The Other Side of Kazaana

A/N Well, it too a bit, but here’s the next chapter. Sorry it's taking so long...I'm just not as happy with it, but I'm giving in and posting it anyway. Thanks again for all the reviews everyone!!

Chapter 8 – Miroku’s Memory

Miroku sat down next to Sango, picking at his porridge as he tried to ignore the humor filled glances being thrown around the camp at his expense. It was highly annoying. Not only had Inuyasha reeled him in and pulled the ‘what did I do last night’ joke of all time, but everyone saw how taken in he’d been by it. There would be a reckoning. Looking over at Inuyasha briefly under his lashes, Miroku smiled inside. Considering that no one had ever zinged Miroku with a practical joke in this world before, he knew he didn’t have a reputation for retaliating.

Yet.

It might take a while, but he was certain he could find some way to pay Inuyasha back in turn. He’d probably have to pull Shippou in on it. This world’s little kitsune could certainly use a little more joy in his life. He was just a little too sober and withdrawn after all he’d been through. If Miroku had anything to say about it, he was going to make sure Shippou was reintroduced to his roots of teasing and tricks.

Hmmm, maybe he could persuade everyone to go to a larger town with an actual brothel. He knew quite a few good natured hostesses who would….

…would likely hate his guts if they knew this world’s Miroku, just like pretty much every person he’d met to date. He sighed. This was going to take some serious planning. He picked at his porridge a bit more, swirling it around in small circles and lines as he continued to ignore the unending chortles and snickers. He wouldn’t have thought it was quite as funny as they seemed to find it. Humorous, he’d give them that, but enough so that they were still unable to stop chuckling at his expense, after almost an hour? No, he didn’t think it warranted that level of humor.

Although if he were honest with himself, everyone’s enjoyment of his gullibility wasn’t what really had him squirming. The fact that Inuyasha’s kiss had managed to arouse him was bothering him far more than his writhing embarrassment. He’d never thought about Inuyasha that way. Not ever. It was just so ridiculous that the very idea was almost causing his brain to burn out, as though something fundamental to his entire existence had been yanked away and left him floundering. He couldn’t understand it; why did his body act as though kissing Inuyasha had been so erotic? He could still feel a buzz on his lips and taste the man inside his mouth. Even the porridge wasn’t making it go away.

Inuyasha had kissed him, and not only had he liked it, it had turned him on. Truly, the entire situation was far too surrreal, even compared to his last few weeks.

And to top off the unending strangeness of the morning, he had the weirdest hangover he’d ever experienced. He felt like he had a nail between his eyes and a stomach that wasn’t all that stable; both totally expected. The thing he couldn’t understand was what was happening with his vision. Every once in a while when he’d look at Inuyasha and blink, he’d get the oddest, golden after image of the hanyou behind his eyes. Admittedly, it made him think fondly of the hanyou every time it happened. He was reminded of Inuyasha’s loyalty, his compassion, his impatience, his protective love for his friends, his temper. The odd flash of light even made him think of Inuyasha’s eyes looking at him with…something that made him a little uncomfortable and tingly. He had no idea why he kept seeing that particular outline, nor why it always set off a flurry of thoughts about Inuyasha and who he was as a person. And he honestly didn’t know whether he was more disturbed by the image, or the fact that he’d thought of it in the first place.

Giving up on the porridge, he looked around at the others to try and distract himself. “S-so, Kouga, are you and Kagome-sama together?” he asked carefully, watching Inuyasha for his reaction.

Kouga scratched behind one of his ears casually as he looked away from Kagome for a moment to glance in Miroku’s direction.

“Of course.” He grinned and swung one arm around her shoulders, dragging her close.

Kagome was a bit more observant. “It wasn’t the same in your world?”

“No. No, you and Kouga never got together.”

“What?” Kouga glared at him as though he were threatening to take Kagome away. “Why the hell not?”

