Snake Venom

By ArtikGato

Disclaimer: 'dis clamor!! Ahem... anyway, I own an Odie doll (which I now affectionately call Sessh-chan...^^"""), and my own dimented brain, but otherwise, I don't own anything. Including Inuyasha and the characters mentioned in this fic...

Author's Notes: WARNING!!! This is a lemon. Those of you that are too young to be reading this stuff should turn back. (but hey, the R rating should have warned you against reading it anyway) Just thought I'd warn you... Anyway, this is a Miroku x Sango fic!! That's right, I've finally broken my train of Inu x Kagome fics!!  For those of you that would like to read my other Inuyasha stories (that are NON-Lemons but are almost completely InuKago fics..), here are the storyid's:

A Tale of Two Shippos: (parody): storyid=1142313

Letters: (KagoInu romance): storyid=1153892

Moment of Weakness (KagoInu romance): storyid=1170637

Christmas Presents (KagoInu romance...again....): storyid=1192181

There is also one other fic, a KagoInu romance again, called 'Falling', which I stupidly wrote down the storyid for on my hand and then went and WASHED MY HANDS five minutes later... so yeah. If you feel you MUST read it then look up my bio page in the author index, I guess... well, enjoy the story!! (don't say I didn't warn you...)

            "TWO shards?!" Inuyasha bellowed. Kagome nodded.

            "Yeah, I can definetely feel two," she replied. Inuyasha was about to jump for joy, but then she stopped him.

            "The thing is...they're in opposite directions," she said.

            "WHAT?!?!" he yelped.

            "What are we going to do?" Shippo asked.         

            "Kagome, are the shards moving right now?" Sango asked. Kagome closed her eyes, and nodded a few seconds later.

            "They'll both probably be long gone by nightfall. Our best bet is to split up," Miroku suggested. Then he elbowed Sango, who was standing next to him. "How about it Sango? We could go get the shard, and along the way, you could bear my chil-" WHAM!!! The monk was abruptly cut off by Sango's huge boomerang of epic proportions whacking him in the head, causing him jump back and yelp in pain.

            "You'd think he'd be used to it by now," Shippo said. Everyone shrugged, as Sango replaced her boomerang back on her back. Miroku carefully walked back up to the group, nursing his head.

            "It was just a suggestion..." he started.

            "Well, we're still going to have to split up to get to both shards," Inuyasha said.      

            "How about this. I'll go with Sango and Shippo to get one, and you two can go get the other one," Kagome suggested. Shippo looked overjoyed, Miroku looked faintly dissappointed, and Sango looked relieved.

            "No deal, Kagome," Inuyasha said, seriously.

            "Why not?" she asked.

            "You know that you can't sense Naraku's shards until he's close. He could spring an attack, and without one of us to protect you..." Inuyasha said, trailing off. Kagome nodded.

           "I get your drift. Sango is strong, but you're half-youkai, and Miroku has his air void," she replied. She looked from Inuyasha, to Miroku, to Sango, then back to Inuyasha. She sighed.

            "Sango, don't be mad, but I think you are going to have to go with Miroku," Kagome said.

            "...I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she asked.

            "Sorry," Kagome apologized. The demon exterminator shrugged, then turned her attention to Miroku.

            "Listen, lech, I'm only going with you because it's not safe for any of us to travel alone. If you try anything, you're not going to like it," she warned him. He sighed.

            "All right," he replied.

            "I'm serious!!" she exclaimed. He shrugged.

            "I know," he replied. Shippo suddenly spoke up.

            "Hey, who am I going with?" he asked. Everyone looked at eachother, and shrugged.

            "Why don't you come with us, Shippo?" Kagome volunteered.

            "Sure, make me protect the weaklings!" Inuyasha replied. Shippo stuck his tongue out at the half-youkai.

            "Just for that, I will come with you," Shippo replied. Inuyasha glared at the youkai child, and made a move to lunge for him.

            "Sit!!" Kagome exclaimed. THWOCK!! Inuyasha hit the ground.

            "One of these days, you're going to 'sit' me and I'm gonna fall on you!! THEN you'll see how it feels!!!" Inuyasha retorted. Everyone was dead silent for a few seconds. Then they all burst out laughing, Inuyasha turning crimson and growling at everyone.

