Affliction

"Where are you going?"

"Shut up," Inuyasha replied to Kagome's question, sneezing.

"Come on! Can't I just have an answer?" Kagome retorted, stalking up next to him. Should he try to run away, she'd have a 'sit' waiting for him.

Rubbing his nose, Inuyasha scoffed over his shoulder, "I deserve my privacy, now leave me alone!"

Actually, he felt like throwing up. He didn't know why, but he did know that he didn't want anyone to see him. As he walked, his frown got bigger as he thought of the stupid remarks everyone would make.

"Inuyasha…" came the voice from behind, growing angrier at each step he took away.

Inuyasha dashed off before Kagome could say anything more. What is his problem? Geez…she thought. Not bothering to dwell on it or be angry any longer, she turned back to Kaede's house with a final confused huff. As she made her way down the dirt road, an idea came to her. Nothing big was going on at the moment: Naraku and his followers had seemingly become dormant over the past few days, and Kagome had acquired another Shikon shard. She decided to take a break and go home for a few days.

"Kaede-Obaachan, where are Miroku-sama and Sango-chan?" Kagome asked as she entered the old priestess's abode.

"Sango needed to repair her Hiraikotsu again, so Miroku accompanied her for lack of something better to do," Kaede answered from her spot on the floor.

"All right. I guess I'll be going home for a couple nights. Tell Sango-chan and Miroku-sama when they come back." Kagome stated, slipping on her shoes and slinging her giant yellow backpack on her shoulder.

Kaede cocked her head in thought. "Did you two fight again?"

"No, but Inuyasha seems to want to be left alone for some odd reason…so I'll let him," Kagome replied, then looked around, "Where's Shippou-chan?"

"No clue. Probably with Inuyasha," Kaede said, then waved as Kagome left.

"Bye! See you in a few days!" Kagome said as she departed.

Kaede adjusted her position on the floor, pondering. She hadn't even noticed Shippou's absence. She shook it off. He's probably pestering Inuyasha…

***

Inuyasha walked over to the nearest tree, leaning on it. He growled impatiently. Just puke already. Damn stomach. He stood there, feeling sicker by the minute. Just when he thought he could get it out of his system, Shippou popped out of nowhere.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing?" Shippou inquired, genuinely curious.

With a slight groan, Inuyasha snapped, "Go away! You're being annoying! Don't you ever stop?!"

Shippou peered at him. "You don't look so good…."

"Then leave me alone!!"

With a sigh, Shippou bounded away, which was in fact, very uncharacteristic, back to the village. Inuyasha watched him go, and heaved a sigh of his own. Suddenly his stomach churned in discontent, and he dug his nails into the trunk of the tree, clutching his middle with the other hand. Finally, it all came up and immediately the scent annoyed his nose. Slowly, he walked several yards away from the mess he made, toward a convenient stream.

"Freakin` gross…" he grumbled to himself, as he rinsed his mouth in the cold water.

***

Amazingly enough, the crack in Sango's Hiraikotsu took no more than an hour or so to repair. Once again, Sango was impressed with herself. The youkai that had attacked had been fairly strong. All along the way back from the Taijiya village, Miroku had been very chit-chatty, but in no way did he try to touch her. This shocked and bewildered Sango, and of course made her even more cautious.

"What's wrong? You're being so quiet! What did I do?" Miroku asked, pouting at her.

Sango peered at him scrupulously. "Nothing's wrong. Aside from the fact that you're actually being normal."

"Oh Sango! What ever do you mean?" the monk asked, waiting for the right chance.

Miroku slipped his arm around her neck. She tensed up, but didn't knock it away. He actually wasn't going to do what he would normally do. His hand relaxed, until Sango stopped abruptly. She looked at him, and he smiled at her, to charm her. Maybe he could get some affection this way. Sango seemed to sense his ulterior-motive, and edged away from him, glaring.

She signaled Kirara to transform, and jumped onto her back, leaving Miroku his own way back.

"Aww, damn." He grumbled as he made his way back down the hillside, entering the forest.

Smacking bushes and branches aside with his staff, all he could think about was Sango, and her usual angry response to his lustful habits. He hadn't even done anything yet! To him, it was a funny joke just to see her get mad. It livens things up. He stopped musing when a familiar buzzing sound came to his ears. Spinning around, he could sense the presence of Naraku's poison bees. Now, he could see the massive cloud of them coming in from the canopy of the forest.

"It seems I've caught you alone, monk."

Miroku started at the sound of Naraku's voice. The usual white baboon form emerged from the dark shadows, chuckling. The bees loyally surrounded him. Miroku gripped his staff tightly, ready to fight. Tentacles sprouted from under the baboon pelt, and Naraku raised in height.

"Another stupid puppet, eh?" Miroku said with a grim smirk.

Although he was used to fighting with Sango, he took on the puppet. He leaped up, to smash the head, but was knocked away by a tentacles. Sliding across the ground, Miroku finally got up in time to dodge more attacks. Finally, he sent a scroll to slap against the puppet's forehead. After quivering for several moments, the scroll sizzled and disintegrated; leaving the creature only momentarily stunned.

"They're all the same! Just a waste of time!" Miroku shouted as he sliced the puppet in half, leaving the once giant form as a tiny wooden figure lying on the ground.

Panting, he decided to quickly make his way back, since now Naraku was making moves on them. Stupid, boring, periodic moves, but still not something to leave unsaid. Miroku no longer heard the bees, and wondered where they had gone. At a slow run, he was quickly approaching the village. Shippou met him on a low hill not too far from Kaede's village.

"Miroku! What is it?" Shippou asked, jumping instantly onto his shoulder.

"I'll explain when we get to Kaede-sama's house," Miroku answered, running once more.

Miroku burst through the doorway, expecting to see everyone, but only meeting eyes with Kaede and Sango.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Kagome-chan went back to her time. And Inuyasha….well, we don't really know," Sango replied, eyeing him, "What's wrong?"

"Naraku attacked me. But, it was only a puppet. No Kagura, nothing. It doesn't make sense. Is this another trap?" Miroku explained, now sitting against a wall.

"He's near?! Oh no! We need to find Inuyasha! Ah, Kagome! Why did she have to leave at a time like this?!" Shippou cried, panicking already and pacing the floor.

"Calm down, Shippou. I'm sure once Inuyasha catches scent of Naraku, he'll be on his track. But where could he be?" Kaede wondered.

All they could do was wait.

***

Ok…I read back and find this…umm…plain. Well, you can tell me what you think. I'll try to be more original, gomen! ^^0 Please read and review!