A/N: Kohaku has died. The jewel shard being taken from him by Kikyo. Let the drama unfold. (Again, really sorry for not updating sooner.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 7

Sango and Miroku rode across the sky on Kirara's back. They had been searching for Kikyo, but now their course of action had changed. Their new objective was to find Kohaku.

"Kohaku, please be alright," Sango thought worriedly. She desperately needed for Kohaku to still be alive, for the horrible feeling in her chest to go away. She had to find him now.

Miroku was also worried. He feared that if Kohaku had died like Sango thought then his love wouldn't be able to stand it. He worried that Sango would try and kill herself.

Both were silent as the flew above the trees, both of their eyes searching for the young demon-slayer.

"Sango," Miroku said after a long moment of silence. "If Kohaku is…"

"Don't say it," Sango cut in hastily. "He has to be alive, he just has to be."

Miroku didn't say another word until he spotted the young boy that they were searching for.

"Sango look, down there," he exclaimed, pointing towards the ground.

"It's Kohaku," Sango shouted happily as Kirara flew downwards to the boy but as they got closer Sango's happiness diminished considerably. Kohaku was laying on the ground and he looked like he was unconscious.

Once on the ground Sango ran to him. Kohaku laid face down on the tall grass and Sango could easily see the hole in his back. Slowly, just as Miroku arrived, she turned Kohaku over so that his face was looking towards the sky. Blood covered his chest as it flowed freely out of him. His face was pale, his open eyes staring straight at Sango even though they were glazed over. There wasn't a hint of life left in his body and she knew it.

"Kohaku," she whispered as the hot tears streamed down her face. She buried her head onto his still bleeding chest and sobbed. Miroku stood above her with Kirara behind him. He was unable to say anything so he simply sat down next to her and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Sango continued to sob uncontrollably. She felt like a piece of her own heart had been ripped out of her chest. She couldn't begin to breathe and her only thought was that she wanted to die too.

"NO," she wailed as she cried.

"Sango," Miroku whispered soothingly. Sango lifted her head from her brothers chest. Her forehead and face were partially covered with his blood. She was still sobbing uncontrollably but she soon calmed herself down enough to close her brothers eyes though she knew that the lifeless look in them would haunt her forever.

"Sango, I'm sorry," Miroku said pulling her into a hug. She didn't resist him and instead hugged him back while listening to his heart beat.

She wished that when she had been crying into Kohaku's chest moments ago that his heart had been beating.

But it hadn't.

Kohaku was dead.

"Miroku, he's…dead," Sango told him, her voice breaking as more tears fell from her eyes. Miroku ended the hug and gently wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"We'll make Naraku pay for what he has done," Miroku murmured while hugging her again. "I swear that this time…this time we'll rid the world of that cursed demon."

Sango nodded, but in her mind she didn't have a reason to fight anymore. She didn't have a reason to live anymore.

"As soon as I'm alone," she thought just before Miroku interrupted them.

"Don't forget that you have a reason to fight Sango," Miroku told her. It was almost as if he had read her mind. "Don't forget that you have a reason to live."

"And what's that," Sango whispered. "My reason for living."

"If for nothing else, you have to live for me," Miroku explained, holding her tighter as he did. "I don't want you to die. I want you to live and I want you to find happiness with me. Have you forgotten that I love you?"

Sango hadn't forgotten, but without Kohaku, it all seemed futile. To live on without her brother, who had been her closest and best friend. She had loved him so much.

"I beg of you Sango, if you love me at all, help me fight Naraku and make him pay for Kohaku's death," Miroku said.

She did love Miroku and he indeed sounded desperate. She decided that she would live on for him.

"Alright Miroku, I'll help you," she said after a long moment.

Miroku was relived by her words, but now there remained the inevitable challenge that was upon them. Naraku was more powerful than ever now. It would take a miracle to stop him.

Inuyasha continued to follow the scent of Kohaku's blood until he found Sango and Miroku kneeling by his body.

"Oh no," Kagome muttered just as Inuyasha stopped. "Is Kohaku…"

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied. "He's dead."

"Poor Sango, she must feel awful," Shippo said hopping off of Kagome's shoulder and onto the ground.

