Chapter 1: Month 0 (Witch's Spell)

"Inuyasha! Time for lunch!" I called out, stirring the stew as Sango added some spices to flavor. We had set up camp a few ways west, after following a phony Naraku trail. Everyone decided to rest up and eat after fighting the ridiculous demon that had been leading us on. The battle had made some of us very tired (namely Shippo) so, after finding a small clearing, we decided it was time to eat. Shippo was asleep on the log we were on and Inuyasha had gone out to patrol a half hour before, leaving us to prepare the food.

"My, my," Miroku said, taking a seat beside Sango, "What beautiful housewives you'd make, ladies."

I rolled my eyes and daintily smiled at his remark, but a certain demon hunter took it seriously.

"Watch it monk, or you won't be having any," Sango said, giving him a cautioning look.

"Why Sango, I was only stating the truth," he sniffed the air, "And lunch smells delicious."

I smiled in response to his compliment.

"Thanks, Miroku. It's a recipe from home my mom used to make." I grabbed a bowl and served him, handing him a spoon. "Here, taste it."

He wasted no time in eating, making me and Sango laugh. I served her next, waiting for Inuyasha so I could serve myself.

"He is taking longer than usual." I mumbled, serving the now- awake Shippo. He yawned groggily as I handed him his bowl.

"Don't worry Kagome. He'll be here; after all, Inuyasha never misses lunch." Sango responded, calming me down.

"Well... I guess you're right, but I'll just call him again to make sure." She nodded and returned to her food. I turned to where Inuyasha had disappeared off to and began to call for him.

"Inuyasha! Time for-"

A bush over onto the side crashed as Inuyasha stood over it, now running to the campsite.

"Lunch, yeah, I know. Now gimme, woman."

I handed him a bowl as he sat down next to Shippo. I served myself and sat down as well, looking at Inuyasha. He was slurping the whole stew without using a spoon.

"So... What took you so long?" I asked, taking a sip of my stew.

"Feh. Caught Naraku's scent -"

"WHAT?!"

Everyone stood up, almost letting go of their bowl. We all stared at Inuyasha, who didn't seem at all worried.

"Relax, people. It was from some days ago. Who the heck knows where Naraku's now."

Everyone visibly calmed a bit, sitting back down. Inuyasha handed me his bowl.

"More."

I served him as he talked again.

"Although, we're going to need to follow it as fast as possible before it disappears. So eat fast people."

He then continued to slurp his stew.

"Are you sure the scent was coming this way, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, looking down at a sniffing Inuyasha.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I have a keen sense of smell, ya know."

I sat down on a rock, looking at a pissed Inuyasha still sniffing the forest floor, and sighed. Even after a half hour Inuyasha couldn't find the scent. Sango relaxed against a tree, arms crossed in front, obviously bored. Shippo on the other hand, had found company in a caterpillar a few feet off. Unconsciously, I put my hand near my mouth and yawned. Last night's sleep wasn't exactly on a beautiful mattress.

Inuyasha stood up abruptly, hearing the yawn, and glared at me.

"Well sorry if you're bored, Kagome, but I'm actually doing something here unlike -"

He stopped and lifted his nose, finding something more important in the air. Miroku, Sango, Shippo and I stood at attention, wondering what was up. Inuyasha faced us seriously.

"It's Naraku."

We reached the village where the stench of Naraku had disappeared to, but stood there in shock as we watched a beautiful late afternoon sky covering glowing green crops and a sparkling clear river. Nothing appeared to be amiss in this beautiful village.

"What?" Shippo said, interrupting our confused faces, "Isn't it supposed to be destroyed by now?"

Sango and I nodded silently, as Miroku spoke up.

"I don't feel any malevolent presence, Inuyasha."

"I swear his scent came from here." Inuyasha pouted, "I'm sure. It's got to be a trap or something."

I rolled my eyes. Why couldn't he accept it? Ever since the week began, he had somehow caught a cold and been wrong in many of the trails we had followed. I opened my mouth to say this, but Shippo beat me to it.

