Strange Behavior

A/N: I wrote this for KeiChanz, in response to a prompt she posted over on Tumblr. The gist of the prompt was, "write InuKag trading jokes and secret smiles and making faces, and Miroku and Sango are wondering what the heck is happening."

Hope you enjoy! ^_~

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"Sango?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think Inuyasha and Kagome are acting... ah, strange?"

At the monk's question, the demon slayer glanced up from her inspection of Hiraikotsu—where it lay across her lap as she mended its ripped leather strap—and craned her head towards the pair in question. Inuyasha and Kagome stood several yards away, leaning side-by-side against the exterior wall of Kaede's hut. Inuyasha had his arms resting in his sleeves, one foot propped against the wall behind him as though readying to push away any moment. Such a typical pose for the half-demon: seemingly relaxed and yet always prepared to spring into action. Next to him, Kagome played with a strand of her hair as she spoke, lips upturned in an impish smile. Sango could hear the murmur of their voices—the distinctly amiable, carefree quality to their tones—but couldn't make out the words.

After watching them a moment longer, she turned back to Miroku and raised an eyebrow. "They seem perfectly fine to me."

He raised his eyebrows at her in return, and nodded towards the other couple. "But look at them, Sango."

She glanced back at the pair. They still just stood there, relaxed and chatting. "Yes?"

"They aren't fighting."

Sango blinked, processing that—then lifted her hand to cover her mouth. No need to encourage the monk with a smile. "Ah, I see."

"They haven't fought at all in the past four days."

"I hadn't noticed, but now that you mention it..."

"You don't think that's strange?"

"It is a bit... abnormal, I suppose."

"'Abnormal' is not the word," Miroku muttered, watching as Kagome lightly swatted the back of her hand against Inuyasha's stomach, which only made the hanyō smirk. "'Ominous' comes to mind... 'mystifying,' 'disquieting'... but 'abnormal' is the least of it."

This time Sango didn't bother to hide her smile. "You may be shooting sparrows with a cannon. Perhaps they're simply in a good mood?"

As they watched, Inuyasha pushed away from the wall and made as if to walk away—but after taking only one step, he hesitated. Then, pitching himself forward as though he'd tripped, he put all his weight on the ball of one foot, and in the same instant, his arms began to windmill through the air as he wobbled back and forth on his toes.

And if that wasn't bizarre enough, he then deliberately looked over his shoulder at Kagome, who was watching him with raised brows, mouth agape in surprise.

Neither Sango nor Miroku could see Inuyasha's expression from their angle, but they could see Kagome's: her eyebrows lowered into an almost-frown, her eyes narrowed, her lips closed and then pursed slightly. Both of her hands settled against her hips, and she said, "Inuyasha!" in a tone rife with irritation.

The effect was ruined, however, when she immediately snorted and released a deep-bellied guffaw.

Sango couldn't be totally sure, but she thought she heard an answering bark of laughter from the still-wobbling hanyō.

As one, Miroku and Sango turned towards each other.

"What was that," Miroku said, "about shooting sparrows with a cannon?"

"Mystifying indeed, sir monk."

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The next day, the group set out from Kaede's village in search of information on Naraku's whereabouts. Grim as their purpose was, the atmosphere among them—particularly between a certain couple—was far from sober.

Kagome erupted in what was probably her tenth round of giggles in the last few hours. She was walking beside Inuyasha, pushing her bicycle along by its handlebars—taking a break from the hard peddling she'd done all morning—and occasionally reaching out to flick the hanyō's arm with her fingers. Inuyasha appeared to be ignoring her, which only prompted more arm-flicks from the girl.

Some distance behind them, Miroku leaned in closer to Sango and said in an undertone, "Do you think something happened between them while they were in Kagome's homeland?"

Sango watched with interest as Inuyasha's hand crept up behind Kagome, grasped a fistful of the dark hair swinging down her back, and then tugged on it like the pull-cord on a bell. Quick as a flash, his hand was back inside his sleeve, just before the girl's head whipped towards him and a muffled, "Hey!" rang through the air.

Sango leaned closer to Miroku and replied, "Something like what?"

