Drink, to new beginnings and old endings.
Summary: An unfortunate event brings five completely different students together, and forces them to create an unlikely bond-who would have known how quickly things can change when the time comes for them to finally split up?
Rating: T (for language/innuendo).
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story, I only own the story line! :)
~September, 2008 – An unlikely meeting.
"How the hell did I get stuck with you guys, anyway?" The question came out before InuYasha realised he'd said it out loud. Shocked that they themselves had not yet been brave enough to have said it, the other four students shifted in their seats, uneasily. Someone coughed.
"It seems we're the only people who didn't get the memo." The students turned to look over at a boy in the corner – dark haired and unusually tall for his age. He was Miroku Houshi, or 'the pervert' as they vaguely recognised him as. The two girls in the group studied his amused expression with sudden awareness, and crossed their legs.
"Memo?" Shippou, the youngest of the group, finally asked. Miroku put down the 'safe sex for teens' leaflet he'd picked up from the table a few minutes earlier, and then flashed Kagome a, 'I was just curious, honestly' kind of look.
"Yeah, you know, the, 'hey guys, the police are on their way, get the fuck out of the house before you all get caught, memo.'" Shippou nodded awkwardly before sitting back in his seat. A few minutes of strained silence passed, before Miroku piped up again.
"Forgive me, InuYasha, I don't know you very well, but I've heard you have an incredible sense of hearing…how did you not hear any shouting?" InuYasha's ears twitched.
"I was too drunk. They found me passed out by the buffet table." Miroku nodded, easily convinced, and then turned to the two girls opposite him.
"And what about you guys? You're Kagome, right? I've heard you're usually the life of the party, you should have seen everyone leaving…and Sango…sorry, is it Sango?" Sango, a pretty brunette with a stubborn look on her face, nodded, and shifted the weight of her hockey bag from one shoulder, to the other.
"Well, you're a keen sportswoman. You should have been able to outrun the police, surely." Both girls looked at Miroku, not in the slightest amused.
"I was in the pool; I didn't hear them come in." Kagome said, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder moodily. Miroku looked across at Sango, who seemed to be searching for an appropriate answer.
"Um…I was looking for Takedo, my boyfriend, but he'd already got out." Miroku shrugged, and then leaned back in his seat, somewhat content. After a few minutes, curiosity seemed to get the better of the group, when Shippou suddenly cleared his throat.
"What about you, Miroku…why didn't you get out?" All three, though not too familiar with Miroku Houshi, waited for the only answer they knew Miroku Houshi would give.
"Well, I'm glad you asked, Shippou. I, my good friend, was banging Jessica Lei." All three sighed in unison.
"Banging? I don't get it." The three shifted uncomfortably again.
"Well, you see Shippou-"
"-He doesn't need to know, pervert!" Sango shot Miroku a murderous look.
"What, I was merely going to explain-"
"You don't need to explain, he's too young!"
"He asked!"
"He inquired, pervert, which is what kids do when they're confused!"
"Well if we're PG-rating this conversation, I don't think calling me pervert-"
"Miroku Houshi!" They all sat up straight, as the head teacher walked in and glared straight at Miroku, who stood up, stretched, and grinned.
"Ah, she calls. Well, this is it! Nice chatting…wish me luck, folks!" They all watched as he practically skipped in the office, making the head teacher shake her head in exasperation. Finally, they all settled back into their seats and the awkward silence took over again.
"He's such a dick." Someone finally muttered. All four of them nodded in silent agreement.
~ December, 2012 – Four Years On.
The party was supposed to be small, something private between him and his closest friends – how on earth two hundred students had managed to get in the invite, he'd never know. Miroku downed his fifth shot and smiled. Either that or he didn't really care.
"What is this? Are you taking shots on your own?" A tall, muscular, silver haired man slapped Miroku across the back and grinned, his fangs gleaming in the dim lights. Miroku pulled his friend in close and then nodded over across the room at Kouga, an old school friend, who was currently shirtless, and proudly showing everyone the words 'tool', written across his chest in lipstick.