"Sango, Miroku," Kagome shouted as she got off of Inuyasha. She hastily ran over to them and gasped in horror when she saw all the blood. It was also at that point that she noticed that she didn't sense the sacred jewel shard in his back anymore.

"Kagome, I'm glad to see you," Sango said wearily getting up from where she had been sitting. Kagome noticed that Kohaku's blood covered Sango's face.

"Sango, I'm really sorry," Kagome replied sadly. "If only we had gotten here sooner."

"It's okay Kagome, don't worry, we'll make Naraku pay for this," Sango stated angrily.

"Yes, but Naraku wasn't the one that killed him," a voice called out.

Everyone turned towards the direction of the voice, except for Inuyasha who already knew who it was.

Sesshomaru appeared before him with Rin and Jaken standing behind him. Rin's face was streaked with tears.

"Sesshomaru," Kagome exclaimed. "Did you…"

"No, Rin witnessed the murder of Kohaku and she asked me to come and revive him with the Tensaiga," Sesshomaru explained. "The person that killed Kohaku was the dead priestess Kikyo."

Everyone gasped, except Inuyasha.

"Of course you knew that, didn't you Inuyasha," Sesshomaru asked.

Every eye was on him now. Inuyasha's gaze had been locked on the ground, but he answered Sesshomaru's question.

"Yes, I knew the second we arrived, her scent is mixed in with the smell of Kohaku's blood."

"Inuyasha, why didn't you say something," Kagome exclaimed angrily.

"Were you trying to protect her," Sesshomaru asked.

"No, I just didn't want to believe that Kikyo would do something like this," Inuyasha stated simply. "She really has changed."

"Inuyasha," Kagome began, but she was cut off by Sango who was furious.

"How could you withhold information like that," Sango shouted. "Kohaku is dead because of her, and you were going to stand there and let us believe that it was Naraku!"

"That's not…," Inuyasha tried to say, but it was no use.

"Don't you dare try to defend what you did, you're just as guilty as Kikyo for my brother's death Inuyasha, none of this would have happened if not for you," Sango screamed.

Inuyasha said nothing further and Sesshomaru decided that now was a good time to revive the boy so that all the annoying drama would end.

He drew out his Tensaiga and hurriedly revived Kohaku.

It took Kohaku a minute or two to wake up, but when he did Sango hugged him tightly and started sobbing all over again.

"Sister Sango," he said, partially out of breath.

"Kohaku, your alive," Sango whispered as she cried.

"Thank you Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said wiping away her own tears. Sesshomaru merely shrugged and turned away while Jaken went into a rant about how Sesshomaru didn't save Kohaku because Rin asked him too.

But everyone knew the truth. Sesshomaru cared about Rin, that's was why he was so protective of her.

The three of them soon took off after Rin ran over and hugged Kohaku goodbye. Poor Kohaku still hadn't registered the fact that he had been resurrected from the dead.

"Kohaku, is Kikyo the one that tried to kill you," Sango asked after hugging him for the twentieth time.

"You mean the priestess," he asked. "Yeah, she said her name was Kikyo. She tried to kill me."

So now it was confirmed and Sango knew exactly who to go after now.

As for Inuyasha and Kagome. Neither one of them said a word about anything. They decided not to speak about it.

However, Kagome felt somewhat resentful towards Inuyasha for trying to protect Kikyo and in the back of her mind she knew that Inuyasha had most likely caught on to Kikyo's scent before Kohaku's and decided to follow it.

"I've been such a fool," she thought sadly.

Inuyasha on the other hand felt nothing but pure anguish. He had a tough decision to make now. He didn't want to believe that Kikyo, the woman that he had once loved, had almost murdered Kohaku in cold blood. He didn't recognize her actions though he knew the reason behind them. Sango had been right, it had been because of him that she'd done all this. It was clear to him now that Kikyo was planning something.

And if Inuyasha's hunch was correct, the priestess that he had once loved was working for Naraku.

The thought of that was a hard thing to swallow and it left his heart cold. In that moment he made a decision.

And in that moment he took off, leaving his friends and Kagome behind.

A/N: So what did you think about that? Yes, I killed Kohaku only to revive him again. (Kohaku didn't deserve to die in the first place. I had to bring him back.)

However, Inuyasha has gone off on his own. He has made a decision about what he will do, but what did he decide? Find out in the next chapter. (Again, sorry for late update)