Chapter 45

Early Spring, 1566

A few days after the incident with the foreigners, Sango was busy around her home when she started to feel dizzy and tired. She decided to lay down and rest. Miroku came in and asked her what was wrong. She only replied that she didn't feel good. Miroku felt her forehead and could tell she was burning up. By mid-afternoon, a couple of the girls began complaining of not feeling good. Miroku called on Kagome for help. Kagome arrived and began to assess the situation. She noticed that the ones complaining of being ill were the girls that had been at the marketplace and Sango. Kagome assumed it was the flu. She told Miroku to keep them drinking fresh water and she made up an herb potion for them to drink. She then told Miroku she'd be back to check on them the next day.

By the next day, most of the other children were down with a fever as well as Miroku. What really disturbed her was the fact that Sango and the girls had started getting small, pimple like spots on their stomachs, chests and backs. She had seen this before but, she had seen it in the future. She wasn't sure what this disease would do to the Japanese of the past.

"What's wrong with them, Kagome?", Inuyasha asked her when she came out of Miroku's house.

"Inuyasha, I know you're half-demon, but you need to stay away from here. I don't know how a half-demon would react to a human disease such as this."

"Human disease? What disease is it?"

"It's called Chickenpox. It can be very deadly without the more modern treatments."

"Chicken ... pox? They have chickens in them?"

"No. I don't know why it's called that ... but the pox refers to the small lesions on their skin. It will be very itchy until it heals. I need some oats from the horses. I can make an anti-itch cream for them."

The next few days had Kagome running ragged. Miroku's entire family was down with the chickenpox and soon, Kagome's family had the same thing. To avoid transmitting the disease between houses, Kagome would strip and bathe in the barn. Luckily, the half-demons had a far milder case than Miroku's family.

Kagome spent far more time with Miroku's family, as a few of the children got worse instead of better. Miroku weakly asked Kagome one evening,

"Where did we get this horrible thing, Kagome?"

"Probably from those two foreigners, I'd say, Miroku. This is a European disease."

As Kagome bathed the children in an oat bath, she had Miroku and Sango cover the already bathed children in a white cream Kagome had made to help with the itching.

When word arrived that the town was also dealing with an epidemic of the chickenpox, Kagome decided to prevent anymore incidents by having Shippou (who seemed immune to the disease) to quarantine the road that led from the town through the village.

The disease took its toll on Miroku's family and the town. Shippou informed Kagome that the town had massive casualties from the disease. He reported that over 2,000 people had died, mostly young children and elderly. Miroku's family had its own casualties.

Kohaku and Rin's youngest son, Takei, died within 4 days after contracting the disease. Miroku and Sango lost three of their children, the youngest, Miya, their 7-year-old daughter Akira, and their 9-year-old son Sen, all succumbed to the fever of the disease.

Kagome was beside herself with grief. She thought for sure that she could pull the children through. Now, less than a year after losing Rin and Kohaku, Sango and Miroku were dealing with the loss of 2 of their daughters, one of their sons and their nephew. On top of that, word reached the small village that Aya's young beau, Ronin, the young lord of the castle town, had also succumbed to the disease.

Kagome had a hard time dealing with watching Sango's catatonic state. She brewed a tea daily to keep Sango and Aya calm. Even Inuyasha was at a loss as to what to do. It was one thing to watch an adult die, but even he had problems with the thought of a child dying. He knew it was a fact of life, but it didn't make it easier.

Of Inuyasha's family, Kaori had the worst case of the disease and hers was really nothing, just a few spots. After the disease had cleared, the day found Kagome and Inuyasha talking by the fence of the corral. Down by the river sat Aya with Shippou next to her. They could easily hear the two youngsters talking,

"It's all my fault, Shippou. If I hadn't gone to visit him that day, he wouldn't have gotten the disease from me.", Aya cried.

"Aya, you didn't know. None of us knew about this thing until it hit. You had no idea what would happen.", Shippou said quietly to her

As Aya cried, Shippou hugged her, letting her get her tears out. To Kagome, it was a touching scene. She smiled at the two youngsters.

"Isn't that sweet, Inuyasha."

"I wanna know how Shippou always manages to get a girl. Even one who just lost her suitor."

"INUYASHA! Shippou is a very nice boy, that's why girls like him. I think they look cute together."

"They don't belong together, that's for sure."

"Why not?"

"He's a demon. She's a human. Need I say more?"

"Huh? Excuse me? And what about us?"

"HMPH! That's different."

"In what way?"

"Uhhhh ... HMPH!", he said, folding his arms in front of his chest and turning away, "It just is, that's all."

Kagome smiled and kissed his cheek, "Hypocrite.", she said under her breath.

Inuyasha looked at her, "What does that mean?"

Chuckling, she said, "Nothing, Inuyasha, nothing. Forget about it.", as she walked away and into the house.