            "Okay, guys, your shard is a few miles south of here. It should be in some sort of a canyon or gorge,"

            "I think I can sense it,"

            "Good. So then you'll have no trouble finding it, Miroku?"

            "Nope,"

            "Good,"

            "We'll meet back here tomorrow,"

            "All right. Bye!!"

            Sango sighed. She could not sense the shard, nor did she know where she was. Unfortunately, Miroku COULD sense the shard and DID know where they were, and so she had to place her trust completely in him for now. She hated having to do that.

            "It's not that I dislike Houshi-sama. He's annoying, but I don't dislike him all that much. It's just that I hate having to put all of my trust in someone else. It leaves me feeling helpless," she thought. She looked up at the monk walking a few steps in front of her. He seemed to be thinking about something, too. Probably his next act of lechery.

            "It doesn't help me at all that I'm stuck following a perverted lecherous monk," she continued. Kirara's ears twitched, and the cat-like demon suddenly jumped off of her shoulder, taking up a battle stance, and looking into the woods, growling.

            "Kirara?" Sango asked, stopping. Miroku too stopped, and took up a battle stance.

            "Can you feel that?" he asked.

            "Feel what?" she questioned, but suddenly was hit with the overwhelming sense that they were being watched. "Never mind," she quickly replied, un-shouldering her massively huge boomerang. The trio tensed, as the bushes nearby began to shake ominously...

            "IRON REAPER SOUL STEALER!!!" the evil scorpion demon that the dog demon had faced off against fell to the ground in several pieces. Kagome ran up, and quickly scooped up the shard of the Shikon no Tama that had been buried in it's tail.

            "Phew," Shippo said, as the remnants of the scorpion demon dissentigrated into thin air.

            "I wonder how Sango and Miroku are doing?" Kagome asked.

            "I hope their fight is as easy as this one was," Inuyasha replied.

            "Snake demons. Wonderful. That's just what we need," Sango said, backing up a step.

            "Just stay behind me, Sango. I've got this," Miroku said, also backing up a step. They were now back to back.

            "Right," Sango said. A few snake demons, with red glowing eyes might I add, slithered up toward Sango.

            "Wind Tunnel!!" Miroku exclaimed, opening his air void, as Sango pulled her stupidly huge boomerang off of her back and threw it into the fray of snakes, knocking a good half of them unconscious. Miroku closed his air void, and turned to face the snake demons Sango has just attacked. In the next instant, the demons were gone, leaving wind-swept grass in their wake.

            "Well...that wasn't too hard," Miroku commented, as Sango re-positioned her boomerang on her back.

            "Nope," she replied. Miroku started to say something, but before he could, the ground began to shake violenty.

            "What the?!" Sango exclaimed. The ground below her rose up, and sent her hurtling into the air.

            "Sango!!" Miroku exclaimed. He was forced to jump aside, as a huge, serpentile head came crashing down toward him. The ground seemed to explode away from the monster, as it reared back up and roared fiercely. The monk took up a battle stance, and loosened the prayer beads around his hand. Kirara, in her demon form, landed next to him, with Sango on her(?) back. The huge snake demon roared at them, and opened it's mouth, lunging toward the three.

            "Wind--" Miroku started. The monster suddenly stopped, shrieking in pain. Sango's boomerang sliced cleanly through the beast, and returned to Sango's hands.

            "I didn't even see you throw your boomerang," Miroku said, shocked. Sango looked smug...but frowned, as a wave of sticky red liquid splashed onto her, Miroku and Kirara. She had failed to see that the beast's body would fall right next to where they were...and consequently splash them with a river of blood.

            "Yeeeeew!!!" Miroku exclaimed, spitting blood out of his mouth fervently. Kirara looked fairly pissed off. Sango just glared at the body of the snake demon, and cursed her luck to one of the seven hells. Something that she had learned from Inuyasha, apparently.

            "I wonder if Sango and Miroku are doing okay?" Kagome pondered. Then she shrugged.

