Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

AN: PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Please review. The more reviews I get, the more compelled I am to blow of homework to write this fanfic.

Chapter 6: Something Found

For once, Sango rode behind Miroku on Kirara as the monk whispered directions into the demon cat's ear. They had been flying for an hour when it began to rain. Miroku began to squint as the water pounded down unceasingly. He bent forward once more to tell the great cat to fly closer to the ground. Kirara complied.

Miroku looked out through slitted eyes identifying the landmarks he had not seen for many years that would lead them to where Kohaku lay. There was the lighting split tree; now the waterfall. Finally, there was a large field in right in the middle of an even larger forest.

The field was nothing but grasses with a few unusually tall weeds scattered here and there. Near the northern end of that great open space was a large crater. In the center of this hole was a grave marker that had weathered many such storms.

Kirara touched down on the edge of the crater. Through the rain, the monk and demon slayer could just see a form huddled by the wooden stake. It shuddered slightly before lying still once more curled up with its back facing the pair.

Sang had barely been able to contain herself when she had seen the thing…Kohaku…by the grave marker of her friend's father. She was soon slipping and sliding her way down to what she hoped was her brother. She could feel hiraikotsu jouncing against her back, and Miroku cursing under his breath as he followed her.

Sango was soon crouching next to the huddled mass. From what she could see, it looked like her little brother, but was it? She slowly reached out a hesitant hand and turned the lump over. Sango forced her eyes to look at an unconscious Kohaku.

Miroku was right behind the young taijiya as she drew in a sharp breath. It had been the first time she had seen her brother's face in a long while. He grasped her shoulder comfortingly. "Sango, we need to get him to shelter. He looks feverish."

"Y-yeah," Sango managed to stammer out. She reached down and hugged her brother to her as tears hidden by the rain flowed free. She struggled to pick her little brother up. It seemed her strength had disappeared. Fancy that.

"Here," Miroku said gently, "let me help you." For once the very independent young women agreed to help from the lecherous monk. So Miroku picked the boy up and began carrying Kohaku up the embankment to where Kirara had somehow managed to fall asleep. Sango followed close behind him.

When they reached Kirara, Sango shook the cat awake. "Come on Kirara. We need to you to carry us," Sango whispered in a voice that sounded like it was almost pleading. The cat stretched awake and yawned out a little meow. Its yawn was cut short however when Kirara caught a familiar scent in her keen nostrils. It was that of her young master, Kohaku. The one who had been giving off a tainted, twisted smell until lately where it had become that of an innocent young boy again.

The cat demon quickly transformed while great billowing flames flowed from her in great leaps as she tried to help dry Kohaku off. Sango smiled slightly knowing what her old friend was trying to do.

"Come on Kirara, we can't get him up on you with that much heat. Tone it down so we can get home to fix him up," Sango whispered in the cat's ear. Miroku looked at the girl before clearing his throat.

"Dearest Sango, would you like to ride in front while I keep a hold on Kohaku, or has your great strength returned to you?"

"Miroku, please, I doubt I remember the way. Please give me my brother. I won't let him fall, ever."

"Yes, Lady Sango." With that, jumped aboard Kirara and held out her arms for her little brother. As soon as Miroku had relinquished him, he hopped onto Kirara as well and they were on their way back to the hut.

In a short while Kirara made it back to the hut despite the extra weight. They touched down right outside the entranceway and rushed inside. It had begun to rain even harder on the way back and all had become soaked. Inside, the fire was just big enough to keep a sleeping Souten and Shippo comfortably warm. Sango took only a minute to notice how cute they looked curled up next to each other holding hands as they snoozed away. I have to remember to tell Kagome about this. But the next second, her mind ran back to Kohaku.

"Miroku, get some more wood. We need to build the fire up," Sango ordered as she lay her brother down as close to the fire as she could. Miroku quickly went about the business of building the fire up till it was blazing hot, and everyone was sweating bullets.

Kohaku's rain soaked cloths were dry already. However, despite how much he was sweating, his fever had yet to abate. "Miroku, wake Shippo and Souten up!" Sango nearly screamed.

"Sango, we're up. We've been up!" an innocent Shippo piped up.

"THEN HELP! All of you find as many dry blankets as you can. We need to break this fever NOW!"

"Yes ma'am!" all three fairly squeaked. Sango was scary.

Soon every blanket was piled on top of the boy. It looked like Kohaku had been turned into a small mountain.

"Lady Sango, get some rest. Kohaku's fever is beginning to go down. I'm sure I can handle it now especially with the little ones help," Miroku suggested.

"No."

"Bu-" Miroku was cut off.

"I said NO Miroku. I won't take a chance at losing him again. Go to bed. You've been up as long as I have been," Sango told the monk.

Miroku sighed at this. Sango's loyalty to her brother was truly a force to be reckoned with. I won't try to get her to get to bed now then, maybe later. I will stay up with her though. And so the two sat, side by side watching the fever flushed face of Kohaku all night. Just before the sun raised itself up to bring the dawn, the fever finally was completely broken. Sango sighed in relief as she lifted her hand from her sibling's normal feeling forehead.

