Never Cause Her Harm

Third Chapter

The Flame

Author's Note: See second chapter.

Kagome woke smiling. She had seen Inuyasha, and better yet had found a way to see him without Miroku and Sango protecting her. They did have a right to worry, though- Kagome had seen Inuyasha's attempt at holding himself back that last time, and he had failed. Failed terribly, yet it had made her feel so giddily drunk and sleepy. She blushed at the memory of him being so close to her, his nose in her hair. She knew somehow that he had felt the exact same she had at that moment.

Sango and Miroku were already up, and sipping tea. Kagome dressed quickly and joined them.

"Good morning, Kagome," Miroku smiled up from his tea.

"Good morning!" she replied cheerily. Sango smiled.

"You're cheerful this morning." She stated, and Kagome pointed out the window vaguely, meaning one thing and showing another.

"It is quite a nice day," Miroku commented as she sat down. "And no sign of Inuyasha all night,"

Kagome struggled not to choke on her tea. Neither Sango nor Miroku noticed. Once they had finished eating, Sango asked Kagome if she would come outside and help her do laundry. Kagome quickly agreed, and Miroku decided to see if there was a town nearby to buy some food.

Kagome and Sango sat in the patch of grass in front of the small home they had slept in the night before and washed any spare clothing they had. When Sango's extra kimono was dried, she told Kagome to put it on and bring out her clothes to be washed. The kimono was a light blue with deeper blue flowers patterned across the bust and skirt. Kagome quickly changed into it and brought out her uniform for Sango to wash.

The rest of the day we uneventful. Kagome and Sango washed until every item of clothing available to them was clean and hanging to dry on a makeshift line hung between two trees. Kagome kept thinking she had seen flashes of red in the distant hills, but she never called attention to it. As the light began to fade, the two of them carried in whatever laundry was dry. Kagome looked out from the hut, holding the last basket of clean laundry, to see Sango staring into the distance. She was about to call out to her friend, but hesitated.

Sango was worried about Miroku. She waited silently, holding one of his sleeping garments for excuse. Kagome had to smile, and she waited before setting down the basket and joining her friend. She smiled sideways, knowingly. Sango saw this.

"I have a bad feeling, that's all," she said, but not very convincingly. Kagome only grinned broader, but Sango was too busy watching the slowly darkening horizon to notice. When they saw a dark shape moving towards them, she heard Sango mutter something.

"Arigatou," she breathed. As the monk got nearer, Sango ran up to greet him. She stopped just short of hugging him.

"What's wrong, Houshi-sama?" she asked. Miroku was frowning, and didn't even think to caress her. He handed a sack of food to Kagome.

"There is rumor in town," he said. Kagome frowned and looked at him.

"Of some terrible demon?" she asked. Miroku looked at her seriously and shook his head.

"No. There is rumor a witch- a sort of evil priestess- is in the mountains." Kagome immediately thought of Kikyo, but shook the thought from her head when he continued. "A witch from distant worlds. This witch is supposedly capable of casting spells to make men and demons alike think strange things. It is said that the witch can cause evil dreams and premonitions." Sango frowned, not completely understanding.

"But. . . Houshi-sama. . .as long as the dreams are only dreams. . ." she began.

"I do not understand how, but somehow the dreams affect the person being spelled against." He looked serious for a moment more, then smiled and put his hand suspiciously near Sango's backside. She sidestepped and glared at him, and he laughed. Surprisingly, he set his arm on the small of her back and began walking towards the hut. "Then again, it is just a rumor. Let's get inside." But he warded the entrance after Kagome and Sango had gone inside anyways.