Entry: What Lies in the Dark
Title: "True Alibi"
Rating: General
Author: darkfrog24
The door opened, a dull rectangle of the lamplight within.
"Sango, my love, how pleasing it is to see your charming face this fine evening," Miroku said smoothly. Because he was going to have to be darn smooth.
Sango's face was as gentle as a brick to the head. "Where have you been this time?" she asked. "You said you'd be home by sunset."
"You see, that is a fascinating story," he told her. "If I could just..." he moved toward the door. Sango didn't budge an inch. It was getting cold out here and he was hungry and the low seat near the kitchen embers seemed more and more inviting.
But it seemed he would have to earn it.
Miroku held in a sigh. Sango had turned a bit harsh after Kagome had disappeared. Miroku knew that for all her demure manners, she missed the girl fiercely. From what Inuyasha had told about his and Kagome's time in the Shikon no Tama's dark limbo, the price of a world without Naraku seemed to be a world without Sango's dearest friend and-Miroku was honest enough to admit-her only ally other than Kaede against one cantankerous inuhanyou, a trick-loving kitsune and a devastatingly handsome exorcist-for-hire.
And it seemed that just because Sango had started letting Miroku sleep with her didn't mean that she was going to let him get away with anything.
"Well my dear," he said carefully, "as you know, Inuyasha and I set out two days ago to rid a mountain hamlet of a small but troublesome pig demon that had been devouring their winter stores. And the matter is that on our return journey, the road was so washed-out and perilous that-"
"Inuyasha got back hours ago," Sango interrupted. "He got into a fight with Shippo and Kaede had to spend three hours picking orange fur out of her fenceposts."
Sango leaned forward slightly, chin up. For a second-only a second-Miroku thought she'd been about to kiss him on his road-weary forehead, but instead...
"My darling... are you sniffing me?"
"You don't smell like sake," she mused quietly. "So you weren't out drinking with Hachi again."
"No," he said, willing light and excitement into his eyes. How to sell this one... "As you know, after we completed our quest, our brave Inuyasha left my side to seek out a path of his own choosing."
"Actually it was more like he said he was tired of you slowing him down," Sango told him.
"I followed behind, boldly bringing up the rear of our small army. Halfway down the steep mountainside, I heard a cry for help such as would move any man to action. I hurried toward the source of the sound and found-" Miroku realized quickly that Kyushu-bound princess and her retinue from the original version of this story probably wouldn't make the impression he'd been going for. "-a mother and child trapped in a gully between the pine forest and the boulder stones," he finished. "Why it took me hours just to help them to safety."
Sango stared at him, unblinking.
She couldn't raise an eyebrow? Miroku pursed his lips. It was his own fault. He should have been working on his cover story the whole way home.
"As we were leaving the village," Miroku tried again, "I overheard one of the villagers tell another of the famed mountain rose, deep blue beyond all imagining, so instead of returning straightaway with Inuyasha, I trekked up the mountainside to witness this beauty for myself. I had planned on bringing back a bloom for you, my love, but when I reached the tallest peak I saw that the bush had but one perfect blossom remaining, and I had not the heart to mar it with my hands."
"Your first one was better," she said.
"May I try again?" he asked, smiling in that way he knew she liked.
When she didn't object (and with Sango it didn't count as "objecting" unless the bruise lasted at least four days), Miroku went on, "My feet were weary with time and toil," he told her. "So after Inuyasha left me, I wandered off the trail toward the sound of gently bubbling water. To my delight, I found a cool stream with clear water, and I washed myself therein."
Sango's eyes trailed from the dust lightening Miroku's dark hair to the scuffs and scratches on the hem of his kesa and back.
"Poor luck for me that the wind kicked up," he said.
"Not a bad recovery," Sango told her.
"Thank you, I rather liked it. May I come in?" he asked carefully.
Sango looked to the side. Miroku noted with hope the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"One more?" he asked.
She gave the barest of nods.
Miroku breathed in, "Just as Inuyasha passed out of sight, there came a great cracking sound and a thunderous war of salt water as the sea rushed in to place all the ocean between me and my home."
Sango looked up, "What did you do?" she asked.
"What could I do?" he responded. "The waters were wild and alive with great toothed fish and sharks and aquatic demons of all kinds. I had no choice but to jump in and swim."
"You couldn't stay on the other side?" she asked.
"I could not," he answered with a tilt of his head.
"You could not wait for someone with a ship full of pretty women to come and carry you?"
Miroku smiled, and he didn't even have to stop and think of it first. "What would I want with that?" he asked. "But my love, I must request that we stop this chatter for a moment. It has been a long, weary trip back, and I would dearly like to sit and rest."
Sango stepped aside and Miroku brushed past her into the firelight. She was a warrior, straightforward and direct. For all the depth of her demon lore, she was only deep in one direction. Miroku had learned to think in many.
Because if she did not know lies, then she could not know him. And he wanted her to, so very much.
"You could just come home on time, Miroku," Sango added. "I would like it if I did not have to listen to you make up stories."
Miroku's smile was hidden by the fringe of his hair. It seemed that Sango could lie as easily in the firelight as he could in the dark.
