InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Settle the Score ❯ Paranoid ( Chapter 14 )

Author rantings :
Hi everyone. Maybe some of you already noticed: Settle the Score is now hosted by Iridescent Dreams! Wohoo! ;)
It's for almost a month already, I got accepted August 9th. So if this site isn't working for some reason (although lately, it's been rather stable), you can also look up StS there. :)

Also, this chapter is a conclusion for the coming together of Miroku and Sango. The next chapters will finally focus more on Inuyasha again; actually, even this chapter doesn't give Miroku and Sango too much time. Although I still have some ideas for the pair, they'll have to wait a bit. Generally, I found out that writing romance takes up a lot of time I don't really want to spend, so after trying it out (this is my first and only story ever until now, I use it to try out things a lot ;)), I think I'll reduce the time I'll spend on it. The Mir/San thing is already taking up a good part of the last three chapters...

Reviews revisited :kookie, Suzuki, PunkRock Chick and Llorona - Thanks for the encouragement. :)

Lor - Thanks for your opinion. I'm actually glad that I got the Inuyasha laughing thing well. It's a choke point of his mood change. I guess the bit of romance will stay a bit, and I'll return to mystery and suspence. I don't think WAFF's really my thing ;)

Ciarra - Hehe, Alandrem's work is my fav. IY fic. :) I'm not sure if she has influenced my writing style somehow, because I've been compared to "Present Time" more than once, although I'm not sure where the similarities lie... Maybe people just mean the "Enjoyment Factor" ? (what would be great, too ;))

Disclaimer :
Inuyasha and company don't belong to me.

Special thanks to :
Tamerlane for her quick help with betaing and her opinion on the chapter.

Chapter 14

All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify

Paranoid

Inuyasha stood in the darkness. He couldn't see anything; he couldn't even feel any ground he would have had to stand on. He was just floating there, in the black, timeless void.

Suddenly he could make out something amidst the nothingness. He looked away and in, to make sure he wasn't imagining things, but there definitely was something.

He started to walk, feeling that it would bring him closer even if his feet weren't touching ground. He could make out that it was a person. He quickened his steps. He finally saw that it was his mother, waiting there for him.

"Inuyasha," his mother said hastily when he reached her. She looked almost panicked, he could smell her fear. "Inuyasha, run away!" she shouted at him.

"Haha-ue?"

"You have to ..." The rest drowned in a gurgling sound. Inuyasha saw a katana sliding out of her throat, the blade coated with blood. She gripped behind her neck in a desperate try to pull out the blade. A second later she fell forward, her head turning to the left side. She slammed onto the nothingness with a sickening noise. Moving her left arm with her last strength, she started to scribble something. He noticed it was her own blood she was writing with; it gave off an eerie glow, a stark contrast to the surrounding darkness.

Inuyasha ran to her side and kneeled down next to her. 'Should I pull the blade out?' Would that harm her? 'Can I help her?' A pool of blood was forming below her face, rapidly growing in size, nearing the kanji she was writing. She completed it moments before the pool engulfed the character. It glowed brighter then ever now.

Run.

He watched the kanji merge with the rest of her blood.

Inuyasha woke up. At first he still had the smell of her blood in his nose, causing him to retch. After a few moments her realized he was still sitting in the tree and would lose his balance if he continued like that. 'Dammit!' The night hadn't provided him with his much wanted - no, needed sleep. He had only slept for short periods of time, before he had woken up, time and time again. He felt exhausted like he hadn't for a long time. To make matters worse, he started to dream this ... shit, again. And the dreams were getting worse - more disturbing.

'Run.' The kanji was still clearly written in his mind. It reflected how he was feeling. What had been an uncomfortable feeling yesterday, was now a steady commands of his instincts. What made matters worse, he couldn't make out any threat at all. He smelled neither youkai nor humans. 'There's not even a single wolf near!' So, why did he feel like there was someone - something - out there?

'Damn fucking useless shit!' he cursed inwardly. He wasn't satisfied with his curse yet, but strangely didn't feel like adding more. He shifted on his branch, turning his head to the hills in the east. He watched the horizon; the sun would rise soon, already it colored the clouds in the sky in a mix of red and orange. At least, being awake in the morning wasn't that bad, there weren't many things as boring as being awake during night. Beside the noises of some nocturnal species, which mostly kept away because of the humans, nothing was there to catch his interest. At least now the world was springing into life again, thanks to the light the sun provided.

Although, the light didn't reassure him like it seemed to do with humans. He was able to see adequately during the night, and his other senses weren't affected at all, so sunrise managed to raise his spirits only by a fraction. Well, there had to be a reason for his distress. He looked down to his friends. Miroku and Sango were still lying together on the blanket, although the positions had almost reversed; the girl was lying on the back and the monk on the side. During a wake period he had been sure that Sango had awoken as well, but she had decided to keep lying in the monk's arms. 'Could they be the reason?' But, why should they unsettle him?

He let his eyes drift over to Kagome. Kirara was still lying between the girl and Shippou, their sleeping arrangement hadn't changed during the night. 'Maybe I'm cautious for Kagome?' But, there wasn't anything in the vicinity he would have to protect her from. The same went for Shippou. There was no reason for his distress, at least non he was aware of. And, they all slept peacefully, apparently not hurt or scared.

He finally had enough of sitting and waiting in his tree. He jumped down, careful to not wake up anyone. He looked back to his companions, mustering them for a few seconds, then turned around and headed off into the woods. Intending to patrol a perimeter around the camp, he went till he was hundred meters away from the camp. He made a ninety degree turn, beginning his patrol.

