Author's Note: I'm back! I was so bored that I decided to continue this fic anyways, but I wanted to change the beginning. I noticed (because of a review) that I didn't describe anything except Sango's perfection and possibly Inu-Yasha's necklace, so that means I didn't do a good job of portraying my ideas. I hope you guys don't get frustrated because reading the horribleness of my fic just made me so angry.

Summary: She hides behind a mask everyday. She strives for perfection and convinces herself that is all she needs, but what happens when she meets someone who tells her differently? MirSan InuKag

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot (which is based on Kare Kano/ His and Her Circumstances).

To Bottle Perfection

Chapter One

If I could be anything in the worlds, I would be your tears so I would be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips.

Perfection is my life's goal. I couldn't make myself believe that it wasn't important. I lived on praise as I live on oxygen and food. I couldn't make myself believe that I was a normal person. I wanted to be different, I wanted to be perfect. I couldn't say that I didn't need it because I did. I needed the praise, the honors, the certificates, and trophies. I wanted to be perfect; I had to be perfect. I hid myself behind the mask that everyone sees. I hid behind the perfect wall that I put up around myself. I was self-absorbed, I know, but it didn't matter just as long as no one else knew. I hid my flaws, I hid my selfishness so no one knew the real me. How could they when I hid myself so cleverly? I was like a goddess with no flaws. I felt that as long as I hid, I would be the envy of every person. I would be their goal. I was the embodiment of everything they wanted to be.

A young girl ran towards the doors of high school. She was starting her first year of high school and she couldn't wait to see how it would be. Before she was able to reach the door, another young girl with long black hair crashed into the other. They both fell to the ground in a mass of tangled limbs. Sango looked at the girl she had just crashed into as she tried to disentangle herself.

The young girl tried as well, but that ended up in having them fall down once again. Sango smiled when she was finally able to get up. She looked down to see if the girl was alright and was met with bright blue eyes. Sango held out her hand, which the bright eyed girl accepted graciously. The girl got up and before Sango was able to walk into the school building, the girl spoke.

"I'm Kagome!"

"What…?"

"My name, it's Kagome."

Sango forced a smile onto her face, trying to hide her impatience to get into the school. "Oh, hi Kagome…"

There was a long silent pause and Sango noticed that Kagome was looking at her expectantly. Kagome crossed her arms over the red ribbon of her uniform.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me your name?" Sango was surprised by the young girl's boldness, but decided to answer her question.

Sango nodded slowly, "My name is Taijiya Sango."

"Oh… Sango…" Kagome smiled up at her, "I like your name, Sango…"

"Sango…"

Kagome waved her hand in front of Sango's face which happened to be blank, signaling that she was lost in her own thoughts. Kagome flipped her long black hair out of her face as she unsuccessfully tried to gain Sango's attention.

"Sango… Sango…"

Sango suddenly snapped her head towards Kagome and in surprise, Kagome fell to the ground.

"Well, at least your back!"

"What?"

"Sango, you were daydreaming… that's not like you, but I guess it happens to everyone."

Sango smiled apologetically, but inside she was fuming at her carelessness. No one understood her, not even Kagome no matter how close they seemed. Sango knew that she could never really be close to anyone because then they would discover her secret.

"Oh yeah, why were you called to the principle's office this morning?"

Sango looked up into Kagome's bright eyes and smiled, "A new student is coming tomorrow."  

"That's wonderful! You probably have to show him around, right?"

"Yes."

Kagome smiled as she put a finger against her chin, "Well, then I'll get to meet him, right? I bet he'll be really cool! Sango, isn't it cool that you get to meet him first?"

"Yes, it's really great…" Sango hid it well that she was very annoyed by the thought of the new student. Once again her mind drifted as she thought about her meeting with the principle and before she could stop herself, she replayed the scene in her head.

"His name is Houshi Miroku."

Sango smiled and nodded her head slightly. The principle, a chubby old man who seemed to be in his forties, sat down at his desk and rested his elbows against the surface of it.

"Houshi-san isn't here today, but he will be tomorrow. I'm asking you this today because I believe that you should have time to think this over."

"Think about?"

The principle smiled as he leaned forwards, "That's what I like about you Taijiya-san, your always straight to the point. Well, seeing as there's no use to 'beat around the bush,' I'm asking you to accompany Houshi-san around the school for at least a week. You'll be transferred into all his classes, but it will only be for this week, and you'll have to show him around."

