The Other Side of Kazaana

A/N 9/11/09 The story has not been updated for quite a while, obviously, but it is not abandoned! It will be finished...just may take a little bit. Sadly, Life has been extremely crazy in Twisted Land for a while now, but I'm hopeful that things are starting to finally calm down. If you are curious what has been written recently, I always put the % completed up on my profile here at AFF. Until this is finished, however, feel free to enjoy what's written. :-) (And I mean really...Miroku is my favorite. He has to be molested or the world might end, hence, he will NEVER be abandoned. :-D)

Summary: A Yaoi romance/adventure. Miroku’s curse ends with the death of Naraku, but not in the way he expected. Instead of disappearing, it rages out of control and ends his life…or does it? How is it that he wakes to find himself in Feudal Japan? Why does everything seem just a little different? And what, exactly, does Inuyasha want with him?? Now that is the real surprise…

More story than lemons. It may have slightly darker moments, especially in the beginning, but for those who don’t know me: I’m a sucker for the happy ending. Main romantic pairing is Inuyasha/Miroku.


Pretty puny, hardly worth it, Lemon warning.


Chapter 1 – Meet Miroku…Bastard

Inuyasha groaned in his sleep.

“Harder!” Miroku screamed, clawing the ground as Inuyasha slid into him. Inuyasha dug his claws into the monk’s hips, holding tightly as he began to slam into his lover, grunting from the effort. He could feel himself getting closer to his release as his flesh slapped loudly against Miroku’s.

“Harder, Inuyasha!” Miroku yelled again, and Inuyasha increased his pace, pounding into him as hard as he could. Getting closer…

“Can’t you hurry it up, you fucking half-breed?!” Inuyasha’s mind froze, but his body continued to fuck the man on the ground.

“What the hell are you good for if I can’t even get one damn orgasm out of you!” Miroku yelled furiously. Inuyasha tried to stop, to pull out and get away from the suddenly hateful bastard, but his body ignored him and continued to thrust into him over and over.

He came with a pained cry, pulsing into him and collapsing heavily. Miroku almost immediately bucked him off, coming to his feet, still aroused. He glared down at Inuyasha’s limp body, his sword appearing in his hand.

“Damn, you really are as worthless as Naraku always says. Any more of this pablum you call ‘making love’ and I think I’d puke. Revolting half-breed.” He snarled, swinging. Inuyasha screamed as the sword descended, slicing into his skull, cutting through his right eye like butter.

He sat up on the tree limb with a start, his heart pounding as he swore under his breath in one unending stream of furious profanity. He hadn’t dreamt of that asshole in years. Stupid back-stabbing fucker, he thought, running his hand over his face. Looking down at his friends below, he felt a familiar, gut-eating guilt swamp him. His two golden eyes focused in on Shippou, nestled in Kagome’s arms, the thick scar running across the kitsune’s face visible even in the moon light. He could feel tears pricking his eyes, even after all this time. How he wished it really had been himself that Miroku had sliced up.

If only he’d paid more attention, he would have seen what a monster the damn ronin had really been. But no, he’d let himself be seduced by the bastard’s mouth and hands and body and all of them had paid the price for it, in some way or another. Wishing with all his heart that he could undo every stupid, ignorant mistake he’d made, Inuyasha clenched his fists until blood oozed out and rained silently onto the grass below.

If I ever manage to catch you, Miroku, you’ll wish you’d never been born.


Miroku opened his eyes and stared at the illuminated square of light high above his head. He lay quietly, watching clouds float across his window to the world above.

Is this a well?

He watched another cloud pass by silently.

It’s cold.

Why am I so cold?

One finger moved in small circles, feeling damp earth crumble beneath it.

How did I get here?

His finger paused.

How did I get here?

The answer seemed important, somehow. More than the cold, or the unfamiliarity of the damp earth around him, he felt a deep-seated urge to know the answer to that question.

How did I get here?