He moved without making a sound, checking his surroundings with all his senses. As if he was the hunter and not feeling like the prey. He clenched his fists at the thought and turned his concentration back to the task at hand. When he had completed two thirds of the circle, he still hadn't encountered anything. Sometimes he thought he smelled something, but when he concentrated, he only made out forest animals.

He heard a noise to his left and jumped to the side, sword in hand. Landing in a crouch, he observed the spot, but no one attacked him. Cautiously, he advanced, ignoring the uneasy feeling commanding him to run. He looked around the suspicious place, searching for a clue, but there was nothing. Were his senses starting to play tricks on him? "What is going on?" he muttered to himself.

He sheathed his sword and turned around, peering over his shoulder one last time before he went to complete his patrol. His heart was slowly resuming a normal rhythm, and he felt the tiredness return to his body. He finally reached his starting point. There wasn't anything in the vicinity that could endanger even Kagome. 'Everything is completely safe.'

He reached the camp, finding everyone still asleep. 'And it looks like at least they will sleep some more.' It was often that way, the earlier they went to sleep, the longer they took to wake up. God knew why; he didn't. He decided that he should try to get some sleep himself, and settled back against the tree trunk. Sighing, he closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. A kanji appeared before his inner eye, and didn't want to vanish.

Run.

Sango regained her consciousness slowly and became aware of an arm under her head. She noticed that it was Miroku's. The next thing she noticed was his left arm, thrown over her chest, the hand resting on her breast. She felt the urge to slap it away, like always when he groped her, but this time it was different. He didn't squeeze or do something else, he had only gently rested his hand there. 'Does that count as groping?' she wondered sleepily. She turned her head to the side, wanting to get a look at Miroku. He was still asleep, lying on his side, and it was as if even in sleep he was aware where his hand was, judging from his pleased facial expression. 'Pervert,' she thought good-naturedly.

The events of the last day replayed in her mind. After that evening, she neither could nor wanted to back down. She was really glad that Miroku hadn't tried to rush her and respected her wish. He had kept his word, and hadn't tried to undress or force her in any way.

She moved her right hand and touched Miroku's chest with her index finger, careful not to wake him. She slowly traced down, feeling his ribs under his robe, then his breastbone. She contemplated moving down further for a moment, but retracted her hand. 'I wonder what they will think?' she thought, letting her gaze wander around the clearing. Looking past Miroku, she spotted Kagome and Shippou at her left side. Kagome would be curious, that much was sure. 'What will I tell her?' She thought that the best idea would be to stay with the truth.

'If you try to hide something obvious, your enemy will see it's a weakness,' she remembered her father saying. And Miroku wasn't a weakness. 'Well, I guess I have a weakness for him,' she thought with a smile. And her friends hardly classified as enemies, so she wouldn't hide him. She wondered how much her training had shaped her, she was comparing this to a battle. 'The battle called life...'

She turned her head to the other side, finding Inuyasha lying up a tree to her right, like she had suspected. The hanyou liked to have the whole group in his field of vision. He seemed asleep. Behind him, the sun was rising over the hills. 'What will he say?' Inuyasha was the leader of their group, Kagome the glue keeping them together. She was curious for their reactions.

She returned her attention to Miroku. She moved her hand to his chest, again tracing it down. She took more time than before, but didn't stop at the breastbone. She continued over the solar plexus and slowed down even more when she reached the navel.

"Morning, Sango."

Sango jerked her hand back. "Inuyasha..." she grumbled, while she felt her face redden. 'Can't he sleep like everyone else?'

Inuyasha smirked, noticing the girl's distress. "Morning exercises?" he asked with played curiosity.

Sango looked to her side, finding her boomerang where she had left it the day before, leaning against a tree. "No, but I might start with you."

"I don't think so." Inuyasha laughed. "It looks like you already have Miroku training with you," he teased, looking at the hand on Sango's breast.

Sango turned a beat redder. Trying to both look dignified and not wake Miroku, she took his hand and placed it more appropriate, on it's owner. To her embarrassment, the monk seemed to like the previous position more and placed it back. She heard Inuyasha laugh - no, bark - out on his branch. Mortified, she slid the hand down to her stomach, hoping that Miroku would be content with a compromise. She scowled at Inuyasha, who was still laughing. Why didn't she have throwing knives with her?

Well, at least it seemed that Inuyasha had no problem with the two of them. On the contrary, he seemed to like the situation as an opportunity to tease her. 'If he gets together with Kagome, I'll have to pay him back.' She told herself that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Miroku was just - being Miroku. At least he kept his hand on her stomach. Inuyasha had finally caught himself, ignoring him seemed to work. "You are easily humored lately," she told him, hinting at the last day's events.

Inuyasha looked at her with piercing eyes. 'Has Miroku told her about yesterday?' He had better not. If Kagome heard about the spell range, he would lose his only advantage right after he found it. "What would you know?"

"More than you think," she answered, noticing with satisfaction how the hanyou squirmed on his branch.

"Keh!"

The matter seemed settled, neither of them picked up the conversation. Sango thought that she had paid back the hanyou appropriately. She relaxed against Miroku again, wondering if her head wasn't too heavy to be rested on his arm for that long. She couldn't make out any discomfort on his face, but maybe that wasn't a trustworthy indicator.

"So, you two together now?" Inuyasha suddenly asked from his tree.

Sango thought about how to answer the question. "Yes, I think you can call it that," she finally said. 'Together...' She liked the sound of that word. 'Sango and Miroku, together.' Somehow, it didn't feel nearly as odd as she had imagined - not at all. She saw Inuyasha nod on his branch, as if he had already imagined it. 'Great achievement,' Sango sneered mentally. It was rather obvious, judging from how their sleeping position must look like.

"I wouldn't have thought that you would fall for Miroku," Inuyasha told her bluntly.

