I'm really sorry about the delay of this chapter. I'll try to get better at that! Also, if I don't get any other suggestions on who to pair InuYasha with, then Hinamori is coming in the next chapter. So if you have any other ideas, please let me know!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo-sensei and InuYasha belongs to Takahashi-sensei. I, sadly, and neither one of them.

Sango looked down at her hand, which was throbbing and hurting at the same time. There was a small object resembling a needle embedded in the skin; she quickly pulled in out, wincing slightly at the pain it caused. A small trickle of blood came from the wound, but it didn't appear too serious. So why was it hurting so bad?

"Hey, what happened?" Hitsugaya asked, bending down next to the Taijiya to look at her hand. She held up the needle. "It's from a demon," she said, standing up and grabbing the weapon off her back. "It must be watching us." Her eyes scanned the surrounding bushes and trees for any sign of movement; seeing a slight rustle in one of the bushes, she threw her Hiraikotsu. "There you are!"

A giant scorpion demon came lunging out of the trees, which had just barely been large enough to conceal it. Sango caught her weapon as it returned to her, barely missing the demon on its return trip. Beside her, Hitsugaya stood up from his kneeling position, a hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. The demon spit a type of acid from his mouth towards the Shinigami, who was still in the process of standing up and couldn't dodge it in time. Before it hit, however, Sango stepped in front of him and blocked it with her Hiraikotsu. "Be careful, it's poisonous."

"I don't need to be told to be careful," Hitsugaya retorted, taking his sword from its sheath. Sango was about to say something back when a new surge of pain ran through her hand, making her stop. Maybe I should have told him…she thought, glancing at the needle, which she had dropped on the ground. The demon lunged at them, and they both jumped out of the way. No, that's not important. Right now, we have to focus on defeating this thing!

"Attack spell number forty-seven: Strike of Violet Wind!"

Sango looked to see the small captain with his hand outstretched, a swirl of color forming in front of it. Moments later it was released, and a violet gust of sparkling wind hit the demon head-on. The youkai was pushed back a bit, momentarily stunned from the impact. It was all the time the Taijiya needed. She threw her Hiraikotsu as hard as she could, cutting the demon in half.

Hitsugaya put his unused Zanpakuto back in its sheath, secretly impressed with Sango's fighting skills. For an ordinary human, she's not half bad… he thought, eyeing her as she caught her weapon and placed it back on her back. Then he noticed something. "Hey, are you alright? Your face is all red."

Sango turned to him. "Yeah…" she muttered, swaying slightly as she took a step forward; then, without warning, she collapsed. Hitsugaya ran over and caught her before she hit the ground, noticing upon further inspection that her face was covered in beads of sweat. Confused, he shifted his gaze to the discarded needle, only to find a drop of green liquid on the tip. "Poison."

He cursed silently to himself. "Why the hell didn't she tell me?" he yelled to the wind. "She must have noticed it. She shouldn't have been fighting, either; that probably made it worse!" He managed to get Sango on his back, which was hard considering their difference in size, and began to carry her piggy-back towards their friends.

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"Sango and Hitsugaya sure have been gone a long time…" Kagome said, leaning back against a tree and sighing. "They were only going to get water, after all." She stretched, thinking about how she could really use a hot bath to soak her aching back.

"Relax," InuYasha said, stretching as well. "Sango can easily take care of herself; she's a demon slayer, after all. And that brat is pretty strong, too."

"Who's a brat?" Hitsugaya growled, stepping into the clearing, the unconscious Sango on his back. Kagome gasped. "What happened?" she asked, running over to help get her off the captain's back. Hitsugaya reached into his pocket and brought out the needle. "She was hit with this. I'm pretty sure there was poison on it."

"Hey, you have those weird medicines from your world, right?" InuYasha said, rising form where he had been sitting. "You can easily cure her with those, can't you?" Kagome nodded, then slapped her hand to her forehead. "I just remembered! I left it at the well after I came back a few days ago."

"What!"

"That's when we were attacked by that Hollow, and then they came!" Kagome explained, gesturing to the Shinigami. "I must have forgotten it, what with everything going on. I'll have to go get it. If I take Kirara, it shouldn't take too long."

"Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said, turning to look at the orange-haired boy. "Go with her." Ichigo instantly began to protest. "Why me?" he whined, quite comfortable lying down on the grass. The captain folded his arms across his chest. "Because she obviously can't go alone, idiot."

"Stop arguing. I'll go with her," InuYasha offered. "I can run just as fast as Kirara. It'll be a lot easier." Hitsugaya shook his head. "If we're going to split up, there has to be at least one Shinigami and one human in each group. That way, you'll be safe no matter what kind of enemy you run into."

"He's right," Kagome said, grabbing her bow and arrows and climbing onto the newly transformed Kirara. "Besides, this is no time to be arguing. We have to go before Sango's condition gets any worse."

Reluctantly, Ichigo agreed, at the two set off towards the Bone Eater's Well. Miroku watched them for a moment before standing as well. "I remember seeing some medicinal herbs along the way here. They may not be as effective as Kagome's medicine, but they should work until she gets back."

