Sango woke up extremely happy that morning.
Miroku had kissed her forehead and whispered that he was taking the twins out for a stroll so she could breastfeed their son in peace.
As she straightened up their hut, Sango couldn't help but smile at the prospect the day offered her. It had been three years since she, Miroku, Kagome and Inuyasha had gone anywhere together. It was hard to reconcile their schedules even now, with the men gone so often, Kagome's duty as a village priestess, and her own full-time job as a mother (at least for the time being).
After everything was in order and the baby was fed, she strapped him to her back. They should've been leaving shortly, since the market they wanted to go to was in another village.
When Miroku reappeared, he had an annoyed expression on his face.
"Where are the twins?" Sango asked.
"They're waiting with Kagome until we leave," he answered. "She was sad, so the twins said they wouldn't leave her."
"Why is she sad?"
"Inuyasha doesn't want to go to the market with us. He told her she could buy anything she needed, but he didn't want to accompany her."
"And the twins sided with Kagome?" Sango asked, sounding surprised.
"Well, they're angry with 'doggy' because he won't come" Miroku explained.
Sango sighed as she disentangled herself from the baby sac.
"Where are you going?"
"I'll talk some sense into him, even if I have to use Hiraikotsu."
"I already talked to him, dear Sango. I don't think hitting his head will help our cause."
Sango gave Miroku a small smile while she handed him their son, as if she knew something he did not.
"I'll just threaten to use my dumplings with numbing medicine, then."
After going to Inuyasha's hut and being told by a tearful Kagome that he wasn't home, Sango started for the Goshinboku. He must've realized that it was a very predictable place, though, because he wasn't there either. The woman ended up finding her half-demon friend sitting under a short tree by the river, which marked the limit of their village.
By the time Sango got there, she was sweating because of the sultry air. When she spotted Inuyasha's red haori, a wave of irritation washed over the taijiya, but she tried to push it back. She needed to be tactful.
An ear turned in her direction as she approached the tree, but Inuyasha didn't acknowledge her presence in any other way. Sango stood beside him and took a deep breath, letting the sound of the running water soothe her.
"Your wife's still angry," she informed.
"Oh, man," she heard him sigh. "Give me a break, will you? I know what you're gonna say."
"Is that so?" Sango asked, crossing her arms irritably and looking down at the top of his head. "Then what is it?"
"You're gonna say I should just go to the market with everybody!" Inuyasha huffed. "But I don't want to, alright? I feel like staying here."
"Is there a particular reason for that, or are you just being a brat?"
He got up pretty quickly at that.
"Who are you calling a brat?"
Inuyasha had a kicked puppy expression and his ears were a little drooped. It felt like he was trying to argue with her just for show, which Sango didn't like at all.
"Why are you looking so dejected?" She asked exasperatedly. "Today was supposed to be a good day, Inuyasha!"
"And it will be!" He stretched. "Geez! You should just go, you know? You've waited long enough for this. I know your kids are driving you insane."
"Well, right now you're driving me insane!" She hissed. "How can we have a good day if you're not there?"
Sango could tell this took him by surprise, which she'd have found amusing if they weren't in their current situation. Didn't he know he was important already? Had he woken up with his head in the past that morning?
"Kagome will be miserable if you don't join us, Inuyasha," she said quietly. When he looked away, she stepped a little closer and touched his shoulder lightly. "I'll be sad if you don't come, too."
"Drop it, Sango. Miroku told me all of this already," Inuyasha said. When he looked at her again, his eyes were angry. "But you know better than that, huh?" He chuckled humorlessly.
"What do you mean?"
"You asked me why I didn't wanna come, but you know a market is no place for me to go with Kagome! She'll want to hold my hand, treat me like her husband and stuff… in front of everyone."
Sango wished she could say he was wrong, but she couldn't. She was perfectly aware of the implications of what Inuyasha was saying. The taijiya had been often called to deal with harmless demons who had accidentally ended up in the middle of a market, and it had never been pretty.
She wasn't about to dismiss his concerns, but still… her friend didn't look like those demons had. The fuss wouldn't be the same.
"So what if you receive a few glares? We've traveled through villages before. Don't you think she can take it?" Sango questioned, putting a little more pressure on his shoulder. When Inuyasha was fully facing her, she gave him her best "Sango glare". The woman knew it was a powerful coercion; Kohaku swore he'd seen her make a flower wither once.
"Keh. Of course she can take it!" He agreed. "The thing is, she shouldn't have to! Don't you think she's taken enough?"
"But she wants to, Inuyasha" Sango said softly, releasing him. "She's wanted it since she was a girl! I can't believe you're acting like this again…"
"Hey, I'm not just being stupid this time!" The man said impatiently, blushing a little. Sango was surprised he implied he'd ever been stupid at all. If the circumstances had been different, she was sure she'd have laughed. "I just want her to have a good day, is all! I don't want her to feel like a hanyou's wife today, just a normal one!"
"But will she feel like a wife at all if her husband's not around?"
That shut him up.
Sango smiled. She knew why Miroku hadn't succeeded in bringing him back.
Inuyasha needed someone who actually understood what he was trying to say, someone who had dealt with that before. Someone nurturing, she mentally added for good measure.
As they strolled through the market, Miroku and Sango let Inuyasha and Kagome walk ahead of them. The twins ran between the two couples, and the baby snored from his place on Miroku's back.
"I must say I was surprised when you brought him home," Miroku remarked, smiling as he saw Kagome take Inuyasha's hand. "But why did you bring Hiraikotsu?"
"I just miss carrying it around," Sango replied innocently, giving Miroku a quick kiss. "Especially when we're together like this."
It wasn't quite true, though.
Every time she caught someone so much as glancing at her friends with disapproval, Sango shook Hiraikotsu discreetly and glared.
It worked ten times out of ten.
A/N: Sango definitely wouldn't let inukag take sh*t from strangers!