The monk chuckled, his breath fanning against Sango's cheek. She fought hard not to shiver. "Ah, lovely Sango, I think you know the 'something' – what else would have them flirting like love struck children?"

"Flirting? They're acting more like squabbling siblings, if you ask me."

Miroku opened his mouth to retort, but a high-pitched voice cut in with, "They are acting strange. Kagome's been blushing all day, and Inuyasha's been even more idiotic than normal." An orange puff of hair and a pair of bright emerald eyes appeared over Miroku's furthest shoulder. Sango shot a surprised glance Shippō's way, then caught Miroku's rather gloating expression as he nodded with exaggerated solemnity.

"You see? Even Shippō sees how amorously—"

In a well-practiced maneuver, Sango jutted her elbow into Miroku's ribs.

"—I mean," the monk coughed, "how abnormally those two have been behaving."

"Hm," mumbled the demon slayer, "I'm not convinced."

Just then, they heard a rather squeaking "eep!" and Kagome suddenly lurched forward, her feet stumbling and scuffing against the ground once, twice, before she managed to catch herself against her bike. Inuyasha's hand had darted out to grab her, but stopped when she regained her balance. Clawed fingers hovered for a moment above her shoulder until it was obvious the girl had her footing again—then the hand returned to Inuyasha's side as though it had never moved. Kagome missed it entirely.

But she did not miss the impossibly wide grin that stretched across Inuyasha's face as she slowly turned her head to look at him. The girl's shoulders had stiffened, and though Sango could only see her face in profile, it was obvious that it had turned a flaming red. Inuyasha, meanwhile, was grinning so broadly that both his fangs poked over his bottom lip. Even with the distance between them, Sango could feel the masculine smugness permeating the air.

Inuyasha's chin lifted in an altogether haughty gesture, his mouth opening on an inhale—only for Kagome to point an index finger right under his nose and sternly command, "Don't!"

All three observers fully expected Inuyasha to swat her hand away and growl something rude (which would surely end with his face in the dirt and an angry schoolgirl huffing off). So they were all three astonished when, instead, he slowly reached up and flicked a finger against her forehead. "Tch," he muttered, the amusement in his voice obvious, "told you. Always a klutz. At least this time it wasn't while—"

His voice lowered and it was impossible to hear the rest clearly. But whatever he said, Kagome's reaction was instantaneous: her face practically glowed with color, and shooting the rest of them a glance over her shoulder, she whispered "Shhhhh!"

Sango didn't need to look at Miroku to know that he'd raised a sardonic eyebrow at her.

"Yep," Shippō said with a shake of his small head, "weird."

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"You know, I'm beginning to miss their fighting. It was at least entertaining. Now I'm forced to find other means of amusement."

Sango held in a snort. "It must be very challenging for you."

He sighed dramatically. "It is."

"You must admit that their recent antics have been fairly... diverting."

"True enough. Have I told you my latest guess on the subject?"

"What's that?" Sango leaned forward to stir the campfire with a stick, sending sparks flying and the flames leaping. After a moment, the logs cracked and settled, and Sango resumed her previous position, seated comfortably next to the reclining monk. Kirara hopped into her lap, and she automatically began stroking the fire cat's soft fur. Across the campfire, Inuyasha and Kagome were eating instant noodle cups and occasionally nudging each other with their arms. Shippō, having already inhaled his dinner, was dozing on Kagome's sleeping bag.

Miroku's voice lowered, possibly to avoid a certain hanyō overhearing. "Fighting was once their version of forepl—er, flirting. Now they've replaced it with actual... flirting."

Sango narrowed her eyes at him. He returned the look with one of wide-eyed innocence.

"Best not let Inuyasha hear you," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks warm at his intent, amused gaze. She shifted closer to the fire, convincing herself it was the cause of her flush. "He'll take it out of your hide."

Miroku smiled, not unpleasantly. "He certainly would—but he'd have to tear his attention away from Kagome long enough to hear it, which does not seem very likely."

Sango had to concede the point; even now Inuyasha was leaning toward Kagome to whisper something in her ear, which made Kagome smother a laugh against her hand. The girl's eyes were bright, and her smile cheerful; her whole demeanor radiated happiness. Sango smiled as she watched.

Soon Inuyasha stood up from his crouch by the fire. "I'm gonna make another sweep of the area before we settle in for the night. Don't fall asleep and get eaten while I'm gone, y'hear?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, and replied, "Yeah, yeah, we'll do our best not to be yōkai dessert."

Inuyasha snorted, and began walking away from the fire. Just as he was passing by Kagome, she shot her foot out, swiftly laying her leg across his path. He stumbled, and for a moment it looked like he might fall—but with a well-timed and rather inhuman leap, he regained his balance. Then turned on his heel to glare at the heartily laughing girl.

"Your face!" she wheezed, clutching her stomach with both arms, "Oh, it was priceless!"

For the second time that day, Inuyasha's reaction took them all by surprise. Rather than a snarl, his lips formed a tiny smirk as he straightened and stalked back over to Kagome. "You oughta know, you've made it often enough. Bet I can get that face outta you again right now."

And with that—before the girl had even finished laughing—Inuyasha swooped down, slid one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, lifted her up against his chest, turned to Sango and Miroku, and said with just the faintest hint of red across his nose, "Be back in a bit."

Then he bolted away into the night, Kagome's laughter fading into the distance.

Stunned, Sango stared after them. "I... well that... that was... abnormal..."

Miroku was laughing too hard to speak just then.

Later, after they'd packed away the remains of their dinner and started preparing for bed—Inuyasha and Kagome still absent—Sango felt a gentle tug on her hair. Startled, she glanced over her shoulder at Miroku, standing close to her with his fingers curled around the ends of her hair, lightly stroking.

"So, Sango," he said, "what do you say to our own... flirting?"

A slap echoed through the night, loud enough to wake the sleeping kitsune, who rubbed at his bleary eyes; saw the monk cradling his cheek and the demon slayer huffing away; then he lay back down with a mumbled, "Idiot."

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Inuyasha had no sooner set Kagome on her feet than he had her pressed against a tree, body crowding close to hers. Without hesitation, she twined her arms around his shoulders and tilted her face up to his. A pleased growl rumbled from his chest before he dropped his head and kissed her. She hummed into the kiss, rocking up onto her tiptoes and pressing into him. He responded by pushing her even harder against the tree and nudging her lips open for a better, deeper taste.

After awhile, they pulled away to catch their breath; or at least Kagome tried to catch hers. Inuyasha immediately began running his lips down her neck, fangs nipping and scraping her skin. She clutched at his shoulders and gasped, dropping her head back against the tree.

"You know," she said, "they're onto us."

Inuyasha grunted, and pulled away long enough to say, "Nah," before returning to his previous attentions.

"But they are. Did you see them watching us earlier? They totally know."

His lips skimmed along her collar bones. "All they know is that you're clumsy. Nothing new there."

"Inu... yasha," she complained, then sighed as his hands trailed along her sides, coming to rest on her hips. His thumbs rubbed circles against her skin, dipping beneath the waistband of her skirt. She reached up and stroked one of his ears, her other hand trailing down his chest to rest against his heart. He leaned his head into the touch, and settled his weight more comfortably against her.

"Forget about them. The more important question is how you intend to make things up to me."

"Make things up?"

"For trying to dump me on my ass earlier."

She laughed, then gasped when he gave a harder nip to her neck. "Oh, I don't know... I'd say you earned it for all the teasing you've been giving me lately."

"Well I'd say you earned all that teasing with that maneuver you pulled in your time... hope you've learned to be more careful on the shrine stairs."

She groaned. "Are you ever going to forget about that?"

He grinned, his mouth returning to hers for another kiss. "Nope. Especially not with what happened afterwards..."

Her cheeks bloomed a deep pink, but she grinned back at him. "It was very thoughtful of you to check me for injury."

"And you still tried to dump me on my ass. Ungrateful."

"Hm." She placed a kiss on the underside of his jaw. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"Good," he growled, and pressed his lips against hers.

-Fin-