Not Herself

The sun was rising on the four travelers sleeping by the roadside. As they all woke up, Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Miroku started packing things up. They decided to skip breakfast and hurry to meet Sango. Kirara had stayed up the whole night waiting for her master. But she wasn't the only one. Kagome noticed as they walked that Miroku was tired. She guessed that he had spent most of the night worrying about the demon slayer. She thought it was cute how he sat up and waited for his lover.

They had just passed the village when they saw Sango sharpening her Hiraikotsu. She looked at them with a weary smile, almost as if she had already been slaying demons. "Hey, guys. How was your sleep?" she asked.

"It was fine," Kagome said. "I hope you had fun in the castle." Miroku's eyebrow bounced up and down at Kagome's comment. Kagome didn't mean it the way it sounded. But Sango simply nodded and threw her weapon over her shoulder, causing her knees to buckle. "You alright, Sango?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It just got a little heavy." Miroku gave her a worried look. She had always been able to handle her weapon with ease. There was something else. She looked very pale and there were small sweat drops running down her forehead.

"I guess she overworked herself," Inuyasha said teasingly.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Sango snapped with a scary look. Inuyasha instantly stepped back.

"Nothing." Kagome noticed too that Sango was acting strange. Her angry voice caused Shippou to hide behind Inuyasha. Kirara walked up to her master's side and meowed, but Sango gave her a nasty look, causing the little cat to recoil behind Kagome.

"Sango, what is wrong with you?" Kagome asked. "She was just trying to welcome you." Sango realized what she had done and went to apologize to Kirara.

"Kirara, I'm so sorry. I don't know what got into me. I'm just a little on edge, I guess." Kirara jumped into Sango's arms and started licking her. Sango instantly smiled.

"As long as you are making apologies to everyone," Miroku said as he stepped forward.

"I'm not apologizing to someone because I slapped them for groping me," she said flatly. "Let's go. Naraku isn't getting any weaker." They all started on their journey again. But the farther they went, the stranger Sango became. She didn't want to eat anything and she didn't want to rest. She nearly bit Inuyasha's head off for wanting to stop. After awhile, she stopped snapping at everyone. In fact, she started to look like she was about to collapse. She had become even paler and her face was covered in sweat. She was also breathing hard as she walked along. She even stumbled while walking, but Miroku caught her. He gave her a worried look as he helped her up.

"Sango, maybe you should rest," he said gently. "We've been walking for almost seven hours now without rest." Sango just pushed him off and walked forward. Kagome approached Miroku with a concerned look.

"Is she ok, Miroku? She isn't acting herself."

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Something isn't right." They walked forward and caught Sango's attention. Even Inuyasha was worried about her. "Sango, are you sure you are fine? You look a little pale."

"I'm…fine," she said weakly. "We…should move…" She cut herself off as she fell forward on the ground. Kagome quickly ran to her side and sat her upwards. Sango had fainted, but her face was still twitching as if she were in pain. Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Kirara ran to her side with worried looks.

"Sango, say something," Miroku said trying to shake her awake in vain. Kagome put her hand over Sango's head and gasped.

"She's burning up," Kagome said as she watched her friend breath heavily.

"What's wrong with her?" Shippou asked.

"I don't know," Inuyasha said, "but there's an abandoned hut up ahead. She can rest there. You better carry her, Miroku. I'll carry her Hiraikotsu." Miroku nodded and picked her up bridal style. Kagome was surprised that Miroku didn't try to grab her boobs or something. She just hoped that Sango wasn't too sick.