To begin with…

Zero27: Another new reader! Glad you liked it.

LilyKitsune: Well, he'll find her eventually – hopefully not too much longer…I hate waiting for updates, and so I don't like making other people wait either! Hope this wait wasn't too long…

Queen of Koorime: I will. Keep writing, that is. After all, I wouldn't just 'stop' right here – that would be cruel!

Jessica T: Hmm…all the pieces are in place for my planned ending. I think you'll like it!

Bikutoria: Yes, the 'mind link' was a last-minute brainwave – we'll have to see how it pans out. No worries about the e-mail, glad to!

Mattielover: The I/K moment was sweet – nice and fluffy for all you fans out there *grins* me included.

Momentum: Good to see you again! Glad you approved.

Neoen: Ahh – you'll just have to wait! Suspense is my middle name! (Well, not really, but you get the idea…)

Megumi Sagara1: Miroku…yes, life is tough for him right now. But it will improve – at some point in the future.

Murasaki Kitsune: Yeah, the 'sits' were fun, but…well, what better way for her to tell him she trusts him? *Aww* Eh – TOMORROW?! *Falls over* Uh, not likely. I'm working! Maybe the day after…or a little longer…

Mvdiva: Missed replying to your review from Ch 5! Gomen. Yes, she was annoying but necessary. (Not anymore. Yay!)

Vampire-Elf: Lots of people have agreed with you! I liked the rosary bit too (and it was unplanned in the beginning! I swear this story is writing itself without asking me for permission…)

A/N: Gomen for the long wait, minna, but a few things happened. Things like looking for a new job, doctor's appointments, FFnet not working (you know, 'this site is experiencing temporary overload' etc. Also, a touch of the dreaded writer's block! Oh no! But it didn't last long…so here we are! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Only in my dreams…reality sucks. Don't own it.

Under Control

Chapter 7: Accepting the Challenge

The woman carefully kept her face free of any discernable emotion as the enormous weapon sliced through the air.

"Hiraikotsu!"

The hut she was aiming at shattered. Villagers ran in every direction, looking fearfully over their shoulders at the black-clad figure that was now unsheathing a sword. The warrior raced forward in a blur of powerful limbs, attacking the fleeing people in a seemingly random fashion. She cornered one person by the side of a rickety old house. They looked up at her, quivering in absolute terror. "Wh – who are you?" The blade descended like a bolt of lightning, embedding itself deep into the wood beside the captive's head. The woman looked down at them, unblinking.

"My name is Sango."

She delivered a quick blow to her victim's head, knocking them unconscious. Looking around calmly, she noticed that amongst the bodies lying strewn across the ground, a few people were moving slightly in the dirt. So, a few witnesses remained. Good. Rumours didn't work without witnesses. She sheathed her sword in one fluid motion, striding out of the destroyed town. She still had work to do – and the name of Sango was now a name to be feared.

She was sure it wouldn't be long now.

Inuyasha was slowly going crazy. If he had thought that staying around this group was hard before, it was impossible now. And for one reason.

He just didn't know where to look.

He fought to control a blush that threatened to creep up his cheeks as he remembered that little 'moment' last night. She had removed the rosary. He still couldn't quite believe it. Haltingly, he raised one hand to feel the empty space where that necklace would have been. He grinned yet again when his claws met thin air. Nothing. The grin faded as his thoughts continued. 'Why did she do that?' Of course, he knew one reason. He had accused her of being scared of him, and so she had responded by showing him in the best way she knew that she trusted him…by removing the beads that had once kept her safe from him. To place such trust in a mere hanyou – it astounded him.

Well, that was one reason. But there was another possibility. And this possibility scared him to the depths of his soul. It was kind of silly, he knew, but he had come to regard that stupid necklace as a kind of bond between the two of them. As much as he disliked the spell, it had connected him to her with an invisible cord. And now…she had broken the connection. The one tangible link that they had. He just couldn't shake the fear that it was her way of saying that she didn't want to be bound to him any more. And that was why he just couldn't look at her. He didn't know what he would see.

