He quickly shed his robes and immersed himself in the luke-warm water. It wasn't really a hot spring, but it was good enough. He felt disgusting, and he didn't like it. He scrubbed hard, trying to wash away the nonexistent grime and filth that he just couldn't seem to escape.
"Dear Buddha, what have I done to deserve this?" he thought about it. Jeez… I've really done a lot, haven't I? Womanizing… conning… I've lost count of how many times I've warned people of dark, formidable clouds hanging over their dwellings just for a good night's sleep.
He sighed, massaging his temples."Although… despite my attempts, I haven't really been getting that far as a lecher. Sure, I'll ask women to bear my child, but… ever since I've joined with Inuyasha and the others, it was like… like I'd only ask for the heck of it. I wasn't planning to actually land a spot in a woman's bed." He shook his head, trying to clear his head of all thoughts.
After drying off and redressing himself, he walked back to the inn, staff in hand. His head hung slightly as he continued his thoughts silently. "Hey, Miroku! Stop lagging."
He looked up, and the rest of the group was standing outside the inn, apparently waiting for him.
"So… we're leaving now? What about…" he looked towards Kagome, a slight hint of concern hidden in the dark indigo orbs. Kagome waved her hand as if to dismiss the half-spoken question.
"I'm fine. Besides, there's a jewel shard somewhere that needs more attention than I do right now. It's so close, I can feel it. I'm surprised we haven't already found it; I should've been able to see its glow. That's how close it is."
The monk shook his head in disbelief. A shard needs more attention than she does, especially when she's in her current condition? She ought to get her priorities straightened out… oh well, no matter.
A certain hanyou broke said monk's dwindling thoughts. "Really? It's that close? Then we should just search around the inn." Although Inuyasha sounded enthusiastic about the idea of finding yet another piece to their seemingly unsolvable puzzle, his facial expression told of another story. Sango noticed it first.
"Hey, Inuyasha, you don't look so happy, despite the fact that we could find a jewel shard at any moment now. What's the matter?"
Shippou smirked, attempting to strike a nerve once again. "He's probably bummed out because there's no fight involved. He's all brawns, don't you know." Inuyasha frowned. "Keh. Says you. I'm just thinking."
Shippou's smirk intensified into a taunting grin. "Really? Well, as they say, there's a first time for everything." None of the others could suppress a giggle or a snicker, and Inuyasha just glared at Shippou, his blood boiling in his veins. So what if he was a kid? I'm the one that ends up saving his ass all the time!
"Yeah? Well, by the time I'm through with you, you won't have enough brain cells to think." And with that, he proceeded to take out his anger on the fleeing kitsune. Kagome followed with a muttered 'sit', and the Taiji-ya and Monk rolled their eyes. In their minds, the same thought rolled through. Right on cue…
Miroku could help but feel uneasy. "Wait… Kagome, if you can feel the shard's aura that strongly, why can't you see its glow? I mean, you can usually see it, even through flesh. This whole thing just really bothers me."
Inuyasha sat up from his man-shaped hole in the ground and scratched his head. "You know, now that you think about it, the monk's right. This whole thing seems so weird."
The rest of the group stopped to ponder the matter.
"Houshi-sama really does have a point. This is all too weird. First kagome gets attacked by that demon, and now this! Things have been really weird lately. Take earlier today, for example. All of a sudden, I felt this insatiable need to beat the living daylights out of you." She turned to Miroku, who just stared at her.
Earlier… today? Images of being entangled with a very naked kagome in the Inn filled his mind, and he felt unbelievably dirty again. "Umm… interesting." Kagome frowned.
How weird… Sango knew that Miroku was doing something… perverted? This gets weirder by the minute…
Don't you agree, Kagome? It's like she's taken it upon herself to save all the women out there from that monk's lecherous ways.
Oh, not you again! Why can't you just leave me alone?
Because you fascinate me. Never have I come across someone as complex as you. Such drama in your life, it's almost unreal.
