Shifting Spheres of Influence

A/N: Hello hello…. I humbly apologise for my long hiatus that I took, exams are a bitch, *sighs* thus is the life of a uni student… but there all over now, so more writing, YAY!
Now on with the story.....

‘Where have you been?’
‘I don’t know...’
‘Maybe its better that way...’
Kung Fu Hustle

Chapter 4: A Ripple in the Water

Present , Sango’s apartment, CBD

The monk made his way up the spiral staircases, glancing his violet eyes upwards, he sighed at the four flights he had yet to climb.

‘Man, she sure lives at the top....’

Reaching the pent house floor of the apartment block, he made his way down the plush carpeted hallway to the door at the end of the corridor. Rapping twice on the varnished wood, he waited.

After a few minuets, the door opened to reveal a very dishevelled looking women in a huge sweater with the Kyoto University Logo across her left breast, her hair gathered at the top of her head in a messy bun with a few stray strands framing her face, obviously intentionally done but, looked unintentional. A small smile lifted the corner of the monk’s lips at her attempt. Casting his gaze downward, the monk took in her attire, her long sweater just covering her denim shorts, her long legs that ended in a pair of comfy plush looking blue leopard printed slippers.

“Miroku, your early...”

“Yeah, I came straight over after I called...”

“ Oh i thought that you meant first thing in the morning, not in the middle of the night?”

Glancing down at the watch on his right wrist, he replied

“ Well technically it is morning, 3am to be exact... and your up so....”

Biting the bottom of her lip, she answered him

“Yeah...”

A pregnant pause followed, glancing into the apartment over Sango’s left shoulder he broke the silence.

“Can I come in?”

Blushing at her silliness, she stepped aside and in a swooping gesture, invited the monk in.
“Yeah, of course, sorry...”

Sango made her way back to her laptop, located in the study after a brief visit to the kitchen for a caffeine fix. Now both in the study, steaming cups of coffee in their hands, Sango sat back down behind her desk and popped her glasses on, manoeuvring the mouse a bit and clicking here and there, she addresses the monk that was keeping himself occupied with the weapons and books that lay around the room while she settled herself.


“Miroku, so what exactly happened?”

Putting the book that he was browsing through, entitled “Warriors and Women, a guide into the inner psyche of the ancient warrior ” he mentally stowed the knowledge away in his mind as he listened to her question.

“Hmmm?”

Sipping the hot liquid, she sighed at the monk.

“Will you put that down and listen to me? What happened?”

“Why are you so into the slayer thing, that was centauries ago for us. You have some kinky fetish with weapons I should know about, Sango?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows at his question, he took a seat on the couch and moved a few of the katanas off the upholstery.

“Haaa, that is for another time... now-“

“Yeah ok i get it...sorry.... Yeah well you know Sesshomaru-sama assigned me to watch her, well I did using the nifty camera you gave me that I hid in her office and well she had fallen asleep in front of the computer and when I looked up, she was running through the office cubicles and then the next thing you know, the camera went dead...”

Her brows knitted together in confusion at his tale, she set her cup of coffee down and turned to her computer, flicking up the lap top on the other side of the desk and pushing a few buttons on a router that was plugged into her 3 screen computer system, she interrogated the monk further.

“So you didn’t see the attacker at all?”

“Ummm.... no not exactly..”

Pausing in her efforts to get her technology up and running, she asked

“What do you mean not exactly?”

“Ummm.... well.... Kaiya came down to the van to deliver some coffee and a small snack that I had-“

“a small snack?”

“yeah a small snack... and-“

“a SMALL snack?”

“Yeah I was lonely and well you know”

“Miroku, you didn’t...?”

She stared at him, her gaze fastened to his, he looked down and his silence was her answer.

“WHAT!!!!!! Miroku you stupid lecherous perverted asswipe, Kagome-sama, the Prophecy Child Kagome-sama was being attacked and YOU WERE IN THE BACK OF A VAN HUMPING THE SHIT OUT OF A SECURITY GAURD?!?!?!”

A deep shade of red had adorned her cheeks in her anger as she glared at the monk

“Well it wasn’t humping, more like heavy petti-“

The monks words were cut off as her cup of hot liquid connected with him, hitting him square in the face, shattering the mug and spilling all the contents over his face and neck.

“OUCH!!!!!”’

Falling backwards from the force at which Sango had hurled the cup of hot liquid at the man, he wiped his face clear of the liquid before glaring daggers straight back at the short tempered women.

“That hurt you know...”

Closing her eyes at her now bubbling anger, she remained quiet.

“That really, really hurt.”

“Well you deserved it.”

Crossing her arms, she leant back in her chair.

