Chapter Two

"We don't know who we are until we see what we can do."
-Martha Grimes

Sango and Miroku rose at sunrise, each with grim faces at the task before them. The storm had passed sometime during the night and, though the grounds were muddy from the rains, they both knew they'd might as well go ahead and get the burials over with and prepare to move on. Not even the miko's herbs would keep the hanyou down for long and as soon as he woke he would want to continue their search for shards.

She rose and stretched, yawning slightly before reaching for her kimono and then deciding against it. Digging in the mud would dirty it and she needed something to wear afterwards. Instead, she stayed in her taijiya fuku, figuring to roll up the sleeves and pants legs and walk barefoot. She could wash her feet later. So, she pulled her hair back and walked outside, joining the monk who had already procured two shovels for their task.

It seemed he had had a similar idea because when she saw him, he had discarded the midnight blue kimono and purple sash, opting instead for only his under haori of lighter blue and dark purple hakama. His feet were also bare. His violet eyes roamed over her from head to toe, admiring the shapely legs and arms he had seen only beneath her black pants and smiled appreciatively. Years of running and working as a taijiya had given her well defined calves and biceps.

She cocked a brow when he didn't make any ecchi comments, but his grin spoke volumes and she gave a mumbled warning. Kagome had introduced her to the world of shaving long ago and, after the first few times, she had found she preferred it, but now with the hentai monk staring at her legs in such a fashion, she was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't have left them alone.

With a scowl, she trudged over and grabbed one of the shovels, turning her back on him, even as a blush spread across her cheeks. "Let's just get started, alright?"

"Of course." Even he could be serious when the need arose and his duty as a priest came before his bad habits.

Kagome stirred and awoke to a throbbing pain in her arm and abdomen. Apparently she had still been running on adrenaline when she'd gone to bed the night before and the last traces of the natural anesthesia had finally worn off. Barely suppressing a moan, she disentangled herself from the sleeping bag and attempted to stand, still blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"Okaa?" Shippou mumbled, barely rousing from the sleeping world at her movements and she had to smile. It wasn't a title he used often, or even in public, but when he did she couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of joy that washed over her. "You okay?"

She patted his head gently. "Just a little sore. Go back to sleep." She waited until his breathing had evened out again and finished crawling out from the bag, then limped to her backpack. She had just removed a bottle of water and was preparing to pop two Aspin in her mouth when she realized a set of golden eyes were watching her.

"He's adopted you." It was a statement and not a question. She gave him a sideways glance and then popped the pills in her mouth, swallowing with a big gulp of water.

"Yeah, I guess he has." She crawled to his futon, putting a hand on his forehead before he could protest. "You're not running a fever, so I guess there's no infection."

He glared while she continued her ministrations, checking his bandages and applying more herbal paste. It wasn't that he didn't like her taking care of him, he just didn't want her to know that he liked it. Since his mother had died, he'd not really had anyone who fretted over him the way Kagome had and it was slightly embarrassing. He shifted his weight, grunting when the movement stretched his wounds, but managed to sit up anyway.

"This place reeks of death. Where the hell are we, anyway?"He questioned, looking around.

She'd moved away by that time, digging in her bag for a cup of ramen, knowing he'd be hungry after being out all night. Plus she needed to fix breakfast for everyone. It was just about the only useful thing she could do after all, except see the Shikon shards. "We're in the village Miroku and Sango were called to yesterday. It was a trap to separate us, but the youkai was real. They killed it easily enough, but the villagers had already been slain." She closed her eyes sending a quick prayer to the kamis for the souls of those who had been killed. "Sango and Miroku are burying the bodies."

He nodded. "Good. We're leaving after we eat." He reached for his haori and undershirt to get dressed, but Kagome pulled it out of his reach. He raised his brow, giving her a confused look. "You been spending too much time around Miroku or something? I ain't running around half dressed, you hentai wench."

She blushed crimson and he bit back a laugh at the insulted look on her face. "It's not that, baka! They're covered in blood. I thought you might want me to clean them first, but if you don't mind wearing filthy clothes, go ahead." She threw the bundled material at him, hitting his shoulder as the clothing piled in his lap. "Idiot."