"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya began, but was cut off by a sharp look from the vice-captain. "Taichou," she hissed, bending down to whisper in his ear. "If you make me go with that pervert, I can assure that he won't be coming back." Recalling the event from when they first arrived, the captain nodded in agreement. He began to regret his decision to send Ichigo off with Kagome. There was only one choice left…

"Kuchiki, would you go with him?" As much as Hitsugaya hated to send Rukia off with Miroku, he knew that the monk had the most chance of coming back alive if he was with her. Of course, he had seen her behavior with the Shinigami Representative, so he wasn't completely sure of his choice, but there really was no other option. Eyeing the monk nervously, Rukia nodded, and soon they were gone as well. This left InuYasha, Matsumoto, and Hitsugaya to watch over the sleeping Sango.

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"Hey, watch out!" Kagome said, reaching out and grabbing Ichigo's arm. "You'll fall if you keep doing that!" Ichigo pulled his arm away, scowling. "Well, it's not like I go around riding giant demon cats every day!" he huffed, folding his arms across his chest; he immediately regretted it as Kirara made a sharp turn, almost sending him flying off again. He flailed his arms wildly, trying to get his balance, and grabbed her fur tightly.

Kagome chuckled. "I would think that being a Shinigami and fighting Hollows would prepare you for anything," she said. "Including riding demon cats."

"Well it doesn't."

Kagome frowned. "Hey, lighten up, will you? It's not like I'm making fun of you or anything. I'm just trying to start a conversation." His attitude is almost as bad as InuYasha's… she thought, giving a small sigh.

Ichigo sighed as well. "So I suck at interacting with people. Sue me."

"You seem to get along with Kuchiki-san pretty well," Kagome pointed out. Ichigo's face softened a bit. "Yeah, well, that's because we've known each other for awhile now. Besides, without her, I wouldn't even be a Shinigami."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Really? And why is that?" Ichigo debated whether or not he should tell her, and decided it wouldn't hurt. "She gave me her powers so that I could save my family."

"But she has powers now, doesn't she?" Kagome asked, slightly confused. "If you have them, then how does she have them too?"

"The powers I have now aren't hers; they're mine." Seeing the confused look on her face, he continued. "A lot of…stuff happened, and I lost the powers she had given me. I trained with someone and found that I had my own powers. Rukia did some training in Soul Society as well, and got her powers back."

"I see," Kagome said, smiling. "Kuchiki-san seems like such a kind person, to do all that for you." Ichigo gave a small smile as well. "Yeah…she gave me her powers even though I was a complete stranger to her. I really owe her a lot."

Kagome's smile widened. She was glad to have finally made the orange-haired Shinigami happy.

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Rukia and Miroku walked in silence for awhile, neither one knowing what to say. Rukia was still contemplating Miroku's earlier question and wondering just what she would be in for by going with him to look for herbs, while Miroku's thoughts were occupied by Sango. Seeing his depressed expression, Rukia decided to attempt a conversation.

"Are you worried about her?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. After a moment, Miroku nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be fine. Hitsugaya-taichou and Rangiku-san are with her, as well as InuYasha; I doubt they'd let anything happen to her." She gave Miroku a reassuring smile, which he returned.

"Thank you, Rukia-san," the monk said, reaching a hand out to rub her rear. Rukia turned bright red and punched him, sending him flying about three feet in the air before landing roughly on the ground. "I may not know much about your world, but I know what that means, pervert!" Miroku sighed. "It's the hand; it's possessed, I tell you!"

"Whatever," Rukia huffed, arms crossed over her chest as she began walking again. "We still need to get those herbs, so let's hurry this up. The sooner we get them, the better, for your sake as well as mine."

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Matsumoto draped a wet cloth over Sango's forehead, replacing the previous one. She sighed as she stood to go dip the old rag into the nearby stream, leaving the two boys alone. The clearing was quiet, the only sound coming from the Taijiya's harsh breathing.

"It's not your fault, you know," InuYasha said, breaking the silence. Hitsugaya looked at him. "I never said it was," Hitsugaya huffed, his arm draped over his knee as he looked out into the distance. "It's her own fault for not saying anything about it, even though she knew there was poison on the needle."

They were quiet for a moment before InuYasha asked, "Why can't she see those Hollow things that well? Does she not have much of that reiatsu stuff?" He looked at the Shinigami expectantly, waiting for an answer. Hitsugaya hesitated. "It's kind of complicated," he said after a minute. "It's not that she doesn't have the reiatsu; it's more like it hasn't awakened. It's kind of like how Kurosaki was at first. He had a lot of spiritual power, but he only gained the full power of his abilities after Kuchiki gave him her powers. It's a long story," he added when he say InuYasha's confused look. "In any case, I think she just needs some time for her powers to really kick in."

He seemed about to say more when Matsumoto burst into the clearing. "Taichou! We have a problem! There's both a Hollow and a demon coming this way!"

I seem to like leaving cliffhangers, don't I? Hehe, I'm just evil like that. But you do know that reviews inspire me to write faster, don't you? -hint hint- Anyway, like I said, I'll probably bring Hinamori in the next chapter if I don't get any other ideas, so if you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it! And the other pairings got a little time in this chapter too. Aren't you lucky?

Ja ne!