry and the former two’s hands shook from the height. They both reached out to her but she couldn’t do a thing. It was hard to breathe, hard to blink, hard to move, but it didn’t stop the smile that reached her lips.

“I think my arm is broken! I can’t move it!”

They found her smile and her giddiness strange, evident in the way their eyebrows lifted. Miroku shook his head and shouted over the wind.

“Which one?”

“What do you think?” She wiggled her dangling arm towards them and Shippo’s expression shook.

“Hold on, we’re coming!”

Kirara descended slightly below her with quiet mews and Miroku gripped her waist and ankle. Her arm protested greatly as she peeled her numb fingers off the ledge. She was glad she couldn’t feel her fingers, the pain in her shoulder overpowering her senses, because her nails were pretty much ruined. I need some serious self-care after this---One minor slip and her stomach plummeted as she fell flat on Miroku’s lap. She didn’t mind the way Shippo buried his head into her chest, warmed at the thoughtfulness of his hand avoiding her shoulder. Kagome also didn’t mind---or maybe didn’t notice---the way Miroku’s arms tightened around her shivering body as they rose back into battle.

It was just as bad as before she fell. Blood decorated the massacred battlefield of grass, mud, and bodies of both demon and human. The enemies’ numbers had greatly reduced with the combined powers of Inuyasha’s and Sango’s practiced teamwork and Kagome gasped at the ridiculousness of spotting her magically unbroken bow and arrows in the midst of the field. Suddenly, there was a heavy blow from behind. It knocked everyone off of the transforming cat demon and they stumbled hard, the battle resuming without pause. The demons took advantage of their weak links and Sango quickly mounted Kirara at her roar to fend them off. Miroku instinctively jumped in and pummeled the claws that scratched at their feet. 

Kagome tried to minimize her vulnerability and cover Miroku’s back but there’s only so much two loose shoes and lean legs can do without arms to balance with or the inability to turn off the pain in her arm. A scratch here, a cut there, it was an endless cycle of misses and defenses. She knew it couldn’t last long, she saw the sweat dripping on Miroku’s face and the strain in his arms as his strikes became sluggish. 

Inuyasha could be heard in the back, piles of bodies just circling his slashing form as he attacked from all sides. He attracted the most attention but the looming form of Naraku’s puppet stayed on the side, fending off each and every attempt that Sango made to destroy its supports from below it. With a wordless look, Inuyasha forced the enemies flat on their backs with one last slash of wind. He pounced on the retreating form of Naraku’s puppet but the tendrils of dark wooden roots dragged him back down. He yelped, embedding his large sword into the root but hundreds more joined in, constricting his movements like the seamless, strong muscles of a large snake with its prey. Miroku thought to use his Kazaana, arm already reaching for his prayer beads but a sudden attack from the right with no time to grab his staff caught him in the arm and he fell with a grunt. Blood splat across the floor and Kagome rushed to heave him up, feet scrambling to escape the demons behind them.

Picking up a beaten Shippo along the way, they could only watch as Sango and Kirara sunk into the pits of writhing vines and roots. Kagome saw something flash by in her peripheral and U-turned, causing the demons behind to skid past them as Miroku got a mild case of whiplash from the pull. She pounced on the forgotten bow and arrow but hissed at the pain in her left arm. She couldn’t hold her bow.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“What is it, Kagome-sama?”

Miroku peered over her shoulder and realized their situation. He was without his Kazanna and she couldn’t grip her bow.

“Got a plan, Miroku-sama?”

Her legs trembled slightly. Poison wasps filled the air once again, the buzz drowning the racing beats of their hearts that threatened to spill out of their chests.

“Do you still have any of that medicine from the future?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t.”

It was a standoff by then. Piercing eyes of pure spiritual energy clashed against the animalistic, unstable presences of a hollow beast and the hairs rose on the back of their necks. Their captive friends struggled against their bonds, weapons cast aside. Kagome could feel the pull of the hidden shards within the baboon coat of Naraku’s copy and slowed her breathing. If you can hear me, Kikyo or Midoriko, please give me the strength to purify and hit my target. As if he heard her thoughts, Miroku placed his uninjured arm over hers and they shared a look. Purple eyes probed into her mind, calculating different outcomes, but he wasn’t so quick to answer this time. They rolled under the swipe of a tree root and the arrows went flying, trampled under the pressure of the copy’s attack.

