Chapter 13 - couples forming

Rin looked back in the direction they had come. It really wasn't all that far from that village. She frowned, considering. She really had liked that boy, Momiji. And it had been fun playing with other children. She had happily gone off with Sesshomaru-sama, but then he had wandered off, so…
She glanced at Ah-Un. Should she go see Momiji? It wouldn't take too long. “Master Jaken?” Rin asked. He had a weird facial expression (even weird by his standards) and appeared to be trying to scoot as far away from the direction Ayame and Sesshomaru had gone as possible. “How long will Sesshomaru-sama be gone this time?”
Jaken glanced at her, then attempted to bury his head in the dirt. That's what it looked like, anyway.
Rin frowned. She walked over to him and kneeled down, peering at him. “Master Jaken, what are you doing?”
“Don't think about it!” he yelled, but she couldn't figure out why. He moaned and flopped over tragically. “Couldn't they have gone just a bit farther? Oh…”
Rin was confused. “What are you talking about?”
His eyes somehow managed to become wider, if that was possible. “N-nothing! Nothing a human child needs to be concerned with!”
She was still curious as to know why Jaken was being so peculiar, but she was more interested in seeing Momiji again. She looked up at the sky. It was already dark out, though. Maybe she should just go to sleep. She walked over to Ah-Un and snuggled up to the two-headed dragon. Jaken envied her relatively dull human hearing for the first time in his life.
******
The night was strange. Hatori felt tired, so it was getting difficult to keep denying reality. It was strange to feel sleepy in a dream, after all. However, he also couldn't help but deny this world and all of its weirdness.
After all, it seemed to him as though Kyou was attracted to Inuyasha, that Yuki was interested in Sango, Haru liked Kagome more than Yuki, and that Shigure had a sexual attraction to Miroku.
While the last one could be believable, the others were so weird that he just couldn't believe it. After all, Yuki showed interest in no one. He had the harsh realization that he was cursed drilled into him. He knew that he couldn't be accepted by normal people, yet he was trying now, and it seemed to be working. That alone was strange. Furthermore, Haru already had a girlfriend (Rin; not the little girl “Rin” from Inuyasha either). And he was in love with Yuki. So, that made no sense at all. Why would he be cheating on his girlfriend, while simultaneously betraying his love to Yuki. It was strange.
And it only got stranger. Most of the Sohmas seemed to have gender problems; it was true. Ayame had no concept of gender, Yuki looked like a girl, and so on. Furthermore, most of the Sohma family also had no problems with incest (for obvious reasons) or homosexuality (for even more obvious reasons). Kyou was probably the one exception to this general rule.
And yet, Kyou seemed to be genuinely interested in Inuyasha. At least the feelings were mutual. They may have thought that they hid it, but to someone who knew Kyou or Inuyasha, it seemed rather obvious. It would have been less obvious if they did not deliberately ignore each other, only to be seen sitting up on a rooftop later.
Kikyou, at first, was saddened by this. She had always thought that one day, she would return to the world of the dead… and Inuyasha would follow her. She had hoped for that, anyway.
But now, he was no longer torn between her reincarnation and herself. Kagome seemed smitten with the hanyou, Haru. And Inuyasha, despite how he attempted to hide it, seemed to like the hanyou, Kyou. It was a star-crossed match, after all; a cat and a dog, both with fiery personalities, and being more or less outcasts.
However, her jealousy seemed to fade when she looked at Hatori. He seemed to be the only person who didn't question her motives, or anything. In fact, he seemed like the perfect man—the strong, silent type. So different from Inuyasha, but in a very pleasant way—like coming up for air after half-drowning. He was a relief.
The others decided to get some sleep before the morning. Kyou was already asleep on the roof, in proper cat fashion. Inuyasha was awake, sitting near him, but not too close. The boys and girls made sure they were apart (largely due to Miroku and Shigure's lechery).
The hanyou and the monk sat near each other, sulking and discussing in hushed tones the manner in which they were treated by the others. Naturally, they didn't see themselves as being perverts, but the others knew much better.
