Inuyasha and I left the girls to their practicing and walked back up towards the house. We found some shade and sprawled out underneath it. It had been a long time since I had found myself like this; laying around in the shade while Sango was off doing her own thing. It had always been either her, the twins, or work for the past three years that kept me occupied. Of course, I couldn't love any three things more, other than world peace I suppose, but that's a reach in and of itself. Still, change is usually a good thing, even if it's a change that has simply returned. Now, things were varying again. One of the best things about it is that Sango has some productive entertainment. I, on the other hand… am still stuck with Inuyasha.

After a while I sat up, desiring my own form of entertainment. I looked over at Inuyasha. His arms were folded tight across his chest, his mouth was shaped into a scowl and he was jittering his foot constantly, I guess some sort of nervous habit.

"Something on your mind?" I asked. I barely had to open my mouth for him to spill his entire mind all over the place.

"Why does Kagome think she needs to practice fighting?" He scoffed. "It's not like she's actually gonna have to fight anybody!"

"Perhaps she just wishes to help if more trouble arises. Don't forget, she once was an active fighter." In fact she saved our skins on numerous occasions.

"I know. I know. But that's different. She shouldn't have to fight now."

"Inuyasha-" I let out an exasperated sigh. "Try and think about the situation from her point of view…" Inuyasha rolled his head up and looked at me stubbornly like I was boring him with a lecture. "You should comfort her more. Talk to her about it. Otherwise, you're going to scare her when you suddenly decide you're leaving." I said earnestly.

"You know I don't have a choice. If I find him first, this can be over before she gets hurt." He snapped.

"I understand. But Kagome hasn't been here very long and some lunatic is already after her. As much as you think you need to hunt down this person, you must remember that she needs you here too." I answered sternly.

There were a few minutes of silence as I waited for his response. "I can't be in two places at once Miroku," Inuyasha muttered.

Just then, the two girls trudged up over the hill. My jaw dropped a little at the peculiar sight before me. They were coated in mud of all things.

They stopped short a few feet from where we sat. Kagome glanced around at random places in the sky, averting eye contact, while Sango had this deep-in-thought look on her face.

I looked up at my wife and furrowed my brow slightly.

"What happened?" I said looking her up and down. The two girls glanced at each other as if they were just as confused as we were.

"Uh- We kind of got carried away…" Kagome murmured. She turned her head towards Sango and pursed her lips, seemingly to keep from laughing.

"Phh, kind of?" Sango snorted.

Kagome smiled widely, then laughed nervously. "Uh- heh-heh. Maybe a lot."

I couldn't help chuckling. "We can't leave you two alone for very long can we?" Sango rolled her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean? We're perfectly independent women thank you! Right Kagome?"

"Yes." Kagome didn't even seem to hear the conversation. She was trying to brush some of the mud off her face but it just smeared it around more. Then she smiled at the twins as they squealed loudly and chased each other around the yard.

"Besides," Sango sighed. I looked back at my wife with a purposeful skeptical expression. "Kagome started it." She placed her hands on her hips. The gesture sparked my interest.

Kagome snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and turned her attention back to Sango, she looked insulted. "Me? You threw mud at me first!"

"Yeah- but you made me do it." Sango leaned towards her.

"Na-uhh! You started talking about-that thing!" Kagome whined.

"Ladies, ladies, lets not make a bad influence on the children shall we?" I cut in. Inuyasha was hunched over laughing, typical of him to enjoy moments such as this.

Kagome looked down at him. There was something uneasy about her expression that I caught immediately. My conclusion: definitely the product of girl talk. Inuyasha lifted his head and looked up at her and when their eyes locked she blushed a deep red. He raised one eyebrow when he noticed the change.

"What?" He asked curiously.

"N-nothing! No- don't worry about it!" She stammered.

"Are you okay? Why are you acting weird?" He stood up and took a step towards her.

"No that's okay! I was just going! Got to get the mud out of my ears cause I think my hearing is getting fuzzy!" I noted she was talking louder than necessary and she was laughing nervously again. I glanced at my wife. Her lips were pressed together and her eyes were wide. The anxiousness practically screamed, 'shut up, shut up, shut up.'

"Yep! I'm just gonna go now. Nothing weird- just mud wrestling. Ha ha!"

Sango slapped her hand to her face. It made a loud splat sound because of the mud. I leaned back down onto the grass and sighed.

Inuyasha stared after Kagome until she disappeared into the house. Then he slowly turned to face Sango. "What did you do?" He said suspiciously. I could tell he would have liked to have added the words 'this' and 'time' to the end of the question.

"I didn't do anything." Sango said innocently then scooted off after Kagome, leaving us there to figure out the pieces of the puzzle.

"Keh- women." Inuyasha snorted.