Pure Anger 10

The demon slipped through the darkness, a shadow weaving in and out of other shadows, casting no shadow itself. It had no discernable scent and left no tracks behind. It snaked through the forest, hunting for it's prey. It slithered into the clearing, and focused on InuYasha. The boy sleeping on the ground was enticing, but the female next to him boasted a better meal. The demon slipped between them, and hung over the female, looking at her body. It was caught in a moment of indecision. It was a beautiful body. The decision now was should it be possessed, or eaten? It hesitated a second too long, and hissed in pain as InuYasha's claws slashed through the back of it's head. A second later, and InuYasha's hand closed tightly into a fist, crushing the remainder of the demon's skull. Sango was awoken by the hissing and cracking sounds, and looked over sleepily at InuYasha.

"What's going on, babe?" The pet name was out of her mouth before she could react, and she hoped that InuYasha didn't catch it. She looked at him, still sleepy, but a bit more awake. He didn't seem to hear her. He grimaced, and threw the lifeless demons shadowy body away.

"Nothing, Sango, just an attacking demon." He said. "Guess our stay in the forest is over, we should be getting back to Kaede's." He said. "Tomorrow we travel."

Sango nodded. "Okay." She said. She laid back down, and waited for InuYasha to join her, like he had a few hours earlier. She had laid down, tired, and he had sat down beside her, eventually laying down, just a foot away. But now, he wasn't laying back down. He was sitting up, and sniffing the air. She smiled at his peculiar behaviour.

"InuYasha..?" She asked, and recieved no answer. Just a growl.

"Lay back down, Sango, " He said. "Nothing's going on, but I think you should keep a hand on your blade, for now." He said. Sango sat up, alarmed, and looked at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked. InuYasha looked at her, seriously.

"You really can't sense them?" He asked. Sango shook her head. Maybe she was rusty, from not being in battle for so long, but she really couldn't sense anything. InuYasha grimaced.

"This fight is going to be harder than I thought..." He mumbled, and Sango was immedately on guard.

"Fight?" She asked. InuYasha nodded. "They're all around us, about thirty of them." He said. Sango blinked, and slowly slid her sword out of it's sheath. She was so glad she listened to the voice that told her to keep her sword close tonight.

"What do you think they are?" She asked. InuYasha shook his head. "I don't know." He said, the tension audible in his voice. It made Sango jump. Why was he so nervous? If he was nervous, then she should be terrified. She tightened her grip on her sword, and got ready to fight. She stretched as many muscles as she could without moving around too much. She noticed InuYasha's hand slide down to his sword handle, and that worried her. He was usually so cocky, and waited until the enemy was visible before reaching for her sword. Why change now? Then a sudden thought hit her. What if he wasn't changing? What if the enemy was visible, just not to her?

Then she heard InuYasha's voice.

"Sango, take this powder, and move over to the fire." He instructed slowly, holding out a small pouch of powder. She took it, and his strong voice started to comfort her. She calmed down, and did exactly as he told her, moving over to the fire.

"I'm guessing that they don't like light, because most of them are grouped on the side furthest from the fire." He said conversationally, like he wasn't talking about a group of demons that could kill them. "So when I tell you to, I want you to dump that pack into the fire, and hit the dirt." He said. Sango nodded. She had identified the powder, and knew that it would produce a loud bang when ignited, but more importantly, a large flash. She hefted it, and wondered briefly if InuYasha was trying to kill her. This much powder at such close range would blow her apart if she wasn't careful. She looked back at InuYasha, and saw that he was now standing. And growling. Something was making him very nervous. And she was very nervous because she couldn't see what was making InuYasha so nervous. She cursed, and wished she could be of more help.

