A Night With no Moon
“Oneesan!” Souta knocked on Kagome’s door. “Your friends are here!”

“Mmm, huh, wha…” Kagome sat up unwillingly, using her elbows to support her weight. She rubbed her eyes, legs dangling off the side of her bed. She gave off a tiring yawn and stretched lazily. Taking a glance at the clock next to her bed, she noticed that it was already 6:30 in the afternoon.

“Oneesan!!” Souta yelled again, this time pounding the door. “Did you fall asleep again while studying?”

The door opened with a very sleepy looking girl behind it. “So what if I did?” She mumbled, still not completely awake yet. Kagome yawned again. “Tell them I’ll be right down.” She headed toward the bathroom to clean up and comb her messy hair.

“Keh, always bossing me around.” Souta turned and walked back downstairs. Kagome grinned when she heard her little brother picking up Inuyasha’s favorite word.

“Man, you look like a mess.” Inuyasha’s voice came from behind her.

Without even bothering to look back, the very grumpy Kagome fired back an insult: “Go sniff a fire hydrant.”

Not knowing what a fire hydrant is, Inuyasha said nothing and followed her to the bathroom. He leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching Kagome as she washed her face with a towel.

“I wonder if I should go down and greet your friends,” Inuyasha baited her for more anger, “I’ve never met them face to face before.”

Kagome finally raised her head and looked at Inuyasha’s reflection in the mirror. “You wouldn’t da…” But her mind cut her off before she can finish her sentence, or to be more precise, her eyes.

“I wouldn’t what?” Noting her hesitancy, he pushed a little more, almost wanting her to be angry with him.

Kagome turned around slowly to look at the hanyou directly. WOW!!! What else can she think besides that? Kagome studied Inuyasha from head to toe, eyes and mouth wide open. Damn it girl, close your mouth before he sees you drool! Kagome yelled at herself for the tenth time that day. She knew she was blushing like hell, and god, she had the reason to. Because it was fall, the sun has already set, meaning Inuyasha was back to his human form. Apparently the shirt her mother bought for Inuyasha was a few sizes too small, meaning it was way too tight. And tightness meant all of Inuyasha’s muscles were in full view. Even though Inuyasha has lost all his youkai attributes, he still had his muscles. It was the same as seeing him shirtless. The pants were a little better, but it was still a little tight. She’s just thankful that his back wasn’t toward her, otherwise she wouldn’t know what to do.

“I look weird, right?” Inuyasha saw Kagome studying him. “I thought these were a bit too tight. Argh, I’m gonna go take these off.” He turned suddenly and began to walk. Kagome’s eyes instinctively shifted down. O God, Kagome, why were you looking there!!! Kagome screamed at herself once more, and this time adding a slap to her forehead. Thankful that the human Inuyasha can’t hear the slapping sound, she sighed and stopped him.

“No, wait, you’re not changing. You’ll scare my friends with your usual outfit!” Kagome could feel her cheeks on fire. Her heart was pounding heavily on her rib cage. She didn’t really care what her friends thought of her “cousin’s” outfit, she just didn’t want him to be out of it. Where is a camera when you need it?

“But I look weird.” Inuyasha complained the way a little boy would, hardly noticing the fact that Kagome was trying to avoid eye contact with him.

Kagome sighed. “You… look fine… now… go… do something. Don’t come out unless it’s an emergency.” She turned back to comb her hair and rushed out of the bathroom to greet her friends. On her way out, she tried her best, but still couldn’t avoid shoulder contact with Inuyasha, whom was nailed to the floor, pondering at Kagome’s odd behavior. When she was running down, Inuyasha pursed his lips, “Keh, fine, I’ll just go sleep in your room.” Since Kagome didn’t tell him exactly to stay where, he thought about her comfortable bed and went in to her room without asking.

