Sango had never thought of Kagome as fragile, precisely. Someone to be protected, certainly. She was, after all, not gifted with powerful healing abilities and superhuman strength and endurance like Inuyasha. Spiritual power aside, she was an ordinary human girl.

Even so, she had never seen Kagome look quite so shaken as she had on the way back to the village last night. Tsubaki's curse had been an enormous strain on her, and the toll had been immense. She was lucky to be alive, much less in one piece.

So it was a surprise, to say the least, when Kagome was ready to hit the road the very next morning. For her part, Sango was still bleary and tired after everything that had happened—and she wasn't even the one who had been cursed. Yet by the time she was awake Kagome was already up and dressed, and seemingly eager to get going.

At least Inuyasha wouldn't have anything to complain about there. Sango, on the other hand, wished for at least one more day to rest… but she wasn't going to be the one slowing the group down. Not after her complete failure to be of any use yesterday. She forced herself up and hurried through her morning preparations, pausing only to gather Kirara… and that was when she realized Miroku was watching her.

That, at least, was no surprise after last night. But his obvious concern left her feeling conflicted inside. On the one hand, it was almost reassuring that he had noticed her fatigue. On the other hand, there was the flustered, confused sensation like a thousand insects buzzing just below her heart. She had to stop and remind herself that there was nothing to read into, that Miroku's interest in her was only natural. They needed to look out for each other, and he was doing just that. In fact, the monk was probably more motivated by his desire for self-preservation than any true concern for her. She didn't need to get worked up about it. She just needed to get used to it.

And she would. She was determined to see this through, to avenge her family and save her brother. If that meant allowing Miroku to look out for her, to notice her moments of weakness so he could support her through them, then she would do that. Somehow.

For now, at least, she was lucky. Kagome insisted she was well enough to walk, and to prove it she took up a spot next to Sango as they headed out of town. This spared Sango from any awkward moments alone with Miroku… for the moment. It was only a matter of time, but she was grateful for even a temporary reprieve. It would give her time to think of something to say.

The journey was uneventful for most of the day. Sango was grateful for that, too. Things had been so challenging lately, it had hardly felt like they had any time or space to breathe without something demanding their attention or some new danger appearing out of nowhere. This quietude might seem dull by comparison, but she would take it any day.

Which of course meant it was not to last.

"I think…" Kagome trailed off, frowning. "I think I sense a jewel shard nearby." It sounded like a question even as she tried to seem certain about it. She had been uncertain about jewel shards in the past, but usually only when they were quite distant or approaching quickly, like Kouga's.

Sango paused beside her, giving her time to figure it out. Kagome had been through a lot. And Sango was pretty sure she was now pushing herself harder than she should have. The last thing Sango wanted was to make it worse.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha seemed oblivious to everything but the possibility of another jewel shard. He swooped in immediately, demanding to know how far and in which direction.

Miroku, with Shippou perched on his shoulder, caught up at a more leisurely pace. By the time he joined the group, Inuyasha was already growing frustrated with Kagome's inability to provide specifics on the jewel shard she was sensing. Miroku caught Sango's gaze with a knowing look. Even without words it was loud and clear that he had arrived at the same conclusion that she had: they should not push Kagome so hard so soon after rescuing her from Tsubaki's curse. But Inuyasha would do whatever he wanted, and Kagome obviously wanted him to think everything was okay.

Finally Kagome pinpointed a direction. Once she had done that, everyone knew what to do. Inuyasha swept Kagome up onto his back and took off running. Kirara hopped down from her place in Sango's arms, transforming into her larger form as she went. Without her help, Sango and the others would have struggled to keep up.

It all had Sango frowning faintly as they raced for the jewel shard. And just kept looking. It began to feel as if they were going in circles, covering the same small bit of hilly, lightly forested countryside over and over, even though Sango knew that couldn't be the case.

Eventually they found a small cave set into one of the hills, partially filled in with earth. Kagome ventured, "Maybe here?"

She didn't sound very certain, even to Sango. It wasn't a very reassuring sign.

Sango was happy to stay back and out of the way with Kagome and let Miroku and Inuyasha do the hard work of digging around in the cave looking for jewel shards. It wasn't a big cave, there was barely room for both of their friends inside, so it shouldn't take much time to discover the truth.

Still, Sango had to wonder what on earth a shard of the Shikon jewel would be doing in a place like this—and how no one else had come across it yet. It seemed so unlikely as to be impossible. Every other piece of the jewel they found had been in the possession of some person or creature that had got to it before they did. Why should this one be different?

At first she tried to justify it by assuming some sort of burrowing creature had acquired the shard, and might be lurking within the cave or hiding deeper in the earth behind or beneath it. But there was no sign that this was the case, even as Inuyasha and Miroku made their way further and further into the cave. They searched the cave from top to bottom, and found nothing.

It was becoming increasingly obvious: despite what Kagome thought she sensed here, there was no jewel shard.

"Are you sure you sensed a shard here?" Sango asked at last.

"I don't know," Kagome admitted. She sounded utterly crestfallen. "I thought so… but I can't tell what I'm feeling, it's like everything is all jumbled up."

"Could it be a lingering effect from Tsubaki's curse?" Sango asked. It was the only explanation that made any sense, but curses were far from her area of expertise.

"It must be…" Kagome sighed. "Oh, Inuyasha's never going to let me hear the end of this…"

"He'll understand," Sango told her, though they both knew he wouldn't act like he understood.

Kagome sighed again, more deeply this time. "I hope so."

Sango wished there were something, anything, she could say to help. But all she could offer was her company while they waited for Inuyasha and Miroku to confirm their fears.