"Let's see…" Sango murmured to herself, walking down the patch and looking around. "Which to pick, which to pick…"

With Halloween soon around the corner, Sango knew she had to pick the perfect pumpkin before anyone else could. She already had a master plan on how to look like the perfect house to go trick or treating in - small jack-o'-lanterns leading up to the masterpiece pumpkin…which she had yet to pick.

For probably the thousandth time that day, Sango mentally flipped off her roommate for not even bothering to help with the pumpkin-picking. She could really use the help, but nooooooo. Her roommate had to be a lazy ass and not care about which pumpkins they had in their house.

At least he held up his part of the bargain and actually did most of the jack-o'-lanterns. Inuyasha liked to use his claws to carve masterpieces, because as much as he tried to hide it, he was a really good artist.

Sighing to herself, Sango looked around. It was no good. None of these looked right, looked worthy enough.

She was just deciding to turn around and go to another pumpkin patch to continue looking when she saw it.

It had no bruises or blemishes at all. It was perfectly round, and just the right size to overtake all the small ones Sango already had. Calculating in her mind, she could tell she and Inuyasha could make something perfect out of this.

The perfect pumpkin.

Sango grinned widely, and without further ado she rushed forward, jumping over pumpkins in her rush to get to the one she had her eyes on. Just as she reached down to grab it, a pair of tanned and masculine hands darted out and grabbed it.

Sango's eyes widened, and she stood straight up, temper flaring. This asshole knew she was coming, and decided to take the perfect pumpkin from her! How dare he!

She wasn't going to give up without a fight. And she would get the pumpkin.

She turned her angry eyes towards the man, arms tight, hands curled into fists. "Hey! Asshole!"

Yeah, spending so much time with Inuyasha was affecting her. Kohaku wasn't going to let her hear the end of this.

Oh whatever. She had to kick some ass.

The asshole lifted his head to look at her, and Sango was horrified to see that a blush was rising to her cheeks. No! No way! She did not find this annoying asshole to be attractive. Nope! No way! In denial forever!

And so what if he had pretty indigo eyes, and that his hair was long enough to be in a rat tail and still look good on him. She didn't care. It wasn't like she had a weakness for lighter colored eyes like blue. Nope. Not at all.

"Yes? Do you need something?" The asshole's lips lifted into a smile, and his hand twitched. Sango glared at him, her own eyebrow twitching.

"Yes, I need something. You took my pumpkin," Sango accused, glaring at him and taking a step forward, getting into his face. "I want it back."

"Took your pumpkin? But sweet maiden, I did no such thing. I merely just grabbed this perfect pumpkin. Were you reaching for it?" He smiled innocently, but Sango wasn't fooled. She had a little brother and a male roommate. She knew how the male species worked.

"Drop the 'I'm so holy' act. You saw me running to get the pumpkin and reaching down to grab it!" She jabbed her finger to his chest furiously, eyes sparking in anger. "Now hand it over!"

"Mmmm…I did see you reaching down to get the pumpkin," the jackass contemplated, one hand holding the pumpkin. "It was a marvelous sight. I'll give you the pumpkin if you would honor me with your phone number."

A multitude of things happened after he said that. One of them was that Sango got tired of his bullshit. The other was that this fuckass groped her ass. After that, she slapped him so hard she left a dark red imprint on his face. She saw her opportunity to get the pumpkin. She kicked his leg, making it give out beneath him, and grabbed the pumpkin from him. She took off running, finding the farmer fairly quickly.

"I'd like to buy this pumpkin please," Sango panted out, looking behind her. She had no idea if the man was going to follow her, either to get the pumpkin back or to grope her - either way, she wasn't staying long enough to find out. After hearing the price she took out a bundle of cash that Inuyasha had given her to buy the pumpkin and giving an amount to the farmer.

"Keep the change," Sango told him quickly, fixing her hold on the pumpkin and rushing to her car. There was no way after that entire fiasco that something was going to happen to her perfect pumpkin. No way at all.

###

"So you're telling me. That the reason your pants are covered in twigs and mud. Is because you were arguing with some douchebag. Over this pumpkin."

"It's a great fucking pumpkin, Inuyasha. Look at all the things we can do with it!"

"Yeah, yeah." Inuyasha sighed as he finally put down his phone, standing up from the couch. "Kohaku came over while you were gone. Said that he was ditching us and the carving for some date tonight."

Sango frowned. "He's already ditching me for a date? Damn. I thought it would be a lot later."

