Categories > Anime/Manga > Inuyasha > Something Unexpected
Destiny is a moment's distraction
0 reviewsA collection of more or less consecutive One-shot about Kouga and Sango; written for 30_Kisses community on LJ.
0Unrated
Something Unexpected
Chapter 01 - Destiny is a moment's distraction
by Skyless_star
Disclaimer: The Manga and the anime `InuYasha', as well as the
characters involved, had been created by Rumiko Takahashi.
I don't own them, nor I do profit from this story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Something Unexpected - Chapter 1 - Destiny's a moment's distraction
Written for 30_Kisses, theme #15 "Perfect Blue"
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"Sango, what blue should I use for the sky?" Asked Shippo, that was drawing. "This light one,
this other darker, this... how did Kagome call it?... `turquoise'..."
Sango looked at the pencils; without thinking twice, she choosed. "Turquoise. I like it better
than the others."
Shippo nodded and begun colouring the sky. Sango's mind begun to drift back to the events that
made her choose that particular color.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sango checked for the n-th time that Miroku wasn't spying them, before finally giving Kagome the
OK for the bath. It was a bad habit of him that she really couldn't stand, but it seemed that, at
least, Shippo had enough tact to stay behind and keep an eye on the monk. She was grateful for that,
even though she liked bathing with the little kitsune; it reminded her of when she, her brother and
her father used to bath together, when she was still young.
Sango turned to the river; they were near a little fall, so the water was a little too wild for a
bath. Luckily, however, they'd found a little bend with calmer water, and if they'd pay a little
attention, there wouldn't be any danger. Kagome was already in the water, and Sango decided to waste
no more time worring about the pervert monk. While she was removing her clothes, she noticed a trunk
in the river. She looked back to Kagome, who had gone a little too far into the river, then back to
the trunk. The way it was going, it will surely hit her.
"KAGOME!" she screamed, but the other girl had just dived into the river. Sango immediately
launched herself in the river and, fighting the resistance her half undone kimono made in the flow,
she managed to grab Kagome's arm and push her toward the bench. In the process, she slid and fell
underwater, not able to move agily as usual because her clothes were heavy in the water. In a
moment, the trunk arrived and hit her on the back. Her vision filled with black.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Ar. ..u su.. ..r'e ...ng it ...ht?"
"SH.. .P!"
Voices. Distant voices that spoke something unintellegible.
`Pffff.'
Something warm touched her somewhere. Air seemed to invade her.
"You should try again."
The voices became clearer; thought, she still couldn't understand what they were talking
about.
`Pffff.'
More air, another touch. This time, she could understand it was something near her face. No; it
was right on her face. It was on her mouth.
"I think I saw her move."
These were male voices. But what was happening, exactly? Sango forced herself to open her eyes,
but what she could see was mostly black, the only light was on her periphereal vision; or maybe she
was dreaming.
`Pffff.'
Air again. This time, it felt like she was going to explode. She began to cough violently,
spitting water without control, unable to avoid whoever was in front of her.
"Oh, damn. I knew it would end up this way."
It was a known voice. With some efforts, she opened her eyes again. This time, she saw something
turquoise. It must be the sky. But it was darker than the sky. Focusing on what she was looking, she
recognized they were a pair of eyes. A beautiful pair of eyes. `But eyes have an owner' her mind
told her. And these were pupil-less eyes. It was a Youkai. Too close to her. She jerked up, but the
ache in her back was too much to bear, and she fell down again, moaning.
"Don't force yourself, Sango. It's me, Kouga. I won't hurt you." Came the reassuring voice.
"Ko-" Also her throath ached. She coughed a little to clear her voice. "Kouga?"
"Yes. Are you feeling well?"
"I feel... like... crap." She managed to say through rasped breath.
"Do you need any help?" He didn't like to make her speak for nothing, it was visibly painful for
her, but humans were fragile beings, maybe if he waited too much she could have permanent
damages.
"Don't... think." She was still heavily panting, but was fast recuperating.
"Good. Now don't worry. I can smell Kagome and the others, they'll be there shortly. They'll know
how to treat your human body better than me."
She nodded and closed her eyes trying to regain her breath. Kouga made sure she hadn't passed
out, then turned to Ginta e Hakkaku. "You two, go retrieve our clothes."
