tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Sept. 23rd, evening.
Rating; PG-13 (alcohol)
Characters; Miroku (

kittyjones)
Summary; Miroku comes to pick up Kitty for a night on (or rather, under) the town.
Log;

It was early evening and, on a skyline marked by huge apartment blocks, the sky was fading into black bit-by-bit. Calming, in a way. Bringing the promise of night and sleep.

To most people, anyway. Kitty on the other hand was... restless. Too many days cooped up inside, moping about current curses and past curses and curses still to come. She'd been to the Underworld for the first time only the other week, but had found the lights and the alcohol to be... a strange kind of soothing.

So when Miroku has suggested a little visit, she'd jumped at the chance.

Most other days, most other places, she'd have felt more than a little peculiar walking into the seedy underground of a still not-all-that-familiar City with a monk. But here, it didn't seem so strange at all, and she seemed quite relaxed as she waited, hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket, biting her lip absent mindedly.

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Groped her? Well, he knew that. Was she- OW!

Miroku cradled his aching cheek with one hand, grimacing. It didn't feel the way it did when Sango slapped him, either!

"Don't take it personally, Kitty-san..."

He didn't even seem that bothered. He was just... feeling his cheek. Making some silly comment. Was this normal? Was it the alcohol talking? Groping?

"What? Don't take it... what? How the hell am I not meant to take it personally? What the... why did you...? Are you always like this?"

She shuffled as far away from him as possible on the sofa, hands clenched at her sides, ready to bring in a full punch if necessary.

Miroku pouted, which he seemed to be doing an awful lot of tonight. He shook his head. "I... I don't mean not to take it personally, you're pretty, but it just... I didn't mean to upset you, is what I meant." he said. The fuzzy haze was gone now, and all he could feel was... bad.

It wasn't Sango. It was Kitty, and he knew. He missed her, and it was his fault he missed her, and she might be gone forever... It had jarred and upset him before, but he had clung to hope that perhaps she wasn't gone, and so had continued his normally cheerful behavior from the get-go. But he realized now that it didn't matter if she was gone in their world at all...

He wasn't going to see her again, and nobody was going to replace her. Nobody slapped like her, nobody had a rear end quite as fine or beautifully shaped. Nobody had a heart like hers, tough, but delicate in its own way - and nobody had eyes that sparkled with just the exact fire at him shortly before he lost consciousness...

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice more down and genuine than it had been since he'd been there. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I..." Kitty was still, quite obviously, pissed. But then, at his expression... the way it softened, saddened, even the pouting... she bit her lip.

"It's all right. You really didn't upset me. It was just a bit," she paused to find the right term, "a bit of a shock, that's all."

Kitty was pretty good at reading people, but... well, at the moment, this particular person was obvious. I mean... here he was, mentioning this girl before, and then getting all flirty and gropey. And now? Now he was acting guilty. Really guilty. Like he was betraying someone.

Some one?

Some girl.

Yeah. Definitely girl trouble.

Kitty sighed and decided to give up her position of retreat, returning once more to sit beside the monk. Just not leaning on him this time.

"You want to tell me about her? I mean... it?"

Miroku shrugged a little. Did he want to talk about it? He had kept himself from thinking of it too much lately, with exploring the city and reading the journals and whatnot, for his own good.

"It's... I don't know. I might have killed her," he said, moving to look at his right hand.

"You don't have to talk, if you don't want to," she hastily patted him on his shoulder as he shrugged. "It might be good for you. It might... not... but that's all right. Your call. Just tell me if you want me to shut-"

And then he said.. oh. Oh dear. That wasn't... well, that wasn't a good thought he was having, really. Still, Kitty wasn't repulsed by the suggestion, or anything like that. She merely blinked in response. Who was she to judge? The death of friends caused, perhaps, by herself... it wasn't new to her.

"Might have? You don't know, then?"

Miroku shrugged once more and fumbled a little with the beads on his wrist. "No, I don't know," he said, frowning. "It... It happened so quickly, I told her to go away but she didn't listen, and then... It was dark, and I was here." He wished he could remember a bit more.

Eyes never moving from the monk, Kitty nodded solemnly, "Do you feel like you killed her?"

And then, realising that might be a bit too blunt, she hastily continued: "I mean... Do you feel it in... in your heart? Because I think..." Kitty took a deep breath, readying herself to say something relentlessly mushy, but probably true, "I think, if you love her like it sounds like you do... I think you'd know if she was dead. Know beyond any doubt. And... well. You're doubting. So it can't be true. Can it?"

...well. You're doubting. So it can't be true. Can it?

She... Could she be right? Miroku really wanted to believe her. He was normally good at sensing these sorts of things, but here, in this place, his abilities hadn't been quite as good. Maybe she didn't mean that, though. He swallowed and flexed his fingers a bit. It was comforting to think that Kitty might be right, but he'd like to talk to InuYasha first.

"Maybe you're right..."

((OOC: Funfact: It's spirit week at my school right now, and today was costume day. I went as Miroku, and thirty girls responded better to his question than Kitty did. :O))

She paused for a moment and then, cautiously, placed her hand on top of his, her cool palm stopping his fiddling, stilling his nervous movements.

"Of course I am. I'm always right about these sorts of things. Listen, I'll bet you anything, anything you want, that she's alive and well and you'll see her again. Either here in the City or somewhere else - but that doesn't matter. Somehow, in some crazy, silly little form, you'll meet her again. It always happens that way. Don't know why, it just... does."

