Mister Niceguy

A/N: Wheee! Lots of reviews this time! And this story is hitting and passing the 10000 word mark! Yay!

And now I'm gonna respond to some of the newer reviews…

chakitattyla2h8 – Thanks for the kind words, and don't worry about not reviewing sooner, thanks for reviewing at all

Nicole Miklos – I'm glad you like it and find it to be different.

Priestess kurumi inu's sister :P What's going to happen? Why, read and find out!

Akileh – Whee, thanks for all the reviews! And I know that Inuyasha isn't acting like the Inuyasha we all know and love….but that's kinda the point of the story…;;

And away we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own MacGyver.

…

Or Inuyasha.

Chapter 7:

Shippo was hiding up in a tree. The game of tag had evolved into a round of hide and seek shortly after Kagome took Inuyasha's place. Shippo was snickering quietly to himself thinking that he'd found the perfect spot. See, Shippo wasn't simply hiding up in the tree…he had used his kitsune magic to morph into what looked like another branch on the tree.

Or so he thought, but Shippo's bushy fox tail was sticking out of the "random" branch, and was a glaring giveaway to Shippo's hiding spot. Too bad it was an oversight Shippo made all too often in his transformations…

Kagome had noticed the out of place foxtail and had caught on to Shippo's trick just before she noticed Inuyasha following a seemingly cheerier looking Sango out of the hut. She started heading over towards them.

As Kagome was walking, she smiled at the fact that Sango finally looked like she was feeling better. Then she began to wrap her mind around the fact that it was Inuyasha who had succeeded in cheering the youkai exterminator up where she herself had failed. She smiled at how completely backwards the situation was, and kept smiling, content in the fact that the "new" Inuyasha had gained the sensitive and caring attitude that she had always looked for in him…

She was taken from her thoughts when she bumped into the two, having not realized that she had met up with them. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she made sure to speak up quickly to cut off any possible comments to her clumsiness. Not that they would've come from the "sensitive and caring" Inuyasha, but it takes time for old habits to die.

"Ah, Sango! You look like you're feeling much better!" she said cheerily, flashing a big smile at her friend. She was elated to see Sango return a smile of her own.

"I am, Kagome-chan! I want to apologize for my behavior earlier. I know you were trying to help, and I really appreciate it even though I didn't show it," Sango replied.

"That's okay, Sango. I'm just glad you're feeling better!" Kagome said, continuing to smile. Sango's smile brightened, happy that her friend wasn't harboring any ill will towards her. Not that she had really expected any; Kagome was always kind and caring towards her. Sango was happy to have the young miko as a friend.

Kagome broke up the smile fest and gently elbowed Inuyasha. "I guess Inuyasha here is just way better than me at cheering people up, eh, Sango?"

Sango smiled somewhat awkwardly, while Inuyasha was blushing, taking Kagome's comment as a compliment. Sango wasn't quite sure about how to answer that. Inuyasha's huggles had confused her…Before, the only people Inuyasha had ever hugged were Kagome and Kikyo, the two people he obviously had special feelings for. This left Sango with the impression that the hanyou only hugged those who were very special to him, and wasn't sure what it meant that Inuyasha had hugged her earlier.

'That was the old Inuyasha….this Inuyasha is just really friendly. That's all.' Sango was struggling to convince herself, but for the moment she pushed the thoughts out of her head.

Thankfully, Inuyasha broke up her silent reverie as he turned to Kagome and asked a question. "Hey Kagome."

"Hmm?" Kagome inquired as she redirected her attention to the half demon.

"Where's Shippo and Kirara?"

Kagome suddenly remembered the game. "Oh, Kirara got tired and went to sleep over there," she said, pointing to a rock a ways back," she said, gesturing behind her. "And as for Shippo…"

Kagome explained to Inuyasha that they were now playing hide and seek, and Shippo was hiding in and as a tree. She expressed that her desire to surprise him because he was pulling a dirty trick, but she couldn't climb the tall tree.

