Chapter One

Over the past six years the group that Miroku once traveled with had fallen apart. In the beginning it had been poor Shippo who had died in a heroic effort to save his adopted mother, Kagome. By jumping into the path of Naraku's razor sharp tentacles, he had meet his untimely death. It was a loss that the group couldn't bare, even Inuyasha had seemed upset.

After that, Kagome seemed to retreat into herself. Lingering longer on her trips back home, sleeping until the sun was almost at high noon, and even that feisty spark between her and Inuyasha was gone. It was her saddened heart and the distraction of Inuyasha by the corpse of his dead love, that was the killer combination that lead to her death only two years later.

While Inuyasha had been dodging Kikyo's powerful arrows, Kagome had joined the rest to fight against Naraku, Kagura, and Kanna. She would have landed more crucial blows and perhaps lived to see another day if it hadn't been for the image of the young kitsune that Kanna conjured in her mysterious mirror. At the time of her distraction Naraku had taken the opportunity to drive his clawed hand into Kagome's chest, pulling out the broken heart that lie within her ribcage.

When Inuyasha rushed to her side, it was then that he finally regretted choosing Kikyo over Kagome. It was also then that he made a vow to seek revenge for her.

He began gathering the jewel shards and using them on himself. He increased his speed, his strength, and even the power of the tetsusaiga. And just as is was said by the ones who loved him, Inuyasha changed. He began to need the Shikon jewel shards like he needed air to breath. It was this festering need that lead Inuyasha to kill Kirara and Sango. Deep down Miroku knew that it had been a plot of Naraku. The despicable man had known of Inuyasha's greed and had eagerly added wood to the fire by sending Kohaku.

Inuyasha's hunger for the jewel shard imbedded in Kohaku's back had sent him into an almost frantic rage. He had chased the young demon slayer away from the others, leaving deadly blows in the boys back when he could get close enough. When he finally had caught Kohaku, when he was finally ready to kill him with his already bloodied claws, it was then that Sango and Kirara had made it to the small clearing they where in.

Inuyasha had tried to explain to her, begged her to understand, but nothing could make Sango let her brother die. When his heart seemed to break even more, thinking that he would fail Kagome, it was then that his demon side began to take over and all sense of reality slipped from Inuyasha's mind. His first strike had actually been at Kirara, knowing that the nekomata yokai would fight to the death to save Sango, and that was how it was. He had killed Kirara with a powerful swipe from his claws, her lifeless body had fallen to the ground with a sickening thud. When he had finally rid himself of the catlike demon, he turned his blood red eyes on Sango.

She had fought him tooth and nail, just as he knew she would. His hardest task had been prying the Hirakotsu from her hands. After that it had been almost too easy for him to kill her. He knew all her 'tricks' and all of her moves, making it easy for him to dodge them or outwit her. After a half hour of fighting, Sango, slick with sweat and her face reddened with tears, had breathed in her last breath of air. Inuyasha had then made quick work of Kohaku, taking the shard from his back and placing it within the folds of his hikama to decided what to do with it later.

Miroku had walked into the bloody clearing far to late and with far to many regrets. From the corner of his eye he had seen a blur of red and then Inuyasha was gone. He had hear rumors of the man that he once called friend, heard stories of his ruthless raids on villages allover Japan. It seemed that without Kagome, Inuyasha had turned back into the man he had once been over fifty years before. Although he heard the rumors, he had never crossed Inuyasha's path, their last encounter had been that horrible day. As it was, Miroku hadn't seen Inuyasha in over a year.

He asked himself everyday after that, what if? What if he hadn't gone into town? What if he had been there to save them? So many questions and no answers. And now he was still here, still living while his friends and the woman he had loved lie cold and rotting in the ground. His tears had been spilt and his heart had somewhat been mended. But now he was faced with an even great challenge, an even bigger problem.

The wind tunnel in his right hand was getting bigger.

He had tried everything to stop the hole from spreading, but it seemed all the old remedies no longer worked. From fear that the wind tunnel would swallow him up at any moment, Miroku no longer used it. In the past few months he had traveled a lot, earning his living by 'exercising' a few evil spirits here and there. But little did Miroku know that his 'planned' death was closer than he knew.

A short into to give you background on the time and what not.

As always, tell me what you think.