"He's twenty, Sango. I'm surprised he hasn't done this sooner." The hanyou snorted, rolling his eyes at his roommate as he walked towards the kitchen. "So considering he's ditching us and he's normally late, and you're such a perfectionist, wanna start on makin' them now?"

"And people say you don't care about anything." Sango grinned at him, tugging at his long silver hair as he passed. "Remember to wash your hands, especially your claws! And to pull your hair back this time! We don't need pumpkin guts in your hair again!"

"Yeah, yeah, bitch! Last time I checked, my mother's name is Izayoi, not Sango!"

"Might as well be!"

Inuyasha flipped her off as he walked and she laughed. It was times like this that made her really grateful that Inuyasha was one of her closest friends.

###

"Ewwwww, Inuyasha, get your hands away from me!"

"It's pumpkin guts, not actual guts, Sango! Don't be such a coward!"

"Better a coward then a reckless idiot like you!"

Inuyasha smirked and flicked his fingers in her face, letting bits of pumpkin land on Sango's face. She groaned loudly, wiping her face. "Ew! Inuyasha, you jackass! I hate you!"

"Hate you too," he said cheekily, rubbing his forehead with his forearm before placing the last spoonful of pumpkin guts into the giant bowl on the counter. "That was the last one. What are we making this time?"

"I was thinking we can use half of it to make pumpkin cookies, and the other half for pumpkin drinks, like latte and frappuccino," Sango offered, walking over to the sink to clean her hands from all the pumpkin.

"Kagome's obsessed with pumpkin coffees, so she'd like that." Inuyasha wiped his hands on the apron he was wearing and grabbed a portfolio folder from the counter. He opened it up and showed her the drawings inside. "These are the ideas I've been able to sketch out. What do you want to do?"

Sango was drying her hands with a towel as she peered over his shoulder, looking at the drawings in slight awe. "These all look so amazing, Inuyasha. You outdo yourself every year, I swear. So wilting trees for the smaller pumpkins, giving an illusion of an eerie forest, and for the bigger pumpkin…that one." She pointed to one particular drawing that she could just tell he worked very hard to design.

Inuyasha snorted, and flicked her high ponytail out of his face. "I should've known you would choose the nerdiest option."

"You were the one who drew it!"

"So?"

"You're infuriating. How does Kagome deal with dating you?"

"You live with me," Inuyasha pointed out, pulling out the designs she had chosen and closing the portfolio with the rest. "If you can live with me, I think Kagome can deal with me wonderfully."

"Where is Kagome, anyways?" Sango wondered, looking down at the time. This was the time Kagome normally comes over with her own roommate. Kagome was the cook of the group, and would start preparing whatever they had planned to make with, while her roommate would start carving with Inuyasha.

"She and Amaya went shopping for the candles and Halloween clothes. You know those two - their fashion sense needs to make people realize that," Inuyasha snorted. "Said they'd be running late but would grace us with their presence."

"Good. Kagome's the only reason we have actual food sometimes and not just ramen, and Amaya is amazing to spar with. Which reminds me…why do you only have girl friends, Inuyasha? I know it's like, every guy's dream to be surrounded by girls all the time, but you seem like that guy that would need male company from time to time. And male company does not mean Koga nor Shippo!" she added when she saw Inuyasha open his mouth. "Koga is not your friend and everyone knows it. And Shippo's a kid that took a liking to Kagome that is tolerance to you."

"Wasn't gonna mention him," Inuyasha snorted. "Are you kidding me? Why would I consider wolf-shit a friend? He's always trying to make Kagome dump me! And Shippo's a brat. I was gonna mention my friend Miroku."

Sango's eyebrow rose. "Who?"

"The friend I don't ever want you to meet because he shouldn't be allowed to be around other women."

"Oh, the lech. I get it. Protecting your girl friends and girlfriend - you would do something like that." Sango grabbed one of the small pumpkins, picking it up and inspecting it closely. "Though if he's that lecherous, I don't see why you're friends with him. You hate perverts and how they treat women."

He growled just as the mention of it. Inuyasha Takahashi - protecting women's rights since 1990. It was one of the reasons Sango befriended him in the first place - he had been cursing out some idiot who was borderline stalking Amaya, saying things like "If she said no, accept the fucking no!" and "She's her own fucking person and doesn't need to listen to you!"

"I do. But he's got more than just his lechery, which is why I tolerate him. He comes over sometimes, but only when you're not around," Inuyasha explained, grabbing the pumpkin from her and putting it on the kitchen table.

"Thank you for small miracles. Can you go get the jack-o'-lantern carving set, Inuyasha? It should be in the closet," Sango asked him, giving him a slightly pleading look that basically jus said "Just go get it or I'll smack you."

