Disclaimer: Don't own it.

I got bored while typing out a certain scene for chapter 6, so I went ahead with this chapter to bring my typing mood back up. Yes, I know, it sounds odd, but it's the truth. I'm so happy I already have it written out! In case anyone is curious, a certain part of this chapter was inspired from the PoF's DW. You'll know which part it is once you've finished reading it… ah, the fluff!

Seriously, I've been reading too much fluff lately. It's one thing to read it, but another when you have to write it…

TeamRocket Sapphire: :beams at the compliment:

Blusorami: It was? Eh… :backs away from screen: You don't scare me… much. :shifty eyes: It's okay, I know how you feel. My life is pretty much based on fanfics at the moment, it's rather sad.

Galux: I update roughly every 2 weeks or so, depending on whether or not if I feel that I'm still heading in the same general direction as my written copy. But thanks for the encouragement. :glomps:

Ninalee-chan: Miroku isn't frustrated with Sango, he's mainly frustrated with the fact that he can't help Sango because she won't tell him what's going on even though she knows he wants to heal her pain. Or something like that. Really? Want to know a secret? I completely forgot about Kirara until I re-read the entire rough draft over twice to make sure everything happened as it was supposed to, then I was like, "Hey, Kirara's still there… doing nothing! I really have to fix that!".

Sango ran over to me. There was a huge gash in her back where the youkai had missed for the most part, but it still looked deep considering that she had not moved fully out of the way in time. Her eyes still looked a little dazed, probably from getting her head almost smashed into the ceiling of the cave, but she lost no time in getting up after finishing off the youkai to come over and check to see how I was. Kirara, now free from the restraining tentacles of the destroyed youkai, scampered over to see if Sango and I were okay.

Damn youkai. It had almost torn straight through my right shoulders, which hurt like hell. Blood stained my roves and flew in a steady stream down the side of my arm. Aside from that, I was fine.

"Houshi-sama!" She knelt down beside me, wincing at the bloody mess that had spread on the sleeve of my robes. "We - we didn't think of bringing any bandages with us, so we'll have to head back to the hut and clean up there." Her voice shook just a bit, but whether it was from near misses by the youkai or the fact that I was almost killed, I didn't know.

"Sango, are you hurt?" I asked her, placing my hand on her shoulder. She shook her head. "It looked like your back had almost been torn open." I noticed her fists clenching on the ground for a brief moment, but she didn't say anything about her injury.

"Come on," she said, helping me up by putting a supportive arm around my waist. "We have to find the kids…" She looked around as we headed to the exit, my arm slung around her shoulders. Fear settled in her voice. "Houshi-sama, where's Reichi-kun?"

"I don't know," I said, even as I looked around for a trace of the boy. "He's not here anymore? Maybe he left to get help."

She took a deep breath, her gaze concentrated elsewhere as I looked at her. "I hope so," she murmured. I had a feeling that something was bothering her, but now was not the time to ask about it.

We hadn't taken more than four or five steps out of the cave when Reichi's voice called back somewhere from higher up on the mountain.

"Miroku-sama! Sango-sama!" he called as we hurried up, trying not to lose our footing on the steep slope. "They're up here!"

Sango and I hurried up, Kirara following closely behind. A bunch of little kids were huddled; it was apparent that they were afraid of being near the demon, and none had tried to escape. That, and then there was the fact that none of the children looked older than seven. Reichi was probably the oldest one there, and even he was only ten.

Reichi was beside another little boy, assumedly his brother. He too had dark hair tied in a ponytail that was a little lower towards his neckline and his eyes were a lighter blue. Some of the kids looked a bit scratched up and one girl had a twisted ankle, but otherwise they seemed to be fine.

"Koichi," he said, inspecting some cuts and bruises on his sibling's arms and legs. "Are you okay?"

The younger boy nodded, glancing shyly at Miroku, then me. "Who are those people?" he asked in a small voice.

