AN: Answers to questions asked ('Cause I like answering questions)

gloomy-angel: As I said in the previous chapter, I won't tell anything that's going to happen. You'll just have to wait and see :)

Myou-Kontan: Bribery? Hmm.... Maybe -

To everyone else: Thanks for the reviews. Its good to know you guys are enjoying this story.

Night had gone, and much like Inuyasha had assumed the previous night, the weather was stormy. Thunder rumbled through the clouds above, and an occasional lightning strike would flash across the sky; though it hadn't started to rain yet. But, the small group of shard hunters knew that they needed to find a place to stay before they got caught in the rain.

Of course, getting caught in the rain wasn't something that Inuyasha was thinking about at the moment. Despite how much he tried to concentrate on other things, his thoughts kept returning to Sango; or, more specifically, what had occurred the previous night. Ever since they had returned to the campsite, she had been avoiding him. The taijiya had been sticking unnaturally close to Miroku, and, though the monk was proving he could keep his hands to himself, it irritated Inuyasha to no end. It wasn't so much that she was staying close to Miroku that bothered him, why should he care about that? It was more of the fact that she was avoiding him. The hanyou wanted to know why she had said everything. Was she really jealous of Kagome? And, if so, then why? She couldn't possibly hold feelings for him... could she?

Inuyasha frowned; the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. 'You can't hide forever, Sango... Sooner or later we'll have to talk about all this... whatever this is.'

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou stopped walking, surprised at Kagome's voice, though he didn't show it externally. He turned around, to see that the others had fallen behind him, "What do you want now? How do you expect to find more jewel shards if you all keep lagging behind?!"

"Inuyasha, we need to stop!" Kagome stated, jumping slightly at another rumble of thunder, "Its going to start raining soon, and its not a good idea to travel while its thundering!"

"Why not? You afraid of a little noise or something?" He asked, in an annoyed tone of voice, "A little rain never hurt anyone, and I don't see them complaining!" He added, motioning to Sango and Miroku.

Miroku immediately held his hands up, almost in a defensive gesture, "If its not to much to ask, Inuyasha, I would rather stay out of this argument. This is between Kagome-sama and yourself, not us."

"Actually... Kagome-chan has a point." Sango said, stepping up to stand beside the miko, "If we don't find shelter soon, we're going to get stuck in the middle of this storm. And, despite what you say, Inuyasha, I don't think this is going to be just 'a little rain'."

Inuyasha crossed his arms, turning to look at the slayer, though Sango, he noticed, refused to look at him, "Is that so? And just where do we stop? Here, in the open? In case you didn't notice, Sango, we're not exactly passing through a village! If we stop here, yeah, we will get caught in the rain!"

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here!" The taijiya replied, though she still wasn't looking at him, "Of course I don't expect us to stop here. But, in case you didn't notice, there was a village back there, and the people there offered us a place to stay until the storm had passed."

"Then why did you wait until we were all the way out here before telling me?!" He asked, "Why didn't you tell me that when we were actually in that village? Maybe then we wouldn't be standing here like idiots!"

Sango's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned her head to look at him for the first time since the previous night, "We did tell you, Inuyasha. But you were too lost in your own head to hear us. That, or you were just plain ignoring us. Which, I wouldn't doubt for a minute. So stop yelling, and stop blaming this on us!"

Before Inuyasha had a chance to respond, which he was planning to do, Kagome stepped between them and put her hands up, much like a referee would do between two fighters, "Okay, okay, there's no need to start fighting. Sango-chan, I'm sure Inuyasha just didn't hear us when we told him about that. So, instead of wasting more time here, why don't we just go back to that village? It wasn't too far back, and I'm sure we can make it before it starts raining."

"Fine!" Inuyasha replied angrily as he walked back towards the others.

Sango sighed and nodded slightly, trying her best to calm down again, "Thank you, Kagome-chan... Inuyasha always seems to agree to things after you say it."

The hanyou slowed down, before stopping just in front of Sango, "There's no need to be jealous, Sango." He said lowly, before walking casually ahead again.

