Chapter 8 - hand of fate

Hatori looked about. It was too bright in here, and above him was, quite clearly, the sky instead of what should have been there. And what had happened to Sota?
Well, he couldn't do much if he stayed down here. He climbed up the vines. Once had was halfway out of the well, he looked around. Strange. Why was he in a forest? Maybe he had hit his head—and hard.
Of course, dreaming all of this was the most logical answer, therefore it had to be the least likely. He distinctly recalled falling straight downward, without hitting the sides of the well, and he had landed on all fours. Naturally, that could also be part of the dream. It was entirely possible that his body was elsewhere, leaving his consciousness to wander around in a dreamland. Could he be in a coma?
And if he was in a coma, then why did the dream begin with the well? Furthermore, dreams usually try to convince the unconscious that they are reality, thus in the dream world, one does not believe that the dream is not real. Thus, he really shouldn't be thinking it was a dream if it really were a dream. Though that point could be argued using the same logic.
So, using this skewed logic, he could choose between believing it was a dream, or believing that he had somehow been magically teleported to a forest. It was a difficult decision, as neither made sense, though the first was easiest to believe.
He wandered away from the well, into the forest. One tree seemed to stand alone here. He approached it curiously. It had the same scar that the one at the shrine did, and the leaves looked alike.
He frowned. Of course, this was only further evidence that he was dreaming and his subconscious was putting things in his mind that he had seen recently.
In that case, where was Shigure, Ayame, and Akito? He had been wondering about them when he fell, therefore they should be here. Strange that they were not.
“Who are you?” a soft but cold feminine voice asked him.
Hatori turned his head toward the person who had approached him. It was a woman, dressed in traditional clothing, holding a bow. Where had she come from, if this was a dream? “Sohma Hatori. And who are you?”
She looked at him, a bit suspiciously. She regarded him completely with suspicion, in fact. “I am the priestess, Kikyou.” Priestess? That was interesting. And where had his mind plucked that information out of? And he had never known anyone who looked like this woman, or had the name Kikyou, though Tohru's late mother had a similar name. It could be derived from that. Then where had the priestess part come from? It was a mystery. She scrutinized him further. “You are not of this world.”
Typical. It was a dream, then. “Perhaps not.” He could also take that as the priestess somehow noticing the curse, and speaking metaphorically.
The priestess looked around, then turned and started to leave. She stopped and looked at him. “I must leave this place. You can come with me… If you want to.”
Why not? It was just a dream, after all. He might as well see how this played out.
*****

Miroku had the misfortune to have seen Sango kissing Yuki. Well, then… shoot. His life really was hell, wasn't it? She wouldn't let him get near other women, he was cursed with the Kazaana, there was no one left in his family, and now the woman of his dreams apparently did not share mutual feelings with him.
Life sucked.
Seriously, this just couldn't get any worse, could it?
As he walked through the forest, he began to grow a bit calmer—less angry with Sango, and more angry with himself. Maybe, if he hadn't been such a “pervert” then she wouldn't be so interested in that hanyou, Yuki. What did she see in him, anyway? He considered the boy. Well, he was Miroku's opposite. Perhaps… Was that the attraction?
He just couldn't figure this puzzle out… He froze. He heard someone stumbling around. A demon? No. There was no demonic aura. Perhaps it was a lost villager? He headed toward the sound.
“Hello? Is there anyone around here?” he heard a voice inquire to no specific individual.
“Yes. Are you lost?” He still hadn't seen this person yet.
“I guess so.” The person came in to view. The clothes weren't abnormal, but there was something weird about the way they were sewn together. The other took him in for a moment and frowned. “What… happened to me?”
Miroku frowned, then an idea formed. “Did you, by chance, come through the well?”
He nodded. “Yes. How did you…?”
“I think you might want to come with me.” He sighed. Was this one going to take Kagome? No, she seemed interested in Haru. Weird. Didn't she love Inuyasha? “My name is Miroku.”
The other cocked his head and moved beside him. He smiled, almost oblivious to Miroku's ill mood. “I'm Sohma Shigure.”
“'Shigure,' hm?” He looked at him again. “How did you come through the well?”
Shigure sighed. He started at the beginning, but when he stopped to describe Tohru, he got a little sidetracked. “… She's a really cute high school girl. You see, I need her—I need my little housewife—“
“You're a pervert!” Kyou yelled. Miroku knew what was coming next as Kyou came sailing through the trees, fist raised. He knew that the word “pervert” usually meant pain either before or after the word was said. He hauled Shigure backwards and Kyou punched a tree instead of Shigure's face. He ground his teeth and prepared to start yelling at Shigure, but froze in place. Miroku had pulled back Shigure as Shigure was turning. Naturally, the cursed Sohma had been spun around as he pulled him backwards, causing an unexpected change in weight and momentum. The result was that they fell over, Shigure landing sprawled on top of him. By some insane twist of fate, their lips had always landed dangerously close to each other, and now they were just frozen in place, staring at each other as if Kyou wasn't even there.
Kyou's ears stood on end, tail fur bristled. “What the hell is wrong with you! You're a pervert and you're gay!” he screeched. Shigure continued to not move. Miroku's eyes darted about, but his body didn't seem to want to respond. Well, most of his body anyway… The real reason neither of them wanted to move was because of the embarrassment. Neither of them even thought about moving until Kyou had taken off. The second he did, Shigure practically leaped off of the monk. They looked away from each other.
“Well… That was unexpected!” Shigure said with a laugh.
Miroku found himself smiling, even as he kept his voice somber. “Indeed.” Perhaps, that the Sohma family keep coming here was the hand of fate interfering with their lives.

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