“Shit.”

“Shit indeed!”

He dragged them into the edges of the forest, the trees providing a temporary solace in the face of their imminent death.

“Hey Shippo, can you help me wrap up Miroku’s arm?”

Miroku kept eyes on the slithering form gaining on them as Shippo and Kagome stumbled through temporarily stopping the blood. Their options were dwindling and the muffled threats and growls only set them further on edge. What to do, what to do. Looking at their rations, they only had so much which set Miroku further on edge. He looked at his unoccupied hand. One staff. He glanced at Kagome’s smaller form. One Miko. One bow. One kitsune. One Priest. Four working arms, two too small to hold a bow, and two incapacitated. Shippo could possibly transform but the chances of purification? Unlikely. What else…? He checked over Kagome again and his voice hitched in his throat. One arrow. One chance.

Kagome followed his gaze and broke the pounding silence.

“I can’t hold my bow, Miroku-sam---.”

“Can you notch an arrow?” Miroku had quickly cut her off, both with a question and the sudden intensity of his gaze.

“I… I, yes, I can. Why?”

“Shippo might not be big enough to do the job and he doesn’t have your purifying energy. Sorry, Shippo.”

“That’s ok.”

“Can you summon that energy?” Kagome pursed her lips, confused at the progression of his hasty ambiguity.

“You know I can’t, Miroku-sama! Anyways, where are you going with this?” He brushed off her question.

“I don’t ‘know’ that, Kagome-sama. What I do know is that you can purify impurities!”

“And look where that got us!”

She bit hard on her lip as Miroku pulled them aside to another tree, deeper into the forest.

“I know you can do it. You just have to reach deep. I can help support but it’s on you, Kagome-sama.” He had pinned her against the tree, roots slashing against their tree, and Shippo buried himself closer into Kagome’s chest. She scrunched her eyebrows and clenched her fist around her bow.

“And what if I can do it? I still can’t hold my bow!” Her nose briefly brushed against his in the coincidence of a shared look.

“You’re going to have to trust me! Do you hold it with your left or right hand?”

“Left!”

“That’s perfect.” His gaze flickered to hers before staring past her. Her eyes followed but his jerky movements to the left landed them on the floor, rolling to the next patch of trees. Shippo had slipped from her grasp as both Miroku and Kagome winced at the pressure on their respective arms. The last arrow dropped from her pack and the group felt their hearts stop. In a flash, the large, deformed body of the puppet stood in the way between Miroku and Kagome and Shippo and the arrow. A non-existent hunger lingered in its gaze as it towered over the two.

“Hand over the shards, Kikyo-reincarnate.”

“Over my dead body!”

The large being paused.

“...That could be arranged.”

“Not literally, you psycho!”

Miroku caught a glimpse of Shippo, trembling, with the last arrow pinched delicately in his little paws. They made quick eye contact and Miroku slowly mouthed indistinct instructions at the little fox. Ears twitching, Shippo nodded shakily.

“Kagome-sama.”

“Not right now, I gotta rip a new one in this jerk!”

He went softer, harsher, and closer to her ear. She didn’t flinch.

“That’s fine. Just keep him occupied. Shippo’s got the arrow. Do you think you can force your purifying energy into it?”

“IF we can get it and IF I’m pissed off enough.” Kagome hissed, breath brushing against his cheek.

“Well you’re in luck. I can help with both,” Miroku quickly whispered into her ear and shifted his focus, clicking his tongue at the puppet, “Naraku! I don’t think I can ask you to release our friends, can I?”

“No shit, Miroku-sama.”

He ignored her snarky comment.

“What about a trade?”

“Are you crazy--!?”

“Go on.”

At the demanding tone, Miroku straightened his back to hide his wince.

“A shard for a friend.”