Tears ran silently from the corners of his eyes. Why was he crying? He managed to move his hand from the ground and wipe the wetness from his face. More tears came to the surface, running down his face ceaselessly. He pushed himself up, sitting in the dim light and putting his face in his hands as the answer came to him.

“I’m dead.” He whispered.

“Oh Gods, I’m dead.” He froze as he realized what he was feeling over his damp face, or rather, what he wasn’t. Pulling his hands away, he stared at them. Even in the dim light, he could see that they were unblemished, bare and smooth skinned. He reached over and touched the middle of his right hand in awe, pressing on the skin. It felt so odd to have sensation there again, almost overpowering, as though his nerves were trying to make up for having missed so many years.

After a few more minutes to simply stroke the skin of his hand, he looked above him.

“Is this a heaven or a hell?” he wondered. He hadn’t thought the after-life would be so cold, but then again, there were mysteries about death that no one came back to speak of. Maybe a lack of warmth was his penance for such an over-heated libido during life. He chuckled a moment, remembering the last time Sango had slapped him, and then closed his eyes at the pang the memory gave him. Would he ever see them again? Would they join him in the after-life?

Gritting his teeth, he smiled in spite of the loss. He should be happy he was alone. He should be happy…he’d managed to get away in time, and no one had joined him in the great beyond. If he ever did meet them again, he hoped it would be a long, long time from now, when they’d all tell him tales of their lives, and their children, and their children’s children. He should be happy.

After all, he could rest easy. They were safe. He was absolutely positive that Inuyasha would make sure they were all safe, and he could spend whatever time he had here knowing he’d lived long enough to see Kagome and the hanyou engaged before he’d gone. He was fairly certain that Sango would be tying the knot soon, herself, if the young lord who kept following them around had anything to say about it. Thinking about the situation, he was very glad they had never quite gone far enough in their relationship to make it permanent. It would have been so much harder on her, if she didn’t have someone else.

Rather like how he felt now, having gone on, alone. Alone, and…here. Wherever that was. He took a shaky breath, letting a few more tears fall. He loved them, and he was truly happy that they all still lived. But Gods, he was going to miss them!

After standing and letting himself wallow in his own sorrow long enough for the shadows to start shifting overhead, Miroku finally decided to find a way to climb out of his new home. He realized he was still wearing his kesa and wrinkled his nose at its rather filthy appearance. A knotted vine wound it’s way up from the bottom where he stood and he used it to climb after verifying that his shakujou was no where to be seen. Sweating heavily by the time he reached the top, he flopped over the edge and fell off onto the grass a few feet below.

He froze as he looked around.

It can’t be.

Around him was a familiar field on the edge of a forest, a wooden well squatting on the ground next to him. As he stood hurriedly and looked down at the pit he’d climbed from, he finally recognized the very rope that he’d helped to create for Kagome to climb whenever she came back from her visits home. He stared, so taken aback that he could barely think.

He was dead. He knew he was. He’d felt the kazaana start to grow as soon as Naraku’s body had fallen to the ground, consuming his hand with a swiftness that had been terrifying. He’d run from the battlefield, yelling at Inuyasha to keep the women away as he fled. He’d just been able to turn back once to see them watching him from a safe distance, Sango and Kagome yelling for him as Inuyasha clamped them to his side, when he’d felt the air rip split his skin and run up his arm, crushing his bones as it pulled him in and compressed him into nothing.

So how was it that he had woken up in the well?

“Is the after-life so like our own?” Would he be able to wait in this familiar place until his friends had passed on as well and joined him here? Feeling his dampened spirits lift a little at the prospect, he slowly walked the familiar path towards the village. The silence was broken by the sounds of birds, the wind rustling the leaves quietly above his head. It felt rather odd, however, not to have the comforting jingle to accompany him as well.

I’ll need to make another staff.

He passed fields with obvious signs of cultivation before coming across more with people working them. Heads turned as he came into sight, and he paused. Wasn’t that Yuuko in the field there? She was still alive, wasn’t she? And Noriko? Hadn’t she run off with the peddler the year before? Were they both dead then? He saw more familiar faces, dozens of them as everyone slowly turned to look his direction.