`Clothes?' Thought Sango, hearing his words. Opening her eyes again, this time trying to really
see what was in her field of view, she noticed Kouga was totally naked. Looking in the general
direction of his body, she couldn't help but think it was a very beautiful one. His voice -and his
words- startled her.
"Never seen a naked male before, am I right?" He said, slightly amused; Sango's face was
priceless. He knew that humans had a very strange habit of considering a taboo the sight of the body
of someone of the opposite sex; what was the wrong in it, he'd never understand.
Sango blushed deeply and turned to the other side. "That's not the point. Why are you naked,
anyway?" She tried to control herself, but her voice held a little worry for what he and the other
two could have done to her. With an hand, she touched herself; luckily, her kimono was still closed
at the waist, but the top was opened so a large portion of her breasts could be seen.
"In case you didn't noticed, we saved you, not raped you. We were taking a bath in the river,
when an unconscious body came floating on the water. If you care to know, when we recognized you, we
were worried because you looked dead."
Sango felt guilty, Kouga was right. "I'm sorry. I..." `I can't stand being helpless.' she
thought, then changed the subject. "You must admit that, near an unconsciuos woman, a naked man
is... At least suspicious."
"I only think you spend too much time with that monk friend of yours. Beside, aren't you a
Taiji-ya? You should know that Yorozokus search for females that can stand up to them, not
unconscious ones."
Sango closed her eyes and exaled. He was right again. "I'm sorry, I'm still a little
confused..."
Kouga sighed to himself and smiled comprehensively. "It's OK, don't worry. It was my fault to
carry the conversation there; sometimes I forget humans are easily embarassed."
`Are we?' thought Sango. In the same moment, Ginta and Hakkaku arrived, already dressed, and
handed Kouga his clothes; he stepped a little away to avoid embarassing the taiji-ya even more.
Sango forced herself to look at the other two.
"Are you feeling better, Sango-san?" asked Ginta.
"Yeah, you got us worried." echoed Hakkaku.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't planned to get hit by a trunk. But I'm already feeling better, thanks."
"What did you expect? She's a though one." Stated Kouga matter-of-fact. "Ain't I right?" he
asked, looking at her. Seeing that he was tieing up his hair again, Sango realized that before they
were loose.
"I don't think I'm the right one to say it." she replied. Those three seemed to be really
relieved that she was OK; she had never expected the Yorozoku could be so caring. Maybe it had been
Kagome's doing, maybe the fact they were the only three left of their pack, or maybe it was just
normal for them to care for their friend; otherwise, why would they live in a pack? She smiled a
little, all that concern made they seem rather... sweet.
"Well, I think he's right." said Ginta, looking at the girl.
"Me too." replied Hakkaku.
"Sango!" Everybody looked to where the voice came from. It belonged to Miroku who, riding on
Kirara, had preceded Kagome, InuYasha and Shippo. The demon-cat rushed to Sango and changed back to
her smaller form; Miroku had to jump down to avoid falling.
"Mrreow." Kirara caressed Sango's cheek with her own. Sango tried to sit up and Miroku helped
her.
"Are you Ok, my beautiful Sango?" asked the monk.
"Yes, thanks to Kouga."
"Sango!" This time the voices were those of Kagome and Shippo that jumped off of InuYasha and,
like Miroku and Kirara, rushed to her. "I'm so sorry Sango! It's all my fault!" Kagome begun to hug
her friend and utter one excuse after the other.
InuYasha stood in front of Kouga, who was trying, with Miroku, to detach Kagome from Sango.
"There was something stinking!" he said.
Kouga turned to him, angrier than usual, but tried to keep things at the level of their ususl
fight "You finally sniffed yourself?"
"Feh! I bet you saved her just to get near Kagome." Kouga glared hardly at him.
"Personally, I'd be glad even if that was the only reason, InuYasha." Said Miroku, understanding
that Sango had absolutely no will to listen to those two squabble.
"You sure? If he'd kidnap Kagome again, she'll be responsible too!" InuYasha replied, pointing a
finger at Sango.
Kagome tried to bring him back in line "INUYA-WHACK!...sha..." Before she could finish
the word, Kouga had sent him flying several meters away with a punch right on the nose.
