The Complex

Dea Mariella

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Disclaimer: if I said that I owned it, would you believe me?

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Author's note: wow…it's been a year and a half since I've updated…fun, isn't it?

Chapter 10: Surprises Galore

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She couldn't believe it. She, Sango, was early for an appointment. Although, she had to admit, this was going to be one of the most important choices that she had ever made. It was going to change the life of many a person. She didn't know if she was up to the challenge, but she was willing to try.

It was then, that Kagome showed up.

"Hey! Over here!" Sango "helpfully" called. Kagome, luckily, had already seen her, and was headed in her direction.

"Gomen! I didn't mean to be late, but with one thing or another…" Kagome's voice trailed off, as she really didn't have the words to describe something that Sango understood far too well.

"That's alright, for your coffee isn't even cold." She held up two containers from the café nearby. "Now, we are properly fortified for anything!"

With that, the two women marched into the mall.

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After a few hours of browsing, the two women were close to picking something.

"I can't believe that you invited me out," Kagome exclaimed. "I mean, I wouldn't think that you were the party type…"

Sango simply shrugged. She had learned long before that most people thought her a bit more severe than she really was.

"Anyways," Kagome continued. "We definitely could use some girl time. I mean, I've just been swamped by work, and I doubt that you've been much better. Not to mention, taking care of your brother! I don't know how you manage it!"

With a wry smile, Sango merely replied that she got along well enough. Not wanting to dwell on her life, she held up a cute dress for the other woman to inspect.

With a quick glance, Kagome told her no; quite firmly, actually.

"We need to accentuate your beauty, not hide it! What have I told you about pale colors? You need red. Maybe black, but I would go with red. Honestly, I don't know how you dress yourself in the morning what with…"

It was then that Sango saw it. The Dress. She let Kagome's voice lull into the background, as she moved towards it.

Quite simply, the dress was beautiful. It was what one could call a cocktail dress, so it was quite short. But Sango never worried about that; between waiting and martial arts, her legs were in good shape. It was mostly black; a square neckline, no sleeves, tightly fit, with just a bit of pink ribbon edging a small ruffle at the bottom. There was also a pink ribbon worked in around the neckline, looking like it had been stitched through the fabric. (A.N. you know what I mean people!)

By this time, Kagome was at her shoulder. She had taken one look at the situation, and murmured about not needing other dresses.

Sango practically floated to the dressing room, completely taken away by the dress. She zipped it up, and was more than happy to see herself in the mirror. To put it simply, it was like the dress was made for her. She almost didn't know how she'd gotten along without it. (It was then that she vaguely remembered as not ever needing to dress up before!)

By the time she was out of the dressing room, Kagome had picked out a dress as well. But when Sango moved to see it, Kagome quickly hid it behind her back.

"Nope! You'll see it on Friday! Not to mention, I've seen what you were looking at before, and I doubt that you'd be able to distinguish this from another." She winked, to take away the sting of the comment.

Sango shrugged. Kagome was right on the money with that one. Not to mention, she'd seen what Kagome was willing to spend on clothes, and she'd probably have trouble containing herself if she saw the price tag.

With their shopping done, the girls parted ways. Although Kagome was a bit leery of not knowing where they were going, she was happy to have the "surprise" of someplace new.

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As soon as she got home, the telephone rang. With a suspicious look; for when is the phone ever timed that well?; she answered it.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Good afternoon beautiful!" It was Miroku. "Would I be able to come over? I have something we need to discuss…"

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Not much longer, Sango found herself at a small café down the street, vanilla chai in hand, and not being too sure how she got there.

-"I have something we need to discuss about our mutual friends. It is of fairly grave importance…would you mind going over it now?"

-"I can't have people over at this minute, the house is a complete mess. It surely can't be that imp…"

-"It is. Would you be willing to come to Café Lena's?"

She shrugged…at this point, she didn't care. She had a wonderful drink, and this place was fairly comfortable. It had a cozy lighting, and small collections of armchairs spaced around. There was a bar, and a small stage in one corner of the room; Sango had read advertisements for open mics and the like.

She was starting to relax in the ambience of it all, when Miroku walked in. He immediately saw her, and made a beeline for "her" cluster of chairs. He sat down, and spoke without preamble.

"How much have I told you of Kikyou?"

After a moments thought, Sango replied. "Not much, I mean, I know that she was pre-med, and that she was a stalker. Why?"

Miroku took a deep breath. "Kikyou moved into the apartment directly next to Inuyasha's."

It took a second, but the message sunk in. "What?! What do you mean she's…"

Miroku cut her off. "Somehow, she found a way to find him, and 'persuaded' the neighbors that Inuyasha had had that they wanted to leave. I don't know how for either, but when Inuyasha got home last night, Kikyou was stretched out on his sofa…naked."

Sango gasped; this was worse than she could ever imagine! With a solemn nod, Miroku continued.

"Suffice to say, Inuyasha was pissed. He is currently crashing at his mom's, but as he doesn't get along with his stepfather, he intends to move out of not only there, but the area A.S.A.P."

"But…but that's impossible! We'll never hook the two of them up now! Unless…"

For Miroku was already starting to smile; he had a plan. "Unless we do it fast. Which means Friday's date had better be perfectly aligned. So, would you be willing to hammer out the details tonight?"

With a grin, Sango agreed to the matchmaking. She was all set to make a comment, when Miroku raised a hand to forestall anything. In response to a questioning look, he continued.

"However, I do not think that we would be able to do it justice here. Therefore, I ask that you accompany me back to my own apartment."

Having dropped the bombshell, he merely waited for the explosion. However, it never came. Sango remained silent, thinking it over.

I can't go with him…think of all of the possibilities! That would be terrible! Yet, we need to do this, and he's right about the café not being right for planning. But I don't want to give in to him…

She finally looked up to see his eyes on her face. She almost jumped at how intense they were. This meant a lot to him…it was more than hooking up friends, he was going to be losing his best friend if this didn't work. This was important. It was when she realized this, that she found that she couldn't say no to his proposal. So with some misgivings, she slowly nodded; her eyes not leaving his.

It was brief, but Sango didn't think that she imagined the relief in his eyes.

"C'mon, let's go."

And with a quick chug of her drink, Miroku took her hand and led her out into the night.

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So folks…what do you think? I know that it's been forever…but I hope that this pleases. Two comments about the story. One: "the dress" was loosely based off of Sango's Taijiya outfit. Two: Café Lena's is a real place, but was modified for my needs.

That's all I want to say, as I have an idea for the next chappie as well. Ta!

Dea-chan