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Japanese Volcabulary:

taijiya: slayer

inuhanyou: half dog demon

Hai: Yes

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Episode 26: Step one down...

The sun was shining above as the shard hunters made their way down the dirt road. After Miroku had returned, they had headed back to the room and slept through the rest of the night. The large villager had been taken care of by the Inn keeper and the next morning, they had headed out after hearing of a shard rumor in a village a few days from there. So now they were walking down the road on the look out for any clues that might link to the shard they'd heard about.

Meanwhile, a certain taijiya was still thinking over the night's events, ending up with him a little quieter than normal, and looking at the group sadly when he thought no one else was looking. His behavior did not go unnoticed. In fact, practically the whole group noticed and questioned it in their minds.

Miroku stared at the ground before him as he walked, clothed in the casual violet robes he'd donned, concealing the slayer's uniform he wore underneath. He frowned as he once more thought over what he had to do.

'Why?' he thought, mournfully. 'Of all the things I'd have to do, why does it have to be that? I wouldn't mind doing anything else.' He closed his eyes. 'I have friends and such great friends they are.' He opened his eyes again, shooting a sorrowful glance at said friends. 'Why must I do the one thing that will hurt them the most?' He lowered his eyes to the ground. 'I'd almost even welcome death then the kind of pain I'll be inflicting. Why?... Why?... Wh-'

"Miroku?"

Miroku quickly lifted his head and turned to look at who had spoken. In turn, he was met with concerned dark brown orbs.

"Miroku?" Sango questioned again. "Are you okay?"

Miroku blinked in surprise before forcing a smile. "Now why would you ask something like that?"

The female monk frowned and furrowed her brows at the smile. "It's just... you've been acting a little strangely and we're all a little worried."

"'We're?'" Miroku said.

Sango nodded. "All of us have noticed how you've been acting."

Miroku suddenly tensed as his mind raced, frantically. 'No! They can't have noticed! Oh no! They must suspect something... What am I going to do?! If they figure out what's going on... They can't figure it out! Or Kanna...'

He didn't want to think about it. But even as he was fearing that they may figure out that something was amiss, he was half hoping they would figure it out too.

As quickly as he tensed, the taijiya forced himself to relax again, hoping that his female companion had not noticed. Unfortunately for him, she had noticed but didn't mention it and only responded with a frown, which he didn't notice.

"So back to my earlier question," Sango said," are you okay?"

Miroku nodded with false cheer, grinning with the forced smile. "No need to worry, Sango! I guess..." He paused as he racked his brain for an explanation.

"You guess what?" Sango asked, concern still evident in her eyes.

Miroku bowed his head as if sad, while internally he grinned at the sudden idea. "I guess I'm still a little sad about my sister and my village, you know? I know it's been a while but..." He trailed off, mournfully.

Sango lifted her brows in surprise but nodded. "Oh. I guess that explains it."

Miroku nodded. "So you have no need to worry. There's nothing you can do."

Sango stared at him for a few moments almost as if she wasn't completely sure if that was the real reason. Eventually she nodded and headed back up where the others were.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, he released a relieved sigh. 'That was far too close for my liking.'

Sango, meanwhile, had rejoined the others and Inuyasha turned to look at her. "So what's up with Miroku? Did he give a reason why he's acting weird?"

The female monk furrowed her brow but replied," Yes. He said that he still feels a little upset about what happened to his sister and his people, despite that it's already been a couple of weeks."

Kirara nodded. "Oh. So that's why he's been acting a little weird."

"But why is he just now acting strangely?" Kagome questioned. "It seems a little odd that he'd just now be acting this way after all this time."

"Maybe it's finally caught up to him," Inuyasha pointed out. "Maybe it's just never hit him that they're really dead." Inuyasha suddenly frowned, turning his gaze forward, but with a strange look like he wasn't really there. "For some people, when someone close to them dies, it's like they become numb to what happened. Like they don't fully realize that the person's dead. Then, one day they wake up and it hits them." His voice got softer. "They're gone... and they're never coming back."