Miroku looked up to give her a friendly smile, and turned his hand over to grasp hers gently.

"Thank you, Kitty-san. You're right," he said. "That's something I'm supposed to believe in to begin with, right?"

"Hey, it's nothing. I'm just speaking my mind. Something I'm rather wont to do, I'm afraid. I've been informed it's a character flaw, but even so," she laughed slightly at this, remembering all the times Nathaniel had told her to 'just shut up for once'.

... These thoughts caused her to blink furiously. Nathaniel? Why was she thinking about him at a time like this?

"Exactly. Right from the start. Before being a monk. Dashing as the robe is, there are... more important things, you know? More concrete, more basic ideas. Like that."

"It's not a flaw, unless your mind happens to be full of insults," he said back, grinning.

"Yes. There's more to life than what we're formally taught, no matter how much the teachings mean." His mood had fallen, then risen considerably in the last few moments from talking with Kitty. He owed her something...

With a thoughtful look, Miroku began to rummage in his robes once more. "Can I buy you another drink? Or perhaps dinner?"

"If that's the definition, then I suppose I must be the most flawed person in the City!"

He understood. She was glad. Sometimes she'd tried explaining these sorts of things to people who were... who had lives like him. Lives that were their jobs. Morals that were those of their profession. But he was taking it onboard, and that was... gratifying. Reassuring.

"You don't have to do anything, you know! But if you want to, then... certainly. Either. Or both. Or neither, if you don't, but..." she was babbling, she knew it, and she hated babbling, "... but whichever way, it's very sweet of you to offer."

Miroku laughed, then stood up, pulling a bag full of coins out and holding it up. "Okay, then," he said. "A drink, and dinner for Kitty-san." He paused. "Would they take my money here...?"

"I think that would do admirably. More than admirably," she furrowed her brows in thought. "Didn't I tell you yet? They take anything here in the City! Anything at all. Money, or jewels, or a lock of hair. They're not picky. I suppose that's one of the better things about this place. You never go hungry!"

"Oh, really?" That was convenient. "Let's go, then!" He held his hand out for her to take.

"Now, what would you like to eat?"

"All right!" His sudden enthusiasm was rather contagious, and so with a laugh she took his hand in a movement of great vigour, and pulled herself up with a flourish.

"To eat? Err... food?" She scratched her head a little, "I'm never very good with ordering. Don't know much about... you know. Food. You choose! I'm pretty sure you can get anything here! Besides, I chose the alcohol before. We have to take it in turns!"

Miroku nodded, then led her out of the bar, his eyes searching the street for a noodle house or something like that. "Have you had Japanese food, then?" he asked.

"No. Never. But I'm open to new experiences," she grinned as they walked across the street, to a small house with a very brightly lit sign outside proclaiming to the world all the different sorts of highly fattening and not-so-fattening Japanese foods which could be found therein.

"Is it any good?"

Miroku nodded. "I suppose so," he said, giving her a warm smile. "It's all I've ever eaten."

"Well, it doesn't seem to have done you any harm," she grinned jokingly as they walked inside.

It was different to the bar they'd just been at, but still in many ways the same. The lights. The sounds of the street outside. The people... all the different people. The unshakable, unquestionable feeling, the knowledge in your heart and bones that this was the City, and not some restaurant in Tokyo.

But such overlying feelings could easily be pushed to the back of the mind by the little details of the place; the different décor, the different smells that thickly filled the room, and yet more of the same strange characters Kitty couldn't even begin to understand, written on the price list pinned to the wall.

"Some day I'll have to take you out for an authentic British meal in return. Fish and chips. The proper sort, all wrapped in newspaper."

"Ah, well, my health and good looks are also due in part to fabulous family history," he said, smiling.

Miroku cast a look around the restaurant, feeling a little more at home at the smells of familiar food, and a kind of warmth that came from it. He moved over to look at the menu, and gave a small "hmm".

"You like fish?" he said, turning to her. He didn't know what fish and chips were, but he figured that if she liked it, it couldn't be too bad. "I'll look forward to it."

He looked at the menu again, then pointed at a row of characters. "How about this? Takoyaki."

"Uh huh. And the inherent sense of modesty? That family history too? Or just your own special virtue?"

Honestly, the guy seemed never to give up. He was a perpetual optimist. Which was actually quite nice. Not that Kitty would let him know that, of course.

"Fish is nice, sure. Fish and chips though, it's not exactly fish. Not like... a normal fish. It's deep fried." Then after saying that, she hastily realised her probably mistake, and added, "You... err... probably don't know what that means. It doesn't matter. Never mind. It'll be a surprise."

She was rambling. About fish and chips. About battered cod. Good god. She'd thought she'd sobered up, but apparently there was a little of the drink still left in her.

"Takoyaki?" She looked carefully at where Miroku was pointing, as though close inspection would lead to understanding. It didn't. "Well... I have no idea what it is, but it sounds nice! I'll have to trust you on this one."

Miroku nodded solemnly. "For generations."

"You're right, I don't know what it means. I'm sure it's nice, though," he said, scanning the menu in front of them once more.

"Takoyaki's pretty good. And maybe some yakisoba too?" he looked at her with a smile.

((OOC: I'm thinking he might spring the ingredients of the takoyaki on her while she's eating it. That okay? ;3))

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