“Foolish monk. Your miko’s shards have fused into one. The locket---”

The pink bubble shape of Shippo’s transformation floated gently above Naraku’s puppet’s head and the two found it hard to focus on the rest of the deal, a smile fighting itself on their tired lips. The demon prattled on and Kagome felt Miroku grip the base of her bow from behind her. With a tug, she let go and crouched down to pick up a decent-sized rock. Miroku didn’t bother to look up her skirt. This was a crucial moment. One wrong move could send them crashing---besides he always had other opportunities. If they survived.

His eyes must have shifted suspiciously, maybe her throwing a rock at him signaled the wrong reaction or maybe Shippo wasn’t quiet enough but none of them could have predicted the snake-like grip that attached onto Shippo before they could blink.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

The snarl became Miroku’s new signal.

“Now, Shippo!”

Shippo threw the arrow in their direction and shifted his form to a rock statue. The quick change in weight and size loosened the puppet’s grip and Shippo planted a good thud on their head. While he scurried away, the arrow flew in slow motion, blurring as Kagome reached to catch it. Her uninjured arm brushed along the shaft and she squeezed.

She was ready to cheer in triumph until Miroku pulled her back flush against his torso, prayer-bead-covered arm circling around her waist as his other hand held her bow where she normally positioned it if her arm wasn’t messed up.

“Oh Miroku, you clever perv!” Kagome leaned her head back on his shoulder to look up at him. Inuyasha and Sango had to take a quick pause from their struggling. Like what in the actual hell but most importantly, would it actually work?

“Let’s focus, Kagome-sama.”

The position was a little awkward. He was a head or more taller and twice as broad. Without a pause, she bumped back into him. He glanced at her and crouched down, chin resting on her shoulder with his cheek brushing against hers. It felt secure. Cheesy but warm. This couldn’t fail. They had only one arrow. She’d bet her luck on it.

Kagome didn’t realize it but a pulse tingled in her battered arm, shifting down to the tips of her fingers. It was a steady feeling of a calm heartbeat, maybe two heartbeats. It soothed her and drew something from her partial soul. Was it hers? Was it...Miroku’s? Without another word, she hooked the arrow onto the bow string and tugged experimentally. It’ll have to do but she needs to adjust him. God, it’s going to hurt.

“Hold it tight, Miroku-sama.”

He hummed against her ear and tensed his form behind her, his hand tightening unconsciously around her waist. She forced her hand upward, smoothing the twist of his inner elbow, and covered his hand with hers. It burned, her arm cried out in pain and a whimper escaped her lips, but she didn’t let go. Tightening her grip, she shifted their position and it aimed straight for the ‘heart’ of the beast. 

The arrow by her side glowed, bright and heavy, as if transforming the projectile’s point. It might’ve been the heat of the moment but the rushing form of the puppet slowed, the drops of blood dripping over the battlefield froze as Kagome exhaled. Her hair flew with a non-existent wind, the slight vibrations of the power at her fingertips engulfed the arrow once more and she aimed straight for the puppet speeding towards them. One shot. One chance.

Thud. 10 feet away... Thud. 6 feet away... Thud. She released the bowstring. It struck its intended target and the force blew it back, body swelling as the arrow burrowed deeper within the empty folds of the puppet’s body. Kagome shoved Miroku back and they fell to the ground with a unanimous grunt, a familiar position to their ‘first’ meeting. The sounds of a disintegrating hollow shell was enough to indicate the end of the battle and they all cheered. 

Kagome refused to get up. She was pooped. Miroku didn’t protest, he didn’t even move. He too was tired. The others recovered quickly and the moment of triumph diminished, adding onto the pile of their previous shard battles. Inuyasha pulled her off of the offending monk and Sango reached out her hand towards him. He grabbed it with his uninjured hand but a tingle persisted in his slashed palm. With mild complaints of being hungry for ramen, they continued in another direction with no regard for their bodies at the sight of a nearby village awaiting them in the distance.

