Sesshoumaru strode into the village like a portent of doom. Drained from the exertion of maintaining the barrier earlier, Miroku had no strength left to do anything but watch and hope for the best.

"Prepare yourself, Inuyasha. Let's see how strong you are when transformed," he said, sounding utterly dispassionate.

Inuyasha snarled and launched himself toward his brother.

"Don't, Inuyasha!" Miroku shouted, guessing already how this would go. "Sesshoumaru's sword will hurt you even if it never cuts you!" But there was no deterring Inuyasha now that he had a new target for his mindless rage. Any memory of the power of Sesshoumaru and Toukijin was forgotten, meaning nothing to the feral anger that had consumed Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru was relentless as the brothers clashed, pummeling Inuyasha with blow after blow. He did not even bother using the blade of his sword, but instead struck with the hilt and with his own claws. In his fully transformed state, Inuyasha was so intent on attacking that he made no attempt to protect himself from the attacks. Again and again he stumbled, bleeding from fresh cuts caused by Toukijin's aura.

Sango watched all this with such focused intensity that Miroku realized she was looking for an opening. If an opportunity presented itself, she might step in and try to save Inuyasha from his brother, no matter how foolhardy the effort would ultimately be. She was a skilled fighter, but if she tried to take on a youkai as strong as Sesshoumaru… Miroku was not sure she would survive the encounter.

He stepped closer to her, into her personal space, making himself an obstruction. "Sango."

She jerked a little in surprise. She must have been so focused on the fight in front that she hadn't noticed him. "Houshi-sama…" she murmured, sounding a little annoyed that he had chosen this particular moment to distract her.

"I don't think we should intervene just yet," he told her.

"Inuyasha could be killed," she protested.

"Yes," he agreed. "So why is he still alive?"

Sango's brow furrowed as she considered what he'd said. "Are you saying that Sesshoumaru is only testing Inuyasha like he said, not trying to kill him?"

Miroku wasn't entirely sure—Sesshoumaru was not the most talkative or forthcoming youkai ever to live—but it was his best guess, and he said as much. Sango clearly didn't like it, but she made no move to intervene even as Kagome cried ever more desperately for Inuyasha to stop before he killed himself.

For a moment the fight seemed almost to be over. Sesshoumaru drew back, pausing to say, "I see now. Even in this state, you are nothing but a worthless half-youkai."

But Inuyasha continued his snarling, completely oblivious to his brother's words. No insult could reach him any more than words of sense and decency; he had become like a mindless animal. This time when he attacked his brother, Sesshoumaru fought back without mercy, sending Inuyasha tumbling senseless to the ground.

Kagome ran forward, apparently unable to stand it any longer. She still gripped the Tessaiga, completely forgotten, in her hand. With Inuyasha seemingly out cold, he posed little threat to her. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand… Heedless of the danger, Kagome threw herself on top of Inuyasha's unmoving form. "Stop this now!"

"Watch out, Kagome! He'll kill you with that thing!" Shippou cried.

Miroku, too, felt a momentary panic—Sango might need to make a stand so Kagome could be rescued, and the outcome of such an effort was uncertain at best. But then he realized something: if Sesshoumaru wanted them dead, none of them would still be alive. Not Inuyasha, and almost certainly not the rest of them.

His suspicion was confirmed a moment later when Sesshoumaru spoke to Kagome. "If you want to stop him, use the Tessaiga to undo the transformation," he said, his dispassionate tone a jarring contrast to his words, which implied some level of concern for his brother in spite of their differences. "If he regains consciousness now, he'll just attack you again."

As he went on, Sango moved into place between Sesshoumaru and his brother. Seeing little danger in it now that the fighting had ceased—for now—Miroku joined her. An extra buffer against restarting the fight couldn't hurt. And if they could keep Sesshoumaru talking, feeding them information instead of focusing on his hatred for his brother, all the better.