"Ha! Yeah right dog face! Your nose is still all wrong from your cold last week, but since you're such a retard you can't accept it!" He crossed his arms and looked at Inuyasha smugly. Who for the most part, wasn't taking it very well.

"Why you little -" Inuyasha said, sending a clawed hand his way.

Shippo squeaked and jumped onto my back, shielding himself from the angry half demon. Miroku acted fast as well, grabbing Inuyasha's forehead, halting him to a stop.

"Inuyasha, accept it. The cold damaged your sense of smell -"

"I said I'm fine dammit! I'm not freakin' sick anymore!"

"What do you think we should do, Kagome?" Sango asked, ignoring a yelling Inuyasha. I turned to her and looked over to the village, contemplating the situation.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go find out."

"Yeah," Sango agreed, nodding as well, "We can at least ask if they've seen anything strange or out of place lately."

Shippo jumped down from my back and placed himself onto my hands, turning to look up at me and smiling big. "Does this mean we'll be sleeping on beds tonight?"

I laughed at his eagerness.

"No, Shippo," I said, touching his nose, "Not if we don't have any business there."

Sango nodded and then pointed to a still shouting Inuyasha.

"Should we all go or should we leave a certain half-demon here?"

We all looked over at Inuyasha, who was currently stomping on the ground angrily. I shook my head tiredly. One word would calm him.

"Sit."

A purple light flashed from around his neck and sent him reeling towards the dirt floor. A muffled moan came from beneath the debris, until he somehow lifted himself off the dirt.

"God Kagome! Why do you always do that?!" He dusted himself off, scowling.

"Shut up and listen, Inuyasha." Sango said, and then turned to face Miroku and me. "So how should we..."

Miroku interrupted.

"Lady Kagome and I will enter the village and ask for information. After all, they would trust a priestess and a monk. As for Inuyasha and the rest, Sango, can you keep an eye on them?"

Sango hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

"So we're settled then. Lady Kagome, if you will." He extended his hand out towards the path that led to the village.

"Inuyasha, behave yourself," I said, turning to an upset half-demon sitting on the floor.

"Feh," He said, looking away and folding his arms.

"No, I haven't seen anything out of place lately. It's been a terrific time for crops!"

The young woman smiled big as she very happily agreed to answer our questions. The answer was quite the same after asking a handful of villagers. Nothing had ever been better.

Miroku and I both looked at each other and nodded.

"Well," I started, "Do you know of any other village that has been attacked or..."

The young woman shifted the laundry basket to her right and placed a finger on her chin, thinking.

"Well, ya know, there was a village a few days off from here where people had said there was a demon attack, but I'm not really sure if it was true or not. You know some of the women, making up drama." She giggled and held the basket with both of her hands now.

Miroku looked at me and exchanged a glance.

Oh no.

It was time for one of his dirty manipulative tricks.

"I say, young lady," He grabbed one of her hands and kissed it, making the young woman blush, "You really are very beautiful. Are all the women around here as blessed by god as you?"

She turned even redder and smiled, embarrassed.

"Oh, why thank you, monk, but I'm not really all that pretty..."

Miroku opened his mouth in astonishment as he let go of her hand. "Such a humble woman. I say, this town has been blessed by the skies..."

A few minutes later, Miroku had received a small hut for all of us to stay for a few days, and a free dinner.

"Kagome~ my head hurts..." Shippo waddled over to me, holding his head. The wooden floorboards creaked with every step he took. I concernedly put my book down besides the fire and placed my hand on his forehead, fearing he might be coming down with something. Warmness met my hand. He had a fever, like I had expected.

"Shippo, since when have you been feeling sick?"

He played with his fingers.

"...yesterday night..."

It was reasonable. The village was also coming down with the fever, so some of us were bound to start showing symptoms. I pouted, making him know I wasn't happy he hadn't told me when he had first started feeling sick. His huge fawn eyes looked down to the floor, ashamed. I smiled, and rummaged through my backpack.

"Don't worry, Shippo. I have some medicine from home. Although, I don't know if they'll be enough to treat you since we don't treat demons in the future." I handed him a small pill and some water, which he took quite excitedly. I turned to see Sango and Miroku, now concerned about them and their reactions to the infection going around.

