“Ouch!”

Sango sighed. “InuYasha, I know this isn’t helping you but…”

“It still doesn’t fit me!” InuYasha hissed and stood up. He moved his long claws over his arm. They had managed to take the black armor off the top of his body, and had made an attempt to put the fire rat kimono on him. The white and red kimono were not going to fit, the wings were helping in that manner.

InuYasha had changed drastically in the last four days. His height almost slashed in half, his Inu ears were more on top of his head now. Shippo had been enthusiastic when they became more triangular shaped. Sango had noticed the young youkai boy clung more to InuYasha more then ever. I guess, Sango thought, he really did miss him.

“InuYasha…” Miroku sighed. “You mind where your swing those?”

“They have a mind of their own!” InuYasha growled. “Like I give a fuck where they go!”

“Well, pouting like a child is not helping.” Sango said.

“I’m not, bitch!”

Sango felt her inward sense snap just a bit. InuYasha had been calling her a bitch recently, and lately, it was getting slightly on Sango’s nerves. Guess I am the replacement of his yelling matches when Kagome is not around, Sango thought bitterly.

“InuYasha, that is no way to speak to Sango.” Miroku glared at the angry hanyou.

“She is not the one with this problem! You stupid ass houshi!” Sango sighed, he had been calling Miroku that ever since he started to change back.

“He is a cranky one, no?” Keade came out and walked up to Sango.

“Tell me about.” Sango sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes it feels like I’m taking care of a child.”

“He is a child, dear.” Keade said, “We all are.”

“I suppose.” Sango sighed, “I wish he would stop calling me a bitch though.”

“He is only breaking ‘he temper though. His tirade will soon come to pass.” Keade took the wet cloth and handed it neatly to Sango. “Wash those wings of his; they looked like a blistered old horse.”

Sango looked down at the cloth; she really never wanted to look at InuYasha’s wings much. It always got her cold looks from the hanyou. Let alone touching them, Sango bit her lip and walked over to the angry Inu.

“Keade told me we should clean those wings.” Sango said.

“Why not cut them off?” InuYasha hissed bitterly.

“Because I know how much pain you would be in.” Sango snapped. “Why the hell are you so stubborn? I don’t know how Kagome can sometimes stand you!”

“Because she can plant me into the ground anytime she wants.” InuYasha growled.

“Oh…” Sango frowned. “Ummm, what exactly happened to the beads?”

“She has them.” InuYasha sighed, and turned his red eyes to the ground. Sango felt a small lump in her throat; she knew what he meant be ‘her’. Was it so hard for him to say her name anymore, not even once?

“InuYasha…” Sango kneeled down and hung the damp cloth on one of InuYasha’s wings. It quivered slightly, but didn’t really react to the cold, wet cloth. “You know how much Kagome cares for you.”

“Why do you care?” The question stunned Sango.

“Why do I care? InuYasha for more then once you have prevented me from killing Kohaku, my otouto, more then once you have saved my life. And more to that, Kagome is my best friend, and sometimes I see you put light into her eyes that I can never give her. InuYasha, the reason why I travel with you is not just only to defeat Naraku, collect the shards; it is because we all are one.” Sango sighed. “I know what you have done in your past and I can’t fix that, no one can, I know, but if you just let the past become the present, you realize that all that hate, sorrow, and anger is not what you are InuYasha.”

Sango stood up. “Can I wash your wings now?”

InuYasha didn’t reply. Sango sighed; maybe he was absorbed in what she had told him. She even thought what had come out of her own mouth surprised her. When had she had the courage to express such sympathy to InuYasha? Yet alone anyone else?  

She pulled the cloth up and began to wipe the leather skin. It made Sango’s stomach do flips upon hearing the sound that was being made by the cloth. A small hiss was heard, and Sango looked up, realizing InuYasha’s eyes were tightly shut, apparently she was causing him some pain.

“Sorry, wrong spot?” Sango asked.

“The whole fucking wing is the wrong spot!”

“Well, Keade-chan said you had blisters, and you do.” Sango said. “This is some of Kagome’s weird liquid medicine, so it might sting.”

“Why do they have blisters?”

“Because you just drag them around InuYasha.” Sango gave him a look. “I know you don’t like them, none of us really want them here, but you can’t abuse them if they are a part of your body. It would be like taking one of your legs and breaking it, forcing you just to drag it around.”

“They’re not a part of my body.” InuYasha spat.

Sango dropped her cloth and sat down. “How about this, why don’t you at least stretch them, maybe even fly with them?”

“No.”

“Then I have to clean them, if it hurts now, it’s going to get worse.” Sango said firmly. “I’m not Kagome; if I was, I would have ‘oswari’ you already and forcefully clean them myself!”

InuYasha flinched when she said the word. Sango grumbled, he was stubborn yet, was that what had made him fight so long with Inuhidoi? Is that why he didn’t break, Sango wouldn’t want to know if that had happened to InuYasha. She felt her eyes close, remembering Miroku’s promise with the kazaana, and their first kiss. Sango felt her face redden as she looked at InuYasha, should she tell him what Miroku and she did?

“InuYasha?”

“What?”

“I just wanted to say thank you.”

InuYasha turned to her a frowned. “Thanks for what?”

“Ummm…” Sango felt her face get rather hot. “Houshi and I…we…”

“You did what with the hentai?”

“We kissed.”

“Oh.” InuYasha turned his head around. “I thought he did more then that.”

“I don’t need two hentai’s now!” Sango glared.

“I really am not into that anymore.” InuYasha looked down. Sango stopped and gulped. She knew what he was implying and now it was bring that memory back, what Inuhidoi did to Kagome…

“InuYasha…” Sango moved closer to him and put a hand on his arm. “She loves you, she always will remember you saved her, you stopped Inuhidoi, you were with her…”

“No!” InuYasha hissed. “Fuck it Sango don’t you understand!? I….”

“Say that word I’ll beat you.” Sango growled firmly. “I don’t believe you would do that to Kagome for one instant. Don’t pull that ‘raping’ bull shit with me!”

InuYasha’s hair puffed up, his red eyes narrowed, and his upper lip snarling at her, exposing more of his long fang. Sango was half tempted to just punch him, why does he beat himself about this daily? It is only bringing him lower!

“Damn it InuYasha!” Sango growled and stood up, throwing the cloth on his face. “She loves you! Don’t you understand that!?”

InuYasha said nothing, the anger demeanor had had just a second ago was gone, his ears slightly drooped and his wings sagged more to the ground. He pulled the cloth of his face and looked at the Goshinboku and sighed.

“I don’t know anymore Sango.”

“InuYasha…!” Sango took a deep breathe to get her temper under control. “That miko, my friend, she sees you for who you are, not for what you are.”

Sango turned her heel and walked back towards Keade’s hut. She stopped to see two small village kids, a few smooth stones in their hand. Sango saw red.

“Scat!” she hissed, she knew what those stone were for, and they were not going to hit the target with her around. “Leave him alone if you know what’s good for you!” The two boys ran, dropping the stones on the way.

Sango entered the hut, her face red, and before she realized small tears were streaming down her face.

“Sango, what is wrong?” Sango blinked to see Miroku standing over her. Sango fell into his robe and cried. Never had she seen InuYasha like this, she couldn’t hold her feelings in her anymore.

“Sango…it will be okay, I promise.” Miroku whispered and pulled her into a deep hug. “InuYasha will come around; it’s all in the matter of how long.”