Unreal? You find my drama amusing! I don't even have drama! Just… just go away, why don't you?
Such a sweet girl… but so dense. You honestly think your life has no drama? According to your mind, your friends in your own time think that your disgusting hanyou is a delinquent, your grandfather is getting a little odd when it comes to your 'sicknesses', this Houjo boy won't stop bothering you about your 'sicknesses', you have these odd tests, and then you still have to find time to go to the Warring States. That horrid hanyou never gives you any slack, and everyone in the group has their own little dramas that you have to deal with from time to time. Oh, let's not forget the whole messy love triangle between you, Inuyasha, and Kikyou. How tragic… do you still think your life is without drama?
Kagome couldn't take it any longer. "I AM NOT DENSE!" the group turned around to Kagome, who had lagged behind. Inuyasha and Miroku feared for the worst. Shippou glanced toward Inuyasha to see if he had anything to do with her sudden outburst, but he just stared at the young miko reincarnate in surprise.
My… you also have an unbelievable temper. And when you can't take it anymore, you give your command to Inuyasha. He's the scapegoat to all of your problems. It's always his problem, isn't it?
"You're wrong. You're wrong about Inuyasha." The hanyou's ears perked as his name was mentioned, and his curiosity and concern peaked. "Kagome? What's it saying?" Sango and Shippou just exchanged looks, completely unaware of what was going on.
Say it, kagome. Tell him he's just a scapegoat to your anger.
No. I won't!
Why not?
Because it's not true!
Don't lie, Kagome. It's unbefitting for a lady to lie.
"Don't you lecture me about unbefitting manners!" Kagome fumed. Her porcelain features were twisted into a frown and her little hands were balled into tightly clenched fists.
Alright, I guess that was uncalled for. But you know I'm right about Inuyasha. And look, you're so angry right now! Use your scapegoat again. And again, and again, until you feel satisfied.
"No…"
Why not?
"Because I don't wanna hurt him." Miroku looked towards Inuyasha, as equally concerned as he was. He tried his luck. "Kagome, what's it telling you?"
Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and she lost the fight for control over her mouth.
"Sit. Sit, sit, sit. Sit boy!"
Inuyasha's eyes widened as the rosary made his gravity increase tenfold and he crashed into the ground, again and again. She swallowed a sob and stepped hesitantly towards Inuyasha. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha… he did it again. He made me do it…"
Sango was too confused. "Umm… kagome…? Who's he? What's going on?" Kagome didn't feel like telling Sango anything.
That bothersome Taiji-ya… always butting in! Tell her how annoying she is.
No! Sango's not annoying! Leave her out of this. She's having a hard enough time dealing with her own priorities.
Priorities? You mean her snot-nosed brother, Kohaku? That's no priority. No matter how hard she tries, she'll never get him back. Not if you need the shard to complete the jewel. And even if you don't… the boy's soul is already long-gone. He's just an empty shell chock full of depressing memories.
Wait… how do you know all of this?
Oh, darn… seems I've said too much. It doesn't really matter, though. I'm just surprised it took you this long to figure out who I was.
"Naraku…" Inuyasha jumped up from his hole in the ground as soon as he got his bearings. "What!" Miroku just stared, horrified, at Kagome. "It's… it's Naraku!"
Very good, miko. You've really been using your brain today. If it gets too tired from all of that thinking, you can take a rest and let me watch over it for a little while.
What's that supposed to mean!
If your soul wants to take a breather, I will certainly understand and be more than happy to comply to taking charge of your body for now.
There's no way in hell I'm giving my body to you!
Come come now, Kagome. It's not like I'd use it for evil purposes or anything. Can't you trust me?
"Ha! Trust you? You really want me to trust you? I said it before, and I will say it again. There is no way in hell that I would give my body over to your control!"
Inuyasha stepped closer to Kagome, ignoring the fact that he could be 'sitted' again.