"No?" Sango asked, not knowing how to take the comment.

"Well, you always seemed to notice he's only sweet-talking."

"Don't worry, I haven't fallen to that," Sango told him. "There's more to Miroku than you think."

"His hands, for instance?" Inuyasha teased.

"Oh, shut up..." Sango scowled at the hanyou. She guessed she wouldn't hear the end of it soon. 'Inuyasha better gets used to it.' She blushed slightly from the thought. 'Used to Miroku grabbing my breasts?' She wondered if Miroku now thought he could grope her anytime. Surely not. If he tried to touch her, he'd better be nice about it. Sango nodded, satisfied with her conclusion. She was his 'beautiful Lady', after all.

"It's just so girly to be taken in by his smooth talking," Inuyasha continued.

"Excuse me?"

Inuyasha grinned, glad he could take his frustration out on someone. "Well, I always thought you had something resembling a brain."

"What?" Sango glared at him. 'Why is he so harsh?' Did he disapprove with the relationship? Then he should say so directly. She drew in a breath, making a final attempt to restrain her temper.

"I won't repeat myself." Inuyasha made a pause for effect. "Or did you already forget what I said?"

"That's it," Sango growled. She removed Miroku's hand, watching out not to wake him, and stood up. "If you have something against Miroku and me, come down and tell me face to face!" she shouted, walking over to the hanyou's tree.

Inuyasha looked down to the girl standing in front of his tree. "No, it's okay, you seem to be stupid enough for him."

"You ..." Sango felt how her voice left her, a knot forming in her throat. "Miroku isn't ..." She felt tears stinging her eyes. "You think this is easy for me?" she shouted up to the hanyou.

"Oi." Inuyasha looked down dumbfounded. 'Is she crying?' The wind was blowing in his direction, carrying the salty odor of tears with it. Sango held them back, but she couldn't hide their smell nor her rugged voice. "Sango..."

When she didn't respond, he jumped down, landing a few meters beside her. "Hey, I'm sorry."

Sango wiped her eyes before she looked at him. "Sure doesn't look like it," she spat, venom in her voice.

"I was only teasing..." He drifted off when he saw Sango wiping her eyes again with the back of her hands. "Hey, calm down!"

"Keep your damn opinion to yourself!"

"I said I didn't mean it that way!" Inuyasha shouted back. He toned down his voice before he continued. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sango, is something wrong?" Miroku suddenly asked from behind them. He was standing on the blanket he had slept on a minute earlier; their quarrel had obviously woken him up. And not just him, Kagome too. "Inuyasha?" the girl asked sleepily. The two youkai lying with her also looked at Inuyasha, Shippou curiously, Kirara warily.

Inuyasha watched Sango turn around and walk back to Miroku. Her posture was upright, but not stiff. When she reached the monk, she embraced him and turned themselves around. Inuyasha saw her eyes peering at him over the monk's shoulder, looking him straight in the eye.

Miroku folded his arms around her after a moment, not knowing what was going on. "Sango? What is wrong?"

Kagome watched them perplexed. She had awoken to Sango shouting at Inuyasha. She was sure it was Inuyasha's fault, but didn't know what had taken place exactly. Sango was embracing Miroku and whispered something into the monk's ear. After some seconds, she moved out of the embrace and walked towards her. "Sango, are you okay?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, thank you for asking, Kagome," Sango answered, a determined, but not unhappy expression on her face. Kagome noticed that she didn't spare Inuyasha a single glance. "I see you have Kirara sleeping here." The youkai huntress knelt down and petted the youkai.

Inuyasha didn't know what to say. 'I've apologized, dammit!' And he rarely did that. While he grumbled to himself, he suddenly noticed a bottle lying half-ways between Miroku and Kagome. 'The sake!' If Kagome noticed, he'd be in for a lot of trouble. He noticed Miroku looking at him accusingly, not without reason, he had to admit. But now was not the time for that. After making sure that the girls weren't paying attention to him, he looked Miroku in the eye and then gave a pointed look at the bottle, hoping that the monk would catch the meaning.

Miroku followed the hanyou's gaze, seeing the sake jug lying there. After a second, the monk looked back at Inuyasha, not knowing what that had to do with Sango.

Inuyasha rolled with his eyes at the angry glare and nodded meaningfully at Kagome.

Miroku finally got the message. 'Kagome doesn't know about the alcohol!' He casually walked into Sango and Kagome's direction, making a small detour to kick the sake jug into the woods. Then he continued on his way, determined to watch out that Sango didn't let something slip.

He was on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, the hanyou had helped him out greatly yesterday. On the other hand, Inuyasha had offended Sango. Should he reprimand the hanyou? Sango had only told him that he shouldn't worry. And that naturally meant that he should worry.

He didn't even know what Inuyasha had done to begin with. He had heard him apologize, though. He sighed. Did the hanyou always have to stir up trouble? 'This could have been a nice wake up in the morning, but no, annoying Sango after what has to be one of the nicest nights of her life is obviously more important,' he thought, sure that Sango had enjoyed herself too. He had taken his intention to show consideration for her seriously.

He gave Inuyasha another accusing glare before he reached Sango; he would talk to him later. It also seemed that Sango was set on ignoring the hanyou, so it might be best to follow her example. "Good morning, Sango." He reached down, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Good morning, Miroku," she answered. Miroku couldn't make out discomfort in her voice. That confused him. For being that angry with Inuyasha just moments before, she was too calm now. He hoped that it was part of her plan to ignore the hanyou.

Kagome looked from one to the other, then to Inuyasha. Nobody said something. Inuyasha had crossed his arms and looked generally annoyed. She thought of something to break the tension. "How about breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," Inuyasha almost barked. He turned around and jumped up the tree.

