The Search Renews

After seeing Kaede safely to Akebi Village, InuYasha and his friends resumed their search for Naraku. Kagome looked over at Miroku sadly knowing that he was closer to death than he ever had been in his life. If he dared use the Wind Tunnel he would die, and if he ever lied again he would die. And since such things were pretty much his everyday life, this would be hard for him to accomplish successfully.

Kagome knew that Michiru's suggestion to not speak for a whole year was a good one, but at the same time she also knew that doing such only prevented verbal dishonesty, but not behavior dishonesty. There were ways he could lie without even speaking like if he refused to respond to a question, or wrote down the wrong words on his new pad which was now his only means of communication, or if he gestured at the wrong thing if a question was asked in relation to it.

That was why Michiru suggested Miroku stay close to the group, because if he was with them virtually twenty-four/seven, he could avoid contact with the locals and avoid behaving dishonestly with them.

Then there was the Wind Tunnel itself, while it was always a danger to Miroku in his lifetime, this was worse! Now it was teetering on the threshold of taking Miroku's life. They now had to wait until Naraku was dead. Unless...

"Hey Michiru, Kaname!" Kagome piped up getting the twins' attention. "About Miroku's right hand, you've used your power over the wind to shrink the Wind Tunnel before. Maybe you could do it again and buy Miroku a bit more time!"

At this, Miroku brightened up a bit and turned to Michiru and Kaname with hope in his heart. Hope that soon turned to despair when he saw the worried expression worn by his friend Michiru when he made eye-contact with him.

"I don't think that would be a good idea Kagome." Michiru broke in sadly. "In fact, such a sudden burst of magic might break the Wind Tunnel's restraints and suck Miroku in."

"How do you figure?" Kagome asked eyeing Miroku's suddenly saddened expression. "You managed to suppress it before."

"Yes, but bear in mind that the Wind Tunnel wasn't close to the threshold of death at the time." Michiru reminded her. "That case was different than this one." He then pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket and laid them on flat surface. "Here, let me give you a demonstration of what I mean."

He then took the cards and built a card tower halfway up with the top flat. "Now, let's say that this half-built tower represents Miroku's Wind Tunnel back then." Then he pulled a small rubber ball from his other pocket and said, "And that this ball represents me and Kaname's Wind Shikigami holding it down."

He then gently set the ball on the center of the tower and the ball stood there and the tower didn't fall.

"Now the tower is strong enough to hold the ball up, and with the ball on the tower, it's difficult to continue building the tower." Michiru explained. "Kind of like how it was easy to put our powers into the Wind Tunnel back then and not effect it in a negative fashion. Our power inside the Wind Tunnel made it difficult for the Wind Tunnel to grow with our power holding it back."

Then Michiru took the ball off and built the tower up higher until it had a pointed top. It was shaking a swaying, but still upright.

"Now let's say that THIS tower represents Miroku's Wind Tunnel at its peak now and the ball still represents our Wind Shikigami." Michiru spoke as he carefully put the ball on the tip of the tower, only for the sudden influx of weight of the ball to cause the tower to topple and collapse right in front of everyone's eyes.

"You see?" Michiru asked. "The weak tower was at its peak and couldn't support the weight of the ball on top, such could very well be the case with Miroku's Wind Tunnel if we try to alter it with our magic, and I don't think we should take that risk."

Nodding her understanding sadly, Kagome sighed and said, "Yeah, when you put it like that, that actually makes sense." She then turned to Miroku and said, "I'm sorry Miroku, I know that I gave you some hope there, but it's not worth the risk."

Looking from one friend to another, Miroku frowned and sighed. He spoke not a word for fear of his cursed left hand killing him, but he needed not to. His body language alone spoke volumes to the others about what all was on his mind.

"Sorry Miroku, but the only way to get rid of your Wind Tunnel is to kill Naraku again." Kaname spoke.

"Yeah! Now you're talking sense for once!" InuYasha cried. "So why don't we stop moping and get down to killing Naraku again!"

"InuYasha, sit boy!" Kagome flared.

"UGH!" InuYasha groaned as he fell to the ground. "What did you do that for Kagome?"

"For being so insensitive about Miroku's condition!" Kagome answered. "Miroku's near death, and there's nothing we can do about it now! Can't you be a little more respectful of that?"

InuYasha shot Kagome a glare, and then turned the opposite direction as everyone followed him. Sighing internally, InuYasha knew Kagome was right in being respectful of Miroku's condition. He just wasn't one for expressing such feelings. Speaking of feelings though, InuYasha noticed another of his friends had been awfully quiet the past few days. Turning to her, InuYasha then spoke.

"Hey Kaname, you've been awfully quiet these past few days." InuYasha spoke. "Is something the matter?"

"Huh?" Kaname spoke as she realized InuYasha was talking to her then she blushed and said, "Oh, no InuYasha. Thank you but I'm fine."

"You sure?" InuYasha asked. "You haven't eaten much lately, and you've been distant. You act like something's eating you."

"I said I'm FINE, InuYasha!" Kaname growled all of a sudden. "Can't you respect that?"

"Now I'm certain something's up!" InuYasha replied. "So spill it already!"

"InuYasha..." Kaname growled as InuYasha shuddered knowing what Kaname was about to say. "...SIT BOY!"

"UGH!" InuYasha groaned again as Kaname stuck her nose in the air and went on ahead.

"What's eating her?" InuYasha asked outloud as Kagome came along.

"'What's eating her?' Are you serious InuYasha?" Kagome asked herself. "You broke up with her a few nights ago, she's a girl of COURSE she's going to be distant for awhile."

Wondering when and if InuYasha was ever going to get that people behaved strangely in matters of love, Kagome grumbled internally and the group continued their journey.

A few hours later, it was almost sundown. The group decided to pitch camp and settle down for the night. After a nice fire and a meal, they all crept into their bedrolls and tents and turned in for the night.

But Michiru couldn't sleep. He was so used to sleeping next to Sango, that being without her was difficult. Even with Kirara's warm loving body curled up next to his, he still couldn't sleep. Then his fingers wandered over to Sango's Hiraikotsu, and this brought on a flood of memoried he shared with Sango. Comforted by these memories, he finally found a measure of peace and went to sleep.

But Michiru wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. In another tent Kaname was thinking to herself about the other night when InuYasha broke off with her. Sure it hurt, but she still had hope because she still had feelings for Sesshomaru. But that was the problem. How would she tell Sesshomaru that she was in love with him? More importantly, how would he respond? She knew the odds of him rejecting her were extremely high, and that would mean additional heartbreak on top of InuYasha breaking things off with her.

But what if he DID give her a chance? What then? Would she be married someday to one of the world's most powerful demons? If so, could she start a family with Sesshomaru? After all Kaname knew of Sesshomaru's hatred for Hanyou, and knew that convincing him to impregnate her would be a task in itself. True, Kaname knew that Sesshomaru could make her happy on his own, but at the same time she did want to have children someday. Would Sesshomaru love her enough to give them to her?

As this thought rushed through her head, Kaname placed her head on her pillow trying desperately to sleep. She knew the answers would come in time, possibly sooner than she expected. But for now, she needed to get a good night's sleep so that she and the others could resume their hunt of Naraku.