"What's there to think about? It's not really that difficult to show someone around."

The principle's smile grew larger, "This addition to your schedule doesn't seem to phase you one bit. What I'm worried about is you honor's classes, class presidency, and kendo club. Are you sure that this won't disrupt your performance in any of these?"

"Don't worry Hanajime-san, I'll be able to handle it."

"I don't understand how you do it, but I'm not complaining. I have to confess, Taijiya-san, that since you arrived at this school you have made my job, as well as other teachers', a little easier. In addition to that, you are able to organize school activities and events with ease that you don't need our help. You are a very unique student and I really don't want this task to affect you in any way."

"Hanajime-san you exaggerate, but this won't affect me in any way and I assure you that by the end of the week, you won't be able to tell that he was a transfer."

Sango smirked inwardly. She loved his praises, as well as the praises of everyone else. Their praises meant a lot to her and that drove her into the mask of perfection that she had made. She didn't want to be an outcast, unnoticed and distant. She wanted to be the one at center-stage, she wanted to standout from the norm.

"Well, where is he now?"

"He should be departing his home in Tokyo."

"Why is he transferring here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The schools in Tokyo don't have much challenge now that technology reached its peak. Many students aren't as diligent as they are here. Even though this is a public school, our students rank one of the highest in curriculum. The parents also informed me that they have seen the SAT scores from our students and were impressed."

"So Houshi-san is, supposedly, intelligent?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact he matched your scores on the entrance exams."

Sango looked down in mock modesty, "He did?"

Although she portrayed the modest girl perfectly, she inwardly trembled in anger. She had some competition now and she felt the growing urge to scream and shout. She studied so hard for that She wanted to make sure that her scores would be insuperable, but 'Houshi-san' was able to match it.

Hanajime nodded his head as he looked down at the black-haired girl before him.

"That's nice," she replied, trying her hardest not to explode.

"Sango…?"

"Yes, Kagome-chan?"

"Is something wrong? You've been spacing out a lot today…" Kagome looked up at the taller girl.

"No… Nothing's wrong, I'm just a little tired." Sango cast Kagome her fake smile, which Kagome took as a sign of reassurance, but that did not stop Kagome from worrying. Sango wanted to laugh at Kagome at some times; she was just too sweet to be real. Sango never understood how someone's moods could change so suddenly and rapidly.

Sensing Kagome's uneasiness, Sango decided to take Kagome's talkative personality as an advantage, "How well do you think you did on the algebra test?"

Kagome's cheeks turned pink as she looked down at the wooden desk, "Bad, really bad… how about you?"

"I thought the test was really hard, I don't think I did so well."

Kagome laughed at her last sentence, just as Sango predicted. "Are you kidding me?! You have the top grades! If you thought the test was hard, then no one in the school would be able to ace it!"

Sango put on her mask for modesty and bowed her head so that her hair covered her face, "There could be someone who aced it…"

Kagome looked down at Sango and, being the emotional person she was, she pulled Sango into a tight hug. Sometimes Sango was just too cute! Just like a kitten. Sango grinned from ear to ear, her plan turned out to be a complete success.

Kagome wasn't worried about her anymore; she was worried about the test.

"Sango, can you help me on the next test? I can't believe that she's giving us another one so soon, but that doesn't matter. I just need to really, really pass this one!"

"Don't worry about it Kagome-chan, I'll help you… You shouldn't worry too much about your tests or you'll forget everything you were studying."

"I'm sure you have no problem with anxiety, I mean your grades are outstanding! You're the top student in all your classes and you take honors! You're competing against students who are three years older than you and yet you're at the top! How do you do it Sango?" Kagome took a moment to catch her breath, "You're so perfect…"

Perfect… the word echoed in Sango's mind. She was prefect… she was so perfect, but then if she was so perfect, why did she feel so guilty? Why did she feel that there was something beyond the perfection that she had made for herself? Was she really happy with the lie that she's been living?

Sango looked down at Kagome, She wouldn't understand. No one would be ale to understand me; not Kagome, not the teachers, nor anyone else in the school. It's hard to believe that they actually believed the horrible lies that I fed them. It's hard to believe that they thought someone like me was so perfect. This just goes to show the fatal flaw of all humans, trust. Do they actually trust me so me that they wouldn't doubt my perfection? I lived on the word perfection, just as I live on food and oxygen. I couldn't go on without it.

