When they arrived at Kaede's hut, Shippou went bounding inside in search of anything tasty Kaede might be preparing for the evening meal. Sango, however, seemed more inclined to linger outside. She looked out away from the village, over the forest that bore Inuyasha's name.

Miroku had planned to slip away and return to the village as soon as he got a chance, but seeing the melancholy expression on her face he decided to set those plans aside for the time being. Her withering disapproval had—for now—thwarted his initial plans for the day, but that was merely a temporary delay. And in the meantime, she wasn't entirely unpleasant or unappealing company herself, and she looked much in need of some cheering up.

"You're not going inside?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Not just yet," she told him.

"Do you mind company?"

She apparently had to think about it. Finally: "No."

So he remained outside with her, letting his gaze follow hers out over the forest. He didn't have to wonder what she was thinking about for long.

"Do you think it will be a long time before Inuyasha manages to apologize to Kagome?"

He chuckled. "I think it's more likely that Kagome will forgive him first, and return of her own accord. If he shows up making demands, it won't go well."

"I see."

He almost wanted to tease her for her poorly concealed impatience, but she looked entirely too solemn for that. She probably wouldn't take it well, even though he meant no harm, so he decided to try a different tack. "In the meantime, I find it helpful to consider these… interludes… as an opportunity to rest and recover before we set out again," he told her.

"They've done this before, then."

"Not this, exactly, but yes." He shrugged; there really was no explaining Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship.

Sango was quiet a while. Then: "Do they always take this long to make up again?"

"Yes."

Was she pouting? It certainly looked like it, though it was gone as quickly as it had come. For that sight alone, he decided, it had been worth stepping away from the village girls for a bit.

It hadn't occurred to him until now that there might actually be more to Sango than the stoic warrior she so often seemed to be. But now he couldn't shake the realization, or the curiosity that sparked in response. He only knew a tiny bit about who Sango was, and nothing at all about who she had been and what she had been like before everything she knew and loved had been destroyed. She'd given him glimpses, but nothing more.

She had fallen quiet, apparently oblivious to his scrutiny as she stared into the distance and let her own thoughts consume her.

Sounding a little shy, almost wistful, she asked, "Can you tell me something, Houshi-sama?"

"What would you like to know?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "I don't even know what I don't know." She was quiet for a moment. "Who is Kikyou, really?"

He had to think about that. "I guess I would say, that depends on who you ask." She frowned, so he went on. "As I have been given to understand it, Kikyou was the priestess who was tasked with guarding the Shikon jewel. She lived here, with her sister Kaede, and had… a relationship of some sort with Inuyasha."

"You said before that they were lovers," she pointed out.

"That was only my conclusion," he clarified, just in case she thought to repeat that where the hanyou could hear. "Inuyasha refuses to answer questions about it. It seems to be a rather sensitive topic."

"So that's why no one mentioned her before."

It more or less just hadn't come up. But he knew that was far from a satisfactory answer, especially now that Kikyou had showed up again and caused so much trouble by her mere presence. "That's part of it," he acknowledged. "Let me go back to the story."

She listened attentively while he told her everything he knew: how Kikyou had been resurrected by a witch, using grave soil and a stolen part of Kagome's soul. How they'd encountered her later, and she had attempted to take Inuyasha to hell with her. How the mere mention of her was usually enough to send Kagome into a quiet melancholy and Inuyasha into a sulk, so they had learned just not to bring it up.

"I see," Sango said when he was done. "So we don't even know what her motivation is."

"Not entirely, no."

She was quiet again for a while, perhaps mulling over what he had told her. "Thank you for telling me."

"Of course." He was only annoyed that none of the others had bothered, but that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with them. Inuyasha and Kagome were simply too frequently occupied with their own problems to worry about Sango. He'd noticed it before, when he had been left to care for her while the others sought a remedy for Kirara, but it seemed the situation had continued. He would have to keep a closer watch on that from now on.

And perhaps he would have to make an effort to get to know her better, too. She certainly promised to be an interesting companion, if he could get her to open up a bit more.

He had only just begun to consider this idea, and the various forms it might take, when Shippou emerged from the hut to call them in for the evening meal. There would be time for other considerations later.