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The sun shone brightly on the festival grounds; all around them, vendors called for people to try their wares, musicians played lively tunes, and festival-goers chatted, clad in a vibrant variety of patterned yukatas, kimonos, and jinbeis.
Miroku smiled as he took in the crowd; he always did love a good festival. Once upon a time, it was because they were perfect opportunities to swindle, persuade, and seduce. Now, though, he found that he’d come to love them for very different reasons.
“Papa!” Kin’u called, her tiny hand tugging at his as they made their way through the grounds, “I want a kitsune mask!”
“Me too!” Gyokuto exclaimed, tugging on Miroku’s other hand. “I wanna look like Shippō-nii-chan!”
“Then we’ll have Shippō-nii-chan make you masks. He’s been working on them in his kitsune training,” Sango said gently, steering her little family away from the vendor’s booth. Kin’u and Gyokuto pouted, but Miroku was grateful to his wife. She was always the voice of reason, the one who, when Miroku was about to give, would gently steer them back to the correct path; or, in this case, convince them not to spend too much money. Baby Hisui squirmed against her back, and Sango sighed.
“Want me to take him for a bit?” Miroku asked.
Sango smiled, that small, private smile she saved just for him. Even after three years, it still made his heart flutter. “That’s alright,” she replied. “I think I can manage him for a bit longer.” She looked around. “Where did Inuyasha get to?”
Miroku followed his wife’s gaze, their twin daughters still tugging on his arms. “Just a moment, girls,” he said. “We’re looking for Inu-oji-chan.”
The girls immediately quieted; Inuyasha was their favorite playmate, after Shippō, and the thought of him being missing was evidently enough to quell their chatter.
Miroku closed his eyes for a moment, seeking out Inuyasha’s yōki. He found it near the shrine; it was pulsing, and he worried that perhaps something had happened.
“He’s at the shrine,” Miroku told Sango.
“Then we should go to him,” Sango answered immediately. Miroku nodded; neither of them liked to leave Inuyasha to his own devices much. After Kagome disappeared, he’d taken to long walks through his forest alone. Sometimes when he returned, his hands would be bruised and bloody, and Miroku and Sango could only imagine what he’d gotten up to while he was away.
Between that, and him returning to the well every three days to look for her, they’d had their hands full. The exorcism business did keep Inuyasha and Miroku busy, but when there was down time…
That was when he moped.
And Miroku could tell by the look on Sango’s face that she was worried he was moping, too.
Miroku scooped up the girls for ease of walking and together, the little family made their way to the shrine. There was a line of people waiting to pray and ring the bell, another in line to buy omamori, and yet a third waiting to purchase omikuji.
But Inuyasha’s yōki wasn’t by any of those three lines; it was…
“Here.” Miroku quickly handed Sango a few mon. “Go ahead and get our omikuji, okay?”
Sango nodded her understanding. “Come along, girls,” she said to Kin’u and Gyokuto. “We’ll get the omikuji for Papa while he finds Inu-oji-chan, okay?”
“Okay!” The girls clung to their mother, who slid the mon into her kinchaku before taking them each by the hand.
Sango flashed Miroku that tiny smile again, then led the girls away into the crowd, Hisui cooing from his carrier. Miroku sighed. He was sure there was a sappy grin on his face, but with how perfect his darling wife was, how could there be anything else?
He didn’t have to search long on the shrine grounds before he found Inuyasha; the hanyō was sulking under the eaves of the haiden, arms shoved into the sleeves of his suikan, a scowl on his handsome face.
“Inuyasha,” Miroku greeted him, but Inuyasha just grunted and turned the other direction.
Miroku sighed. So it was going to be one of those days, was it?
He crossed the short distance between them and squatted down at Inuyasha’s side. “Festival air got you down?” he asked lightly.
Inuyasha’s scowl deepened. “Don’t fuckin’ joke with me, Miroku,” he grumbled, and turned his head away.
“Come, come now,” Miroku cajoled him, patting his friend on the shoulder. “You can tell me, Inuyasha. We’ve been friends a long time; we’re business partners now, right?” He dropped from a squat to his knees. “What’s troubling you, old friend?”
