These characters do not belong to me.
Choosing a Partner
Chapter 5
By Kenzie Kennedy
Kagome and Sango were wrung out when they finally left the men’s department. The men were carrying two bags apiece, one with the folded shirts and one with a few pairs of jeans. Now that they had the males sizes they could just walk in on one of their trips to the shopping mall.
They were in the furniture section looking at beds. Sango had thoughtfully measured the available space in the room before they left. "Well, not the bunk beds," Kagome mused. "I’d say at least a full for each of them."
Sango nodded and started to look at the beds. There were a few models. Finally, they narrowed it down to two. One was a sleigh bed which meant it was curved to the bottom and the other was a straight wooden frame.
They decided to take the straight ones. The girls did not ask the guys their opinions because of all the hassle they’d had trying to get them to choose clothes. By now the strain of the morning was hitting them and they just wanted to go home.
The mattress testing went quite well. Kagome and Sango both got to sit down and rest under the pretense of testing the mattress. They chose two and had them delivered along with the bedframes.
On the way out of the furniture department, Kagome found standing closets and purchased them as well. The guys would need something to hold their clothes in. Bureaus would have to wait until another day.
The four of them got home just in time for a late dinner. Rimiko heard all about their day from the girls and announced that the delivery men had also been paid to set up the beds. After dinner and a shower, the girls went directly to bed. After ordering the males to go to bed and sleep.
The men, on the other hand, stayed awake for a short while.
"Is this strange?" Miroku asked. "I’ve been in six households and none of them treated me this way." Inuyasha stayed silent. "Have you been anywhere before?"
"No."
"Ah, you can speak! Do you find this strange?"
"No."
"Can you say anything other than no?"
"No."
Miroku sighed and gave up. He rolled over in his new bed and went to sleep.
Inuyasha did not. He stayed awake for a while longer and thought. This girl wanted him to have an opinion over what color shirt he wore? She didn’t want him to call her Kagome in place of master? She wanted him to eat when he was hungry? What was wrong with her? Slaves didn’t have opinions, they always called the female master in some way, and being hungry was part of being a slave.
He sighed and shook his head. This household was just plain weird.
***
Kagome and Sango glanced around the breakfast table. Where were Miroku and Inuyasha? Kohaku and Sota were already pestering them about their slaves.
Rimiko poked her head out of the kitchen. "Did you order them to get up?" she asked.
Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth and ran off with Sango in hot pursuit. When they reached the door to the males room, Sango knocked. "You guys can get up now."
They heard rustling and some footsteps. "And get some clothes on!" Kagome added urgently. Sango looked back at her friend. "Well, if you have to order them to do everything…" She let the answer trail off. Sango shuddered. She definitely did not want to see Miroku in the buff.
Miroku opened the door a few minutes later dressed. "What is it that you desire, Sango?" he asked.
Sango sighed. "I desire you to be up and dressed every morning in time for breakfast which is at seven thirty most days. Present yourself at the table and eat until you’re full."
"And that goes for you, too." Kagome informed Inuyasha.
The girls turned and walked down the hall and back to the dining room. The boys looked excitedly at the two new males in the household and tried to talk to them. Miroku and Inuyasha didn’t respond.
"You can talk, you know." Kagome said around a mouthful of waffles.
"I cannot speak unless spoken to by my master, Kagome," Inuyasha said tonelessly.
"Give them time," Rimiko admonished. "They’ve been brought up this way." She cleared her throat. "Kagome, I think you should take your lesson with Kaede today."
"But we’ve got to clear out another room," Kagome protested.
Rimiko raised an eyebrow. "You’re not stiff?" Kagome shifted in her seat. "I thought so. Take it easy for today and begin again tomorrow. Your lessons won’t take much time and I thought you’d like to go shopping for essentials." She winked. "I’ve made a list."
***
The three of them accompanied Kagome to Kaede’s after breakfast was over and their brothers had gone off to school. Kaede’s house was in an old shrine and visited by mikos everywhere in the world. She didn’t have many students at her age, but she had made an exception for Kagome. Something about having a nuclear warhead in your backyard wasn’t safe.
They walked up the steps and into the yard. Kaede was sweeping and she smiled at Kagome. "Here for your lesson?" she called out.
Kagome nodded. "Sango has a question for you," she said.
Kaede nodded. "Into the house then."
***
Once they were all inside and Kagome settled down with her lesson, Kaede turned her attention to Sango. "What is the question?" she asked calmly.
Sango grimaced. "Miroku has a hole in his hand. It’s going to kill him as it slowly gets wider. I can either have a miko lift the curse or try surgery."
Kaede turned to Miroku. "Ask him to answer my questions."
"Answer her questions, Miroku," Sango said idly.
"Will surgery work?" Kaede asked.
"No, mistress."
Kaede sighed. "I didn’t think so. Surgery usually doesn’t work with a curse. Let me see it." Miroku pulled off the wrappings and held out his hand.
There was a complete hole twice the size of a quarter in his hand. You could see through it to the other side. Surprisingly, the flesh wasn’t rotting. It just…wasn’t there.