Inuyasha and Kagome snapped semi-playfully at each other. Shippo jumped onto Kirara’s transformed back. Sango heaved her large boomerang over her shoulder to cover her back and Miroku retrieved his abandoned staff from the forest floor. It was back to normal. Kagome bent down to pick up the purified shards and a glimpse of white caught Miroku’s eye. Yep, back to normal.

Intro | Chapter 11 | Chapter 13

T.Y.O.M. Chapter 6: Caught Ankles

Pairing: Miroku x Kagome

They came as they heard. Rumors of beautiful women being taken away by hordes of demons instantly peaked Miroku’s interest and concern, the rest weren’t as motivated until whispers of jewel shards and possibly Kikyo’s involvement actually got Inuyasha going. That seemed to be enough for everybody.

How dumb, Kagome thought at the memory. Turns out that, yes, the women were beautiful, and yes, they were taken by hordes of demons. There was actually more than one jewel shard, but no sight of Kikyo. How did Kagome come across this information, you may ask? The girl just sighed, her ankles and wrists bound with rope, blood quickly rushing to her head, as her body hung upside down with even more rope. She got captured. Of course, she did. Someone had the brilliant idea to butter her up on a silver platter, call it her post-matchmaker Mulan moment.

Kagome didn’t think it would work, compared to the other scared, stunning women who happened to cross her way in the village but look at her now. She didn’t get the luxury of pants underneath and the unwelcome breeze on her legs was due to the fabric bunched by gravity and rope, panties out for the world to see.

She couldn’t see through her blindfold but she could guess by multiple counts of breathing that they were from the captured women, unconscious hopefully, hung in the same way around her. They weren’t hurt and she didn’t know why but she knew she had to escape. There was a flash of something in the room, the lighting in the room shifted along with a creak at her eyelevel. Were one of the women awake? Silence answered her, a shuffle of feet passing by greeted her from outside.

“Inuyasha will be here soon and everything will be ok.” Kagome’s voice was low as she reassured herself, strength gathered as she swung upward to catch the taut rope at her airborne feet.

“That’s a pretty flattering angle, Kagome-sama.” A voice came from above and Kagome missed the rope, swinging down violently. It was Miroku.

“Quiet, you!”

“Here, let me help.”

“Help the other women! That’s why you decided to go, right?”

There was silence, his staff must have been in another room. Kagome swung upward again, straining until she felt a hand guide hers to the rope holding her, prayer beads against her fingers. Miroku took off the fabric of her blindfold and smiled in reassurance. They were about a good ten to fifteen feet from the floor and Miroku was hanging above her rope from the cross beams. He shrunk back up and started crawling toward another set of rope.

“If you’re that insistent, that’s the extent of my help right now. I’ll get back to you soon, alright?”

Kagome nodded, hoping that her kimono was properly covering what needed to be covered at this point. Paying attention to the situation at hand, she heard faint sounds of a rope beside her being untangled as she ripped into the poorly made knots that separated and somehow connected her ankles. With a grunt, she freed one ankle. Who did these knots? Seriously. Her left leg dangled as she worked on her right, sweat peppering her face. The knot came undone but she forgot to secure herself. The air rushed from beneath her, her eyes closing with the anticipation of an impact, but her leg miraculously tangled into the rope. She fell before the end of the rope’s length stopped her, tightening on her ankle painfully. She swung wildly, dizzy and freely. How graceful, she huffed, hearing soft and uncontrollable laughter from above.

“I’m starting to think you do need my help, Kagome-sama.” She didn’t answer, hiding her reddened face in her still tied-up hands.

“Hold on, I’ll get you--Hnn!”

There was a series of rope snapping and tightening before a heavy weight was swinging just as wildly. Kagome just burst out in laughter at the glimpses of Miroku’s wide-eyed, embarrassed expression passing by like a pendulum. It took only a short time for him to slow down, Kagome’s hands reaching for his causing them to spin with Miroku’s remaining momentum. It took a bit for them both to calm down, the ropes twisting between the two of them. Though it was a little too close for comfort, Miroku’s arm ended up wrapped around her waist and Kagome’s bound wrists around his neck. She felt hot from laughing too hard, a blush on her cheeks, and a joking comment on her lips.