Inuyasha sighed and walked out of the kitchen, heading to the closet. Sango leaned back in her chair, cracking her back. She was content. Despite the asshole who had tried to take her pumpkin, it had been turning out to be a nice day preparing for one of her absolute favorite holiday.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell, which rang twice. "Probably Kagome and Amaya," Inuyasha called from the closet.

"I'll get it," Sango called back, standing up and walking towards the door. She didn't bother to look through the peephole, just opening the door, fully expecting to see Kagome holding two bags from whatever store she had bought stuff in and Amaya holding a least ten in each hand, but what she saw surprised her.

"You!" Sango poked her finger into his chest. "You're the asshole who tried to steal my pumpkin! And who groped me!"

"You're the woman from the pumpkin patch who kicked me," the asshole pointed out, lifting his leg up and rubbing his shin. "That hurt, you know."

"Boo hoo, cry me a river, bastard. What are you doing here?" Sango demanded, snarling at him.

"I was here to talk to my best friend about you-"

"What best friend? The only guy here is Inuyasha-"

"Shit."

Sango turned around to look at Inuyasha, who was standing there with the carving kit in one hand and the other over his face, in the middle of a facepalm. "Shit," he said again, finally lifting his head from his hand. "What are you doing here, Miroku?"

"Miroku? So this is the lecher friend of yours?! He was the one who tried to steal our pumpkin! And he groped me!"

"You know this woman, friend of mine?" Miroku asked, blinking in surprise.

Sango glared at him, taking a few steps back and standing slightly behind Inuyasha. Inuyasha was too busy growling at Miroku. "Of course I know her! I kinda fuckin' live with her! And you groped Sango?"

"Ah, well, Inuyasha, you know how much-"

"-you love ass? Keh, lech." Inuyasha handed the carving kit to Sango and began to push Miroku out of the house. "This is why I didn't want you two to meet."

"Are you ashamed of being my friend, Inuyasha? I'm hurt!" Miroku said dramatically, a hand over his heart. And no, Sango's lips did not twitch up into a smile at his silly antics. That would just be stupid.

"…okay, someone please explain why Miroku is being pushed out of the door while Sango hides behind Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's head snapped up. "Kagome!"

Kagome Higurashi was standing at the door in a purple dress with an green belt, a spiderweb headband holding back the bangs that always hung in her eyes. She wore nice black flats to finish the touch, and Sango watched in amusement as Inuyasha swallowed.

After all, Inuyasha's sexuality was Kagome and her fashion sense.

"I'm not hiding," Sango pointed out, taking a tentative step forward.

"Sure you weren't." Amaya Ito stood behind her roommate, an eyebrow raised. She was wearing a black skirt that only reached a few inches after mid-thigh, a flow-y orange blouse with sleeves that reached her elbows and then draped. Her black boots went up to her knees, with a heel.

"I wasn't!" Sango insisted, grabbing one of the many bags the two women had brought along. "This jackass groped me and tried to take my pumpkin earlier, and now I find out that Inuyasha has a shitty taste of friends other than us!"

"Technically, Kagome's his girlfriend and I'm the closest thing to a sister he has, so you're his only friend in this group," Amaya said thoughtfully, her head tilted to the side.

"Whatever, Amaya," Sango snorted.

Kagome sighed. "Miroku, I've told you to stop groping girls. It's lack of consent and I don't think you'd enjoy it if some random guy groped your ass, right?"

Miroku pouted at her. "But Kagomeeeeeee."

"What are you, five? Listen to Kagome," Inuyasha snorted, finally letting go of Miroku. "Sorry 'bout that, Sango. You can blame Kagome for making Miroku my friend."

"Excuse me?! I just introduced you two! You were the one who decided to befriend him!" Kagome gave her boyfriend a pointed look, and he backed off.

"What are you doing here?" Miroku asked curiously, peering at them. "And why am I not involved?"

"Because you're an ass-"

"I like your ass."

"-who tried to steal my pumpkin!"

"Now, now." Kagome got in between them. "I could use the help in cooking whatever you two wanted to make with the pumpkin guts. Miroku is decent enough."

"Keh. Fine. He can stay," Inuyasha shrugged as if it didn't matter - which was probably true in his case.

"As he doesn't grope me," Sango grumbled, turning around and nearly stomping to the kitchen.

She could barely remember her ire at him three hours later, with Miroku cracking jokes all the time and peering over her shoulder and telling her that she was doing an excellent job.