What had happened to the village? Why was everyone here with him in the after-life? Had Naraku managed to attack it while they were finding the last clues to his whereabouts? Seriously worried, he started walking over to ask about the situation when something hit him sharply in the back of the head. He grunted and fell to his knees, a bloody stone dropping to the ground beside him as he felt something slick and warm trail down the top of his ear and onto his collar. The ground vibrated around him as he was surrounded by angry men.

“Miroku!” one of them yelled out.

“Yes?” he raised his head up, and saw the butt end of a hoe coming for him. Ducking, he rolled clumsily out of the way only to be kicked in the side by another villager as he stumbled to his feet. Going down on one knee, he was rapidly subdued by hoes, feet, and fists, his hands tied behind his back painfully.

“Please, please, tell me what it is I’ve done!” he said as he was shaken angrily by a few members of the mob who had dragged him to his feet. Was there something he was supposed to have done before he entered the village? Was there a particular spirit who ruled this corner of the dead, or a deity who required service? He felt at a total loss and hoped desperately that his usual verbal skills could help him. He had to admit, finding out just how much pain he was still able to feel after death was… disconcerting.

Trying to keep his feet as he was prodded roughly along to the hut that housed Kaede-sama on the mortal plane, he stared as Kaede herself walked out at the villagers summons.

“Kaede-sama? What happened to the village?” he asked in a soft, saddened voice. Gods, had everyone died?

She glared at him, walked up, and slapped him in the face.

“Kaede-sama!” Seeing nothing but intense dislike, if not outright hatred, on her face, he felt cold seeping into his bones, worse even than the earth’s icy grip inside the well..

The same village, the same houses, the same people…but I am disliked by one of the people I was closest to?

Is this some form of hell?

“Dressing up like a monk, Miroku? I would have thought even the touch of the kesa alone would have been enough to sear your flesh, after the things you’ve done.” She rasped coldly. “I never thought to see your face again, Ronin. What ill wind has given you enough courage to return here?”

Miroku stared at her.

“…the things I’ve done?” he asked, confused.

Looking at his guileless face, Kaede clenched her teeth. “You tricks will not work on me, boy, not anymore. You may have learned to mask your true self better this time, but we’ve seen the rot that you hide underneath. We will not be taken in.”

“Tricks? Rot?!” he spit out a bit of blood from his mouth and tried to figure out what was going on. “Please, I don’t know exactly what I’m being accused of, but there must be some explanation…”

“You will be held until Inuyasha returns, Miroku.” She interrupted, and almost smiled. “He has been planning your punishment since you left us so precipitously. I would use what time you have left to make your peace with whatever Gods or Demons you pray to.” She added, and started giving directions to the villagers on how to secure him.

Inuyasha? Inuyasha was here? But he knew he was alive, he knew it! He had been safe; he would have sworn he was safe.

Did I not get far enough? Did I take in everyone else along with myself? Oh Gods, Inuyasha must despise me.

Except, that still didn’t explain the presence of the entire village in this hell, or wherever it was. He had to find out what had happened!

“Please, Kaede-sama, can you not tell me what I am being accused of?” he called out as she retreated back to the cool interior of her hut.

She turned and scowled at him. “No. You know full well what you are guilty of. I have no interest in listening to your reasons or excuses.”

“But Kaede-sama…”

“And cease mocking me. You have never used such words of respect. They ring hollow.” She said.

Never used them before? But I always…

“Kaede-sama… “ He gasped as one of the men around him hit him in the back and dropped him to his knees.

“She said to be quiet, Ronin.” The voice sneered at him, and he tried not to moan from the pain.

As he was concentrating on breathing without wheezing, a young man came running up to them, yelling for help. “The well! Youkai from the well!” he yelled, his arm red and ragged.

Kaede gave him one look and hurried inside, coming back with her bow and supply of arrows. “Show us.” She ordered.