Inuyasha grouched, and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. Miroku recognized it immediately; it was a small red omikuji, just like the one Sango and the children were waiting in line for. Miroku held out his hand. “May I?” he asked, kindly.
“Keh.” Inuyasha shoved it at him. “Don’t fuckin’ matter, anyway.”
“I’m sure that it does.” Miroku took the omikuji and opened it. His eyes grew wide at the fortune. “Why, Inuyasha, it’s…”
“A dai-kichi,” Inuyasha muttered. “Yeah, I know.”
Miroku tried to keep his composure. Why would a great blessing irritate his friend so?
“But, Inuyasha,” Miroku began, trying to see the reason, “isn’t this what you’ve wanted? What you’ve been waiting for?”
Inuyasha whipped around to face Miroku, who was stunned to see Inuyasha’s eyes wet with tears. “What I’ve been waiting for, you damn monk,” he hissed, “is for Kagome to fuckin’ come back through that well, not for some stupid, shitty fortune promising that some vague great thing’s gonna happen! Who knows what that’ll be!”
“Maybe it will be her,” Miroku reasoned.
“Yeah,” Inuyasha scoffed, “or maybe my brother will finally eat shit and die.”
Miroku choked back a laugh.
“Anyway,” Inuyasha said, looking morose, “I can’t keep holding out hope for something that’s not gonna happen, Miroku. I can’t keep sitting around waiting for Kagome to come back!”
“No one is saying that you have to, Inuyasha,” Miroku pointed out quietly.
“I know.” Inuyasha looked pained. “I just—”
Miroku got to his feet and held out his hand. “Why don’t we enjoy today, and think about tomorrow, tomorrow?” he suggested. “We can’t do anything about Kagome now, but we can enjoy the festival, right?”
Inuyasha stared at Miroku, unblinking, and for one brief moment he thought that his friend wouldn’t agree. Then, Inuyasha heaved a long sigh, accepted Miroku’s hand, and let him pull him to his feet.
“I guess,” he grumbled, “since we’re here. Can’t let the girls down, anyway. Promised ‘em I’d win ‘em each a prize.”
Miroku smiled, even though Inuyasha was still scowling, and together they walked back in the direction of the omikuji, looking for Sango and the children.
“Inuyasha-oji-chan!” It was Kin’u who spotted them first, her brown eyes widening as she saw Miroku and Inuyasha striding towards them. She broke free of Sango’s grip and raced towards them, Inuyasha catching her easily and swinging her up onto his shoulders.
“Me too! Me too!” cried Gyokuto, and Sango was left laughing as their other daughter flung herself full force into Inuyasha, who caught her, one-handed, with an oomf.
“I don’t know, Sango,” he said, flashing her a wry grin, “pretty soon these two will be too big for shoulder rides.”
“Never!” Kin’u shouted, tugging at Inuyasha’s forelocks like they were reins.
“Shoulder rides are the best!” Gyokuto added, still wrapped around Inuyasha’s torso, and when Miroku snuck a glance at his friend, he could see that Inuyasha was grinning.
Good.
“You owe us, Inu-oji-chan!” Kin’u exclaimed.
“Yeah!” Gyokuto seconded. “We want prizes!”
The girls started chanting “Prizes, prizes!” until Inuyasha silenced them both with a gentle growl.
“All right,” he told him. “We’ll go win some prizes. But no more shouting, okay? You know the baby doesn’t like it.”
“Neither do I,” Miroku said wearily.
“Who do ya think I was talkin’ about?” Before Miroku could answer, Inuyasha was off, the girls still chattering away as they clung to him.
Hisui fussed on Sango’s back. “Want me to take him?” Miroku asked.
“I’d appreciate it,” Sango replied, relief clear in her voice. They swapped the carrier over to Miroku, and immediately, Hisui nestled against his father’s back and began to doze.
“It’s amazing,” Sango commented. “He’s so little, you just cover him right up!”
Miroku took her hand. “Must be my special talent to calm and relax children,” he said.