            "They can take care of themselves. What am I worrying about them for?" she replied, to herself. She shrugged again, and sat down next to her pack, bringing out the various things that she needed in order to cook...ramen! Inuyasha's favorite food, and the best way to eat while traveling around...say, looking for Shikon Shards... Shippo bounded up to her, carrying an armful of twigs. He dumped them into a circle of rocks nearby.

            "So, what are you making for dinner? Huh?!?!?" asked the hyper Shippo.

            "Maybe it was a bad idea to give you that chocolate bar," Kagome replied. Shippo looked confused.

            "Yup," replied another voice. Inuyasha stepped out from the bushes nearby, carrying a huge armful of firewood. He dropped the wood in a disorderly heap near the circle of rocks that would be their fire. He then plopped down next to Kagome, looking exhausted. She smiled.

            "Fighting demons is a piece of cake, but chopping firewood tires you out?" she asked, playfully.

            "Caaaaaaaaaake!!!" Shippo said, in a zombie-like state.

            "Ha ha," he said, smiling slightly. Kagome then turned to her pile of stuff, and handed Shippo a tea kettle.

            "Could you go fill this up with water?" she asked. Shippo took the kettle, nodding WAY too many times, and bounced off. Inuyasha sighed, and stood up.

            "Something tells me that he'll spill all of it before he gets back to camp," the half-youkai said, and took off after the kitsune. Kagome turned back around, and began to start the fire. It was a good thing that she had brought some matches, otherwise she would have never been able to start the thing...

            "You say there's a hotspring nearby?" Miroku asked.

            "Uh huh," replied the old man, holding his nose.

            "You'd better not be lying," Sango replied, her voice venomous. She was fairly pissed off. Who wouldn't be, having walked all night covered in blood?

            "No no, I'm not!!" the old man exclaimed, looking scared.

            "Good," Miroku replied, and walked in the direction the old man had pointed them. Sango shot an evil glare at the old man, then she and Kirara began to follow after Miroku.

            "Ah!! I'm STUFFED!!" Shippo exclaimed, falling backwards, rubbing his stomach.

            "Yeah, dinner was good," Inuyasha complimented, setting his bowl and chopsticks down on the ground in front of him. Kagome looked at him, a bit shocked.

            "Are you all right, Inuyasha?" she asked. He looked at her, cluelessly.

            "Huh?" he asked.

            "Well, you never compliment me about my 'cooking'," she pointed out. "If you can call heating water and dumping noodles and flavoring into it cooking..." Shippo smiled.

            "I think he feels safer saying nice things without Miroku and Sango listening," Shippo said. Inuyasha glared at him.

            "No, I just really liked this flavor!!!" Inuyasha practically shouted in denial. Kagome snickered.

            "There are only three flavors, Inuyasha," she replied. Inuyasha stopped in mid-motion, his hand inches from Shippo's head. Shippo snickered, and jumped up, turning into his bubble form.

            "Oh, thank you SO much for ridding us of the dark cloud over our hotsprings!!" exclaimed a bubbly woman with slightly purple hair.

            "All in a days work, m'lady," Miroku replied.

            "As a token of our appreciation, how about a courtesy stay in the hotsprings for you and your companion?" the woman asked.

            "Companions," Sango corrected her, gesturing to Kirara. Miroku cleared his throat.

            "That would be great! My companions and I have been out fighting demons all day, and, as you can see, we're a bit dirty," Miroku replied, trying to sound as professional as possible.

            "A bit?" Sango asked. Miroku sweatdropped.

            "Of course, of course! This way to the hotsprings...I assume that you would like separate pools," the woman said, turning and walking toward a door.

            "No, actually, we would like to share--" Miroku started, but was cut off by Sango thwapping him in the head with her boomerang.

            "Separate, please," Sango requested.

            "and then the boy pulled out a cough drop, threw it at the coffin, and the coffin stopped," Kagome said, in a semi-scary voice. Inuyasha chuckled a little, and Shippo looked puzzled.

            "I don't get it," he said.

            "Ummm...yeah, I forgot you don't have cough drops in this era," she said. She then explained to Shippo about how cough drops help people to get over coughs when they are sick, and that the words 'coffin' and 'coughin' sound exactly alike. Only after that did Shippo laugh, finally getting the joke.