"Sango, Miroku, How are you guys feeling?"

They looked at each other.

"Well, we're feeling fine but if you have any more of the medicine..."

"Of course," I said, smiling and reaching for more pills, "Here."

I handed them over to them as they took one each. I looked around after Sango and Miroku had taken their pills, looking for Inuyasha. He wasn't in the hut.

"He went out some time ago, Kagome."

I looked over at Sango, who sat looking at me in a concerned manner. I knew what she was thinking, but it couldn't be. I hadn't sensed Kikyou's aura or spirit collectors at all. And anyways, he wouldn't have left me in favor of Kikyo. Inuyasha and I had something going on since about a few months ago.

"Thanks, Sango. I'll go give him the pills." Then I headed out.

I had a hunch he was sitting on a tree in the forest as always, but I was proved wrong. After walking for about ten minutes, I started to doubt he was even around.

"Inuyasha?"

Oddly enough, I saw a spur of red and white off to the right of a clearing.

"Inuyasha!"

I raced over to the way I had seen it and sure enough it was him, just standing in the clearing.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha?" I looked around, "I mean, so far into the forest?"

He just looked at me with a surprised expression and that's when he started to cough.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. Then I remembered the pills I had brought with me. "Here, take these. I was looking for you because I had a hunch you were sick."

He bended over, still coughing, ignoring the pill jar in my hands.

"Inuyasha!"

He fell over and landed on his face. I raced over to him and began to turn him over, scared for his condition. After all, he was important for the group, but mostly... just for me. Because I wasn't taking care of him as a member of our group, but as someone I cared deeply about.

Someone I... loved.

During the days we stayed in the village, he hadn't said anything or complained about feeling sick. I guess he didn't want to cause trouble or concern. That or his pride had gotten the best of him.

I shook my head.

How could he have allowed himself to get in this condition?

"Inuyasha, really, you should have told me if -"

But my sentence was cut short as I saw his - no, it's face.

Contorted into a silent scream, something like an old woman's features filled what Inuyasha's face should have been. The shock immobilized me, as the witch, with Inuyasha's clawed hands, took advantage of it and reached for my throat.

I heard a crack and then blacked out, all the while hearing the witch's hoarse laugh.

Sesshomaru hid to a halt as a treacherously foul smell invaded his nose.

Witch.

"Jaken," he said, keeping his eyes ahead and not even glancing at the toad to his right.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Take Rin to the last village and wait there."

Jaken nodded, slightly confused, as Rin just widened her eyes, curious as to what was happening.

"Of course, my lord." He paused, "Is there something wrong?"

Sesshomaru ignored him and continued onto the path the foul smell headed. A few meters off, another smell met his nose. Blood.

Blood from a human.

He almost turned around and walked off, letting the witch have its fun, but an unfound curiosity got the best of him. The scent of the blood wasn't as repulsive as he had thought it to be. Of course, it was human, but it had a small tinge of something unknown to him. It wasn't a smell, since it did not have quite a repulsive odor. It was... a fragrance.

Ridiculous. I refuse to believe this absurdity.

Entering the clearing, the scent became stronger and he was met with a woman's battered body lying on the forest floor. Blood flowed from her neck and pooled under her, staining her clothes.

He walked over to where her face was and was intrigued to find out just who exactly had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and to whom the strange bloody fragrance belonged to.

Inuyasha's wench.

Sesshomaru chuckled inwardly, realizing the human's stupid mistake.

The human finally gets what she deserves. They are quite a stupid race.

He took a glance at her wounds, just out of plain curiosity, he countered. Then he stopped. The witch hadn't drunk out all her blood. It was as if it had been interrupted.

He looked around and inhaled.

No scent.

Sesshomaru understood fairly quickly. The witch had sensed his presence and hid, cloaking its scent to preserve its life.

What an amusing animal.

He turned and walked away, back to his pack. After all, this wench wasn't his responsibility.

"Shut up and do as I say, you stupid girl!"