Sango snorted. “More like the opposite,” she said, then stepped up to receive her number for her omikuji. She bowed to the priest, who bowed back, and she gave him several mon for the omikuji. The priest nodded, and she picked up the container that held the numbered sticks. She shook it, then caught a stick that slid out of the hole at the bottom.
“Thirty-one.” Sango read off the number, then went to the cabinet that held the omikuji. She opened the matching drawer and drew out the red slip of paper.
“Well?” Miroku said, eyes on the little red fortune in his wife's hand. “What does it say?”
Sango slowly unfolded it. Miroku watched her lips move as she read it, then her eyes got very wide. She began to shake, and the hand that clutched the omikuji trembled.
“Sango?” Miroku was confused. Why was his wife reacting this way to a fortune?
Sango shook her head. She took a deep breath. “It’s a han-kyo ,” she told him, and Miroku exhaled.
“Half-curse,” he commented. Sango nodded. Miroku thought about Inuyasha’s blessing: a great one, to come in the near future. Why would he get a blessing and Sango a half-curse? “What could it mean?” he asked aloud, more to himself than to his wife. “If it’s a half-curse, then is the other half a blessing? Or an even worse curse?” He frowned, trying to understand the message the gods were giving them.
Sango blinked, and drew herself up tall. “What does it matter?” she commented, waving the omikuji in the air.
“ What does it matter ?” Miroku softly repeated. “My dear Sango, you know what omikuji are! They are a sign from the gods! And we can’t ignore their word!” He felt the panic starting to rise in his heart. Just when things were starting to go so well for them, they had to get a half-curse?
Maybe Hisui was going to be sick? Or one of the girls? Maybe Miroku himself would fall ill, and Sango would have to go back to work with Inuyasha? Maybe…
Miroku’s spiral was interrupted by a whoosh of air; he looked up to see Sango marching right past him and over to a tree.
Miroku frowned. He knew what she was planning. Typically bad fortunes were tied to branches of pine trees, and the tree Sango had chosen was most definitely not.
“S—Sango?” Miroku said hesitantly. “My…my dear Sango, surely you can’t be…”
Beautiful Artwork by ash414
“There’s not a pine tree nearby, Miroku,” Sango answered crisply, “so this will just have to do.” Miroku watched, disbelieving, as Sango tied the fortune to a tree branch. She stepped back. “There,” she added, “now this fortune will have to ‘wait’.”
Miroku tapped his chin. “I suppose…” he said slowly, and shifted his shoulders as Hisui stirred against his back. Occasionally, a shrine might have a different tree stand in for the usual pine tree, and he thought that perhaps this might do.
Sango strode over to him, coming into his personal space. Immediately, he was awash in her gentle scent: linens, baby’s milk, and fresh soap. He closed his eyes as she offered him a soft, chaste kiss.
“It’s not going to matter,” she promised him, cooing at Hisui, who had just awoken. “You’ll see, Miroku. We’ve been to hell and back; we’ve both nearly died, and somehow, we’ve survived.”
Miroku softened at his wife’s words. “We have,” he agreed quietly.
“We have, ” Sango assured, kissing him again. “And with all we’ve been through, what’s a little half-curse for us to deal with?”
“Doggy! Doggy!” the twins chanted as they tugged on Inuyasha’s ears. Miroku heard Inuyasha’s angry huff, but he also heard Sango’s gentle laugh, and instead of admonishing the girls, he simply hung up the washing as Sango finished rinsing each piece.
It had been several days since they’d received the half-curse. Miroku had been extra watchful, but so far, Sango’s prediction seemed to be correct: they hadn’t faced any kind of difficulties they couldn’t handle. He and Inuyasha had exorcized a powerful demon from a nearby village, bringing relief to the countryside. Kin’u had fallen from a barrel, but had only skinned her knee. Hisui was sleeping relatively well, even though he was at times a little fussier than normal.
Even Shippō was home, back from his recent kitsune study session, and was able to join them for a few days. As much as he and Inuyasha bickered, Miroku knew that his friend was glad that Shippō was back, too.
Miroku smiled as he stretched the bedding over the washline. So far, all seemed well.
“Doggy! Doggy!”
“Hey,” Inuyasha grumbled, “do something about these twins.”