Kaede nodded sagely. "This is an inherited curse?" Miroku nodded. "Your ancestor angered someone powerful, didn’t he?" she mused. She examined the hand, poking at the hole several times.
Finally, she nodded and released his hand. "I can lift the curse." Sango looked relieved. "But should I?"
Sango blinked several times. "He’ll die if you don’t."
Kaede nodded. "He may die if I do. The lechery intertwined with the spell might do some harm if he could not express it. The hole will eat him alive, but the lechery will kill his spirit if removed. One cannot live without the other." She glanced up at Sango. "In other words, I can heal the hand. The lechery will go with it. Once both are gone, he will feel empty inside. Something will have to take its place."
"What?" Sango asked.
Kaede sighed and looked directly into Sango’s eyes. "The lechery will be gone, but to fill the void you will have to complete what it sought after."
"Sought after what, Kaede?" Sango asked.
"Marriage and all that comes with it," Kaede said simply.
Sango’s eyes widened. "I’m going to have to marry him?!" she shrieked.
A thud tore all their attentions away. Kagome stood there in the doorway with the dropped book at her feet. "You have to marry Miroku?" she asked.
Sango nodded. "If I want him to live, I do." She turned back to Kaede. "How long is left?"
Kaede deliberated for a moment. "Six months, maybe less."
Sango slumped. "Can I think about it?"
Kaede nodded. "Certainly."
"Kaede, could you put that in simpler terms for me?" Kagome asked.
Kaede sighed. "There are two parts to Miroku's spell. The hole in the hand is fueled by lechery. As long as he's thinking lecherous thoughts, the hole doesn't get much bigger. But it has an expiration date on it. When it hits this certain time, ka-pow! Instant black hole for Miroku. If you remove the curse and the hole, something is needed to fill the hole that the curse took up. The easiest one is marriage and sex because that is what
the spell wanted. Lechery to the ultimate degree. It'll be like going from a cigarette a day to heroin. Fry the circuits so the curse hole is filled up to the brim."
"I get it," Kagome said happily. "Does one have to be applied before the other?"
Kaede shook her head. "No. I can remove the curse after sex, Kagome. The hole will be healed, but not the curse itself."
"Huh?" Kagome said. "I don’t get it again."
"The curse will be left on the flesh even if the flesh is healed. He will not die from the hole, but the curse will be left to pass on to his children. We must take both away."
"I got it."
Kaede rolled her eyes. "Kagome, what was your problem?"
Kagome picked up the book and opened it to the page. "I’m having a problem with seeing auras again."
Kaede drew the girl into the room and laid her hands over the girl’s. "Let your thoughts float toward an object or person. Try Miroku."
Kagome tried to send her thoughts toward Miroku. Miroku with the black hair and lecherous hands and who was going to have to marry her best friend?
Her eyes flew open and she scrambled backwards. "Uh-uh. Sango, you are not marrying him!"
Kaede sighed. "That’s just the spell you’re seeing, not Miroku. Try again. Perhaps the sword?"
Kagome turned weary eyes on the sword. Kaede said that there was an inscription on it. Kagome didn’t know. She’d never been able to find it. Kaede had been able to see it after three days of fasting. She said that Kagome would be able to see it as soon as she had enough training. "I wonder what it says?" she sighed.
"It says ‘Protect’, Kagome," Inuyasha said from the door.
Kaede turned curious eyes to Kagome’s slave. "You can read what it says on the hilt?" she asked slowly. Inuyasha didn’t answer. "Kagome, if you could ask Inuyasha to answer me?"
"She’s my teacher. She knows about this stuff." Kagome turned pleading eyes to him.
Inuyasha relented. "Yes, mistress."
"Amazing," Kaede murmured. She took the sword from its place on the wall and handed it to Inuyasha. "Draw it, please."
Inuyasha took the sheath and drew the sword. For a second, it was just a rusted stick. Then it transformed into a sharp, curved sword made of white. Inuyasha’s eyes almost devoured the blade.
Kaede nodded. "It is yours."
Inuyasha turned to her. He sheathed the sword and handed it back.
Kaede raised her eyebrows. "It is yours, Inuyasha. It was made by a female youkai miko and it is said that the male who can read the inscription should have the sword by him at all times to protect the miko he serves." She looked back at Kagome. "Tell him to keep it with him."
Kagome bit her lip. "Isn’t it dangerous? No slave is supposed to have a weapon."
"Unless you are in danger it will not transform now. Who is going to object to a slave carrying around a rusted stick?" Kaede said shrewdly.
Kagome nodded. "Inuyasha, could you carry the sword?"
Inuyasha reached for the sword, but Kaede held it away from him. "We have to find some way to attach it to your side."
Kaede fished around until she found a belt for it and fastened it around Inuyasha’s middle. "You might want to practice walking with it until Kagome’s lesson is over," she advised.
"Kagome, we’re going to go shopping," Sango said.
"All right. I’ll see you at home then." Kagome said cheerfully.
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