Ch 6: How can it be both the new moon and the full moon?

Suki was furious with herself. How could she have been so careless as to allow them to see her!? By now the hanyou had probably memorized her scent- she'd been foolish enough to not disguise it while she was with the miko- and the Houshi might have even noted the particular feel of her youki. Besides that, they all had personal reasons to hate and hunt her now- much better incentive than a few night's hospitality and the request of a poor village headman. What was worse, she still had one more prank to pull, one more member of that group of bullies to exact revenge upon. This time was going to be the most difficult of all…

That next morning was bright and cheery, a perfect mirror for Kagome's mood. As the group settled down to breakfast, she couldn't help but hum a little to herself. It seemed that they would finally get rid of this youkai and be able to continue with their travels. Miroku, however, did not seem to share her optimism; his face was stony, lost in worrying and perplexing thought.

"Houshi-sama, is there something wrong?" Sango asked, wondering at the faraway look on his face (among other things).

"Why no, not at all my beautiful summer butterfly-" Miroku tried to assure her, finally looking her way.

"Yes, Sango-chan is right," Kagome interrupted "You seem…very distracted…Is something on your mind?"

"Out with it bozou. You've been staring off into space like a ninny for the last hour. You haven't even tried to grope Sango once today." Inuyasha added, tactful as always.

That got his attention finally. "Are you sure? Not even once?" he asked, his tone one of shock and disbelief.

"He says that like he's disappointed in himself…"Shippo commented, only loud enough for a few to hear, Miroku not included.

"That is not the point here; answer the question dammit!" Inuyasha lost his patience.

"Oh fine." Miroku rolled his eyes, then muttered: "I'll have to make up for that sooner or later…"SLAP "…maybe later…"

"Houshi-sama…."Sango began threateningly.

"Fine, fine. I was just thinking about who the youkai might strike next, and how." He paused, looking a bit uneasy.

"Go on," Sango encouraged him. He took a deep breath and continued.

"It seems to me that this demon has put a lot of thought into her pranks, enough to suggest that she has some personal vendetta against us…Of what I'm not certain, but it does mean that she probably won't stop until she's tricked all of us at least once. Meaning that she's not done yet by a long shot…" He trailed off, unsure of how to avoid spilling the rest of his thoughts. He was saved by Inuyasha and his wonderfully sensitive ego.

"Keh. Now that I have her scent, do you really think I won't be able to catch her before she tries anything new? This'll be easy; she didn't smell particularly powerful at all." Inuyasha interrupted with his usual self-confidence.

"Just because she isn't powerful doesn't mean she isn't capable of eluding us again. She's obviously very clever, and good at what she does. I doubt it will be anything like easy to catch her…" Miroku answered huffily, a little put out by the interruption. That was what he wanted them to think anyways. "Besides, tonight is the night of the new moon- your sense of smell isn't going to be of much use to us right now, it's probably started waning already."

Inuyasha growled, but before he could say anything, Kagome broke in. "Oh! I'd forgotten it was the new moon tonight- maybe we should just wait to defeat it tomorrow instead-"

"What?! Are you crazy wench?! We could catch this thing today, long before the sun sets- or do you want to spend any more time in this shitty backwater?!" Inuyasha leapt in, not to be defeated so easily.

"But if it's the night of the new moon…Your youkai powers usually start going away even during the day, and with her so good at disguising herself…She might find out about you turning human and take advantage!" Kagome spluttered, finding it difficult to express herself to his angry face for some reason.

"If we start now there'll barely be a difference! Don't you care about what that bastard put you through?!" he yelled, quite frustrated. Then a thought struck him "Or do you think I'm so weak as a human that I'd let that damn youkai trick me again?" His frustration had now turned to fury.

The spectators (Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara) visibly winced. They'd all hoped Inuyasha had forgotten Kagome's little remarks from the day before- but apparently they weren't quite so lucky. Unfortunately, Shippo, as usual, just didn't know when to keep his mouth shut…

"It's not like Inuyasha didn't have his youkai powers last time she tricked him, and she did it so easily then too-"

Before he could complete his little thought Inuyasha interrupted to give him the gift of a bump big enough to resemble a second head. Shippo quickly decided to retire to the sidelines from then on, and save his comments for a more peaceful time-preferably when Kagome wasn't too distracted to staunchly defend him as she normally did.