Damn. There goes our entertainment.
“Don’t tug on his ears,” Miroku told the girls.
“Sorry, Inuyasha,” Sango apologized, but she said it with a giggle, and both Inuyasha and Miroku knew that she was only a little sorry.
Miroku thought Inuyasha would make a snarky reply, but instead, he paused. A silence fell over the group. Miroku and Sango exchanged a glance as Inuyasha got to his feet, a twin in each hand. Miroku thought he saw Inuyasha’s ear twitch.
“Here,” Inuyasha told the girls, “go slay the fox.” He tossed them at Shippō, who squeaked as the girls fell on him. Miroku chuckled as the three of them toppled over.
“Hey!” Shippō shouted. “What was that for?”
“Shippō!” Kin’u exclaimed, tugging on his kimono. “Slay!”
Miroku watched them for a brief moment, when his eyes were drawn back to Inuyasha. He was off and running, towards his forest, towards…
“The well,” Sango said, rising. She bounced Hisui, who fussed at the sudden movement.
“Yes,” Miroku agreed slowly, eyes narrowing as he watched Inuyasha race into the distance.
“Do you think…” Sango began. Miroku could hear the hesitation in her voice, and he knew why. To think that the impossible had finally happened, that…
“I…I don’t know,” Miroku said. He had to be careful; he didn’t want to get Sango’s hopes up.
Or Shippō’s.
Or his own.
“Do you think it could be Kagome, Miroku?” Shippō wondered, bouncing to his feet, the girls still clinging to him. “After all this time, could it be her?”
“Inuyasha did receive an omikuji that said he was to expect a ‘great blessing’,” Miroku mused. “But we received a half-curse.”
Shippō laughed. “Kagome coming back would definitely be a blessing for Inuyasha!” he said, starting down the path that led into Inuyasha’s Forest. “But, it could also be a half-curse for you!”
“What?!” Miroku exclaimed. “How would it be a half-curse for us?”
But Shippō was already heading towards the well; Sango helped the girls up. “Here,” she said briskly, handing the children to Miroku. “It’ll be faster if you carry them.”
Miroku nodded, and scooped the girls up into his arms. He and Sango took off towards the well, and quickly caught up with Shippō, who hopped up onto Miroku’s shoulder. Sango placed her arms under Hisui’s carrier, keeping him steady as they began to run, the anticipation of what might await them at the Bone-Eater’s Well starting to overtake any concerns they might have.
“Miroku!” Shippō cried, standing up on Miroku’s shoulder and holding onto the back of his robes. Miroku saw his little nose twitch. “Please! Hurry!”
Miroku cast a quick glance at Sango. Her face was set, concentrating on running and keeping Hisui from bouncing too much, but her eyes were alight with hope, and Miroku prayed to all of the gods that Inuyasha and Shippō’s noses were correct.
They came over the ridge and into the forest’s clearing. There, before them, was the well that Kagome had first climbed out of over three years ago…
And, the well that Kagome had climbed out of, just now.
She had grown taller, more mature. There was a sadness to her that hadn’t been there before: one that might have been shaped by three years in her world—three years without Inuyasha. Inuyasha’s face was one of wonder; his eyes were wide, and he held her closely, tenderly, as though he never, ever wanted to let her go.
Miroku knew exactly how that felt.
“Kagome!” Shippō cried, drawing their attention.
“Kagome-chan!” Sango nearly sobbed.
“It’s been so long, Kagome-sama,” Miroku added, quietly, respectfully. He could see from their closeness, they’d interrupted something between Inuyasha and Kagome, something that, most certainly, they deserved to experience.
But instead of looking annoyed, or frustrated, at being interrupted, Kagome lit up with joy, and her face broke out into a wide, beautiful smile.
And Inuyasha looked down at her, still clearly in shock, but also, quite clearly, completely and wholly in love.
“Miroku-sama!” Kagome shouted back. “Sango-chan! Shippō-chan!”
Inuyasha let her go, but Kagome still held his hand, pulling him forward.