"That's Miroku-sama and Sango-sama," Reichi answered, pointing unnecessarily at us. "Sango-sama is a demon slayer. Amazing, eh?" He gave Sango a gentle smile and her cheeks flushed.

"It - it's not amazing," Sango said, but her voice wasn't firm enough and I could tell she was a little flattered by what he thought of her.

Koichi nodded, but his attention was on his older brother. "When are we going home, onii-chan?"

Sango spoke up. "My friends will bring you guys back home to your families. Kirara!" She gave the neko a meaningful look. "Please get Inuyasha and Kagome-chan quickly."

About five minutes later, Kirara returned in her larger form, Inuyasha following her. Kagome-sama was on his back and she got off as Inuyasha stopped, landing next to us. As if on instinct, the group of frightened kids backed away. Reichi must have been the only one who didn't, and he restrained his little brother from moving away by telling him it was okay.

"He won't hurt you guys," Reichi told the others, and the fear slowly turned into reluctance. The hanyou approached them in his gruff manner.

"Alright. Kagome, get the kids home. I'll help the girl," he ordered, motioning for the small group to follow them. Kagome went up to them, reassuring them that Inuyasha would not harm them, no matter how big and tough he looked. The hanyou walked over to the little girl, bending down so she could clamber onto his back.

"Sango and I will head back on Kirara. We need to clean up some injuries," I said. The taijiya didn't look at me, but was still watching Reichi and Koichi. I nudged her and she got on the fire cat.

She sat in front as usual, but this time, she leaned back against me. She had never done that before due to fear that I would grope her, no matter what the circumstances were. I cautiously put my arms around her, being careful not to place them near the lower section of her waist where she usually suspected they would go. However, she didn't stiffen, but kept her eyes focused on the scenery in front of her and where we were heading.

"Sango?"

"Yeah?"

I could sense that she wasn't her usual self. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's nothing," she answered.

"What's bothering you?" I asked her, keeping my voice low.

She shook her head. "I'm… I'm…"

I looked over the landscape, but at the same time, not really seeing it. "Is it because of Reichi?"

She stiffened, and I knew it was because of my question and not of my wandering hands because they were still wrapped around the front of her waist. "No."

But her voice had nervousness in it, and a hint of fear.


We headed into our hut, the cloudy sky casting shadows through the dim light of the small area. She placed Hiraikotsu by her mat and sat down, rummaging through her bag for bandages and gauze.

I took a clean cloth and wet it, wringing it out to soak up any blood. The damage hadn't been too deep, but it was deep enough to need some medical attention and cut clear across her back. "Sango? Do you trust me to do something like this?" I asked as I undid the top back part of her outfit, moving her hair out of the way.

"Yes…" The movement of her fists clenching in her lap caught my gaze. "Please don't…"

"Don't what?" I asked, confused, but as I moved away the material down a little, leaving it just above her waist, I understood what it was that she was trying to ask me without having to speak. "Sango…" I couldn't help but look horrified and more worried than I already was about her.

There was a huge scar, its pale colour standing out against the light tan of her skin. It almost went past her lower waist, and went up towards the middle of her upper back area. The area where the youkai had lashed past her had reopened the middle of it, causing more blood to stream out.

"Sango, when did this happen?" I reached out to trace the rough skin, and she flinched. I moved my hand away from it in understanding. Whatever had caused this had brought back some memories that she obviously did not want to deal with at the moment.

"Don't," she whispered, shifting away and pulling the black material back up. I stopped her, stilling her hands. She did not turn around to face me.

"Sango, how did this happen?" I asked her softly.

She sniffled a bit, trying to keep her emotions composed. "When Naraku ruined my village, he took control of Kohaku through the lord that we were to exterminate the demons for. Kohaku was forced to kill the others, and… and his - his -" She could not continue without choking on her words, and I knew she was reliving the emotional effects of that day.