Once inside her room, the now human Inuyasha moaned. “Damn, this shit is so fucking tight.” He said to himself. He looked around and saw that the curtain was down, so he pulled the t-shirt off, threw it onto Kagome’s chair, and laid down on her bed, fiddling with her alarm clock which he almost destroyed one time.

~~~~~*****~~~~~

“Yuka-chan, Ayumi-chan, Emi-chan, Hojo-kun!” Kagome yelled cheerfully as she went downstairs to greet her friends. “How are you?”

“We should be asking you that.” Ayumi grinned at her and went next to Kagome to whisper something into her ear: “We didn’t even need to drag Hojo-kun here, he volunteered.”

Kagome rolled her eyes and whispered back: “So this study group wasn’t Yuka-chan’s idea? It was a trap?”

“Nope, it was Yuka-chan’s idea, but she only thought of it after Hojo-kun wanted to come and visit you.” Ayumi winked at Kagome, causing her to sigh heavily.

“I see you’re looking much better now, Higurashi-san.” The clueless boy spoke up. He handed a plastic bag to Kagome, whom accepted it with a guilty blush. “It’s a bamboo pillow with jade marbles sewed evenly onto it, it’s very healthy for your scalp.” He said it as a matter of fact.

“Umm… Arigatoo, Hojo-kun.” Kagome held the gift as if it was a bomb. Smiling nervously at the boy. Behind Hojo, her friends giggled at her response.

“Well, we shouldn’t be wasting any time,” Emi said aloud, “should we go to your room to study, Kagome-chan?”

“Yes, why don’t you take your friends upstairs, Kagome?” Ms. Higurashi stuck her head out of the kitchen. “I’ll yell when dinner is ready.”

“Hai, mama.” Kagome began leading her friends up, not knowing about the shirtless boy lying in her bed.

“Where is your cousin, Kagome-chan?” Yuka asked while the group was climbing the stairs.

“Cousin?” Kagome blinked, two seconds later her memory snapped back and she chuckled nervously. “Oh, my cousin, he…um… I think he’s in Souta’s room.” Or so I hope.

But this author won’t let Kagome get what she wants; otherwise it’d be too boring.

~~~~~*****~~~~~

“It sure is lonely without Kagome.” Shippo sighed. He and Rin both were down on the grass just outside of the hut, looking up at the sky. Kaede’s condition was still bad so the old miko was alone inside the hut, perhaps napping. Earlier Miroku told Sango that he needed to discuss something with her, so the two, along with Kirara went for a short walk near the stream. Haruko was sitting on the doorstep, still working on Rin’s kimono with the help of the lantern.

The young girl couldn’t concentrate on her work. Every few minutes she would stop and gaze at a spot nearby, until her trail of thought is interrupted by some noise the two children are making.

When she came back that morning everyone was awoke and acknowledged the fact that Inuyasha and Kagome has already left. When Haruko handed Sango the Hiraikotsu, Sango thanked her along with her smile, letting her know that they could form a friendship. She hasn’t told anyone about the “payment” Sesshomaru gave her, not wanting to attract any unnecessary questions. But she kept the hair clip clipped onto the inside of her sleeve. Whenever she stops her work, she would unconsciously touch that hair clip with her other hand, and a smile and a blush would form without her own knowledge.

Miroku and Sango left right after they all finished dinner, leaving the children and Kaede to her care. Under the moonless sky, watching a youkai and a human child counting the infinite amount of stars, and a few soundless moths circling the flickering lantern’s light, Haruko sighed. She finally accepts that her mother made her come out on this journey, for she has never felt like this before: To be so at peace, even though she’s far from home; to be happy, even though she’s with strangers.

“Kyuu-ju-nana, kyuu-ju-hachi, kyuu-ju-kyuu…” Rin suddenly stopped her count. She raised her head at Haruko and asked, “Haruko-neesan, what comes after kyuu-ju-kyuu?”

Rin’s question called Haruko’s attention. She looked at the little girl and replied with a tiny smile. “Hyaku.”

“And after that?” Rin asked innocently.

“Then it’s hyaku-ichi, hyaku-ni, hyaku-san, and so on.”

“Ohh…” The girl laid back down and continued from “hyaku”.

Haruko couldn’t help but to look at the girl with wonder and amazement. She had heard Miroku and Sango talk about it too. Just what makes this girl so special that the youkai lord of the western lands was willing to do so much for her? When the image of Sesshomaru popped back into her mind, her right hand reached into her left sleeve and caressed the hair clip once again.