            "Your turn, Inuyasha," Kagome said, passing her flashlight to him.

            "Huh?" he asked.

            "Your turn to tell a ghost story," Kagome replied. He raised an eyebrow, and handed the flashlight back to her.

            "I don't tell ghost stories, thank you," he replied.

            "Aww, come on! Just one?" she pleaded. He sighed, and held out his clawed hand, defeated.

            "Okay, just one," he said, glaring a little at her.

            Sango sighed in relief, as she sank down into the warm water of the hotspring, finally getting some of the blood off of her. Her clothes were soaking at the shallow side of the pool, as was Kirara. She dunked her head underwater, and when she resurfaced, she found herself staring into the red glowing eyes of a snake demon. She shrieked in suprize, and decked the thing, making a mad swim toward her boomerang on the other side of the pool of water. She felt two sharp fangs sink into her ankle, and she kicked her leg, dislodging the snake from her foot. With a burst of power, she made it to her boomerang, threw it, and cut the snake demon in half. She caught her boomerang, and hauled herself out of the water, tending to her ankle.

            "Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" exclaimed the woman from earlier, as she ran up. Sango grabbed a random article of clothing from the water immediately and used it to cover herself up.

            "I'm fine," she said, examining the snake bite and coming to the conclusion that the poison had washed out underwater.

            "You won't be for long!" the woman exclaimed, in much deadlier tone.

            "Wha?" Sango asked, and felt two long fangs sink into her neck a second later.

            "A...agh..." Sango said, as the former-woman-now-snake-demon removed it's/her fangs from Sango's neck. Sango crumpled like a rag doll, falling to the ground a few seconds later. Her vision blurred, and she began to feel cold. Her energy was draining fast...

            "Mrowr!!" she heard the ferocious roar of Kirara in her(?) demon form.

            "Bad kitty!!" she heard the snake demon say. She heard the sounds of combat, and then a splash. She could just barely make out a yellowish-white cat splashing frantically in the water nearby.

            "Kirara!!" she thought. She summoned her last bit of strength, and shouted "HOUSHI!!!"

            "Come on, one more story, please?!" Shippo pleaded. Inuyasha growled in protest.

            "That was my sixteenth one!!" he exclaimed.

            "Yeah, I think it's time to call it a night anyway," Kagome said, yawning. She climbed into her sleeping bag, yawning again, and Shippo bounded over, curling up next to her.

            "Good night, Inuyasha," she said, as she heard Inuyasha jump into a nearby tree.

            "Good night, Kagome," he replied.

            "G'night guys," said a sleepy Shippo.

            Miroku held his mandala out, and slashed viciously at yet another snake demon.

            "Where are these things coming from?!" He sliced through another, and slowly made his way to the edge of the hotspring. Unfortunately, he realized, his clothes were on the other side. Slapping himself in the head (and beheading another snake), he prepared to jump back into the water.

            "HOUSHI!!!" he heard Sango yell.

            "Sango!" he exclaimed. He suddenly turned very serious, slicing his mandala through the air and beheading and/or knocking a barrage of snake demons away from him. He took off in a mad dash toward Sango's hotspring ("conveniently" forgetting his clothes).

            "Sango?!" he shouted, apon entering the room that her hotspring was in. He immediately was aware of Kirara splashing and sputtering in the water nearby. He jumped in, swimming up to the cat demon and dragging it to the shore.

            "Are you all right, Kirara?" the monk asked. Kirara coughed and spat water up, and pointed fervently in the direction of Sango. Miroku was instantly to his feet and running toward the demon exterminator.

            "Sango!!" he shouted.

            "Not so fasssst!!" the woman-turned-snake-demon exclaimed, leaping at him. This new demon was LOTS bigger than the other snake demons. Which would have been a problem...had Miroku not jumped out of the way and released his...

            "Wind Tunnel!!"  the snake demon was instantly sucked into his right hand, and he cut off the flow of wind before anything, like, say, Kirara was sucked into the void. He turned around, and was instantly crouched next to Sango.