“I can help.” Miroku said, rising carefully to his feet.

“I’d rather have a rabid weasel watch my first born child than have you at my back.” Kaede said to him. She left three of the men to guard him, moving him near a hut that was obviously under repair, giving orders to kill him immediately if he made any threatening moves. She left with the rest of the men, following the youth who’d raised the warning.

Miroku watched them go and tried to stand as still as possible, not wanting to make any movement that even vaguely resembled an attack. Which might be why he was spared when the men in front of him suddenly screamed, blood pouring from the huge rents that appeared on their torsos. Dropping to the bloodied ground almost simultaneously, convulsing, his guards gave him the cover he needed to leap backwards towards the doorway. He watched as what looked like enormous crickets dug into the corpses, and taking a deep breath, he ran through the village and into Kaede’s hut, searching for the knife he knew she kept for chopping and stripping the leaves for her herbal concoctions. He heard thin, high-pitched screams echo outside.

The children! Frantically, he knocked against the shelf, knocking the knife and everything else to the floor. Kicking out at the contents, he finally dug it out and knelt down, grabbing it behind him and slicing at his restraints. The ropes fell from his wrists and he leapt to his feet, looking around her hut for something he could use as a weapon.

Nothing.

Hearing screams again, he cursed and ran outside, following the sound to see a mother trying to fight off another demon cricket as a small group of hysterical toddlers hid behind her. He sprinted over, flinging ofuda on the creature to give them some time.

“Kaede sama’s hut! Get to her hut!” he yelled as the mother stared at him, frozen. He growled and shoved her in the right direction. “Take the little ones and go!!” She scrambled away without even acknowledging him, herding the children ahead of her, clutching the smallest in her arms. Looking around, he ran again to more screams. Two girls who couldn’t have been more than 8 were trying to run, one carrying her younger sibling on her back. She tripped and he barely managed to hit the youkai before it sliced into her back, his ofuda burning fiercely against its head as it reared back, squealing.

“Get to Kaede-sama’s hut!” he yelled at them, picking up the one who had fallen to almost toss her in the right direction. “Tell anyone you see, we need to stay together!” Nodding, they ran and he turned, feeling overwhelmed and desperate. He couldn’t wait much longer before he went to the hut, but the children…he couldn’t leave the children to be devoured, dammit!

He tried to find one last group, some last person he could save, and saw two of the youkai trying to break into one of the huts, screaming and crying echoing from inside. He took a breath and decided. It would be them. Leaping, he hit both youkai with ofuda, managing to kick them aside while they were stunned.

“Hurry!” he yelled at the closed door. “They are frozen, but only for a few moments! “ The door was flung open and as children came pouring out from inside, he realized that he’d found the girl who’d been responsible for caring for the children that day. “This way, hurry! Go to Kaede-sama’s!” He picked up a small toddler in each arm and started running, trying to keep behind and watch ahead at the same time. A small boy tripped and fell with a wail and he scooped him up by the back of his shirt to carry in his hand as he continued to run.

They made it to the hut and fled inside. Miroku stumbled in last, tossing the children to the ground and letting the door fall behind him. Taking his last few papers, he plastered them against the door and walls, but as he heard the thumps against the outside of the walls, he knew he didn’t have enough left to keep the youkai out. He needed a barrier, and he needed to make one now. Maybe the ofuda could buy him enough time to create one, and then they just had to wait until the others returned.

“Don’t touch me until you here Kaede’s voice, or someone you know, asking us to come out, understand?” he ordered. Everyone looked at him, confused, except for the one adult woman who had made it inside, and she stared at him in horror.

“Understand!!” he yelled, and everyone nodded, frightened. Facing the door, Miroku dropped to the ground and started to focus, bringing his hands together in front of him, he tried to block out the noise, the crying and sniffling behind and hoarse screams from outside. A barrier, he needed to create a barrier, strong enough to keep youkai out, to keep anything and everything out that might harm the children.