"Sango, dearest, surely now you can get some rest! I have more than enough energ-g-g-y-y-y," said Miroku as he tried to stifle a yawn. A smirk worked its way onto the taijiya's face. "Anyway, Shippo is sure to wake up in 5…4…2…1…"

"GOOD MORNING!"

"Ah, Shippo how g-o-o-o-d-d-d," another yawn interruption, "to see you w-i-i-de awake. Would you like to help me watch o-o-ove-e-er Kohaku as Sango gets her rest so that I may gaze at her beauty while it is at its best?"

SMASH! "Miroku, shut up and wipe that lecherous smirk off your face! You need just as much sle-e-e-p as I do," Sango said after bonking the monk on his thick-skulled head.

"Miss," said an absolutely darling Souten, "I'm sure Shippo and myself could safely watch over the young man while yourself and the monk sleep."

Such an interesting change in personality! It must be cause it's morning, the two sleepy heads thought before accidentally falling into an almost coma like sleep.

"Hey Shippo."

"Yeah Souten?"

"When should we tell them?"

"Later when Kagome's back."

"Oh all right. It's just that I'm about to burst if I don't tell someone," Souten squealed out in happiness.

"Hmmm…maybe you can tell your little dragon familiar," Shippo suggested.

"OH GOODY!"

Morning must really screw with her personality, Shippo thought to himself.

Miroku and Sango had been sleeping for several hours, and Kohaku had actually begun to stir when Inuyasha burst in as the sun was directly overhead in the sky.

Inuyasha's red haori was covered in dirt, a testimony to the hours he had spent searching for Kagome. Sadly, he had been unable to find a trace of neither Fuyu nor the young miko. Unlike when he had been looking for the Tetsusaiga, there was no nothingness to follow with his sniffer.

"MIROKU, SANGO! GET YOUR ASSES UP!" the hanyou roared from the doorway unaware of the young boy still buried underneath a mountain of blankets.

"Wha-" Miroku had been woken out of a sound sleep which involved Sango somehow. He was cut off when something heavy mad contact with his head.

"HENTAI!" Sango screamed. Sometime during the night Miroku had rolled over where his head was resting on the demon slayer's trim tummy. "HENTAI! HENTAI! HENTAI!" WHAM. WHAM. WHAM.

"BOTH OF YOU STOP FOOLING AROUND!" Inuyasha once more roared. He was pissed off about something.

"What's wrong Inuyasha," Sango asked after successfully knocking Miroku out.

"Kagome's been fucking kidnapped! Now stop gawking like damn idiots and come on!"

"WHAT!" Shippo screamed. Until then he had been cowering ahem standing behind Souten. At hearing that Kagome had once more been kidnapped, he freaked out immediately.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU RESCUE HER, INUYASHA!" the distressed kitsune screamed into the half-demon's face.

"Get the hell outta my face. Ya ain't any help, ya little whelp!"

"I-Inuyasha," Miroku stammered out having been brought out of his coma by Shippo. "Wha-what's happened?"

Inuyasha's face began to turn a brilliant shade of red from his anger. He was about to murder the little thing that seemed to do nothing but attach itself to his face and scream. His normally nonexistent patience that day was gone. The stress of everything with Kagome had rubbed his nerves raw. Shippo was not helpful.

Next thing Inuyasha knew, he was off in la la land, and he dropped to show that Sango had somehow managed to sneak up behind him in his rage. She had noticed that the Tetsusaiga was not anywhere in sight. Sango had become worried that something may happen, and without Kagome around, they would not be able to handle it.

It's a really good thing Father taught us those pressure points for inu-youkai, she thought to herself.

Out loud she said, "Don't worry, he'll wake up in about a hour."

"Good to know Lady Sango," said Miroku from his spot on the floor. "Hopefully, Inuyasha will be able to tell us what happened. Let us just hope that he does not kill us for you knocking him out."

Suddenly a voice came from the miniature mountain. "S-sister?"

Sango's attention was quickly brought from the snoring Inuyasha to the weak Kohaku. "Kohaku, sh-sh," she whispered to her little brother.

"Sister Sango, I'm so sorry…" Kohaku stopped to cough.

"Easy Kohaku. Sleep. We can talk when your better," Sango told him.

"But-"

"No buts Kohaku, go to sleep," she commanded.

"Yes sister."

And so Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and Souten as well sat around the sleeping Kohaku and Inuyasha hoping not to be pulverized when the sure to be angry hanyou awakened.

In the castle, Kagome had been awake for many hours. She had tried escaping, but when her wrists and ankles became raw from the metal bands rubbing against them she stopped for the time being to think. Kagome had trouble doing so however when not twelve feet from her was a skeleton with a few scraps of a priestess's robes lingering on it. She feared she would reach the same fate as the women who had died many years before.

AN: I know, another cliff hanger. Please forgive me. I can't help it. I'll try to update sooner. Oh, and forgive me for any mistakes in grammer or spelling because I only wrote a rough draft for the first chapter.