Shippou had awakened during their spat and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. When Inuyasha managed to climb to his feet and head for the door, he followed, hopping on the hanyou's shoulder.

Outside, Sango looked up from where she was covering one of the last few graves and Miroku was chanting the last rites. Kirara sat solemnly nearby, keeping watch over them all as they worked. Seeing Inuyasha up and about, Sango stopped what she was doing and offered him a light smile, silently asking how he was.

"Feh, it's just a minor wound. No big deal. We're heading out after breakfast." He couldn't help wrinkling his nose in disgust at the strong scent of blood and decay. The sooner they could leave that village, the better. "You need me?"

Miroku finished his prayer and opened his eyes, looking over at the hanyou for the first time since he'd approached. "We're nearly done here. Perhaps you should wash up and dress." He grinned mischievously. "Unless you are trying to impress a certain young woman."

Inuyasha growled and turned, stomping off towards the well in the center of the village. "So, what happened yesterday, runt?"

Shippou jumped from his shoulder to the ledge of the brick well while the older boy threw the bucket in and began pulling it up by the attached rope. "After you fell off the cliff, Kagome got real upset and Naraku came after us but he couldn't get near us because Kagome'd put up some sort of barrier."

"Barrier? I didn't know she could make those." He set the bucket on the ground and dipped the white undershirt in the water, ringing out the blood. The movement pulled painfully at the hole in his stomach, but he managed to keep from showing any outward signs of discomfort.

"I didn't either," Shippou continued. "I don't think Kagome did either 'cause she looked kinda surprised. Then she turned kinda pink, like she was sorta glowing, and used me as a bow to shoot Naraku. He sorta exploded, sending black dust everywhere, but it was just a doll. We did get three new shards, though. What was really weird was when the hell bugs showed up to collect the shards, Kagome threw one of those plastic food containers at 'em and it worked just like one of her arrows. It hit one of the Samiyoushou and turned it to dust."

Inuyasha frowned. He'd seen Kagome become worked up before and exhibit strong spiritual powers, but the only time he'd ever seen her use her powers without a bow or arrow was that one time with the centipede youkai while he was still pinned to the tree. And glowing pink? What the hell was that all about?

"Inuyasha? I don't think Kagome even realized what she was doing," the kit said, interrupting his thoughts and stating the obvious. Of course if Kagome had known she could make barriers and use other objects besides a bow and arrow, she'd have done it a long time ago. "I mean, when she picked me up to use me as her bow, it felt like I was standing in the middle of the fire. It hurt, but she didn't notice or mention it later. I don't think she knew."

He grunted and wrung out his shirts, releasing the majority of the water and then started putting them on. They could dry just as well on him as they could off and it felt better to be covered than to only be half dressed. "D'you tell her?"

"No."

"Good. Don't. You'd just upset her and there ain't no reason."

As soon as they'd eaten, they packed their things and headed west. At Inuyasha's insistence, Kagome rode Kirara. After exercising her excellent powers of persuasion - a few tears and the threat of a few 'sits' - Inuyasha was convinced to ride behind her to keep from aggravating his wounds for at least the day. The poison having been dispelled, it was healing much quicker than it had when inflicted by Sesshomaru whose poison had to work its way out of his system first.

Kagome never mentioned the curious spike in her power when she thought Inuyasha had been killed and Shippou, true to his word, didn't bring it up.

In truth, she was afraid to say anything about it, worrying that to mention it would prompt Inuyasha to demand why she hadn't used it before. The answer to that was simple: she didn't know how. Any power she possessed, she'd trained herself to use and she hadn't a clue how she'd managed to release what she'd done the previous day and there was no one she could ask for help. Miroku knew some things, but beyond showing her how to write ofuda and place her spiritual energy into the parchment so that the spell would work, there was little he could offer her. Kaede knew about potions and herbs and healing, but she was seldom around the old woman to be able to attend any sort of lessons. The same went for her mother and grandfather. The old man might not have been able to work any his supposed powers, but he did know a few things about them and her mother had been trained as a miko as a teenager but had given it up when she met their father.

