AN: Nope, dream as I might, Inuyasha does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form.

~*~

"All right then. Thank you. Good luck with the cleanup of your village. Goodbye." With a short wave, Miroku left the village chief to rejoin the others.

"So, what happened?" Inuyasha asked, once the monk had returned.

Miroku sighed as he closed his eyes briefly, recalling everything that had been said. "The village was housing a shard of the jewel. Unfortunately, a demon attacked and stole it. The description seems to match that of Kagura, but I have to say, its unlike her to leave the villagers alive."

"Maybe Naraku doesn't want us to find him right now." Kagome suggested. "He knows we're going to be picking up the search again. And he's probably figured out that we're going to try even harder than before now that…well…" The young miko trailed off, as she glanced over to Sango. The taijiya was currently leaning against a tree, staring off at nothing. Kirara was perched on her shoulder, nuzzling Sango's face slightly. That's how things had been for the past couple of weeks; ever since Kohaku was killed in front of Sango's eyes. The exterminator hadn't said much. About the only time she spoke was when she offered to do the usual search of the campsite area to make sure no demons were lurking around. Other than that, she hardly spoke.

"That bastard is just a coward! He can't just come out and challenge us, he has to play these games and get inside our heads." Inuyasha mumbled, crossing his arms.

Kagome nodded slowly, then looked back to Sango, "Sango-chan? Its still early in the afternoon, we can make it further before nightfall. Or we can stay here tonight. What would you rather do?"

"We should…keep going." Came Sango's quiet reply. The taijiya stepped away from the tree and began walking down the path, "This was done within the last few hours. There's a chance we could still find Kagura." She added, voice remaining low.

Kagome ran forward until she was beside Sango. There, she slowed to a walk, "Okay. Maybe we could find a hot spring. That would be nice, wouldn't it?" She asked looking at her friend. The taijiya only nodded.

Shippou ran ahead and leapt onto Kagome's shoulder. There, he stayed quiet, much like how Kirara was on Sango's shoulder.

Inuyasha and Miroku let the two girls stay ahead of them, but were sure to keep them in sight. After all, if anyone could get Sango to talk again, it was Kagome. At least, that's what they figured.

"Oi Miroku. How long do you think we'll have to put up with this?" Inuyasha asked, glancing over at the monk.

"Until we kill Naraku once and for all." Miroku replied.

The hanyou stopped for a moment, then shook his head and began walking once again, "But we don't even know how long that'll be! She can't stay like that. She'll end up getting herself killed by a demon or something."

"You can't blame her, Inuyasha. The only family Sango had left is gone. And, much like her fellow exterminators, Kohaku was killed in front of her eyes." Miroku stated, with a slight nod.

"Keh!" Was Inuyasha's response, "You humans are so emotional. I grew up without my family most of my life. Its not that bad."

Miroku sighed and shook his head a little, "Inuyasha, what you went through and what Sango is going through are two entirely different things. But…" He turned his head slightly to look at the hanyou, "If you think you know what she's going through, try talking to her."

"What? Talk to her?" Inuyasha asked, raising an eyebrow, "About what?"

"You said it wasn't so bad. So, talk to her about it. Comfort her, if you will." Miroku replied, looking ahead at the two young women again.

"C-comfort?" The hanyou asked. Then, looking forward, stuffing his arms into his sleeves, he mumbled, "Whatever…" Both he and Miroku fell into silence as they followed Kagome and Sango. But even though he didn't say anything, his mind was racing with thoughts. 'So maybe its not the same thing. But its pretty damn close. Kohaku…Kikyou…Naraku turned them both against us. And now…they're both dead and Naraku's probably laughing.' Looking up slightly, his eyes fell on Sango. 'Don't worry Sango, we'll make that bastard pay for what he's done.'

~*~

AN: So, how's it going so far? As always, please review ^-^