A giant centipede reared in the night, devouring a small village. Women and children ran in fear and men were slaughtered before it. The herikotsu gleamed, and many of its writhing legs were severed from the demon. The huge boomerang flew back to Sango, and the rest of the Inu group leaped forth. The tetsuaiga flew through the air and gashed through the demons side. But rather than attacking Inuyasha again, it reared once again and came down upon Sango. It bit through her shoulder and lifted her in the air, and tossed her to the side as a sacred arrow pierced it. Sango fell to the ground, and no one noticed her begin to rise, no one noticed Kanna in the shadows with her mirror, no one noticed Sango's eyes go blank, and no one noticed her lay back down.

Miroku looked over at Sango's lifeless form, and swore to himself to protect her. The demon, apparently finding Sango's flesh tasty, headed for her body. Miroku jumped in front of her, threw a sacred sutra at the demons head, and hit it with his staff. The demons head burst open and it recoiled in pain, and Inuyasha swung with the tetsuaiga and cut off its head. Kagome had rushed over to Sango and was checking her wounds.

"Hm… I don't see why she is unconscious. The wound is on her right side, so her heart is fine…" She politely asked Miroku and Inuyasha to leave so she could wrap the wound properly, and they obeyed. But Miroku, being the lecher he was, climbed ups a tree to look in through the hole in the roof. He had trouble in the tree when his robe was caught on a branch, however, and Sango was already bandaged when he reached the roof. He slipped back down and went in the hut with Inuyasha.

A few days later, everything was back to normal. Sango was up and about, and the sun shined warmly. But there was something odd about Sango that day. Her eyes were dull and her movements halfhearted. "Is everything alright, Sango?" Miroku asked. He was worried about her, he couldn't deny that.

"Oh yes, Miroku, I'm fine." She said in a flat voice. "I just had another dream about Kohaku last night." Miroku thought a moment. 'Normally when that happens she awakens breathing heavily, and last night was my watch. I don't understand. And she hasn't a hint of sadness in her voice.'

"It's alright, Sango." He said in a sympathetic voice. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her into a warm embrace. 'This is the final test. I'm sorry my dear, but I will take the pain to know if your safe.' Sango didn't struggle. Miroku's hands lowered and groped Sango's rear, but still she did nothing. Although Miroku enjoyed this treat, no pain befell him. Sango would have normally hit him as hard as she could at this point. He pushed her away, but gently. "Sango… are you sure your ok?"

Just as he said this, her eyes closed and her head lolled onto her shoulder, and her body went limp. "Sango!" Miroku caught her just before she hit the ground, and shook her gently. "Sango! Say something to me! Anything! Wake up!"

Inuyasha's ears perked at the noise. He leaped down from his tree perch and ran to where Miroku was. "What happened, Monk?" he yelled. All he saw was Miroku sitting there holding an unconscious Sango.

"She was just standing there, and she went limp- but before that she was acting oddly and had no emotion." Kagome ran over. "Kagome, please check her wounds once again."

Kagome did as he said, only taking parts of the bandage over her shoulder off. She revealed the wound, still oozing blood, but the wound itself was now in the shape of a spider. The same spider Naraku held on his back. The three of them just stared at it for a moment, and Kagome screamed.

"That centipede must have been sent by Naraku! What do we do?" Inuyasha said angrily.

"We have to go find him. Or one of his minions. Sango's life may be at stake, or ours. Who knows what they might make her do." Miroku replied. He took Sango in his arms once more. He remembered his oath on the night of the centipede attack- 'I won't let anything happen to you my dear. I'll free you. I swear it!

Oooh, don't we all hate these disappointing endings. I'm working on the second/last chapter already, so It might even be up today ;