"What's he saying? Naraku, you get out of her head right now!"
Naraku's voice emanated from Kagome's lips as she talked without control. "Ha hah hah… Inuyasha… don't fret. I won't let your precious human die so easily. Nooo… quite the contrary. But you, on the other hand… you I can't stand to see living. Hmm… what an interesting way to go… death by 'sitting'." Kagome's hand flew to her mouth to try to stop the words from falling out, but it did no good.
Miroku tried to think. Is there a sutra I could use to get her out of this? I'm sure there are many, but I'm also sure that it would more than likely hurt her than help her in the process of cleansing her of Naraku…
He turned his inner-eye to his mind as he ran through years of sutras and spells that could be used. He stumbled across one that he had learned a little more recently. It had something to do with converting the curse or evil being to the caster of the spell, and thus would leave his spiritual powers to get rid of the being. The problem was, Kagome definitely had powerful miko powers. And if she couldn't come out from under Naraku's grasp, chances were that he wouldn't be able to, either.
Then he remembered conjoinment. The act of joining the spiritual powers of two people to dispel a curse or evil being. With the joined powers of himself and Kagome, they should at least put up a good fight against Naraku.
Problem was… to conjoin, the soul of one of the participants would have to enter the body of the other. And since Kagome wasn't experienced at incantations or sutras, it would have to be Miroku's spirit that entered into Kagome's body.
"Kagome… I have an idea of how to get rid of Naraku. You'll… you'll have to bear with me on this, though."
Kagome focused her attention on the monk. "You do? What is it?" Miroku maintained calmness. "I take it you haven't heard of conjoinment?" Kagome shook her head slowly, trying to figure out what it was on her own. "No… but if it'll get rid of Naraku, I'll be willing to do it."
Miroku nodded, and the rest of the group stared in anticipation. "Just relax. If you start to feel drowsy, that would be even better. Sleep would be the closest you'll get for now to self-mandated unconsciousness." Kagome sat down on a rather mossy rock, getting as comfortable as she could. Miroku did the same, his eyes glazing over as he began to meditate. The only thing tying him to reality was the sutra he wrote as he recited the required incantation.
When he had written two sutras, he placed one on kagome's forehead and one on his own. Soon after, he finished the incantations and their bodies began to pulsate. Before the transaction was complete, Miroku muttered a few words in a monotonous tone; "Kagome… whatever you do, you must stay calm."
The sutras began to glow blue with a rather heavenly aura and the glowing light of miroku's sutra merged in with kagome's, leaving the monk's body rather limp against the rock.
After a few moments of silence and blood-curdling apprehension and anticipation, Kagome's eyes cracked open. She looked down at miroku's body, and then at her own. A smile spread across her face. "Haha! The conjoinment was a success!"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, confused. "Um… kagome?"
The miko reincarnate shook her head. "No… she's coping, though. I guess she didn't really know what to expect. It is her first time conjoining. But I don't blame her… it's mine as well. I'll have to thank Master Mushin later."
The young miko's body snapped up, as if suddenly surprised. "It was your first time too! Are you INSANE! You could have died! You could've killed me!"
Kagome then shook her head. "Well, you remained calm like I had asked you too, so it went well."
Sango shook her head disbelievingly. "Wait, wait… you two are in the same body!" Kagome nodded. "Yes. I think I should explain how conjoinment works. If there is a curse or some other evil placed on a spiritual being, another can assist in ridding the nasty spell by joining their spiritual powers together. But to do that, they need to conjoin their souls as well. Kagome can't really write the sutras and speak the incantations; I had to go to her body."
Before the miko or monk could say anymore, the familiar voiced echoed through Kagome's head.
Interesting that you would choose the art of spirit-infusion when there are a lot of other spells, sutras, and incantations on how to rid someone of a 'nasty spell'.
I only chose that because I didn't want to cause any pain to Kagome in the cleansing process. Why I'm telling this to you is beyond me.
