Mister Niceguy
A/N: Nothing much to say today…I am a little saddened by the lack of reviews, but I promised myself I wouldn't go all psycho demanding them or anything. So I'll just keep politely asking for them…
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha.
Chapter 6:
After the group had finished their happy little moment, Inuyasha was ready to get back on his feet. He might be nicer, but his aversion to being holed up in bed for long still remained. Inuyasha's hanyou recuperative abilities had finished healing most of Inuyasha's injury, so Kagome didn't try to stop Inuyasha from getting up. Usually, she probably would have insisted that he rest some more, but the fact that Inuyasha had expressed gratitude for Kagome's help instead of balking at it had made her more willing to let Inuyasha get up as he pleased.
Inuyasha stood up and stretched, which showed off the muscles on his still bare chest a bit more than laying around did. Noticing this with a blush, Kagome fumbled around for his keiko gi and handed it to him.
"I fixed up your gi, Inuyasha," she began, then glanced back down and remembered that the bloodstains were still there. "Erm…but I didn't get around to cleaning the bloodstains yet…"
Inuyasha smiled at her, and Kagome smiled back again, happy that Inuyasha seemed appreciative of what she did. But then she noticed that Inuyasha was still unclad from the waist up, and blushed again, remembering why she had shown him his gi in the first place.
Inuyasha was about to vocalize his thanks, but Kagome cut in. "Your fire rat haori is in the corner…You'll probably want to wear that until we can get this cleaned up." Without waiting for the nod Inuyasha sent her way, Kagome quickly turned around and headed over to the corner to retrieve Inuyasha's garment. Inuyasha turned as well and followed her with his gaze.
Meanwhile, the others were watching the whole spectacle in amusement. It had always been fun to watch the two try to hide their feelings for each other, and now with the changed Inuyasha, it was still just as fun if not more so.
Shippo and Miroku had been making little comments to each other, leaving Sango to take in the show by herself, petting the content Kirara laying in her lap.
When Inuyasha turned around, the amused audience ended their quiet snickering. There was a nasty scar on his back where his wound had been. The monk and the kitsune cringed at the scar, but the painful sight had a different affect on the youkai exterminator.
Sango's happy thoughts had been invaded by the sight of the scar, but unbeknownst to the others, it wasn't merely the sickening sight of it that troubled her.
'That scar….it looks just like…' Sango began pondering. Her hand had stopped its mindless stroking of the two-tailed cat youkai in her lap and reached back and moved to rest on her own back. Kirara, unhappy that Sango had stopped petting her, looked up to see a wave of sadness overtake Sango's face.
'That scar….it looks just like mine…and Kohaku's…' The pangs of sadness deepened as sad thoughts of her lost brother ran through Sango's mind. 'Kohaku…I wasn't able to save you…and now you're a slave to Naraku…and it seems like there's nothing I can…'
Sango was doing everything she could to hold back her tears, but even so, a muffled cry escaped her lips. This drew the attention of Miroku. Once the monk noticed Sango's distraught expression, his own expression changed into one of concern and sympathy.
'What's wrong with…'
"Lady Sango?" the monk inquired, trying to get her to tell him what was wrong.
But Sango wasn't in the mood to talk about her problems. Ignoring the monk's query, she abruptly stood up, dropping Kirara from her comfortable position.
The sudden movement caught the attention of Kagome and the newly clothed Inuyasha, who also picked up on Sango's troubled appearance.
'I can't let them see me like this…So weak…'
Before anyone could prod any further, Sango blurted out, "I'm going to take a bath in the river…I'll be back later." With that, she quickly turned around and quickly made her way out the door.
Kagome was concerned about her friend and dashed out the door behind her. "Wait, Sango! I'll come with you!"
The boys stood in silence for a moment, when finally Shippo asked, "I wonder what that was about."
Miroku quickly wiped the concerned look off of his face, and resumed his normal, cool expression. "I wouldn't worry about it, Shippo. Lady Kagome will surely help Sango with whatever is wrong," Miroku reasoned, trying to keep himself from showing any more concern for the demon exterminator than he already had. But behind the façade, Miroku was still very much concerned for Sango.
'How I would like to go to comfort you, Lady Sango, but I know that you would not want me by your side to help you through whatever troubles you. After all, I'm just a perverted monk….no, I'll just leave you alone and let Lady Kagome lend you her support.' Miroku somberly told himself, his usual perverted thoughts set aside for more worried ones of the youkai exterminator he so longed for.
Shippo seemed to accept Miroku's reasoning, and let the worry fade from his face, content that Kagome would take care of everything.
