Things didn't get easier.
Shippo decided that he liked Green Haven, and that he wanted to stay. As one could most probably guess, this troubled Inuyasha greatly. He and the fox cub were constantly at odds – in an… 'I'm going to kill you when I catch you' sort of way. Shippou had stumbled into Green Haven for the food (and it was the predominant factor in his decision to stay) but liked the people as well. In particular, he attached himself to Satoru, who enjoyed having the mischievous little fox as a playmate. This companionship, however, make things difficult for Inuyasha. With Satoru's knowledge of the camp, and Shippo's tricks, they managed to enjoy themselves at the expense of the half demon on an almost daily basis.
The men were slow to accept Sango into the hunting party, as she was a woman and new and they didn't quite know what to make of her. Shinnosuke, also a member of the hunting party, was quietly helpful; showing her how to tilt the bow so her arrow didn't slide quite as often and teaching her fletchery. But it was still a lot of work, and she wasn't the best shot by far. She worked hard, though – a fact which nobody could deny.
When it came to hand-to-hand combat, though…
"Excuse me?" she cried. "What do you mean 'as hopeless as any other damn girl'!"
Inuyasha huffed and folded his arms.
"It means you're useless."
"I can handle myself," she protested, momentarily ignoring the insult to her gender. She was used to it.
"Mayhap against Satoru," the hanyou growled.
"Then how's about you stop insulting me and teach me?"
"I told you," he snapped. "You're hopeless!"
"Not entirely," Miroku interrupted as he walked into their argument. The pair looked at him, united momentarily by their annoyance at his intrusion. He put his hands up and grinned.
"Hey, just listen," he said. Sango raised an eyebrow.
"I think what Inuyasha means to say is that you know the basics, but still need a little training."
"That's not what I –" the look his partner gave him quelled the rest of his comment. The friar continued.
"I've already gotten the measure of you skills with the staff, how's about I teach you a bit more? And, of course, some hand-to-hand," he added, eyes gleaming wickedly. Sango gave him a flat look.
'There'll be hands, all right,' she thought.
"Do you not trust me, Miss Sango?" he asked.
"No."
Inuyasha laughed despite himself. This time, it wasn't only Miroku who glared at the hanyou.
"Fine, fine," the silver-haired man sighed. "I'll go."
As he walked off, Sango and Miroku sat down at the base of a nearby tree. There were lots of them, after all. It was terribly convenient.
"If that's the case then I swear not to do anything untoward," the friar told her. The young woman snorted and looked up at him, only to find that he was completely serious. She blushed, looking down. After a brief moment of thought – and another moment of trying not to wonder why his being serious made her blush more than his being charming – she sighed.
"Alright."
He smiled at her and stood up, his roguish grin returning.
"Wonderful! Let's go." He extended a hand to her. Sango looked up, startled.
"What? Now?"
"Why not?" he asked. "We've a good hour or two until supper."
"Alright," she said, taking his hand. "And you'll behave yourself."
"Of course!" he said, and then smiled slyly at her, raising one eyebrow.
"Unless you wish for me to misbehave."
She smacked him upside the head and walked towards her hut in a huff, intent on grabbing her staff. That damn pervert…
---
Their lesson began out in the woods, a bit more than a stone's throw from the camp. Miroku put his staff to the side, telling her that they'd do that later.
"Right now I want to spar you, get a feel for what level you're at," he said.
"Inuyasha already gave you an estimation of my level," she said bitterly, and he laughed.
"My dear, Inuyasha thinks everyone is hopeless. I myself am merely 'good enough', by his standards," the friar told her, untying his robes and laying them to the side so that he was left in the fitted breeches worn underneath.
Sango felt her face go red as she watched him stretch long limbs. The muscles in his back moved beneath his skin, and she tried terribly hard not to look. She felt a little flustered – okay, more than a little. Instead, she undid the ribbon that bound her hair, and tied the long locks into a high ponytail, preparing to defend herself.
He lunged at her – fast. Obviously he did not intend to take this slowly. She grabbed his right hand (the one he was punching with) with her left, and stepped behind him, twisting her grip as she went. Using her other hand to grab his arm just above the elbow she pushed hard, forcing him to the ground. Her knee replaced her right hand, which moved to hold him just below the shoulder.
Miroku laughed as best he could. He had hit the ground pretty hard, and his jaw ached keenly. That would be a bruise…
"That's hardly your everyday combat," he said when she released him.
You learn some interesting things when your ma travels as much as mine did," she explained quietly with a shrug. Rotating the shoulder she had pressed on, he nodded.
"Can I ask where she learned that?"
Again, she shrugged.
"Some place beyond the Holy Lands, I suppose. It's just self-defense."
"Beyond the…" Miroku's eyes went wide. Very few people even made it as far as the lands where Sesshoumaru now waged war, let alone beyond them. He shook himself.
"Do you know any normal brawling, perhaps?"
She bobbed her head.
"Yes. Just fast stuff, though."
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Fast?"
"Mostly just what hurts most when you or push the other way, where to pinch, to step. Stuff to drop someone quick-like," she lied.
She didn't need the whole world to know that she was some crazy girl who knew her way around a fistfight. Despite that she hadn't tried her best against Inuyasha, she was good. Better than she should be, actually. It was true that she didn't know much, and that she was swift and defensive with her moves, but the fact was – no matter what these men said – women weren't supposed to fight. It wasn't allowed. Even her father had told her so, and had refused point-blank to teach her anything more than she would need to know to get out of a brawl.
And just knowing that much had been trouble. Kouga and Ayame were kind enough, but many of the villagers had avoided her after the incident with the blacksmith's son. Despite his cocky claims of victory, his wounds spoke volumes for her defense. After that, she stopped prying new moves out of Kouga (who had none of the reservations that most did) but hadn't stopped practicing.