I felt bad, knowing I'd forced her to remember that fateful day, but that scar chilled me. It also made my heartache for her increase, and my admiration for the strong warrior side of her increase. I appreciated her for who she was even more now, even if I never got the chance to tell her.

"Shhhh," I soothed her, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you remember everything like that. It's okay, I'm here."

"Kohaku was under his control… and he was forced to attack me. I went after the lord because I knew he was possessed by something, controlling my brother, but I wasn't fast enough." She finally shifted so she could turn and look at me, but her expression was one of anguish and her voice shook. Tears were pooling in her eyes. "It was all my fault, if I had been quicker…"

"No," I said firmly, taking her face in my hands and wiping her tears away. "Don't blame yourself. You did what you could, you care about Kohaku, and that's all that matters."

She nodded, but I could tell my words had not fully convinced her. I started wiping away the blood and bandaging up the wound, taking care not to cause her any more pain. I grabbed another clean cloth and rinsed it, about to clean my own wound when she stopped me.

"Could I…?" Her implied suggestion was shy, but I caught the meaning. For some reason, I didn't feel like teasing her about her trust that I would keep my actions of the non-lecherous sort.

"Um… yeah," I answered, wondering why she wanted to bandage my shoulder. She'd never wanted anything to do with close contact with me before, knowing that I would ruin it by groping her.

She dipped the cloth into the bucket of water, and after wringing it out to get rid of any excess water, applied it to my shoulder. It quickly absorbed the blood, the dark crimson liquid staining the white cloth. Surprisingly, the sticky mess didn't take too long to clean, and as she reached over to get a roll of bandages, she spoke.

"Houshi-sama," she began, not looking at me. "You know I care about you, right?"

"Yes."

But how much, Sango? Enough so that you will not give up in life? If you were to commit suicide because of Kohaku… I don't know what I would do without you. I wanted so badly to ask her if she planned on throwing her own life away after the shard was taken out of Kohaku, but didn't. I was too afraid I would hear the answer I feared.

Her fingers gently placed some soft gauze on the cleaned wound to help the pain, then expertly applied a few bandages on it to prevent any possible infections. Her voice was low, her head lowered slightly but not enough so that I couldn't see her expression. She seemed a bit sad, but in general, looking thoughtful more than anything else.

"Do you… do you care about me?"

I frowned and she stilled, dropping her hands in her lap. "Of course I do. More than any other woman." I vaguely remembered telling her once that her concern for me meant more to me than that of any other woman, and I had meant that. What gave her the idea that I didn't care about her?

"Really?" The surprise was evident.

"Sango… why would you ask me something like that?" I knew the answer, but I wanted her to tell me.

"Because… I… I just wasn't sure," she stammered out, looking down. Her cheeks were slightly pink.

"Sango, I told you once that your concern for me means more to me than that of any other woman," I said. "I care about you more than any other woman."

Now her cheeks were a deeper shade of red, and I was sure I was seeing a different side of her. Not just the personality of the taijiya that I had known for the past year, but the real Sango. The caring, affectionate Sango who wanted to be loved. I had to be careful about what I said because I was not familiar with this side of her personality, and I did not want to hurt her, even if it was unintentional.

"All those times when you sucked in the Saimyoushou to save my life… I was afraid you were going to die because of me," she whispered, clearly embarrassed by showing so much concern about me. She didn't have to be; I loved the fact that she had been worried about me.

I gently put a finger under her chin so she would look up. "It wasn't your fault, Sango. I want you to live, to be happy."

There is hope… even for Kohaku. So smile.

She took a deep breath, her cheeks still flushed. "Houshi-sama, I want to ask something, I just - I don't know how to say it," she said, looking embarrassed again, but also a bit uncomfortable. She appeared to be mustering the courage to ask me something extremely important. I didn't say anything, but gave her an encouraging smile. She lowered her head so that I could not see her expression, and the question was barely audible.

"After Naraku is defeated, would you - would you want to be with me?"