Would he see simple friendship? Or would he see…what he wanted to see?

Kagome watched as Inuyasha sat up in a tree, just as always. He was shaking his head, muttering to himself, and steadfastly refusing to look in her direction. Again. Wasn't his not looking at her what had brought on that fight last night? And here he was, doing it again. It was as though he was looking for a fight!

He had told her that he didn't regret what had happened to Kikyou. She so desperately wanted to believe him, but…he wasn't looking at her. He had pretty much refused to talk to her ever since Miroku, Kohaku and Shippo had blundered back into the campsite. Was he reminded too much of Kikyou when he looked at her now? Her copy was dead, the souls released from their prison, and all he had to remember her by was Kagome's appearance. Was that what had made him act so unusually last night? Oh…he had said her name. 'Kagome'. But she just couldn't be sure of what his thoughts had been. She sighed, absent-mindedly petting Shippo's hair with one hand.

Shippo looked up at her when he heard her sigh. He didn't like the way his 'mother' was acting today. Last night, when they had made the mistake of 'interrupting' the pair (he still cringed at the look that the hanyou had given him) things had looked rather promising. He had thought that maybe Kagome and Inuyasha had gotten around to admitting what the rest of them had seen ages ago. That they loved each other. It was a good thing that that undead miko was out of the way, or matters would be terribly complicated right now. But then, perhaps part of the problem was that Inuyasha had killed her in the end. He twisted around in Kagome's lap, guiding her fingers to his ears. He loved getting his ears scratched. Purring slightly, he thought about the problem a bit more. No doubt the hanyou was feeling guilty for what he had done – it was only natural that he would. Shippo frowned. 'Solving this mess is going to take some doing.'

Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. He heard Kagome sigh, he saw Shippo frown, and he couldn't escape Miroku's blandly grieving expression. He had to get away – NOW! He leaped lightly from the tree and walked over to the houshi, nudging him with his foot. "Oi, bouzu…look after these guys." He had only taken a few steps into the forest when Kagome's voice rang out, making him stop in an instant. "Where are you going?"

"Er, I – " 'Think, idiot, think!' "I'm going to check out the villages around here."

"Why?"

'Dammit!' "To – to look for shards!" he blurted out. And in a whirl of red and silver, he was gone. Kagome looked at the spot where he had been standing just a moment ago, her mouth slightly open. "Sango is in Naraku's hands, and he's looking for shikon shards? Who does he think he is?" Her voice rose as she spoke, showing just how irritated she was by the insensitive dog-boy. Miroku sighed, giving a rueful chuckle as he climbed to his feet. "He has been looking for shards for almost as long as we've known him – and certainly as long as I have known him. We can't expect him to give up his old ways immediately. If there is the chance of getting a shard, then regardless of what he's doing at the time, he'll take it." He glanced around the area, returning his eyes to the girl on the ground. "I'm going to go after him, just to see where he's gone this time. Will you be alright for a little while?" He directed his question towards Kagome, not acknowledging Kohaku. The boy frowned a little and looked away.

"Yes, yes, we'll be fine." She waved him off with one hand, shooing him away. "Go find Inuyasha."

He turned, still not entirely sure. It was more than a little unkind, but he didn't like the thought of Kagome and Shippo alone with the boy. "Are you certain, Kagome-sama?" In his mind's eye he saw Kohaku standing over Sango in the alley. If anything went wrong while he was away…well, he would never forgive himself, and Inuyasha would kill him. Simple. He jumped at the sensation of a pinecone connecting with his head. "What?" Kagome had another pinecone in her hand, ready to throw.

"Stop being an overprotective houshi and go already!" she said, grinning. "I told you, we'll be fine!" Smiling, he moved away. Of all the ways to get his attention… He stretched his senses to look for any trace of the hanyou he was chasing. No, not yet. He kept going, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. The last thing he needed right now was some youkai deciding that the houshi would make a tasty snack…

Kohaku watched Miroku leave without saying a word. He didn't like to talk much around these people – he had wronged them so badly, he didn't feel he had the right. It was a fact that he had been under Naraku's control at the time, but in his mind that was no excuse. A few times he had had the option of regaining his own mind, but he had refused. He had been too cowardly to remember what he had done. And because of that, Naraku had been able to gain control of his sister, his one remaining family member.