“Eh, well, Kagome was in love with…another.” He worked very hard not to look at Inuyasha. He had assumed that Inuyasha was in love with Kagome for the first couple of weeks here, until he’d learned she was with someone else. It wasn’t until he’d seen Kouga and Kagome together, however, that he felt completely sure that Inuyasha had not had feelings for her of that sort. The hanyou was sublimely unconcerned over their intimacy, and he didn’t seem as though he had that much more cunning as a liar than the Inuyasha Miroku used to know. It was very strange that the feelings hadn’t developed along the same lines in this world.

“Another? Who?!” Kouga looked down at Kagome suspiciously. “Who else did you like when you came here except me??”

Kagome shook her head and smiled, reaching up to lovingly touch his ear before grabbing it fiercely and pulling his head down to her level.

“OW!”

“Are you accusing me of something??” she asked in a voice that had Miroku very, very glad he wasn’t the one up close and personal with the girl.

“Ow! Darn it, Kagome, no! I just…well, how do you expect me to react to the thought of you with someone else? I love you. I don’t like the thought of someone else coming after you!”

Releasing his ear, Kagome’s face softened. “Awww, that’s very sweet. As long as you don’t do it again. Because, “ she turned to look at miroku, “now I’m really, really curious to see who I ended up with over there.”

“Eh, well, I’m sure it’s not that interesting.” How should he bring this up, exactly?

“Oh c’mon, tell us.”

“Yeah, Miroku, why’re you stalling? I wanna know what poor idiot Kagome ended up torturing in your world. Poor bastard, bet she harps on him every day.” Inuyasha said, his eyes laughing at Kagome’s growing indignation. “Based on how she treats Kouga, the dumbass’s ears are probably a mass of bruises.”

Until Inuyasha spoke, Miroku was still debating on what to say. He could have kept silent in the first place, he supposed, but curiosity had always been a flaw of his. Now that he’d let them see the bag with the cat in it, he really was a bit obliged to let it out, wasn’t he? And perhaps, just perhaps, he would get the slightest bit of pleasure at the thought of what the knowledge was going to do to Inuyasha’s equilibrium. He smiled broadly.

“Actually, Inuyasha, it was your face that typically ended up bruised.”

“Eh?” Inuyasha looked at him a moment in complete incomprehension. When Kagome gasped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth to hold in the giggles, however, he started to scowl. “Are you trying to say that me and Kagome…?”

“Yes. You were engaged to be married when I last saw you.” he said calmly, fully enjoying the horrified look on Inuyasha’s face before the hanyou scowled.

“Wait a second, you smell way too smug, Miroku. You’re making this up just to get back at me, aren’t ya!” Inuyasha glared at him and stood up, taking a threatening step in his direction.

“If I had, you have to admit that you’d deserve it, Inuyasha.” Miroku said, annoyed that Inuyasha’s move made him feel a little nervous. Stupid, really. It was simply that the false intimacy he’d foisted on Miroku this morning, combined with the rather odd but sincere seeming threat from last night, was making him feel…unsettled. Three days ago, he’d put up with hugs and pats and casual embraces, knowing that Inuyasha meant nothing by them. He also would have sworn that this Inuyasha, unlike his long-time friend, was much less likely to act violently towards anyone he actually considered a friend. Miroku had never seen him speak harshly to Shippou, let alone take a swing at him. Aside from when he thought Miroku was the enemy, he was sweet natured and physically mellow around him as well.

But now? His strong reaction to Miroku’s actions near his brother had shown him a side that was unexpected. In keeping with the personality of the Inuyasha he’d once known, admittedly, but he had almost thought that part of his temperment was missing in this world. Being shown how wrong he had been made him feel the need to re-evaluate his other thoughts as well. Would Inuyasha actually carry through on his threat to…spank him? Probably not with Shippou, he thought. Inuyasha treated the kit very gently; possibly because the ronin had not? But with Miroku? Well, he knew he could be violent. Was his threat of spanking a way for him to express his violent tendencies without bringing back what he might think were bad memories from their first meeting? Was he trying to find some alternative to actual fighting and simply screwing it up mightily in his typical manner? Miroku might have to correct certain impressions, if that was the case.