The words took a moment to register in my brain. I felt shocked. Sango wanted to be with me? That was the last thing I had expected her to ask me, and at first, I was not quite sure of what to say. I hadn't prepared myself to answer that type of question. She started playing with the edge of her kimono, obviously nervous and uneasy.

"Sango… you - you want to stay with me… after Naraku is destroyed?" I repeated slowly, just to make sure I had heard correctly.

She nodded once, very slowly.

I took her hands and she hesitantly looked back up at me, afraid of my answer.

"I would be happy if you wished to stay with me," I told her softly. The fear vanished in her eyes as she threw her arms around my neck, being careful where to place her weight so she would not irritate my injury. I could tell she was close to happy tears, and I hugged her back.

After a few minutes, she sat back, a new light in her eyes that I hadn't seen since Kohaku came back, making us believe he had been freed.

"We'll defeat Naraku, won't we?" she asked.

"Definitely. I don't intend on leaving you anytime soon," I told her, wrapping my arms around her waist. Almost instinctively her body stiffened. Kami-sama give me patience! I just told her that I wanted to be with her, and she still expected me to grope her. Honestly! There was only one way to get her defences down.

I leaned forward and kissed her, my mouth completely covering hers. Her tiny noise of protest was muffled, and it only took a second for her to calm down again. She moved her hands up to my neck, her fingers lightly brushing along the back of my shoulders. I deepened the kiss, moving past her teeth to taste the inside of her mouth. She let out a weak moan, and I completely forgot why I had wanted to kiss her in the first place.

She fell back on the mat, the medicinal supplies forgotten. I went over her, being careful to lean most of my weight on the floor on either side of her legs so that I wouldn't accidentally crush her body. My arms rested near her upper shoulders as she held me closer, almost against herself. I broke the kiss to move my lips along the side of her jaw, leaving smaller ones on her delicately smooth skin. Her breathing had gone from steady to almost ragged.

"Miroku…" she whispered, somehow breaking through the daze that had taken hold of both of us. "I…"

"It's okay," I said, kissing her neck. She moaned again, and I could feel her body trembling at the feel of my lips on her skin. She may have been a bit frightened at first, but now she appeared to be enjoying it. Once again, I brushed her skin with my mouth, leading back up to her lips, deepening the kiss. Only when I stopped to let us take a breath of air did she sit up, forcing me to move back.

"Not now… we - I - it's…" She stammered for a few minutes, her cheeks looking flushed after I had kissed her, her eyes slightly glazed. "This - this can't… we can't…" She shook her head, struggling to form coherent speech.

Realizing that she would not be able to gather her thoughts to make common sense come out of her mouth, I supplied her statement for her, still feeling a bit dazed myself. I never thought she would have let me get that close to her. Never. "I know what you're trying to say." She opened her mouth to say something, but at that precise moment, Shippou bounded into the hut.

"Sango, Reichi-sama wants to talk to you…" His eyes widened as she turned to look at him, and sometimes I wondered if I had influenced his mind as much as Kagome-chan and Inuyasha are afraid that I did. After all, I'm the pervert in the group, and the closest person to me is Sango. Shippou observes just as much as the others do when the taijiya and I are supposedly talking 'alone'. I guess it was her flushed cheeks and the slightly disorientated way that she was still trying to get her brain back into focus that made a certain thought enter his small mind; it certainly showed on his face. "I think - I think I'll… go now," he said awkwardly, glancing at me with that terrified look on his face. Then he scampered from the hut.

Sango stood up, the confusion quickly fading away from her features. "Reichi-kun?" she said, turning to look at me. I nodded, wishing that Shippou could have waited just a few more minutes. Then again, it wasn't like he knew we were… well, getting closer to each other. "I'm sorry Miroku," she apologized as I stood up. "I know you wanted to spend some more time with me… but I… "

I understood. "It's okay, Sango. Don't worry about it. We can spend some time together later tonight." She nodded, and kissed me briefly before leaving, her cheeks still a lovely shade of red as she left. I sat back down, grinning like a fool.