That was not to say that it hadn't crossed her mind. She had been thinking about it all morning, actually. If she could just tap into that power at will, she knew she could be of help to them when they fought Naraku. Not that she didn't already aide them. Her arrows had destroyed plenty of youkai in the past and it was her arrows that gave Inuyasha's backlash wave its greatest impact. But compared to the others she was still weak and, more often than not, had to be rescued.

It seemed futile, however, to think on such things because, as she had already realized, there was no one available to train her.

At Inuyasha's insistence, they made camp early that night. He had argued it was because Kagome was injured and she wouldn't be very useful in a shard hunt anyway if she were asleep on her feet. The true reason, however, made itself known soon enough when three shini-dama-chuu flew overhead, getting their attention before heading back towards their mistress.

Sango grumbled under her breath, something he didn't quite catch and poked angrily at the fire. Kagome didn't even look up from her school books though they all knew she'd sensed them. Miroku sighed and shook his head, sharing a knowing look with Sango while Inuyasha hesitated for only a second before leaving them to find the once living miko.

When she realized everyone was staring at her, she looked up from her history book and blinked curiously. "What?"

"Aren't you going to get upset? You're acting as if you don't even care."

"Of course I care, Sango, but what good is it going to do to get upset?" She asked, closing her book. "It's never stopped him before and it won't stop him now." She sighed lightly. And he'd feel just as guilty when he came back if she didn't cry as he would if she did. The only difference between his visits with Kikyou now and in the times past was that she had finally accepted it as inevitable. Nothing she could do or say would keep him from her and she never wanted to stand in the way of what made him happy. If being with the priestess was what he really desired, then who was she to argue. At least in his guilt, she knew that he cared for her on some level...and he was always nicer when he was guilty about something.

He came to a stop a few feet from where the miko stood, looking up at the sky. At his arrival, she brought her gaze down, a light smile tugging at her lips; a smile that never reached her eyes. Neither moved any closer to the other than the few feet that separated them.

"Kikyou..." he hesitated as he normally did in her company. "Have you heard anything about Naraku or where he's hiding?"

She shook her head. "No. He has hidden himself well, as usual. I take it you are still searching for shards?"

He nodded, stuffing his hands into the sleeves of his haori. "Slow going though. We got three new ones from a Naraku puppet yesterday, but that's it."

Kikyou sighed and reached into a hidden pocket on her hibakama, pulling out something that she held in her fist. "I was attacked by a youkai, sent by Naraku no doubt." When his brow furrowed into a frown she smiled again. "No need to worry, Inuyasha. Kohaku and I dealt with it easily enough. But there were two shards embedded in his back. I was able to procure one, however, his hell bugs made off with the other." She held her fisted hand out to him, waiting for him to hold his own out. When he did, she dropped the shard into his palm.

He stuffed the shard into his haori and glanced around. "Where is the kid?"

"He is nearby, at the stream. You may wish to tell the taijiya that he is well. As you know he regained his memories and began to accept them. I think that he is finally beginning to heal from them now. Though, if he lives, he may never be the same child she knew."

The hanyou nodded, looking away. "I'm sorry. I gave my word I'd protect you and I didn't." The layers and layers of guilt he felt towards the undead priestess made apologizing to her easier than when he faced the same task with Kagome.

She shook her head, giving him a pointed look. "You and I both know that I am fully capable of protecting myself in most situations and those where I am not, I have Kohaku to aide me. And those times when it has been truly important, you have been there. I am not the one who needs someone to take care of me." It was an offhanded jab at Kagome's seeming helplessness. It had been years since Kikyou had attempted to harm Kagome in any way and the two had a sort of truce between them, both being polite whenever forced to be in the other's company though there was certainly no foundation for sisterhood.

"Yeah, I know, I know." Speaking of, he had better get back to her before she managed to get herself into some sort of trouble. Kamis knew that wench didn't know how to stay out of it.

She took a few steps towards him and placed a hand on his arm. "Goodnight, Inuyasha. I will be nearby tonight if you need anything further." She continued past him, disappearing into the trees, her soul stealing youkai following behind her.