Arrow to the Heart
"Eh, Kagome-chan, you said that there's a Shikon shard towards the northeast direction, right?"

The next morning Shippo was the first to discover the not-exactly-a-couple leaned against each other, peacefully sleeping. Before he can scream out, however, Miroku and Sango covered his mouth at the same time, then dragged him back into the futon, signaled him to go back to sleep until Inuyasha or Kagome wakes up. Those two had their own "blushing moment" as well, when their hands touched. But that was over when Miroku tried to grope Sango and got a shove this time, instead of a slap, which might have been loud enough to wake up Inuyasha. After breakfast, which Kagome prepared, thinking that her friends were still asleep, they went on their way, toward a direction in which they might find a Shikon shard.

"Not just one shard, Sango-chan, a lot, at least more than five." The sense of some nearby Shikon shards tickles Kagome's heart, causing her to be a little excited.

Inuyasha growled. Since he found out that they were going to sidetrack for a day, instead of tracking down the lost youki of Naraku, he was not happy.

"I know you want to go after Naraku, Inuyasha," Noticing his friend's unhappy protest, Miroku steps in, hoping he can do some damage control. "But it'd be better if we had more shards to go against him, in case he recovered and got stronger. And with more than five shards in one place, we can't pass up this opportunity."

Inuyasha responds again with a growl. He turns his head away, but knowing him, his friends know that they wouldn't need to convince the hanyou any longer.

"Kagome, can I have another lollipop?" Shippo asks happily, knowing that Kagome ate a lot of breakfast, and hasn't touched her book since yesterday's incident. And knowing that it's all due to his brilliant plan, the young kitsune thought it's only right that he gets more candy than usual.

Kagome takes out a lollipop from her pack, already prepared. She feels guilty about how Inuyasha threw Shippo out the room last night. Everyone except for Inuyasha chuckles when the kitsune lets out a sigh of happiness at the sight of the candy.

The group traveled in silence for a while, until they reached a small village, a very small village. They look down from a cliff, and see barely 20 huts, and no more than two acres of land in all. There are some farmers working in the land, with some small children playing in the fields nearby. The women are all by the stream, washing clothes. Smokes are coming out of chimneys of the huts. Everyone is laughing, living happily.

"Waa...It's amazing to see such a small village not destroyed by war or youkai in this day and age." Miroku exclaims. He turns to Sango to give her a wink, but notices some sadness beginning to surface her eyes. Remembering how happily the village people of the youkai exterminators lived; Miroku suddenly wants to slap himself for bring it up.

Sango notices Miroku's look of regret, and forces herself to cheer up despite her painful memories. "Yes, it's great, ne." She returns a smile to reassure the Houshi, only to feel a hand running up and down her back. She grabs her Hiraikotsu and slams it down on the perverted Houshi. The others look on in amusement.

"Who are you people?" Suddenly they hear a voice behind them, a voice of a young woman. "How dare you bring youkai to our village?!" The voice is definitely angry.

Everyone swings around at the sudden noise, and in front of them, stands a girl around the age of 16 or so, not much older than Kagome. She is dressed in yellow and white miko attire, carrying a basket of different healing herbs in her left arm, and holding a bow in her right hand. On her back is a case full of purified arrows.

"Are you a miko?" Kagome asks, feeling a sense of happiness that she might have found a miko at the same age as her, and who's not Kikyo. The girl looks beautiful. Her beauty isn't a graceful beauty like Kagome's and Kikyo's, but one that would belong to a common peasant girl. But she's also different from common. She is a natural beauty, with a sense of "country" in her movement and tone of voice.

Her green eyes would not move away from the travelers. The wind blows on her waist length hair, causing it to flow like the waves. Her skin looks surprisingly white and soft. On her two delicate arms hang five silvery bracelets each, clinking together with the rhythm of the wind.

But before the girl can answer Kagome's question, who else but Miroku suddenly walks up to the girl, and asks in the most serious manner: "Miko-sama, will you carry my child?"

Obviously shocked with the question, the girl withdraws her hand, and is unable to speak for quite a while. When her mind finally snaps back into normal mode, she drops basket she was holding, draws out an arrow, steadies it upon her bow, and takes aim at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha is still amused at Miroku's attempt to have an offspring that he doesn't notice the arrow at all. All he heard was a "swoosh" sound, and sees Kagome run in front of him like a flash. Before he notices anything, Kagome was shot with the girl's arrow, right near the heart.

"Kagome!" Everyone screams out in unison. Kagome falls back into the hanyou's arms with a groan. Everyone runs to Kagome, Inuyasha holding her tightly in his arms, about to pull out the arrow.

"No, Inuyasha, the arrow is purified." Miroku yells just in time. "If a youkai touches it, he'd either to sealed away, seriously hurt, or killed."

