Listening in on Sango's conversation with InuYasha, Miroku knew they were in for trouble even if Naraku didn't show up tonight. The hanyou and the Taijiya were dangerously at odds over the issue of Sango's brother. If they did not reach some sort of resolution soon, it might come to blows between them and Miroku wasn't entirely sure he or Kagome could stop them.
Sango had disavowed the boy; that should have been enough at this point. They should have showed her at least that much trust. Time would tell whether she was telling the truth, but for the moment behaving divisively was not in anyone's best interest. Worse, the angry atmosphere was distracting Miroku from his meditation – and his growing certainty that trouble was brewing beyond the confines of their hiding place. At this point he knew beyond a doubt that youkai were gathering outside, but he'd been doing his best to read the oppressive aura for the telltale darkness that signaled Naraku's presence.
"What would you understand about it?" Sango demanded, the telltale tone of a fraying temper in her voice.
Concentration duly shattered, Miroku peeked his eyes open and decided he may as well tell them. "Don't be careless, InuYasha: we're surrounded."
Watching shock come over the faces of his two companions almost made up for their arguing. They joined him, thankfully in silence, at the door to the hut and peered out alongside him when he pulled the mat back. Shippou climbed up his robes to look over his shoulder with the rest, but Miroku hardly noticed.
The situation outside was worse than he had thought. The youkai were almost upon them already. Just a little while longer and they would have been taken completely unawares.
He probably should have warned the others instead of spending so much time trying to pick out Naraku, who might not even be there at all, but there was no time to worry about that now. Instead, he focused his attention on making sure that InuYasha and Sango were not going to turn on each other during the coming battle.
At first it seemed that his worrying had been in vain, because the two warriors were completely focused on the approaching enemies. And then the leader of the youkai became visible, an all-too-familiar figure at the forefront of the horde, and Miroku's hope of a peaceful conclusion for his companions fell into a hundred pieces. That small, lithe figure in Taijiya armor could be no one but Sango's wayward brother.
Sango did not move, but Miroku knew she was not as unaffected as she pretended. Naraku had picked a potent weapon in Sango and her brother.
When she first fell into their hands and joined the group, Miroku had assumed that Naraku had allowed it because she had outlived her usefulness, or because he thought she would die without any intervention on his part. But now Miroku had to wonder if Naraku had been playing a deeper game, even then, or if this latest scheme had arisen later, after Sango's unexpected survival was assured.
But why allow Sango to join their group only to use her brother to lead her astray only a few days later? Try as he might, Miroku couldn't figure it out. Given more time, perhaps he would have succeeded in teasing apart the strands of Naraku's plan, but Sango's anguished cry of her brother's name drew him back to the present.
At the very moment she cried out, the youkai plunged toward them and InuYasha dove in to the fray, Tessaiga slashing furiously through several youkai at once. Sango seemed frozen on the threshold, her eyes fixed on her brother even though the boy gave no sign of recognition. In fact, the eyes that stared out at them past the half-mask of the Taijiya were cold and hard, unlike any child's eyes that Miroku had ever seen before.
As InuYasha cut his way more deeply into the mass of youkai, the boy turned his attention from Sango and Miroku to the hanyou. The chain end of his chain-scythe, expertly thrown, entangled Tessaiga almost before InuYasha fully realized what had happened. A tug, just as expert in its execution, brought the hanyou to the ground and prevented him from attacking more of the youkai. InuYasha would have no choice but to fight him now.
His attention torn too many ways between InuYasha, the boy, Sango, and the looming, seething mass of youkai, Miroku wasn't sure what to do. He could try to use the kazaana on the youkai, injury or no, but with InuYasha and the boy between him and them, it was too risky. For the moment he opted to remain frozen near the entrance of the hut where he could keep an eye on Sango. Thankfully, she made no attempt to interfere as InuYasha wrangled with her brother.
Although the boy was small and obviously young, his strength was enough to challenge InuYasha. Some of that, Miroku knew, was the hanyou holding back, but some of it was pure Taijiya skill. The boy was a natural fighter, just like his sister, steadily pushing InuYasha back and seeking to strike a killing blow. With InuYasha's quick instincts, it was unlikely that he would succeed, but the fight was still thrilling to watch up until the moment InuYasha tired of it. And when he did grow tired of the game, he seized the chain-scythe by the chain and hurled the boy effortlessly away from him.
Sango gasped in horror, tensing as she prepared to jump into the fight to defend her brother. Miroku's heart raced. Could he grab her in time, before she could interfere?
"InuYasha, don't kill him!" Kagome shouted.
"I know," InuYasha snapped back.
Somehow, Miroku did not think Sango had expected that. But then, she had not been with the group as long as he had. Maybe she couldn't tell yet when InuYasha was holding back. Or perhaps it was just her fear for her brother that was clouding her judgment.
A short distance away, Kohaku landed effortlessly on his feet, as if he had intended to make that jump all along.