Kagome watched him settling himself against the trunk. 'No armistice, then.'

They ate breakfast without Inuyasha. Kagome kept watching him from the corner of her eye, trying to catch him eyeing up the breakfast. He was hungry for sure; he was hungry every morning. 'No wonder with his energy consumption.' The last day's training with Shippou must have worn out Inuyasha as well, although she didn't know how long they had taken exactly, because she had been asleep.

She still hadn't caught him when she took the last bite of her breakfast. Miroku and Sango were both eating silently. Shippou had tried to break the uneasy silence, but stopped after a few useless attempts. Kagome didn't think that she would fare better. She felt sorry for Miroku; although he tried to hide it, the monk obviously didn't know how to react to the current situation. Well, neither did she. Usually she would have inquired - and scolded - Inuyasha, but she felt like she would antagonize Sango.

The others completed their breakfasts as well. 'As if they had synchronized with each other,' Kagome thought. They probably had.

"Shall we get going?" she asked uneasily.

"Yes," Miroku answered, while the others nodded. He helped with packing, like always, because he hadn't anything to prepare for himself. "I'll be going ahead a bit with Sango," he announced when they finished. Sango nodded and went over to the tree she had leaned Hiraikotsu against. After she shot Inuyasha a final dark look, she shouldered her boomerang and left with Miroku.

Inuyasha noticed the pair's leave. 'Typical, to be offended after a bit teasing.' Accepting an apology was also asking too much, of course. "Take a flying leap," he grumbled lowly after Sango. He noticed Kagome nearing the tree. He rolled with his eyes, preparing himself for her onslaught.

"Inuyasha, come down please," Kagome stated more than asked.

Inuyasha didn't exactly feel like leaving his tree at the moment, but the prospect of crashing out of it wasn't better. He jumped down and landed in front of Kagome. Wanting to look confident, he leaned against the trunk of the tree. "Yeah?"

"What happened between Sango and you?" Kagome asked directly. She had enough of playing games for this morning.

Inuyasha contemplated what to answer and decided that every believable lie would be just as bad as the truth. "She woke up first, and I teased her a bit."

Kagome gave him a questioning glare, obviously wanting him to speak further. When he didn't, she prodded with a pointed, "And?"

"And she got all bitchy," Inuyasha answered, straightening himself defensively.

Kagome's face hardened. "What did you tell her?"

"I made fun about falling for Miroku," he answered. "Nothing serious." How should he have known that the stupid girl would take it seriously?

"About falling for Miroku?" Kagome asked incredulously. 'That's why she's been so furious.' Hearing Inuyasha's insults exactly in such a special morning would have angered everyone. "Stupid! Why did you do that?" she shouted, aggravated.

"I was bored," Inuyasha defended himself.

Kagome looked at him in disbelief. "You insulted her because you were bored?"

"I sometimes also have a bad day," Inuyasha murmured.

"It couldn't get much worse," Kagome commented dryly.

On that, Inuyasha had to agree with her. He was tired. He was pissed. He had pissed off Sango. He didn't have any appetite. He started imagining things. The sun was hurting his eyes. He missed his tree. "Any suggestions?" he asked half-wearily, half-sarcastically.

Inuyasha's question caused Kagome to lose her beat; she hadn't expected that. She sighed. At least he understood that he had done Sango wrong, or he would have been more offensive. "Come on, let's get going," she said, not wanting to fall back too much after Sango and Miroku. She went back for her backpack. Shippou was waiting there with Kirara. The cat was already changed into her greater form, carrying the supplies. Kagome was about to haul her backpack onto her bike, when Inuyasha picked it up for her.

"You think Sango is still angry?" Inuyasha asked sullenly while he also shouldered her bike. He had thought that the huntress would only be angry for a moment, but Kagome made it sound like Sango would hold a grudge against him. 'It can't be that bad?'

Inuyasha's question hanging in the air, they set in motion, following the path Miroku and Sango had taken. Shippou, sitting on Kirara, motioned the cat to fall behind. Inuyasha had ruined Sango's morning, and now the hanyou obviously sought reassurance from Kagome. It would be better if he didn't disturb them.

Kagome tried to guess how the huntress would react; till now, Inuyasha and Sango had rarely quarreled, so there wasn't much to go on. Thinking of it, he had squabbled with everyone else in the group; with her, with Shippou, also with Miroku. Everyone but Sango had gotten on Inuyasha's bad side. Had he sheltered the huntress for some reason? "What did you tell her exactly?" Kagome asked milder than before.

"I only teased her about believing Miroku's weak pick-up lines," Inuyasha explained.

"But she never did," Kagome contradicted. Sango had always been wary over them.

"I know!" Inuyasha answered exasperated. In fact, because of this he didn't understand why Sango had gotten angry. "It doesn't make sense!"

"You don't make sense," Kagome shot back. "Why do you throw things at her which you know are untrue?"

'Because I was bored.' Inuyasha felt like the conversation was turning in circles. "Look, I don't know why I did, and I can't undo what I said." He made a short pause, crossing his arms. "You're going to talk to Sango, aren't you? Can you tell her that I didn't want to insult her?"

"Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"I tried," Inuyasha answered. "She didn't listen."

"I'll tell her," Kagome promised. She guessed that the excuse out of Inuyasha's mouth hadn't sounded convincing enough to pacify Sango. "I don't think she'll stay mad for long."

"She better not," Inuyasha grumbled.

"She'd have every reason to."

"I don't hold a grudge against her, so I think I can expect the same of her," Inuyasha explained in an annoyed voice.

"Why should you be angry at her?" Kagome asked.

"She tried to take my heads off my shoulders in our very first meeting."

"That was something different!"

"Yes, I agree that trying to kill me is different from teasing her a bit!"