"I am not jealous!" She practically screamed as her hands clutched into fists at her sides. She was sure her face was red, though hopefully, Kagome and Miroku would take it as anger...

A satisfied smirk appeared on Inuyasha's face as he heard Sango's response. He knew he shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't resist. Sango had been avoiding him all day, how else was he supposed to get her attention? He was sure that his comment would make the others ask questions, or at least make them wonder what he meant. But, in the end, it wouldn't be hard to convince them that he hadn't meant anything by it. 'What're you going to do now, Sango?' He thought, amused.

Sango, however, wasn't the least bit amused by his statement, 'T-the nerve of him! How could he say something like that? Right in front of Kagome-chan even! Baka! Inuyasha no baka! Hanyou no baka! Inuyasha, baka! Baka, baka, baka!'

Kirara looked up at her mistress for a moment, before flattening her ears and quickening her pace so that she walked near Kagome, ahead of Sango. Since the fire-cat had lived with Sango since Sango was young, she had learned that being around her when she was angry wasn't always a good idea. She looked ahead, her crimson eyes falling on the back of Inuyasha. Whatever had gotten her mistress upset had something to do with him, she knew, since Sango had been fine until he spoke to her.

-Later that day, at the village-

"It looks like we made it just in time... Looks like its going to rain any second now." Kagome said, glancing back to Sango and smiling slightly, "And, Sango-chan, I don't think Inuyasha meant anything by what he said earlier. He was just upset."

"Hmph... Inuyasha no baka!" The taijiya replied, crossing her arms as she looked outside, "He always has to have the last word in everything, doesn't he? Egotistical jerk! I am not jealous of--" She stopped suddenly, realizing that her friend had no idea what she was talking about. "Ah... sorry, Kagome-chan. I think I need some air... I'll... I'll be right back." She said quickly, as she walked outside.

Shippou blinked from his place on the floor, next to Kagome's backpack. As usual, the young kitsune would be staying in the same room as the girls. He watched Sango leave, before standing up and looking up to Kagome, "What's wrong with her?"

Kagome shook her head slowly, turning to look at the kit, "I don't know, Shippou-chan..."

Back outside, Sango found a bench next to a small pond and sat down. Sighing, she leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands, "How did I get myself into this mess?" She asked herself as she stared at the water. "Mou, if only Inuyasha wasn't so... so him!" The taijiya sighed, covering her eyes with her fingers, 'But, if he wasn't the way he is, would I still feel like this? Would I still be... jealous?' The taijiya sighed once again. She herself wasn't too sure when she started to feel differently towards the hanyou. She wasn't afraid to admit that when she first joined the group, she nearly hated him. It seemed that every time she turned around, he was there taunting her, challenging her, or just plain insulting her. She couldn't understand why Kagome or even Miroku or Shippou would want to travel with him. But... that was before Miroku took the time to explain his actions to her. 'He was trying to make me hate him so I would forget about the past...' Sango smiled to herself at the thought. No matter how much he denied it, or refused to admit it, Inuyasha could be quite caring when he wanted to be. After she learned the motive behind his actions, she began to think of him as a close friend; much like she did with the other members of the group. Maybe that was why only Inuyasha and Miroku appeared in the nightmare caused by those illusionary vines Naraku had created. Miroku had been the one to take the time to explain several things to her, and Inuyasha, he had been the one who had tried to get her to forget about the pain...

The taijiya shivered a little, thinking back to that specific nightmare. It still haunted her at times... True, most of her nightmares were about Kohaku, but occasionally, she would relive the one in which Inuyasha was killed by her brother; his body slumped lifeless against a tree... His silver hair streaked red with blood... Those beautiful golden eyes open and staring, yet not seeing a thing... 'That really is a nightmare... even during the day...' Sango thought, as she opened her eyes to look at the water again. Though, as soon as she did so, her hands fell completely away from her face as she lifted her head in surprise. There were ripples in the water, caused by the rain which had been falling for a few minutes now, though Sango hadn't noticed the rain. "Wonderful." She mumbled as she stood up and quickly returned to her and Kagome's room.