"SHUT UP, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING HAYOU! IS THIS THE WAY YOU TAKE CARE OF THE FEMALES OF YOUR PACK?"
Kouga growled, his eyes turning red.
InuYasha held his bleeding nose, trying to get up without the help of Kagome, who had rushed up
to him. "She's perfectly able to take care of herself!"
"Then why we found her unconscious face down in the water? What if it had been Kagome?" Kouga
screamed.
"Geez! Thanks, Kouga!" said Sango; thought his words weren't the best someone could hope to hear,
her only intention was to distract those two before their fight could degenerate dangerously.
Realizing his words could have been misunderstood, the Yorozoku went near her and knelt down. "I
didn't mean it badly. You're just stronger than her. The trunk that knocked you out could have
killed her." He spoke calmly and low enough not to be heard by Kagome.
Seeing his rival had turned his back to him, InuYasha launched himself, but was stopped midair by
Kagome's "InuYasha, SIT!"
Kouga smirked victoriously at InuYasha's form into the ground and went over to Kagome, grabbing
her hands "I knew you would do this for me, Kagome. But you should stop worrying, I can take care of
him by myself."
InuYasha raised from the ground, extracting Tessaiga . "If you really think so, why don't we
finish this once and for all?" Sango slapped her face; was too much to ask for a little rest?
"InuYasha, don't make me do it again!" Kagome threatened, then spoke gently to Kouga "And you,
Kouga, I really appreciate what you did for Sango, but I think she needs a little rest. So, just for
today, could you avoid making him angry?"
Kouga sighed. "It's not like I do this to tease him, but... Ok, I will avoid coming near you for
today." Sango breathed in relief and Shippo patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"Thank you, Kouga." said Kagome to the Yorozoku, then spoke louder "Now that everything is fine,
let's prepare a camp for tonight. Kouga, Hakkaku, Ginta, you're obviously invited to stay with us,
as thank for what you did." Sango, Miroku and Shippo wondered how this could match with her previous
request to not tease InuYasha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The night had invaded the earth and everyone was now sleeping. Everyone except Sango, who kept
thinking about what had happened in the day. What a stupid way to die. She was a taiji-ya, a
warrior, since she was a little girl she had been trained in various way to defeat Youkai, she was a
master in the use of the Hiraikotsu. She came out from her grave -literally- after Kohaku had
attacked her and all the others. She'd always thought that, if she had to die young, it would have
been fighting a Youkai, not because she'd been hit by a trunk in the water.
She sighed. It was no use mourning about this; she was alive, and she only had to think about
getting better. That, in a middle-long time. For now, she should just try to sleep a little.
Cautiously, she turned on her back and begun staring at the sky.
There was another thing that kept her awake: Kouga. She'd have never thought he would care so
much for a human; a taiji-ya, nonetheless. The thought made her feel weird inside. And also the way
he'd spoken to her, his reassuring voice, saying more than once that she was strong, saying that
Yorozoku search for strong females... Wasn't it, in a strange way, the greatest compliment she'd
ever received? People had called her beautiful, yeah, but... What Kouga had said...
She knew he loved Kagome, even the stones should know after all the times he'd declared it,
but... couldn't it be just a way to challenge InuYasha? ...`It's not like I do this to tease him,'
he had said earlier.... Maybe she was just deceiving herself. She should stop thinking about him.
Afterall, she had been saved a lot of times by Miroku and InuYasha, sometimes even from Kagome, it
wasn't like she'd fallen in love with them. But they hadn't his beautiful body... His wonderful
eyes... Why she had to be passed out when he'd done artificial respiration to her?
Hitting her head to clear her mind, she screamed mentally. It was nonsense. Eyes closed, she
inhaled slowly to calm down but, when she opened her eyes, she saw someone sitting near her. With
her luck, it was the one that had invaded her thoughts.
"Something's wrong? It's since everyone fell asleep that you keep sighing and tossing aroud. Does
your back hurt?" he spoke lowly so the others won't wake up, and his voice seemed to soothe her.
"No, it's just... I was thinking about you." Kouga stared at her; he seemed a little surprised.
