It was late morning by the time Inuyasha returned to the group, and he appeared to be in no better mood than he had the night before. In fact, Miroku thought, he might even be worse.
"He says it's going to take days," the hanyou complained in response to Kagome's cheerful greeting. "'Three days and three nights' the asshole said. Like we've got that kinda time to just sit here, doing nothing."
Miroku half expected him to start pouting like a petulant child, but he somehow managed to contain himself. "Look at it this way," Miroku suggested, "our enemies do not know where we are, at least for now. Or we can assume they don't. This is an opportunity for everyone to recover."
"Yeah, and meanwhile Naraku's out there doing who knows what with that huge piece of the jewel," Inuyasha pointed out sourly.
Undoubtedly there was more to it than that, but Miroku was not about to bring Kikyou up so soon. He had rather been enjoying the peace and quiet of this mountain campsite up until now.
"We can worry about that when the Tessaiga is fixed," Kagome said, using her most placating tone. It had little effect on Inuyasha.
Miroku silently wished her luck in her fool's endeavor and, his eyes falling on Sango, found his excuse to escape. "Why don't you have something to eat and try to get some rest, Inuyasha?" he suggested. "We've all had a difficult few days. In fact, I think I am going to see if Sango would like any assistance with her injuries."
Kagome got a sly look on her face all of a sudden. "Sango already said she didn't want a massage from you, Miroku!" she chirped.
He sighed, but was not about to be thwarted so easily. "She declined at that time, but there's no harm in asking again."
Inuyasha gave a somewhat laugh. "Well don't come crying to me when she decks you for it."
Miroku ignored their attempts to rile him. They could think what they wanted, but he really wasn't looking to proposition Sango so much as to avoid a situation that promised to be uncomfortable and loud. Though if Sango were interested, he certainly wouldn't complain.
She had separated herself from the group earlier in the morning and was now seated some distance from the main camp with only Kirara for company. She seemed a little out of sorts, with her gear heaped in uncharacteristic piles instead of neatly arranged around her, though he supposed that could be a result of her injuries. He couldn't be sure that she would tolerate company—though he sincerely hoped a rejection would not go nearly as badly as Inuyasha seemed to think it would—but there was nothing to do but find out.
She looked up as he approached, but did not ask him to leave and made no complaint when he seated himself near her. Kirara blinked open sleepy red eyes, saw it was only him, and then went back to napping on Sango's lap. It rather pleased him to be accepted so easily. Now if only Sango would do the same, instead of alternating between friendly and outraged at a moment's notice...
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, and was somewhat surprised to see her make a face that was somewhere between sadness and exasperation. "Sango?"
She looked away, looking a little chagrined. "It's just… none of the others have asked," she admitted. "At all."
That surprised him at first—he would have expected Kagome to be more attentive than that. But then he remembered the look on her face when Inuyasha admitted to seeing Kikyou. If she was still upset about that, or worried about the injuries he had received from Goshinki and the ensuing transformation he had begun to undergo, she very well could have forgotten to check on Sango no matter how well-meaning she usually was.
"Well, I'm asking now."
For a woman who wore her feelings so openly most of the time, she could be surprisingly hard to read sometimes. He almost thought she had just gotten flustered…but that could be wishful thinking. "I am happier than I would like to admit that it sounds like we won't be going anywhere for a few days," she admitted.
"Ah, you heard that, then."
She nodded. "I also heard what you said about a massage before you came over here," she began.
Doing his very best to keep his voice calm and steady in spite of his suddenly racing pulse, he assured her, "I would be happy to assist—"
"Not a chance, monk." And there went his hopes for a much more exciting conclusion to the day, shattered into a thousand pieces. And all he got for consolation was the smallest of smiles from Sango. "But thank you for asking… and for wanting to help."