I seem to have that affect on people. Just ask Kagome. Oh, wait… you were there. And I seem to remember that you enjoyed it thoroughly.
What are you getting at?
You really shouldn't be angry. I was just telling Kagome to do what she wanted to do most. It's very interesting. I read her mind like an open book, spilled out all of her deepest secrets. She seems to favor a certain perverted monk over the rest.
The face of Kagome grew warm as she blushed profusely. "No I don't! Stop putting insane thoughts in my head, Naraku."
But I'm not putting them there. You already did. Don't you want to tell him how you feel? Or are you going to leave it all bottled up like you did when you liked that disgusting hanyou of yours?
"He's not disgusting, and he's not mine! He's no possession." Kagome's foot stomped onto the ground.
I'ts ok, Kagome. I'm not believing a word he says. Never have, never will.
Monk, don't shut out the truth. That's what naïve children do when the truth isn't in their favor.
Kagome snickered. "Don't you think it's a bit odd comparing me to a naïve child, Naraku?"
Naraku didn't reply. Miroku's snickers turned into full-out laughing that filled the vicinity.
"Yeah… I got him there." Inuyasha just shook his head, and Sango frowned. "Did Naraku really compare you to a naïve child?"
Kagome's shoulders shrugged. "He said something untrue, and I said I refused to believe it. Then he tried to act all superior by saying, and I quote, 'monk, don't shut out the truth. That's what naïve children do when the truth isn't in their favor.' He's just trying to get on my nerves."
If I was trying to get on your nerves, monk, I would do a lot more than compare you to a naïve child.
What do you mean?
You know exactly what I mean.
Kagome decided to speak up again. "Miroku, what's he talking about?" kagome's shoulders shrugged again. "I don't know."
You certainly do. Don't play dumb. Or maybe… it's not play? How pitiful.
Your shallow insults aren't doing much, Naraku.
I could spill everything to your dear little group. Don't think I don't know what you've been thinking the past couple of days. The conjoinment has also given me full access to your mind.
Enough talk. I really don't have time to converse about meaningless propaganda.
Miroku was done playing games now. Naraku had indeed struck a nerve, but he wouldn't let it upset him. "Kagome, do you know how to tap into your powers?" Kagome shook her head. "So then what do you do when you're shooting a sacred arrow?"
Kagome thought about it. "Umm… I just focus on the arrow and the target. Once the arrow head begins to glow, then I get ready to shoot. That's… pretty much it."
Miroku thought about how he could convert that into raw spiritual energy. "Kagome, try thinking of something… umm… pure. Focus on that, and yourself. Don't let your mind wander."
The young miko's head nodded and deep brown eyes closed. Her body began to glow with the same purifying energy that would cover the arrows she let fly. Her lips moved involuntarily as Miroku spoke. "That's great, Kagome. You're doing it!"
Inuyasha smirked, Sango worded her approvals, and Shippou laughed and clapped his hands as they cheered her in her unleashing. The hanyou, Kitsune, and Taiji-ya had decided to sit down because it was obvious they'd be there for at least a little while longer.
Miroku and Kagome could feel Naraku's hold weaken slowly. "Alright… you keep concentrating on that. In a minute, I'll help you. So just keep working at exerting your energy."
With Kagome focusing inwards, he had more control over her body. He slowly walked her over to the dormant body of the monk as to not distract Kagome from her channeling and pulled his outer robe aside. Inuyasha's ear's twitched, and Miroku caught the action. "Sutras." Miroku Inuyasha just nodded, easing a bit.
He pulled out four sutras and placed them around a smaller part of the clearing, making the whole area his spiritual domain.
He then started to mutter incantations. A blue-tinted barrier formed around the group, then subsided into nothingness. The glow around the miko's body intensified to the point where the three others had to shield their eyes and squint to catch a glimpse of what was happening.
