"Ohh," Sango breathed. Night was falling, and something truly remarkable was happening.
It was almost more fun to watch Sango's reaction than it was to watch Inuyasha transform from half-youkai to full human. Miroku had all but forgotten that it was the night of the new moon—another reason to count themselves lucky. If Naraku and his offspring had delayed their attack by even a few days… but it hadn't turned out that way at all, he reminded himself. They were all alive and in one piece, and now Sango became the latest member of their group to learn Inuyasha's deep, dark secret.
Miroku scooted closer to where Sango was sitting. "This is the first time you've seen this, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded; he could only imagine what she might be thinking, seeing something like this for the first time, but it made him want to smile as he explained. "Half-youkai lose their powers one night a month, and become fully human for that time."
"I see," Sango murmured.
Inuyasha's face twisted into a scowl. "You don't have to tell her everything, you know."
"As you can see," Miroku continued, undaunted, "if our enemies were to attack now, he would be in serious danger. Therefore, this is the ultimate secret."
"It's real funny how more and more people keep learning about it, isn't it?" Inuyasha asked, somehow managing to sound even more annoyed than before.
Kagome had a beautiful, gentle smile on her face as she knelt next to him and offered one of the water bottles she had just refilled. "It's okay, Inuyasha," she said. "The number keeps growing because the number of friends you have keeps growing."
Certainly this knowledge would be a great comfort to their grumpy friend, Miroku thought. He did his best to hide his amusement, but Inuyasha figured it out anyway.
He stood up abruptly, declaring, "Well, I don't have to sit here and listen to all this crap." And with that he took his leave, stomping away from the fire and off into the darkness.
"Is that a good idea?" Sango asked. "If he's… human now…"
She didn't finish the thought. She didn't have to. They all knew what she was thinking of. They had escaped for now, but their enemies would find them sooner or later. Perhaps it wasn't wise for any of them to be caught alone right now, when they had no idea what Naraku might throw at them next.
Kagome waited a few more seconds, then rose and grabbed her bag. "I'm going to make sure his injuries haven't gotten worse again now that he's human," she told them, rather breathlessly, and then disappeared after Inuyasha into the darkness.
Miroku watched her go, hoping she and Inuyasha could patch things up a bit now that they weren't in immediate danger any longer. When she was out of sight, he looked over to his remaining companions. If Inuyasha and Kagome were going to keep sneaking off to be together, at least he wasn't left quite so awkwardly behind with Shippou anymore. Now he and Shippou, it seemed, were destined to be left awkwardly behind with Sango.
Still, he preferred their company to being left alone while Inuyasha and Kagome snuck off for a tryst among the trees. Or, in this case, in the tall grass. Meanwhile, with Sango for company, Miroku could at least pretend there was a chance he might get to do the same.
"What's so funny?" Shippou asked suddenly.
"Inuyasha and Kagome," Miroku told him. It wasn't the truth, but it was what he was willing to talk about. "They're both so stubborn that they can't admit what's obvious. And so we are left here to pretend we don't know exactly what happens when a man and a woman sneak off into the dark together."
"What do men and women do…?" Shippou began.
Sango cut him off. "That's enough, both of you." After a moment's thought, she added, "They're probably just sitting together awkwardly, making a great effort to not talk about their feelings."
That got a laugh out of Shippou, and even made Miroku chuckle; it really was nice to have friends to share the night with.
Sango had been sitting beside him, but now she settled herself rather gingerly on the opposite side of the fire from him, apparently in preparation to go to sleep for the night. Too bad; he had overheard her conversation with Kagome earlier, and had considered trying to convince her that he meant no harm. Giving a woman a massage, even entirely innocently, would always be preferable to tending to an irritated hanyou who didn't want the help in the first place.
But she and the others were always so quick to jump to conclusions about his motivations… and his character. Still, he supposed if she was tired tonight he could leave her alone. She might be on the mend, but even she had said she was not back to her full strength yet. She could use the time to recover. He could always tease her another time. That, he decided, would at least give him something to look forward to.