It had been an idle question, not something Miroku thought she would take seriously. He'd just wanted to kill some time by striking up a conversation.
Still, Sango cast a beleaguered glance toward InuYasha and Kagome before turning back to answer him. Their companions were too busy arguing with each other to offer her a reasonable excuse for refusing.
"I guess I can show you," she murmured.
He held up his hands in a vain attempt to convince her that he meant no offense. "I'm only curious," he added. "There's no need –"
"No," she sighed, suddenly downcast, "you should know." She glanced toward Inuyasha and Kagome again. "One of you should know, anyway. In case…"
So she still thought she might one day be forced to choose between them and her brother. "Let's hope it won't come to that," he said.
Sango did not look particularly encouraged.
"Only if you want," he reiterated.
The two of them looked over at InuYasha and Kagome again—the hanyou was now sulking while Kagome seethed a few feet away—and back to each other. Shaking her head, Sango sat and indicated that Miroku should do the same.
"Where should I start?" she asked.
He hadn't thought it through far enough to get to that point. "Wherever would make the most sense," he suggested.
"Well, there's the hiraikotsu…"
That seemed as good a place to start as any. "How about that, then?"
She looked like she suddenly felt self-conscious. "The hiraikotsu is made from the forged bones of many youkai," she began. "Long ago, the people of my village had a method for creating materials out of a mixture of youkai bones like that… the art was lost, but we still have—had—a few heirlooms that were made using that technique." She paused to draw a deep breath, and let it go. "It can be used effectively as a shield or a club at close range. If the fighter is strong enough it can be thrown, too."
Next she skimmed over the various blades she carried, including the spring-loaded ones hidden along her forearms that could be triggered as a last resort for close-quarters fighting. By that time, Shippou had climbed back into his accustomed spot on Miroku's shoulder and even InuYasha seemed to have drifted a bit closer, while Kagome quietly worked on making dinner for everyone.
It was only after she had covered the last of her mundane weapons—namely, a length of chain that she could use in a variety of ways to snare and incapacitate an enemy—that she finally arrived at the tools that had prompted Miroku to ask about her arsenal in the first place. These were various powders, pellets, and what looked like small dumplings, each of which possessed unique properties or produced some special effect when properly activated.
She spread one of each of the pellets and dumpling-shaped objects on the ground in front of her, explaining what each did in turn. This one produced a brief, but blinding flash of light. That one produced a potent and pungent smoke when heat was applied to it. This other would burst on impact and produce thick smoke that could provide cover for a retreat. One in particular proved distasteful to InuYasha, who had been drifting ever closer throughout Sango's demonstrations.
"We call them scent beads," Sango confirmed. "They don't have any real effect except that they stink horribly when you break them. Not very useful unless you're up against something with a keen sense of smell, like an inu youkai, or a wolf pack."
"I think InuYasha remembers those scent beads only too well," Miroku told her, stifling a laugh as the hanyou grumbled.
"Isn't it dangerous to use stuff like that?" Shippou asked. "Or is that why you wear that mask?"
Sango, already scooping up her samples to stow in their usual places, nodded. "Every fighter of my village is given one of those masks when they officially become a slayer. They work as air filters so you can breathe even in thick smoke or when surrounded by a youkai's evil energy."
"Perhaps you should let InuYasha borrow yours sometime," Miroku suggested. It seemed to take a few moments for Sango to realize he was joking. What she made of that, he couldn't tell.
"What about your armor?" Shippou cut into the sudden awkward silence. "You talked about all your weapons, but is your armor made from youkai parts, too?"
Sango removed the carefully folded leather bodysuit and padded armor from her pack and allowed the fox kit to investigate to his heart's content; as he explored, she explained how the leather was the specially treated skin of a particular type of youkai that could absorb enormous impacts without damage to the wearer. The padded armor, on the other hand, was different for each slayer. It wasn't just the color that varied, but the materials used to make it, which were tailored for each slayer's unique weapon and fighting style.
It surprised Miroku a bit, just how eager Shippou was to find out the specifics about a youkai killer's arsenal. Being a youkai himself and having seen what befell his parents, Miroku worried that the truth about Sango's people and her weapons and armor might resurface bad memories, but that didn't seem to be the case. If anything, proof that her arsenal contained no kitsune parts seemed to make the boy even more comfortable with her as a companion and ally.
While InuYasha and Shippou were still pawing over Sango's armor and peppering her with questions, Kagome came and sat down next to Miroku and handed a bowl of noodles his way. He accepted the bowl with a smile, adding, "My thanks, Kagome."
She nodded absently. "That was a good idea, asking Sango about her weapons like that. I wish I'd thought of it," she mused. "Somehow I feel like I know her so much better now…"
Digging into his dinner, Miroku thought, Me too.