AN: I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for feedback about the fight scene. I'm glad you guys liked it n.n I'm still a little nervous when it comes to writing them, but I'm glad you enjoyed the last one.


Inuyasha crossed his arms and glanced around briefly, hearing several murmurs beginning to rise up from some of the villagers. Most didn't bother him, really. It seemed that they were just surprised about having someone with the Shikon no Tama in the village with them. And really, that was reasonable. Since the Jewel had originated in the village anyway, it was a little uncanny... One voice, however, got the hanyou's attention.

"Filthy half-breeds always bring trouble."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, as he looked in the direction the voice had come from. Immediately, he saw a young man, who appeared to be only a few years older than Sango.

As he realized he was being looked at, the man raised an eyebrow and smiled, though his eyes remained hardened; a clear sign that he didn't want the hanyou there.

Inuyasha growled quietly and quickened his pace so he walked beside Sango, "Sango, who's he?"

Sango looked over to Inuyasha, before looking to where he motioned. "Ah, that's Yukio. Remember when I said there are some people that decide to stay at the village and help out? He's one of them." She said, smiling towards the dark-haired young man, "He's helped out a lot... Why do you ask?" She asked, looking to Inuyasha once again.

"No reason." He mumbled, looking ahead once again... "So, you were serious when you said you used demon parts for your weapons and armor, weren't you?" He asked, wanting to change the subject. He already didn't like that 'Yukio' guy...

The taijiya nodded, making her way to the hut where her, as well as Kohaku's and a few various other weapons were kept when not in use, "That's the way we've always worked. I thought Myouga-ji explained that to you."

"Keh." The hanyou spat, "You can't count on Myouga-jiji all the time. It's hard to tell if he really knows what he's talking about, or if he's just saying things."

She laughed slightly, nudging him in the arm, "Myouga-ji may run at the first sign of danger, but he does know a lot of useful knowledge."

"I still wouldn't count on him." He replied, leaning against the outside of the hut while he waited for Sango to put up her weapons. "I'd rather have someone else to count on, other than him."

"Someone?" She asked curiously, walking outside once again, "Someone like who, Inuyasha?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking at her, "Huh? Oh, I don't know... I mean, you have Kirara, and I get stuck with someone like Myouga-jiji."

"Myouja-ji's not that bad." She said, smiling, "He may not be there when there's danger around, but he has saved us before."

He let out a 'hmph', and closed his eyes for a moment, before grinning and looking to Sango once again, "If you don't think Myouga-jiji's so bad, why don't you take him and give me Kirara?"

"Sorry, but I don't like him that much... nothing and no one could ever take Kirara's place." She replied, looking towards the sky, "It'll be dark soon.. We need to get this place cleaned up before night falls." She took a few steps forward, then stopped and looked back to him, "Will you help us?"

The hanyou looked up to the sky for a moment himself, his eyes narrowing slightly as he seemed to think something over. But, after a few seconds, he turned his attention back to the taijiya and nodded, "Sure, it's not like I have anything better else to do." Then, with a grin, he added, "You can count on me, Sango."

She smiled and nodded, "Thank you. And, you know you can always count on me too, Inuyasha."

He nodded as well, as he pushed himself off of the hut. And without another word, the two walked out to help the villagers that were already busy cleaning up the village from the previous battle.

-Later on, after night fall-

It had taken longer than anyone had expected, but the demons had all been properly disposed of, and the village was looking like it was before the attack had happened; except for a few damaged huts, but they would start repairing those the next day.

Sango stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn, before surveying the village from where she stood. Most of the people were already beginning to settle in for the night, she noticed. But that was quite understandable. Her brother and Kirara, however, weren't among those people. She could see them sitting near the front gates, looking up at the night sky. She could tell Kohaku was talking to the neko, but what he was saying, was something she didn't know.

Looking away from them, she tried to locate another familiar figure; that of Inuyasha, but she failed at that. She had lost track of the hanyou a little before sundown. At first, she had assumed he was just helping out somewhere, but now, she was beginning to feel that he had left at some point.

But... that didn't make sense. He wouldn't just leave; not after giving her that 'you can count on me' line. Or... would he? No, no! She shook her head, 'No, I know Inuyasha better than that. He wouldn't just leave without giving me a reason...'

She was failing miserably to reassure herself, she realized. After all, Inuyasha could've gone... it wasn't like he had to stay there if he didn't want to. With a sigh, she walked over to join her brother and Kirara near the gates.

When she approached, Kohaku looked up and smiled, "Ane-ue, we were wondering if you were going to come over here." He said, meaning him and Kirara.

Sango smiled slightly and sat down, "Sorry, I was trying to find someone... You haven't seen Inuyasha around, have you?" She asked, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she stared ahead.

