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Through The Well	By : TheKaytla Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 25850 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I do not own the series Inuyasha, nor its characters.They are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 13
- 14
- 15
Chapter Fourteen

The sun had almost set when Inuyasha managed to slip away for some much-needed solitude. He'd held on as long as he had for the sake of not stepping on anyone's feelings, but he still wasn't good at dealing with large groups of people. Being the centre of attention only made it worse for him. So it was with more than a little relief that he sat himself down in the shade of a hut away from the main group and rubbed his stiff shoulders.

He would have much preferred to go for a walk in the forest and get away completely, but he was getting the hang of minding his actions and he figured it might not go over well if he vanished completely. Better to stick within hearing of his friends. Sango, especially, had seemed reluctant to let him out of her sight for too long, like he might vanish suddenly. Her eyes had tracked him almost as much as they had her children, which made him uncomfortable for a myriad of reasons.

Inuyasha stretched his legs out and leaned back against the hut, blowing out a breath. He couldn't help but worry that things were getting... complicated. With every passing day, he felt a little bit more relaxed here. He began to feel more comfortable with the people here. Despite the differences, he was more acutely aware of the similarities - the familiarities - they had to the friends in his own world. Now that he knew these people were real as much as he was and would miss him when he left, a tiny, tiny part of him had started to feel bad about that.

If the well took a week, a month, a year to regain its power and send him back home... how would he feel then? Would he really be able to take that step? It worried him that he might hesitate - or worse - when the time came, and that bothered him. A lot. He didn't belong here, he knew that, but it was proving to be alarmingly easy to grow attached to the place. Maybe it would be best for everyone involved if he took a step back from everything...

As if summoned by that very thought, he became aware of soft steps moving in his direction, accompanied by the gentle clinking of metal, a sound so familiar he didn't even need to guess that it was Miroku with his shakujou. Trust the monk to notice his disappearance and skillfully seek him out.

He remained silent as Miroku sat next to him and laid his staff on the ground. The monk chose to sit cross-legged with his arms folded, close enough that their shoulders were touching. Ordinarily, Inuyasha might have stubbornly shifted away just on principle, but he chose to allow it now. It was comfortingly familiar (he was willing to ignore the concern for the moment) to sit with Miroku like this.

Long moments passed in silence this way. Finally, Miroku spoke.

"This is all seems so strange."

Inuyasha huffed out a laugh. "You're telling me. I've been saying that a lot lately myself."

Miroku laughed with him. "I can only imagine how much worse it is for you," the monk agreed. "I look at you, and I know you're not the Inuyasha I remember, but... the mind is easily fooled. It's very easy to forget you're not him."

Inuyasha's shoulders hunched a little at the reminder, but he forced himself to put it aside. "It's the opposite for me," he said instead. "Most of you are different in little ways that are a bit jarring. Some of it can take a while to get my head around."

He turned his head to look at Miroku. "Like this." He reached out and flicked the ponytail dangling down Miroku's back. "What's this about?"

Miroku stroked a hand down his hair defensively and countered: "Says the one with enough hair to make an entire other hanyou. There's nothing wrong with my hair. Besides," he added primly, "Sango likes it."

"And there's the truth of it," the hanyou declared triumphantly. "It's not for style or because it looks good. It's to help you get lucky. Some things never change."

That remark surprised them both into silence for a moment, then they laughed together. Inuyasha would freely admit he found it as comforting as the idea that his friend hadn't changed, and that got the wheels turning in his mind.

Perhaps it was remembering the conversation he had with Koga, or maybe it was just the constant urge deep inside to know exactly what was different about the people in his life, but Inuyasha suddenly found himself asking again: "So, how did we meet?"

When Miroku looked at him quizzically, the hanyou shook his head. "I mean... how did you meet the other me? What happened?"

The monk's eyes told Inuyasha he understood the reasons behind the question, but he kept silent about it. Instead, he tilted his head back until it rested against the hut and gazed up at the heavens, a smile teasing his lips.

"That's a bit of a strange story, actually," he said. "It wasn't my finest moment, either."

Inuyasha could recite at least a dozen moments off the top of his head from the few years he'd spent with the monk that weren't his finest, but chose to keep his peace. He could always point them out later, if an opportunity arose.

"What happened?" he asked again.

"Well... I suppose one could consider me something of a rogue in my youth," Miroku began. "I didn't strictly follow the teachings of Buddha. Hunting Naraku alone didn't allow for such things, and I fell into the convenience of bad habits. When our paths crossed, I was hunting for fragments of the Shikon no Tama, like you were. I thought that it would lead me to Naraku, one way or another. I regret to say I... I stole the fragments of the Jewel you had collected from Kagome, who was travelling with you, as well as her iron cart."