Kagome was silent. 'That's not what I was trying to say.' She didn't know how the hanyou felt about that incident, but it was a long time ago. 'You also tried to kill me, and I'm not holding it against you!' Glaring at the hanyou, she said, "She was deceived by Naraku! You can't blame her for that!"

"I said I'm not," Inuyasha clarified. "And I can expect the same from her."

"You're twisting the truth!" Kagome complained.

"I'm not twisting anything. I'm just stating the facts," Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome glared at the hanyou for being stubborn. Sango had thought that Inuyasha had slaughtered her village. Of course she hadn't seen through Naraku's deception, being out of her mind after having lost her whole family. On the other hand, Inuyasha didn't have any excuse for picking on Sango today. "You just want to hide you're wrong."

"I'm not. Exactly that's what I want you to tell Sango!" Inuyasha took in a calming breath. "I'm not angry or bitter towards her, I'm just trying to say that I should deserve the same."

"You sure have a strange way of saying that," Kagome remarked.

"Why would Inuyasha insult you?" Miroku asked. Sango didn't want to tell him, she kept evading his questions for no apparent reason. At least she had stopped keeping up her cheerful facade during the walk. She didn't look angry now, rather uneasy, but who knew what that meant?

Sango didn't know how to answer. She didn't want to tell Miroku the hanyou's exact words. The monk would be angry if he heard that Inuyasha thought she was stupid for choosing him. "I just became irritated over a small side-comment from Inuyasha; it's not worth mentioning."

Miroku frowned at her. "I know you're not fussing over nothing, so it must have been something serious."

Sango squirmed, feeling guilty. She had wanted reassurance and got insulted, but that was no reason to get aggravated. Inuyasha had apologized and said that he'd only teased her. She was embarrassed for getting worked up like that. She had always prided herself for keeping her head, but obviously she wasn't as level-headed as she had thought.

Inuyasha had found out a weak spot of her. She indeed wasn't sure how stupid she was in her choice of men. She thought that Miroku was the right one, but the same had been valid for Banjiro. She had also heard one joke too much about herself and boys. It had been bad enough in her village, although most were meant good-naturedly, it had always left her feeling awkward - as if it was her duty to marry with thirteen.

"Is it because we are a pair now?" Miroku asked when she didn't answer immediately. He put as much confidence into the question as he could muster. 'We are, aren't we?' If she decided that the last evening was a slip, he didn't know what he would do to Inuyasha for working his girlfriend into a foul mood. Sango hadn't really commented on it till now. 'Well, she hasn't commented on anything else either.' And her earlier embrace was rather encouraging, even if the reason behind had been questionable.

"Of course not." She saw that Miroku took her answer wrong and added sheepishly, "Of course it's not because we are a... a pair now." Sango blushed a bit. It looked like she hadn't yet accustomed to being Miroku's... What exactly? Girlfriend? She noticed Miroku wrapping his arm around her waist, giving her a reassuring, or maybe a reassured squeeze.

Miroku contemplated to follow his action with a kiss, but decided he wouldn't let Sango get away that easily. "So if it wasn't about us, what else was it about?"

Sango sighed, she should have known Miroku would peg away. "It was about us, and it wasn't. Inuyasha has his foul days, you know that as good as me."

Miroku looked at the side of her face; she was looking ahead. 'What a typically female answer.' If she had said nothing, he'd known as much. 'About us and not about us...' He didn't have a clue what she was talking about. Deciding he better changed to a more pleasant topic before she expected him to understand, he said, "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. Did you sleep well?"

Sango had also enough of that particular topic. "Yes, I did," she answered with a shy smile. "You look like you slept well, too."

"More comfortable, isn't it?" Miroku said, grinning. "I'm sure it will get even better..." he added as if talking to himself while sliding his hand down to her bottom. He narrowly avoided the elbow he had half-expected, jumping to the side. He hoped that returning to familiar paths would cheer her up. "Lady Sango, what was that for?" he said with faked shock.

"Don't Lady me," Sango said. A taunting smile grew on her face. "From now on you'll have to show consideration for me. If you continue like that, I'll have to teach you to regard the feelings of a Lady."

'Damn!' Miroku hadn't thought about that yet. That was worse than before, being nearer to that wonderful ass, but not allowed to touch. "That's mean, Sango!" Seeing her smile widen to a grin, he knew that she didn't find him particularly pitiful. He had played nice for a week, that was all he could suffer! "You can grab mine too," he offered.

'Why the!' Sango glared at the monk. "Not everyone's into grabbing bottoms."

"Really?" Miroku asked. "That seemed different yesterday. You definitely groped my ass later in the evening..." He trailed off, seeing that his words had the intended effect. Sango blushing was just too cute.

"You're lying," Sango stated unconvincingly.

"You didn't even notice?" Miroku teased further.

'Damn!' Sango thought. Was that true? "So, what about it? I'd need years to get even."

"I guess I'll have to watch out," Miroku answered, turning his head to give his behind a concerned look. When Sango made a step towards him, he made one back, looking threatened. "I've seen through your deception," he said as if seized with dismay and started to run. "You won't catch me and my precious behind!"

"I'll give you a ten-second start!" Sango shouted. After the promised head-start she narrowed her eyes at the fleeing monk, a vicious smile growing on her face. 'Just wait till I get you!'

Inuyasha went around a small hill and saw Miroku and Sango sitting in the grass beside a fork in the road. The forest had finally thinned out, giving way for grass-covered hills. Kagome and Shippou also seemed to notice the two, Kirara even quickened her steps and went ahead.

