It had been a lovely day, sunny and temperate. Things had, overall, been going well since their encounter with Ryuukossei. Inuyasha had survived his battle with the dragon and learned a whole new way to use his sword. There was no sign of new jewel shards or any of their enemies, but Miroku was fine with that—it meant there would be no battles today. Or so he had thought.

He'd been so optimistic this morning, with everything looking up, and then Kagome had let slip the news: she wanted to go back through the well, to her world.

She and Inuyasha had done little but bicker with each other ever since.

"I have a test to take!" Kagome insisted.

Whatever this test entailed, Inuyasha was having none of it. "There's no reason for you to back there over something so stupid," he retorted. "Not when we have jewel shards to find!"

Kagome sighed in exasperation, preparing her next argument.

Farther back along the trail, following at a safe distance, Miroku suppressed his own knowing sigh and let the two of them argue it out. At least they were squabbling about something other than a romantic rival this time.

He cast a knowing, sidelong look to Sango and saw his own boredom reflected on her face. She kept pace beside him, seeming no more eager than he was to deal with their friends' disagreement. "He's just going to give in," she said, speaking very quietly to avoid being overheard. "So why fight like this?"

Miroku hid his own amusement and answered earnestly. "I think he's afraid we might figure out that he has a heart after all."

"Are you saying he's barking a lot to seem more fierce than he really is?"

From his place on Miroku's shoulder, Shippou chimed in, "Like a guard dog?"

This time Miroku couldn't help but chuckle. "Something like that."

Inuyasha might look mostly human, but he certainly had some dog-like qualities. Like his overprotective nature when it came to the people he cared about. Especially Kagome.

Not that this was particularly surprising. Kagome was a special person and had very much earned the admiration and loyalty of every member of their group. But Miroku was not as blind to the truth as Inuyasha tried to be. The bond between those two was special. The mere fact that Kagome had transcended worlds to encounter Inuyasha in the first place ought to have told them that. Instead, they bickered over the little things, the way they might if they had known each other forever. It was cute, up to a point. He held onto hope that one day they would sort out their differences and make peace with each other.

It was almost funny, the way he had originally joined the group after Kagome drew first his interest and then his genuine admiration. Inuyasha had been so opposed to him, then. How things had changed since then…

Indeed, things had changed even more since Sango joined them. He had been unsure what to make of her at first. He hadn't even been entirely certain she would stay with them. She had seemed so determined to strike off on her own. One thing was sure, though: her company made Inuyasha and Kagome's squabbles infinitely more bearable. The moments when they snuck away from camp to be alone together were much less awkward with Sango for company. And it was nice to know there was someone in the group who might remember to look out for him in a fight.

But it was more than just that, too. He wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but he wasn't going to complain now that it had. Somehow, in spite of her angry reactions to his initial overtures, which had perhaps involved more intimacy than she was willing to tolerate, she had come to prefer walking at his side over joining the others at the front of the group. He was so used to bringing up the rear alone or with Shippou, he still wasn't quite sure what to make of having a regular companion.

Sango was fun to talk to and definitely pleasing to the eye, but her presence also meant he had to behave himself more than was usually his habit. For much of his life, he had simply done what he wanted and not thought much of it—or of the consequences. Sango forced him to reconsider all of that. Physically, when necessary.

Her anger was a powerful thing, and not just from the strength of her emotion. There was also the strength of her arms to consider, and her willingness to slap him—or worse—for his transgressions. (He remembered all too well the time she'd brained him with a bucket for rubbing her butt. Painful, but worth it.) Still, he had so far managed to avoid exceeding his capacity for behaving himself today, and that meant he and Sango were getting along fine. For now.

But for all he was glad to have her as a companion, Sango was also sometimes a distraction. And a temptation. On days like this, when they were simply traveling or resting, with no enemies looming directly ahead, his thoughts were prone to wandering. And sometimes the person that was foremost in those thoughts was Sango.

Especially on days like today, when finding a distraction was preferable to listening to Inuyasha and Kagome argue. Especially when Sango was walking just the way she was today, which set her hips to swaying delightfully. He tried to watch as unobtrusively as he could, not wanting to have to explain why he was staring, or at what, and wondered if she even realized she was doing that… or had any idea of the effect it was having on him.

His hand itched to touch her. The consequences weren't worth it, not yet anyway, but the impulse was there just the same. Distracting him. Teasing him.

And the worst part was, not only was she probably completely unwilling to partake in this sort of fun with him, she didn't even seem to notice that she'd piqued his interest so thoroughly. Her attention was focused squarely ahead, on Inuyasha and Kagome.

That, he had to admit, was a little disappointing. This was, in fact, the one area in which Sango ever disappointed him: she appeared to be completely and utterly immune to his charms. Kagome, at least, had the excuse of being obviously in love with Inuyasha. Sango had no such excuse.

Granted, he had not really made an effort to seduce her in earnest. In fact, especially in the beginning, he had been careful not to. But with most women all it took was an interested look and they were all but eating out of his hand. Not so with Sango.

A conundrum, that woman.

He sighed as the argument up ahead took a turn for the shrill, forcing him out of his daydreams and back to tedious reality. Inuyasha must have said something that very much displeased Kagome.

Shippou chuckled. Sounding rather more gleeful than he probably should have, he asked, "How long do you think before she sits him?"

No question there. "Any minute now…"