Things were quiet for a few moments before Sango broke the silence, saying a little uncertaintly," I guess you could be right..."

The female monk darted her eyes behind her where the sullen taijiya walked quietly. 'What's wrong Miroku, and why won't you tell us?' She thought back to when his behaviour started and released a silent sigh. 'What happened that night you disappeared?....'

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Later that day, the group stopped for lunch. Luckily, and after quite a lot of arguing, it was decided that instead of the usual peanut butter sandwiches, they would have fish after a vote of 5 to 1 (Shippo included).

So, now it was to be decided WHO would get the fish.

"The brat should do it," Kagome argued. "She's the cat demon and don't cat demons just LOVE fish?"

"Just because I'm a CAT demon doesn't mean you can automatically assume I like fish!" Kirara hissed angrily.

"If you don't like fish, then we should have just eaten peanut butter sandwiches!" Kagome barked back.

"I never said I didn't like fish!" the young cat demon retorted. "I just said you can't automatically assume I do because of what kind of demon I am!"

"Well then, you can go catch the fish!" the female hanyou growled. "Just transform into your true form and snatch a few with your claws!"

Sango sighed and said to Inuyasha. "Are we sure eating something else is even worth this much trouble?"

"You just read my mind," Inuyasha muttered, watching the two demons with an exasperated expression.

"Well then, why don't one of you go?" Kagome said, glaring at the two humans. "You're the ones who wanted the fish in the first place!"

Inuyasha snorted. "You kidding me? I don't trust you not to dig in my backpack. Knowing you and how much you worship those sandwiches, you'd probably try to nab a couple."

Kagome growled. "Then, why can't the monk or slayer go?"

Sango frowned. "Monk? Slayer? Since when did I go from Sango to Monk and Miroku to Slayer?"

"Since you all decided to go and tick me off," Kagome gritted out.

While this was going on, Miroku was debating a problem in his mind. 'Should I start what Narakuna told me now?... Or could I wait a little longer?...' He sighed internally at that thought. 'It won't be long before they grow suspicious again. There's no point stalling much longer...' He lifted his head to look at the fuming inuhanyou. 'I guess it's now or never...'

"Why don't you go, Kagome?" Miroku spoke up.

The female half demon turned to glare at him. "Why should I have to go? I never wanted the fish."

"You're the strongest and most capable of this group," the slayer replied standing up. "So it's logical that you would be the one to go. But if you're so against it, I could go with you and help."

Kagome frowned and crossed her arms with a growl. "But I don't wanna..."

"Just stop arguing about it!" Inuyasha said, exasperatingly. "Miroku's offered to go with you so just go catch the fish. We're all dying of hunger here."

Kagome was silent for a few moments before sighing, and turning towards the forest.

"Oh, all right," she said, grudgingly. "I'll go catch your stupid fish." She turned her head while she continued. "Come on, Miroku! I smell a stream this way! Let's see if that 'training' of yours ever did anything to help with your fishing skills."

Miroku nodded and followed but without looking at anyone. He didn't notice the pair of dark brown eyes that had been the only one to notice his avoidance and followed him as he walked away, carrying an uneasy expression.

'Miroku...'

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As they made their way through the underbrush, Miroku continued his thinking on how he was going to do this. 'Now how should I go through with Narakuna's plan?...' Miroku frowned in guilt and sadness but pushed it away knowing that nothing was going to change what he had to do, no matter how much guilt or sorrow he felt. He mentally sighed. 'I can't believe I'm actually going through with this. But if I don't... Narakuna will ki-'

"These fish aren't going to catch themselves!"

Miroku blinked and stared at where Kagome was perched on a rock that lay in the middle of the stream, glaring at him. "You said you were gonna help, so help!"

Miroku nodded and pulled off the robes to reveal the taijiya uniform before walking towards the stream. "Hai, Kagome!"

Kagome rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the water, muttering something about 'humans' and their 'fancy uniforms.'

