Something wasn't right. Miroku headed out the door of Kaede's hut and waited. An uneasy feeling had crept over the land sometime during the afternoon, encroaching so slowly that he had not noticed until now. Even now that he was aware of it, he could not easily trace its source—it could be anywhere. It could be everywhere.
He hoped that this was not a bad sign. After all, Kagome had promised to be back before sunset.
A glance to the sky told him what he already knew: it was very nearly sunset. Kagome should have been back by now.
At first Miroku had been merely curious about what that evil aura might portend, but now he knew it was more than the unnerving aura in the air: Kagome was late.
Kaede came out to join him.
"You noticed it too, huh," he observed.
"Indeed. Something evil is creeping around."
"Do you think it has anything to do with Kagome being late?"
Kaede chuckled. "Hard to say. That girl…" She shook her head, but her expression was one of fond exasperation. She might not understand the girl from another world any better than the rest of them, but she too had come to care for Kagome.
He wondered if she was worried too, or just keeping an eye on the situation.
They waited together for a long time. All was still quiet, except for the uneasy feeling in the air and the rushing of wind and the occasional sound from inside the hut as Sango prepared the evening meal. There was no sign of Inuyasha, but Miroku chose to take that as a promising sign; no doubt their hanyou friend would be waiting at the well for Kagome, and would allow no harm to befall her on her way back.
But his hopes were soon dashed. Inuyasha came rushing over from the direction of the well, carrying Kagome in his arms as he barged past. The fact that he was carrying her was not all that unusual; what struck Miroku was the way he was carrying her. Normally Inuyasha carried Kagome on his back. Now he was carrying her in his arms, like a delicate treasure.
"Inuyasha," Miroku began, but the hanyou paid him no mind.
Without a word, Inuyasha shouldered aside the door-flap and went into the hut. Miroku and Kaede followed, and found Sango already attempting to assist.
"Something bit me!" Kagome was explaining, irate and indignant.
"I told her not to put any weight on that ankle until we know it's okay," Inuyasha added. Finally, at Sango's urging, he relinquished Kagome. Getting down to the ground without putting weight on her injured ankle was an awkward endeavor, but with Sango's help she managed it.
"What was it that bit you?" Sango asked, helping Kagome get into a more comfortable position.
"That's the thing—I don't know." She hissed in pain as her ankle lightly brushed the ground. "With the tall grass, I didn't see anything."
Sango knelt beside her to take a look at the injury. A good idea, Miroku thought; if some kind of youkai turned out to be the cause, Sango might be able to identify it from the mark left behind.
Kagome gritted her teeth as Sango carefully removed her shoe and sock.
Unfortunately, by that point Inuyasha was having none of it. He shoved Sango out of the way so he could inspect Kagome's ankle himself. "There's nothing here that looks like a bite mark," he said at last.
"But…" Kagome protested. "I was sure something bit me."
Her brow furrowed, as if she had just realized something that made her unhappy. She withdrew the bottle of Shikon jewel shards from its place, tucked under her shirt. It was obvious immediately that the shards, normally a charming pink color when in Kagome's possession, had turned black as ink.
An instant later the jar itself shattered in her hand. Fragments of glass scattered over her hand, her lap, the floor. Worse, the tainted jewel shards rushed toward her and sank into her body. Kagome cried out in pain, her voice ragged with agony, and fainted under the onslaught.
For once unselfconscious about it, Inuyasha cradled her in his arms, urging, "Hang in there, Kagome!"
Miroku did not like to think what those tainted jewel shards would do to her, now that they had been absorbed by her body. He also did not like to think about what might have caused this to happen in the first place. However, it seemed that he had no choice.
"Kaede-sama, the fragments have gone into her body," he began. "Does this…"
"Does this have anything to do with the evil aura from earlier?" the priestess asked. "It must."
In Inuyasha's arms, Kagome went frighteningly still. Her eyes were open, but unseeing. It was as if Kagome herself had gone, and all that remained was the shell of her body.
Kaede frowned, and said the last thing Miroku and the others wanted to hear. "Someone has placed a curse on Kagome."