Myoga rummaged in his knapsack, eventually bringing forth his tiny pipe. Sango frowned as he seemed to take ages to light the thing, and by the time he put it to his lips she was about to burst. The flea drew in a long breath, and tiny wisps of smoke danced around his head as he exhaled. At last Sango could wait no longer.
"Myoga, do you know what's happened to Inuyasha?"
Myoga sighed as loudly as a flea can.
"Indeed I do, Sango," Myoga said, tenting his fingers. "Though I wish I didn't."
Sango would've snatched him up by the collar if she could've, but had to settle for merely giving him her sternest look. The flea look at her innocently, taking another long draw from his pipe.
"Tell me what's happened, Myoga," Sango said. "There's something badly wrong with Inuyasha and I need to know what it is."
"A curse has been laid upon him by Lady Kikyo," Myoga began, his voice turning sheepish.
"How do you know that?" Sango asked, her eyes narrowing.
The flea hesitated, looking away and rolling his tiny thumbs over each other. Sango signaled Kirara to search for a place to land, though her gaze never left the flea.
"Myoga," she said crossly.
"Well, I, uh, happened to be with him at the time…" began the flea in his most ingratiating voice. "You see, after Inuyasha split from the party he encountered Kikyo near a remote village and…"
Sango plucked Myoga from Kirara's fur, his small body fitting neatly in her palm.
"You were with Inuyasha this entire time?" she practically spat, squeezing him for extra emphasis.
"Indeed, Sango, I was," Myoga said, a twinge of cowardice obvious in his voice. "You see, my fortunes have been, well, rather unfortunate lately and I had merely stopped by for a meal, but then, seeing as how no one took notice, I thought that I would remain for a while and enjoy the accommodations, but then all this chaos erupted…"
Sango's eyes fell and her face darkened.
"Then you know of what has transpired between Inuyasha and me. And that Kagome has left us for her time," Sango said softly, fresh guilt washing over her.
"It is neither my place nor my desire to pass judgment on Lord Inuyasha in such matters," Myoga replied quickly. "Nor on you, Sango. But there are more important matters at hand, and that is the matter of the curse that afflicts m'lord."
Sango nodded, surprised at the relief she felt at being spared a rebuke from Myoga. She was paying so much attention to the flea that it caught her off guard when Kirara touched down on the forest floor, and she lurched forward as the demon came to a halt.
"Tell me all that you know," she said, regaining her composure.
Myoga waited a long moment before he began, as though collecting his thoughts. Sango fidgeted on Kirara's back, her legs aching from hours of riding. At long last, the flea hopped to a comfortable spot between Kirara's ears, lit his pipe, and began to speak.
"I believe it is referred to as the 'curse of feral hunger', though I may be in error," he began, his voice burdened with concern. "It was used in olden times by corrupt holy men as a means of driving peaceful demons mad with bloodlust."
"Why would anyone want to do that?" Sango interjected.
"So that they might be slain in clear conscience, of course," Myoga replied, clucking his tongue sorrowfully. "In days past, cooperation between men and demons was not so unheard of as it is now, and occasionally circumstances found peasants more loyal to a friendly demon than the local lord. Naturally, this didn't sit well with the nobles, and the curse was concocted to break these bonds of loyalty. Not only did this allow lords to defame and murder benevolent demons, but it also made possible the expansion of their holdings into the demon's territory. And, of course, there were always monks willing to blaspheme their vows by performing such an ill-conceived rite in exchange for titles and privileged positions."
"How would Kikyo know of such a thing?"
"I suspect that her training would have included the study of such malevolent spells. Given Kikyo's position it would seem only natural that she would be familiar with inimical magic, if only as preparation for countering it in battle, " Myoga said. "Remember that fifty years ago Kikyo was among the most powerful priestesses alive, and that her stewardship of the Shikon Jewel was a matter of incalculable importance."
"I see," Sango said, nodding resolutely. "Then tell me how to break this curse."
"I'm not sure that's possible, Sango," Myoga sighed. "You've seen the torment that it has wrought on Lord Inuyasha, and the curse has be upon him for a mere day. It's only through the Tetsusaiga's intervention and his own force of will that he has any control left at all. I fear that should he succumb to the dark urgings the curse is forcing upon him, his mind could be shattered forever. It feeds upon the bloodlust of its victims. If they do indeed taste of human flesh, as the curse intends, then they will develop an ever-greater hunger for it."
"Then I have to stop him from…" Sango's voice wavered as the words forced themselves past her lips. "From eating anyone?"
A chill went down her spine as she thought of being in his arms just hours before, as he surely must have struggled with the urge to attack her.
But he didn't, she thought. So he must not be too far gone.
"How long will it take for the curse to run its course?"
"I do not know," Myoga said sadly. "I've never heard of a demon escaping it's clutches."
Sango leaned forward, resting her face in her hands and trying to think. Inuyasha was quickly becoming more and more dangerous, and she knew in her heart that, as a demon slayer, she might have to hunt him down if he gave into the curse. Though she loved him, she had been trained from birth to protect the innocent from the depravities of malign demons and there no doubt in her mind that she would kill Inuyasha if doing so was the only way to prevent the shedding of innocent blood.
After all, if he succumbs to the bloodlust then he's no longer Inuyasha. He's just another demon.
She winced as those words cut through her mind.
"Wait," Myoga suddenly exclaimed. "Perhaps Lord Inuyasha does indeed stand a chance."
The flea stabbed a finger skyward, and Sango's eyes followed it slowly upwards. Her gaze came to rest on the luminous sliver of the waning moon, shining like a knife blade against the velvet backdrop of night.
Kagome looked up from her notebook, sparing a smile for the grinning statue of a shisa dog that was perched on the desk. It sat on its haunches, watching her with wide, fascinated eyes. Its mouth was fixed in a lopsided grin, its sharp fangs pleasantly arranged in an display of perpetual mirth.
"The mouth is closed to keep the good luck in," Kagome said pertly to no one in particular as she rapped her pencil against the desk. She smiled thinly at the statue, but couldn't help casting a glance over her shoulder as the rustling of the trees in the night wind grew momentarily louder.
Her eyes widened a little as she stared out of her window, for although the branches of the tree outside were swaying excitedly, the curtains that framed the window hung motionless and undisturbed. The fragment of the Shikon Jewel around her neck suddenly seemed very heavy. And warm.