            "Sango! Sango! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Say something?" he asked, as he moved her to a sitting position (trying not to think about the fact that she was completely naked). He shook her. "Sango! Hey, wake up!" She was limp in his arms.

            "What's wrong with you?" he asked, then noticed the fang marks on her neck. His eyes widened in realization.    

            "SHIT!!"

            Kagome couldn't sleep. Something was bothering her, but she couldn't figure out what. Shippo slept peacefully next to her, probably dreaming about candy. She sighed, and looked up at the stars...and the tree limbs...and the leaves...and the Inuyasha descending toward her...eh?! She sat up, as he landed next to her.

            "So, you're still awake?" he asked, in a whisper. She nodded.

            "Yeah,"

            "Why?"

            She shrugged. "I seriously don't know. I just have this nagging feeling that something bad is happening, or has happened, or is going to happen," she thought.

           "Oh, is that it? I thought there was seriously something wrong with you," Inuyasha said. With that, he jumped back up to his perch in the tree above. She smiled slightly, and laid back down in her sleeping bag.

            "He was worried about me," she thought.

            "Hold on Sango! Don't die on me!" Miroku exclaimed, picking her up in his arms, and starting toward the pool of water. "I've got to wash the poison out, or she's dead!" He held her so that her head was above water and her neck wasn't, and with one hand began to swirl the water near her neck.

            "Mrowr?" Kirara asked, from the bank.

            "Don't worry, Kirara, I'm not doing anything lecherous," he replied. "For once," There was suddenly a loud crash, and Miroku turned, seeing ten or so snake demons crash through one of the wooden walls of the room. He held Sango closer to him, protectively.        

            "This is not good," he said. Sango suddenly began to cough, and he looked down at her in suprize.

            Sango opened her eyes, and tried to bring her eyes into focus. She couldn't tell for sure, but she was pretty sure that a guy's bare chest was in front of her, and hey...waitaminute!!

            "Houshi...sama?" she asked, weakly. Miroku looked down at her.

            "You're awake?" he asked, astonished. She was suddenly aware of an arm around her, and combat noises behind her.

            "What's going on?" she asked.

            "You were bitten by a snake demon. And, this isn't good news, there are about ten more of the nasty things at the edge of the pool. Kirara is fighting them right now, but her dive into the water earlier has really weakened her," Miroku explained.

            "So why aren't you HELPING her?!" Sango shouted, then went into a coughing spasm and  began to sink further into the water. Only Miroku's arm around her kept her afloat now.

            "I had to wash the poison out of your neck," he explained. There was a loud crash, and a yelping sound came from Kirara, who was flung to the ground at the edge of the pool.

            "Kirara!" Sango exclaimed, turning around, only to have Miroku pull her back toward him.

            "What are you doing?" she demanded.

            "You don't have much energy left now. You wouldn't stand a chance, boomerang or not," Miroku replied.

            "So what are we going to do?" she asked. Miroku narrowed his eyes.

            "When they get into the right place, I'll suck them up into my Wind Tunnel," he replied. Sango nodded.

            "Right, I'll get behind you then," she said, and moved to swim around behind him. As soon as he let go of her, she fell underwater, and despite her struggle to swim, only his arm around her again saved her from drowning.

            "Hold me tight, Sango," he said, loosening his prayer beads. She realized that she didn't have a choice, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders weakly.

            "Wind Tunnel!" Miroku exclaimed. The force of the wind caused Sango to cling to Miroku for dear life, to avoid being sucked into the wind. Without realizing it, she had also wrapped her legs around him. The winds finally stopped, and she released her death-grip on the monk, allowing him to catch her again as she sank into the water. There was a profoundly red blush on his cheeks, and he scratched the back of his head with the other hand, laughing nervously. She managed to gather up enough strength to slap him with one hand.

            "I...guess I deserved that," he said. She suddenly felt guilty. To her knowledge, he hadn't done anything too lecherous. Intentionally, anyway.

            "No, you didn't. Thanks for saving me," she said, weakly. He looked at  her, in shock.

            "Y-you're welcome," he managed to reply. They just sat (or, more precisely, floated) there for a few awkward minutes. Sango suddenly began to shiver.

