Chapter eight: Konnichiwa, Sensei

She ducked and immediately, had to jump backwards to avoid getting hit, leaving a considerable gap between her and her opponent.

Inuyasha was panting hard, his forehead was crowned with sweat beads and his knuckles where white from his strong grip on the bokuto, but it was undeniable that despite his weariness, there was an expression upon his face that Sango hadn't seen in a long time; joy.

He cleaned his brow with his sleeve and, with a feral smile charged at her again. She kept her ground and their weapons clattered, a furious interchange of fast attacks and blockades followed as the combatants sparred.

Sango was having fun as well and she couldn't suppress the occasional giggles and victory cries every time she managed a precise move that hit home. It had been a while since she had had a fight that challenged her abilities.

There was a time when she thought Inuyasha relied more on the fantastic powers of Tessaiga than on his own skills with the katana, but right now she was being proved wrong. Despite he had been stripped of his superhuman force and speed, he was still agile and no doubt, skilled, although his technique was somewhat raw and it came more from instinct and brute force than from studied, well thought movements.

Indeed, while Sango looked graceful and supple, Inuyasha resembled more an uncontrollable, primal force; his reflexes were sharp and he reacted efficiently to each one of her assaults, blocking and returning them with almost the same dexterity and speed as her.

Almost.

Inuyasha finally caught her with a weak point exposed and, reckless, rushed to give a final blow on her shoulder, but Sango was waiting and at the last moment, she raised her weapon, fending off the attack and before he could react, she sent his bokuto flying and giving a turn around, stuck her training stick on his stomach.

He fell on his knees clutching where he had received the blow, his face becoming lightly purple as he fought to regain some air back into his lungs. He gazed up, his teeth clenched, but still he reached for the weapon resting at his side.

"If it had been a real katana, you'd have your guts hanging out you belly by now, dear Inuyasha," she said in a superior tone. Sango flung her bokuto over her shoulders and regarded the fallen; her face was lit in a smug expression.

"You're fast and strong," she kept going. "But to be honest you technique is a little sloppy and this is the third time in a row I defea-- Hey!"

Sango barely had time to block the blow when a red blur launched at her with quick, aggressive attacks that forced her to back off. The blows rained on her in such a frantic way that only seconds later, Sango found herself lying on her back, Inuyasha on top of her and the wooden blade poised over her neck.

"And if this were a real katana, you'd be headless by now, dear Sango." He smirked.

"Cheater! I wasn't ready and you were already down!" she protested in a heated tone.

"I didn't cheat! You must never lower your guard!" he snapped back.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! Now sensei," he taunted. "Who's the one whose techni--"

With a swift move of her hand, she sent the bokuto soaring and raising her legs, caught Inuyasha's head between her thighs, locking him in a hold and sending him to the ground. His back fell heavily on the soft grass, but before she could disentangle from him, he made her fall again kicking her feet. In a second he was again on top of her and this time, he made sure to hold her wrists and keep her legs down with his own.

"Ha! Beat ya!" he claimed in triumph, his smirk bigger than ever.

Sango threw him a deadly glare, her eyes only slits. Inuyasha returned the gaze; he wouldn't be the one to break the eye contact, not after he had finally defeated her, and more, considering the incredible effort it took him to do so.

They kept the gaze contest for a while, she trying to release her wrists, and he refusing to let her go. Inuyasha was pretty sure that if she were free, he'd have serious problems. Finally Sango broke the silence, a frown upon her features, but it was not the death menace or promise for revenge Inuyasha was expecting.

"But still, you cheated," she said with a pout and then, her lips split in a smile which soon became a hearty chuckle.

Inuyasha couldn't help it, the sound was contagious and he started chuckling as well. Soon they both were laughing so hard that he rolled besides her, clutching at his stomach. He wasn't very sure what he was laughing about but it felt good. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually done so.

When their laughter attack faded out, Sango lay on her side and raised her head, resting it on her hand. She smiled down at him and a strange, warm feeling spread through Inuyasha's chest. This was his comrade in arms, the girl who fought by his side in countless battles and yet until now, he hadn't realized she was pretty. Well, more than pretty.

