Inuyasha: Girl Lost In Time S: 2

Chapter 1: Miroku's Wind Tunnel

"Ready?" calls out Sango from the opposite of the building from me. I can just barely hear her over the sound of murmuring surrounding us from the crowd that has grown to watch us. We've come to this village by accident; but once we've among the village, we started hearing rumors of a demon residing underneath the house that I am now kneeling in front of. Before me is a bamboo pot with an incense standing inside, with a nasty smelling smoke rising from the lit stick. I've been fanning the smoke into the crevice underneath the house for a few minutes now and nothing has happened except for the sound of scurrying coming from underneath the house. "Lure it this way!"

Which way? Leaning forward a little, I try to hear any movement in the crevice to pinpoint where the demon could be. There is a sound to the right, so I focus on waving the smoke in that direction to lead it to the back of the hut.

Unsure if I am doing the job properly, I glance around for reassurance, but there aren't any. Behind me, Inuyasha huddles on the ground with his arm and a red shirt covering his face from the smoke. He looks dizzy and nauseated, like at any moment he might barf and collapse. Shippo stands next to him, his wide eyes full of surprise as he watches the half demon in his weakness.

Around us, the crowd grows. Humans watch us with hope in their eyes that we'd get rid of their demon problem, but some are watching Inuyasha. Hovering feet away as they question each other. "Is he a demon that has felled by the smoke?" One man asks.

"Inuyasha just has a very sensitive nose." Shippo answers the man.

Miroku comes out from the crowd and stands on my left side, crossing his arms as he eyes both the smoke and the crowd. He must have come from the other side of the hut, since I haven't seen him much until now.

Out from the crevice of the house, we can hear a loud roar. The sound of running and scraping follows, and then it silences. Suddenly, there is an earsplitting squeak before it quietens again.

"It's okay now, Keara," Sango calls from her side of the house. I place the fan down to my right and take the incense out from the bamboo pot and put it out in the dirt next to it. This should help Inuyasha now that the incense has been put out, but it might take a bit before he can recover fully.

There is a bunch of "ohs," and "ahs," coming from the crowd, but after a few minutes, the crowd disperses as the excitement has ended. They instead round the house to the other side where Sango is, probably to inspect this dead or dying demon that Sango has eliminated.

Picking up the pot, I stand up and walk over to Inuyasha. Shifting the pot into my right arm, I stroke Inuyasha's back in hopes to soothe him. "Miroku, can you help Inuyasha to the inn?" I ask. But when there is no response, I look over my shoulder at the monk to notice him staring at a beautiful woman who's holding a pink sheet over her head. She smiles at him, walking off into the distancing crowd.

Rolling my eyes, I repeat, "Miroku? Can you help Inuyasha?"

The monk finally breaks free from the woman's hold, smiles, and nods over to me.

*---*

The two-story inn is on the border of the village. For freeing the village of the demon rat that has been haunting them, we've gained the freedom to rest, eat and sleep as for the next few days. We eagerly accepted this deal. Sleeping outside on the dirt has become hard on the body; sleeping inside, on a thin mattress, is something we'd fight a demon for.

A half an hour later; Inuyasha is still on the tatami floor where Miroku has left him, huddled beside me as I carefully pat his back. He's not as queasy looking as he was before, but it hasn't fully gone away. He hasn't moved a millimeter, but we can hear quiet groans coming from the half demon. I frown at his distress.