A/N: A rather uneventful chapter so hopefully it won't bore you too much.

Things pick up slightly in the next chapter.

With a cloth between her teeth Hoshiko waited for the pain of having her shoulder put back into place. Unfortunately she has had a shoulder dislocated before so she knows what is coming next hence the cloth. She didn't want anyone nearby to hear her scream. Giving Kikyou a brief glance and a nod she took a deep breath and exhaled as a scream as her shoulder was fixed. Panting slightly, she shakily removed the cloth with her left hand and sat there for a few minutes.

After she settled down, she started to carefully rotate her shoulder. After a few minutes she turned to Kikyou and smiled.

"Another job well done Kikyou," exclaimed Hoshiko with that same smile.

Kikyou just smiled back and shook her head as if to say; 'it was nothing'. With that over with, Hoshiko got up and grabbed her trusty naginata and left the hut. On her way out she passed Kaede and saw her grab her bow and quiver of arrows just before the straw flap closed. She decided to stay and accompany Kaede since she was no doubt going to the forest to practice. Sure enough here come Kaede again.

"I thought I'd go with you and watch to see if you've improved," explained Hoshiko in response to Kaede's surprised look.

Although that is what she said, they both knew she was also going to protect Kaede. With her eye now missing thanks to a demon she was now even more vulnerable than she was before, especially so because she hasn't quite mastered archery to properly protect herself. So the two set off back into the forest for a couple of hours of practice.

Thankfully, nothing happened while Kaede practiced and once the sun started going down Hoshiko said it was time to go home. She knew most demons tended to be more active at night after all. On the way home, they met Kikyou whom had been on her way to get them. The two priestesses talked quietly to each other while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious as well as keeping an eye on young Kaede who walked in front of them. They made it home without anything attacking and ate a dinner of fire roasted fish and rice.

After dinner they talked a while longer and then crawled into their futons after extinguishing the fire in the fire pit.