Sango realized she must be a lot more tired than she'd thought. How could she say it out loud?
"Me?"
"No. Err... Yes... I mean, you as Yorozoku. I must admit you and the other two surprised me
today. I thought you were the feisties Youkai on earth's face, but..." she paused, searching for
words that couldn't be misunderstood.
"...But?" he prodded her, lying down on his side and resting his head on his hand; the talk was
getting interesting.
"Well... First you helped me, then attacked InuYasha about being unable to protect the females of
his `pack'... I was wondering if it's just you three, or if all Yorozoku are so... Caring... About
the ones of their `pack'."
Kouga wasn't really convinced that her wondering was the only reason for her being awake, but at
least she could speak normally, she wasn't in pain. And that was all that mattered. "Well... About
caring for the ones of our pack, expecially females and pups, but also for our allies, it's a thing
we normally do. Sometimes we can be a little aggressive toward our packmates, but it's mostly to
state our predominant role, we'd never really hurt them. Only when we fight for the alpha-male role
we can be really dangerous, but, if you think about it, a weak alpha would be dangerous for the
whole pack; some losses are nothing compared to that."
"Losses? You mean you kill each other just to decide your leader?" Sango asked.
"Sometimes. But it's a very rare occurrence; usually, when two males have very different
strenght, the weaker one is able to understand it and submit to the other before he could get
killed." Kouga stated matter-of-fact.
Sango nodded, thinking about it. It was harsh, but in the end, these were the same reasons that
made humans engage war against each other.
Kouga continued "...About saving you... I think it's just the three of us. I decided to never eat
humans again after meeting Kagome, but if all this had happened only some months ago, we would have
eaten you." He paused, and looked at her making sure she noticed. "You look pretty appetible..."
Instinctively backing away from him as much as her supine position allowed, Sango wondered what
he was thinking. Hadn't he just said he'd never eat humans again? Then, where that `appetible' came
from?
Kouga smelt she was getting tense and understood his joke was inopportune. "Sorry, I was just
kidding. Like I said, I no longer eat humans."
"I'm not really sure I want to be reminded that you once did. Expecially when you are so close."
Though her words were sarcastical, he could feel she had relaxed and see she was lying down
again.
"Ok. Let's forget about this for tonight, would you? You have to rest if you want to heal soon.
That's true for Youkai as well. I hope that now that I answered your doubts, you'd be able to sleep
peacefully." he said, hoping she would tell him if something else was wrong.
"Maybe..." She paused. "Kouga?"
"Yes?"
"I think I haven't done it before, so... Thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome."
After a short pause, she added "And thanks for not eating me." she smiled a little.
"Naah, I was full." He dared to repeat his previous joke and, as he had thought, this time Sango
wasn't scared; instead, she smiled.
She was relaxed now; his proximity made her feel good, he was so close she could feel his warmth.
"Can I ask you a totally unrelated thing?" she said.
He nodded, curious.
"How can you be so warm with all your limbs bare? I'd be freezing."
He smiled, he had thought of a thousand question she could have asked, but that one hadn't
crossed his mind. "I suppose it's because I'm a Youkai. My body's temperature isn't different from
that of other like me."
"Uhm... I think it was a pretty stupid question, isn't it?" She said, somehow apologetic for
actually asking it. He just gave her a look that meant he didn't mind answering.
They staied there in silence for a little, until Kouga noticed Sango's eyes were closed. He
looked again at her body. She really was `appetible', but not in the way he had meant before. He
smiled a little and, after a fast glance around the camp to know if anyone else was awake, he gently
kissed her forehead, then returned to his own bed.
Sango smiled. Closed eyes don't mean someone's asleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shippo showed Sango his just finished drawing. "Do you like it, Sango?"
"Very beautiful, Shippo." she said, watching it. She looked at the drawn sky a little longer. A
sky that could be mistaken for a pair of turquoise eyes. So intense, so beautiful, so blue.
So perfect.
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Finished 13-July-2007, 17:39 Italian Time
Thank you for reading thus far.
If you feel like it, please review. Even flames are welcome if you think there's something that
doesn't work.
By the way, English isn't my natural language, so I apologize for any eventual mistake in the text;
I'm looking for a beta-reader to make things better.