Inuyasha growls on top of his lungs and stares into the eyes of the girl who shot the arrow, with blood thirst in his amber eyes. Kagome is still moaning in his arms, obviously hurt. I can get revenge later, Kagome's life is in danger right now.

The girl was shocked; she froze in the same spot while the four strangers were screaming out "Kagome". She didn't plan on hitting the girl; she was aiming at the youkai.

Suddenly, the strangers stop screaming, and the girl that they call "Kagome" goes silent as well. Afraid that she might have killed another human being, the girl in the miko attire drops her bow and runs out of sight.

~~~~~*****~~~~~

"Ka...Kagome." Inuyasha's voice is shaking, he couldn't understand what happened. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stares in silence, no one is making any noise.

"What happened?" Kagome asks in surprise. "I thought an arrow pierced my heart. It hurt, a lot."

"Kagome!!!!" Inuyasha screams out her name in relief and pulls her into his arms, hugging her tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Inuyasha..." Still confused about what happened, Kagome looks onto Miroku.

Miroku stands up, closes his eyes, and says in his "serious" tone: "It seemed like that girl was a miko, one with good aim as well. But she wasn't as powerful as Kagome-sama. Her arrow only hurt Kagome-sama for less than a minute. Unable to kill her, the arrow was purified again, by Kagome-sama's standards, and since Kagome would never shoot an arrow at herself, it disappeared as though it never existed. And since the arrow was gone, somehow Kagome-sama's body healed by itself."

Still hugging Kagome in his arms, Inuyasha sighs. "That's some bullcrap, Miroku. But it's good bullcrap."

"Gee, thanks." Miroku sighs as well.

Kagome was blushing as though she just drank a six-pack by herself, but she didn't struggle, and Inuyasha didn't let go for another minute. But when he did, it was only to scold her.

"You baka! What did you think you were doing. You could've been killed, you baka!" When Inuyasha sees her apologetic look in her eyes, his voice suddenly softens. "What am I going to do with you?" He bends down, hugs her again, but his actions only brings tears to Kagome's eyes. "Ka...Kagome...please don't cry." It's now his turn to be scared.

"Gomen ne, Inuyasha. I knew she was a miko, and her arrows must have been purified. I saw her taking aim at you, and you could've been seriously hurt if her arrow hit you. You always protected me, I wanted to save you for once."

Shocked at her confession, Inuyasha could only stare. Carefully not to hurt her with his claws, he lifts her up in his arms. "C'mon, Kagome, let's go to that village and find some place to rest. I think that miko was from that village, I'll make her wish she was never born."

Miroku taking the hint, grabs Shippo by the tail and lifts the kitsune into the basket of the bike, and pushes the bike while following Inuyasha. He turns his head to signal Sango to follow him, and the group heads down a road that might lead to the village they saw on the cliff.

"Kagome, how are you feeling?" The group is taking rest in the hut furthest away from the center of the village, not wanting to scare the villagers. Miroku managed to convince the owner of the hut that Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara wouldn't hurt him. He and Inuyasha plan on making a visit to the miko after they make sure that Kagome is absolutely okay.

"I'm fine, Inuyasha, I don't even remember the pain." Kagome understands the hanyou's guilt, but it is rather ridiculous to go to sleep at noon. "I want to get up. I want to find that miko and assure her that I'm fine. She looked terrified when she hit me."

"Keh, she was probably surprised that a human would block an arrow for a youkai." Inuyasha is trying to act cool, but he is also touched about Kagome's actions, no human had saved him like that before. All he wants to do is to shred that miko into pieces for hurting Kagome, and trying to kill him. "I'll find her later, and teach her a lesson."

"Are you going to kill Haruko-sama, you youkai?" The owner of the hut suddenly appears by the doorway, shaking all over, but is apparently very protective of his village's miko.

"Keh, what if I am?" Inuyasha mocks him. "How are you going to stop me?"

"I...I won't let you. She's our village's future protector. We won't be able to survive in this world without her. You can't kill her." Inuyasha can hear the guy's knees shaking with fear. The hanyou smirked.

"We aren't trying to kill your miko, sir." Kagome cuts in before things get any worse. "We just want to explain ourselves for being here."

"Miko? She's not our miko."

"Na... nani?" Kagome's brows knit together. "But her arrows were quite powerful. How can she not be a miko?"

"She's our miko"s daughter, currently in training." Hearing a stranger praise his future-protector, the man's heart settles a little. "She's powerful because her mother is the most beautiful and most powerful miko in the world. Even though Haruko-sama hasn't finished her training yet, she has managed to exterminate many youkai that are trying to destroy this village. And her mother...the beautiful Hanako-sama..." Everyone stares at the strange man, day-dreaming about his village miko.

"Uhh..." Kagome decides to leave the man to his strange fantasies. Then she suddenly notices that Sango had disappeared. "Where did Sango-chan go?"