“I think you just fell for me.”

He paused at her small smirk.

“You fell first, Kagome-sama. So have you anything to confess?”

She paused at his wider smirk.

“Yeah. We gotta get out of here, can you untie my wrists? I can’t feel them.”

Miroku nodded, smile still stuck on his face, as he untangled the rope. They fell apart swinging, rope still miraculously stuck around their ankles, before the monk suggested,” How about you climb up and untangle the women and I’ll go down to catch them?”

“And leave them to your lecherous hands? Does that really sound like a good plan?”

“Better than leaving them up there for some demons.”

Her only response was a sigh and a slow climb to the cross beams connecting all of the ropes. Miroku jumped down with a silent huff and waited for falling angels to greet him. There was the first one, he caught her eagerly with every intention to rip the blindfold off of her. He looked with satisfaction at full lips and untied the blindfold. He yelped, catching Kagome’s attention, and almost dropped the girl in his arms.

“Oh! Oh my god, they’re…”

“Beautiful? Grope-able--?”

He glanced down at her awkward and enlarged features before putting her gently on the floor.

“Um...Not my type. Let’s just get this over with.”

She laughed as she played with the rope and then they started again. Untie, drop, catch. It was a cycle of work, each face worse than the last somehow. Was he imagining it? Each time, he would suck in a breath only to let it out in disappointment. He didn’t know how relieved he was when Kagome whispered, “Last one!”

He held out his arms half-heartedly but fell down at the force, it seemed to have dropped from a higher height than the others. Sighing out half of a lung, he practically had to wrench his eyes open and forcibly tilt his head down, looking down to stop at two startling pools of pretty blue.

“Kagome-sama?”

“I’m the last one!”

“Ah, what a sight for sore eyes...” She just giggled.

“Hmm… Kagome-sama, I think the demons are taking their beauty.”

“Or maybe that’s your excuses talking.”

Suddenly, chaotic noises echoing from the door outside had them separate at a reasonable distance as the door broke down. Inuyasha and Sango finally came.

“Those demons looked unnaturally pretty, Inuyasha-san. You don’t think they stole the women’s attractiveness, do you?”

Miroku gave Kagome a slightly smug look.

“Yeah, yeah, monk. You were right.”

“Thank you, Kagome-sama.”

Intro | Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

Adult! Model! Luka from Miraculous Ladybug??? Whaaaaaat? 

He an edgy boy. 

(ignore the fact that I might’ve traced the motorcycle...)

T.Y.O.M. Chapter 4: Giggling, Giggling, and More Giggling

Pairing: Miroku x Kagome

Warning: Kind of similar to Chapter 1, Kagome’s getting better at thwarting the Monk O.O

Giggling, giggling, and more giggling. Usually she found the sound cute… when babies were doing it. Unfortunately, the laughter was not from small, helpless infants, not anywhere close. Kagome could feel her eyebrow twitch, her fist clench, and her patience running low. Who knew that she would get paired up with Miroku for the day. Especially in a village abundant in single women. Kami, is this a joke?

She tapped her foot against the ground, slightly impatient with a hint of something unfamiliar. She could practically hear his lecherous thoughts through all the giggling and chatter. Any second now, Kagome thought with a huff.

“Lovely miss, would you do me the honor of bearing my children?”

There it is, Kagome snickered. She thought back to the first time he asked her that question, What an odd day. Her hands tingled at the memory of his large, and very warm hands clasped over hers, the feeling of textured cloth and prayer beads over her left hand wasn't… terrible. She smiled in a stupor, leaning on a tree, before the daunting reality of what laid beneath the cloth and beads finally hit her as she stared at it, clasped around another woman's hands.

She sucked in a breath, all traces of anger fleeting… He could die right now, and nobody would be able to save him. All because of Naraku. How… How could Miroku act all okay? Like everything is fine, like he doesn't have an actual black hole in his hand that could kill him and anything in the vicinity. How can he just choose to stay with us, for all this time? How can he just smile and laugh, how can he just flirt shamelessly without receiving anything in return, how can he just be the Miroku that we know him as? Is this even who the real Miroku is? The thoughts of it gave her stomach a violent twist, her eyes looking for just the most miniscule indication of sadness or even fear in Miroku’s smile. There was none, at least not here. Just strong, captivating eyes and charmed smiles.