InuYasha looked around at the shadows that were slipping in and out of his peripheral vision, and he cursed mentally. He wished that he could see the enemies better. He counted around thirty of them, and it wasn't by being able to see them that he had counted them. They gave off a strange aura. It was hard to explain, maybe that's why Sango couldn't sense them. It was a feeling you got, the same way you woke up inside a hut with no windows and knew if it was day or night, or when you were walking through the forest and could feel the presence of water and knew where to go to find a stream. A more recent analogy, when Kagome had had to take him to her time, was when he had walked into a room, and felt, rather than heard, a strange buzzing sound, and Kagome had pointed to something she called a T.V. It was on, but showing nothing but black and white dots. It was sort of like that. He was concentrating hard, and he could feel one trying to sneak up on him. He waited until it was close, then whirled around and brought his sword down hard on the demon, killing it. They were all about waist high, big enough to do damage, but small enough to evade his attacks if he wasn't careful. Luckily, they weren't that intelligent. InuYasha was starting to sense a pattern. The other twenty nine demons were all moving around randomly, or so it seemed, within the bounds of the dark forest, but as InuYasha examined their patterns, following just one aura, he found that they were all going around in circles around the clearing, each darting further and further out into the clearing each time they made a loop of the clearing. And they had it timed so that there were six or seven out a time. He started to back up, not out of fear, but he wanted them closer to the fire.

Sango saw InuYasha back up, and noted the look of confusion on his face. She was starting to get confused. She couldn't sense a damn thing, and had just seen InuYasha 'kill' something. She briefly wondered if he was going crazy. But the hissing and cracking she had heard was real, she was sure of it. InuYasha backed up again, and she felt a twinge of fear.

"Sango..." Her name was said, and she responded automatically.

"InuYasha," She said.

"Open the pouch." He said. "Slowly."

Sango did as she was told, and held it over the fire. InuYasha's eyes were darting around, following unseen demons, and she had to wonder again if he was insane.

"When I count to three, drop it in, pouch and all." He said. He turned around to look behind him, fear flitting across his face for half a second, then calmed down.

"One...Two..." He hesitated, then his eyes narrowed. "Three! Drop it!"

Sango dropped the pouch in the fire and hit the ground as a huge bang almost deafened her, and a flash lit up the whole area. She had enough sense to look around as she hit the ground, and saw dozens of almost invisible creatures freeze in their paths, before vaporizing. She grinned to herself. Not only was InuYasha not crazy, he was a genius.

Once the fire settled down, she stood back up, and looked at InuYasha. He grinned at her.

"Well, that was an interesting fight." He said. "Too bad it disturbed our sleep."

Sango nodded, her mind on those demons. She was sure that she had seen them before...

The next day, they were up early, preparing food and getting ready to make the half-day trek to Kaede's village. Sango strapped on her sword, and did up the buttons to her demon slayer suit. InuYasha was stuffing his face with the remainders of the food they had made for breakfast. She looked down at him sitting on the ground, crosslegged, shoving rice into his mouth faster then she had ever seen, like he was afraid someone was going to take it away from him if he didn't eat it fast enough. She smiled. He was so predictable.

"Hey InuYasha, hand me some of that rice, will you?" She asked. InuYasha glared at her over his bowl, and growled possessively.

"Gmt yer uwm." He mumbled around a mouthful of rice. She shook her head and turned around to hide her smile. She picked up her Hiraikotsu, and started walking, knowing that the hanyou would follow her. A few seconds later, he caught up, slowing down from his jog into an easy walk. He was chewing on a slightly burnt fish. She thought back to the meal she had this morning, a tiny fish she had caught, and one bowl of rice. InuYasha, the gluttonous pig, had taken the biggest fish, and the majority of the rice. She looked at him again, and her stomach growled. Upon hearing it, InuYasha looked at her, and shrugged.

"Whatcha want me to do about it?" He asked. Sango glared at him.

"Give me some." She said, and InuYasha shook his head. "No."

Sango nodded. "Yes."

"No."

"Yes, InuYasha."

"No. My fish."

"Share, InuYasha."

"NO!"

"GODDAMMIT INUYASHA GIVE ME THAT FISH!"

InuYasha leaned away from her, slightly scared. He gave her the fish, and she chewed angrily on it. InuYasha moved over a few feet, still walking. Best to keep his distance. She must be PMSing.