Sango was never one to get so close to another person. Although to many it seemed that Sango and Kagome had the perfect friendship, telling each other their deepest darkest secrets, gossiping, and such, they didn't know that Kagome's offer of friendship was the only truth in their relationship. Sango did love having Kagome around, but every time she was Sango felt tainted. She knew that she should tell Kagome about her deceit, but the hard work it took to build that deceit stopped her each time she opened her mouth.

She worked too hard and too long for her mask to be destroyed. It took too much energy for her to actually wake up in the morning and remember to live her lie.

She built a wall around her heart and now she was comfortable with it there. She didn't want it to ever go away, but the urge to see something beyond familiar horizons grew within her.

She was beautiful, many people told her that. Sango never saw what other people saw. Whenever she looked in the mirror, she saw a horrible creature, a disgusting and grotesque liar. She lied to everyone around her and they took it. They believed it. She had spread her perfection too far for her to deny it. She couldn't show her real self because they would know that she had been lying to everyone the whole time.

Sango could hear Kagome's voice chatting in the background, but Sango didn't have a chance to absorb anything she was saying.

She always hated it when she didn't know what was happening so she just nodded at what she thought were the appropriate places. Without knowing it, Sango agreed to go to the carnival with Kagome that weekend.

"Really?!"

"Of course." Sango smiled patiently, but grimaced because she didn't know what she was agreeing with.

They continued walking with Kagome chatting the whole way. Sango tried to insert comments, but gave up when she had no idea what to say so she just nodded and laughed occasionally. Kagome was a wonderful person to be with when you didn't want to think about something, but today it didn't seem to be working because Sango kept on thinking about how this 'Houshi-san' would be.

Sango looked down at her watch… Kendo practice!

"Kagome, I'm really sorry, but can we continue this conversation later? I have to get to kendo practice and if I remember correctly, you have to get to archery club."

"Oh Kami-sama, you're right! I almost forgot! Thank you for reminding me!"

When Kagome was gone, Sango changed her destination to gym where kendo practice was being held. Even during kendo, she couldn't get the thought of a possible challenge out of her head. Sango didn't understand why she felt a sudden aggression towards Houshi-san. She hasn't even met him yet and she already hated him. Sango let out her frustration in kendo practice, but yet she couldn't shake the thought out her head. She and the captain of the team were dueling each other as the others sat by and watched.

The captain was none other than Sesshoumaru. Sango knew that she couldn't beat him, but she could always get close. Sango let her anger swerve her body towards her opponent; she let it control her movement as she attacked the captain.

A hit, point goes to Sango.

Sheshumaru dodged Sango's next attack by turning to the left, which caused Sango to fall forwards. When she turned around, Sesshoumaru got an attack in.

Second hit, point goes to Sesshoumaru.

The duel wore on and Sesshoumaru won by a point. Both duelists left the ring sweaty and breathless. Sango took a moment to observe her captain. He was beautiful… like a fox. She didn't really think of him in a romantic way, but that didn't mean that she didn't noticed his fox-like features. He was fair in complexion and had long white hair, just like his brother Inu-Yasha who was currently fighting another club member. Both brothers seemed to hate each other, but she knew that they really respected each other.

Sango looked up at the two duelists in the ring. Inu-Yasha seemed to be toying with the underclassmen, her classmate. Although it was hard to believe, Sango was only in her first year of high school and Inu-Yasha was in his third year and Sesshoumaru was in his last year. This would make Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru her sempai's.

Now that the adrenaline was receding in her body, her mind started thinking about Houshi-san once more. She hasn't even met the guy and already she couldn't get him out of her mind.

Tomorrow we'll meet Houshi Miroku, let's see who is better… this will be a school year you'll never forget.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Okay, I was bored and found time to actually rewrite this chapter and the next one will be up soon. I'm sorry for changing things around, but I couldn't help it. I was so frustrated when I was trying to think of something to write that I reread my chapters and found them HORRIBLE, so now I want to rewrite it all. I hope you guys don't mind… Don't worry, it'll probably have the same plot and everything.

I just wanted to say that it was really cool that someone based their fic on mines! It's so cool that people actually read it. I'm happy and bored because I'm in class writing this.

If you guys want to read a fic with a similar plot, read Blade of Fire's story called picture perfect!