Ch. 2

me: hi. Okay, real quick announcement, here. I put that Miroku has his Kazaana in his right hand, because that's what they say in the second movie. If it's on his left hand, I'm sorry; I just went by the movie. And I'm sorry if Kaede's medical diagnosis sounds fake; I have no clue if that is something a doctor would say or not... sorry! sweatdrop Oh, btw, thanks everyone who reviewed!!

Kikyo: MOO!

me: um.......im just going to not deal with that right now... O.o also, this chapter is pretty short. Sorry!

"H-Houshi-sama? Oh god, Miroku, are you all right?" Sango's voice...usually so confident and self-assuring was now panicked and nervous. Miroku felt the stabbing pains in his right hand, and knew instantly what must have happened. The Kazaana was giving him trouble, once again. The morning sunlight hit his eyelids, and he could hear people talking. What was happening? Who had they fought? There was too much to comprehend at once.

But wait.... how could all of this have happened between tonight and this morning? Just last night, I was talking to Sango, and everything was fine! My hand was perfectly normal. We haven't fought any demons since then...have we? Slowly, Miroku opened one of his dark eyes. It wasn't the same hut as yesterday...in fact, it looked a lot like Kaede's cottage, which made no sense at all! The hole from yesterday's "sit" was missing, and Kagome had only two arrows left; last night she had seven. InuYasha's arm was covered in blood, and Sango had a gash in her leg. This didn't make any sense.

"Miroku...please lay down, please?" Sango whispered, dampening a cloth and placing it over the houshi's head. The pain in his arm was worsening, and he was sweating copiously. Yet he felt cold...so cold... what on earth had they fought?

"God Miroku, I told you not to try to be a hero!" InuYasha said angrily. Miroku tilted his head toward the hanyou, having absolutely no clue what he was referring to. "We were doing fine, dammit! The wasps wouldn't have caused that much damage, you idiot!" .

Ah. The wasps. Naraku's poisonous wasps were the cause of the horrible pain. Miroku had sucked in these said wasps many times before; the poison was always stopped before it was too late. But it had never felt this bad, never! But then again, Kaede had always cured the poison before it had spread too far... would she be able to cure him this time? As if on cue, Kaede walked in, a vial of red liquid in her wrinkled hand.

"Ah, Miroku. I see you're conscious." Kaede knelt down beside him and held the vial up to his eyes. "This is the only thing that could possibly cure you, so drink up." She said, a false twinkle in her eyes. Miroku wasn't fooled.

"Kaede-sama, why does this feel so much more serious then before?" The monk asked quietly. His throat felt dry and scratchy, and he took the vial and downed it in one gulp.

"Well, I won't lie to you, Miroku. It seems that the poison has spread faster than normal. It's dangerously close to your vital organs, and there's nothing we can do for you if the poison reaches your heart. Lucky for you, as long as the red potion works, you won't have to worry about that."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Kagome whispered, eyeing Miroku nervously. Kaede sighed and stood up.

"There is a one in three chance that the potion will be too late to stop the spread. If it isn't strong or fast enough, then Miroku won't stand a chance." Kaede said wearily. At her words, Sango gasped and tears filled her eyes. Even InuYasha looked worried.

"But...it will work, right Kaede-sama? Right?" Sango pleaded urgently. Kaede shook her head.

"It's pretty much luck from here, Sango." The aged miko said sadly. "I'll leave you four alone. Shippo, come with me." The tiny fox demon that had been hovering in the corner, looking apprehensively at Miroku the whole time, followed Kaede out the hut.

"W-when did we fight the demons?" Miroku asked softly.

"Yesterday, you moron." InuYasha said, trying and failing to be his usual cocky self.

"What? Yesterday?" Miroku asked, confused. "Yesterday we were traveling to that hut just north of Kaede-sama's village! We hadn't fought demons for almost three days!"

"That poison must be making you delusional," InuYasha muttered, scornfully. "Yesterday, we fought Kagura. Two days before, we saved the village with all the demons. Don't you remember?"

"No...no I don't.." Miroku said. Sango and Kagome looked worried, and Sango rushed to

re-dampen the cloth on Miroku's forehead.

"It's ok, Houshi-sama.." Sango murmured. "We'll take care of you. Don't wor-" Before she could finish her sentence, Sango was interrupted by a certain someone's hand.

-SLAP-

"I was trying to take care of you, you stupid pervert!" Sango screeched, her eyes narrowed and angry. Miroku rubbed the red mark on his face.

"I am sorry Sango. It was too good an opportunity to miss..." he replied, happily. He didn't feel that he had any need to worry; he had always recovered from the wasps before, and this time would be no exception.

"God Miroku. Here I was feeling sorry for you, and then you go pull a stunt like that!" InuYasha yelled. Miroku still wore his content smile...

...which, ten seconds later, disappeared from his face. He felt like someone was slashing open his stomach, and he gasped for air. In an instant, Sango was by his side, and Kagome had run off to fetch Kaede.

"Miroku? Miroku, what's wrong? Miroku, you better not be playing a trick on me, seriously." Sango felt his forehead, which was hot, in spite of the cool cloth. InuYasha observed from above her.

"Miroku! What happened?" Kaede asked. The monk couldn't speak; he gave a hacking cough, and blood splattered onto the white sheet that was half covering him.

"Oh god..." Kagome cried, burying her face into InuYasha's sleeve. Sango watched in horror as Miroku coughed more, then lay back onto the floor. His face was white, and beads of sweat inched down his forehead. He gasped for air again, then lay back down. Kaede forced him to consume more of the red liquid, but it didn't seem to be helping. He was shaking violently, and his face was becoming whiter by the second. He shook some more, and then...

..then the shaking stopped. The monk fell back upon the floor, and moved no more. Kagome lifted her head from InuYasha's sleeve and stared at his still figure. Sango leaned toward Kaede.

"Did he pass out, Kaede-sama?" Sango asked, almost hopefully. Passing out was okay, passing out wasn't...death. Kaede put her hand to his wrist, then to his forehead. She seemed unable to speak for a while, during which Kagome moaned and begin to cry again. InuYasha was staring at Kaede intently. But Sango couldn't remove her eyes from Miroku. She didn't like the way he looked, all white and still.

"I'm sorry, Sango." Kaede said, wiping her eyes with a white sleeve. "He's dead."