"You could have killed Inuyasha any time if you'd chosen to," he pointed out. "But instead you just knocked him out. Why hold back?" Sesshoumaru did not speak, and his face betrayed nothing of his thoughts. He was as icy cold as ever. Since he had not yet reacted in anger, Miroku decided to risk pushing a little harder. "I thought you hated your brother. I hardly think that could have changed, and yet…"

"I will kill him one day," Sesshoumaru said. "But right now, when he doesn't even know who or what he is… killing him would serve no purpose."

Having made this proclamation, he simply turned and walked away. Miroku was so stunned that all he could do for a moment was stare at the youkai's retreating back. That was all? He had come here simply to stop Inuyasha from rampaging and causing even more mindless destruction? It hardly seemed possible.

"What do you think that was all about?" Sango murmured into the uncomfortable silence. "Do you think that's really why he showed up just now?"

"I don't think we've much choice but to believe him," Miroku decided. "If it weren't true, why leave Inuyasha alive?"

It was certainly a strange twist, and not one he would have expected, given Sesshoumaru's personality and the strained relationship between the two brothers. And yet it seemed to be true. Miroku knew better than to hope for too much, but he did wonder if perhaps one day Sesshoumaru might become amenable to forming an alliance, rather than remaining enemies forever. He could make for a powerful ally against Naraku… but that was only the wishful thinking of a cursed man.

For now, he needed to help see to Inuyasha.

Even as he turned to take stock of the damage, Kagome exclaimed, "You're awake!"

The hanyou shrugged her off and staggered to his feet; no doubt the scents of death and destruction were overwhelming to his superhuman senses. From his vantage point, Miroku couldn't see his friend's face, but he had some idea of what he might see there: grim acceptance of what had happened.

So he was somewhat surprised when Inuyasha asked, "I did this?" He looked down at his claws. "The scent of blood is soaked in…"

In some ways, forgetting about what he had done might have been a mercy, except that the evidence was all there for him to see now that he had been restored to himself. Miroku felt a pang of pity for the hanyou. Inuyasha might not demonstrate his feelings very well, but even if he didn't show it this would be a difficult thing for him to move past.

Miroku was glad to see Kagome step up beside Inuyasha, providing desperately needed emotional support just from her proximity. Whatever tension had lingered between them since that last fight had disappeared completely now, thrust aside as soon as necessity demanded it.

By now the few remaining villagers had realized that the danger was past. Some of them were beginning to creep forward, no doubt seeking a better view and a better understanding of what had happened. Most of the women, and they were all women, Miroku noted sourly, had frightened or angry looks on their faces. There would be no hero's welcome for Inuyasha here, for all that he had defeated the bandits; the sheer violence of his rampage had seen to that.

Miroku stepped forward, preparing to intervene, thinking frantically of what he might say to convince the villagers that they had nothing to fear from Inuyasha. At the same time, another figure staggered forward. It was the young boy from before, the one who had led them here in the first place. He was covered in blood and the desolate look on his face told Miroku the bad news: his grandfather had been slain in the violence. Even so, he walked with firm steps toward Inuyasha, Miroku, and the others.

Two of the village women rushed to stop him, cautioning against approaching such a dangerous monster.

Off to the side, Inuyasha seemed to crumple. Supporting him physically now, Kagome protested, "That's not true. Inuyasha isn't a monster!"

The boy struggled valiantly against the women. "I don't care if he's a monster! He killed the bad guys for us and avenged my grandpa!"

For all his struggles, the boy was still a child. The village women were bigger and stronger than he was. He couldn't get away from them, and his words failed to move them.

The rest of the village women made their way over, forming a cluster. Together they stared down Miroku and the others. Finally, one spat, "You've done enough. Get out of here."

Their malice was visibly wearing Inuyasha down, perhaps even more than his remaining injuries were. Miroku would have liked to stay for a while; tending to the dead and helping with the cleanup efforts were the least they could do, after all. But the longer he looked at those desperate, angry, grieving women, the more he knew it was a bad idea.

"Let's go," he said to the rest of his group, keeping his voice carefully neutral. Sango met his gaze, and although she didn't say a word he could see his own worry mirrored in her face. "We don't want to cause any more trouble here."