Her eyes started burning. No, she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying meant that Naraku won, that Miroku’s fate was sealed, and that was as far from the truth as Kagome could fight for. Naraku will never win. I won't let him. If Miroku can be strong, then so can I…

Her eyes focused on Miroku laughing with the village women and she chuckled. Kagome lifted herself from off the tree and calmly walked her way over, a slight bounce in her steps. I will fight for him and for everyone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t entertain him every step of the way. She cleared her throat and the giggles softened as the women's attention focused on her. They parted for Kagome, whispering into each other's ears in anticipation. Miroku noticed the silence and shifted his gaze to the center of their attention.

It was Kagome-sama, who looked quite different than usual when he was in the presence of village women. He waited for a slap, a glare, something. Anything. Kagome just smiled, brilliantly, respectfully, confidently. It was gorgeous.

What did I do to deserve this? Miroku couldn't help but smile back. She winked and flicked her wrist toward his face. It’s a slap?

She booped his nose instead, flicking the tip of his nose gently. Miroku stumbled in surprise, staff chiming in protest, as she turned to speak to the suddenly awed village women that he was just wooing a couple seconds ago. She grabbed the thin layers of his sleeve, and stuck her tongue out at them cheekily.

“I'm sorry ladies, I need to take my monk back. We have some things to take care of before we take our leave.”

They just nodded in response, giggles ensuing once again as they left the two alone. He raised a sharp eyebrow questionably but she shook her head, denying him an answer. He didn't mind, he could always figure it out. Miroku let a teasingly pleasurable smile shine at Kagome's gaze. She waited for his response.

“So, Kagome-sama, your monk?”

She stood frozen, mouth open to answer but her reeling thoughts got the better of her. She shook her head in mock disappointment and swiveled on her heels, away from Miroku’s calculating gaze.

“Of course you focus on unimportant details, Miroku-sama. We need to grab supplies so let's go!”

He chuckled at the clear embarrassment on her part. Her steps a little too loud to not be angry when he sped up his pace to keep up with her. He glanced at the side of her face, the smile didn't necessarily leave her face, which was strangely mood lifting.

They walked through various market stalls for a good couple of seconds, grabbing a few things and looking through some more items. It was peaceful but Miroku had a reputation to keep. His right hand twitched at a devious idea, beads clicking once against each other, as his palm made a straight beeline to her behind. A distinct screech greeted his ears and he grinned. Now that's more of a normal Kagome-sama response.

Intro | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

T.Y.O.M. Chapter 9: Bruised Foreheads

Pairing: Miroku x Kagome

Sango and Shippo were gone. Not dead---at least not yet---but they were taken and the rest of the group, along with the village caught in the middle, were left worse for wear. The timing couldn't have been any more perfect, Inuyasha had reverted back into a human and the village was celebrating a night of successful harvests. In the dark of night, in the span of what seemed like seconds, Inuyasha and Miroku were down for the count and half the flammable housings were burnt to the ground, the villagers injured and scattered.

The next seconds, minutes, hours were spent in damage control. Kagome, the temporary Priestess-in-training, did her best in consoling the remaining conscious village leaders and strongmen, the pink glow of her fingertips lingering. 

With Miroku and human-Inuyasha taken care of, the rest of the villagers were left to their own devices. The crying children were satiated, the injured cared for, the fires put out, and the village dead quiet as they rested and waited for the light to come. Kagome couldn’t be more grateful for the hospitality--after all it was her group who led them to the village.

In their own hut on the edge, shabby futons were laid out for the broken group but she couldn’t bring herself to lay down as the abandoned Kirara paced around by her side. Miroku was definitely the worst out of the two. Not good. Their breathing surprisingly felt calm, face occasionally twitching at the pain, and Kirara fiddled with their discarded-for-first-aid clothing.

“That’s no good...”