Then idea struck her. "Wait, I've got it!" Inuyasha looked at her intently, waiting to hear her plan. "Tag, you're it!" she tapped Inuyasha's shoulder, which solicited a confused look from the half demon. "Now you're it Inuyasha, and climbing a tree will be no problem for you. And since Shippo doesn't KNOW you're it, he'll never see it coming!" she explained, practically exploding in a fit of giggles. "I'll go walk around the tree and pretend I can't find him, and while I do, you get him, alright?"

Inuyasha smiled and nodded.

Sango spoke up. "I'm gonna go watch from over there with Kirara, okay guys?" The scheming duo nodded, and Sango started heading to Kirara's rock where she was met warmly by her youkai companion.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha took to the trees, stealthily jumping from one to another, hoping that the young kitsune wouldn't notice him.

But Shippo was still so excited that Kagome hadn't found him yet that he wouldn't have noticed Inuyasha anyway. Finally he heard Kagome's voice from below the tree.

"That Shippo is hiding good…Where could he be?" Kagome's acting abilities left much to be desired, but Shippo was so smug that he had seemingly outwitted the girl that he didn't notice.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had snuck up behind the bushy-tailed branch undetected. He whispered, "Hey Shippo."

Shippo replied, distracted, "What is it, Inuyasha?"

"You're it."

"Huh?" Shippo returned to his natural form and turned around, only to be met with a push from Inuyasha, knocking him out of the tree. "Waaaaaaaaaaaah!" Shippo closed his eyes and screamed, expecting to have an unpleasant reunion with the ground. Instead, he felt himself fall into Kagome's arms, and he opened his eyes to see the girl's face full of laughter.

"You're it, Shippo!"

Forgetting his "near-death experience," Shippo took on an indignant expression. "Hey, that's not fair! I thought YOU were it, Kagome!"

Inuyasha had jumped down and was standing next to them. "Oh, and since when is climbing up a tree where Kagome can't reach you and using your fox magic to disguise yourself fair?" he asked with a wry smile.

Shippo started laughing nervously. "Eh heh…um, well, okay, I guess you guys got me fair and square then. But how did you guys find me?"

Kagome smiled and pointed to the little kitsune's bushy tail. "You always forget about that, don't you?"

Shippo crossed his arms and pouted a little, and Inuyasha and Kagome started laughing again. Sango, who had watched the whole scene unfold from a distance had rejoined the group with Kirara in her arms, laughing all the way.

Miroku had watched the whole thing from the window of the hut. But he wasn't sharing in the laughter and cheer with the others. Instead, he watched grinding his teeth the whole time, seething with jealous anger.

"I can't believe you, Inuyasha. Lady Kagome isn't enough, you have to steal my Sango away from me, too?" Normally a thought like this would've made the monk blush to himself…Thinking about Sango as his always surprised him. But now his feelings for Sango were being brought to the surface freely, but still obstructed by the monk's jealous rage.

"I won't forgive you for this, Inuyasha," Miroku said to himself. Soon the monk noticed that the others had finished up their game and were making their way back to the hut. He tried to regain his composure as best he could, with only marginal success.

The others made their way through the door, and once they were all inside they took notice of Miroku's presence.

Sango smiled at the monk and greeted him. "Hello, Miroku! Did you have a nice nap?"

Normally, Miroku would have been overjoyed to receive attention from his beloved Sango, and then would invariably manipulate the situation to the advantage of his perverted mind, which would undoubtedly earn him a slap. But instead, the monk ignored Sango's comment, glaring at Inuyasha with enraged eyes.

Sango's smile faded some at Miroku's failure to acknowledge her greeting.