As for now, if you find some errors, please send me an e-mail (skyless_star@libero.it), a
message, or write something in a review, as you wish; I'd be glad to fix it as soon as possible.
Chapter 01 - Destiny is a moment's distraction
by Skyless_star
Disclaimer: The Manga and the anime `InuYasha', as well as the
characters involved, had been created by Rumiko Takahashi.
I don't own them, nor I do profit from this story.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Something Unexpected - Chapter 1 - Destiny's a moment's distraction
Written for 30_Kisses, theme #15 "Perfect Blue"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Sango, what blue should I use for the sky?" Asked Shippo, that was drawing. "This light one,
this other darker, this... how did Kagome call it?... `turquoise'..."
Sango looked at the pencils; without thinking twice, she choosed. "Turquoise. I like it better
than the others."
Shippo nodded and begun colouring the sky. Sango's mind begun to drift back to the events that
made her choose that particular color.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sango checked for the n-th time that Miroku wasn't spying them, before finally giving Kagome the
OK for the bath. It was a bad habit of him that she really couldn't stand, but it seemed that, at
least, Shippo had enough tact to stay behind and keep an eye on the monk. She was grateful for that,
even though she liked bathing with the little kitsune; it reminded her of when she, her brother and
her father used to bath together, when she was still young.
Sango turned to the river; they were near a little fall, so the water was a little too wild for a
bath. Luckily, however, they'd found a little bend with calmer water, and if they'd pay a little
attention, there wouldn't be any danger. Kagome was already in the water, and Sango decided to waste
no more time worring about the pervert monk. While she was removing her clothes, she noticed a trunk
in the river. She looked back to Kagome, who had gone a little too far into the river, then back to
the trunk. The way it was going, it will surely hit her.
"KAGOME!" she screamed, but the other girl had just dived into the river. Sango immediately
launched herself in the river and, fighting the resistance her half undone kimono made in the flow,
she managed to grab Kagome's arm and push her toward the bench. In the process, she slid and fell
underwater, not able to move agily as usual because her clothes were heavy in the water. In a
moment, the trunk arrived and hit her on the back. Her vision filled with black.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Ar. ..u su.. ..r'e ...ng it ...ht?"
"SH.. .P!"
Voices. Distant voices that spoke something unintellegible.
`Pffff.'
Something warm touched her somewhere. Air seemed to invade her.
"You should try again."
The voices became clearer; thought, she still couldn't understand what they were talking
about.
`Pffff.'
More air, another touch. This time, she could understand it was something near her face. No; it
was right on her face. It was on her mouth.
"I think I saw her move."
These were male voices. But what was happening, exactly? Sango forced herself to open her eyes,
but what she could see was mostly black, the only light was on her periphereal vision; or maybe she
was dreaming.
`Pffff.'
Air again. This time, it felt like she was going to explode. She began to cough violently,
spitting water without control, unable to avoid whoever was in front of her.
"Oh, damn. I knew it would end up this way."
It was a known voice. With some efforts, she opened her eyes again. This time, she saw something
turquoise. It must be the sky. But it was darker than the sky. Focusing on what she was looking, she
recognized they were a pair of eyes. A beautiful pair of eyes. `But eyes have an owner' her mind
told her. And these were pupil-less eyes. It was a Youkai. Too close to her. She jerked up, but the
ache in her back was too much to bear, and she fell down again, moaning.
"Don't force yourself, Sango. It's me, Kouga. I won't hurt you." Came the reassuring voice.
"Ko-" Also her throath ached. She coughed a little to clear her voice. "Kouga?"
"Yes. Are you feeling well?"
"I feel... like... crap." She managed to say through rasped breath.
"Do you need any help?" He didn't like to make her speak for nothing, it was visibly painful for
her, but humans were fragile beings, maybe if he waited too much she could have permanent
damages.
"Don't... think." She was still heavily panting, but was fast recuperating.
"Good. Now don't worry. I can smell Kagome and the others, they'll be there shortly. They'll know
how to treat your human body better than me."
She nodded and closed her eyes trying to regain her breath. Kouga made sure she hadn't passed
out, then turned to Ginta e Hakkaku. "You two, go retrieve our clothes."