Kagome nibbled on her bottom lip, eyes looking farther than the ragged cloth. She couldn’t wait for the morning to come but then again she didn’t want to see the sun rise. Reaching in her bag, she felt for a travel-sized container of thread and needles and put her hands to work, willing for the distraction to last until the brink of daylight.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Miroku-sama, stop!”

One shoulder harshly brushed the other aside and robes were haphazardly thrown together by muscle memory with a wrapped up arm.  

“No! No, Kagome-sama.” 

Small hands trembled at messily-covered shoulders in another attempt.

“Miroku-sama!”

The hands on his robes were ripped off at the fabric and a grunt escaped his lips from the rigid motion. A moment of instinct and desperation.

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? Don’t--! Don’t you even care?”

“I--”

“Just why?! Because of this set-back, Sango--!... Sango an-- Sango and Shippo are farther and farther away. They could be dead now for all we know!”

Purple eyes burned, the early lights of the afternoon sun flickered in his gaze as he directed his attention into the floor. As if he were imagining the stomped blades of grass as the demon horde that ambushed them the night before. Fists clenched, heavy panting and unsteady balance, it was like there was a wounded, wild beast before her, and she was afraid. Afraid to get close. Afraid to make one wrong move.

“Kami-sama above, below, and beside us stupid mortals, I have to go. I have to be there for them. Kagome-sama, you understand… right!? I can’t just stand here! We have no time to waste, just lazing around here!”

He faced her, his expression scrunched and the most vulnerable she had ever seen. Must be because of Sango. Of course. It stripped at Kagome's strongest defenses until he attempted to step away. He stumbled over his own staff and barely caught himself as his outbursts caused the other villagers to slowly stop and gather.

“Miroku.” No honorifics, just firm, warm, and unwavering. He didn’t turn.

“You’re injured, damn it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“YES IT DOES!”

He felt the trembling strength in her grip as Kagome forced him to face her, hands stretching the fabric of his robes. She pushed and pushed, forcing him to stumble backwards just to keep them both afloat. He expected tears, he expected a slap, he expected childish Kagome. Flitting eyes met the fiery depths of blue as she slammed her forehead against his, keeping him close and lowered at eye-level. It was childish.

“You can’t come. You’re hurt and I don’t want you to die, do you hear me!?”

“Kag--”

“No, shut up. Shut up! Do you hear me? Can’t you see that this village needs and wants you here? Your left arm is also useless right now and you can’t even walk without using your staff! I--.”

Her voice decided right then and there to crack but her gaze refused to waver, eyes shining with a new wetness which she immediately blinked away. He didn’t say anything, a frown gracing his features as she pulled harder on his robes.

“Inuyasha’s already healed and he’s got his stupid ears and old man hair back so we can’t stay here long, they’re terrified of him. They’ve agreed to keep you here though… So please. Just stay here. We need to know that at least you’re safe and sound...”

Something poked at his legs and Miroku looked down, forehead still brushing softly against Kagome’s bangs. Kirara let out a small mew, pawing at his toes with a knowing look, before she bumped her head into Kagome’s bruised and tensed calf. He let out a small curse at his own misfortune and looked back at the quivering Kagome. She wasn’t finished.

“...And of course I care, Miroku-sama. I… I’m useless, I know I am, but I never give up. You know that. I’m just so scared. I’m just scared that we’re already too late! That I won’t be able to do anything if we ever find--!”

“When, Kagome-sama. When you find them.”

Miroku, gaining the advantage of her sudden loss of composure, adjusted the staff in his hand to wipe at the tear in the corner of her eye before letting a bitter smile fall on his lips.

“I just… I need you to stay here. Can you promise me that?”

“...Yes. Please get them back safely.”

“Of course---”

“I have complete faith in you, you know.”

Kagome couldn’t respond to the succumbed yet confident tone of his voice or the fingers that brushed against her reddened forehead. She just nodded with a newly found determination and ran back into the forest with Kirara in her arms as a glimpse of red greeted her.