"Osuwa-!" Kagome began threateningly, but for once Inuyasha took the initiative, clamping a hand over her mouth instead of cringing as she'd expected.

"Not this time wench! Now we are leaving to go find that bastard-new moon or not! Discussion ended." Inuyasha's look of icy fury was just enough to quell the passionate hellfire seething within Kagome- just enough for the moment that is.

Without another word he dragged her bodily outside by the wrist in the direction of the forest, still not removing his hand lest she try to sit him again, and ignoring all her muffled protests with complete indifference. The innocent bystanders within hastily pulled their chins off the floor and followed the pair outside, quickly enough to show Inuyasha their cooperation, but slowly enough to keep a fair amount of distance between themselves and the rather explosive persons ahead of them. They were judged a bit too volatile for conversation at that moment in time- close contact even. Knowing that close in this case is defined as less than twenty feet away.

It continued in this manner (Inuyasha pulling an enraged Kagome along indifferent to her protests, the rest of the group hanging back about 25 feet along the trail, still hesitant to come closer) until they reached the forest where the youkai was reported to reside. At that moment Inuyasha paused, sniffing; a look of confusion and then annoyance clouded his face. And with a disdainful "Keh, your stupid scent is covering up the demon's," Inuyasha roughly let go of her wrist and removed his hand from her mouth to leap ahead before she could sit him. Almost instantly he turned around even as Kagome stood, shaking, a finger pointed at him in accusation as she began to open her mouth- and he growled: "If you try sitting me again I swear I'll shut you up permanently."

It was an empty threat, and Inuyasha knew it- he'd just said the first thing that popped into his head that might keep her from sitting him, and at that moment he was too angry with her to care about the consequences. Kagome of course, took him seriously, and gaped at him for a full minute before shutting her mouth again in a tight, strained line, a seam ready to burst from its stitches. Confident that he wouldn't be slamming into the ground anytime soon, (and feeling guilty at her hurt and angry expression but too angry to take it back), Inuyasha turned away and leapt into the forest, trying to focus on the search at hand.

After a few minutes to let him cool down, Miroku approached Inuyasha's tense form. They were out of earshot of the girls, but just on the safe side he kept his words to a whisper.

"I have to apologize for that, and thank you for playing your part so well. Sango doesn't even remember what the conversation was originally about after your fight with Kagome-sama."

"What?" Inuyasha didn't think he wanted to understand what Miroku was on about, but asked it anyway.

"The fight is partially my fault- I knew that mentioning the new moon would distract everyone from my earlier comments, so I pointed it out intentionally. I personally don't think it makes much of a difference in fighting this demon- you still have the same brain either way, and it's outwitting her that we really need to do-but I knew Kagome-sama at least wouldn't think of it that way, so I said it anyway."

Inuyasha just glared at him, daring him to continue. To his surprise the monk did, though he must have known that pain was imminent. That impressed and surprised Inuyasha enough that he decided to listen to the whole thing before properly pummeling the bozou.

"The truth is, I was very glad to get Sango distracted from the topic at hand in particular- Kagome-sama as well as she probably couldn't keep a secret from her, and Shippo because I know he couldn't keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it." Miroku paused for effect, only to gain an impatient "Get on with it!" from Inuyasha.

"As I was saying earlier, the youkai has targeted a different one of us for every prank- first me, then you, and yesterday Kagome-sama-"

"How the hell was the first prank on you?! Kagome's the one who got hurt and upset over it!" Inuyasha interjected.

"The demon impersonated me specifically- and I was the one who was hated and mistrusted by my own friends! I regret what she said to Kagome-sama in my form, but when compared to what she said to the girl yesterday, the first prank is obviously on me." Miroku huffed, upset at still being mistrusted.

"Fine, fine, but what was your point in the first place monk?" Inuyasha sidestepped admitting his mistake. Because of course he never made mistakes- not where Kagome was concerned at any rate.

"My point is that the demon has attacked almost all of us already, so it seems to me that their's only one victim left-"

"Shippo?"