He shook his head slightly, looking up at the sky once again, "No... I thought he was with you."

"He was, but now he's gone." She replied, sighing slightly. 'So, maybe Inuyasha did leave... but why?' She asked herself.

The boy remained quiet for a moment, and then, "You can see the stars really clearly tonight."

"Stars..." She mumbled, only half paying attention to what he was saying. She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was forgetting something... 'If he wanted to leave, why didn't he talk to me about it?'

"They're so bright." Kohaku continued, oblivious to the fact that Sango seemed preoccupied with her thoughts. "I think now's the best time to see them, since there's no moonlight to over-shine them."

"Bright..." She said, her eyes narrowing slightly in concentration. There was something she was missing, she knew it! But what-- wait! "Kohaku, what did you just say?" She asked, turning to look at her brother.

The boy blinked and thought back over his previous statement before replying, "The stars are bright since there's no moonlight to shine over them?"

"That's it!" Sango said, jumping up, "No moonlight, new moon! Thank you Kohaku!" She added, giving her brother a quick hug, "I'll be back later, I'm going to look for Inuyasha!" And then, she was gone, running though the village; leaving a very confused Kohaku and Kirara behind her.

Kirara looked after her mistress, then looked up to Kohaku, blinking once as she mewed questionably.

Kohaku could only shake his head, just as confused as the neko was, "I have no idea where she's going..."

Meanwhile, Sango stopped running and looked around for a moment, 'New moon... Inuyasha becomes human tonight, that's why he's gone. He didn't leave, he's just staying away from everyone like he always does.' She told herself, looking around as she tried to find any sign of the hanyou.

Then, she saw it; a flash of red in one of the sentry towers. Soon enough, she found herself at the back of the village, climbing up the ladder of the tower, "Inuyasha?" She asked hopefully, pulling herself up so she was now sitting on the floor of the tower.

Sure enough, Inuyasha was there, black hair and all. At his name, the human-hanyou cracked open an eye and looked at the taijiya, "What is it, Sango?"

She breathed a silent sigh of relief, finding him again, "Nothing. I was just-- I didn't mean to wake you up."

He snorted and folded his arms across his chest, as he opened both eyes and leaned against the wall, "Keh... I wasn't sleeping. I can't risk sleeping on the night of the new moon... Damn hanyou blood.."

"Ano... well, if you hate it so much, why haven't you used the Shikon no Tama to become a full demon?" She asked, slowly at first, unsure of how he would react, "If you did that, you wouldn't have to worry about your hanyou, or rather human, blood."

He looked over at her for a moment, silently regarding her. His eyebrows scrunched together, as he made a slight 'mmm' noise, as though trying to decide whether or not to say something. Finally, he turned his head to the side and shut his eyes again, "Keh, like hell I'm going to tell you why I haven't used the Jewel."

The taijiya sighed, but nodded as she stood up to look out over the village. Really, she knew she should have expected a response like that one. Inuyasha rarely gave motive behind his actions, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Still... the fact that he, seemingly, had to actually think about whether or not he should answer her was somewhat comforting, in a sense. Maybe he'd tell her one day... 'One day?' She asked herself, somewhat surprised, 'How long is he even going to stay?'

"Say, Inuyasha? How long do you plan on staying here?" She asked, turning to look at him again.

He raised an eyebrow and silently looked at her for a moment, before a grin slowly spread across his face, "Getting sick of me already, Sango?"

She quickly shook her head, "No, no of course not! I was just asking because... well, to be honest, I thought you had left already today when I couldn't find you. And I..." She trailed off and began to nervously fidget with her hands, "I was just wondering... you- you'd tell me if you decided to leave, right? I mean, you wouldn't just leave without saying anything... would you?"

The grin he wore, slowly turned itself into a frown, as an oddly serious expression came to his face, "Of course I'd tell you if I decided to leave. I wouldn't just walk out and leave you without saying something to you first."

Sango was surprised, to say the least, to see his expression change, and she felt like hugging him once she had heard his response. But, she refrained from doing so. "Thank you..." She said quietly, though she wasn't even sure why she had thanked him.. "And I didn't mean to make it sound like I don't trust you, I was just... worried."

'Worried?' He repeated the word in his mind a couple times, his human-colored eyes narrowing in thought, 'She did say worried, right? Why would she be worried?' He asked himself the same question a few times, before shrugging it off, "Actually, I thought I should ask you when I was leaving. I'm not the one who lives here."

'Would you like to?' Was the first thing that came to the taijiya's mind, causing her blink and wonder where that thought came from. However, instead of saying that, she chose to reply with, "That's up to you, Inuyasha. I'm not going to say you have to stay here until a certain time, and I'm not going to say you have to leave by a certain time. You're free to stay here as long as you like."