"Oh, she said she was going to retrieve something." Miroku says blankly. Apparently, without Sango with him, he is rather depressed.

"I'm back!" Sango's familiar voice rings through the door. She carries in her hand, the bow Haruko was carrying, and the basket full of herbs.

"Oh, so that's what you went to retrieve." Miroku's eyes suddenly light up. He runs to Sango, throws away the bow and basket she was carrying, and takes her hand. He looks at her in the eyes with a rather serious face. "I missed you, Sango-chan."

Shocked with his reaction, Sango didn't even slap him when he squeezed her butt. Of course, when she finally realizes what the Houshi was doing, she first rams him into the ground with her Hiraikotsu, then picks him up, gives him a double slap, drags him out of the hut, and boots him ten feet away. She dusts her hands with an annoyed look, and goes back in. "Damn Houshi, damn pervert." She mumbles under her breath.

"Kagome-chan, how are you feeling?"

"I'm really fine, Sango-chan, really." Kagome doesn't want everyone to fuss over nothing. And after all, it really didn't hurt at all. "What are you doing with that bow, Sango-chan?"

"Well, you left your bow in Kaede-sama's hut, so I thought if that if that girl is gone, you can use it in case we need to fight to get those Shikon shards you sensed. And the herbs are always useful. What is it, Kagome-chan?" Sango suddenly realizes Kagome's surprise look. Inuyasha and Shippo turn to Kagome as well and the sound of Sango's concerned voice. The Houshi finally recovers and comes back at the moment. All eyes are on Kagome.

"The shards, I can't sense them anymore." Kagome says in surprise. "I just realized that I haven't been able to sense them since we were on that cliff."

"Maybe we're out of range." Sango suggests.

"No, we've only been moving northeast ward, the village is also in the northeast direction." Miroku's mind has changed from hentai to seriousness.

Inuyasha looks down at Kagome with concern. Maybe the arrow did something to her.

"What if I lost my ability to sense the shards?" Kagome goes stiff at the thought. Then she would have no more reason to stay in that time, no more reason to stay with Inuyasha. I don't want to leave him.

"No, it can't happen so suddenly. There must be a reason." Miroku senses the panic in Kagome's tone, and he's trying to comfort her, but he isn't sure what's going on either.

"What if it was that miko's arrow? What if it did some damage to Kagome-chan's body?" Sango's suggestion matches with Inuyasha's suspicion, but that only made him angrier.

"Maybe Naraku took the shards beforehand, and took it out of range." Shippo wants to assure Kagome that her ability to sense shards is just fine, but doesn't realize that his guess is even worse. When he sees everyone's frowns get worse at his suggestion, he wants to punch himself. "Or maybe he didn"t."

"I'm sure it's not Naraku, since I can feel it if the shards were moving, but it was like the shards just simply disappeared."

"I agree with Sango, I think it's all that Haruko's fault." Inuyasha finally speaks out. "I think it's time we paid that bitch a visit." Nobody argues with him this time. He's right, something needs to be done. Besides, even if the girl has nothing to do with it, they might learn something about tracking down jaki from this "beautiful, most powerful miko ever" - Hanako.

"Well then, let's go." Miroku takes the liberty of gently shoving aside the fantasizing man, and leads the group out of the hut. "This village is rather small, the house of the miko should be near the temple where they worship. And I saw the temple to be in the middle of the town when we were on that cliff."

Miroku suddenly realizes that everyone is looking at him with surprise. "What? You don't think being a charmer is all this Houshi is capable of, do you?" He takes the chance to wink at Sango, sending a blush that covers even her neck.

As they are walking toward the temple, many of the villagers see Inuyasha and Shippo and run to tell the miko Hanako and her daughter, Haruko, that youkai are invading their village.

"Even better." Inuyasha smirks, "Now we don't have to walk all the way."

It took them less than 10 minutes to see the shabby temple. It was really plain, if it weren't for the charms hanging outside the temple and the spiritual energy, they would've mistaken it for a regular hut.

When Kagome gets closer and closer to the temple, she became more and more energized. Miroku senses it as well.

"This miko Hanako must be very powerful indeed. I haven't felt this energized since I was at the temple where I was raised." Then he turns to Kagome, "Have you noticed any changes, Kagome-sama?"

Too nervous, and too confused to reply, Kagome managed a weak "Unn" despite her new found energy.

Some weren't as lucky. Inuyasha and Shippo, and even Kirara were wearing away by the second. The miko power surrounding the temple was just too much for them to handle. Especially Inuyasha, his grip on the Tessaiga was loosening, and he looked as if though he was about to faint.

Shit, any youkai that come close to this temple are bound to be purified. Damn it, at this rate, I'll be dead.

Inuyasha's vision is getting blurry, and then everything turns dark. He feels his eyes roll upward; he falls backwards before he even manages to tell his friends.

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