And why couldn’t he damn well stop thinking about it??

He noticed Inuyasha was even closer and swallowed, watching him. Even if he wasn’t threatening violence, the other issue remained a problem. Miroku was still quite confident that Inuyasha meant nothing by all his casual physical touching, but if just a kiss, in jest, managed to turn Miroku on, what might happen in the future? Would he actually start to be attracted to Inuyasha? He wouldn’t have thought it was even possible, but…that kiss had been… very nice.

And now, well, the thought alone had him looking at Inuyasha differently, and his every move was taking on sexual connotations that Miroku knew weren’t intended. He couldn’t seem to keep his brain from making them, however. An example of that occurring currently when Inuyasha smiled and took another step over, his eyes dropping low on Miroku’s body, and Miroku suddenly felt like he was being visually molested. Which was ridiculous, he thought, strongly reining in his perverted mind.

“If I had made it up, you most likely deserved a little of your own medicine. But I’m not teasing you, Inuyasha. You and Kagome were together in my world, not Kouga and Kagome.”

Kagome was still holding in giggles, watching the appalled hanyou, until she looked up to share her mirth with her mate and noticed his preoccupied expression. Putting her hand on his arm, she leaned against him and pressed tightly. “What’s wrong, Kouga?”

“Who did I love, monk?” he asked slowly.

“Y-you always loved Kagome.” Miroku was surprised to see Kouga smile at the news. “You never had her heart, but you were still good friends.”

“I knew I wouldn’t love somebody else.” He said, satisfied.

“I can’t believe I did! No offense, but eeeeuuuuuw.” Inuyasha shuddered dramatically. “Me and Kagome! What drugs was I on for that to happen?”

“Inuyasha, there is no need to be so insulting to a member of the fairer sex.” Miroku said crossly, chiding him.

“Hey, I’m not insulting her, I’m just being honest! There’s no way a normal guy would fall in love with Kagome!”

“Excuse me?” Kagome growled at him. “I have a guy in love with me! Kouga!”

“Like I said, no normal guy.” he said, laughing.

“Inuyasha! That was terribly rude.” Miroku said, shaking his head at the hanyou’s idiocy. “Sometimes, Inuyasha, I wonder how you two ever managed to be friends without her being able to ‘sit’ you.” he muttered.

“Sit me? SIT me? You mean with those stupid beads?” Inyasha asked in outrage. “Crap, I got her to take off that shit after the first week. I mean, really, how bitchy would you have to be to keep that on for very long?”

Miroku looked up a moment and didn’t say anything.

“Oh, you are shittin’ me! The other Kagome kept them on! Wow, Kagome, what a bitch.”

“It wasn’t me, you baka! It’s a different me!”

“But…man, why the hell didn’t I just run the hell away and get somebody to take it off?” Inuyasha shook his head. “I am honestly stunned that any me could be that terminally stupid. Shit.”

“Well, you did want to get the jewel.” Miroku said softly. “And then you were in love.”

Inuyasha looked at Kagome again and shuddered dramatically as Kagome rolled her eyes, but they both stared at Miroku as he went on. “And then, of course, they kept you from hurting or killing anyone when you lost control of your demon blood.”

“Lost…control? What do you mean, when I lost control?” Inuyasha’s face turned ruddy as Kouga smirked at him.

“I suppose that’s right…as a full youkai you didn’t try to kill me here. Why is that?”

Inuyasha sputtered for a minute. “Why is that?? Because that would be fucking insane! Why the hell would I come to help you out and then kill you?”

“It’s what would have happened if the Inuyasha I knew lost control and his youkai blood took over.” Miroku said sadly.

“Hey! I didn’t lose control, I let it take over.” Inuyasha barked as Kouga snickered. “I’m not some weak willed weenie who can’t control his youkai! Hell, the only time it’s managed to take over was..” he stopped and cleared his throat, “well, I mean, even if my youkai takes over, it’s not gonna start just killing people!”