It didn’t matter if this was a heaven or hell or somewhere completely unkown…he wasn’t going start off his new ‘life’ by failing to save these innocents.

Cursing her aging legs, Kaede tried to keep up with the others as they raced back to the village, the women having flowed in from the fields on hearing the men’s despairing cries. She castigated herself as she ran, trying not to let the crippling guilt overwhelm her. She’d grown so complacent, thinking she could always predict what the lower lever youkai would do. And now here she was, knowing that her confidence and pride might cost them everyone in the village.

All the children.

She shook her head, pushing herself harder. She couldn’t give up yet. Her people were brave, and smart. They knew to run or hide, to fight back if there was no other recourse. She had taught them as well as she could. And they might have had enough warning to find refuge somewhere. Not the smaller ones, but maybe some of the older…

She’d just been so sure the youkai would still be near the well. Positive that the village wouldn’t need anyone to guard it for the short period they would need to dispatch the violent invaders. Although maybe the three she’d left behind might be enough to protect some, if there hadn’t been too many of the demon crickets. They might at least have bought everyone enough time to escape. And if that meant that bastard Miroku escaped as well, it was a small price to pay for the rescue of humans she actually cared for.

She closed her eyes a moment as she paused to rest, breathing heavily. Gods, all the little ones…
Hearing a shout from ahead, she looked up, seeing some of the women running back for her.

“Kaede-sama! Kaede-sama, here, please, take my arm.” One offered, the other taking her bow and arrow from her.

“I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment to catch my breath and I’ll continue.” She wheezed slowly, and when breath finally returned to her lungs, she hurried next to the two anxious women. By the time she arrived at the village, there were no sounds of battle, but a strange muted murmur filled the air. It was confusing. If the children had been slaughtered, as she feared, she was certain that she’d already hear the wails of bereft mothers and fathers. If they’d escaped, the others would be calling for them already, trying to let them know it was safe to return.

Making her way past numerous gutted insects and a few pitiful villagers who hadn’t survived, she finally arrived at her own hut, and stared. Surrounding the entire structure was the shining aura of a holy barrier. A very strong barrier, from what she could see. Who in the world was making such a thing? They didn’t have anyone she knew who could make such a thing, except perhaps…Kagome? Has the girl somehow come home early? Whomever it was, she had her undying gratitude, if only there were some survivors inside.

She approached it and found that she wasn’t able to push through. “It is safe now! You may come out!” she called, waiting. After a minute, the barrier fell, and her eyes filled with tears to see how many children came tumbling out her door. The last to emerge was Noriko, holding her newborn as she peeked out carefully, only to be mobbed by her rather large husband. Managing to free herself, the girl came over to Kaede.

“Kaede-sama, I think he may need help,” she said softly.

“He?”

“It- he saved us all. He gathered everyone together here and kept the barrier around us until you arrived, but he’s collapsed. He needs help.”

Kaede nodded, already moving. So, someone had arrived in time to aid them. He had their undying gratitude, whoever he was.

“Who is he?” she asked, pushing aside her door covering. She stared down at her floor in utter surprise just as Norikio answered.

“It’s the ronin, Miroku.” Noriko looked down at the man unconscious on the floor. “I thought he was evil, Kaede-sama. He hurt Inuyasha-sama so badly, and little Shippou-chan, but he saved us. I swear to you, he was the one who saved every one of us.”

Kaede looked down at him, thinking. He was the one who had put up a barrier of such purity? The Miroku she’d known had not had such power. He’d been brilliant, cunning, sexually insatiable, and an excellent swordfighter. Spiritually, though, he’d been stunted. He could not have performed this feat, not without decades of training to rid himself of his selfish desires, not to mention the years to develop his powers to this level. And for something of this purity to come from him? Naraku’s hand was too easily seen in this type of energy: the defilement from his touch would have been only too obvious. So if this wasn’t a power from Naraku, and this wasn’t a power that the ronin possessed, then what was happening? If he had really put up the barrier, who WAS this man?