            "You ok?" he asked.

            "Yeah, it's just a bit cold in here," she replied. He narrowed his eyes. The water they were in was no where near cold. Wordlessly, he bent his head toward her, homing in her neck where the snake bite was.

            "HEY!!" Sango exclaimed, bringing a hand up to slap him. He caught it, and then the other hand, and proceeded, still silent. She blushed slightly, and glared at him, trying to kick him but not having the strength to bring her leg up to him. He placed his mouth over the bite, and carefully tested each of the fang marks with his tongue. He pulled his face away from her neck, a serious expression on his face.

            "Just as I thought. There is still some poison in the bite," he said. She blinked.

            "Poison?" she asked. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and forced her farther underwater, so that the poison would wash out. Just as before, he swirled the water near her neck.

            "Hou..." she started. He looked down at her. "...Miroku," she said, kind of nodding. He smiled, but didn't say anything. She looked up into his eyes, sincere, no glint of mischievousness in them. She smiled back at him, something that she rarely did, unless it was at his expense. They just looked at eachother for a few more moments, then they began to tilt their heads toward eachother, Miroku lowering his head toward her's. At first, the kiss was soft, delicate, and caring, but it soon turned into a heated, passionate kiss, as Sango rose up in the water so that the two were level with eachother. They were both blushing when they broke the kiss, Miroku moreso because of how close they now were.

            "Sango..." Miroku said. She looked up at him, quizzically. "Feel free to slap me any time," he said. She arched an eyebrow, confused. She understood what he meant, though, when he dipped his head toward her and started kissing her neck. She gasped, in suprise. Before, when he had tasted the snake bite for poison, she had felt nothing from his mouth. But now, there was passion in him, and every kiss sent shockwaves of pleasure through her body. He began to kiss her shoulders, and then lower, toward her breasts. Sango realised this, but, strangely, she didn't mind. He cautiously kissed once on one of her breasts, and, when she didn't respond, placed his mouth over almost the entire thing. She gasped, and moaned as he began to lick and suck at her breast. She arched her back toward him, and he moved to the other breast, smiling. When he was finished there, he moved back up to her mouth, and gave her another deep, loving kiss. He slipped an arm around her, and began to swim back toward the edge of the hot spring, taking her with him. When they had reached the edge, he made a move to lift her up onto the shelf. She stopped him, drawing him into another kiss.

            There was something strange but powerful coursing through Sango's blood. She felt herself heat up, as Miroku slowly entered her mouth with his tongue. She was a tumult of emotions, but the dominating emotion was definetely desire. That decided, a wicked smile played across her lips, and she wrapped her legs loosely around his legs, rubbing her womanhood against his manhood. She felt him pull away from the kiss and gasp, going hard under her. He looked at her in shock, and she just gave him a wicked smile. His eyes narrowed, and his face turned serious.

            "Sango, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

            "Yes," she replied. He took a deep breath, and kissed her, moving her onto the shelf and moving himself on top of her. He let her grab his shoulders, and placed a small kiss on her lips. With that, he pushed his hard cock into her, making her gasp. He paused, letting her adjust to him, and then began to pump in and out of her. At first, he was slow and deliberate, but he lost control of himself the more he continued, and his thrusts became faster and harder each time. Sango moaned in pleasure under him, gripping his shoulders progressively harder. He started to ram her full force, and after a few pumps, she climaxed, her body going taut and the pressure escalating on his cock. He released into her a few seconds later, pulling out of her almost immediately and panting hard for breath. She released her grip on his shoulders (Miroku was sure she had left a  permanent mark), and let her body go limp, panting hard for breath. The monk laboriously sat up, sitting on the far edge of the shelf, his legs dangling into the water.

            "What have you done Miroku?!" he mentally screamed. Sango sat up, and looked at him. Concern instantly swept over her.

            "She gave you the ultimate pleasure, and now she will endure the ultimate pain. Why Sango? Why did it have to be you? The woman that I care about the most. The woman that I cared about so much that I vowed never to hurt her, even if that meant that I had no son. And now, what have I done? I've broken my vow," Miroku thought.