After wading out into the stream a bit, Miroku knelt down and sat very still, ignoring the cold water as it bit into his skin. He'd been trained in worse enviornments. He narrowed his eyes as he struggled to concentrate on catching the fish but it was diffucult when he knew what he was going to have to do soon. Despite his struggle, he and Kagome soon had a few fish between themselves, though Kagome ended up with a larger haul.

"That should do it," said Kagome, eyes roaming over their catch, which was laying on Miroku's robes which they were using to carry them.

Miroku nodded but drifted his eyes to Kagome, saddened. 'Do I really have to do this? Why did Narakuna pick such a task for me to do?' He closed his eyes. 'I'm so sorry to all of you... But mostly to you Inuyasha... Please forgive me...'

He reopened his eyes to the sight of Kagome getting ready to pick up the robe with the fish and return to camp. He took in a deep breath.

"Kagome," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The hanyou lifted her brows in surprise and turned to the slayer. "Hm? What is it?"

He closed his mouth and swallowed down any resistance he felt to his mission. 'Now.'

With that, he lowered his hand and brushed his fingers across Kagome's own. Kagome stiffened and her eyes widened but then she whirled around and turned to the fish. "We should take this back to the others now."

Her voice had shaken so very slightly that he almost didn't catch it but he forced down the guilt once more and stepped before her. She turned her eyes downward, confused about what he was doing, with a pink tinge across her cheeks.

He swallowed down another wave of guilt and instead picked up the fish with a look as if he was concerned and confused. "Are you okay, Kagome?"

Kagome lifted her head, eyes wide in more confusion and surprise and the pink tinge was gone. "Wha-?"

"You were right," said Miroku. "We should take this to the others, but I'll carry it."

Kagome still looked puzzled but nodded, passing him to lead the way. She did shoot a slightly wary look at him, but afterwards she seemed to shake off the feeling, probably mistaking his actions for an accident... which they were NOT.

They continued to walk thorugh the forest until they reached the clearing where they had made camp and where their friends waited.

"Finally!" Kirara said. "Took you long enough, but what do you expect from a mutt!" She glared at Kagome, thought no real fire was behind it. "Never send a dog to do a cat's job."

"Why you little-" Kagome growled. "This is the thanks I get for going to the trouble to catch your stupid fish?!"

Inuyasha stood and sighed. "We're grateful, alright? We're just hungry..." He moved his head to look behind her. "So where's the fish?"

Kagome sighed, annoyed, and muttered something like 'ungrateful humans and their appetites' but pointed to Miroku.

Inuyasha's eyes lit up at the fish and licked his lips. "Mm. I can already taste it."

Kagome sighed again and said," Your going to have to cook it first, stupid. Knowing how weak humans' stomachs are, you all have to cook it before you eat it." As she said this, Kagome reached for the robe Miroku held with the fish. She paused for only a split second as she shot a quick wary glance at him before grasping it in her hand.

The pause had been less than a second but Miroku had still noticed.

Miroku turned his gaze down, the guilt and sorrow pooling inside him. 'Why did it have to be this?...' He lifted his eyes to where Inuyasha was grinning at Kagome grabbing the fish to hand to Sango to cook. Kirara retorted to something Kagome said and Kagome growled while Inuyasha tried not to laugh at what Kirara had said. This ended with Kagome glaring at both of them,stalking toward one of the logs where her companions had been seated and sitting with a huff.

'My mission had to be the one thing that will hurt them the most... the one thing that will hurt INUYASHA the most...' He mourned in his head, watching them as he forced down the sorrowful emotion and any others. 'Why did my mission have to be...' He clenched his eyes at the painful thought. '...to act out false affections for Kagome?...'

Unnoticed by Miroku, Sango was watching the expression that crossed his face. Almost as if he was in pain. The look only added to her confusion and she furrowed her brows as she went to prepare the fish for cooking. 'Miroku, what is going on? What was that expression and why did it hold such pain?' She turned concerned eyes to the slayer. 'Are you hiding something from us?...' She frowned and turned to her task at hand. 'What's going on in you head?...'

As the slayer watched the group go about ignorant and happy, him unknowing of Sango's troubled thoughts, he sighed internally.

'Step one down... Who knows how many more to go....'