“I’m back!” she cried, and ran towards them, tugging Inuyasha along as she threw herself against Sango, careful not to jostle Hisui. She hugged Sango tightly, and the two women began to cry.
“Kagome!” Shippō exclaimed, and jumped from Miroku’s shoulder over to Sango’s. Kagome hugged him, too, laughing with surprise and with joy.
“Where have you been all this time, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked.
“You have three children with Miroku-sama, Sango-chan?” Kagome asked.
They both started laughing and talking at once. The girls approached their mother shyly, and Sango introduced them to Kagome, who knelt down and greeted them each properly, as if they were grown-ups. The girls’ eyes were wide, and Miroku knew why: this was the Kagome-chan he and Sango talked about so often, and now that she was here, he knew they were quite unsure what to make of her.
As Kagome and Sango continued talking, Shippō climbed into Kagome’s arms and she nuzzled him close. They chatted excitedly about Miroku and Sango’s wedding, about Kagome’s school, about more things than Miroku could keep track of.
“Oi.” He was so busy watching the girls, he hadn’t noticed Inuyasha come over to his side. His friend looked slightly abashed, and there was a faint blush on his cheeks. “I guess…you were right,” he said quietly.
“Right?” Miroku was surprised. “Right about what, Inuyasha?”
“Well…” Inuyasha toed the earth. “You told me not to give up hope. That the great blessing to come could be Kagome. That…I should continue to have faith.”
“And you did, Inuyasha,” Miroku said gently.
“Yeah, but…” Inuyasha shook his head. “It’s been so long, Miroku. I didn’t think…well.” He shook his head, and he glanced back at Miroku, the smallest smile on his face. “Thank you,” he said at last. “For not giving up hope.”
“And thank you ,” Miroku said, grasping Inuyasha’s hand, “for not giving up hope, either.”
Inuyasha opened and closed his mouth, apparently thinking better of what he wanted to say. “Sure,” he began, “but…”
“Inuyasha?” Kagome was back beside him; the twins were getting fidgety and Sango was looking back in the direction of their hut. “Sango says that Rin lives with Kaede now.”
Inuyasha’s ears twitched. “Huh? Uh… yeah. She does.”
Kagome reached for his hand. “Do you think…you could take me to see them?” she asked. “I really missed Kaede. I’d like to see her, as soon as possible. And Rin, too!”
“S—sure.” Inuyasha looked at Miroku and Sango. “You okay with me—”
“Of course!” Miroku exclaimed, maybe a little bit too loudly. Hisui hiccuped. “Take your time! And if you need a place to stay, Kagome-sama…”
“She’ll stay with Kaede,” Inuyasha said, pulling Kagome against him protectively. “Not with a lecherous…”
Sango cleared her throat; Inuyasha fell silent, and Kagome giggled.
“It looks like Sango and Miroku’s home is…quite full,” Kagome said, leaning against Inuyasha’s shoulder. Inuyasha looked down at her, completely enamored and oblivious to the world. “Perhaps if Kaede will have me, I can just stay with her.”
“I think that’s a lovely idea, Kagome-chan,” Sango smiled.
“Kaede would love to have you,” Miroku agreed.
“Then it’s settled,” Inuyasha said, wrapping an arm around Kagome and pulling her in the direction of the village, Shippō still clinging to Kagome’s shoulder. “Kagome stays with Kaede!”
“But Inuyasha…” Kagome protested, “Kaede hasn’t even said…”
“See you tomorrow, Sango!” Inuyasha shouted. “You, too, ya damn monk!”
“I think,” Miroku said as Inuyasha and Kagome walked towards the village, swathed in the waning light of the day, “I can see why Inuyasha received a ‘great blessing’, and you received a ‘half-curse’.”
Sango giggled. “I think,” she said, the twins each hugging a leg, “that sometimes…”
She heard Kagome already shouting at Inuyasha over the horizon, and her giggle turned into a full-bellied laugh. Miroku drew Sango to her; he kissed Hisui on the top of his head, then kissed Sango on the cheek.
“Sometimes,” he continued for her, “a great blessing can turn out to be a half-curse…”
“And a half-curse,” Sango concluded, kissing him back, “can turn out to be a great blessing.”