Inuyasha nodded, seemingly content with her reply. Though, after a few minutes of silence, he spoke up again, "That's fine... But, you know, I don't like to stay anyplace too long. You saw what happened today, Sango, I don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

"Inuyasha, that doesn't matter, we can defend ourselves just like we did today." She replied, sitting across from him again, "There will always be a chance that demons may attack the exterminators village, that's something everyone who trains or stays here knows. Sure, maybe the risk becomes slightly higher when the Shikon no Tama is here, but that doesn't matter. I was a little unsure at first, but now I know we'd do fine against an attack."

He frowned a bit, looking intently at the floor. But, it wasn't long before another grin tugged at the corners of his lips, "I keep forgetting I'm in a village full of demon exterminators-- or, trainee's as you call them." He said, looking to her once again, "I guess it'd be better to be around here, than around Kaede's village, wouldn't it?"

She nodded, smiling slightly, "It would." And then, her smile grew as she realized something, "I knew it! You do live near Kaede-sama and Shippou!"

The human-hanyou blinked, then shook his head, "No-- no I don't! Why would I want to stay anywhere near that brat? And, keh, it's not like I want to stay near the old hag either."

"You said it would be better for you to be around here, rather than Kaede-sama's village." She said, smiling broadly, knowing she had him, "So that has to mean if you weren't here, you'd be there. Right?"

He began to say something in reply, but promptly shut up once again, and glanced off to the side. "I hate you..." He mumbled, looking, oddly enough, like he was pouting.

She merely shook her head, quite used to his behavior, "You wouldn't know what to do without me."

"I'd be better off probably." He sneered, the pouting look quickly being replaced by a challenging one. Somehow, he almost... enjoyed arguing with her. It wasn't like the tiring bickering he used to do with Kagome. It was refreshing, in a sense, and... fun. Maybe that was because he knew it wouldn't end with an 'osuwari!' Or a tear-filled 'I'm going home!' But, whatever it was, he found it entertaining. 'Ah, shit... I must be going crazy to think that.' He thought to himself, rolling his eyes, though his expression stayed the same as he waited for Sango's response.

She arched an eyebrow at his statement, and laughed, "Better off? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even have the Shikon no Tama anymore." She paused for a moment, as her laughter died down slightly, "Speaking of which... how did that spider-demon get it?"

The corner of his mouth twitched, as he fought to keep the smirk on his face, but it was becoming more difficult, "Wouldn't you like to know." He replied, "And, for the record, I would've gotten it back, even if you hadn't shown up."

"Of course." Was her only reply, before the pair fell into silence. However, only a few minutes later, Sango spoke up once again, "Why don't we visit them tomorrow?"

He gave her a curious look, "Visit who?"

"Shippou and Kaede-sama." She said, as though that was the obvious answer, "I haven't seen them since the day we split up. I'd really like to see how they're doing. And I'm sure that Kirara wouldn't mind seeing Shippou again either."

"Keh! I don't know why you want to see them again." He snorted and shook his head slightly, "It's not like they've changed much."

"Aw, come on Inuyasha." She replied, though she wasn't totally sure why she was trying to convince him. It wasn't like she needed him to go with her, "It could be fun."

The human-hanyou huffed and was quiet for a moment, "Fine, if it'll get you to leave me alone."

Sango smiled and nodded, "Great! We'll leave first thing in the morning then." With that, she began climbing back down the ladder so she could get some sleep. However, she stopped for a moment, and looked back up to Inuyasha, "Are you sure you want to stay up all night?"

He looked at her, as though she had asked a really dumb question, "Of course, you idiot!"

She shrugged as best she could, and continued her way down the ladder, "Okay then. Goodnight." She called up to him, before making her way to her hut and settling down for the night.

Once she was gone, Inuyasha laid back with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the roof of the sentry tower, "Why haven't I used the Jewel... keh..." Absentmindedly, he moved one of his hands to clutch the small pouch, containing the Shikon no Tama, which hung, very much like a necklace, around his neck. "It's not like I don't want to... It's just..." He trailed off, and closed his eyes for a moment, "Whatever..." He rolled onto his side, propping his head up with one hand, as he looked at his other hand. Well, he did prefer his claws to the blunt, short nails of a human... "At least I wouldn't have to stay up all night every new moon." He muttered to himself, flopping onto his back once more. 'Now, if only sunrise would hurry up and get here...'


AN: Human Inuyasha!! I love writing Inuyasha in his different forms (hanyou, human, and demon-ish). And this is only the second time I've written human Inuyasha. Anyways... I'm just rambling about unimportant stuff right now, so feel free to ignore this n.n;;