Sango liked me!

Now that was something to think about!


It had stopped raining a short while ago, and now the sun was peeking out of the clouds. The grass was more than wet, but that didn't stop my taijiya from spending time with the siblings.

Sango spent the rest of the afternoon 'training' Reichi and Koichi, teaching them the basics of the sword. They had to use wooden sticks instead of swords, obviously because if they missed or actually managed to hit each other using the proper stances, the metal would cause some bleeding, and from Koichi, some wailing which I don't think anyone really wanted to have to hear or deal with at the moment.

Reichi had told us earlier that he disliked fighting, but after seeing Sango and I team up to fight the youkai, Reichi felt he needed to learn the basics if his life was ever in danger. Koichi didn't care about training; he simply liked being around his older sibling. He would wave his stick in what he thought was a menacing manner of some sort, then threaten his brother, who didn't look fazed in the least, only amused. I doubted that Koichi would ever really have the heart to hurt someone using such a weapon. It also amused me to watch Koichi try and fight Reichi. The older boy wasn't using his full strength capacity against his younger brother, which was a good thing, considering that Koichi was quite a few inches smaller and weaker than his older sibling. Nevertheless, Koichi never gave up, or in this case, never stopped having fun while attempting to whack Reichi with the stick.

Most of the afternoon I sat down on a log, protected by the cover of the leaves of a nearby tree. It was quite enjoyable to watch her train them. It had been a long time since I had seen her looking so happy and content, and not thinking about whether Naraku was suddenly going to show up with his incarnates to destroy our lives and the momentarily peaceful atmosphere. A strange sound caught my attention and I looked in the direction of the 'fighting'.

Sango was giggling and holding her katana, correcting Reichi's stance. I could hear her voice, sounding firm and almost musical as she told him what to do. Koichi looked at his brother and tried to imitate the way his feet and arms were positioned as he swiped at the air in front of him, apparently convinced that his invisible 'enemy' would fall from such a strike.

I wanted so much to join them, to go up there and wrap my arms around her and help her instruct the kids on how to do it right, but I didn't. She probably wanted this time alone to be with the kids, to remember the good times she shared with Kohaku and use them to heal the scarred wounds that Naraku had created. It would help her in the way that I couldn't.


Later that night, all of us gathered around in the main hut. Reichi and Koichi had gone off to play somewhere. Kaori-san sat with us in silence after having thanked us for getting rid of the youkai. Inuyasha and Kagome-sama were sitting next to each other, Inuyasha eating more ramen and Kagome-sama watching him, a slight smile on her lips as she watched him. I swear, all that hanyou ever eats is ramen unless he is forced to eat something different.

Sango ate some dinner, but I noticed that she didn't seem to have much of an appetite. I wondered if she was thinking about Kohaku again, but didn't ask, instead concentrating on my bowl of ramen. Then again, maybe she was getting sick of the ramen. It was a constant meal in our journeys, and while I was impressed at Kagome-sama's 'modern' supplies, I silently admitted to myself that after a while, the taste became rather ordinary.

She got up, saying she wanted to take a walk and think by herself. I momentarily took her hand, mildly concerned. "Are you okay, Sango?" Kagome-sama's eyes widened at the warmer atmosphere between us, and I think she suspected there was more going on than just friendship, like she always did. Yet she remained silent, both verbally and physically. If she really wanted to talk to the taijiya about me, she would do so later. Kagome-sama always seemed to know when the time is right for anything specific, and I was glad she did.

"I'm fine. Just tired," she replied, offering me a smile. Shippou immediately looked up at her unusually gentle tone towards me, and Kagome laid a hand on his head, a way of silencing him without having to say anything. It worked, but the curiosity from her and Shippou still lingered in their gazes. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

When Kagome-sama was sure that Sango was out of earshot, her gaze turned from concernment to a suspicious, knowing look. I braced myself, thinking I was going to get in trouble for something I didn't do, but she surprised me by speaking in an excited voice, taking care not to raise her level of volume too much.