`Clothes?' Thought Sango, hearing his words. Opening her eyes again, this time trying to really
see what was in her field of view, she noticed Kouga was totally naked. Looking in the general
direction of his body, she couldn't help but think it was a very beautiful one. His voice -and his
words- startled her.
"Never seen a naked male before, am I right?" He said, slightly amused; Sango's face was
priceless. He knew that humans had a very strange habit of considering a taboo the sight of the body
of someone of the opposite sex; what was the wrong in it, he'd never understand.
Sango blushed deeply and turned to the other side. "That's not the point. Why are you naked,
anyway?" She tried to control herself, but her voice held a little worry for what he and the other
two could have done to her. With an hand, she touched herself; luckily, her kimono was still closed
at the waist, but the top was opened so a large portion of her breasts could be seen.
"In case you didn't noticed, we saved you, not raped you. We were taking a bath in the river,
when an unconscious body came floating on the water. If you care to know, when we recognized you, we
were worried because you looked dead."
Sango felt guilty, Kouga was right. "I'm sorry. I..." `I can't stand being helpless.' she
thought, then changed the subject. "You must admit that, near an unconsciuos woman, a naked man
is... At least suspicious."
"I only think you spend too much time with that monk friend of yours. Beside, aren't you a
Taiji-ya? You should know that Yorozokus search for females that can stand up to them, not
unconscious ones."
Sango closed her eyes and exaled. He was right again. "I'm sorry, I'm still a little
confused..."
Kouga sighed to himself and smiled comprehensively. "It's OK, don't worry. It was my fault to
carry the conversation there; sometimes I forget humans are easily embarassed."
`Are we?' thought Sango. In the same moment, Ginta and Hakkaku arrived, already dressed, and
handed Kouga his clothes; he stepped a little away to avoid embarassing the taiji-ya even more.
Sango forced herself to look at the other two.
"Are you feeling better, Sango-san?" asked Ginta.
"Yeah, you got us worried." echoed Hakkaku.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't planned to get hit by a trunk. But I'm already feeling better, thanks."
"What did you expect? She's a though one." Stated Kouga matter-of-fact. "Ain't I right?" he
asked, looking at her. Seeing that he was tieing up his hair again, Sango realized that before they
were loose.
"I don't think I'm the right one to say it." she replied. Those three seemed to be really
relieved that she was OK; she had never expected the Yorozoku could be so caring. Maybe it had been
Kagome's doing, maybe the fact they were the only three left of their pack, or maybe it was just
normal for them to care for their friend; otherwise, why would they live in a pack? She smiled a
little, all that concern made they seem rather... sweet.
"Well, I think he's right." said Ginta, looking at the girl.
"Me too." replied Hakkaku.
"Sango!" Everybody looked to where the voice came from. It belonged to Miroku who, riding on
Kirara, had preceded Kagome, InuYasha and Shippo. The demon-cat rushed to Sango and changed back to
her smaller form; Miroku had to jump down to avoid falling.
"Mrreow." Kirara caressed Sango's cheek with her own. Sango tried to sit up and Miroku helped
her.
"Are you Ok, my beautiful Sango?" asked the monk.
"Yes, thanks to Kouga."
"Sango!" This time the voices were those of Kagome and Shippo that jumped off of InuYasha and,
like Miroku and Kirara, rushed to her. "I'm so sorry Sango! It's all my fault!" Kagome begun to hug
her friend and utter one excuse after the other.
InuYasha stood in front of Kouga, who was trying, with Miroku, to detach Kagome from Sango.
"There was something stinking!" he said.
Kouga turned to him, angrier than usual, but tried to keep things at the level of their ususl
fight "You finally sniffed yourself?"
"Feh! I bet you saved her just to get near Kagome." Kouga glared hardly at him.
"Personally, I'd be glad even if that was the only reason, InuYasha." Said Miroku, understanding
that Sango had absolutely no will to listen to those two squabble.
"You sure? If he'd kidnap Kagome again, she'll be responsible too!" InuYasha replied, pointing a
finger at Sango.
Kagome tried to bring him back in line "INUYA-WHACK!...sha..." Before she could finish
the word, Kouga had sent him flying several meters away with a punch right on the nose.