Soon, the barrier shown again and melted away. Kagome laughed triumphantly. "We did it! He's not in my head anymore!" Kagome nodded. "Yeah, and I don't sense any evil presences at all. You did well for your first spiritual channeling, Kagome." The miko's porcelain features brightened into a cheery smile. "Couldn't have done it without you, you know."
Sango finally decided to speak up. "But I wonder… how was Naraku able to control you like so in the first place?"
Kagome shrugged, and then spoke. "I think it has something to do with this." She pointed to her right shoulder. Inuyasha squinted, trying to see what kagome's finger was pointing to. "Umm… what are you pointing to?" Kagome slowly shook her head. "Her shoulder! I think it has something to do with her shoulder." Inuyasha frowned. "Keh… what's her shoulder got to do with any of this?"
Kagome started to pace slowly, a contemplative look befalling across her visage and the whole action made them know it was Miroku's doing for sure. "Inuyasha, remember when Kagome was attacked earlier today? We had definitely sensed Naraku. I think he somehow planted a jewel shard into Kagome's shoulder."
"What! That's completely ludicrous! I mean, do you have proof? If there was a jewel shard, she would've sensed it for sure." Inuyasha stood up from his place on the ground.
Kagome pivoted on her heals to face Inuyasha. "Ah, but I do have proof. Remember how she had gotten hurt? There was blood all over her shoulder and shirt. But upon further examination…" Sango glared at him. "…from a safe distance, I noticed that there was barely a scratch. We all know humans can't heal themselves nearly as fast as youkai, or even hanyou for that matter. The only way it would work would be if there was a jewel shard to speed up the process. And you're forgetting something. She did sense it. Remember? She couldn't see any jewel shards, but she still had that feeling. That's because she wasn't looking on her person. Kagome, direct your attention to your right shoulder."
Kagome nodded, and then turned her head. Utter surprise danced across her visage. "No way… he's completely right! You know… I remember now. That demon had appeared out of no where, and then all of a sudden one of Kagura's wind blades shot out from behind me. It hit my shoulder. I turned my back on the demon for a second to look for any sign of Kagura, and I think that's when the demon inserted the shard. There would be no other time that it could've happened."
Inuyasha frowned and his brow furrowed deeply. "Kagura! Kagura had shown up! You failed to tell us that little detail!"
Kagome's arms folded across her chest defiantly. "Come on, Inuyasha. Give her some slack. With Naraku taking control of her, she was having a hard enough time just fighting him off. I'm sure having Naraku on her mind (A/N: no pun intended) just caused her to forget to mention Kagura. Honestly, you didn't think Naraku would just tell her to do these things and then she would just comply, did you? He obviously put a spell on his voice or something. When he was talking to me, it was hard keeping my initial task in mind."
Kagome nodded triumphantly. "Yeah! So there!"
Sango shook her head, deciding that enough was enough. She then proceeded to change the subject. "Okay, so now that we've succeeded in purifying the jewel shard and getting rid of Naraku's hold on Kagome, shouldn't we remove the shard from her shoulder?" Kagome frowned and paled at the same time. Miroku chose to speak. "Yeah, but the only way to do that would be to manually remove it."
Inuyasha became serious. "You mean… cut her shoulder open and pull it out?" Kagome's head nodded slowly, and Inuyasha frowned.
"Seeing how the original cut was made by one of Kagura's blades, the jewel shard would probably be in there pretty deep. Once the shard's removed, she won't have enhanced healing. She'll die of blood loss!"
Kagome frowned. "Well, I could always go to my time and get it removed in surgery, but I want to look at that alternative as my 'worst comes to worst' option."
Shippou frowned. "Umm... surge-ory?"
Kagome shook her head. "It's a nasty process. They knock you out with Anesthesia. Then they take their surgical tools, like a scalpel, for instance, and make incisions where needed, then they operate. You're usually knocked out, though, so you don't feel a thing."
They were speechless. All except for Inuyasha, that is. "They actually do that! You haven't gone through this… surge-ory, right?"
