An Unlikely Pair

Five

A/N: I kinda ran out of ideas here so... yeah :)

Kirara's mewing woke Kagome up about a day later. Kagome slowly blinked open her eyes. She almost didn't realize she was in Kaede's village. She sat up.

She saw Sango laying down on the ground along the adjacent wall. Kirara sat beside her. Kagome could tell something wasn't right about the way Sango lay. She got up and went over to her.

Across the far side of Sango's face were purple streaks as if a demon had scratched her. Kagome kneeled down beside Kirara. The twin-tailed cat sniffed twice before shaking her head and making a face.

Miasthma? Kagome thought. Did she not have her mask?

"-But it's not Naraku's doing," she heard Miroku saying. "This is far too sinister to be his miasthma."

Kagome stood up.

"In that case," Kaede said, "we must be wary. Whoever this presence belongs to is after someone close."

Just outside the hut, Miroku and Kaede were setting up what looked like a barrier. Kagome walked out to listen in.

"Oh, good morning, Kagome," Miroku greeted.

"Good morning," Kagome responded. She hesitated before continuing. "What happened to Sango?"

Miroku looked at her for a moment. He glanced away when he spoke. "Naraku."

Kagome gave him a disbelieving look. "Naraku is dead, though. Isn't he?"

"That is what we thought too," Kaede said. "But with the way things are turning out, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a run-in with him."

So the miasthma I saw was real, Kagome thought. "Where's..." she trailed off. She took a breath. "Where's Sesshomaru?"

"We haven't seen him since he left you at the hut," Miroku said, apologetically.

Kagome sighed. "Okay." Knowing him, though, he should be fine.

~meanwhile~

"Are you giving up that easily?"

"Not... a... chance..." The demon's eyes turned red as he was preparing to transform.

His foe, the half-demon Naraku, snickered. "Don't even try. You still don't have the strength to defeat me."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and they returned to normal color. He saw the point Naraku made. He didn't want to risk anything.

He could sense someone in the shadows behind Naraku. He knew who it was without looking at her.

She exited the shadows and removed a feather from her hair, throwing it upward. It changed in to a much larger feather that she now rode on.

Is it possible Naraku is weak enough that he needs that sorceress to back him up? Sesshomaru thought.

He noticed the wind sorceress had looked down at them before she flew away. "Don't mind Kagura," Naraku said to him, a smirk on his face. "She'd only get in the way."

Sesshomaru didn't say anything else. He turned and walked away, not even hearing Naraku's last comment.

"No one can defeat me, not even the priestess."