“yeah I know, Its this cursed hand after Naraku-”

“save it”

“Sorry Milady”

“OOe don’t you milady me you lecherous monk” her anger defusing at his apology.

Uncrossing her arms , she handed him a box of tissues that had been conveniently hidden in amongst the books that littered the study.

Muttering a small thanks at the tissues, the monk cleaned himself up as she turned back to her computer system and began to punch furiously into the keyboard, all the while keeping her eyes on the screens as she worked.

After a few moments, she found what she had been looking for.


“Here, you can clearly see the guy in the camera, he’s hidden though, by the shadows, I wonder why Kagome didn’t sense him behind her with her Miko abilities?”

Throwing the tissues into the bin, Miroku moved behind Sango to see what she was talking about.

“How’d you manage to get the surveillance footage?”

“I’m not the head of the IT for nothing you know” She replied with a bit of sarcasm lacing her tone.

“Hnn, one would hope”

“what’s that suppose to mean?”

Ignoring the building argument, the two focused on the screen.

Watching the tape over, they saw Kagome realise that there was an attacker and her running through the different passage corridors and cubical spaces, right up until she was pushed against the window. Her profile was blocked by a beam that was located in front of the camera, but the attackers features can clearly be seen. Magnifying the image of the attackers face, Sango printed out a copy of his face and got up to retrieve it from her printer. Miroku took her seat and rewound the tape.

Watching it again, Sango now leaning over his shoulder, narrowed her perception at something that caught her eye, she spoke

“Wait, pause the tape, go back, what’s that?” Pointing to a distorted shaped figure in the left hand corner of room right before the attacker appeared.

“Move” She instructed Miroku who followed the instruction and got up off the seat allowing her access to her keyboard again, she blew up the distorted image.

Now in a pixellated form, she began running a software programme of her design that was designed to reinstall the distorted pixels of the image.

“What you doing?”

“Running a diagnostic software programme over the image to restore the distorted pixellated cells by reverberating the colour around the image and projecting a estimated version of colour to the small cells thereby resorting the image.”

“English please, IT is your area, fieldwork and client ell is mine.”

“Oh umm I’m restoring the image...”

“Oh” waiting for the results, Sango began tapping her fingernails lightly on the desk top. The rhythm began to beat around in Miroku’s head, amplifying the already building headache thanks to Sango’s great curb ball arm. Grabbing her fingers in an attempt to stop the noise, Sango jumped at the contact.

Looking at the monk, his face unreadable at the closeness they now found themselves in, she blushed,

“Umm”

And looked away.


A beeping was heard, drawing the two out of their daze, both turned their attention back to the computer screen at the image.


“So that how the attacker got in, I was wondering how he managed to bypass the security systems while the guard was umm.... in disposed.....”

Frowning at her words, Miroku studied the image


“Sesshomaru-sama is not going to like this....”


500 years in the past, Forest outside the Western Castle

Working her huge bone boomerang into the back of the wagon, she sighed at the approaching walls of the huge castle. She hadn’t agreered to tag along with a whole bunch of misfits in representation of the slayers village to attend the Alliance meetings, but as the oldest daughter of the head of the tribe and her younger brother indisposed with training, she was the only logical choice to send, plus it got her out of the way so that her brother could focus on his studies and not be in her shadow, as her father had mentioned unaware that her ears were firmly presses to the rice paper door of the shoji screen.


Now after 3 days of continuous walking to get to the castle with her entourage, She was spent.

‘would of been far easier if I had of road Kilala, but NOOOOOO, I have to drag along all these hippies to present a proper lady of the slayer village in a demonstration of the techniques that are practised by our kind... aah all this for honour. Father I hope your faith in me isn’t for nothing...’

Sighing again, she continued walking next to the wagon that heaved in the muddy path worn in by the travellers to and from the Western castle.


Reaching the great wooden walls of the outer perimeter of the castle, she rapped on the giant doors of the wooden structure and waited, Kilala at her heels. A guard at the lookout tower let of a series of yips and grunts that echoed in the small valley the wall was centred in.

‘obviously Youkai’

She rolled her eyes at her own observation and waited as one of the smaller hatches, built into the giant wooden gates opened revealing a very large and well muscled youkai plated in full armour armed with sword and shield. He walk out to the small group that had formed at the base of the gates.

He addressed the girl who had rapped on the door in a very rough voice, staring down at her small form, he towered above her.


“State your business, Ningen”


Not allowing his tall muscled youkai ego to belittle her, she spoke to the youaki in a condescending tone that spoke of power and eloquence, perfect for any form or royalty.