Miroku tilted his head as he looked up at Inuyasha. “Why is that?”

“Be-because! It just wouldn’t! I told ya, that would be crazy!”

“I thought that’s just what happened whenever your youaki took over.”

“What? Don’t be stupid. And quit implying that I’m some kind of wuss who can’t control his own youkai, dammit.”

“You can control it?” Miroku wondered why his own Inuyasha had never learned how to do that. It would have saved them a lot of grief.

“Of course I can! I’ve been practicing all the exercises to let him out and pull him back in ever since I was a kid. Anyway, it’s not like the pig-headed bastard would do much more than go run around like an idiot, even on the days when I was too little to control it better.”

“It- it came out when you were a child? Didn’t your father ever seal it away?”

Inuyasha blanched. “Seal it away? Are you nuts? You can’t seal your youkai away or it’d fucking go …insane.” Inuyasha’s eyes were huge as he looked at Miroku.

“Are you telling me that…that the old man sealed my youkai blood in the other world?? So it never came out!?”

Miroku nodded, thinking quickly over what Inuyasha had said. “Yes…he used Tessaiga to do it. The first time the seal failed and your youkai took over was about 2 years ago, if I remember right.”

Kouga blurted out. “ But that’s almost 200 years! Sealed inside with no way out for 200 years… Holy shit, it must have been pissed when it got out!”

Inuyasha’s eyes had grown shadowed. “Why would he do that to me? Deliberately make my youkai go crazy? Dammit all, why would my own father fuck me over like that?? I can’t believe…”

Still thinking, Miroku ventured a question. “You said that your youkai would get out when you were a child? What happened when it got out?”

Still subdued, Inuyasha waved his hand rather aimlessly. “Stupid stuff. You know, like go find an interesting smell, or try and get food that it really liked, or beat up someone who’d pissed it off and I was actually supposed to be nice to.”

“So…your youkai might not necessarily think about your safety when it came out?” Miroku asked tentatively.

“Nah, he was a total idiot back then.”

“So, if you were unlikely to have anyone to look after you as a child when you lost control, or if no one could teach you that control, it might have proved fatal not to have your youkai sealed, then?”

After a stunned pause, Inuyasha nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you could say that. But…shit, what a crappy choice. Let me get killed as a kid because I don’t have any control, or make a part of me insane so I might go out and kill lots of other people if I ever lost control.”
He shivered.

“But at least you know your father loved you still, even in my world. That is something, isn’t it.”

“Yeah. But hell, I can’t help think that the poor schmuck in your world really got cosmically screwed, though. Hell, next thing you know, you’ll tell me he lost an eye and a leg or something. Hell, he didn’t, did he?”

“No,” Miroku smiled, “he was quite a bit shorter than you, though.”

“I’m a shrimp over there?!!”

“Not quite as small as all that, simply shorter.”

“Weird. Why the hell would I be shorter?”

“Actually, I’ve thought a lot about it and I wonder…I wonder if it was something to do with being on your own as a child.”

“Why, not having to put up with an asshole brother makes ya short?” Inuyasha snorted.

“No, but not having an ‘asshole’ brother to ensure that you had enough to eat might. I know that I’ve come across villages that have suffered famine, and the children who survive are always smaller in stature than the children who come later when there is more food available. I’ve always wondered if the lack of food didn’t affect the body’s growth.”

Inuyasha was silent for a moment. “Do I even need to say ‘cosmically screwed’ again? Poor Bastard.”

“He is happy at the moment, Inuyasha. Their Naraku is already dead, and he has found someone to spend the rest of his life with, who loves him dearly, and as he’s able to go through the well he has two worlds he can experience and two sets of family and friends who care about him.” Miroku smiled softly. “Whatever the cosmos has done to him in the past, I believe they are trying to make up for it now.”

“Fucking damn well better be.” He muttered, and then suddenly looked at Kagome with a slight twinkle reappearing in his eyes. “Although trying to make things right by giving him Kagome? I say he’s still being cosmically screwed.”

“Shut up, baka.” She shot back.