"No, it seems to me that she hasn't got anything against him- he was the beneficiary of your prank as I remember-" Miroku was cut off by a rather violent look in Inuyasha's eyes, and hastily backpedaled from that particular thought. "No, I think it's someone else,-"

"Kirara?"

Miroku just stared at him.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, perplexed by the monk's look.

"Why on earth do you think a demon would prank Kirara- Oh, never mind."

"Who then?"

"Sango you idiot! Sango! Why else would I want to keep her from knowing this? Who else would be worth the youkai's trouble?"

"Oh. Wait- why don't you want Sango to know? Don't you think he can fight for herself a lot better if she knows to be wary?"

"See, that's just the thing- she knows how to fight. She doesn't know how to trick, or lay traps, or specifically how to outwit something like this. If this youkai were the typical one that attacks directly, of course I would tell her- she's as good as me, if not better, at exterminating a demon like that. But this one is so different- I don't think it revealed itself in Sango's form for nothing last night. And I don't think Sango's wariness will do her any good- if anything, she'll just get paranoid and start thinking one of us is the demon in disguise and attack us- she can't identify it the way we can, so how could she know if one of us was being impersonated? Do you see what I mean here?" Miroku looked up expectantly at Inuyasha, to be met by a furrowed golden gaze, radiating suspicion.

"How do I know that you're not the demon in disguise and that I really should be warning Sango right now?"

"Oh, for the love of Buddha…Inuyasha, you could smell if I was the demon!" Miroku said.

"I knew that. I was just testing you." Inuyasha explained lamely. "So basically you think the demon will strike Sango tonight, that we shouldn't tell her 'cause she'll freak, and the only way to beat this creep is to trick it, but you don't have an idea for how yet?" Inuyasha summarized.

"Well…yeah." Miroku was a little taken aback at having his carefully considered conclusions shortened so neatly, almost as if they were obvious to begin with. Not to mention the jibe at the end- he didn't see Inuyasha coming up with any ideas! At least he knew that Inuyasha had understood him though, and that thought quelled his indignant pride.

As soon as Miroku had given his assent, Inuyasha had leapt away again, his intended revenge on Miroku forgotten, intent on finding this stupid demon the old-fashioned way- by sniffing the bastard out. Too bad he couldn't smell anything- he really didn't fancy trying to outwit this creature, subtle tricks never really being his forte. He hoped he caught the scent soon, or that Miroku came up with the idea to catch the thing. This entire incident was starting to get on his nerves- using the broadest interpretation of the word 'starting' of course.

Meanwhile, behind the two boys, Kagome was having a minor fit with an ever-patient (although ever-tiring) Sango playing the role of psychologist; she listened.

As soon as he had relinquished her and gotten out of earshot Kagome dropped back and began telling Sango exactly what she thought of him (the short-tempered arrogant idiotic insensitive jerk), her complaints and insults forming into one never-ending mad hiss fit to make any cobra proud. Hours later Sango was almost wishing Miroku had groped her that morning- she'd at least not be forced to witness the transformation of her dear friend from sweet forgiving Kagome to the vehement viper now at her side, still spitting her poison. It didn't help that they didn't find a trace of the youkai (Suki had cleaned out her den as soon as she'd escaped them the night before, fully aware that the hanyou might sniff it out) despite Miroku's insistence that there had been some of her youki in the same forest the day before. As it got to be late afternoon (about 3) Sango decided enough was enough and dragged Kagome back to the village for a soothing soak in the hot springs. The boys stayed on to continue the search; no one dared tell Inuyasha to stop after that morning's lovely discussion, and Miroku stayed on, ever his loyal friend/hostage.

It was Kagome's persistent hiss (untamed by the comfort and warmth of her bath) that drew Suki to the hot springs a few hours later. She almost entered the clearing before realizing that neither girl was alone. She brooded silently in the bushes, reviewing the many diversions she could pull, none meeting her satisfaction. She was just getting a bit worried that she'd have to wait to pull her prank the next day when providence smiled upon her as Sango took the task into her own unknowing hands.

Sango had had just enough of Kagome's grumbling and, while knowing that exploding on her friend would only make matters worse, realized that she was not going to be able to hear the abuse for much longer. She took a deep breath, and called Kagome's attention from her rant.

