InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Her Smile ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: Unless Rumiko Takahashi, Shounen Sunday, Viz, and whoever else all decide to copy the RIAA and start suing everybody like mad, I don't really see much point to this… but here it is anyway: I do not own Inuyasha.

And one note of warning: there are mild spoilers in this fic from about manga 292 (episode 132) onward.

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I am no superman

I have no reasons for you

I am no hero

Oh, that's for sure

But I do know one thing…

Where you are is where I belong

~Dave Matthews Band, "Where Are You Going?"

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~Her Smile~

"It's quite pretty, isn't it, Houshi-sama?" she comments as she playfully tosses a leaf into the water, and I nod absently. She smiles and picks up another of the fallen leaves, this one a brilliant yellow-orange, and dips it into the riverbed more gently this time, slowly swishing it back and forth as though it were a garment she was lazily washing. Still another leaf, this a deep red rivaling Inuyasha's hinezumi cloak, leisurely drifts through the breeze and settles softly in her hair. She doesn't notice, but I continue to stare, unable to help myself.

Suddenly she turns in my direction and looks at me expectantly. For a moment, I blink in confusion. Then reality sets in, and I realize she must have asked me something. "Ah-sorry?" I ask quickly, trying to hide my slight embarrassment.

"I was asking if you had ever seen a more beautiful autumn, Houshi-sama," she repeats quietly after a moment.

I smile, and shake my head. "No, my dear Sango, I do notbelieve I have." She smiles a bit shyly in return, then turns her attention back to her little yellow leaf.

I continue to keep my eyes on her, a bit guiltily. In truth, I haven't given the lovely autumn scenery a second thought since we got to the river. Not surprisingly, and certainly not for the first time, my attention has been completely taken in by what I consider to be the most beautiful scenery imaginable. It doesn't help that she's sitting not two feet away from me.

A mere two feet. That alone is enough to excite me, and even scare me somewhat. Not even a month ago, she would have gone out of her way to ensure that there was a reasonable distance put between us. Either that, or she would be sitting constantly on her guard, perhaps with Hiraikotsu at the ready just in case.

Now, though, she sits practically right next to me, displaying none of the usual caution or wariness that I have come to reluctantly expect during moments like these. Her guard is completely down this late afternoon, gently but persistently lulled away by the cool fall breeze that whistles through the air, and the serene sound of the water flowing along patiently beneath her hand. Sango has left herself completely open to me, almost as if she were daring me to try something.

Despite myself, I grin a little at her confidence. The fact of the matter is that Sango would never let her guard down so easily around me without the most reliable of assurances. She isn't stupid, and she knows me too well. She wouldn't let me get this close unless she knew I wasn't going to try anything. Which, as a matter of fact, she does.

I am not, in fact, planning to try anything.

And she does know it. She knows because for the past two months-despite temptation after temptation, moment after moment where I was this close, second after second where I thought I might go mad keeping certain desires in check-I haven't done a single thing. My hands have stayed where they belong. I haven't flirted with other women… well, there haven't been many opportunities, but it's still true. I've made an effort to keep my gaze from drifting to the more… attractive… areas of her impossibly perfect body-at least, not while she's looking. Right now, for instance, my eyes are free to go where they choose. But only my eyes.

As far as the rest of me is concerned, Sango is absolutely right. And as a consequence, she has allowed me, albeit gradually, to get closer to her. More and more often, she accompanies me on simple errands without my asking, or lets me join along with her in turn. She sits closer to me with every day that passes, whether she realizes it or not. She shares things with me more freely and openly than she has ever done in the past. She has, in moments of extreme vulnerability, even allowed me to offer her comfort. And for my part, I have struggled not to betray any of her growing trust.

There are times, though, when I wonder if I'm doing the right thing.

There's no denying that Sango is more at peace around me these days, and I am enjoying her company that much more. But sometimes I still wonder… is it worth it?

I will not do anything with Sango until this wretched curse is finally gone; I have already made that clear to her, and promised it to myself a thousand times over. No matter how tempting it is, no matter how insane I drive myself, there are steps I will not take with Sango, lines I will not cross. I can be her friend, and close companion. I can, and will be there for her when she needs me. But I refuse to let myself become the man she loves.

And yet I let her grow closer and closer to me each day, and I do nothing to stop her.

Only now am I starting to see just how effective a barrier my lecherous habits were against her. I had thought that if I stopped, it would not make too much of a difference… or at least, that's what I told myself. Surely Sango, strong and intelligent woman that she is, would still keep her distance. Surely the absence of a grope every now and then wouldn't be enough to get past her defenses.

But I was wrong. Perhaps I actually underestimated my own charm. I can be quite enticing at times… but I was almost positive that Sango could easily see past all of that.

Perhaps I underestimated her feelings for me despite everything… or perhaps I underestimated my own feelings for her, which have threatened to lead me astray countless times in the past, and have certainly not gotten any easier to control since.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains that I'm sitting two feet away from her now on a beautiful autumn afternoon, completely aware of the danger… and completely ignoring it anyway.

I'm still afraid that I'm going to hurt her one day. And I think about it every time we are together like this. My mind tells me it isn't smart. My heart insists that it isn't right. But…

Sango, still dangling the leaf in the water, looks up at me out of the corner of her eye, and catches me staring. I give her a small smile, and she returns the gesture, her shy expression lighting up her eyes, bringing slight color to her cheeks, and taking my breath away.

Just like always.

Despite myself, I inch just a little closer to her side.

It never fails.

In the face of Sango's smile, neither my heart nor mind could ever stand a chance.

~owari~

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Author's Notes:

I know. When I said 'short'… I meant short. >_<

Anyway. Although the anime unfortunately (and stupidly) contradicts this, in the original manga, Miroku stopped flirting with other women and groping Sango almost completely after chapter 292 (the infamous "A Special Girl"), when he proposed to her. It was such a huge development for his character that I couldn't help exploring it just a little. This probably takes place around chapter 332, which is around when I originally wrote it.

And, uh… that's it. ^_^