"You can do this, Inuyasha. You see? You managed to overpower me!"

"Nah… you're right, I cheated." He looked into her deep auburn eyes; that warm feeling was lowering to his stomach now, he wasn't sure what to think about it.

"Well, yes, you did." They laughed again at this and Inuyasha fell again into her brown pools. Suddenly he was aware of everything; her proximity, the heat emanating from her glistering skin, her disarrayed hair falling on her forehead and her shoulders and her fast breaths, as well as his own. He felt the need to apart his mind from those thoughts.

"I… I'm sorry, Sango," he said and sat up, passing his hair behind his ear as he fixed his eyes on the grass. The morning sun was already up in the sky and it projected the trees shadows over them, guarding them from the increasing heat.

"Uh… Sorry? For what?" She felt puzzled. Inuyasha saying he was sorry? She sat up as well.

"For calling you and the others weak so many times, you know, when we were looking for the shards. Now that I'm human I realize the great effort you all did to keep up with me."

"It's okay, Inuyasha-kun, all that is over." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he couldn't help but like the sensation, as much as he couldn't avoid feeling disappointment when the contact was broken.

"So…" he suddenly felt uncomfortable. "You are very good, I barely saw your moves, and I have to recognize you're better than I am."

Sango, never being very good with compliments, blushed and looked down. Inuyasha could only think how cute she looked.

"Thanks, Father taught me well, but I have no doubts you can be as good as I am or better, if we keep on practicing like this."

I'd like that. "Eh… okay."

"I'll show you to improve your katas and we really need to work on your defense and… well, several other things but, you know what, Inuyasha? This was very fun." She grinned and took her hand to his side-whiskers, trying to remove a leaf that had entangled itself between his long black mane. Her slender fingers touched his cheek and for a moment, he felt the impulse to reach for them, but he saw something behind her that made him recoil from her touch.

"Oh, sorry," she said a little startled and ashamed; she hadn't been thinking when she went for the leaf, she just felt like doing it. The girl blushed again but this time Inuyasha didn't notice it, his eyes were upon the bone eater's well behind her.

"S'okay," he mumbled and looked down. There was an awkward silence.

Kagome. How had he forgotten about Kagome? For the whole morning he hadn't thought about her a single time, his mind too busy with the fight, the rush, the fun of the combat… and Sango. A twinge of guilt replaced the pleasant warmness, though he struggled to avoid reflecting where such uneasy feeling came from, or what it meant.

Sango stood up and brushed the dirt from her taijiya suit, still mortified for violating his personal space, or at least that's what she attributed to his sudden change of humor. What had she been thinking?

"I apologize, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," she bowed and gathered the pair of bokuto, ready to leave.

"It's nothing, don't worry." Inuyasha gave her a feeble smile.

"Ok, so… we'll practice tomorrow?" she asked.

Despite his attempts, he found himself yearning for the next session, but drowned such thoughts almost immediately as he forced into his mind a beautiful face with bright eyes, raven hair and a green seifuku. "If you want to get your ass kicked again… then that's fine by me," he said at last.

"Maybe I will, but only because you'll cheat again."

"Keh!"

"Well… I'll go now, Shippo must be starving."

"Ok."

Sango started walking to the village, but turned around one last time. "I am really sorry, Inuyasha."

"I already told you, it's nothing!"

"Sure?"

"I said yes, damn it!" he raised his voice a little more than he intended and now felt horribly guilty toward her. What was wrong with him?

Sango fidgeted with the weapons and spoke in a small voice, "okay then… I'll leave you some food if you want to come by later." And after those words she disappeared down the road.

Inuyasha stood up and then sat by the well, resting his back on its wooden frame. He took the small item in his hidden yarn and looked at it as if asking for forgiveness for distracting his attention from its memory, from what it represented; his hope, the promise, Kagome.

As the practices continued for the next days, Inuyasha apologized to Kagome's memory more often than not.

- Bokuto: A training wooden katana also known as bokken. Nowadays it is used in kendo training.

- Seifuku: The Japanese schoolgirl uniform. Also known as fuku.

--------------------------------------------