'What are they waiting for?' It was only short after noon, so it was too soon to rest. They had to get back to the village, new moon was in three days. If Sango bitched at him again, he'd give her a piece of his mind. 'Spoilt little princess!' Hopefully Kagome would be able to talk her out of her foul mood. When he reached them, he noticed that they were both sitting there for some time, judging from their lingering smell. Had they rushed to get here? 'Humans...' Sango didn't look at him. Was she still angry?

"We've been waiting for you," Miroku spoke up. "The next village lies on the road to the left. It wouldn't be a significant detour."

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "What for? We've enough provisions to easily reach Kaede."

"I want to look for more clues," Sango explained.

"This ain't no sightseeing tour," Inuyasha grumbled. "You can come here later, it's not far from our village."

"This will only take an hour or two, I don't want to wait," Sango told the hanyou. She stood up, walking a few steps towards the left road. "I'll go with or without your consent," she told him, turning around.

"Listen, wench -"

"Inuyasha," Kagome interrupted him. "Why don't you wait here while Sango and me pay a short visit to the village." She gave him a pointed look to show him she was decided on this.

"I'll come with you," Miroku joined in, standing up too.

"You should keep Inuyasha company," Kagome told him. "I'm sure you guys have something to talk about."

Miroku shook his head. "That can wait for later. I'll accompany Sango."

Kagome turned to the huntress, waiting for her decision. She'd rather have some time with Sango alone, but if the huntress wanted Miroku with her, she would understand. To Kagome's delight, Sango answered that he should wait for her. The miko noticed that Inuyasha was about to complain again, judging from his look. "Inuyasha, we'll be back as soon as possible. It won't take long." Glad she had anticipated the hanyou's complaints, she turned around and left with Sango.

"Be back in an hour!" Inuyasha shouted after them. The two didn't even bother to turn around. "Dammit," he muttered, putting down Kagome's bike and backpack, "I hope they hurry."

"It's your fault anyway," Miroku scolded the hanyou. "If you hadn't done your stupid 'we have to hurry'-routine, I wouldn't be stuck here with you."

"And me," Shippou broke in, feeling left-out.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. He sat himself in the grass, lying his back against the slope. "If your girlfriend didn't want to visit every fucking village on the way, we wouldn't be sitting here either."

"This is important for her!" Miroku retorted. "This thing killed her grandfather."

"Great grandfather," Inuyasha corrected in an uninterested tone.

"Whatever. Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?"

"You know damn well why!" Inuyasha growled. "I want to get back to Kaede's village."

"Bullshit! We should be able to make it in two days, easily in three. We got farther than we thought in the last two days, especially the day before yesterday."

Inuyasha scowled at Miroku. The monk wasn't wrong, but he'd rather reach the village soon. "If I know you, you'll use that as an excuse to become lazy."

Miroku didn't respond, having enough of arguing senselessly with the hanyou. Instead he sat down beside Inuyasha, lying back similarly. He waited till he was comfortable and thought that the hanyou's mood had also calmed. "Sango was really upset before. I don't know what you did, but I'd rather you don't do that again. I appreciate your help yesterday, but if you keep working against me, we will bump heads." He hoped he had added enough steel to the last part. Sango had acted like it hadn't been a big ordeal, but if Inuyasha continued like that, he'd give the hanyou a piece of his mind. "What happened with Sango this morning?"

'Shit!' Inuyasha thought. 'What will Miroku think when I tell him that I called Sango stupid for falling for him?' He hadn't thought about that until now, too occupied with Sango. "Didn't she tell you?" he asked a question in reply.

"No, she didn't," Miroku answered. "I asked her, but she wouldn't answer."

"Maybe she wants to let the matter rest?"

"There are always two possibilities when a woman keeps silent," Miroku lectured. "First, she wants you to leave her alone cause she wants to keep a secret, and second, she wants you to ask her until she tells you." He sighed. "There's no method known to man to distinguish the two."

"Interesting..." Inuyasha commented drowsily. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I at least want to know what you said to her," Miroku demanded.

"I only made fun of her falling for you. It' nothing serious..."

Miroku gave Inuyasha a sharp look. "Can you keep your jokes to yourself?"

"I'll try," Inuyasha answered. Having enough of babbling with the monk, he closed his eyes.

Sango and Kagome were walking back. The visit to the village hadn't been successful. Nobody had remembered something concrete about the attack on the mining village, most hadn't even known about it at all.

Sango sighed, she could already imagine the hanyou telling her how he had foreseen this result. At least he couldn't complain about the time they had taken; it couldn't have been much more than an hour, judging by the position of the sun.

She didn't know what could have upset Inuyasha, or why he was so easily upset today. It had caught her eye during their discussion whether to head for the village or not, the hanyou had been even more straight-forward than usual. She couldn't remember herself or her friends doing anything that could have angered him.

It actually wasn't as if she was afraid or submissive towards Inuyasha; she wouldn't have gone to the village if that were so. Still, she wanted to calm down the situation. Kagome had told her that Inuyasha had said he was sorry and only overshot the mark, and she also was willing to return to normal terms. Quarreling further on that subject would only serve to embarrass her again.

Since they had left the village, Kagome was keeping quiet. They had talked on their way to the village, mainly about Miroku. Sango had approached the matter cautiously, wanting to know what the miko thought about them. Kagome had reassured her, although Sango had the impression that the girl still wanted to know something. She turned towards the miko. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Kagome prepared herself for the upcoming. "You know, there is something I want to discuss with you."

"Yeah?"

"How do you think about children?"

"Eh?" Sango was caught unprepared.

"I'm probably not the person who can advise you on this," Kagome began, "but I'd still like to know what you will do should Miroku ask you to bear his heir." She played with her fingers uncomfortably, she had imagined it a bit easier. If it had been someone else than Miroku, this talk could have waited, but Kagome couldn't help but feel under pressure.