He’s not a bad youkai, she has thought about it a lot since that morning. A bad youkai wouldn’t be so kind to humans. But Miroku and Sango, and even Inuyasha seem to have a grudge against him and wouldn’t trust him. Why is that? She then remembered Kagome’s promise to tell her everything when she and Inuyasha return. O well, might as well wait for Kagome-sama to come back. Hopefully I’ll learn everything about these people then. She looked down at her work, then sighed again with a small grin on her face.

“Hyaku-ni-ju-yon, hyaku-ni-ju-go, hyaku-ni-ju-roku…” Rin’s voice remained constant as she counted a hundred and twenty-six stars. Haruko looked up to the sky and frowned. Just how many are up there? Her head slumped against the door. Hope one day I’ll know…

~~~~~*****~~~~~

“So how about it, Sango?” Miroku has his right hand on Sango’s shoulder, and the hand remained still instead of wondering around like it normally does. Sango didn’t push away either. Her eyes went to Kirara, whom was chasing a bunch of fireflies not far from them.

“Houshi-sama… I…”

“I’m not going to push you, Sango.” Miroku tried to get into eye contact with her, but Sango’s eyes remained focused on something distant.

“I’m not sure if I can do it…” Sango’s hands folded together, pressed against her heart, looking very nervous. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“Like I said, I won’t push you.” Miroku withdrew his hand and walked two steps forward. “It’s just that we’ve put it off for a while now. We should do it, you know, it’s only right. But if your emotions can’t handle it, I won’t make you, we won’t do anything without your consent.”

“Houshi-sama…” Sango looked at the monk with some appreciation. “If… if you think I should… then I’ll do it.” Sango gave him a smile of reassurance.

Miroku looked down and chuckled silently. “You trust me to make the decision for you?”

Sango looked at the side of Miroku’s head, and then whispered with tears in her eyes: “I trust you more than anybody.”

Miroku heard her soft confession. He closed his eyes and smiled. “Then do it, tell Haruko-sama the truth. Now that we have your consent, we could tell her everything about us so Inuyasha and Kagome-sama won’t have to do it when they come back.” He opened his eyes and focused on Sango’s face. “You do realize this means letting her know about Kohaku?”

Sango’s heart ached at the mention of her little brother’s name. “Yes, I know… but it’s for the sake of all of us. We won’t get the seven shards unless Haruko-san tells her mother that we can be trusted. We need those shards… Kohaku needs them.” Sango looked away, not wanting the monk to see the tears forming in her eyes.

Sango let out a small gasp as Miroku put his right arm around her shoulder. He didn’t pull her body towards him when he felt her shiver at his touch, nor did he look directly at her. “Houshi-sama…”

“When are you going to start calling me Miroku like everyone else does?” Miroku smirked, interrupting her.

Sango’s face lighted up crimson red. “Mi… Miro… Miroku-sama.”

Miroku chuckled. “Still can’t drop the ‘sama’, eh?” His charming smile didn’t go away as he looked into Sango’s eyes, absorbing both the shyness and the curious look in the girl’s eyes. “Guess it’s still an improvement.” He squeezed her shoulder, causing Sango to shiver again.

“We should head back.” The Houshi dropped his arm and turned. When he noticed that Sango failed to follow, he looked and saw her staring at his face intently. He walked back to her, avoiding the look on her face, Miroku leaned forward and kissed Sango’s forehead softly. He said no more as he turned back to Kaede’s hut, leaving a very embarrassed youkai exterminator frozen on that one spot.

==========

Okay, tell the truth, how many people thought about something perverted when you first started reading the conversation between Miroku and Sango? ^__^

Sorry about the cliffhanger that I left. I just had to leave some suspense. But don’t worry, the next chapter will start with Inuyasha and Kagome. And of course… hehehe, Inuyasha and Hojo meeting for the first time… hehehe, I can’t wait to write it. *evil grin*

Yes, now you know the truth: I plan to put Haruko and Sesshomaru together. I’ve read so many fics with Sesshomaru and Rin getting together, but I just think that’s wrong. Sesshomaru shouldn’t be a pedophile. I like his character. So in all my future fics, Sesshomaru will always be the good guy. *dreamy look on my face* Okay, see ya next time! Don’t forget to gimme some reviews!!!

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