“I am Sango, Slayer from the Demon slayer village, Oldest Daughter of Hibito. Sister of Kohaku and member of the head family of the Village. I come in representation of the Slayers for the Lord Council Meetings in honouring the Alliance.”

Suspicion clear in the yellow orbs of the bear youkai that stood before her, he answered her request.

“Pathetic Humans, your place is at the Eastern Border of the Western Domain, you may not enter here. “ he emphasised his point by pointing to the gate with the tip of his sword.


Aghusted by the tone and demure of the youkai, her cheeks bled a tinge of red as her anger bubbled to the surface at the entire situation.

“Why you good for nothing-“

“ My Humble man, please excuse Milady for she has the temperament of Mount Fuji when scorned by the Kamis.”


Sango was whisked away by a pair of strong arms that wrapped around her small waist, lifting her into the air and placing her behind the body that belonged to the arms, all the while addressing the guard.

The youkai listened as the young man spoke his peace bowing low in a sign of respect.

“Please allow us passage into the Western Domain, as you, a very astute member of Youkai society are surly aware, the Council meetings commence in a mere day and a half, and retracing our steps back to the Eastern Border would take us at least 3 to enter the Western Domain and surly one such as yourself, a respectable youkai, proud of serving his Lord would not expect anything less of punctual timing of his honoured guests of the Slayer Village, the guardians the Sacred Cave that houses the form of Midoriko herself?”

Confusion reigned supreme across the bears face as he listened to the words of the young monk. Scratching his head in an attempt to ease the impending headache of trying to figure out exactly what the man said, he avoided the whole thing all together.

“Aah, monk your words ring true, proceed”

With a small smirk on his face, the monk bowed deeply to the now confused youkai and grabbed the young girl who still stood behind him, dumbfounded by what she had just witnesses. Pushing her through the huge gates as the opened on either side of the small caravan of travellers, they began the climb to the Western castle, leaving behind the bear who was still scratching his head in confusion.

Once travelling at a steady pace along the road, walking instep with the monk, her mind began running a muck as it tried to figure out the situation that had just unfolded before her. Her fingernails began beating a soft rhythm on the hilt of her Katana as her anxiety got the better of her. Suddenly the same arms that surrounded her earlier shot across her form as a big masculine hand covered her own, in an attempt to stop the soft rhythm. Her gaze shot from the hand to the monks face, back to her hand and then back to the monks face. A sincere smile lifted the corners of the monks lips at her antics, his face unreadable at this moment as their eyes locked and something shifted between the two.

A small blush tainted her cheeks at the contact and she looked away.

He whispered a small

“thank you”

Removing his hand from hers, he began walking back up the road, blinking bake her daze, she caught up with him and addresses the monk.

“Umm... ”

Watching her out of his peripheral vision, she continued

“Thank you, um you know... for earlier...”

He paused in his steps, extending his hand back out to her in a gesture of friendship, he stated his name

“The Monk Miroku at your service Milady Sango”

Stating at his hand, she took in acceptance of the gesture, but then realised that he already knew her name.

“How’d you know my name?” She asked incredulously

That same smile lifted the corner if his lips at her question.

“You stated it so boldly to the not so intellectually inclined youkai back at the gate.”

“Oh”

Another blush adorned the slayers cheeks as she cast her eyes downward, embarrassed by her question.

A seriousness reflected in his eyes as he took both her small hands into his as he asked her the very first question that would set the tone of their relationship for the next 500 years.

“Milady Sango, would you do me the honour of bearing my child?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Present, A retreat somewhere on the Island of Okinawa
She shot up out of the bed, blinking in confusion as the sun peeped through the shoji screen doors. Her crystal blue eyes took in her surroundings and her brows furrowed at the unusual scents that surrounded her and bombarded her nose, she sneezed at the bombardment on her senses and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, talking in the cloth that was wrapped around her palms. Somewhere in the recesses of her subconscious, a recognition ghosted across her mind at the scent the bandages gave off as well as the scent in the room. A small twinge of pain shot through her arm at her action. Confused by the sensation, she jumped at the feeling produced by the pain that shot to her brain alon the nervous system. In her movement, she managed to entangle the throw that was wrapped around her from and fell from the low western style bed that she was occupying, knocking the lamp and glass of liquid on the nearby table over that broke on the floor with a loud shattering. This resonated in her ears with her acute senses and scared by the noise, she scrambled on sore limbs, jumping at each movement as pain shot through her form where she came to rest in the corner of the room, cowering away from all the noise, sights and smells that encompassed her form. Her crystal blue orbs now huge with unshed tears of fear and anxiety as she shook in the corner. That’s how he found her.


A/N: Please let me know what you think……

Until next time…