Left alone, he watched their silhouettes disappear as the eyes of all villagers suddenly burned into his back. Fixing the position of his staff, he failed to collect himself and sheepishly looked back at various expressions scattered on their equally battered faces. Rather than scared and angry at their outburst, they shared a more bashful atmosphere. It was quickly broken by what seemed like one of their esteemed village elders.

“Aye, young monk-sama, was she your wife perhaps...?”

He burst into a coughing fit and bought his wrinkled robe sleeve up to his face to cover the abrupt embarrassment on his face.

”W… wife?”

They all nodded simultaneously, eager to hear the answer. He brushed the fabric against his face again at their eagerness and paused. There was an intrusion in the fabric against his chin--a slight raised threading against bunched and bloodied cloth. Looking down, he found something and thumbed the mended area, fixed with obviously tender yet rough ministrations. Flowers. Fragile white flowers against dark, tainted fabric. He fixed a softer, relaxed smile at the crowd.

“No, just a precious friend.”

The villagers looked between themselves with doubt before returning back to their duties while he, with the help of a rejuvenated, single young girl, moved back onto the porch of their mostly-emptied out hut and slumped against the wall. They’ll make it. Without a doubt. Sango and Shippo are safe… Right? With a sigh, Miroku started praying, fingers playing with the light flowers embroidered on his mended sleeve.

Intro | Chapter 8 | Chapter 10

Taste of Your Own Medicine

Pairing: Miroku x Kagome

I wrote a compilation of romantic one-shots for this rare pair, with no particular plot or point of relationship growth. It’s just gradual pining and comfort between characters given the circumstances and it’s super sweet. Here’s the first prologue (?): 

Smack. There it was again, a stinging in his cheek and a gloved hand slithering from Sango’s butt to caress the pain. At least, it wasn't her Hiraikotsu, he thought willfully, the familiar ache of the last time the huge boomerang dug into the back of his head. Miroku held a mirthful smile as he caught both Sango’s growing blush and Kagome’s scowl. Their obvious embarrassment and disgust wasn’t anything new so it didn’t stop his shameless chuckling.

They were on their way to another village, Inuyasha leading with Shippo uncharacteristically by his side. Kagome sensed a jewel shard about a couple minutes earlier, she could feel it move slowly inside some unfortunate demon, its corrupted hunger glowing in the distance. She shivered at the feeling, small whispers of fear making her forget all about Miroku’s perversions toward Sango, until a hand brushed against her backside, softly groping it. 

In one second, she felt the texture of prayer beads thinly separating the offending palm from direct contact to her butt. In two seconds, she heard a scarily appreciative but velvety hum settle beside her. In three seconds, a blush exploded on her face then she finally found her voice to screech like a dying pterodactyl and jump inhumanely into the folds of Sango’s arms, who was unbelievably disgusted for a second time in five minutes. What a new record, Inuyasha and Shippo couldn’t help thinking as Miroku’s life suddenly flashed before his eyes.

A large boomerang-weapon in the hands of Sango hit the perverted monk’s head with a loud ‘thunk’, followed by the chimes of a fallen staff and groans from the observing group. Face in the soft grass, Miroku contemplated whether or not to explain his actions but stopped at Kagome’s huffing and a throbbing headache. He missed the obviously furious expression on Kagome's face as Inuyasha and Shippo shook their heads in disappointment. Miroku chuckled shamelessly, picked himself off the floor with grace and dusted off his robes, a huge bump already forming on the top of his head. He looked at a beautifully raging Kagome, who was hidden behind an equally pissed Sango, and smiled.

“I just couldn't help myself, Kagome-sama.” 

She stepped forward, hand sassily on her hips as she pointed at him with accusation clear in her eyes.

“‘Couldn't help myself’, my foot! Just wait till I get my revenge, you pervy monk.” 

She has a plan for revenge? Miroku smiled wider at that, an unfamiliar rush of genuine excitement filled him. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that she wouldn't disappoint.

“My fate is in your hands then, Kagome-sama!”

The original posts are on fanfiction.net, but I wanted to post on here. Please send any requests or one-shot ideas as well! I’ll do my best to deliver ^^

The chapter links:

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17...