Rating: General
Author: darkfrog24
The door opened, a dull rectangle of the lamplight within.
"Sango, my love, how pleasing it is to see your charming face this fine evening," Miroku said smoothly. Because he was going to have to be darn smooth.
Sango's face was as gentle as a brick to the head. "Where have you been this time?" she asked. "You said you'd be home by sunset."
"You see, that is a fascinating story," he told her. "If I could just..." he moved toward the door. Sango didn't budge an inch. It was getting cold out here and he was hungry and the low seat near the kitchen embers seemed more and more inviting.
But it seemed he would have to earn it.
Miroku held in a sigh. Sango had turned a bit harsh after Kagome had disappeared. Miroku knew that for all her demure manners, she missed the girl fiercely. From what Inuyasha had told about his and Kagome's time in the Shikon no Tama's dark limbo, the price of a world without Naraku seemed to be a world without Sango's dearest friend and-Miroku was honest enough to admit-her only ally other than Kaede against one cantankerous inuhanyou, a trick-loving kitsune and a devastatingly handsome exorcist-for-hire.
And it seemed that just because Sango had started letting Miroku sleep with her didn't mean that she was going to let him get away with anything.
"Well my dear," he said carefully, "as you know, Inuyasha and I set out two days ago to rid a mountain hamlet of a small but troublesome pig demon that had been devouring their winter stores. And the matter is that on our return journey, the road was so washed-out and perilous that-"
"Inuyasha got back hours ago," Sango interrupted. "He got into a fight with Shippo and Kaede had to spend three hours picking orange fur out of her fenceposts."
Sango leaned forward slightly, chin up. For a second-only a second-Miroku thought she'd been about to kiss him on his road-weary forehead, but instead...
"My darling... are you sniffing me?"
"You don't smell like sake," she mused quietly. "So you weren't out drinking with Hachi again."
"No," he said, willing light and excitement into his eyes. How to sell this one... "As you know, after we completed our quest, our brave Inuyasha left my side to seek out a path of his own choosing."
"Actually it was more like he said he was tired of you slowing him down," Sango told him.
"I followed behind, boldly bringing up the rear of our small army. Halfway down the steep mountainside, I heard a cry for help such as would move any man to action. I hurried toward the source of the sound and found-" Miroku realized quickly that Kyushu-bound princess and her retinue from the original version of this story probably wouldn't make the impression he'd been going for. "-a mother and child trapped in a gully between the pine forest and the boulder stones," he finished. "Why it took me hours just to help them to safety."
Sango stared at him, unblinking.
She couldn't raise an eyebrow? Miroku pursed his lips. It was his own fault. He should have been working on his cover story the whole way home.
"As we were leaving the village," Miroku tried again, "I overheard one of the villagers tell another of the famed mountain rose, deep blue beyond all imagining, so instead of returning straightaway with Inuyasha, I trekked up the mountainside to witness this beauty for myself. I had planned on bringing back a bloom for you, my love, but when I reached the tallest peak I saw that the bush had but one perfect blossom remaining, and I had not the heart to mar it with my hands."
"Your first one was better," she said.
"May I try again?" he asked, smiling in that way he knew she liked.
When she didn't object (and with Sango it didn't count as "objecting" unless the bruise lasted at least four days), Miroku went on, "My feet were weary with time and toil," he told her. "So after Inuyasha left me, I wandered off the trail toward the sound of gently bubbling water. To my delight, I found a cool stream with clear water, and I washed myself therein."
Sango's eyes trailed from the dust lightening Miroku's dark hair to the scuffs and scratches on the hem of his kesa and back.
"Poor luck for me that the wind kicked up," he said.
"Not a bad recovery," Sango told her.
"Thank you, I rather liked it. May I come in?" he asked carefully.
Sango looked to the side. Miroku noted with hope the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"One more?" he asked.
She gave the barest of nods.
Miroku breathed in, "Just as Inuyasha passed out of sight, there came a great cracking sound and a thunderous war of salt water as the sea rushed in to place all the ocean between me and my home."
Sango looked up, "What did you do?" she asked.
"What could I do?" he responded. "The waters were wild and alive with great toothed fish and sharks and aquatic demons of all kinds. I had no choice but to jump in and swim."
"You couldn't stay on the other side?" she asked.
"I could not," he answered with a tilt of his head.
"You could not wait for someone with a ship full of pretty women to come and carry you?"
Miroku smiled, and he didn't even have to stop and think of it first. "What would I want with that?" he asked. "But my love, I must request that we stop this chatter for a moment. It has been a long, weary trip back, and I would dearly like to sit and rest."
Sango stepped aside and Miroku brushed past her into the firelight. She was a warrior, straightforward and direct. For all the depth of her demon lore, she was only deep in one direction. Miroku had learned to think in many.
Because if she did not know lies, then she could not know him. And he wanted her to, so very much.
"You could just come home on time, Miroku," Sango added. "I would like it if I did not have to listen to you make up stories."
Miroku's smile was hidden by the fringe of his hair. It seemed that Sango could lie as easily in the firelight as he could in the dark.