But Inuyasha still had a sad look on his face. The hanyou tried to shift his attention from his own concern for his friend by adjusting his haori, which he noticed wasn't quite as comfortable without his gi underneath. Upon straightening the outer shirt, he felt a stinging pain pierce his back. Inuyasha reached around to run his fingers over the scar when a sense of understanding struck him.
'Sango…was this why you were so upset…Was it because of me…' Inuyasha was saddened when he realized that the sight of his scar was what had disturbed the exterminator, and began to blame himself for causing his friend such distress.
Shippo had noticed Inuyasha was still deep in thought, and decided to test out the advantages of the new Inuyasha. "Stop worrying, Inuyasha, you heard Miroku! Kagome will make sure everything is fine! Let's go play outside Inuyasha!" Shippo grinned devilishly and pushed Inuyasha, then bolted out the door laughing. "Tag, you're it!"
Not expecting the kitsune's assault, Inuyasha lost his balance and fell to the floor. He smiled a bit and decided to accept Shippo's offer.
'The poor kid…fighting demons with us all the time doesn't leave him much time to play around like he should…I should let him be a kid during these rare he times he has the chance.'
Inuyasha quickly leaped back up to his feet and bounded out the door. "Ready or not Shippo, here I come!"
Kirara purred and followed after the two, figuring she could somehow join in the fun too. And all alone, Miroku let himself drop his emotional shield and worry about Sango.
---
Kagome and Sango sat soaking in the river in complete silence. Kagome had tried a number of times to get Sango to tell her what was wrong, but every time she was met with half-hearted assurances that she was fine.
But the sad look in Sango's eyes told her everything wasn't fine, and she sat worrying for her friend.
'Sango…why can't you just tell me what's wrong…?'
Once it was clear that Sango wasn't going to let her help, the two finished their bath and got dressed. Still silent, they somberly made their way back to Kaede's hut to find Inuyasha and Shippo playing tag, with Kirara chasing them about as well.
Kagome stopped and smiled at the sight of Inuyasha and Shippo getting along so well, but Sango kept drudging forward into the hut. Noticing this made the frown return to Kagome's face.
Inuyasha noticed that everything wasn't alright, and left the game to walk up to Kagome. Shippo was about to protest when he was tackled by Kirara, who still wanted to play. Shippo forgot about Inuyasha's exit from the game, and continued it with Kirara.
Inuyasha took on the same look of concern as Kagome, and asked, "Everything's not okay, is it?"
Kagome was a still little surprised by Inuyasha's concern, but quickly recovered. She looked up at Inuyasha and shook her head.
"I tried over and over, but she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I'm really worried, Inuyasha…It's not like Sango to not talk to me…"
Inuyasha nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think I know what's wrong…I'll go try to talk to her." Inuyasha turned around and headed for the hut, leaving Kagome a bit surprised again.
'This is really going to take some getting used to…but, I think I'm going to like this sensitive Inuyasha.' Kagome's thoughts on the half demon brought a smile to her face. She looked around to see Kirara and Shippo playing, and decided to join in.
"Yay! Kagome's gonna play with us! Isn't that great, Kirara?" Shippo happily exclaimed. But he was met with another tackle from the small youkai, which brought forth giggle from Kagome.
Sango walked into the hut to find Miroku sitting against the wall, and she almost immediately turned around to exit.
'I'm really not in the mood to deal with that perverted monk right now…'
She stopped when she noticed that he seemed to be asleep. Warily deciding that she could deal with a perverted monk as long as he was asleep, Sango walked to the opposite end of the room and sat down on the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest and leaning over. Satisfied that she was finally alone, she began to cry.
But Sango had been wrong about Miroku. The monk wasn't asleep, only meditating and deep in thought. He had heard the object of his hidden (and not so hidden) affections enter the room, as well as her near exit from the room. Miroku maintained his calm outer appearance, but on the inside he sighed, disappointed that his presence had almost prompted her to leave.
'Do I really disgust you that much, Lady Sango?' Miroku asked himself. 'What am I saying…It's all my fault, always acting like a pervert around you. But if I didn't…then…' Miroku began to think on why he always acted like a pervert. If he didn't, Sango might get too close, and he couldn't allow anyone, especially the one he cared so deeply for, to get too attached to him while his cursed Wind Tunnel loomed over his head, ready to take his life and leave his beloved alone. 'No…it's better that I suffer without her than for her to suffer when my curse claims me.' Miroku tried to convince himself with the excuse he always fed himself as to why he couldn't seriously express his feelings for Sango.
His thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of Sango's crying. Miroku cracked his eyes to open to gaze upon the melancholy girl. It pained him to see Sango crying. He closed his eyes again, and continued to argue with himself. 'I can't bear to see her cry…It doesn't matter if I need to keep her away, I want to go comfort her!' he yelled at himself in his mind. But another voice argued back, 'But does she want you to comfort her? You always say you act perverted to keep her from loving you…but what makes you think she'd even love you in the first place?' Miroku was saddened at that thought. That she had almost left because he was there proved that she probably didn't have the feelings for him that he wanted but couldn't allow her to have. Miroku brooded over this for a few seconds, then retorted, 'But if she doesn't have those feelings for me anyway, then nothing's holding me back. I can go to her…comfort her…as a friend…I can't let Lady Sango love me…but, I don't want her to hate me. And in any case, I can't bear to see her cry. I've decided! I'm going to go comfort her!'
Just as he had finally decided that he was going to try to make her feel better, Miroku heard another person enter the room. Surprise at the new arrival led him to maintain his sleeping charade and listen in on what was happening.
Inuyasha had made his way into the hut and saw Sango crying. He glanced at the sleeping monk briefly, but his gaze quickly returned to the crying girl.
Sango, too, had noticed Inuyasha's arrival, and looked up to see him moving towards her. She quickly tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, not wanting to reveal her supposed weakness.
"G—go away, Inuyasha. I want to be alone right now," she told him, her voice still shaky from crying.
Inuyasha ignored her request and continued making his way over to her. Once there, he knelt down in front of Sango, who had buried her face into her arms that were still clinging to her knees, trying vainly to keep anyone from seeing her cry.
Inuyasha stayed there for a moment without saying anything, as he looked for the words to say. Finally breathing a deep sigh, he began.
"You're upset because of me, aren't you?" he asked sadly.
Sango looked up, surprised by the question. While she was quite content in wallowing in her own misery, she didn't want to hurt Inuyasha's feelings by making him think he was the cause of it. Quickly, she retorted, "No! That's not it at all!"
Inuyasha slowly shook his head. "I don't believe you." Before Sango could say anything else, Inuyasha continued. "It's because of the scar, isn't it? I'll bet it brings up a ton of bad thoughts." Inuyasha stopped for a second, then finished, "I bet it reminds you of...Kohaku..."
Sango sat in awe. Inuyasha had hit the nail dead on. Unable to deny it any more, Sango simply nodded, then allowed herself to cry freely again.
Inuyasha had changed in many ways since he received his scar, but some things stayed the same. One of those things was that he still hated seeing people cry. Inuyasha grabbed Sango's shoulders then helped her up to her feet. Once they were both standing again, he wrapped his arms around the crying girl, offering her a friendly embrace in his attempt to stop her crying.
Sango felt very awkward. She had always been uncomfortable hugging anyone other than Kohaku and her father, and the fact that this was Inuyasha made things even weirder.
"Sango...I'm sorry that I'm the reason you're upset," Inuyasha whispered as he continued to hold the youkai exterminator in his arms. "I'm sorry that we haven't been able to save Kohaku yet...But we'll free him from Naraku's grasp soon. All of us, together, when we put an end to that bastard..." Inuyasha's eyes flared for a short second, but then the fire was gone. He tightened his hold on Sango.
Sango began to relax, and accepted the friendly hug from Inuyasha. She was grateful that Inuyasha cared enough to try to comfort her, and she finally felt a little better.
Inuyasha sensed Sango's sadness lessen a little, and disengaged the embrace, all the while offering a warm smile. Sango returned his smile with one of her own.
"Thank you, Inuyasha. I think I feel a little better," she said as she wiped away the last of her tears. "I think I'd better go apologize to Kagome, now. I wasn't very nice to her earlier."
Inuyasha nodded and stepped aside, allowing Sango an un-obstructed path to the door. He followed, wanting to rejoin the game of tag outside.
As they walked out the door, past the "sleeping" monk, they took little notice that Miroku had shifted from his sitting position and was now rolled over on his side, thinking it to be a natural movement during his slumber.
But just as they didn't notice that he was really awake, they didn't realize that he had rolled over to hide his face from them. After seeing what had just happened, Miroku had been unable to control his expression any longer. Tears were welling in his eyes, and he was gritting his teeth. Anger overflowed within Miroku, an anger brought about by jealousy.
'Inuyasha...You BASTARD!'
A/N: Okay, so there we go. There were some parts of this chapter that I think are kinda weak, and I felt that I was kinda repetitive in my word choice at times, but whatever. By the way, does anyone know what the name for the sickle weapons are? Like the one on Kohaku's weapon? I can't for the life of me remember the proper name for them...Anyway, please review! (I am getting disheartened by the lack of new reviews...I'll give you guys candy...)