He would never forgive himself for allowing this to happen.

But he had to admit, being around people again – living, breathing, free-minded people – was wonderful. He recalled the absolute silence of his time with Naraku and his minions, and shuddered. Being alone again would feel just like being back there, with no way out. It would be too much to handle, he was sure. He would go insane. In the silence, he had too much time to think about what had happened in his short life. He would see his father, his friends, and his sister, time and time again, powerless to stop the memories. He would do anything now to not be alone and let the memories in.

He looked up sharply when the girl called Kagome climbed stiffly to her feet. Apparently she had noticed his look, because she smiled at him in an attempt to reassure him. "Don't worry, Kohaku, I'm just going to that stream to get a drink. I'll be back in a minute." She pointed vaguely at where she was headed and then walked away. The strange little kitsune creature followed her, chattering at the girl non-stop. As he watched them go, fear rose up in him, thick and heavy. Before he knew it, he was running to catch up to them. They were leaving him alone!

Kagome was laughing at something Shippo had said when a figure rushed up to them. She barely had the self-control not to jump in fright when she saw that it was Kohaku who had joined them. He had noticed her flinching gesture – his head was hanging low in apology.

'You knew she would be afraid of you…you tried to kill her once…but…' His thoughts broke off as the girl spoke. To his amazement, she was smiling.

"Did you want to come along? Well, why didn't you say so? Of course you can!" He watched her, eyes wide in surprise, as she continued walking towards the water. He was dumbfounded by her response. He hadn't really spoken to her since he had joined this odd band of friends – he could remember all too clearly the sight of her blood…an injury he had caused. But maybe…she might talk to him? The silence lately had been deafening. There was only one way to find out, he thought.

"Ka – Kagome-sama?" The soft voice at her shoulder caught Kagome by surprise. This was the first time he had initiated any kind of conversation with her! To tell the truth, she had been a little hurt that he had been studiously trying to ignore her. She turned her head towards him, smiling to try and put him at ease. He was obviously terribly nervous. "Yes, Kohaku-kun?" She grinned as he started at her use of his name. He clearly wasn't used to being called 'kun' by anybody. "Did you want to say something to me?"

He swallowed. "Y – yes, I did. I mean, I…um…" He clenched his fists in frustration. Why was this so hard? He tried again. "Thank you for letting me come." It was obvious that she had missed his meaning when she waved away his thanks.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I don't like getting left alone at campsites either." Well, that had been part of it, but it wasn't exactly what he had meant. He stopped walking, forcing her to do the same. "I meant, thank you for bringing me…to find Ane-ue. I – I don't deserve it, not after…everything." He watched her cautiously, waiting for her reaction. Surely this reminder of his deeds would cause this friendliness to disappear… "Kohaku-kun, none of us would have stopped you from coming to find Sango. You're her brother, of course you would want to come. Besides, if we hadn't found you, I'm sure you would have tried to save her anyway, wouldn't you?" She smiled knowingly at him. "It's really so much better to do these things with friends to help you along."

"Friends." He thought for a second. Then he resumed walking, catching her by surprise. "I don't have any friends here." She frowned for a minute, puzzling his comment out.

"I don't know about that, Kohaku-kun. Inuyasha and Miroku would do anything to help you find Sango, you know."

"They would help her…they wouldn't help me." He was astounded at how bitter his voice sounded. It wasn't as though he had done anything deserving of friendship from these people. "The houshi…he can't even look at me. He doesn't trust me at all. And the hanyou – I'm not sure about him. But – Houshi-sama…he, uh," he stammered. He wasn't quite sure how to phrase this without sounding blunt. To his amazement, Kagome solved his problem for him. "He loves your sister? Yes, he does."

"I can understand why he would hate me, then. I'm the reason she was captured by Naraku."

"He doesn't hate you, Kohaku-kun! None of us do!" She jumped back a step when he rounded on her, his eyes flashing.

