Chapter 4
Inuyasha watched the well for a couple of minutes to make sure that Kagome would not make it past the boulder.
Good! I ain't got to worry about whether she's safe or not. In his hearts of hearts, however, Inuyasha knew he would worry no matter what. Now back to finding the Tetsusaiga.
The silver-haired hanyou walked over to where he knew Kouga had knocked the sword from his hand. It had made a slight indention in the grass, and Inuyasha's nose could pick up the residue of the power the sword had left behind but nothing of the thief.
It made no sense! If someone had taken the sword, there should have been some sort of a scent left behind by the one who had taken it. This was not good. There was no way to track the Tetsusaiga at all; no scents, nor footprints, or any other sign of someone taking the sword and running off with it.
Who could have taken it? A thought popped into Inuyasha's head, What of Sesshomaru? Didn't he just say something about taking the Tetsusaiga two weeks ago? With this in mind, Inuyasha bound off in search of his "dear" older brother. I'm gonna murder the bastard!
Inuyasha never once thought of possible telling Miroku, Sango, or Shippo of what had happened. He was too worried about finding the fang.
While Inuyasha went in search of a scent to follow, Miroku and Sango were speaking over a fire in the hut they called home when they were in the village. Shippo was outside with a small quest of his whom had turned up in the night. Kirara was happily watching them in return for all the attention she would receive from the two demon children.
"Miroku, do you think Inuyasha and Kagome have met up yet?"
"I don't know Lady Sango. I certainly hope so," the monk answered.
"Do you think that…maybe…we should help them along?" the taijiya wondered.
The monk sighed. "I wish we could. It is obvious to everyone, even Kouga, that they have feelings for one another except they themselves don't seem to notice."
"Or at least Inuyasha is too dense," Sango interrupted.
"True, and I have a feeling that Kagome and Inuyasha must discover the truth themselves with as little prodding from us as possible," Miroku continued.
"Of we HAVE to prod some…"
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two for a few minutes. Miroku cleared his throat. Sango tucks a lose strand of hair behind her ear. Finally, Miroku cracked.
"So-o-o," the monk began rubbing the back of his neck, "have you heard anything about Kohaku?"
"No, I haven't." Sango glanced away from Miroku at this, her bangs hiding her eyes. Suddenly, she looked back towards the monk. Tears were beginning to form and flow, staining her cheeks. Miroku had never seen someone so sadly beautiful.
"Sango! I'm sorry if I've said anything to offend you!" the young monk said, mistaking the reason behind the tears.
Sango shook her head at the monk. "I'm just so worried!" she cried. "What if Kohaku's died? The shard was what was keeping him alive, but Kagome has the complete jewel! And if he's alive, why hasn't he sought me out? I'm his sister!"
Miroku was shocked; he had not expected this at all. He hesitated before scooting next to her, and reaching over to pat Sango on the shoulder consolingly.
"Lady Sango, I…" Miroku paused, "I'm sure Kohaku's alive. You'll each other. Soon too I think."
"What makes you so sure?" Sango spat out.
"Call it monk intuition," he said with a smile hoping to cheer the dear girl up. He sighed when all it did was cause her to glance at him for a second before sobbing all the harder.
Seeing that words were not working as well as he would have hoped, Miroku began to cautiously inch his way towards the distressed young women. Slowly, he stretched his arm across her shoulder, expecting at any moment to be hit by an angry woman. Miroku began again at trying to comfort Sango.
"Sh, sh, Sang dear," he whispered. "It'll be okay. I'll help you find him. I promise."
At this, Sango's tear bright eyes turned up to his. She was amazed; her was MIROKU comforting her, and he seemingly was not doing or thinking anything perverted. Oh how little she knew.
In fact, Miroku was at that moment trying to resist the urge to be perverted. His hand lay mere inches away from a plump breast of a beautiful woman.
Must resist temptations for Sango's sake! The monk thought. So as to make sure nothing happened, he lifted his hand form Sango's shoulder to throw some wood on an already healthy fire.
When Sang felt a weight lift off her shoulders, she frowned slightly. The warmth of Miroku's arm on the back of her shoulders had been nicer then she was willing to admit.
After poking the fire a bit more, Miroku sat opposite Sango on the other side of the fire. He looked over at the demon slayer, and sighed. He had promised to help her, and he intended to keep that promise; but what he was about to do was dangerous. If he was not careful, he would lose his life in the chant. Of course, Miroku was not about to tell Sango that.
"Sango, watch the fire. I'm going to try and find Kohaku, but I've never done this before so don't get your hopes up." With that, Miroku stared deep into the fire, and began to chant. The words were undetectable to humans, but the prayer reached someone's ears. The fire roared, and in the depths of its red beauty, a picture began to form.
In a deep hole, like something caused by a mighty blast, there stood upright a grave marker. Curled up at the foot of this marker was a boy with Sango's hair and freckles. Kohaku!
It began to rain in the image. The boy raise his head to look at they sky with weary eyes only to let it drop to the mud in defeat. Kohaku was obviously ravaged by some inner conflict that was sapping his strength to nothing. Then the image was gone, and the fire shrank down to normal.
Sango turned to look at Miroku and was shocked to see him covered in a cold sweat.
"Miroku…are you okay?" Sango asked worried.
"I'm…I'll be fine," he answered. "But I know where your brother is. We have to go to my father's grave," he breathed out.
"I'll go get the others—" Sango began only to be cut off.
"No, please, just you and me. We'll leave a note for the others to find."
"O-okay, I'll get Kirara." With that Sango went outside and scooped up the little cat telling Shippo to be a good little boy while she and Miroku were out. With that she went back to the hut, and she and Miroku hopped aboard Kirara and headed off to a place Miroku had hoped to never visit again.
Outside Shippo turned to his guest, "Hey, Souten, do you think they'll get married while they're out?"
Souten turned to her friend, "Hmm…don't know. It'd be cool if they did! Hey what do you think of my pictures?"
"WOW! You're really good. I'll have to ask Kagome to get you some more crayons! Hey is that me?" Shippo asked in surprise.
"Oh, that! Yes. I think it looks just like you!" Souten exclaimed.
"I agree," Shippo said with his chest puffed out. The picture actually made him look much older then he really was.
"Good! Hey, Shippo, when we get old enough, wanna be my lifemate?" Souten asked nervously.
"Sure!" And the sealed it with a peck on the cheek.