Meanwhile, sitting near the door of the room he shared with Miroku, Inuyasha grinned as he saw Sango returning to her own room, "Looks like someone got caught in the rain even though we're not out in the open."

Hearing Inuyasha mention Sango, Miroku looked outside just in time to see the taijiya duck into another room. "Sango's been acting strangely since last night." He said, mostly to himself, as his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Huh? Why do you say that?" The hanyou asked, looking up at the monk, "Because she's been staying around you? Yeah, that is strange, especially since you tried kissing her right after we got out of that damned castle. The way she screamed, I thought Kaguya had returned." He added with a grin.

Miroku shook his head slightly, "No... Strange, as in she's been acting differently all day. And last night as well. Especially after..." He trailed off for a moment, then looked to Inuyasha, "After you went to bring her back to the campsite."

Inuyasha stood up, "And what's that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I started all this?"

"I'm not saying you started anything, Inuyasha." The monk replied, "Of course, I don't know what you mean by 'this', but all I was saying is that she began acting differently once she returned last night."

Inuyasha snorted as he crossed his arms and turned his back to Miroku, "I don't mean anything by 'this'! And its not my fault she's acting strange, she's the one who started everything by asking me about... things." He said, barely catching himself before he told what Sango had asked.

"Things? What kind of things?" Miroku questioned, "And are these 'things' possible the reasons behind Sango's behavior?"

"What kind of-- its none of your damn business!" The hanyou said, turning to face Miroku once again, "I didn't even give Sango an answer, so no, that's not the reason either!"

"Perhaps that is the reason, Inuyasha. Maybe she's acting this way because she wants you to answer her." Miroku said, "Did you think about that?"

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, as if considering what the monk had said. Finally, he replied with, "Keh! Whatever." With that, he stalked over to one of the corners and sat down, crossing his arms and closing his eyes; a clear sign that the conversation was over. Period.

And Miroku, being quite used to the hanyou's actions and ways by now, knew it would be pointless to argue. So, he left Inuyasha alone.

'Of course she wants me to answer her.' Inuyasha thought from his place in the corner, 'But I can't answer her if she won't even talk to me.' His eyebrows furrowed together as he leaned his head back against the wall, 'But what answer would I give her? I wasn't even thinking when I said that... maybe that's why I got 'sat'... But, did I mean it?' He himself wasn't too sure, at the moment. When Kagome had kissed him, he hadn't really had a choice in the matter; he was loosing his human soul. He couldn't remember too much of what happened once the demon blood began to take over; the only things he really remembered clearly were seeing Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara pinned to pillars by Kaguya, and seeing Miroku fall to the ground after he had scratched him. After that, Kagome was there. The hanyou frowned slightly, why would Sango be jealous? He had always thought she had her eyes on Miroku, but when Miroku had tried kissing her, she had screamed and slapped him. 'I thought for sure that Kaguya, or at least another demon had appeared to make her scream like that.' The hanyou thought, grinning slightly. Though, the grin soon faded, 'But... why won't she talk to me? If we could at least sort out what happened last night then-- what am I saying? Nothing happened last night. Nothing! Okay, we talked, and that's it. Only... at some point she started to cry and I got pushed down. So maybe it was more than a talk. Then... what was it?'

The hanyou growled slightly as he stood up; he was getting a headache from trying to figure that out. Without another word to Miroku, he walked outside. The roofing of where they were staying provided enough shelter so he could sit outside of the rooms, but remain dry as well. He looked in the direction of the girls' room. If and when Sango came out again, he would make sure she couldn't get away until she spoke with him again.

AN: Ah... if I don't end the chapter there, I'm not sure where it will end n.n;; I was having trouble writing this chapter, then I got inspired during a storm we had here, and once I started writing, I couldn't stop! Anyways... enjoy! And don't forget to review. Ja!