"I haven't really thought about it until now," Sango answered truthfully. "I mean, I've of course thought about having children, just not - now," she added good-naturedly.

Kagome nodded. "I guess you're a step farther than me. I haven't even really thought about children." Still, she was younger than her friend, and she didn't live in the Sengoku Jidai. She could understand that people had children earlier because the chances for an early demise were good. She had told herself she should try to not influence Sango, but rather help the huntress building her own opinion. Kagome was glad that she had had a night's sleep before having this talk. "You should think it through; I'm sure Miroku will bring it up sooner or later."

Sango had to admit that Kagome was right. She agreed that Miroku would approach that subject. Although it seemed like an excuse sometimes, or rather very often, his haste in siring an heir wasn't unfounded. This also brought up another problem, Sango didn't want her first child to be born with a death curse - this not only looked like a bad omen. She wondered about Miroku's stance on this. Till now it hadn't seemed like he spent much thought on it, but who knew what was going on behind his smile? She had caught a short glimpse of the person behind the cheerful facade yesterday.

"Please don't be angry, Kagome," Sango began, "but I want to talk about that with Miroku first. I feel like plotting behind his back. He has also finally found Naraku, maybe he is less desperate than he had to be until now." Kagome had told her months earlier that Miroku hadn't even met Naraku before he had joined Inuyasha. It really had to be a hunt for a phantom, the only prove of its existence the curse on his hand. "There are too many things I don't know about his stance, and I don't want to leave him out of this decision."

Kagome nodded; although she felt a bit repelled, she could understand that Sango wanted to form her opinion together with Miroku. At least she had brought Sango's attention to the problem. "Just don't do anything rash, okay?"

Sango gave her friend a small smile. "I won't. Really, Kagome, you can stop worrying." She hadn't spent much thought on it herself, so she wondered when the miko had gotten all these thoughts into her head. It couldn't have been for long, since the chance of Miroku and her having children was very slim until now - actually nil.

"Um, yes, I'll try," Kagome said. She guessed she was sounding like her mother, when Sango was actually older than herself.

Sango was glad that this discussion was finished, she already saw Inuyasha and the rest coming into view. They had all settled themselves into the grass. Kirara was lying in her greater form, she would have had to take off her burden to change and really rest. While they were nearing, Miroku sat up, and said something to the hanyou. Afterwards he gave Inuyasha a nudge in the side; this caused the hanyou to sit up abruptly. Had he been asleep? 'Putting me under stress to return soon, but sleeping meanwhile?' She felt stupid for hastening at all.

Miroku stood up when she reached him. "How did it go?" he asked.

Sango shook her head. "Nothing new," she said, bracing herself.

"Could have told ya from the beginning..." Inuyasha muttered like she had predicted.

Miroku gave Inuyasha a glare. "It looks like you spent the time sleeping, so you can't complain."

"Was not!"

"Complaining?" Sango asked sarcastically.

"Sleeping." Inuyasha stood up. "Who could sleep with a monk and a fox chatting over your head?"

Miroku narrowed his eyes. He looked at Shippou; the fox also seemed confused. They hadn't talked at all, but rather also used the time to rest.

"What?" Inuyasha asked in annoyed tone.

"Nothing." Miroku fought to keep the amusement out of his voice. 'Looks like he has dreamed of Shippou and me.' He gave Shippou a look, indicating him to keep silent. He didn't want to be drawn into another argument.

"Hmph. Thought so." Inuyasha looked back, down the path they had come from. 'Nothing there.' He turned towards the one lying ahead of them. "Can we finally continue?" he asked, shouldering Kagome's belongings again.

"If you have rested enough..." Miroku trailed off. Sango couldn't suppress a grin at Miroku's statement.

"Shut up," Inuyasha growled. He went ahead, showing that he wasn't tired at all. "And get going!"

Shippou hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder. "Hey, don't you think that it's enough for today?" the fox asked impatiently.

"Enough?"

"The sun's already setting!" Shippou pointed at the sun which was already vanishing behind the horizon. "Everyone's tired."

Inuyasha looked behind. The others had stopped ten meters behind him, looking expectantly at him. "Ten minutes?" he asked, trying to bargain.

"No," Kagome brought out between intakes of breath. "We've made more than enough way for today."

"Five? To find a proper sleeping place."

"No! We'll stay right here," she said, waving at the surroundings. "There is a tree, we can build a fire, the river is next to us, there's no need to go further."

Inuyasha finally turned around and walked back. "If you didn't have to take your stupid bike with you, I could have carried you," he complained.

Kagome glared at him. "It was to help you that I took it along."

"'s not helping at all," Inuyasha grumbled. He put her bike down and leaned it against the only tree in the vicinity. It looked old and wrinkled, with twisted branches that were completely unfit for sleeping. He looked around; the place was totally exposed, also directly next to the road so everyone could find them. "I like it here," he said as sarcastically as he could.

"What are you complaining about?" Shippou asked from the shoulder. "We've slept in places like these often."

"I'm not complaining," Inuyasha said. "I said I liked it, didn't I?"

"Stop being a jerk," Shippou commented and hopped off. He headed towards Kagome, who had wordlessly begun to build a fire. Sango and Miroku had picked up firewood on the way, anticipating that they'd need it, and Kagome provided the easy burnable paper from her time. "Ignore him, Inuyasha's being stupid," Shippou said.

"Don't worry, I've already noticed," Kagome answered, loud enough for the hanyou to hear.

"Keh!"

Shippou ignored him, following Kagome's example. "What's for dinner?"

"Something from Kirara's load. I'm sure she'll appreciate that she won't have to be a pack horse for long."

"Unlike me," Inuyasha interrupted.