"I feel like the only sober one here, InuYasha. That's not a good thing, trust me."
"Did someone say sober?" The two men turned to see Kagome behind them, her face flushed, her long black hair tied in a bun, her dress showing more cleavage than InuYasha would have liked.
"I've never heard such blasphemous words spoken at one of the famous Houshi parties!" Kagome stumbled slightly, and InuYasha reached out to rescue her beer. Kagome looked up at him, her eyes wide.
"That was the kindest thing you've ever done for me. The beer would like to say thank you…to-to you…kind silver haired people-"
"Alright, alright, I get it, you're pissed. Let's go outside for some fresh air, come on." He put an arm around Kagome and rolled his eyes at Miroku, before passing him her half-finished beer.
"Come on, buddy. This is your leaving party, and it's New Year's Eve…try to look happy." Miroku frowned.
"I am happy. I'm just…sad too. I'm going to miss all this." He said, looking down at the can in his hands. InuYasha raised an eyebrow and moved Kagome round so that Miroku could see her trying to eat his suit sleeve.
"You're going to miss this?" Miroku smiled.
"In a strange way…yes." He ruffled Kagome's hair before InuYasha led them both uneasily outside. Miroku sighed heavily and downed the remainder of the beer, when he spotted Sango dancing by a few friends that he recognised from her hockey team. She'd done an incredible job this year, too. She was leaving this year, only a couple of miles away, though, to study sports science at university. He, however, was moving thousands of miles away - America, to be exact. He'd gotten the offer from Harvard nine months ago and it'd taken three of those for his friends to convince him to take it. Half a bottle of Sambuca and an emotional pep-talk later, and Miroku had accepted the offer. He smiled fondly. Well, Kagome had, anyway. He'd been too drunk to remember his own laptop password.
"Why the long face!" He only then realised Sango standing in front of him, sipping on a glass of vodka and coke.
"Or is that just because I have my drinking goggles on? Vodka!" She shouted, and held up her glass merrily, making a few people turn their heads to look.
"-Distorting faces since…" she trailed off to look at the date on the bottle lid, gave up and checked the coke bottle instead.
"February, 2013." Miroku exploded with laughter and took her glass off her, downing it in seconds.
"No, darling, that's the best by date. God, you're royally hammered, aren't you." She crossed her arms stubbornly and shrugged when she realised her drunken mind was unable to conjure up anything smart to defend herself with. Instead, she checked her watch.
"Only five minutes till New Year." She said. Miroku nodded, and quickly swiped a glass of unfinished vodka from behind him.
"Yep, and I'm not drunk. What is this madness?" He laughed. Working Man, by Imagine Dragons suddenly came on, and Sango smiled.
"I love this song!"
"I know you do; you played it repeatedly on my laptop for three hours straight when I was desperately cramming for economics, remember?" Sango winced.
"The only exam you didn't get an A* on…sincere apologies." Miroku laughed and nodded in the direction of the garden.
"Want to get some air and catch the fireworks?" She nodded and followed him outside, stopping at the edge of the huge pool.
"Did I ever tell you I'm insanely jealous of your very big house and your very rich step father?" Miroku nodded.
"Every single time you come over to hang out." Sango smiled and looked up at the dark sky.
"Crazy isn't it." Miroku, slightly tipsy, focussed his eyes on her.
"What?"
"You know…how four years ago we were all glaring at each other in the head teacher's office after we all got busted at that crazy party you threw after exams." She turned to look at him.
"You were a dick, I was a prude, poor Shippou thought he was getting 'star of the week', Kagome thought she was royalty and InuYasha was still picking his nose like a three year old." Miroku chuckled.
"I remember. We were something special, huh." Sango nodded.
"Hardest thing is though, is that it took all that drama to get us to speak to each other, and to get us to make an effort to be friends…now we're this close and we're all splitting up again." Miroku looked down at his scuffed shoes, the doubt coming back again, before he looked up to give her a small, guilty smile.