'Houshi-sama…every time I convince myself to ignore your perverted comments and try to reach out to you, you always do something to push me away. And now you're not even joking around and doing something stupid…You're just ignoring me…' Sango chastised herself for thinking that she and Miroku could ever become more than friends, and felt a twinge of sadness threatening to return. But determined that she wasn't going to break down again, she tried to convince herself that it was okay. 'Oh well. Who would want a relationship with a pervert like him anyway?' Lying to herself about her feelings for Miroku seemed to be the best way to try to hide away the hurt she felt at his coldness.

Sango's disappointment went unnoticed to the monk, whose eyes were still fixed on Inuyasha with a quiet fury. Inuyasha took notice of the fact that he was being stared at, and cheerfully directed his attention to the monk. "What's up, Miroku?"

Miroku's eyes widened, outraged that Inuyasha was being so friendly with him after being so nice to Sango.

'How dare he talk to me like that!'

Miroku was seething with anger. Knowing that if he didn't get away from the half demon, he was going to try to do something that he would regret, Miroku decided it was best to get out of the hut. Not that he was in the mindset to regret getting revenge on Inuyasha, but Inuyasha was still much stronger than he was and he would regret attempting it without a plan. He brushed past Inuyasha and out the door, quickly saying, "I have something I need to take care of; I'll be back later." With that he speedily made his way to the forest, where he could think things out.

The others looked a little surprised. "Is something wrong with Miroku?" Inuyasha asked.

"He seemed kind of upset…I hope he's okay…" Kagome mused.

But Sango, who was still trying to convince herself to be mad at Miroku, walked to the back of the hut and stated matter-of-factly, "Oh I don't think we need to worry about the monk. He's probably just going out to meditate or find some poor woman to torment…I say we just leave him alone." Sango made her way to the "kitchen" of the hut, and got some supplies and food. "Help me get dinner going. I'm starving!"

Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo had nodded at Sango's reasoning about Miroku's hasty exit and went to help her with dinner. Once they had gathered the cooking gear, they started a fire in the fireplace and went about cooking dinner. As it came close to being finished, Kaede walked through the door, limping.

Kagome noticed the trouble the elderly priestess was having, and concernedly asked, "Kaede! Are you okay?"

Kaede tried to put her pupil at ease. "Don't worry child, I just twisted my ankle while I was out in the village…" Just as she finished her sentence, the woman tripped and began to fall.

But just before she hit the ground, Inuyasha caught her and helped her regain her balance.

Inuyasha asked, "Take it easy, Kaede. Are you alright?"

Kaede saw a look of genuine concern in Inuyasha's eyes, and was surprised by it. She nodded, and Inuyasha helped her sit down next to Kagome, then handed her some food.

Kaede didn't vocalize her confusion at Inuyasha's behavior for a while, but after dinner Inuyasha made his way outside to laze about in a tree, leaving Kaede open to ask about Inuyasha.

Kagome explained that he had started acting this way when he woke up, and made it pretty clear that she was happy with it and didn't want to ask too many questions. Kaede took notice of that and didn't press the matter further, but began thinking over the situation thoroughly.

'Inuyasha experiencing a complete change in his personality…How odd…'

But before she could mull over it any further, they were all distracted by a loud commotion coming from outside.

Shippo voiced his surprise first. "What's going on!"

Kagome answered, "It must be a youkai…I sense jewel shards!"

A/N: And that's chapter 7! Yeah, I know, I haven't gotten into Miroku's jealousy much, yet, but I'm gonna get to it. Just gonna take it slow…And poor Miroku…everyone was so concerned about Sango, but nobody seems to care about the monk…Y'know, I notice that Miroku gets the short end of the stick in quite a few fics I've read…Maybe I'll have to write one about Miroku to make it up to him :P And I'm not sure I should take the story in the direction it's going next chapter just yet, but I guess I will anyway…Oh well…until next time, thanks for reading! (That's Hirospeak for "hypnovision handsREVIEEEEWWWWW!")…(Yes, hypnovision hands are part of the language of Hirospeak)