"Kagome, you seem tired to me." Ok, not exactly the perfect excuse to get rid of her, but at least it had gotten her attention. Sango inwardly let out a long sigh of relief as the incessant whine paused for a moment.

"I do? But I don't feel tired-"

"No, you definitely seem tired to me. You're probably still getting over whatever sickness you had yesterday,-"

"But I felt fine after an hour or so-"

"-not to mention it's been a very long day." Sango continued along, hurtling headfirst into her explanation, not really sure where she'd end up with it but willing to try anything to get Kagome to stop. Spiteful harpies aren't always such great company as they are reported to be.

"But we left early and we've been relaxing for the past hour-"

"We did start much earlier, so it all balances out. Now to my point-"

"I don't know about this-"

"This soak has been great," Sango ground out through her clenched teeth "but I think what you really need is some shuteye about now."

"Well…If you're so sure…" Kagome said hesitantly.

"I am Kagome-chan. This is for your own good, I'm sure you'll realize that soon enough." Not entirely a lie. Sango was sure she would feel better after some time alone to really think things over.

"Maybe you're right. I'm definitely not feeling myself right now- maybe some rest will do me good." Kagome slowly agreed.

"Of course you will." Sango was quick on the uptake.

"Thanks Sango, I'll be going right now." Kagome smiled a little as she stood up. She wasn't the only one that smiled in that clearing, although only Sango did it inwardly.

It seemed that Suki's plans were not ruined as she'd thought. She rubbed her hands together in glee as she watched the miko leave the clearing and the taiji-ya gratefully slide down lower in the water, closing her eyes with a sigh of relief. This was going to be even easier than she'd thought…And to think she'd been worried that morning. Silly her. These humans would never learn.

The sun had just set when Sango's relaxed reverie was broken by feverish shouts.

"Sango-chan! You have to wake up this instant!"

"Hmm? What is it Kagome-chan, I thought you'd gone to sleep…"Sango was still very groggy and relaxed, not really hearing her, and perfectly capable of falling back to sleep yet again. Kitsune sleeping powder will do that.

"Sango-chan you must wake up! Don't you remember it's the night of the new moon? Inuyasha and the others are in trouble! You have to wake up!"

That woke her up. "What?! What's going on?" Sango spluttered, finally opening her eyes.

"There's no time to explain now; you have to hurry!" Kagome gushed, gesturing wildly.

Sango nodded, getting up, but did not stop questioning her. "Was it the youkai? Did she attack when Inuyasha turned human? Did she disguise herself again?" As she spoke she quickly grabbed her clothes and began to get dressed, not looking away from Kagome's face.

"Yes, as Houshi-sama again but you have to hurry there's not much time!" Kagome reiterated. Sango wondered briefly why she hadn't stayed to help fight, but shrugged it off. It wasn't the moment to be wondering at such things. With that bit of resolve she finished getting dressed, pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, swung the Hiraikotsu over her back, and ran after Kagome, already about ten feet ahead on the trail, too distracted by her own hopes for revenge to notice how uncharacteristically cool part of her felt at that moment. Drafty one might even say…

Miroku was very worried. His eyes darted from side to side feverishly and his mouth opened and closed hesitantly, as if desperate to say something, but unsure of what. He paced back and forth, unconscious of the hanyou getting more and more irritated nearby.

They had just returned from the forest to find Kagome napping in the headman's house, no Sango in sight. As Inuyasha was still sulking from that morning's fight, it had been up to Miroku to wake the girl and find out that she'd not spoken to nor seen Sango for at least an hour. A sense of foreboding came over him as it got steadily later and the taiji-ya still failed to return.

Finally his twitching annoyed Inuyasha enough to convince them all to go to find Sango in the forest, although Kagome was fairly adamant in her belief that she'd simply fallen asleep in the hot spring and would return any minute. (Miroku had decided to keep his theory regarding the youkai's choice of victims to himself, and with Inuyasha not talking she'd never found out). They were just coming to the edge of the forest when Inuyasha stiffened suddenly, stopping in his sweeping pace with a jerk that caught all present's attention. The sun had finally set. Miroku could not dispel the tension now gripping him; the very air seemed to have an ominous feel to it.