"At least Kags and InuYasha are staying together, and you're only moving a few miles away-"
"One minute guys!" An excitable, considerably taller Shippou suddenly jumped between them both and popped a party-popper in Miroku's face.
"Oh! One minute left? I can't wait for these fireworks!" Sango looked over at Miroku, covered in paper streamers, and laughed.
"I think there's a streamer up my nose…Sango, help…" Sango sighed and began picking the streamers out his hair.
"Thirty seconds guys!"
"Keep still, you're getting it all in your suit."
"It's already in my suit."
"Twenty seconds!"
"Stop fidgeting, you're messing your tie up!"
"It was messed up before; you know I can't do ties properly."
"Ten seconds!"
"Shippou, did you have to pop this all over him?"
"Yeah, Shippou, you pain in the ass." The music suddenly stopped and Miroku watched as everybody suddenly made their way into the garden, looking up at the sky as the first fireworks began to explode above them.
"Five! Four! Three! Two…One! Happy New Year!" An explosion of noise rang out, making an already over-excitable Shippou jump into the air and throw streamers out at the other party guests. Miroku and Sango laughed, before turning to hug one another.
"Well…I guess this is it." Miroku shrugged his shoulders, a sad smile on his face. Sango chuckled.
"Somehow I don't think going to study at Harvard is going to keep you away completely." They both laughed, before Miroku pulled her in for another hug.
"I am doing the right thing, aren't I…leaving you guys?"
"Miroku stop, okay. Look, it's going to be a big year for you, I get it, but this is a huge opportunity that nobody in this entire school would ever have gotten. Take it with both hands, and make the absolute most of it. Do us proud, okay?" Miroku nodded and they pulled away, looking round for InuYasha and Kagome, when finally Sango spotted them across the garden, sharing an intimate kiss. She couldn't help but stare, the moment too lovely, when Miroku playfully nudged her.
"You know, traditionally, you're supposed to receive at least one kiss on New Year." Sango looked over to Miroku, cynically.
"I doubt that."
"No really, look around. Everyone's pretty much pulled." Sango let out an exasperated laugh, knowing her perverted friend would never change.
"Contrary to your way of thinking, Miroku, not everyone is out to have sex. They're sharing a special moment with someone important to them. They don't necessary have to want to go any further." A few minutes of silence passed as the two awkwardly stood amongst couples who were seemingly everywhere, and very much in love. Miroku turned and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Kiss me, then?" Sango shot Miroku a murderous look.
"What? No way! That's weird! You're my friend, a damn perverted one at that!" Miroku sighed and took her hand.
"Come on, you even said it yourself – we don't have to make anything of it…just, you know, then we both don't look so terribly lonely, and we'll have all that…'special momenty-stuff' you were talking about." Sango raised one eyebrow, warily, and then folded her arms.
"Maybe so."
"Maybe so? Maybe so what…maybe you'll stop being a prude and just kiss me?" Sango glared at him.
"I am not a prude!"
"You know you are."
"I'm NOT!"
"Definitely are. Come on! It won't be weird…It's just a casual kiss between two good friends on New Year's Eve, no one will think anything of it. Oh, I'm not a bad kisser, if that's what's stopping you. In fact, I've had plenty of comp-"Miroku was cut short when he realised Sango's lips were on his, and his head spun. Sango Taijya is kissing me! She's actually kissing me! Who would have thought! He almost laughed, but instead, decided to play, and he ran his tongue along her lips in one long, delicious stroke. She instantly reacted, and pushed him hard, sending him flying into the pool behind with a huge splash. The sound broke most of the couples apart, and the party began to get noisy again. A few seconds later, he emerged, a huge grin on his face, his suit drenched, streamers floating in the water around him. Sango gave him the once over, a blush on her cheeks, before folding her arms and glaring at him.
"That, Miroku Houshi, could only have ended badly."
"Happy New Year to you too, Sango."
Thanks for reading!