"I'll make you wake up," the hanyou growled, charging toward the boy before he'd had a chance to recover fully from his landing. He didn't land another blow. He didn't have to.
Kohaku thrust the scythe end of his weapon into his own back, slicing deeply. Blood spurted; InuYasha stopped short, sputtering in surprise. Oblivious to his enemy's shock, Kohaku tossed aside the scythe and dug his fingers into the wound.
Miroku stared, transfixed and horrified. What in the world was Kohaku doing? What could he possibly hope to gain by injuring himself?
A single glance at Sango told Miroku exactly what the boy – what Naraku – hoped to gain. Before Miroku could even hope to stop her, she'd run several paces from the hut and hurled her weapon into the fray, aiming not for her brother or for InuYasha, but for the Tessaiga. Her aim was perfect. The force of the blow pulled the sword from InuYasha's grip and hurtled across the clearing with it. Abruptly, it reversed direction, returning to Sango and depositing the sword at her feet.
That simply, she had ended the conflict, or so it seemed.
Kohaku turned and fled, the youkai swarm carrying him away into the night. Sango and InuYasha stared at each other, Tessaiga embedded in the ground between them.
"What the hell was that?" InuYasha began. Sango did not give him time to finish.
She strode forward and seized the Tessaiga, calling for Kirara as she went. Obedient to her master's whim, Kirara burst out of the hut and changed into her larger form. With the effortless ease of long practice, Sango leaped onto Kirara's back without the cat even having to slow her momentum.
"She took the Tessaiga," Kagome gasped.
"Sango, what the hell are you doing?" InuYasha demanded.
The Taijiya did not respond. Her gaze was focused dead ahead, in the direction where her brother had disappeared.
They had absolutely no hope of catching her; Kirara could outfly any of them. But still Miroku knew they had to try. Naraku was behind this. Whatever Sango hoped to gain by betraying them and stealing the sword, she wouldn't get it. She would end up dead, as likely as not.
And while Miroku's stomach turned at the thought of putting himself at risk for another person, and the realization that he might face his lifelong enemy this night, he turned to Kagome and said, "Kagome-sama, let's go."
She didn't hesitate for even a moment, racing down the path alongside Miroku. "Right."
InuYasha was already on the move, already tracking Sango through the night. Of them all, he was the only one with a real chance of catching up, but he gave up that hope to circle back around and pull Kagome into her usual place on his back. They could make better time that way, overall, but all they could do now was follow Sango's trail and hope to catch up before she got into too much trouble.
But with Naraku this deeply involved, Miroku had a feeling they might already be too late. And without the Tessaiga's power, they would be at a definite disadvantage, and they all knew it.
"Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have trusted her!" InuYasha cursed. His fangs were bared as he raced through the trees, and no expression but rage at the betrayal was evident on his face.
"Don't be angry, InuYasha," Kagome soothed, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the forest rushing past. "I'm sure there's a reason for this."
"Oh yeah, like what?"
"Sango-sama is most likely being blackmailed by Naraku," Miroku interjected. "He holds her brother's life in his hands, and so she stole Tessaiga when he told her to. It's exactly the kind of thing he would do –"
"You think I don't know that?" the hanyou snapped.
I think you had better not let Sango bear the brunt of your anger before we find out the truth of the situation, he thought, but he kept such thoughts to himself and focused his energy on keeping up. He would be of no use whatsoever if he fell too far behind.
It felt as if they had been running forever when InuYasha skidded to a sudden stop. It was all Miroku could do to stop alongside him and not run into him. Looking up, he saw exactly what had attracted the hanyou's attention. He'd been wondering if they were still on the right track, but Naraku's insects hovering above proved that they were. And yet the insects weren't attacking, but seemed content merely to hover above, watching.
"Saimyoushou?" Miroku mused aloud.
"That means Naraku's nearby," Kagome murmured.
Still the insects did not attack. It was almost as if… "They're inviting us," Miroku observed.
"So it's a trap, then?" Kagome asked.
"Interesting," InuYasha said, although his tone said the opposite. "Naraku really is trying to kill us all off."
Miroku got the same impression. As much as he hated the thought of delaying an attack on Naraku, they were very likely walking into a trap. It was all too perfectly set up. "Right now, with this injury, I still can't safely open the kazaana," he said.
"And he had my Tessaiga stolen, so I can't use the Wind Scar on him," InuYasha added, sounding surprisingly calm. Perhaps he really did realize that Sango was not at fault. "And he's been using Sango to make sure he gets his way…" He growled quietly. "That guy… if he's gonna invite us in, he's gonna regret it."
Miroku had no doubt of that, but as he followed InuYasha and Kagome down the trail abuzz with hovering insects, he wondered just how much they would regret it as well.
-x-
Author's Note: This story was recently awarded first place for Best Characterization, for my portrayal of Sango, by the Feudal Association. A hearty thank-you to those who nominated and voted for me!