"I tried to kill you! I can remember it as clear as day! I – I hurt you." His eyes fell to her arm, unknowingly searching for any sign of the injury he had caused. "You should hate me…even more than the others. What I did, it was – "

"Not your fault." She cut him off softly. He started when she laid a hand on his arm. "You're just a kid, Kohaku-kun. Nobody would expect you to be able to fight off such a powerful master as Naraku can be. You couldn't control your actions, it's not your fault. Understand?" He looked up into her blue eyes, wondering at the compassion he could see in them. It had been the last thing he would have expected. Especially from a former target, someone he would have once destroyed without a second thought.

"Listen to me," Kagome said seriously. "I know I can't really speak for the others, but I don't hold your past against you. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. All of us here have pasts that we would rather forget – and that makes you no different from the rest of us. It's one of the reasons why we travel together…none of us are perfect, and none of us are better than the others. And now that rule applies to you as well. We all have our faults, but we try to overlook them as much as possible. You're part of it, too." Her eyes bored into his, trying to make him understand. The poor kid looked so lost, just standing there.

"So I don't want to hear you say anything like that again." She crossed her arms, raising one eyebrow in a passable imitation of Miroku. "Okay – now say something else." He looked at her in confusion. What did she mean by that?

Shippo, having stayed conspicuously silent through all of this, decided to add to the conversation. After all, it didn't sound quite so serious now. "Say something! Anything! Talk about…er, the weather, or…the food, or…" He wracked his little brain, searching for something that the bemused boy could talk about that didn't involve mind control, or Naraku, or the boys' attitudes towards him. Come to think of it, it wasn't that easy to do. Hmm…

Kohaku couldn't believe his ears. He was…forgiven? Just like that? Impossible. He should have died for what he had done! But…now he was expected to make conversation. He thought hard. It was a long time since he had done this. Suddenly, he grinned. The expression on his face brought a smile to Kagome's own. 'I've never seen him smile before…'

"Why did the inuhanyou fall down when you said 'sit' to him?" She chuckled – at least it was a start.

"First of all, his name is Inuyasha. Not 'the inuhanyou'. And as for the 'sit', well, it's a long story…" And she proceeded to relate the story to a most amused young boy, who couldn't help but laugh at the thought of a powerful hanyou being subdued at a word. The trio sat together by the stream, whiling away the time by listening to Kagome tell the story of how she had met Inuyasha. For the first time in ages, he felt whole again. And best of all, he wasn't alone.

Miroku's feet were beginning to hurt. He had no idea how far he had walked in pursuit of Inuyasha, but he was sure it would amount to a good many miles in the end. He groaned wearily, reaching out once more to try and pick up some trace of his friend's aura. To his surprise, he found something this time.

"Inuyasha, I don't care if you don't like the idea or not – you are carrying me back," he muttered softly.

"No, I'm not."

"ACK!" Miroku jumped, bringing his shakujou up to defend himself instinctively. "Inuyasha, I think I'll live longer without you giving me a heart attack!" He rubbed one hand over his thumping heart, trying to calm down. "And yes, you are."

"Feh."

"I mean it! Do you know how far you've come? It's ages back to the campsite!" Inuyasha glared at him angrily.

"And just who is looking after the others right now, bouzu? You're not going to tell me you've just left them there with no guard, are you?" Miroku gulped. In his determination to find the missing hanyou, he had forgotten all about the people he had left behind. 'If Sango were here right now, I'd be dead."

"Sooo…er, heard of any shards yet?" Miroku quickly changed the subject, hoping to distract the irate hanyou from his error. To his amusement, it was Inuyasha's turn to look slightly abashed. 'Oh-ho, what have we here?' The houshi glanced around, looking for a place to sit. Inuyasha wasn't going to get out of this without a good talking-to, he was certain, and damned if he was going to stand up any longer than he had to! He sat down on a tree stump, laying his shakujou down beside him. "Well?"

"Do you see any villages around here?" Inuyasha demanded, waving one hand around to indicate the deserted forest around them. "It's kind of hard to pick up rumours of shards when there are no people to talk about them!" Miroku just looked at him.