“Really, a bitchy wench who wouldn’t even take off those stupid beads? Who’d want to wake up to that every morning?” he went on, starting to grin slightly.

“You can be such a jerk sometimes, Inuyasha, you know that?” she glared at him, and Miroku noticed Kouga wisely looking away to hide his small smile from his mate.

“Actually, that might be a worse fate than having the psycho youkai sealed inside, come to think of it.”

“Inuyasha!” she scowled at him, then her mouth fell open just a moment before there was a small thunk and Inuyasha yelped.

He rubbed his head, looking down at the thumb sized rock that dropped next to him. He glared at Kagome, who held up her hands.

“I didn’t do it.” She said quickly

Inuyasha glanced around the camp, pausing a moment at Shippou, and then stopping on Miroku. “Little Monk, you smell a lot more smug than you did a little while ago.”

Miroku looked at him innocently, cheering inside. Using the staff might have been more satisfying, but he’d been just a little too far to pull it off. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just trying to figure out a way to get you to be quiet, since you don’t have a ‘wench’ who can SIT you when you’re obviously unable to keep from acting like such a rude idiot. Would you rather I see if Kaede has another set of beads, instead?”

“Beads? Oh, you really shouldn’t of said that, Miroku.” He smiled slowly, his fangs showing. “You know, I think you and I need to go have a little private talk about just who has the power to do what to who.” He took one slow step towards Miroku, grinning as Miroku started to shift nervously. The hanyou was only a few steps away now, and Miroku was frustrated and annoyed that once again, his brain chose to make the statement a sexual innuendo. A rather nerve-wracking, intimidating innuendo, at that. Why was he unable to stop thinking like this?

Perhaps it’s just sexual frustration. Maybe I simply need to visit another village where I can at least let my hands roam a little more freely on the female population than I am allowing myself here.

“I’m not going anywhere with you right now, Inuyasha. “ Innuendo or not, he wasn’t going to be treated like a junior member of their group.

“Oh, I think you are.” Inuyasha took another step and Miroku stood up and tried to think of what to do. Should he make an issue of this? Was this a point to make a stand on or head down the road to simply giving in? Or did it all depend on what Inuyasha was actually planning? Was he going to start a fight and blow off steam, or…steam things up?

I need to stop doing this to myself!

Inuyasha did not deserve the image that Miroku had just created in his head. He had been honorable and sweet and exceptionally kind to him. He didn’t deserve to have charges of suggestive speech leveled his way without much more concrete evidence. As Inuyasha closed on him, however, he looked into the hanyou’s rather intense eyes and wondered if maybe he’d be safer to flee, irregardless. After all, Sesshoumaru should be back soon from guarding Rin as Jaken bathed her. He wouldn’t let Inuyasha do… anything. Not that he really would do anything, but just in case…

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Miroku said, sighing at his own stupidity. Inuyasha had to be teasing, “If you wish to argue about a simple rock, we can do so quite easily here.”

“We could, but I don’t want you to be embarrassed by anything that happens, Little One.” He purred, and Miroku could feel himself flush.

Darn it, I’m still doing it!

Miroku shook his head. He had no idea why he kept thinking of these perverted things to go with Inuyasha’s words. It was very disturbing.

Miroku was still flushing when Kouga and Inuyasha perked up suddenly.

“Shit!” Kouga blurted.

“Dammit!” Inuyasha yelled.

Miroku hadn’t yet formed a question when Inuyasha leapt the last few feet over to him to put an arm around his shoulder.

Miroku froze. Was he about to try to force him to leave, was he? “Inuyasha, what do you think you’re…”

“Stow it, Miroku. Pack’s on its way. I’m just making sure they don’t think you’re the bad guy, and hence food, before Kouga clues them in. Got it?”

The pack? This sounded like a lot more than the Ginta and Hakkaku he was used to.

