Chapter 4: Secrets

The sun rose slowly above the hills, gracing the earth with its presence. The birds sang sweetly to awake the dreaming. A cool breeze blew through the trees, making them sway. A dark figure walked slowly towards a castle in the distance. Within moments she was at its entrance. A smaller figure dressed in white lead her inside. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway lined with skeletons. The white figure stopped in front of a door and the dark figure entered. She looked around and jumped slightly when she heard a deep voice speak.

"Did it work?" asked the voice.

"Yes. My spell worked perfectly on the half breed. He's none the wiser."

"Was there any interference?"

"The village almost blew my cover, but besides that, the first phase of your plan went off without a hitch, Master Naraku." (gasp)

"Good," said Naraku, "Then continue with your work. Kanna will be watching you."

"I understand," the dark figure bowed and turned to leave.

"Akemi," he called out making her stop and turn back around. "Don't disappoint me." Akemi nodded and left the castle.

"Men!" yelled Sango, "You're all alike! Every last one of you!"

"You're overreacting Sango," said Miroku calmly.

Inuyasha awoke from the sound of the yelling. What are they goin' on about?

"I am not! You're lucky Kagome didn't hear you two last night," she crossed her arms and glared at Miroku with fire in her eyes, "She'd be crushed if she found out what happened, let alone that neither of you were gonna tell her!"

"You know as well as I do that if Inuyasha told her, all hell would break lose," he said in the same calm tone.

"You're right about that," agreed Sango, "Kagome would lose her voice form saying 'sit' so much."

"Which reminds me, how did you hear our conversation and she didn't?"

"I heard you guys start talking and when you mentioned Kikyo, I didn't think Kagome should listen. So I told Shippo to invite her to pick some herbs. After that, I stayed and listened to the whole thing."

Miroku chuckled, "Who would have thought that Sango the brave and noble demon slayer was an eavesdropper."

"I am not!" snapped Sango.

"Sounds like that to me," said Inuyasha who had just jumped out of his tree, "Ever heard of a little thing called privacy?"

"Ever heard of a little thing call loyalty? Where do you get off going off with some girl! I mean, I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it was Kikyo, but this was a girl you just met!"

"Don't you think I know that!" he snapped.

"No." she snapped back.

"What was I suppose to do? Leave her to get beat up by those villagers!" he said raising his voice.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't have helped her! I'm saying that maybe you should try to keep your hormones under control once in a while!" she shouted, raising hers above his.

"You wanna say that again?" he growled as he balled his fist.

"Sango, Inuyasha understands what he's done, but we have a theory about why," stated Miroku.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "We do?"

"Well, I have a theory," he explained, "You see, Inuyasha is usually an untrusting, tough, short-tempered, a little dense—"

"I think we get it!" said Inuyasha loudly.

"As I was saying," continued Miroku, "Inuyasha doesn't typically show his 'intimate' feelings and when he's human, his emotions do tend to show a bit more, but not to that extent. Inuyasha, did Akemi do anything unusual or strange?"

"Not really, she seemed like an ordinary girl to me. Maybe a little slow because she got so lost. Her village wasn't far from where we were."

"Do you think Akemi had something to do with Inuyasha's behavior?" asked Sango.

"Well obviously Akemi must have been very beautiful or Inuyasha wouldn't have reacted with such passion," smirked Miroku.

"Excuse me!" snapped Inuyasha defensively, "We're talkin' about me here, not you, Miroku."

"Then I doubt Akemi had anything to do with it," he replied simply, "Where were you coming from when you met her?"

"I was coming from Totosai's place. I was tired of not being protected when I transform, so I asked him if there was a way I could still use the Tetsaiga."

"And what did he say?"

"The old man kept forgetting what he was saying! And by that time the sun was already setting so I had to leave. I shouldn't've wasted my time going to see that old bat!"

"And you felt completely normal at Totosai's?" inquired Miroku.

"Yeah, it's not like I ate or drank nothin'. And no demon came along."

There's no way Inuyasha kissed her on his own , thought Miroku, Something must have gotten to him while he was in that forest. The only question is, what

There was a long pause as they were all lost in thought. Suddenly—

"I'm back!" said a loud voice brightly. They turned around to see Kagome smiling and holding her large book bag.

"Back? Back from where?" asked Inuyasha.

"From my time. After Shippo and I finished picking herbs yesterday I realized that I hardly had any supplies left. So I went home today to restock. Sango didn't you tell them?'

"Oh I must've forgotten," said Sango, "Sorry about that."

"Glad to know I was missed," she mumbled.

"I missed you Kagome!" exclaimed Shippo as he bounded out of a near by hut and into her arms.

Shippo was there the entire time! they all thought.

If Shippo heard our conversation… thought Miroku.

Then he's gonna tell Kagome! thought Sango.

That runt better not say a word Inuyasha growled in his mind.

He gave Sango a look that clearly meant "Do something!"

"Uh… Shippo?" said Sango, "I need your help with something. Can you come with me?"

"Sure Sango!" agreed Shippo. He followed behind her as she walked into the hut.

"What was that about?" asked Kagome.

"I dunno," answered Miroku quickly, "So Kagome, what did you bring back?"

"Oh right!" she said as she reached for her book bag and pulled out some treats.

Meanwhile back in the hut.

"Shippo did you hear anything we said out there before," asked Sango quietly.

"How couldn't I?" he said happily, "You all were shouting."

"That's what I was afraid of. Listen Shippo, you can't tell anyone about what we talked about, especially Kagome."

"Personally I think Kagome should know what a dog Inuyasha is."

"But you wouldn't want to make Kagome upset, would you? She might leave and not come back to us."

"Not come back! If Inuyasha makes Kagome leave I'll never forgive him!"

"Exactly," smiled Sango, "So let's just keep it a secret, okay? It would make everyone happier."

Shippo thought about it, "Okay, as long as Inuyasha doesn't hit me anymore. Otherwise, I'll tell."

Sango nodded in agreement and sighed with relief.

Miroku poked his head into the hut. "Everything okay now?" he asked Sango.

She nodded.

"Good, then come back out. Kagome's brought food."

They followed him outside where Kagome had laid out a buffet of breakfast foods for them to enjoy. Sango sat next to Inuyasha and whispered something in his ear while pointing at Shippo.

"What?" he growled.

End of Chapter 4