The others in their hut were already asleep. Shigure glanced at Miroku again. “About that time in the forest…”
Miroku's eyes widened a little, then he relaxed again. He looked sidelong at Shigure. “Yes? What about it?”
“Well, did you feel as though…”
Miroku blinked slowly, getting the idea of where this was going at. “Perhaps…”
Shigure couldn't think of a way to just say it, so he acted on his emotions instead. He leaned forward and kissed Miroku. At first, the monk was so shocked that he didn't move. He just sat there, eyes wide, not moving, and barely breathing. Then he slowly sunk into the kiss. Shigure pulled away and yawned. “I'm going to bed.” He crawled over to the futon, glanced back at Miroku, and went to sleep.
*****
Morning came. After the fastest breakfast any of them had consumed, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kikyou, Hatori, Shigure, and Kirara left in pursuit of Naraku and Akito. Shippo protested at being left behind, but was somewhat consoled, as Momiji was there.
Kyou sulked as the others went off to rescue Tohru. He didn't like that he was so useless as to be left behind, but what could he do? They just didn't want to put him in danger, and Hatori and Shigure were the only people who could reason with Akito, so they had to go. Still, it really didn't seem fair.
Haru, however, didn't sulk. In fact, he was in a rather good mood. Before Kagome had left, she had promised to bring Tohru back, and then… Well, Haru was kind of clumsy, so had tripped a little. As luck would have it, he had caught himself and the distance between them had closed. The moment had been awkward at first. But then… They had both hesitantly kissed each other. It was a fast, quick kiss—but it was still a kiss. Kagome had turned away from him, looking a bit confused, but was blushing. Haru had only smiled.
Yuki wasn't in a bad mood either. He was worried about Tohru, but Sango had also promised to bring her back—and he believed in Sango. He knew that she would help get Tohru back. And soon his friend would be back with him, where she belonged. And then… Would they all just go home?
*****
Momiji and Shippo sat coloring, discussing the older kids' and adults' doings as they did so. Momiji suddenly put the crayon down and looked off at the forest. Perhaps, he had a crush on Rin. She was cute.
He thought of Ayame. He had gone off with her too. They would need to bring him back with them, of course. Maybe he should go find him (and Rin)?
He reasoned that it would be easier on everyone if Ayame was already with them when they got back with Tohru—and possibly Akito. That way, they wouldn't have to go looking for the snake.
He looked at Shippo. “How long do you think they'll be gone?”
Shippo looked up. “Sometimes, we walk around for days without finding Naraku. But this time, Inuyasha knows right where Naraku is hiding, so they just have to break down the barrier,” he said. “And with Kikyou and Kagome there, it won't be a problem.”
“So, you think I'll get to go home today?”
Shippo considered. Him going home today meant that they would rescue Tohru. But a member of their family—apparently an important member—had sided with Naraku. It would depend if they wanted to bring him back as well. “Are you bringing Akito back with you?”
“Akito-san is the Sohma god. We have to bring him back.” Momiji thought for a moment. Could a new god even be born if Akito was still alive? And if they were back in their time, and Akito was here, would Akito still bear the full brunt of the curse? And if a new god couldn't be born, and Akito wasn't there to shoulder the curse… What did that mean for the Juunishi?
Momiji got up. “I'm going to find Aya.”
“Who?”
“That man who went off with Rin and the other man.”
Shippo frowned as he tried to think of who the boy meant. Then he realized who he was talking about. “Is that a good idea? Sesshomaru is really scary.”
“Who?”
“That man that Aya went with.”
Momiji touched his lower lip as he thought. “Aya won't let anything bad happen to me. And he can't be that bad if he has Rin with him.”
Shippo smiled slyly. “You have a crush on the girl.”
Momiji blushed. “Y-you think so?”
The child youkai nodded. “Yep. You like her.”
The rabbit grinned. “Yeah! I do!” He spun around in a circle, giggling. “I do like Rin!” With that, he bounded off into the direction Rin had gone

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