Before their very eyes Inuyasha's claws shrank back into nails, his fangs to simple teeth, his pointed ears to flesh-colored shells, his hair from a mass of silver to a sheet of black, his eyes from gold to brown. Inuyasha, for his part, turned away from their scrutiny with a muffled 'keh!' but they were not fooled by his bravado. Even Kagome seemed to catch a bit of the worried vibes coming off of Miroku, her forehead creasing as a thought occurred to her.

"You, you don't think that the youkai has done something to Sango-chan, do you?" she asked hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Miroku gave her a penetrating look. "Yes, that is exactly what I fear. The youkai, after all, has already managed to trick myself, you, and Inuyasha- she was the next in line, wasn't she?" It was a rhetorical question.

Kagome's eyes bugged in horror, and her hand rose to her mouth to cover her gasp. "Poor Sango-chan! We have to help her!"

He opened his mouth -to say what Kagome didn't know-, but he was cut off as an eerily familiar shape came hurtling into him from the forest, followed by a fierce, if just as oddly familiar war cry…

All faces turned toward the forest where a shape seemed to leap out from the shadows: Sango had returned.

She was panting a little from her run, but that didn't keep her from running strait to Miroku, drawing her katana in one fluid motion, and bringing the blade just across his exposed neck. Miroku was paralyzed, the Hiraikotsu had him pinned to the ground effectively, and all he could do was look up in shock and horror at the woman before him.

"Sango…." Was all he could utter.

"Why did you do it?!" Sango threatened, bringing the blade an inch closer.

"Do what?" He asked, entirely nonplussed, and feeling just a tad uncomfortable with the sleek steel so close.

"Don't mess with me; I know who you are! Why did you do all of this to us? You thought it'd be funny or something?!"

Miroku scrabbled about his memories of the past few days for something he'd done wrong. Scratch that, there was plenty he'd done wrong- he was Miroku after all, naughty was part of his nature- but he could come up with nothing that would have Sango quite so incensed. He decided to play it safe for the moment however. It looked like the others were too shocked by Sango's actions to do anything but watch, so he was on his own.

"I'm sorry?"

"After all that, you're sorry? Sorry isn't going to cut it! Tell me why you did all of it!"

"Um, I think you'll have to be a bit more specific-" he offered.

"Why did you impersonate Miroku, tell Kagome you were in love with her, make Inuyasha be Shippo's servant for a day, and then impersonate me and convince Kagome I hated her?! Or is that not specific enough?" She finished sarcastically.

"WHAT?! If I didn't know any better Sango, I'd think you thought I was the youkai!" Miroku exclaimed.

"Oh, give it a rest, I know you are the youkai. So 'fess up already! Why did you do it all?!"

Apparently she wasn't going to be convinced easily. Miroku looked away from her face finally, desperate for help, and found neither Kagome's nor Inuyasha's eyes on himself at all. He angrily tried to figure out what they were staring so fixatedly at- didn't they get the idea that he was in danger of losing more than skin off his throat?!- and then realized slowly. If he hadn't done it so many times himself, he wouldn't have recognized it at all, but it was unmistakable. Weird beyond belief, but unmistakable.

They weren't staring at him, they were staring at Sango- or rather, a particular part of Sango that was shoved quite noticeably into the air at this moment, with the rest of her crouched over him. His brow furrowed. For the love of Buddha, why were they staring at Sango's ass?

"Are you even listening to me?! Answer my question!" Sango broke in, still unaware of the state of her own backside.

"Sango, he's not the youkai." Kagome said quietly, finally breaking her gaze away to look strait at her friend's face (or at least the back of her head; she had yet to turn her gaze away from Miroku).

"What?! You're the one who told me the youkai had attacked! You're the one who told me the youkai was in Houshi-sama's form! Where is the real Houshi-sama by the way?" Sango asked, confused and still ignorant of her condition. Or her clothe's at any rate…

"That is the real Houshi-sama Sango-chan." Kagome responded flatly, glaring at Inuyasha, who had finally looked away guiltily after she'd about elbowed his ribs raw.