"What's going on between you and Sango-chan?"

I looked at her almost in a baffled way. "What do you mean?" I asked, playing dumb so that I wouldn't have to answer her question. It didn't work too well.

"You know what I mean!" she said, her fists raised in enthusiasm. "I've seen you and her touching each other… in a way that would be classified as more than just friendship. What did you guys do when Inuyasha and I took the kids back home earlier?"

I tried to sound offended. "What do you think we did?" At the astounded look on her face, I hurried on. "Kagome-sama! I am utterly hurt that you would even think to suggest something as horrific as that!"

Inuyasha swallowed his mouthful of noodles. "Now that surprises me, bouzu. If you weren't thinking about something like that while fixing her, then what did you think of? The pretty women in this village that you haven't gone and asked to bear your child yet?"

Kagome-sama sighed, slapping down her wrists on her knees in frustration. "Inuyasha…"

"No wait! What did I say? Kagome, you don't -"

"Osuwari. I don't want to hear what you're going to say, because whatever you decide to let come out of your mouth will be tactless. And besides, I'm the one questioning Miroku-sama here, not you," she stated as he somehow shot a death glare at her while having his face shoved into the ground.

"Now," she continued brightly, looking back at me. I felt my face heat up, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't due to the warm atmosphere inside the hut. "Did you guys talk or anything after you came back to the village?"

"Uh, sort of," I admitted. Somehow I was going to have to keep her from asking if I had tried to strengthen my relationship with Sango.

"Did you talk about anything in particular?" she pressed. I was trying desperately to think of something to say to be able to deny what she was really intending to get at, but fortunately, I didn't have to think of anything. Even though Sango had only been gone for a few minutes, five at most, a chill went up my spine. I had this feeling that something was wrong. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. It was completely instinctive and I knew that it was a warning about something because I had felt it that time when Inuyasha and I discovered Kirishi's body.

I quickly got up, startling Kagome-sama. "What is it?" she asked, now looking a bit frightened.

"I'm going to check on Sango. I'll be back in a minute."

I could tell Inuyasha wanted to comment, perhaps on my concern for her, but he restrained himself from saying anything because of Kagome's possible wrath. I headed off, listening for any sounds of crying or footsteps. Knowing Sango, she had went off to get rid of any emotional build-ups she had; she hated crying in front of any of us. Then I heard something that chilled my blood.

A scream.

For a moment, I feared that Sango, my Sango, had been injured, and I quickened my pace, now running.

But when I finally found her, the scene that greeted my eyes made me freeze. The taijiya was leaning over him, an odd expression on her face. It wasn't completely blank, but it did lack emotion, and from what I could see, she was staring intently at the face of a boy, looking just a bit strained. The boy's eyes were wide, the terror and pain draining out of them as well as his life force. Blood flowed from him, and it took me a moment to realize where it came from. A blade had been shoved into his chest. Sango's blade. She wrenched it out of him, then turned to look at me as if she had just realized I was there.

What did you do to Reichi!

Could you do me a favour as a reviewer, please?

Could you tell me what you liked or disliked about the chapters from this point onwards? It's just that if there is something that is starting to bore you or irritate you, you can tell me and I'll try to change it a bit. Plus, that way I can learn if I'm typing out satisfactory chapters, and then I won't worry so much about whether or not the plot is going to turn out okay. I apologize if the coming chapters decrease in length.

Oh, if anyone really cares, part of Reichi-kun's name was based on the role he played. Rei means nothing (as far I know, but I don't study Japanese. If it does mean something, can you tell me, just for fun?), and chi means blood. Reichi-kun's personality and interests were based off of Kohaku, as you could probably tell. Alright, this author's note is long enough.

Review, please. Remember, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me if anything is starting to annoy you or any particular parts you liked. :winks: I could use the feedback for Chapters 9+. Ja!