Bearing all this in mind, it really was in her best interests to keep quiet. The less they knew about her skills as a fighter, the better.
Her companion smiled.
"You know a lot for a woman," he said mildly, and she stiffened.
"So?" she snapped, standing up quickly. He raised his hands, and his eyebrows – still smiling.
"I didn't mean anything by it," he said in a placating tone. Her frown deepened.
"Come on," he continued warily. "Let's continue."
"I don't think so," Sango replied shortly, letting down her hair. And she walked briskly out of the clearing, leaving a resigned – if not slightly confused – Miroku behind her.
When he had suggested that they try lessons, she had gotten so excited. To be able to fight again – not just hunting, or self-defense, but sparring! She should've remembered that even here that wouldn't be acceptable. The Friar had said it himself. She already knew a lot – for a woman.
She spun and slammed her fist into a tree, feeling the skin split apart and bleed. She rested her forehead against the same tree, calling herself seven kinds of idiot.
"I'm sure you've never indulged in that sort of stupidity," a light, female voice said from nearby, interrupting a particularly inventive curse. The stream of frustration had spilled out of her mouth without Sango even realizing it. She looked up to see Arashi. One hand rested on the dark-haired woman's hip; the other hung by her side, holding a long wooden spoon.
"I came to get you two for dinner," she said mildly. "Where's Miroku?"
Sango waved absently in the direction of the clearing, letting her head hit the tree again. And again. And again – until Arashi reached out a hand and stopped her.
"Why don't you let Umao bandage that," she suggested. "And after dinner, you can tell us what happened."
The other woman nodded weakly, still annoyed with herself. Arashi smiled.
"Come on, it's everyone's favourite. Potato and leek."
"Yaay," Sango replied dryly. "My heart may just stop from excitement."
They both laughed, and walked back to Green Haven.
---
Miroku made it back to the camp just in time for dinner. Kikyou – whose residence was becoming almost permanent – had said grace in his stead, but that didn't explain the withering stare coming from Inuyasha. Nor did it explain the bandage around Sango's hand. How had she done that? He didn't get a chance to ask, because the moment dinner was finished, Inuyasha grabbed his arm (incidentally, the same arm still sore from Sango's…demonstration) and dragged him off to their hut.
"I shoulda known," the half-demon scoffed when they got inside. Miroku looked at him, bewildered.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't be stupid. I knew you were a letch, but what the hell did you do to make her bloody up her hand like that!" he growled.
"That wasn't me!" The Friar protested.
"Then what happened t'yer face? You can't say they ain't related!"
"I gave my word, didn't I?" Miroku retorted, realizing that – true to form – Inuyasha had misconstrued everything. His companion rolled his eyes.
"Then what happened?"
"I don't know what she did to her hand, but she gave me this right off the bat," he said, pointing to his jaw where it twinged – that had to be where the bruise was forming.
"So y'did do something!"
"No!"
Miroku threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why are you so bothered, anyhow?"
The half-demon sat down.
"She an' I are in the same boat, almost, y'know? I feel for her. She's still raw from all o' that," he bobbed his head towards the east, where the remains of Doncaster lay, "an' she'll wanna hide. So we need to keep an eye on her."
Miroku raised an eyebrow at this sudden, insightful, side of his friend. This wasn't the half-demon speaking. This was Kikyou, asking Inuyasha to keep an eye out for Sango. So he explained about the sparring, and her clipped farewell.
"She's better than she's letting on," he finished, and Inuyasha nodded.
"I know. What're you going to do?"
"Wait for her to come around. I just wish I knew why she was upset…"
In a hut not far from Miroku's, Sango took a deep sip of her tea as she finished explaining what had happened, and (hesitantly) why. Umao refilled the chipped mug she drank from, as well as Kagome's (the handmaid had come to help Umao with the more detailed work of picking splinters out of Sango's hand, and had then insisted on finding out just why she had done 'something so silly' to her own hand).
"I can understand why you might feel that way," she said kindly, "but things work a little differently around here."
"Yes, we still cook, but that's not all we do. We can all fight, to some degree," Arashi put in. Sango stared at them in wide-eyed shock.
"But…Inuyasha said…"
The women before her laughed. Kagome shook her head, bemused.
"Haven't you been told? Inuyasha thinks –"
"– Everyone's hopeless," Sango chorused along, and laughed. "Yes, I've heard. I just didn't think…"
"We understand," Arashi told her. "But trust us, you'll get over it."
"Especially working with Miroku," Umao put in wickedly, and she and Arashi both laughed.
Later that night, Sango lay on her pallet, wondering what they had meant. Certainly, he was handsome enough, but she was forever off-balance with him. What bothered her more than that, however, was the fact that she minded less and less the idea of making good on their wager.
---
Aaugh…This chapter took a ridiculous amount of time. I might just cheat and condense the next two chapters into one so that I don't have to write another like this. I do NOT like fight scenes – that was an Aikido move in here, by the way, for those of you who don't know. Supposedly it's non-violent, but it sure as hell didn't feel non-violent the first time I got laid out. So all I really wanna do is apologize for the amount of time you all had to wait for this chapter, and for the fact that when it finally came out, it sucked. And for any typos etc. - I decided that because I had just saddled my BETA with TRL and SK, I wasn't gonna make her BETA this damn thing as well, since she has her own shtuff to take care of. So K-chan, happy BETA's-Day-Off...or...something.
Oh! And Aamalie-chan?
I'll take that chapter of D, now, please. X3 I believe you promised me a bribe of that sort for when I finished this chapter…