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WITHOUT YOU, I'D BE LOST!

Uozumi

Guilt

Case #4

After Kagome had left on Monday, Miroku places both hands over his face, his fingers between his pushed-up bangs. How would he approach Sango today? All that pain he had walked her into….

He shouldn't have shirked his reading.

Alphabetical order was a mistake….

"Dr. Ari - Miroku?" the girl seemed to materialize in the doorway.

Snapping his attention to her, he smiled, "Good morning, Sango, I'm sorry about Saturday."

"It's okay…" her eyes clouded over a moment, then took on their same, seemingly permanent lackluster glow.

"Would you like to come in? Sit? Or, would you rather go somewhere else?" he smiled kindly, then at her withdrawal from the idea, he hurriedly added, "Of course, we can't go outside."

She seemed slightly relieved at this, but not fully. "I - I'm fine as is."

"All right," he nodded. "What would you like to talk about today?"

She blinked, caught off-guard. Since when did psychiatrists actually ask their patients what they want to talk about?!

Dumbfounded, she blinked, "The - the weather?"

What did people talk about when they could speak uninhibited? Sure, there were things she could talk with to the other girls, but her doctor -

She wasn't sure where this would lead, and didn't like that.

"All right then," he went with the flow, "what's it like out there?"

"Um…well…" she looked over her shoulder at the window, "It's…well…."

Miroku rose and walked over to her, "Why don't we go look out the window?"

Taking her hand, he half-led her over to it, a large veranda-like window for those in the waiting room could look out at. "Well, it's sunny…" he murmured.

Feeling eyes on her, Sango's dark eyes glanced around, then she took his hand in both of hers, an urgent, pleading look on her features, "Dr. Miroku," she spoke hurriedly, pleadingly, "let's go back."

"I thought you didn't like the room," he blinked, faltering from "the flow."

"It's not that," she tried to mask the uncomfortable disdain that seemed to resonate from all those in the waiting room. They knew she was one of "them," and they thought of her as one of the lowest life forms manageable on Earth.

Miroku met her eyes, then the violet orbs narrowed, canvassing all the eyes watching. "Go wait in the room."

"Dr. Miro…?"

"Go wait in the room!" it was still a whisper, but it was more urgent this time.

Nodding, Sango went back, looking one last time over her shoulder, their eyes meeting.

He wanted her to close the door.

---

He folded his arms, noting that everyone was ignoring him blatantly. He was not pleased. He was no about to be shut out.

No one should have to have those looks placed upon them, especially the traumatized girls that came in and out of his office.

"Attention," his voice seemed to echo in his own head, the air slipping out from around him as his voice seemingly echoed throughout the waiting room. Meeting everyone's eyes, he made sure he had their rapt attention, before plunging in, "It came to my attention just a moment ago that there are people in this world that deserve respect, want respect, and whine about respect.

"Just a moment ago, several eyes looked upon one of my patients as though she had a plague, was a leper, etc…" his paused, making sure they were all still listening. "They held disdain, repugnance, hate, and loathing, all because of a simple blue star on the sleeve of her shirt.

"I don't know why everyone whines about not receiving respect when they don't give it. You all have dug yourselves to the level at which your looks and thoughts placed that girl, who is probably more pure than anyone in this room.

"Just because someone was put away, doesn't mean they aren't human. You shouldn't just assume that they're all going to kill you or that they're all sick with some contagion. You should all be ashamed, and I hope you are, because if you're not, then perhaps you should be locked away."

At their horrified expressions, he stood his ground, then concluded, "You can chalk this up to whatever you want to make it be, but let me tell you this.

"Those girls envy you, but I personally don't."

Then he left them only to stare after the radical young man.

---

Sango backed up as the door swung open, a weary looking Miroku muttering as he closed it behind him. "There goes my job…."

"What happened?" her eyes looked concern and in the fraction of a second, he felt as though he was an executive man coming home from the office, his wife concerned for his well being.

Yet, they weren't married.

This was his office, and…

"Nothing," he put aside his confusion, then placed a smile upon his features, "Now what would you like to do?"

"Talk about you."

Miroku's smile faded into a stunned expression, "What?"

"Well," Sango perched on his desk as he still stood, his back to the door, "You always ask what I want to do, and you could always ask what's wrong with me, but…seriously…" her eyes met his as courage abruptly swelled inside of her, "What did you tell them?"

Miroku leaned against the door, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I told them a lot of things…a lot of things I probably shouldn't have said."

"Like what?"

"Like that they weren't right, they needed to reexamine their priorities…" he waved a hand nonchalantly in the air.

"I'm going to lose my job."

"No, you're not," Sango folded her arms. "I won't let them."

"What?"

"I'll cry, I'll scream, I'll refuse to see anyone else," her eyes were dead serious, "I'll become the worst patient in the world if they fire you."

Miroku blinked, then sighed, "That wouldn't be right, that would most likely solidify their decision to keep me fired.

"I wanted to change the system, but I'm wondering if I'm being too radical."

"You're not being radical enough!" Sango hopped off the desk, walking over to him. "Dr. Miroku, you need to do whatever it is that your heart tells you to, even if it means you'll wind up in a ward somewhere.

"I stuck up for what I saw, and even if everyone won't believe me, I'll always stick to my story."

"Which is?" the question slipped out before he could retract it, let alone consider what he was saying.

"That my cousins Kana and Kagura killed my younger brother, Kohaku."

To be continued…