Sorry people I'm going camping till sunday so there won't be a new chapter for a while! And these next two were written hastily so I apologize.

InuYasha- Chapter 378- Orochi Nest.

"I will go…since I know what I should do."

"Kohaku…" Sango muttered, staring down at the lock of hair in her grasp. She gripped it tightly, holding it to her heart. "Where did you go by yourself…?"

The group was standing outside the demon slayer's village, nearby the dense forest where InuYasha had recently emerged from. The daylight was upon them, the warm sun shining down upon the happily.

"I'm sorry Sango…I couldn't stop him. Some kind of…powerful barrier was blocking me…"

Miroku looked up to the half-demon's gaze. "What stopped us here was probably the same barrier."

"The barrier…only let Kohaku through…" Sango realized.

"InuYasha…" Kagome looked at him, her expression sincere. "Did you meet with Kikyou?"

InuYasha felt his senses sharpen. What the hell?!

"That wasn't Kikyou's barrier," Kagome continued, "However…Kikyou…used Midoriko's soul."

InuYasha blinked at her as he remembered the events of the previous evening. He envisioned Midoriko, the Kikyou.

"Midoriko and I…have alike souls."

"Then that barrier…was Midoriko's?" Miroku asked, trying to make sense of it all. The rest of the group stared at InuYasha, begging for answers.

Far away, in a distant mountain, Hakkaku and Ginta dashed across the land. Their arms and legs flailed around with the effort, sweat flying off their foreheads and bodies.

"I…It's the same as usual but…" Ginta began, gasping for breath. "Wait up Kouga!" He shouted, bringing a hand to his mouth for extra distance.

Kouga ran before then, swirls of air surrounding his feet from the speed. His hair billowed behind him from the force, his outfit plastered to the front of his body.

"I can't wait!" he answered, yelling over his shoulder.

Hakkaku replied, "Eh?"

"What's the rush for?!" Ginta continued.

"We're getting closer! To something that stinks!"

Up ahead, a slumped form of what appeared to be a human lay upon the ground.

"Someone has collapsed," Hakkaku observed, catching up to Kouga.

Ginta was at his side, "Kouga, he smells of blood."

"Yeah!" Kouga agreed, speeding up. The man pushed himself up, using his arms for support. He raised his head slowly, revealing his demonic face. His eyes were pitch black, with red pupils. Fangs hung from his mouth, which was dripping blood. His white hair was pulled into a tight ponytail atop his head, his pixie-like ears peeking out from the sides. His armor was blood stained, revealing trace of a wound.

Kouga stopped in front of him, his wind swirling and stopping behind him. He saw that the demon was missing a foot, and was gravely injured.

"Hey, what happened?" He asked, staring down at him.

The demon hesitated before answering, "…youkai-wolf tribe huh…"

Kouga kneeled before him, resting his hand on his knee. "From your face, you look like one of the Orochi tribe. What happened to you?"

"Our nest…was attacked…." he answered meekly. Resting his head against the ground, he continued, "Suddenly…a youkai I'd never seen before appeared, and ate my friends one by one. I…bit off his flesh…and with my fangs, poured my Orochi poison into him…and escaped."

Kouga listened intently, but re-thought what the demon had said. Bit off his flesh…?

Suddenly, the demon's neck began to pulsate. Giant root-like extensions blasted out from his neck, eyes, mouth and head, stretching out to the sky. Hakkaku and Ginta cried out in horror, but Kouga just stared on. The roots kept coming, growing larger and thicker. Finally, the ceased growing, but instead wrapped around the demon. They tightly contracted, locking him into a cocoon-like confinement.

"Wha…Wha…?" was all Hakkaku could say.

"Flesh?!" asked Ginta, shock on his face.

Kouga explained, "The flesh he bit off…ate him from the inside out." His nose perked up, dancing in the air. This smell…

The encasement of flesh lifted off the ground, trying to make its escape.

"Eh?!" Ginta shouted.

Hakkaku continued, "It flew?!"

"After it!" ordered Kouga, as he broke into a run yet again. There's no mistake….This scent…is Moryoumaru's!

Meanwhile, InuYasha and the group were on the move again. They had caught sense of Kouga and his party, up ahead. Kagome leaned down slightly, trying to get to InuYasha's ear.

"InuYasha. Still can't tell where Kouga-kun is?"

InuYasha scowled, "I can't smell anything annoying."

Kagome sighed and began to re-analyze the conversation from earlier; Kikyou us using Midoriko's soul….Midoriko's soul has taken Kohaku-kun away. She thought about what InuYasha had told them Kikyou had said, "There is one chance to destroy Naraku. That is when Naraku has the complete Shikon no Tama in his hands." Her brow narrowed. If Kikyou and Midoriko's thoughts are the same, then…she will likely try to take Kouga-kun's two fragments as well.

Isn't Kagome angry? Normally… He finished his thoughts in words, "After InuYasha and Kikyou meet sneakily, she would refuse to be carried by InuYasha."

Kagome scowled as she looked to the left. "Shippou-chan, you're thinking out loud."

"Who met sneakily? I told you, didn't I?" InuYasha asked, inconsiderate as always.

"Only afterwards," Kagome sighed, looking farther to her left. Her voice held a sad tone, "Just like every other time…."

InuYasha looked up at her slightly, "Hey….Now isn't the time to be discussing this."

Kagome tightened her grip on the shoulder of his kimono, her eyes now showing deep hurt and depression. "Isn't that why I haven't been complaining?"

InuYasha sweat dropped, his face black. "Eh…sure."

Was it me? Wondered Shippou, did I say something I shouldn't have?

Over on Kirara, Miroku leaned down closer to Sango. He pulled her to him slightly with his Shakujou. "Sango….Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Sango said, tears in her eyes. If the Shikon no Tama is completed…Kohaku…you will die! Are you waiting for that time?!

Kouga and his companions had chased the fleshy mound deep into a forest. Enourmous roots and wildlife were tangled upon the ground, but Kouga bounded over them with ease. He brought his hand to his nose, trying to stop the air from filtering in. Ugh….It stinks of snake! I guess the entrance is nearby…

A few yards away, a white arm shot out from the ground. Three talon-like fingers stretched up into the sky, flexing as the flesh was absorbed into his the arm.

It got absorbed… Kouga thought, staring at it in disgust. He ran up to the crater where the arm came from, shocked to see that it was just that. And arm, and nothing else. Kouga blinked down at it, seeing the hundreds of Orochi demon corpses below it.

An arm…?!