Miroku let his head roll forward again. When he took in Inuyasha's slack-jawed expression of shock, he seemed to mistake it for horror, for he hurriedly continued: "I assure you, it wasn't selfishness or greed that drove me. I had good intentions at heart, Inuyasha. I could sense the demonic blood in you as easily as I could the presence of the shards, and I assumed you were attempting to restore the Jewel for nefarious purposes. Why a human girl would be helping you, I didn't stop to puzzle out, but I thought it would be in everyone's best interests if I removed the shards from your possession."

Miroku sighed. "Had I any inkling of how our paths would merge from then on..."

Sensing the monk was likely to launch into a long-winded apology, Inuyasha snapped himself out of his stupor and waved both hands dismissively at him. "Oh, stop it. How full of hot air are you?"

Miroku blinked at him and Inuyasha flicked his ears, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "Why're you being all mopey about it? Past is past, right? Besides, I gave you hell when you did it to me, so I'm sure the other me got his licks in, too. It's done with."

"It happened the same in your timeline?"

His timeline? Well, that was as good a way as any to put it, Inuyasha supposed. He'd been thinking of it as two separate worlds out of gods knew how many and he preferred it that way; thinking about rips in the fabric of time just made his head hurt.

"Word for word," he agreed, putting the thought aside for now. "Right down to why you stole the shards from us."

"That's fascinating," Miroku murmuered. "Is it possible the timelines overlap and certain events happen to us all...?"

It was clear Miroku was talking to himself more than present company at this point, but Inuyasha supplied his input regardless: "Not everything's the same. A lot of it's different. I didn't meet Koga a hundred years ago. I met you and Sango before Koga. And I sure as hell didn't spend decades wandering the countryside with Sesshomaru... on the rare occasions we came close to each other, I stayed the hell away from him. If I was unlucky enough to come face to face with him, he was more likely to try and kill me than chitchat."

Miroku focused on him again at that, making a visible effort to put aside the line of thought he'd been following, and nodded slowly. "Yes... I noticed there was distance between the two of you. He said himself that you weren't close to the Sesshomaru in your timeline, but... he never mentioned it was quite that bad. It must be difficult for him..."

Inuyasha couldn't help the exasperated sound that rose up in the back of his throat. "Look, I realise this Sesshomaru is a decent guy and it must be really shitty for him, but it's not all roses for me, either. Do you have any idea how mortifying it is to not only land in a strange new world, but be greeted with a kiss from your own brother? A brother you hate and have no fond feelings for whatsoever, let alone... romantic ones. I'm not getting any sympathy for my situation over here."

"Ah... Yes, well, I admit I never quite thought of it that way. I suppose it's too easy to remember how things once were..."

"And the worst part," Inuyasha continued, almost talking over Miroku as his much needed rant gained momentum. "The worst part is that I have absolutely no interest in men. None! Koga seemed absolutely shocked when I told him... and that's a kick in the gut right there. No one is even considering I might prefer the company of women because my other self was up to gods knew what. Kagome was the only one for me and that is not going to change."

The monk's body seemed to jerk a bit. "Kagome?"

Immediately, Inuyasha's stomach sank. That tone, the shock on Miroku's face, did not bode well. He waited, tense, staring silently at his friend until Miroku finally cleared his throat.

"Ah... well... while it was true Kagome harboured affections for you in the beginning, she ultimately had to face and accept the fact that you were out of her reach. Eventually, she acknowledged and reciprocated the feelings of... Koga."

The hanyou's brain suddenly voided itself of all other nonense as he absorbed this one piece of information. A distant, reasonable voice said that he really shouldn't be so shocked; he knew that Koga had wanted Kagome almost from the moment he met her, but he had genuinely thought it had been a pure impossibility. Whether it was arrogance or disdain for the wolf, he had somehow managed to convince himself that, even if he somehow was no longer in the picture, Kagome would never have given in to Koga's advances no matter how many times he tried.

However, this reasonable voice with its logical response was swiftly being drowned out by one word echoing around his head, growing louder and louder until it suddenly burst free of his lips.

"WHAAAT?!"

---

Sorry for the delay in uploads; I had been trying to keep up with at least one update a month and I was doing well for a little while, but then a lot of things happened, including me starting a new job very recently, so my schedule and my focus has been all over the place lately. Hopefully over the next few weeks, I'll be able to settle down into a routine and have more time for writing.

Speaking of which, if there are any unanswered questions you'd like to have explained soon in the story, let me know. Or if you're wanting a different story altogether updated, let me know about that, too. I'll do my best for you. ^^

Hope you've enjoyed this chapter :)
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Through The Well