Sango smiled to herself, and happily ate the fish. So far today was a good day, she had gotten what she wanted and she didn't have to fight too hard for it. She snuck a glance at InuYasha and saw him move over a few feet. She shrugged. His loss.

Or was it?

Did he miss the closeness between them? Already she could feel the gap he had created, and it tore at her. She wanted him to come back over, so she could feel his hand grazing against hers everytime he swung his arm while he walked. She wanted to be able to turn her head just a bit and be able to look at him. She couldn't do either of those things now that he had moved away. She started to get a bit sad. He was such an idiot.

She continued walking, and eventually they came to a part of the path with grass on one side of it. It seemed as good a place as any to take a break, so she walked over and sat down. InuYasha followed her, sitting beside her. She looked over at him, and gave him a genuine smile, making his heart race and his face flush red. She took a deep drink of water from a water bottle she had gotten off Kagome, and passed it to InuYasha. She noticed with some agitation that he carefully wiped it off before taking a drink and passing it back. Then another thought came back to her, like it did the other day. Why did she care? It didn't mean anything. She accepted the bottle, and leaned back, laying down on the grass to bask in the heat of the sun, which was climbing high in the sky. There was about a twenty minute walk left to Kaede's place, and they weren't in any particular hurry, especially InuYasha. He didn't want to face Kaede when she found out that Miroku and Kagome were dead. Suddenly, Sango got an idea.

She sat up, and gently put her hand on her left knee. A few minutes later, she started rubbing her knee, 'wincing' in pain. InuYasha looked over, and was immediately worried. But he didn't show it. Or he tried not to.

"What's wrong, Sango?" He asked, easing the roughness that was usually in his voice. Sango shook her head. "I don't know, my knee just started hurting suddenly." She said. InuYasha panicked, and didn't know what to do.

"I don't know what to do!" He said. "C'mon, we gotta get to Kaede's, she can help you."

"You can't walk, right?" He asked, just to make sure. Sango shook her head. InuYasha sighed, then crouched down in front of her.

"Come on, climb on my back." He said. "I'll carry you there." Sango blushed, even though that's what she was hoping for, and happily climbed on. InuYasha stood up, and she saw what it was like to view the world from the height of InuYasha, even if it was just a few inches higher. She happily snuggled up against him, and closed her eyes, forgetting all about the 'pain' that was in her left leg. She rested her head on his shoulder, and tried to inconspicuously sniff his neck. She wanted to see what he smelled like. She moved her nose a bit closer to his neck, and inhaled softly, her nose filling with the scent of the forest and of the scent that was uniquely InuYasha. She smiled happily, and fell asleep, lulled by the gentle up and down motion created by InuYasha's steps, and his slow breathing. As she slowly fell into the darkness that was sleep, she could faintly hear InuYasha's heart beating.

InuYasha crouched down outside Kaede's hut, and whispered Sango's name. She didn't wake up, but she responded by tightening her grip on his haori, not wanting to let go. InuYasha blushed as the old miko came out, and saw Sango on his back.

"Wake her up wench, and do it quick before my legs break." He said, faking his usually angry and bitchy attitiude. But for some reason the whole time he had been carrying Sango he had been the happiest guy in the world. Now it had to come to an end. She had to wake up and get off. Now he was bitchy.

"Jeez woman, hurry up!" He said. The old priestess ignored the impatient hanyou, and gently shook Sango awake. She awoke slowly.

"Hmm, don't do that InuYasha." Was her sleepy reply to Kaede's gentle shaking. Kaede and InuYasha were both surprised, the former looking to the latter.

"What kinds of things have you been doing to her, InuYasha?" She asked, surprised. InuYasha blushed, and shook his head.

"I didn't do anything to the bitch!" He yelled, embarrassed. But inside, he was secretly pleased. Whatever kind of dreams Sango was having about him, at least they were dreams. Not nightmares. About him. Not some other guy. For some reason, that made him happy.

