Chapter 8:

Later, Miroku woke up and noticed that Inuyasha was sitting beside him.

"You really do heal quickly, Inuyasha." He said, getting Inuyasha's attention.

"Keh! I hate to admit it, but I recovered faster thanks to that strange girl Kagome is talking to. I can still smell her faint scent on me, and on you too."

Miroku looked at the strange girl, and then to his hand, which had the curse. He then noted that the hole seemed to shrink a little. However, he decided to drop it, thinking that it was just his imagination.

"Come to think of it…I was sure I got poisoned by those insects, and it would certainly take me a longer time to recover. Tell me, how long was I asleep?"

"I don't know, but I think it's just a few hours."

"Hmm..."

Arisa and Kagome were busy chatting about random things, until Miroku was suddenly in front of her, and held her hands.

"Miss, would you like to bear my children?"

Arisa was shocked at the sudden question and appearance of Miroku, and she blushed out of embarrassment.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she replied in a shocked tone, and she remembered how Kagome described him before. Quickly, she moved away from him.

Miroku chuckled nervously. "Oh, sorry about that. My tongue slipped. I meant to thank you for your efforts."

However, Kagome and Shippo looked at him with suspicious eyes.

"I'm not so sure about that…" Kagome commented, while Shippo was shaking his head slowly.

"W-whatever do you mean…?"

"You were about to grope her ass!" Kagome pointed out, and Miroku became more nervous.

"A-haha-ha…that would be a shameful thing for me to do…"

"Oh, really? Stop with the innocent act." This time, it was Inuyasha who commented.

"Agh, alright! You got me! I'm very sorry about my rude behavior, Miss - what's your name?" Miroku answered, scratching his head.

"Arisa…"

"Yes, sorry, Miss Arisa. But I am truly grateful for your help."

"No problem at all…!" she tried to reply with an unsure smile.

Oh my god. I was about to get harassed! The heck…!

Seeing that the bunch were already in good condition, Arisa decided to continue her journey.

"Well, it looks like you're all good to go. I better get going, then."

"Aww, won't you like to come with us for the time being, at our village? Or maybe, travel with us?" Kagome asked.

"I would like to, but I think I wasted a lot of time…" Arisa replied with a nervous laugh.

"Oh…that's too bad. It would be nice to have you with us…"

"Hey, Kagome! Will you stop dragging random people with us all the time!?" Inuyasha commented in an annoyed tone.

"Don't be like that, Inuyasha!" Kagome quickly answered back then faced Arisa again.

"Perhaps you're also looking for the sacred jewel shards? Or you're hunting for a demon named Naraku?"

"…sorry Kagome, I don't. I have no idea about those sacred jewel shards too…But the name Naraku is familiar. I mean, he was the one who-"

'gave that weird arm to Sesshomaru' is the phrase she was about to say, but somehow, it didn't sound right. Then all of a sudden, that moment where Sesshomaru let go of the sword while looking at his artificial arm flashed into her mind. Could it be that…there was something wrong that time?

"Gave him an arm to get a hold of Tetsusaiga, right?" Inuyasha interjected, continuing Arisa's statement.

"So you knew..."

"Of course! I'm the one who cut his arm. There was also a sacred jewel shard in that artificial arm of his, and it is definitely from Naraku."

What a complicated situation...and it seemed like Naraku took advantage of it. How cunningly evil...

She really wanted to know more of what happened between the brothers, but right now, she was more worried of Sesshomaru.

"A-anyway...! I'm thankful for your offer, Kagome, but I think I need to go. I have to look for Sesshomaru!"

Kagome and the other three were surprised at her statement. She expected that, but she didn't want to lie.

"What? Why would you go after him?" she asked worriedly.

"It's a bit of a complicated short story, but I will tell you when we meet again, Kagome. See you!"

Upon saying that, Arisa dashed away from them, but he could hear Inuyasha's rants about how she knew Sesshomaru and what her relationship was to him. She suddenly thought about them thinking of her as a spy, so she stopped for a while to explain.

"Don't worry! I'm not a spy or anything! I swear!"

And with that, she continued on her way to Sesshomaru.

When we meet again, huh? We probably won't, though…because I'm going back to my own world. I'm sorry about that, Kagome.

"I said that, but how am I ever going to find him in this unknown and dangerous world!?" Arisa complained loudly while running; and slowly, she stopped.

Still...I really have the feeling that he is hurt. Ugh…!

With that in thought, she resumed walking in a fast pace. She didn't even know why she had the urge to help him, even though she knew he would just dispose of her; as he would heal fast and all because he was a demon. But something kept bugging her that it was different this time.

Sesshomaru suddenly woke up from his short nap.

What is this? Why do I smell that woman's scent?

He quietly eyed on his surroundings, but found no trace of her. However, the scent was still there. Suddenly, it occurred to him that she might be in trouble. And just like that, he slowly stood up, and was now on his way to where her scent was coming from, not minding the moderate pain he was still feeling on his left arm - caused by the secret poison which came from the artificial hand he received from a cunning bastard.

Trying to kill me behind the scenes, huh. Damn you, Naraku. You won't get away with this.

At the same time, Jaken woke up to his movement.

"Sesshomaru-sama? Where are you going?"

He came to halt at Jaken's voice, and that's where he realized what he was just about to do. His expression turned sour.

Hmm? Was I just about to go see a mere human…?

"…nothing. I only thought there was something out there."

"Well, forgive me but I see nothing, milord." Jaken replied nervously.

"Hmph."

Sesshomaru turned his back and was about to sit down to where he was earlier, when all of a sudden, a shriek came from a short distance, and he undeniably recognized it. In just a flash, he was on his way to where the shriek came from, much to Jaken's surprise.

"Wait a minute, milord!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX