"Eh…Sango-chan?" Kagome called after her friend, but Sango was already gone.

Shippou looked up at Kagome, "Why did she go?"

Kagome looked down to the kitsune and shook her head, "I don't know, Shippou-chan. But…something's going on between those two…"

Shippou tilted his head to the side a bit, "What do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing. You'll understand when you're older." The miko replied with a slight laugh.

*Elsewhere*

Inuyasha crossed his arms and began mumbling several things under his breath, "Baka…why can't they just leave me alone. Its not like I sat down and planned all this. I mean…sheesh…" Looking up, his ears twitched slightly as he stopped walking. He knew who it was long before she came into sight. But he acted as though he hadn't seen nor heard her.

"Inuyasha?" Sango asked, confirming his thoughts as to who it was coming for him.

The hanyou turned his head slightly, enough to see her, "What?"

She moved closer to him, "We need to talk."

"About what?" He asked, closing his eyes.

"About…everything." She replied.

He shrugged slightly, "What do you mean by everything?"

She frowned. Was this just some game to him? "You, me, what happened earlier, everything!"

Inuyasha turned his head away, feigning annoyance, "I don't know what you mean, Sango."

The taijiya grabbed a hold of the beads of the rosary around his neck and tugged on them harshly, forcing him to look at her again, "You know damn well what I mean!"

Okay…now she was mad. But he wasn't ready to give in yet. "No, I don't! Now would you mind letting go?"

Sango narrowed her eyes slightly and kept her hold on his rosary, "Is this all some kind of game, Inuyasha? You get all…all emotional, and everything just to deny it later?"

"Keh!" The hanyou said, looking at her, "I don't see you running to tell Miroku or Kagome about it."

"Eh…well…That's because…" She trailed off, as the look of anger disappeared. She loosened her hold on the rosary and began to nervously toy with the beads, "I wanted to talk to you first."

"Well I'm here. Let's talk." He replied.

"I tried." She replied, letting go of the rosary and turning around, "I tried to talk, but you kept denying everything. Ugh! I was such an idiot to think that I actually car--" She stopped suddenly and clasped her hand over her mouth, surprised at what she was about to say.

And Inuyasha was equally surprised. Though he wasn't one hundred percent sure about what she was going to say, he had a pretty good idea, "That you…what, Sango?" He asked quietly, stepping closer to her.

The taijiya shook her head, letting her arms fall back to her sides, "N…nothing. I was just talking, that's all." She turned to face him and smiled slightly, "So, just forget it, okay?"

His eyebrow twitched, and then, a mischievous grin slowly crossed his face, "Forget it, huh?"

He took a step towards her, only to see her take a step back. But even as she did so, she held that sweet smile on her face. He too, kept that grin on his own face as he took a few more steps towards her. And she, much like he expected, stepped back yet again.

She nearly choked when she felt herself back against a tree. But she quickly shook off the slight surprise, "Hai! Forget it."

The hanyou's grin only widened as she trapped herself. And, to make sure she didn't leave, Inuyasha stood directly in front of her and rested his hands against the tree, placing an arm on either side of her, "Why should I just forget it when you clearly were about to say something?"

'He's close…so close…too close…' Sango thought frantically as she ducked under one of his arms in an attempt to put some distance between them. But that only resulted in him grabbing her wrist, preventing her from going anywhere. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him again, "Ano…because…Because you were clearly able to forget about what happened earlier. So forget about that too!"

"I never said I forgot." He replied, his tone suddenly serious.

"Then why…" She began slowly, "Why deny everything? Is this…only a game to you?" She hoped against everything that he would say no. 'Please…Please say this is more than a game…Inuyasha, say this is more than just a cruel, heart breaking game. Wait…heart breaking? What does that have to do with anything. I'm not going to be heart broken if he says yes. Then…why did I start to say I care about him?' The taijiya blinked. Somehow, thinking it had been more surprising than saying it. Or, partially saying it. 'I…care about him? I care about…Inuyasha?' She looked up to his face, with that very thought running through her mind. She realized she hadn't even heard a word he had said, but he was shaking his head, so she could only assume he had answered 'no' to her question. But she needed to know for sure.

"Inuyasha…" She interrupted his talking. Then, closing her eyes, she continued, "This isn't a game…right? Please tell me that is not."

"Of course its not." The hanyou replied, "Sango, I would never do that to you. Why would you think that?"

She shook her head slightly, "I don't know…You were just pretending that nothing happened. And I…That made me really mad because…" She looked at him again, "Because it hurt, Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha was surprised, to say the least, "I…I didn't…" He stammered, trying to form some words. Finally, he gave up on that and just sank to the ground. But, because he was still holding on to Sango's wrist, he ended up pulling her down as well.

The taijiya gave a startled gasp as she fell to her knees. She looked at Inuyasha, and was equally surprised by his facial expression. He looked…confused, surprised, and…sad, all in one. And that certainly wasn't an expression seen on his face often. "Eh…Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

He didn't look at her directly but he replied, "I never meant to hurt you. I was just…I didn't…I…" And once again, he was at a loss for words.

Sango placed her free hand on top of Inuyasha's, "Its…all right. I'm just glad that what happened wasn't…fake." She said, blushing slightly.

Golden eyes looked to their hands, then slowly lifted to look at Sango's face. And without thinking the hanyou automatically replied, "Me too. I wouldn't want it any other way." And then the impact of what he said hit. 'What am I saying? I'm talking to Sango! My battle partner. My ally. My-- When did I start referring to her as mine?' He asked himself, suddenly realizing that he had been saying 'my' instead of just 'a'. 'But, if she's only my---er, an ally, then why did I start to say something earlier? If she's only a battle partner, why did I hate the fact that I had hurt her so much? If there's nothing more than that…why do I feel like I did when I was around Kikyou?'

Silence.

"Sango…" Inuyasha began. So maybe he didn't understand exactly what it was about the slayer that made him fell like this. And maybe he didn't know exactly why he wanted to say it. But he knew one thing; he wanted her to know how he felt.

The taijiya looked at him expectantly. She was beginning to feel the same way she had felt that morning when he had said her name. And she wanted nothing more than to know what it was he was wanting to tell her. So, she responded in the same way she had earlier, "Hai?" She questioned softly, unconsciously leaning closer to him.

She was close…He would've had to be some sort of idiot to not notice how close she was. Usually being so close to someone bothered him. But with Sango, it felt…natural, "Sango…I want…I want you to know that…I…"

A twig snapped suddenly.

Both Inuyasha and Sango quickly turned to see who or what had made the noise, only to see Miroku.

The wind ruffled their clothes and hair, yet still, they were unmoving.

Finally, Inuyasha and Sango looked at each other again, then quickly jumped to their feet and stood apart from each other.

Sango clasped her hands behind her back and tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the blush from rising to her face, "Houshi-sama…wh-what are you doing here?"

The monk seemed to be as surprised about stumbling upon the two as they did about being stumbled upon, "Well…I was on my way back to the campsite, when I heard talking. I decided to see who was talking and…here I am."

"So you were eavesdropping?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku crossed his arms, "Why Inuyasha, how could you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Keh!" The hanyou spat, "Quit playing innocent and just admit it!"

"I-if you don't mind…I think I'm going to go back to Kagome-chan and help her." Sango said, turning and hurrying back to the camp.

Inuyasha watched her leave then turned to Miroku and glared at him.

And Miroku was just glad, and lucky, that looks couldn't kill. If they could…well, he would've been dead ten times over.

Inuyasha muttered a quick, "Baka Houshi!" Before returning to the camp himself.

Miroku followed silently behind.

~*~

AN: So, question is: Will these two EVER get a break? The answer is: You'll just have to wait ^-^