"Sango, wake up dear." Kaede said, shaking Sango a bit harder. This time Sango sat up, looking around. Her eyes were half open, and her hair was a bit messy, but other than that, she was fine. She got off InuYasha's back, and stood there for a few seconds, balancing sleepily on her feet, before walking into the hut, leaving InuYasha to stare at her.

Kaede noticed this.

"It's not polite to stare at a girl like that." She stated dryly. InuYasha, suffering too many attacks in such a short time, almost clawed her in half.

"I wasn't staring like that!" He screeched. Kaede smiled and nodded. "Oh really..."

"Yeah really. Her knee was hurt, that's why I was carrying her, and then she just gets off and walks into the cabin like nothing was wrong..." InuYasha ground his fangs together, making the old miko wince.

"That lazy ass was just trying to get a free ride!" He cursed, and walked in after her, to give her a piece of his mind. Kaede shook her head at his stupidity.

"No, InuYasha, she merely wanted to be a little bit closer to you, that's all." She mumbled to herself.

Inside the cabin...

"What the hell was that!?!?" He screamed, and Sango flinched. "I thought your knee was hurting!" He yelled. Sango nodded. "Yeah, it was hurting, but when I woke up, it felt fine." She lied. It had never hurt to begin with. "I was able to walk a few steps, but right as I sat down, I felt some of the pain return." She said. InuYasha stared at her skeptically, before shrugging and turning away.

"That's what you get for being a weak human." He said loftily, flopping down on the floor.

Sango clenched her fists together. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be able to 'sit' him like Kagome could. She stared at his back, and contemplated kicking him. Then she thought better of it, as Kaede walked in, sitting down.

"Now, children, tell me what has happened, that the other two cannot be present for today." She said, having no idea as to what had happened. Sango cast a look at InuYasha, who looked guiltily back, and said nothing. Kaede, a part of her stomach growing nervous, pressed onward.

"Come, tell me children, what has happened?" She asked. Sango spoke first.

"They are dead."

Kaede's face paled. "Oh dear..." She said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Sango nodded, then began the dirty tale of how they had died.

An hour later...

InuYasha had gotten up and walked out halfway through the tale, and Sango had remained behind, to finish the sad story. Once it was over, the sulky hanyou still wasn't back. Sango figured that it would be a good time to bring it up.

"Is there any way that I can control him?" She asked. "You know, like Kagome could, with the necklace and the word sit, in case anything happens." She said. She leaned in close to whisper to Kaede. "Sometimes, around him when he's angry, I fear for my life."

Kaede nodded, and told her about the necklace he wore.

"You can use that one, there is no need to change it, or the word, as long as you are comfortable with both." She said. Sango nodded.

"Ok, the effect will be the same also, and it will work regardless of the emotion in your voice." Kaede said.

"Now, something to bond it to..." She said. Sango looked at her confused. "Bond to, what do you mean?" She asked.

Kaede shrugged. "Well, your a demon slayer, not a miko, so you have no priestly powers to speak of, so you can't control the necklace." She said. "I have to bond it with something with spiritual pow..." She trailed off as her gaze caught the wind tunnel cover on Sango's right wrist.

"That will do." She said.

She leaned over, and put her bony hand on Sango's right wrist, closing her eyes. She started to direct the flow of energy into the fabric, and when she was finished, she pulled back.

"Okay, that fabric now has a connection with the necklace, so everytime your wearing it or touching it and say the word 'sit', InuYasha will be plummeted to the ground." She said.

"Sit.." Sango said expirimentally, running the word around in her mouth. She was distracted from her thoughts as a loud bang was heard outside the door, followed by several colorful curse words. InuYasha stumbled through the door a moment later, bleeding from a cut on his cheek.

"So, you want to control me too, huh?" He asked, glaring at her with absolute hate in his eyes. InuYasha shook his head, his silver hair flying into his eyes. He snorted.

"And to think I actually liked you..." With that, he was gone, running out of the cabin, away from Sango. Sango just sat on the floor, stunned at what she had heard.

And to think I actually liked you...

Sango looked at Kaede. "What have I done?" She asked softly.