Running back to the village to save Koharu was the last thing Sango wanted to do, but she had to admit Miroku was right. Something was seriously wrong here, and they couldn't just leave things as they were. Even if Koharu had somehow managed to avoid the danger, many of the other villagers clearly had not. Their strange, possessed behavior reminded Sango entirely too much of the way Kagura had controlled the wolf youkai corpses.

She set that thought aside as she ran. No use jumping to conclusions when the real cause could be anything.

Koharu had already wormed her way back into Miroku's arms by the time Sango and the others came running up to the headman's house. At least she seemed to be unharmed, though it begged the question: why was she not affected by whatever had possessed the other villagers? Because despite Inuyasha's protests, Sango was convinced there must be a youkai somewhere that was controlling the mob they had so narrowly escaped.

The same mob that would catch up to them in just a few minutes. They didn't have time for a prolonged reunion between the monk and his would-be lover.

"Koharu, please wait here," Miroku said, apparently coming to the same conclusion that Sango had. He put his hands on the girl's shoulders and gently encouraged her to step away from him.

She resisted, looking utterly forlorn. "What about you, Miroku-sama?"

"I'll be fine. But I need to know you are safe," he told her. "So please stay here."

Torch-wielding villagers had reached the top of the nearby hill and were proceeding toward them.

Inuyasha seemed to decide that Miroku had the right idea. "You stay here, too, Kagome." And then he was heading toward the mob of villagers, with Miroku hot on his heels.

The monk called back, "Sango, take care of Koharu!"

Inuyasha added, "Take care of Kagome!"

Sango watched them go, feeling more than a little irritated at being left behind. What am I, a babysitter? "Is it just me, or are they not treating me like a woman?" she muttered. Or like an equal fighter, capable of fighting at their side, for that matter.

From his place on her shoulder, Shippou sweetly said, "I think you're beautiful, Sango."

"That's not what I meant!" she stammered, suddenly flustered beyond all reason. The worst part was, this normally wasn't something that bothered her. The uncertainty of the situation—and of her place within the group—along with Miroku's behavior simply had her far more frustrated and out of sorts than usual. And she didn't like it one bit.

"I saw it," Koharu said in the awkward silence that descended after Sango's outburst. She spoke so quietly, Sango almost didn't hear even though no one else was making a sound. It was as if she was afraid they wouldn't believe her or listen to her. "Before I fainted and Miroku-sama found me, I saw the youkai that had bewitched the villagers. It's… it's in the house."

This lead, at least, would give Sango something to do and some way to help. If they could eliminate the youkai controlling the villagers, it might break the spell and return them to normal.

"I should check it out," she told Koharu. "Do you two want to stay here or come with me?"

In the end they chose to go with her, following close behind as she slid the door open and crept into the eerily quiet house.

Inside the house, everyone appeared to have fainted just as Koharu said she had. The headman and his household lay on the floor, senseless but apparently uninjured by whatever had befallen them. Sango put herself firmly in front of Kagome and Koharu, keeping a sharp eye out for anything unusual that might signal the presence of a youkai.

"Careful," Koharu called, quiet but insistent in her fear. "It might still be in here!"

Having seen the saimyoushou in the air outside the village, Sango had little doubt what they would find within the headman's house: Naraku, or another one of his puppets. Even if he was not here directly, there was no doubt he was involved. Yet it was strange for him to be involved when Kagome had said nothing of sensing a jewel shard.

There came a soft movement in one of the open doors: a small figure almost translucent in its paleness appeared in the darkness of the opening. It had the shape of a small human girl, but no human girl had ever looked like that. In its hands it clutched a small round mirror. Sango had absolutely no doubt: "There it is!"

Even as she shouted the warning for Kagome and Koharu, she was already in motion. The hiraikotsu flew true despite the cramped quarters. The youkai did not so much as flinch as the great boomerang hurled toward it. An instant later Sango realized why it seemed to have no fear at being discovered. Despite its tiny size, the mirror it carried deflected the full force of the hiraikotsu.

She had enough time to think, well, damn, before her own weapon struck her down. The air gushed from her lungs, which suddenly forgot how to draw breath, and overwhelming pain blossomed through her middle, radiating out from where the hiraikotsu had hit. She fell, and it was all she could do to remain conscious while the youkai turned its sights on Kagome and Koharu.

No, she thought, as Koharu abruptly seized Kagome and held her down. The youkai came closer, using its mirror to draw something out of Kagome's body—her soul. But there was nothing Sango could do to stop it. Oblivion bore down on her, demanding that she breathe or die. There was nothing left for saving Kagome.

No!