"SHUT UP, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING HAYOU! IS THIS THE WAY YOU TAKE CARE OF THE FEMALES OF YOUR PACK?"
Kouga growled, his eyes turning red.
InuYasha held his bleeding nose, trying to get up without the help of Kagome, who had rushed up
to him. "She's perfectly able to take care of herself!"
"Then why we found her unconscious face down in the water? What if it had been Kagome?" Kouga
screamed.
"Geez! Thanks, Kouga!" said Sango; thought his words weren't the best someone could hope to hear,
her only intention was to distract those two before their fight could degenerate dangerously.
Realizing his words could have been misunderstood, the Yorozoku went near her and knelt down. "I
didn't mean it badly. You're just stronger than her. The trunk that knocked you out could have
killed her." He spoke calmly and low enough not to be heard by Kagome.
Seeing his rival had turned his back to him, InuYasha launched himself, but was stopped midair by
Kagome's "InuYasha, SIT!"
Kouga smirked victoriously at InuYasha's form into the ground and went over to Kagome, grabbing
her hands "I knew you would do this for me, Kagome. But you should stop worrying, I can take care of
him by myself."
InuYasha raised from the ground, extracting Tessaiga . "If you really think so, why don't we
finish this once and for all?" Sango slapped her face; was too much to ask for a little rest?
"InuYasha, don't make me do it again!" Kagome threatened, then spoke gently to Kouga "And you,
Kouga, I really appreciate what you did for Sango, but I think she needs a little rest. So, just for
today, could you avoid making him angry?"
Kouga sighed. "It's not like I do this to tease him, but... Ok, I will avoid coming near you for
today." Sango breathed in relief and Shippo patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"Thank you, Kouga." said Kagome to the Yorozoku, then spoke louder "Now that everything is fine,
let's prepare a camp for tonight. Kouga, Hakkaku, Ginta, you're obviously invited to stay with us,
as thank for what you did." Sango, Miroku and Shippo wondered how this could match with her previous
request to not tease InuYasha.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The night had invaded the earth and everyone was now sleeping. Everyone except Sango, who kept
thinking about what had happened in the day. What a stupid way to die. She was a taiji-ya, a
warrior, since she was a little girl she had been trained in various way to defeat Youkai, she was a
master in the use of the Hiraikotsu. She came out from her grave -literally- after Kohaku had
attacked her and all the others. She'd always thought that, if she had to die young, it would have
been fighting a Youkai, not because she'd been hit by a trunk in the water.
She sighed. It was no use mourning about this; she was alive, and she only had to think about
getting better. That, in a middle-long time. For now, she should just try to sleep a little.
Cautiously, she turned on her back and begun staring at the sky.
There was another thing that kept her awake: Kouga. She'd have never thought he would care so
much for a human; a taiji-ya, nonetheless. The thought made her feel weird inside. And also the way
he'd spoken to her, his reassuring voice, saying more than once that she was strong, saying that
Yorozoku search for strong females... Wasn't it, in a strange way, the greatest compliment she'd
ever received? People had called her beautiful, yeah, but... What Kouga had said...
She knew he loved Kagome, even the stones should know after all the times he'd declared it,
but... couldn't it be just a way to challenge InuYasha? ...`It's not like I do this to tease him,'
he had said earlier.... Maybe she was just deceiving herself. She should stop thinking about him.
Afterall, she had been saved a lot of times by Miroku and InuYasha, sometimes even from Kagome, it
wasn't like she'd fallen in love with them. But they hadn't his beautiful body... His wonderful
eyes... Why she had to be passed out when he'd done artificial respiration to her?
Hitting her head to clear her mind, she screamed mentally. It was nonsense. Eyes closed, she
inhaled slowly to calm down but, when she opened her eyes, she saw someone sitting near her. With
her luck, it was the one that had invaded her thoughts.
"Something's wrong? It's since everyone fell asleep that you keep sighing and tossing aroud. Does
your back hurt?" he spoke lowly so the others won't wake up, and his voice seemed to soothe her.
"No, it's just... I was thinking about you." Kouga stared at her; he seemed a little surprised.
Sango realized she must be a lot more tired than she'd thought. How could she say it out loud?
"Me?"
