As Inuyasha leapt from inside the well once more and returned to the feudal era, the sky was darkening into night, an entire day passed. He hadn't meant to let it get so late, but he'd had to wait to leave so he could properly evade the Higurashi's. Although he felt a little bad for essentially spying on Kagome's family, he couldn't risk exposing himself to someone unknown. He had stayed in her room, listening to the conversations in the house, then swung himself out the window and slipped across the shrine back to the well.

Now he knew this new man was a mate to Kagome's mother. Kagome hadn't told Inuyasha about him yet, nor this man about her time travelling- of this he was sure, as the man had asked about Kagome's whereabouts and Inuyasha had heard her mother make up something about being away at a friend's- so he could only imagine this was a recent development. He wasn't sure why Kagome hadn't told him, but there were other details emerging from what he had discovered that he began to put together.

From what he had heard, he knew that Kagome's family had no idea of her illness, so he knew that Kagome was keeping things from him, and from them. He knew that this man had been in Kagome's bed at some point, or at the very least, her room- and not since she had left. He knew that Kaede had told him Kagome somehow received wounds where there shouldn't be; the thought alone made him tremble with fury.

With those pieces, he pushed together a hasty puzzle and imagined an immediate worst-case scenario: it was possible, Kagome might be seeing this man. It was also possible; he had attacked her. A third possibility was of course that neither of those things were true, but without Kagome opening up to him, all he could go on were the few clues he had gathered. He hadn't even gotten this man's name.

Sick to his stomach, Inuyasha sank down beside the well for a moment to catch his racing heart and try to talk down a fit of rage; he wanted to race back to Kaede's village, shake Kagome awake and demand to know if he was correct in his assumptions, but he repeated over and over to himself that this was all he had so far; assumptions.

Either way, he had to confront her.

And yet, he thought, what right did he honestly have? In the end, couldn't this be his fault? He hung his head, holding his face in his hands. How could he have been so stupid?

"Where's Kagome?"

Sango glared at Inuyasha, silently chastising as he approached, and turned her back to finish scaling a small pile of fish without a word in his direction. Miroku rolled his eyes, delivering a quick jab to Inuyasha's ribs as he passed by cradling an armful of vegetables still rough with soil.

"Not in the woods with a former lover, I'm certain." The monk raised his eyebrows, then turned to set his armload down.

"Mind your own business, would ya?" Inuyasha crossed his arms and indignantly went on, "I can smell her, I know she was here, what, did she go off to sulk?" When Sango only chopped a head from a fish with a sharp, punctuated jab in response, he muttered, "I'll go fetch her. Feh."

"She went home." Sango snapped, sliding her sharp tool quickly and ruthlessly. Several scales flipped into the air as she cut. Inuyasha and Miroku both gulped, taking a step back.

"Stupid Inuyasha." Shippo piped up from the ground as he lazily crossed his legs, laying on his back to view the clouds. "How long do you think Kagome's gonna wait around for you to get your head straight?"

"Would you all shut the hell up? It isn't like that!" Inuyasha grumbled, then stomped off into the woods toward the well. He'd just have to go bring her back then.

However, when he came into the clearing and found himself at the edge of the well, ready to jump, he faltered. What exactly could he say this time? It was true. He had gone to find Kikyo when he was meant to be there for Kagome's return. He knew how it would affect her and he had gone anyway.

In the end he had opted to wait for Kagome instead of retrieving her and nestled in the boughs of a tall tree at the edge of the clearing. The next morning when she arrived, they'd spoken very little – she smelled heavily of her modern cleaning products, like the soap she brought with her from the future, so much so he had to keep a pace away from her or the scents would tickle his nose. He supposed she'd gone home, taken one of those baths she was so crazy about, and felt better. For this he was thankful and decided not to bring up the small hiccup in their journey if she was willing to let it go, too.

It was possible that Kagome had run into the arms of the first person who offered her solace; in this case, he thought bitterly, a human man far past her senior. What was that dirtbag thinking? He was old enough to be her father. The thought repulsed him, but he had to consider, perhaps that was how he had injured her.

He had to talk to her, now.

But what if she lied? He contemplated this as he ran full speed toward the village and toward her, trying to dislodge the dark fable he'd spun. If she refused to say anything – and she already had - where did that leave him?

What could he possibly do to help if she didn't want it? Maybe it was like Shippo had warned; eventually, Kagome would get sick of waiting for him to come back from chasing Kikyo. Maybe she already had.

xox

A small village stretched before the weathered demon slayer, monk, and their nekomata companion, who quickly transformed back to her small and approachable form as the buildings and human voices came nearer. Beside her, the ginger kitsune looked to his older friends for their next course of action; however, before Miroku or Sango could either vocalize a plan, a voice called across the grounds to them,

"Halt! All of you, stop where you are!"

The travellers looked toward a single soldier who waved at them with a slightly primitive weapon from afar, though his threatening demeanour greatly outweighed his armour and, as they assumed, ability.