"It seems that she must have taken Kagome-sama's form this time. The real Kagome-sama was here with us the entire time." Miroku added with a smile as she grudgingly started to pull back her katana. Even as she did it, his hand started to move upwards from his side (where it had been twitching for half a minute in painful disuse).

"But why would she do that? It doesn't seem on par with any of her other pranks at all." Sango asked innocently, oblivious to the reality of her situation. It was too bad for her that Miroku had just figured it out.

Kagome, still silently admonishing Inuyasha, didn't see his move until it was too late.

"Dammit, you really are that hentai, aren't you-" Sango groaned, before realizing something that was oddly different about this particular time…Miroku seemed to have realized it as well, and (her having removed the Hiraikotsu in a moment of blatant amnesia it seems) pulled her to him to look down over her shoulder- hand still quite firmly in place of course.

"Sango….What happened to your clothes? Did someone cut this hole out just for me?"

His reverie was cut short however. Sango pushed him away fiercely, blushing blood red, and yelled: "Hentai! Of course not! The youkai did this obviously!" She slapped him twice for good measure because he didn't stop smirking even after the first one.

"Are you so sure?" he teased, dancing lightly around her and out of palm's reach, staring pointedly downwards. "I can't imagine why the youkai would do such a thing- she seems to only wish to bring harm upon us and I doubt I've ever been happier-"

He was finally cut off by a blunt blow to the head delivered by the Hiraikotsu. Sango was fuming, and would have continued to beat him senseless if Kagome hadn't spoken up.

"Sango-chan? Are you sure you want to wait any longer to get dressed?"

It was an innocent enough question. It left Sango even more embarrassed than before, realizing that it hadn't just been the monk who'd seen. She'd never live after today…

And with those cheery thoughts she pulled the Hiraikotsu over her back (it was some cover at least) and high-tailed it for their private rooms to get into something normal. Something unaltered. Kagome, being the kindly understanding girl that she was, followed soon after to offer some chocolate as comfort and keep her friend from doing anything too irrational- like commit suicide, as her face indicated she was planning.

Inuyasha was left to bring Miroku back (when he'd regained consciousness) and give Shippo a very awkward and confusing lecture regarding nudity, pranks, and how the two should never be mixed up. Ever. Especially with Kagome. Well, ok, maybe if it was only him around- but there Inuyasha stopped himself as Shippo's remarks took a decidedly perceptive and suggestive turn, and he stuck to just implanting the idea as pure evil worthy of Naraku.

Suki herself planned a counter-lecture to educate Shippo properly- imagine, an inu trying to teach a kitsune about playing tricks, let alone a hanyou! But even the thought of a slightly misled Shippo couldn't dampen her mood. This prank had been difficult yes, but she'd pulled it off on a grand scale, and the monk had performed to perfection. She'd watched enough (not that it took much) to know him to be a pervert and overly-fond of all women and their bodies, not least the taiji-ya- but she'd never imagined quite so entertaining a response. And besides her own personal victory over Sango, she'd also finally finished getting revenge on that terrible group of malcontents and torturers for Shippo! He'd be sure to love her now! She couldn't wait to reveal herself to him! If only she wasn't so tired…

Poor Suki was so exhausted from all her worries and planning and work that she fell asleep right where she had been during the entire exchange- in the crook of the nearest tree, in the shape of a squirrel. It seemed that her long-awaited meeting with Shippo would have to wait for the next day.

Suki wasn't the only one to sleep well that night- Miroku's smile was enough to assume that he'd ended up in heaven. He didn't worry about catching that demon again, as the rest of the group seemed to be doing, lying awake for hours- he was too caught up in certain memories. Besides, at this point, he wasn't thinking the demon was so bad after all. Can't imagine why.

A/N: Ok, sucky ending I know, especially considering how long I made all of you (there are some of you right? I might be getting over 600 hits but I've only gotten 12 reviews) wait for this chapter, but I couldn't come up with anything better and this needed to be finished so badly.

Please review? Please? (begging here)
I know I say it every time, and guess what? It's because I mean it. And because I apparently need to say it. Not trying to be mean here, I'm just getting a little desperate…

So yeah. Reviews make the world go round and me update faster and not fudge half the chapter. So please, don't refrain; REVIEW.