"No. Err... Yes... I mean, you as Yorozoku. I must admit you and the other two surprised me
today. I thought you were the feisties Youkai on earth's face, but..." she paused, searching for
words that couldn't be misunderstood.
"...But?" he prodded her, lying down on his side and resting his head on his hand; the talk was
getting interesting.
"Well... First you helped me, then attacked InuYasha about being unable to protect the females of
his `pack'... I was wondering if it's just you three, or if all Yorozoku are so... Caring... About
the ones of their `pack'."
Kouga wasn't really convinced that her wondering was the only reason for her being awake, but at
least she could speak normally, she wasn't in pain. And that was all that mattered. "Well... About
caring for the ones of our pack, expecially females and pups, but also for our allies, it's a thing
we normally do. Sometimes we can be a little aggressive toward our packmates, but it's mostly to
state our predominant role, we'd never really hurt them. Only when we fight for the alpha-male role
we can be really dangerous, but, if you think about it, a weak alpha would be dangerous for the
whole pack; some losses are nothing compared to that."
"Losses? You mean you kill each other just to decide your leader?" Sango asked.
"Sometimes. But it's a very rare occurrence; usually, when two males have very different
strenght, the weaker one is able to understand it and submit to the other before he could get
killed." Kouga stated matter-of-fact.
Sango nodded, thinking about it. It was harsh, but in the end, these were the same reasons that
made humans engage war against each other.
Kouga continued "...About saving you... I think it's just the three of us. I decided to never eat
humans again after meeting Kagome, but if all this had happened only some months ago, we would have
eaten you." He paused, and looked at her making sure she noticed. "You look pretty appetible..."
Instinctively backing away from him as much as her supine position allowed, Sango wondered what
he was thinking. Hadn't he just said he'd never eat humans again? Then, where that `appetible' came
from?
Kouga smelt she was getting tense and understood his joke was inopportune. "Sorry, I was just
kidding. Like I said, I no longer eat humans."
"I'm not really sure I want to be reminded that you once did. Expecially when you are so close."
Though her words were sarcastical, he could feel she had relaxed and see she was lying down
again.
"Ok. Let's forget about this for tonight, would you? You have to rest if you want to heal soon.
That's true for Youkai as well. I hope that now that I answered your doubts, you'd be able to sleep
peacefully." he said, hoping she would tell him if something else was wrong.
"Maybe..." She paused. "Kouga?"
"Yes?"
"I think I haven't done it before, so... Thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome."
After a short pause, she added "And thanks for not eating me." she smiled a little.
"Naah, I was full." He dared to repeat his previous joke and, as he had thought, this time Sango
wasn't scared; instead, she smiled.
She was relaxed now; his proximity made her feel good, he was so close she could feel his warmth.
"Can I ask you a totally unrelated thing?" she said.
He nodded, curious.
"How can you be so warm with all your limbs bare? I'd be freezing."
He smiled, he had thought of a thousand question she could have asked, but that one hadn't
crossed his mind. "I suppose it's because I'm a Youkai. My body's temperature isn't different from
that of other like me."
"Uhm... I think it was a pretty stupid question, isn't it?" She said, somehow apologetic for
actually asking it. He just gave her a look that meant he didn't mind answering.
They staied there in silence for a little, until Kouga noticed Sango's eyes were closed. He
looked again at her body. She really was `appetible', but not in the way he had meant before. He
smiled a little and, after a fast glance around the camp to know if anyone else was awake, he gently
kissed her forehead, then returned to his own bed.
Sango smiled. Closed eyes don't mean someone's asleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shippo showed Sango his just finished drawing. "Do you like it, Sango?"
"Very beautiful, Shippo." she said, watching it. She looked at the drawn sky a little longer. A
sky that could be mistaken for a pair of turquoise eyes. So intense, so beautiful, so blue.
So perfect.
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Finished 13-July-2007, 17:39 Italian Time
Thank you for reading thus far.
If you feel like it, please review. Even flames are welcome if you think there's something that
doesn't work.
By the way, English isn't my natural language, so I apologize for any eventual mistake in the text;
I'm looking for a beta-reader to make things better.
As for now, if you find some errors, please send me an e-mail (skyless_star@libero.it), a
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