"Hello," Miroku called back, showing his hands in a sign of good will. "We are travelling through this area-"

"Explain your business!" The man seemed to switch between confident and frantic, all in the short sentences he barked. Sango noted that behind him, two smaller soldiers cowered in the tall bushes that lined the walking path into their village.

"We provide exorcisms and demon slayings for the villages we happen upon," Sango explained softly, "In exchange for board and meals, whatever the people we serve think is most deserving."

"Our work is well known, and well received." Miroku added.

The soldier seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then relaxed his shoulders and tone, lowering the sharp blade he held with both hands.

"We have no need for such services." He told them, and with a last scrutinizing glance at the group, sheathed his weapon. "We're served by a great warrior, our Lord Touma, so you may pass through – swiftly."

"We thank you," Miroku nodded, and began forward.

Sango hefted her weapon on her back, gripping it closer as they passed the soldier. Even with an ancient looking weapon like what he had, she had no trust for the aggressive approach he held, and without Inuyasha and Kagome, they were stripped down in terms of strength and protection.

Just as they had their backs to the soldiers, a small voice cried out,

"Wait, stop!"

Another added,

"Jiro! Get back here!"

Miroku and Sango turned to see one of the smaller soldiers who had been hiding in the bush running to reveal himself, chasing after the strangers. Behind him, his ruling guard looked on with dark but intrigued suspense; he didn't advance to stop the boy, even when he stood before Miroku and asked,

"You travel frequently, as you say, then perhaps have you seen him?"

Miroku glanced at his partners shortly before looking back at the boy, whose chest heaved with the effort of his anticipation.

"You mean, your Lord Touma?" the monk answered, bending slightly to address the significantly shorter soldier, who nodded, then went on as he turned to Sango,

"I see you wear the garb of the demon slayers." Sango nodded, unsure where he meant to go with this trivial information. "My father told me stories of what happened to your village. The village of origin to the Shikon no Tama, and how the demon Naraku destroyed everything and everyone there."

Despite how Sango flinched, the boy went on, desperate to get out his words as quickly as possible before his commanding officer called him back, "I'm sorry, miss, to bring it up. You see, our Lord has several shards of the jewel, and had left to seek out the demon Naraku. He wanted to combine powers, or in failing that, defeat Naraku and take his shards for himself and our village."

"I see." Miroku answered. At the mention of Naraku, the one they sought for so long, Sango and Shippo stiffened and craned to listen carefully to what the young soldier had to say. Miroku pressed on, "Did your Lord Touma find Naraku? Which direction did he go?"

But the boy shook his head, and breathlessly continued,

"This was a while ago; Lord Touma returned from seeking Naraku injured, badly. He even lost one of his shards." Behind him, the older soldier seethed reprimanding, repeating the boy's name again in sharp discomfort. "However, on his return from the battle with Naraku, Touma ran in to the wolf demon tribe, and spied on their deliberations – he heard their leader, Koga, speak of a mysterious priestess who could not only see the shards of the jewel, but already had a few herself. He decided to go to find the priestess. That was a month ago."

A silence fell over the roadway where the boy stood, holding his hand out to the demon slayer as though she could fill it with his lost leader.

"I thought you may know where this great demon resides and may have seen our Lord. Please, if you see him," the boy dropped his hand, and seemed to shrink into himself as he took a step back to return to his post. "He happened upon us by chance and by luck, for us at least, chose to stay. Before, we were a village ravaged by war and constant loss. The shards and power he held, saved us all. If you find out what happened to him, and to our sacred object…"

"Sacred object?" Miroku interrupted, glancing at Sango with a concerned gaze. It was obvious she had heard exactly what he had, but they had to get as much information as possible from this soldier before he decided to clam up.

As if he knew his senior officer would disapprove, the soldier dropped his voice to a whisper.

"The sacred arrow which sealed a great demon in our village, years and years ago."

"Jiro, return to your post!"

"A priestess named Kikyo sealed the demon." The soldier turned, finishing over his shoulder with a wave, "Lord Touma took it with him, and we gladly gave it so he might protect himself, if necessary, while on his journey. Promise you'll return to let us know if you do see, or hear anything in your travels?"

"We will, of course." Sango agreed. Jiro returned to his hiding place, poor as it was, and the slayer called over her shoulder, "Kirara!"

With an explosion of flames that forced a shriek of fear from the three guards, Kirara returned to her larger form to be mounted by Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, while Jiro and his colleagues shook before the great cat demon.

"We will bring you any news!" Shippo called down in a cheery voice, "Thank you!"

"Sango," Miroku wrapped his arms around her waist as Kirara took off, "You heard what he said. This powerful warrior must be after Kagome, with those shards. But do you have any idea how that sacred arrow, or Naraku, would play into all of this?"

"I have no idea," Sango admitted, "Hearing of Kagome and Kikyo in a stranger's tale was jarring enough – I'm still trying to run the details over in my mind. But one thing is for certain- we need to get this information to Inuyasha and Kagome, before this Lord Touma does find them. Who knows what he plans to do with Kagome?" Miroku nodded gravely, and Sango called ahead, "To the village, Kirara!"

The nekomata picked up speed, growling in agreement.