Jaken and Rin were arguing where he had left them a few ways off from the bloody miko. Rin held Jaken's two-faced stick and hit him on the head with it as she ran around Ah-Un.

"Give it back!"

"Jaken."

Everyone stopped and looked back at the demon lord.

"Yes, my lord?"

Sesshomaru turned on his heel and continued on his way past the bloody miko. Jaken understood quite immediately and proceeded to follow his master. Rin and Ah-Un followed as well.

"Are we not going to the village, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked curiously.

"No, Rin."

The aroma once again entered his nostrils as they passed by the scene. What a pity. He imagined Inuyasha's face once he found the human girl, and smiled inwardly. What a pathetic fool. That is what he gets for enamoring himself with a useless human.

"Ugh. What is that horrible smell?"

Jaken pinched his nose as they walked by the clearing. Rin, being human, did not understand what smell it was they were so disgusted about.

"Rin doesn't smell anything."

"That's because you're a human, and we demons have a quite sensitive sense of smell- Hey!"

Sesshomaru turned to see what the commotion was about. Rin had walked into the place where the human body lay bleeding.

"Someone's hurt!"

"Come back here, girl!"

She lay down next to the body and slowly uncovered the black strands of hair from the victim's face. There was no use interrupting her now. She knew the miko and would recognize her in an instant.

"Rin! Do as I say and get back here!"

The green imp stomped furiously onto the ground, trying to get his point across, but the girl had no intention of going back now. She stepped back from the body and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Kagome-sama?"

Sesshomaru had had enough of this. "Come, Rin. Let the body be."

He hadn't prepared for her reaction… or his, for that matter. Once he saw the always smiling brown eyes now saddened and tearful, he knew he could not win. Was she imagining herself, lying on the dirt ground before he had saved her? Did she feel the pain she had felt, running from the fear?

"Sesshomaru-sama…"

She looked back at the body and knelt down next to it.

"Rin! Sesshomaru-sama is telling you to leave the body alone! Come here!"

Jaken impatiently called out to Rin, looking up only when he saw Sesshomaru walk past him.

"My lord?"

"Rin."

Rin looked up at the lord and tugged on his sleeve.

"Please save her, Sesshomaru-sama… like you did to Rin."

He knew that he was able to take her away and keep walking on the path they were on, but Rin would not be the same. Sesshomaru had to admit that the journey would be quite boring without Rin's constant chatter, as much as he hated the idea of being amused by a human.

He weighed his options.

What could he get out of helping the young miko?

Maybe he could save her now, let her die because of his "unintentional" poison touch and return the body to Inuyasha. Oh, I'm sorry dear brother, but you left her to the mercy of an old witch and the wench died. He looked back down at Rin. That option did not help his current situation.

"This human is not deceased, Rin."

The tears dried and hope marked her eyes as they glanced back at the priestess. Sesshomaru called upon Ah-un and made Jaken place the unconscious body of the bloody miko upon its back, an amusing idea taking place in his mind. He had forgotten his brother's character and how stubborn to accept defeat he was. How would Inuyasha react when Sesshoumaru brought back the miko, roughed up after an encounter with near-death? His pride would take a blow after he realized he would be indebted to Sesshoumaru.

As small as the reward was, it was worth it for not taking a boring journey.

An inu-godlike creature inspected the broken body of the girl I had just attacked.

I recognized him. He was the Lord of the West, Lord Sesshomaru. Killer of many of my relatives, known for the hate he had of everything human.

Why was he taking the miko's body then? How very... peculiar.

I hated him anyhow. Daring to interrupt the only meal of the week. Without the young miko's blood I would die in the next few days. Finding young priestesses that fell for the witch trick was hard enough, and to have that Lord interrupt it, my only chance for survival, got me brewing a plan.

To the lord, his pride was everything. To the young priestess, life was the only thing she had. And I would take those things from them. As soon as one of them even touched the other, my wish would be granted.

My wish for vengeance.

I smiled deviously.

As they left the clearing, I put my hands together and used the last of my life's energies to whisper the words of their utter future grief.