The trio made it back to Edo a few days later. They were met at the border of the village by a curious Shippo and cautious Kohaku.
"Where'd you find her, Yasha?" Shippo asked, looking over the woman in the hanyou's arms as they walked towards Kaede and her healing herbs.
"South, runt." Inuyasha grunted and kept walking.
Miroku slowed down and gestured for Shippo to do the same. Kohaku slowed as well and Miroku nodded to him to stay with the other two.
After they saw Inuyasha greet the elder miko, Miroku quietly related the events of the past few days to the kit, as well as the oddities he had noticed since they found Kikyo.
"Her scent is a bit off," the kitsune confirmed. "What do you think happened, Miroku?"
Miroku watched the door of Kaede's hut for a moment before replying.
"I don't know, Shippo." the monk said. "She still had access to her reiki before Kagome left. I couldn't feel her at all when we found her."
This startled the kitsune. "Like 'at all' at all? Nothing?" he questioned.
Miroku could see the wheels turning in his friend's mind and stopped the leap before the conclusion was a thought. "She's not an illusion or puppet or anything like that, Shippo."
The kit let out a skeptical laugh. "How can you be so sure, Miroku?"
The monk sighed. "Because she fell the day after we left that clearing," he said simply. "It was real blood that flowed from her wounds. Our hanyou friend has been carrying her ever since. That doesn't mean I trust her, just that she's real."
"Who's real?" a rough baritone behind them asked.
The pair jumped as they turned to find the owner of the voice standing just a few feet behind them.
Before Shippo could gather his wits, Miroku spoke. "Lord Sesshomaru, when did you wake up?"
As the Daiyokai opened his mouth to respond, two things happened. A grating wail rose from the hut at the edge of the village where Jaken had been headed with fresh water for Rin and Inari. He'd opened the mat and found the hut completely empty. In the time it had taken for the wail to register in Sesshomaru's ear, Inari had made her way to his side, grabbed the pointed tip of said ear between sharp knuckles and pulled him the short distance down to her level.
"You should not be out of bed," she growled at the side of his head. "Return now or your daughter will come back to find you not only bound in that bed, but missing an ear."
Sesshomaru glared at her from the corner of his eye. "Release me, woman!" he demanded.
Inari ignored him and started to walk back toward the hut, his ear still between her knuckles. The snarling Inu reluctantly followed, to the amusement of the other two. As soon as the pair had disappeared inside the hut and Jaken had been silenced, Miroku redirected the question to Shippo.
Shippo was still slightly shocked. "It had to have been in the last few hours," he said. "Kohaku and I were on our way back from securing another of the outlying farms just west of the village when we saw you and Inu-baka."
Miroku shook his head at the endearing insult turned nickname, then asked "where's Rin? Isn't she usually tending Sesshomaru?"
It was Shippo's turn to shake his head. "Inari-sama sent her out to get some fresh air, said she's cooped herself up indoors far too long." he explained. "She went with Sango, Kohaku and me to check on the outliers. There was another attack while we were out. Rin and Sango stayed to help the injured. Kohaku and I only came back to let Kaede know what happened and see if she had some medicines we could take back with, to help."
Miroku nodded in understanding, then sighed. "With all the recent attacks, I'm not sure her stores are up to sending even more out," he said, dejectedly.
Shippo shifted, then spoke again. "I figured that might be the case, but like Mama always says, it never hurts to ask." the young kitsune replied. "Kohaku and I have done a lot of herb gathering, we can find more on our way back. Rin was learning from Kaede and Mama both, before all this started going on, so she'll know how to put together everything that will be needed."
Miroku looked toward Kaede's hut once more, while Shippo looked toward Rin's. Miroku tapped Shippo's shoulder with the back of his hand.
"You see if there's anything you can figure out about Lady Kikyo, and I'll go talk to Inari-sama and Lord Sesshomaru?" the monk asked.
Shippo chuckled. "Read my mind, Houshi. And for once, it wasn't creepy!"
The pair laughed, then went their separate ways. Shippo went in at Kaede's and sat by the door to observe. Miroku stood outside Rin's hut and knocked, waiting patiently to be acknowledged.
Conflicting voices came from inside… Inari invited him in while Sesshomaru growled for him to go away. Miroku heard a louder, more feminine growl and the sound of a solid body hitting the floor before Inari stepped out the door.
"Damned dogs…" she growled. "How may I be of assistance, Monk Miroku?"
Miroku took a slight step back from the imposing goddess before clearing his throat. "Inari-sama, we found my friend's mate, Lady Kikyo. But there's something not right about her…" he said. Over the next few moments, Miroku explained everything that had happened, everything he had seen, heard, and felt… or hadn't since he and Inuyasha found Kikyo.
Inari looked concerned, but didn't have an answer for anything Miroku had told her. "We will need to ask the others, Monk Miroku," she said. "Perhaps they will have an answer. Until then, how may I assist the young Rin in her healing endeavors? I did hear correctly, that she and your bride are assisting after another attack, yes?"
Miroku nodded. "Shippo said he and Kohaku were going to return to the area to help more after talking with Lady Kaede," he stated. "I thought I might go along as well, to help with any heavier work."
The goddess shook her head. "No, monk. You are to stay here with that bull-headed pup inside," she said. "This would also have you close by to keep an eye on your friend and his mate."
Miroku watched as the mat door quietly moved aside behind Inari and a very upset Inu lord stepped through. Sesshomaru roughly shoved Inari's shoulder as he moved to stand beside Miroku.
He glared at the goddess as he spoke. "We will all go," he growled. "All. Of. Us. The hanyou and his mate, too. I will see what has been going on in my territory while I was…. indisposed."
Miroku saw no reason to argue. He nodded respectfully to the two and headed to Kaede's to discuss the previous conversation with Shippo and Kohaku.
As the goddess and Daiyokai started to argue again, Bishamon and Tsukuyomi came around the side of the hut with a curious looking Elias trailing behind.
The two gods stopped to the side of the heated argument. Elias sauntered over and clapped a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "My friend, you bark up the wrong tree…" he said, laughing.
Sesshomaru snarled at Elias and grabbed the golden Inu's wrist, letting poison flow freely from his claws. Elias gave the grumpy Daiyokai a look as he took hold of Sesshomaru's wrist with his other hand and a golden glow appeared under his fingers. He smirked as the shock and surprise became more apparent on Sesshomaru's face. Tiny gold flames danced between his fingers and Sesshomaru released his grip, growling.
As the two separated, Inari grinned at the other two gods. Bishamon laughed loudly. Tsukuyomi just shook his head and sighed.
Elias was the one that spoke first. "Didn't you learn that lesson already, Pup?" he questioned. He turned his head to Bishamon with a raised eyebrow. "Was he not shown how futile it would be to attack me?"
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A/N: Finally, we see some movement… Not much, but some. Keep in mind, not everything will be as it seems. This chapter, however… Yeah. Face value. No hidden clues or anything. This will be one of few that is completely straightforward, until the nuances are explained. And they will be, eventually. I know where I'm taking this story… Will you bear with me, and come along for the ride?
As always, I'm completely self edited. Please shoot me a message if you find horrifically unbearable editing issues. Otherwise, please be kind enough to leave a review and let me know what you think, thus far. Good or bad. :-)