He stood there a minute, uncomfortable to have Inuyasha so close, and angry at himself for feeling uncomfortable. As about 20 true wolves and as many youkai poured from between the trees, Miroku started trying to push Inuyasha away. He needed to get his shakujou from the ground and get a little space around himself if he needed to defend himself. He grunted as Inuyasha pulled him closely with one arm while he drew Tessaiga with the other to point it in a menacing fashion at the surrounding predators who were menacing right back, only louder.

“Inuyasha, let go!” Miroku hissed, “I need to get to my staff!”

“Kouga, start talking already!” Inuyasha bellowed as the pack crept forward, surrounding him and Miroku.

“STOP!” bellowed Kouga, shoving his way through, pushing wolves aside when they refused to move. He finally stopped in front of Miroku and Inuyasha and turned the face the others.

“Will you let loose now?” Miroku griped, and grit his teeth as Inuyasha continued to ignore him.

“He’s not an enemy of the pack!” Kouga announced, and the wolves stopped approaching, although most were still growling.

“But it’s Miroku!”

“He’s a traitor!”

“He fights with Naraku!”

“SHUT UP!” Kouga glared at them all. “Are you challenging me?” he growled, and the male ookami all backed away quickly while the wolves whined nervously. “Look, he may look like Miroku…okay, and his name’s Miroku too, actually….but he ain’t the Miroku who is with Naraku. You can kill that other fucker on sight with my blessing. This one…he has a different scent.” He turned to Inuyasha, “You should probably let him go so they can all get a good whiff. If we run into the other one, they’ll need to be able to tell the difference, eh?”

Miroku felt Inuyasha finally loosen his grip and he turned to face the swarm of brown and grey creatures in front of him. Before he knew it, he was almost mobbed by furry lupine heads nosing in around his body. To his embarrassment, they seemed to be most interested in his ass, curling around behind him and bumping so hard that he almost fell forward into the pile of them.

Kouga rolled his eyes, “All right, all right already, you’ve got it. Leave the ningen alone” He pulled the last few persistent wolves away and let the actual youkai come forward.

It was significantly more intimidating to have a large number of fanged and taloned men staring at him intently, coming close as they inhaled near him in short bursts. The first few looked very confused and he had to breathe slow and deep to keep himself still as they moved their faces closer and closer. When one of them leaned his face down, looking at Miroku’s crotch and reached out as though to turn Miroku around and check out his ass, Inuyasha growled fiercely and yanked Miroku back.

The ookami held up his hand, but he and the others still looked perplexed and uncertain. One of them finally looked to Kouga. “But, Kouga, he smells like he has…”

“Shut up, you idiot.” Inuyasha snarled.

“But…”

“You can ask me about stuff later, all right?” Kouga barked

Miroku looked at everyone suspiciously. What were they talking about? He smelled like he had…what?

And why had Inuyasha shushed them so quickly? And why did Kouga look like he was helping him keep his pack quiet about…whatever it was they weren’t telling him?

All the ookami who came to sniff him were now looking at him…and Inuyasha…and back to him…and to Inuyasha, their eyes curious and nervous; he’d even say some looked shocked.

What the heck were they trying to hide from him? What involved him and Inuyasha and his smell?

Miroku sucked in his breath sharply and stiffened .

They were sniffing at his groin and his backside. Two places that would smell different if…if what? Wh-what if Inuyasha hadn’t been teasing? What if they thought he smelled like he’d…

…like he’d had SEX with Inuyasha???

Was that what all those looks were about?

Did I- Did I become intimate with INUYASHA?!!

He started hyperventilating slightly. Inuyasha snuffled and he pulled Miroku’s body against his.

“Hey, don’t worry, they aren’t going to hurt you.” Inuyasha murmured down at him.

Miroku couldn’t calm, questions sprinting through his head, and as he heard Inuyasha’s soft voice and felt his body against him he had a sudden image of darkness, the murmur of Inuyasha’s voice, and the feel of him enclosing his dick in wet heat.

His face flamed. Was he suddenly thinking perverted thoughts about Inuyasha, or was he remembering perverted things he’d done with Inuyasha??

Dear Gods, what did I DO last night?!