Kagome nodded. "Actually, I have. I had to have my appendix removed. I was about 10 or so at the time."
An expression conveying utter disgust befell her face as Miroku chose to intervene. "You were 10 when you went through this? Your era is really ruthless… and I thought we had it tough in the Sengoku Jidai with the bandits and countless demons. May I ask, though, why did you have to have your… appendix… removed? And what was the point of this… surgery?"
Kagome laughed. "It's medical! My appendix needed to be removed, or else it would have ruptured. And then I would've died. Other people go through surgery to get organ transplants or to fix internal wounds, or mend broken bones. Or, if you have a tumor or something like that, they'll remove it for you. It's not as ruthless as you think it is. Problem is, it still isn't very pleasant, and it costs a lot of money."
They walked back to Kaede's hut in silence, all thinking about ways to get the shard out of Kagome's shoulder safely.
After an hour or so of silent dinner and discouraging sighs, Kagome suddenly jumped up. "I got it! Inuyasha, you could take it out for me." Inuyasha shook his head. "No. I'm telling you, Kagome. You're gonna die if we do it like that."
Kagome shook her head. "If you come back to my era with me, you can do it there. Then, right after the shard is removed, I can go to the hospital to get stitches. It's really very easy. Painful, sure, but easy."
Inuyasha sighed, giving in. "well, it's your choice what you want to do about this."
Kagome nodded. "Yeah. But before we do that, we have to work on getting Miroku back into his own body."
Kagome then blinked. Miroku had decided to pay attention as soon as he heard his name. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
Kagome shrugged and shook her head. "You should pay more attention. I was saying how before we do anything about this shard, we should work on getting you back into your own body. I never knew it could be so confusing having two or three people in your head."
A sheepish grin fell across Kagome's features. "Umm… about that..." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed and Sango decided to pay close attention to what the monk was saying. Kagome had a bad feeling of what he was going to say next, and Shippou just enjoyed the amusing entertainment. Kagome scratched the back of her neck. "Um… there's a chance I may have forgotten the counter-spell to conjoinment."
"WHAAAAT!" the miko, hanyou, and taiji-ya all yelled in unison. Inuyasha strode up to the miko, peering into her eyes. "What do you mean, 'may have forgotten?' you don't remember it at all, do you?"
Miroku shook Kagome's head. Kagome fumed. "SO REMIND ME WHY YOU DID THIS WHOLE THING IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
Kagome then winced. "I was thinking solely of your safety. I was pressed for time! But Master Mushin knows how to fix it. He's the one that taught it to me in the first place."
Sango was furious. "If you weren't in Kagome's body right now, you'd be dead."
Then an idea struck her. She lifted her Hiraikotsu above her head, and brought it down upon the head of the dormant monk's body, which was currently in Inuyasha's hands. "I hope you feel that when you get back into that body of yours, you monk."
Miroku was hurt. "So then you wish I hadn't helped Kagome get rid of Naraku?"
Sango stopped to think. "No, but you could have been more sensible." Kagome's head shook. "There aren't a lot of sutras and incantations that expel evil auras and such without hurting their victim. I didn't want to hurt Kagome in the process of ridding her of Naraku."
With that, Inuyasha threw the unconscious monk over his shoulder. "Well… then the only thing to do is to go all the way to your temple. That is where we'll find Mushin, right?"
Kagome nodded. "Yes. But please be careful with me, Inuyasha… I don't want to end up with broken bones. I may not feel it now, but I'll feel it when I go back to my own body."
Sango nodded. "Ooh… ok then." She then lightly smacked him across the face. "Hey! Sango, what have I do to you to deserve that?"
The taiji-ya just chuckled. "Nothing… as of yet." She liked this form of payback for the embarrassment she had endured because of him.
With that, the taiji-ya and miko boarded Kirara while Inuyasha proceeded to carry the limp Miroku.