"Osuwari," Kagome said evenly. "Counting on a good breakfast tomorrow, we should be able to divide Kirara's burden between us," she continued, ignoring the snarling hanyou.

"Fine, you can carry your fucking stuff yourself tomorrow!" Inuyasha cursed from his subdued position.

Shippou gave Inuyasha a side-look. 'You were practically asking...' Well, wasn't his problem. He didn't think that training was a good idea today, Inuyasha was on the edge the whole day.

He wondered why Kagome was trying to put up with the hanyou, Inuyasha had done his best to try her patience, so Shippou didn't wonder that the second 'Osuwari' for this day had come without announcement. She had tried really long with the first, but some time during the evening her patience had finally snapped. He was rather surprised that Kagome hadn't sat the hanyou more often than twice today - not that it would have helped much. He wouldn't wonder if there were more to follow.

Shippou watched Kagome light the fire with her weird fire-making tool from the future. Usually he lighted the fire with his fox-fire, but she looked like she wanted to do things her way. 'Cause of Inuyasha,' he thought. He'd found out she liked to rely on things from her time, especially when she was unsettled; he also thought that was the explanation why she wore the garb from her time.

Once the fire was burning, they all sat around, even Inuyasha. Shippou expected him to complain about the food for not including meat but, for once, there were no complaints. The whole situation seemed to defuse, Inuyasha and Kagome were quarreling lightly about her bike, not disturbing Miroku and Sango on the other side of the fire. The monk and the huntress were really together now, and all thanks to him, Shippou. He bit into his meal with pride, faintly registering that he also missed some meat under the rice. Sadly Inuyasha didn't complain and hunt something for them... Well, maybe it was better that way. Miroku and Sango had distanced themselves during the day because of Inuyasha's foul mood. 'On the other hand, maybe they would have, anyway,' the fox added in his thoughts, taking into account that the two likely wanted to spend time together.

"I'm going to sleep on my fuckin' lovely tree." Inuyasha's announcement interrupted Shippou's thoughts. He watched the hanyou jump up the tree and settle against the trunk, making clear that he didn't find the tree lovely at all by repeatedly repositioning himself.

"Can I have the rest of you meal?" Shippou asked, seeing that Inuyasha had left a good third in his bowl.

"Do what you want. Tastes like nothing anyway."

Kagome glared at the hanyou. "Nobody's forcing you."

"That's why I left it."

"I like your food, Kagome," Shippou told her, trying to pacify Kagome. It seemed to work, Kagome turned her face back to her meal. He heard Miroku snicker lightly across the fire. He guessed in the monk's position he'd also have better things to do than to worry about Inuyasha and Kagome. He watched Miroku and Sango stand up. The two announced that they'd be going for a walk and left together.

Shippou was finishing his meal alongside Kagome. The last light was already fading away, so he took a branch and reached back to throw it into the fire.

"Don't," Inuyasha growled out.

Shippou looked up to the hanyou. "Why?"

Inuyasha was silent for a few seconds. "The fire makes us visible to everyone. You're all going to sleep soon, so you can as well let the fire die down."

"But it will scare away dangerous animals," Kagome reasoned.

"It's not the animals I'm worried about," Inuyasha told her.

"But?" Shippou asked.

"Just don't."

The tone of the hanyou's voice made Shippou lower his arm and place the branch back to the others. He saw Inuyasha settle back against the tree, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. 'Strange...' Maybe Inuyasha was afraid that somebody became aware of their Shikon shards? That had to be it; Shippou had to admit that the place was really very open. Finding a better one would be hard, though. Miroku had said that the next forest was Inuyasha's, and the monk knew the surroundings, after all he had suggested this route in the first place. Kaede's village was built on the outskirts of this forest, and they were nearing the village from the other side, so there would be no cover for the last stretch of road.

Shippou finally finished his meal. Content, and full with Inuyasha's portion, he felt his eye-lids drifting shut. He yawned.

"Are you tired, Shippou?" Kagome asked.

Still, he didn't want to go to sleep yet. "Not really." He always felt like he was missing things or wasting time when he went to sleep. Miroku and Sango were still not back, he wondered where the two were staying. Well, he had confidence that the monk wasn't messing things up, and Sango seemed to be drawn to his direct nature, even if she slapped him all the time.

He hoped that he would be as successful with Inuyasha and Kagome; even if he liked Sango and Miroku a lot, the other two were more important to him. They had become second parents, Kagome from the beginning, Inuyasha only recently. Or was it for a longer time with the hanyou, too? Inuyasha had never lost a word when he had saved him or hunted for them. Shippou thought about that. Maybe he was just realizing it late, because the hanyou was still young, also acting like that and not really like a parent?

Kagome had been very protective from the beginning, almost like his real mum. Although, nobody would ever be able to replace his mother. He stared into the fire, remembering how she had cared for him, played with him, also reprimanded him. Nobody would ever be like her. 'She'll never replace you,' he told his mother silently. Nobody could.

"I'm going to sleep," Shippou announced. He stood up and went for Kagome sleeping bag. Meanwhile he knew how to unroll it, so he took it and spread it out under the tree. He crawled into the sleeping bag, rolling to one side because Kagome would need the place.

He didn't think of his mother often now, and he sometimes feared his memory of her would fade eventually. Already it was becoming hard to remember her face, or the exact tone of her voice. When he felt like talking with someone, it wasn't her who he thought of. In some ways, Kagome was replacing his mother.

He would sleep another night snuggled up to her.

Here it ends for another time. I have the next chapter almost finished. Some of you might have heard this before and doubt me, and I agree that it could take a week or two until the next update. Still, the next chapter is very interesting to write, so I'm progressing faster than with all the Mir/San tralala ;)

The title epigraph's from an old classic of Black Sabbath.