            "Miroku?" Sango asked. He jumped, and turned to her, guilt apparent in his eyes. She was kind of taken aback. "Miroku...don't think that this changes anything between us. In the morning, I'll go back to being my old Sango self, and you will go back to being your Houshi self. Okay?" she told him. He nodded, looking relieved. "And...supposing that I am pregnant...I will carry the child, and I will bear it, it is as much my responsibility as yours. So don't beat yourself up about it, okay?" Sango continued. Miroku looked relieved.

            "Thank you, Sango. I'm sorry," he said. She sat down next to him, leaning against him, as he put his arms around her. He smiled, but began to shiver. He stood up abruptly, and took off toward the hotspring his clothes were at.

            "I'm gonna go get my clothes. Be back in a flash!" he exclaimed, shivering, and darted around the corner. Sango sighed, but stood up to fetch her clothes as well. A part of her wanted things between them to change, but she knew that would only complicate things. It was best to go back to the way they were before. She sighed again.

            "Maybe after Naraku is dead and the Shikon no Tama is whole, it will be safe for things to change between us." she thought, as she pulled her civilian clothes on. Kirara came to sit next to her, the cat demon looking up at her quizzically.

            "Snake demons?" Kagome asked.

            "Yes. They attacked us in a huge group. That's why we weren't able to get the shard. Sorry," Sango apologized. There were a few seconds of silence.

            "No need to apologize," Inuyasha replied.

            "HUH?!" the three humans and one kitsune exclaimed, looking at him with startled expressions on their faces.

            "D-did you just say that there was no need for her to apologize?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha nodded, gravely. Miroku and Sango paled a little, sweatdrops of nervousness appearing on their heads.

            "There is something different about you two. I can sense it," Inuyasha accused. They paled even further.

            "W-what are you talking about?" they asked.

            "Yeah, what are you talking about?" Shippo asked.

            "Wait, I think I know," Kagome piped up.

            "Huh?" Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango demanded, the latter two paling EVEN further (if that was even possible). Kagome pointed to Sango's neck.

            "You got bitten by one of the snake demons," Kagome replied. Miroku and Sango seemed to sigh with relief, and Inuyasha blinked. Suddenly, everything clicked.

            "AHA!! I know what's different about you two!!" he exclaimed, pointing at them. They looked incredibly uncomfortable. Inuyasha grinned evilly.

            "Inuyasha," Miroku started. An evil glint appeared in Inuyasha's golden eyes.

            "Snake demons, especially snake demons from around here have...special venom," the dog-demon started. Shippo looked at him quizzically. Kagome arched an eyebrow in suspicion. Miroku and Sango gulped, petrified. "...supposedly, to those that survive being bitten, anyway, the venom acts as an aphrodesiac," he said, drawing out the last word slowly. Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

            "SIT!!!" Kagome shouted. Inuyasha was thrown to the ground with a loud THWOCK!!! He instantly sprang back up, looking murderous.

            "What was THAT for?!" he demanded.

            "You shouldn't be talking like that in front of Shippo!!" Kagome scolded.

            "But it's true!" Inuyasha demanded.

            "That's absurd!! And even if it WAS true, Sango would never let something like that happen!" Kagome screamed/replied.

            "Don't be so sure about that," Inuyasha said, pointing in the direction of Miroku and Sango. Who were now blushing profoundly. Kagome gawked at them in suprize.

            "You didn't!" she exclaimed. Sango and Miroku gulped, Miroku laughing nervously.

            "Perhaps it was a bad idea to split up," Kagome said, a few minutes later.

            "No, you think?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, sarcasm so thick in his voice that you could cut it with the Tetsusaiga. She turned and glared at him.

            "You'd just better be glad that we chose to go North! That could have been us, you know!!" she exclaimed.

            "Right. Like you'd actually--" Inuyasha started.

            "Aphrodesiacs do weird things to the mind, Inuyasha," Sango said. He folded his arms.

            "Well, I guess we'd both have to get bitten by the snakes, because in my right state of mind I wouldn't go near her!!" the half-youkai replied.

            "Hmph! You want me and you know it!!" Kagome exclaimed. This silenced Inuyasha, making him blush and mutter curses under his breath.