"Oh, alright. I wasn't looking for shards. Happy?" he growled.

"Then why did you tell Kagome-sama that you were going to look for them?" Miroku asked quietly.

"That wench is too nosy for her own good! I don't have to tell her everything!"

"Inuyasha…"

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Inuyasha flopped down onto the ground in apparent defeat. "Don't you ever want to run away from all those women, Miroku?" Inuyasha blinked. 'Idiot, you're talking to the lecher! What kind of question was that?'

"So you're running away."

"No!" The stubborn hanyou folded his arms in a huff. "I just get sick of hanging around you humans all the time, that's all." Miroku sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. Time to try a different approach…

"So, Inuyasha, when should we expect the pups?" he asked slyly.

"WHAT?!"

"Well, judging by what I saw last night – " Miroku suddenly found himself on the ground, with one very angry Inuyasha standing over him, snarling. "Don't even think it, hentai."

"Then what did happen? It looked pretty cozy to me," he grinned. His eyes widened as Inuyasha's hand shifted seemingly of its own accord to rest on his neck. "You can't be serious."

"Huh?" Inuyasha glanced down and noticed where his hand had drifted to. "Oh…yeah. She took it off." He grinned then, showing his fangs in a gleeful expression. "No more 'sits'." Miroku watched curiously as the grin faded from Inuyasha's face, to be replaced by…worry?

"No more link." The words were so soft, Miroku wasn't quite sure he had heard correctly. He looked up at his friend, one eyebrow raised in inquiry. "Why did she do it?" Inuyasha growled.

"I don't know." Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. This conversation was going on a bit too long for his liking. "What will you do when we find Sango?" The question caught Miroku completely by surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"What if she's like Kohaku was? What will you do?" Miroku sat up, his eyes suddenly looking beyond the forest. He couldn't imagine seeing Sango like that…a mindless puppet, controlled by his hated enemy. He couldn't allow that. "I will do what I have to."

"Will you be able to fight her if she attacks you?" Inuyasha was serious; Sango had spoken so many times of her intention to put Kohaku to rest…it was possible that the same thing would now have to be done for her. Miroku gritted his teeth, trying to speak calmly. 'Of all the questions he could have asked…'

"Inuyasha, do you regret what you did to Kikyou?" Inuyasha glared at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer me. Do you?" Inuyasha hung his head, not really wanting to answer.

"No."

"Do you wish that someone else could have done it?" His head snapped up, amber eyes glowing.

"She was my responsibility!"

"Exactly. And Sango is mine." Inuyasha stared at him. "I did this. I have to undo it as well. So…promise me you won't interfere. Inuyasha?"

"Feh."

"I'll take that as a yes." Miroku stood up slowly. "Well, we'd best get to the nearest village." Inuyasha looked confused for a second.

"You did tell Kagome you went looking for shard rumours. It will look bad if you come back without actually having looked." Inuyasha grimaced.

"Couldn't we just say we did?" Miroku's expression was shocked.

"You would lie to Kagome-sama? I would never do such a thing. After all, I'm a houshi!" The hanyou shook his silver head exasperatedly. What a hypocrite.

"Well, come on then, bouzu."

"Houshi!"

"Bouzu!"

"Houshi!"

"Feh."

Another day, another village. 'This is getting boring,' the warrior thought. As per instructions, this village was slightly closer to Naraku's castle. The trail of destruction that she was leaving would be sure to draw her quarry to her very soon.

She grinned inwardly as she reduced another house to a pile of rubble. Outwardly, of course, she was as inscrutable as any mindless drone ought to be. Yes, her quarry would come soon. The name of Sango would bring them out into the open, and the trap would be set. She could hardly wait. Pitiful little villagers weren't much of a challenge, after all. All they did was run and scream – not that it helped them.

It would be a relief to fight real warriors again.

Oooh…who is the warrior? Guessed yet? Not much action here, sorry. More next time! Until then, don't forget to review!!! I really appreciate it.

Next Chapter: Repeat Performance.